Day 1

"To the right again. I'll see if I can react any faster. Let's go." The young woman said to the boy, who had set up a trap. He waited until she started running, then pulled a series of strings, watching as explosions closed in on her right. Her right bicep and leg showed burn marks from the previous attempt.

She raced as fast as she could, then immediately turned toward the final explosion, leaping through and landing awkwardly on her knees. She slid a few feet, then fell forward, heaving breaths. The boy ran to her side, kneeling by her.

"So, how was it? How close were they?" she asked. He looked up to see the smoke rising from the explosions, and the charred ground – then he saw her footsteps, which made it farther than before.

"You're improving, but we gotta slow down before you cook yourself." He said, helping her up.

Amongst the smoke and ashes, a tall figure stood silently, watching as they departed. He cracked a smile before alerting them to his presence.

"Well done. It looks like you're taking the traditional road to being a chunnin seriously." He said.

"Kaito-sensei!" the young woman and the boy ran to the jounin. He was dark-skinned with a calm expression and wore the usual Leaf uniform, and wore a grey jacket with the collar up, covering his mouth. The Leaf headband was wrapped around the collar.

"Asuka, Takeh, wonderful work as usual." He said.

Asuka was 15 years old, and unlike most girls who wanted to be a shinobi. She rarely practiced genjutsu and ninjutsu, and loved taijutsu, taking every opportunity to practice and use it. It was safe to say most boys in Konoha were a little intimidated by her.

Takeh was younger, at eleven, but that didn't stop him from becoming an impressive student. He practiced the main three jutsus, but his greatest strength lied in laying traps. He used to pull very sophisticated pranks, and under Kaito's wing, he learned to use it to help his teammates and hurt opponents. His older brother Shun, was also a genin, and more like Asuka.

There was a third student, and as usual, she was somewhere in Konoha, wondering around, forgetting she had training. Kaito sighed a little, and looked at the sky.

"Hmm, a little after 8 a.m. She's probably…"

- - -

The chef looked at the awkward young woman – or was it girl? She looked to be tall enough to pass for a woman, but her whole countenance…

"Um … do you have – well no I just want – um, I thin….k OKAY! I'll get! No … no"

The chef was too groggy to be annoyed at this time, so he just stared at her through tired, half-asleep eyes, hoping she'd make her mind up.

"Saraidenn!" Kaito appeared behind her. She let out a scream, nearly falling over. Kaito smirked, holding back laughter as she regained her composure. The chef fell asleep at the counter, obviously not concerned about what was transpiring.

Of the genin assigned to Kaito, Saraidenn kept him on his toes most often. When she wasn't wondering off during a mission, she was constantly asking questions and disrupting training with her clumsy ways. She showed all sorts of potential, but lacked the attention span at this point. She was only ten years old, but also five feet four inches tall, which made her the target of jokes from academy students.

"Sarai, what time is it right now?" Kaito asked. The mocha skinned girl squinted through her glasses looking outside. She looked at the shadows, then turned to see the chef sound asleep.

"Um … seven? Hehehe?" she laughed a little nervously, then watched as Kaito gave her a serious expression. Kaito wasn't one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but most of the time, it was easy to see what he felt like. She frowned a little, and changed her answer.

"A little after eight?" she replied. Kaito nodded.

"Good. Come with me. You can eat later." Kaito took Sarai's hand and formed a hand seal, vanishing. The chef awoke … seeing there was no onethere. He wasted no time in catching more sleep.

- - -

The proud, majestic eagle flew through Konoha – well, more like sped. It flashed through shops and past the early birds, nearly making a beeline to an apartment window. As it hurried to its perch, it screeched, alarming a young man, making him fall out of bed.

He looked up to see the eagle at his windowsill.

"Taru," he mumbled. "You're late."

The eagle gave a soft screech, flapping its wings in its defense. He gave a small smile before throwing on his usual clothing – his black chunin uniform, a yellow pullover with the symbol of a brown and white wing on the back, and his black and silver shoes with metal on the bottom and sides. He wrapped his forehead protector around his head and rushed out to the academy.

The eagle flew overhead, then swooped onto the young man's shoulder as he entered the academy. He walked to the classroom, where he knew his genin were waiting. Of all the days to be late…

He walked in to see his three genin, all bored. The girl of the group looked up, instantly smiling.

"Taiki-sensei!" she greeted him. He gave a quick smile, stopping in the doorway. The two males yawned and look at him through sleepy eyes.

"I assume you haven't had enough sleep?" Taiki asked. The two nodded, not making any attempt to move at all. The girl turned to both, putting her hands to her hips.

"Takumi, Shun! Get up! We have more trai – "

"Michiya," Taiki interrupted. "I say we wait a while before training today. I don't think we should start out so tired."

"But Taiki, we need as much time – " Taiki nodded, walking to a seat. Michiya gave a sigh, wondering why she'd been chosen for such a group. They were always the latest to report and slacking off during missions. She watched Taru peck at Taiki's shoulder, then make a perch.

