Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, blah, blah, blah. I do own, along with my friend Amber Komasaki, (check out her stuff too) Okame, Okage, Namiki, Yuki, and a few other non-important characters (yes, this is a fanfic with made up characters along with originals so if you don't like those, don't read it).

Author's corner: Hey and welcome to me and Amber Komasaki's first Naruto fanfic ever. I'm pretty psyched about this one, since it might actually get finished unlike all our other attempts. There's a few things I'd like to point out about the fanfic beforehand. Firstly, I rated it T because there'll most likely be violence and swearing in this one. Secondly, to make the story make more sense, the ruler (the big line in the middle of parts) means that the story switches views and the three asterisks () in the middle mean time has gone by. Well, that's all there is from me at the moment. Better things will come later in part two. Tschüss!

Part one

Okame took in a deep breath of the misty air, testing for rain; it had an acrid scent of fermenting foliage and spring blossoms to it that was very characteristic for this time of the year. Just as I thought, she concluded to herself, it's going to rain soon. Pity I don't have more time to enjoy it…

With a sigh she stood up from her crouched position and drew a small inconspicuous line in the soft dirt with her shoe; her team would be catching up to her soon, so for in order for them to find her she left little markers that could be easily spotted by a trained eye. She wondered if it would have been easier if she had simply followed her better judgment and stayed with them, but it was too late for regrets now and with reluctance, she acknowledged it and continued west to Konoha where the Chunin exam awaited her.

Okage's feet pounded against the ground as she ran ahead to catch up with Okame, a cloud of dust rising in her wake. The wind rushed through her curtain of midnight hair, emphasizing its waves and gently drying it—she had washed it about an hour ago, but it was so thick that there was really no point in trying to dry it any time soon. The wind made her eyes water, which in turn caused them to look bigger, brightening their emerald hue.

"Hurry up, Namiki-kun!" she called over her shoulder, finally gaining on Okame, "We'll be late!"

She came to an abrupt halt, almost running into Okame who had ceased her quick pace and taken, in turn, a slow walk. Okage tried to catch her breath, straightening out her hair and smoothing the, velvety fabric of her dress. She was clad in a knee-length dress that slit up both sides, reveling a pair of skin-tight shorts—the dress was patterned with elaborate koi fish sewn with silver thread that complemented the handsome green fabric the dress had been made of. The dress had some fancy, golden clasps that went all the way up to the neck from a diagonal across her chest. She had expertly taped her own wrists and ankles, for joint support and base, and wore traditional blue sandals of the shinobi.

"Hey," she greeted Okame with a slight smile, "I guess you can't wait for exams either, huh?"

"I see no point in getting there late," she answered dryly, her thoughts away from her teammate. With a slender finger, she pointed to the sky. "It's going to rain soon. We'd better hurry while it's still dry and light out." She wasted no time in taking off again, not particularly caring if she left her comrades in her wake—they had caught up before and they could do it again. Besides, she thought, Okage has always been able to catch up. It's that worthless Namiki that I'm worried about.

"Oh, alright," Okage said quietly, as she watched her teammate disappear into the trees once again. Just as abruptly as Okame had left, Namiki came burling through the underbrush. Okage giggled, "Namiki-kun, what happened? You're covered in mud!"

Namiki glanced down momentarily at his clothes, as if to confirm that she wasn't lying, then bent over to catch his breath, hands on his thighs, "If you must know, I fell over a tree root. It was camouflaged against the green because of the moss on it, and I just...didn't see it," he finished and straightened himself, brushing furiously at the brown muck that was smeared across his chest.

Namiki was a fairly tall boy with soft, brown eyes that were reminiscent of a puppy. His hair was of a lighter tone, cut short but with bangs that spilled over his forehead in loose spikes. He had a healthier completion than Okage, whose was what could be called ivory, and his build was tall and lean. There wasn't an ounce of fat on him, as with the two girls, which had almost made him look out-of-place amongst some of the other boys at the ninja academy (all of whom were more burly and big looking). He was clad in a long-sleeved fishnet shirt, over which he had casually thrown a Chinese-style button-down top, and a baggy pair of shorts that couldn't entirely cover the bandages running down his legs.

"You're so clumsy, Namiki-kun," Okage told the boy, patting him sympathetically on the back, "let's just go catch up with Okame...I don't want to be the last team there..."

Much to the relief of Okame and the rest of the group, they entered Konoha surprisingly early. Their sensei, who had arrived a day or two before, greeted them with warm smiles. When she took a closer look at Namiki however, with his clothes dirty as they were, she laughed heartily.

"What on earth happened to you?" she asked, only a trace of friendly curiosity coming through her voice.

"He had an accident on the way here Yuki-sensei," Okage interjected.

"Well I can certainly see that, but what happened exactly?" Now Yuki's brown eyes were leaking curiosity. Namiki sighed and dropped his head as if to be ashamed of what had happened.

"I tripped over a very well concealed tree root and found myself face first in mud," he explained matter-of-factly. Okame, who, like Yuki, hadn't heard this story until now, chuckled.

"Hopefully for Namiki-kun's sake, there won't be any "avoid the hidden tree root" tests to go through in this exam, for I fear he wouldn't exactly pass them with flying colors." Namiki glared at his teammate but didn't say anything. Changing the subject, Okame began complementing the grandeur of Konoha. "I never thought it'd look good," she mused aloud, "but this is actually quite quaint." Namiki shook his head.

"Well I'm no judge of beauty, but if that freaky mountain of heads doesn't stop staring at me, I may just go insane," he said.

"Those are the first four Hokage of this village," Yuki-sensei explained, "Shodai, Nidaime, Sarutobi, and Yondaime, but you three all knew that didn't you." Okage and Okame nodded their heads enthusiastically, but Namiki gave them all a badly hidden blank stare; it was obvious he didn't have a clue what Yuki-sensei was talking about.

"The Hokage is to the land of fire, what the Mizukage is to us," Okage explained quietly. His lips formed a silent "o" as he gazed back at the mountain, this time with a little more awe.

Okage shifted impatiently, tugging almost child-like at Namiki's sleeve, "Come on, you guys. I want to go to the Chunin exams!" she stuck out her lower lip and jumped from one foot to the other, "we're going to be late!"

Okame chose not to acknowledge the 'cute' display, while Namiki smiled and patted Okage on the head awkwardly, "Yeah, we should get going, Yuki-sensei." he said in agreement.

"I am glad that you understand history, Okage, Namiki, but you should really try to care about it more," Yuki said with a hearty laugh, "there will come a day when you will regret not appreciating the beauty of these sorts of things." she shook her head and also patted Okage, "now, you're right, of course. Let's get to the exams. Just try and keep all of this in mind, in case they quiz you on Konoha and its legacy."

Okage tilted her head questioningly, a skeptical look on her face; she would've laughed without restraint at Yuki-sensei's statement had she not respected her so much. When on earth would she ever need to know about the stupid Leaf Village's Hokage? She was probably grumpy and old, although from what Okage had heard she was quite revered. Shrugging it off, she followed as her sensei and teammates began to leave without her. How could merely knowing about the history not be enough? She didn't have to care about it to understand it.