To put it lightly, Itachi Uchiha was irritated. He sat patiently, back straight, hands in his lap, waiting to meet his teacher and new teammates. Under the cool shade of the tall flexible trees, he should have felt calm, peaceful, but they were late. Very late. Again.

With a sigh Itachi relaxed his posture, allowing his back to slouch and his senses to relax. If he was going to sit out here and wait, he was going to do it without stress. He had graduated exactly three years, two hundred seventeen days, one hour and twenty four seconds ago from Kohana's Ninja Academy. Words couldn't express his euphoria at escaping that boring schoolhouse where his teacher felt more like a babysitter than a shinobi.

The grass felt prickly under his hands, brushing against his legs as a light wind blew. Itachi closed his eyes and tipped his head upwards, listening to the sharp cry of birds, the distant hum of the marketplace, and the random ruffle of leaves.

Itachi Uchiha decided to take the Chunnin Exams this year, well, it wasn't as much of his choice as of the elders and his father. His older teammates, both four years older than him, had decided to wait another year. Itachi wouldn't have been able to participate if two other young Gennin weren't in the same situation. He knew nothing of his new teammates other than one was male and the other, female. He had heard rumors from his old teammates that one of them may have been able to use the Omigan, the Black Vision technique and from his other that one was a Hyuuga. Itachi scoffed at the idea, they were not very reliable resources.

Light footsteps became louder as someone neared him. Two people, he knew without opening his eyes, he didn't know how he knew, he just simply did. Itachi opened both his eyes, black orbs curiously watching as the figures approached. The first was his usual sensei Shinku Yuhi, a stern man with scarlet red eyes and curly black hair. Itachi found it hard to believe that this stern, cold, harsh man had a daughter who was carefree and kind.

"Itachi." Shinku barked out, eyes narrowing at the boy's lazy appearance. How he despised languor with a passion, determined to beat it out of his students if he had to. Itachi quickly stood, bowing respectfully. Shinku reminded Itachi a bit of his father when he said his name like that, and he utterly loathed him for it. "Meet your new teammate, Hibiki Donzuko."

Itachi straightened out his back, curiously analyzing the boy who stood behind his, their, teacher. They must have been around the same age, Itachi noted, and that Hibiki must have been shorter than him by a few inches at least, and his long white pants and brown long sleeve shirt made him look smaller, more childlike. . His hair,like Itachi's ,was pulled back only to the side so that part of his hair was coving his listless left eye. Itachi felt a jolt of shock cover him. Hibiki was blind.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Itachi san." Hibiki tilted his head in Itachi's direction, his eyes not moving. Never had Itachi met a shinobi with such a disability. He had worked with mutes, the mentally unstable, the deaf, and once a man with only one arm. Never blindness, Itachi could only shudder at the thought of being sightless, unable to see his enemy. As a Sharingan user Itachi relied heavily on his eyes, and knew that if he ever lost his vision his days as a shinobi were over.

But, always polite Itachi answered Hibiki with a polite, "Likewise."

A crash came from behind them, and a girl with pixie cut brown hair stumbled towards them, her chest rising and falling as she breathed deeply. Itachi blinked for a moment, studying the girl's features. She was short, and older than Itachi and Hibiki by a good two years at least, evident by her matured figure poking out from under her open white jacket and tight light green tank top. He instantly identified her as a Hyuuga, her pupil less eyes, main branch, since her forehead was bear and her head back acted as a bracelet instead.

"Ah, finally joining us are we Jinki?" sneered Shinku, clear annoyance leaking from his mouth. Jinki only sighed, placing a hand on her hip and flashing them a smile.

"Yeah, sorry, but you know how it is with the Elders." She replied, ignoring that the question was rhetorical, hunching over she made her voice low and mocking, "Jinki don't embarrass us, remember your statues. Hyuuga's don't slouch, sit up straight Jinki! Don't use such meretricious language, your mother taught you better than that!"

Hibiki's lips twitched into a slight smile, and Itachi rolled his eyes. He had heard of Jinki before, her father was one of the Hyuuga council members, and she was the rebel of the Hyuuga clan.

Shinku's lips pursed into a thin line, "Yes, well now that you're all here we can have a formal introduction. Give your name, and one thing about you." Hibiki took a step away from Shinku, seeming completely comfortable with the situation.

"What about our Jutsu and stuff? Not that I think you guys are weak or anything but I don't want to just walk into the Chunnin Exams and have no idea what you can or can't do." Jinki whined.

"That, my dear Jinki," The sarcasm in his voice made her snicker, "You will find out in battle."

"Battle?" Itachi questioned, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He threw a quick glance at Hibiki, slightly worried. As one never to underestimate his opponent, Itachi reasoned that Hibiki must have been able to care for himself if he was standing here. That single thought made Itachi wonder what exactly it was he could do. Jinki obviously used the Byakugan, and he the Sharingan, but the Donzuko were a small clan of only three or four families, it wasn't even clear if they had their own special Jutsu.

"What better way to understand your teammates fighting style than experiencing it from the receiving end?" Shinku said shrugging his shoulders to show that it was a simple concept.

"Me first!" Jinki yelled, waving her hand madly in the air. "My name is Jinki Hyuuga, and I like standing on my head and letting all the blood rush to my brain!" She said proudly, ignoring the two weird stares she was given, and the audible sigh from another. "Now!" she said dramatically pointing to Itachi, "I choose you!"

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I am the heir to the Uchiha clan." He said simply, watching Hibiki flinch slightly.

"I'm Hibiki Donzuko, and I'm blind." Hibiki sighed, running his fingers through his hair as Jinki started making unintelligent sounds. Hibiki snorted slightly, "No I have never been able to I didn't have an accident and yes I can sense where you are. Finally no, I cannot read your mind."

Hibiki had been asked those questions all his life, "Have you always been blind?" "Did something happen to you?" "How do you know how I'm sitting if you can't see me?" But there was one question that he hated more than anything,

"Do you need help?"

It was simple yet degrading. He was a shinobi, a blind one, but still a shinobi. He could handle himself.

"Good, now that we're all properly introduced let's start your practice battle. You're field is this clearing, and you have a time limit of two hours."

"Fine."

"Hell Yeah!"

"Yes, sensei

"Begin!"

Hi everyone that's reading this! For all of you who sent in your characters they'll be introduced into the story bit by bit. I do not own any of these characters, some who belong to the creators of Naruto and others who belong to other authors on this site.

Fun Fact: Although Jinki is the oldest of the Leaf team (Itachi: 10, Hibiki: 10, Jinki: 12) she is the shortest and most inexperienced, only recently graduating from the Ninja Academy.