Taiki was a talented shinobi, there was no doubt about it. He was also one of the few shinobi to take on birds as tools and weapons. But, he was always late, saying his reason was that he wouldn't know what to do if he were too early. His missions involved them not only working together as a team, but putting each other in dangerous situations, simulating common scenarios.

Michiya Fujiwara was the older sister of Saraidenn, but smaller than her younger sibling. She hated it at first, but she began to sympathize with her sibling after hearing her being poked fun at. She sometimes stuck up for her, but mainly watched how Sarai reacted. The Fujiwara household was known mostly for its physically talented shinobi who, even in old age managed to stay in top physical condition.

Takumi Kurokawa came from a household full of noble shinobi, but you wouldn't know it. One of the younger Kurokawa, Takumi was already talented and gifted in his jutsus,but had a habit of taking things too lightly. He was 15, the same age as Michiya, but taller, in a more lanky frame. He was given a sword to use, but really didn't rely on it as much as most would think a Kurokawa should.

Takeh's older brother, Shun, was strictly a close range fighter. He always got into fights in the academy, and as a result was deemed as a trouble maker. After learning the ins and outs of being a shinobi, he focused on improving as a ninja, mostly in the physical sense. He had trouble with forming seals, and thinking out strategies on missions.

Michiya seemed to be the only one concerned about training, and the only one who knew they had exactly a week to prepare before the chunin exam.

- - -

"Hmm, what goes better – green and brown? Or red and pink?" the older woman asked. The young woman to whom the question was directed, pondered for a second, then pointed to the left.

"Green and brown. It makes me look more … ready for battle." She decided. She threw on her brown shirt and green pants, rolling them up over her shiny new black boots. She wrapped her forehead protector around her braids, and bid her mother farewell.

Miharu Yamashita, or Yama as she was nicknamed, was brought up in a very divided household. On one hand, her mother wanted her to become a fashion expert, while her father wanted her to become a medical ninja. Luckily for her, both of her parents couldn't decide, so she ended up having a little of both.

"You're boots are nice … but they could be cumbersome on missions." Miharu looked around, then felt a light-skinned young woman sitting on her shoukder. Yama let out a yelp, stumbling backwards. The shoulder sitter leapt off the unstable host, watching as she picked her self up.

"Miharu-sensei…" she whined a little. The relationship with her chunin was an odd one to say the least. Both were 18 years, but both had different pasts.

Miharu Nakamara came from a very dangerous house of trained assassins, but that's all she'd tell anyone. She wore orange bands around her wrists, a Nakamara house color. She wore the Leaf uniform also, but used her protector as a sheath for her daggers. Her talents were still vague even though she passed the chunin exam.

"What are you doing here?" Yama asked.

"Gathering my students of course. You're the last one. Kazuki and Ayumi are training right now." Mihaur stated. Unlike most chunin, she didn't overreact when a student was late for training. She trusted her genin, and of the chunin, she got along with them the easiest.

- - -

The burly young man sat indian style in the forest, meditating. Focusing on the training ahead.

"Kazuki …" a voice said. He stayed calm.

"Kazuki…" he kept his eyes closed. Focus on the wind .. the wind…

"HEY IT'S MICHIYA-SAN!" the voice shouted.

"HUH?WHERE?" he snapped out of his focus. He saw a small girl with an amused look on her face. She wore a black gi with a white sash and black pants. The black gi had a white circle with a red symbol in the middle that meant oneness.

"Ayumi…" he pounded his fist. "I'll give you to the count of three before I make mincemeat out of you. One .. Two … - "

"Three." Kazuki felt something on his head, and Ayumi saw her sensei balancing on one finger, on Kazuki's head. She flipped off, landing in from of the two. Yama appeared shortly thereafter, completing the group.

"Kazuki…" Miharu said. "You shouldn't threaten your group members. Remember, as good as your individual talents are, you can still benefit more and more everyday from teamwork. Never forget that."

Kazuki wasn't the kind of person to threaten anyone. But once in a while Ayumi would get on his nerves, especially when he meditated. He was built very sturdily, possessing impressive strength at 16 years old. He wore a white shirt under his green jacket and a pair of blue pants. His protector was too tight on his head, so he fit it on his bicep.

Ayumi was a tiny girl, barely five feet, but was a wise 13 year old. The way she carried herself around adults led most to believe she was older than she was, but her peers knew the real her. the one who would occasionally slip and make a mistake, or still joke around despite dangerous circumstances.

Miharu sat them down, then gave them the briefing on what they were to expect in the week leading up to the exam.

- - -

"So that's what we'll do." Taiki said, placing chalk down. "By the exam, you should be able to finish both the written and physical tasks."

Michiya nodded while both Takumi and Shun responded by raising their hands.

- - -

"This week isn't just for training, but learning." Kaito told his genin. "I want you learning every day, moment by moment. Your body my have its limits, but your mind is capable of much more."