Darkness of the Heart

Part I

Chapter I

The Chuunin Exams

Part I

"Triedge-kun! Triedge-kun where are you?" said a 5'4 sixteen-year old girl with long raven black hair that went down to the middle of her back, some of her bangs fell down to the tip of her nose between her eyes. She entered Ichiraku's, "Why hello Mana-san." said a woman with long brown hair. "Ayame-san has Triedge-kun been here today? I'm looking for him." said Mana.

"Actually, he was here earlier. But he left saying he was going to train near where the memorial statue is. Why are you looking for him?" asked Ayame. "Noah Sensei wants us to meet in the training ground. Although Triedge-kun didn't show up, so Mirage sent me to find him. Thanks." said Mana as she walked out towards the memorial statue's location. When Mana reached the memorial statue, she saw a 5'6 sixteen-year old boy with short dark brown almost black hair carrying a sheathed sword on his back walking on water. "There you are Triedge-kun!" she yelled. This startled Triedge causing him to lose focus and fall into the water, this earned a sweat drop from Mana. Triedge re-surfaced, "What the hell Mana-chan? You made me lose my concentration!" he said angrily. "Were you trying that walking on water chakra trick? You know Sensei said to not try that unless he was around to supervise you."

"Are you insane? He'll make me do in the hot springs! I'll fry like a lobster." said Triedge climbing out of the water. "Aww, is Tri-Tri cranky?" said Mana mocking him. "I told you to never call me that!"

"You said to never call you that in public. You never said anything about saying it when we're alone. Oh, yeah, how do I look?" said Mana showing off. She was wearing black shorts that came down to just under her knees, a black and crimson jacket that was slightly unzipped revealing some cleavage, and a crimson ribbon in her hair. Her headband was hanging loosely around her neck. He looked into her dark green eyes and gave her an answer. "You look ok."

"You always say that." Mana pouted. "What did you want anyway?"

"Huh,? Oh right. Sensei wants us to meet him at the training grounds." Mana said looking at Triedge with eyes that showed her affection for him. Triedge was wearing black jean pants, a black sleeveless vest with a crimson-red t-shirt underneath the vest, his headband was slightly tilted on his head. He had a sheathed sword on his back. "Okay, let's go to Sensei."

When Mana and Triedge reached the training grounds they saw a 5'9 fifteen-year old boy with brown eyes, short brown hair, wearing dark blue jean pants, a dark blue vest with long sleeves, and his headband was tied around his right arm, he also happened to be wearing thin glasses. "It's about time you two got here. I've been waiting for hours." the boy said. "Calm down Mirage, we're here aren't we?" said Triedge. "You're always forgetting about our meetings. It's starting to get on my nerves."

"You mean that it's JUST starting? I thought it would have been annoying the first five times." said Mana. "I thought Konoha ninjas were suppose to be VERY good at teamwork." said an unknown voice. They looked behind Mirage and saw three ninjas they didn't recognize. Two boys and a girl. The girl was 5'2, appeared to be thirteen years old, she had long glossy black hair that went down to her waist part of it went into a ponytail that went over her left shoulder, a large portion of her bangs went over her right eye. Her eyes were a pale lavender color. She wore a black vest top with a turtleneck collar with an elbow-length fishnet shirt underneath it and an orchid skort over knee-length tight black shorts with a pair of black ninja sandals. She was wearing a shuriken holster around her right leg. Her headband was around her waist, only it wasn't the Konoha symbol, it was the symbol for Sunagakure. She was also wearing a black fingerless glove on her left hand.

The boy on her left was 5'11, appeared to be fifteen years old, he had cool grey hair with a bluish tint windswept and soft, with aqua green eyes. He wore a black coat with a maroon fringe, sleeves torn at the biceps, grey pants with dark purple flames climbing the legs. He wore bandages wrapped around his right arm to his elbow, a black band around his left elbow that was chained to a black cuff that was around his wrist.

The boy on her right was 5'10 appeared to be fifteen years old, he had midnight black hair that reached to just about his shoulders, with periwinkle eyes. He wore a fishnet shirt underneath a dark grey hooded sweatshirt with short sleeves that hung a bit off his shoulders, he also wore a pair of black gloves that had no fingers to them that went up to his elbows, but they stopped in the middle of his palms. He wore khaki pants that hung down to his knees and black ninja shoes. His headband hung crookedly over his head so that some of his hair would stick out. "And what's it to you?" Triedge said with a sneer. "Triedge, try not to start a fight ok?" Mirage said placing his hand onto Triedge's shoulder. "Judging by your headbands you're from the village of Sunagakure, correct?"

"Yeah, we're from Sunagakure, what of it?" said the boy with aqua green eyes. "Nero, don't start a fight with Konoha ninja, ok? Last thing we need is a fight in their territory." said the girl. "Identify yourselves now!" Mana said fiercely. "I'm Tsukuyomi Ruriko." the girl answered. "And for some reason I don't like you." she said with cockiness in her voice. "My name is Tsukuyomi Akira." said the boy with periwinkle eyes. "And I'm Nero. Nice to meet ya." said the other boy. "I'm Blades Mirage, this is Vesha Mana, and Fangs Triedge."

"Hey, nice chest you got on ya Miss Mana." Akira said with a smile. Mana blushed and zipped her vest up,, "Perv." she responded. "Funny, if it was Triedge who was looking, you wouldn't mind." Mirage said in a low voice, earning a smack in the face from Mana. Mirage covered his bleeding nose, mumbling in pain. Suddenly a blast of smoke appeared behind them, a 6'2 man with short night black hair, light blue eyes, wearing the traditional clothing of a Konoha Jounin appeared from the smoke. "Yo, how ya guys doing?" the man said. "Noah Sensei! It's about time. You're late again, as usual." said Mana. "Hey, we better get going to the Ninja Academy, or else you three won't be able to register for the Chuunin Exams." Noah responded, ignoring Mana's comment. "Wait! Is that why there's three Sunagakure Genins in Konoha?" asked Triedge. "Yes, and all six of you should be going now, or I'll just have to keep you guys here so you can't register."

Noah's team along with the Sunagakure Genins went to the Ninja Academy as fast as they could. They reached the Ninja Academy, when they entered a Chuunin with dark brown hair tied and a scar across his nose greeted them. "Hey kids."

"Hey Iruka Sensei." Mana said. "You kids looking to enter the Chuunin Exams?" asked Iruka. "Yeah, where do we go?" asked Mirage. "Room 301."

They found the room they were looking for, and when they entered it they were met with a roomful of ninjas. Some, like the Sunagakure ninjas they met earlier, they recognized. But as for the rest, they'd never seen them before. "Well if it isn't the Konoha Academy Orphans." said a voice they were familiar with. To their right they saw three Konoha Genins walking towards them. Two boys and one girl, the boy in the middle was wearing a grey hooded sweater with a turquoise fringe, his hair was black, his eyes were a purple color, he wore black baggy pants and blue ninja shoes. The boy on his left was wearing a baggy orange t-shirt, with black baggy pants. He had spiky dark red hair, and he was wearing black sunglasses that kept his eyes hidden. His headband was being worn around his forehead. The girl on his right had long flowing night black hair, with dark red eyes. She was wearing a very revealing blue tank top with light blue shorts that stopped at her knees. She had a large purple fan strapped to her back.

"Zeke Inuzuka, Kagura Inuzuka, and Alix Jiro. I didn't think the Konoha Nature Freaks would be here at the Chuunin Exams." Triedge said with a glare. "Who're YOU calling freaks? You guys are on the team that has a Kekkei Genkai monster, a genetic defect know-it-all, and a medical whore." Zeke responded. "Who're you calling a whore? Your sister is the only whore I've ever met." Mana said angrily. "What's that suppose to mean?" Kagura snapped. "You're always wearing skimpy outfits. That tank top of yours is totally inappropriate." Mana answered back. "It's only been five minutes and we're already to a bad start." Alix mumbled to himself fixing his glasses to his face. "And we're all here." said another familiar voice. Another group of Genins, two boys and a girl. The boy in the middle was wearing a fishnet shirt underneath a short sleeve vest, with brown jean pants. His hair was a long black color that he had tied into a ponytail, he had light silver eyes, and he wore his headband on his left arm. The girl to his right was wearing a purple shirt with a purple skirt. She had bandages wrapped around her midriff and legs. She had short blonde hair, and bright yellow eyes. Her headband was worn around her waist. The boy to the left was wearing a heavy red coat with red shorts, and red fingerless gloves. He had short green hair and light blue eyes. "Hiroshi Masato, Tsugumi Shinya, and Takuya Shinya." Who would've thought YOU three would take the Exams." said Mirage. "I guess all nine of us decided to take them. I heard this year is going to be really tough, I even heard that a few people even died before the first part of the Exams began. Of course that's probably a rumor." responded Takuya. Suddenly a huge explosion of smoke appeared in the front of the room, and a bunch of Chuunins, along with one Jounin appeared. "All right you Genins, it's time for the written part of the Chuunin Exams." the Jounin yelled. "Wait, did…..he…..say….WRITTEN?" Triedge thought to himself. "All of you take a seat that isn't by any of your teammates. My name is Kai Morino, and I'll be your proctor for the first part of the Chuunin Exams." Kai with intimidation. "First up, I'll explain the rules for you. Number one you will be handed a piece of paper with a total of 10 questions. Number two, you will each be given 10 points each. Each correct answer will give you one point, each incorrect answer will cost you one point. Number three, do not attempt to cheat, because each mark will cost you a two point deduction."

"Well, at least Mirage and I will be okay, but Triedge is doomed. He had the worst paper test scores in our class." Mana thought to herself. "Oh, and one more thing, if any teammate gets a zero, both them AND their team will fail."

"They're gonna kill me!" Triedge thought. "You all have 60 minutes to complete the test."

"Triedge, you better get at least one question right." Mana thought again. "BEGIN!"

Twenty minutes after the test began, Mirage began thinking, "What's with those rules? But a better question is, why only a one point deduction? And why only a two point deduction for getting caught. Normally they'd just kick you out the first time…Unless, that's it!"

He reached behind his back and took out a mirror like green diamond shard that had a reflective surface, but he made sure to keep it hidden. Ten more minutes passed when Genins started getting kicked out, "Number 13, fail."

"Numbers 43, 22, fail."

Five minutes passed and thirty or more Genins were failed. "Oh man, people are dropping like flies. I've gotta do something, or Mirage and Mana are gonna kill me for failing the first part. That's it, I gotta cheat or else." Triedge thought to himself, suddenly a kunai knife was thrown and landed on the desk directly behind him. "W-what was that for?" the Genin shouted with a fierce tone. "That's five strikes and you're out. You and your team get out now." said the Chuunin who threw the kunai. The Genin and his teammates walked out. "Holy crap, that was too close. That does it, I can't risk getting caught, it's not worth it."

After the remaining twenty-five minutes passed, Kai started speaking again. "All right, pencils down. I will now ask the tenth question. But first, there's one last rule. If you fail to get this one correct, you won't be allowed to take the Chuunin Exams in this village ever again! If there's anyone who doesn't feel like they can answer it, feel free to speak up now and leave. At the very least you'll be able to take them next year in Konoha if you leave now."

Five to ten Genins raised their hands and walked out. "There's still more Genins then I thought there would be.

"All right then….You all pass."

"Wait a minute. What just happened?" Ruriko asked standing up. "There was no tenth question. It was just to separate the good ones from the slackers. You see these questions are more suited to Chuunins than Genins. We snuck in a few Chuunins to act as Genins so that way there would be someone to cheat off of. When you're a Chuunin you are in charge of your teams lives, if you're caught it could mean death for everyone on your team. That tenth question was just to see who had the guts to see it through. Anyways, you all pass, you'll meet your next Exam proctor at the 44th training grounds tomorrow at noon. For now you may all leave."

Later that day as Kai was collecting the tests he came across Triedge's paper. "Heh, I passed someone who didn't put down one answer, and his last name, Fangs. I wonder is he….no they were all killed eleven years ago."