This fic was created for the 19th fanfic challenge organised by the Mostly Lucky Star Forum (see my profile for details). The theme of the challenge was: The Next Generation (pick your fandom and write about their kids). I decided to go with Naruto, because it's something I haven't done before and also because I like shounen a bit too much for a person my age.

Kushina sighed and rubbed her hair vigorously, trying to get the annoying sand out of them. Not that it would help much; this place was a freaking desert after all.

"Oooh, I'm totally fed up with this place!" she whined, leaning against a tombstone. "This exam is taking forever. Why couldn't they make it any faster? What's the point in making us go through this stupid search!"

"Oh come on", sighed her teammate Miramaru, whose hair was almost as long and fair as hers, yet he didn't seem to mind the place. "You've been at it half an hour ago. I told you it's probably meant to test our perseverance, can't you remember?"

"Yamanaka-kun, but we've been going in circles forever!" Kushina gestured dramatically around to accentuate her point. "If we don't find the token before the others do, then we're done for! And I really want to become chuunin this year."

"Yeah, it'd be better to find it quickly", Miramaru nodded, looking up towards their comrade. "Haiko-chan, do you sense anything new?"

A girl standing on top of a particularly tall tombstone barely shook her head. "No, I don't." She was wearing a green hoodie that obscured most of her face, only her narrow glasses clearly visible. Her bookish appearance combined with apparent emotionless behaviour didn't indicate her legendary heritage, but come to think of it, Kushina wasn't exactly dignified either, although they were both descendants of Hokages.

"Fine", grumbled Kushina after a moment of silence, "let's just go forwards and keep trying. I hope those guys from the other villages are strong enough to get through this, I don't want our exam cancelled or something."

"I don't think it would be so bad to lose a few competitors", Miramaru remarked. "I'd like to avoid battles if possible."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind a little sparring!" Kushina announced with a smug look. "That would surely be better than looking for some stupid tokens. I heard back in the old days, they actually made genins fight to fight during the chuunin exam. My dad said it was fun, so it couldn't be that bad."

"My mom wasn't so sure", answered Miramaru. "Anyway, I heard somewhere that the Kazekage thought that this sort of task would test our abilities to complete the mission quietly and quickly. Knowing her though, we'll probably get plenty of chance to fight anyway."

"Well I can't wait –" Kushina started, but she was interrupted by an unusually sharp voice of Haiko. "Quiet! I'm sensing something now."

"Wh… what is it? Haiko-chan?" Kushina's bad mood vanished within a second, replaced by pure joy and anticipation. "Is it one of the tokens?"

"Likely. But it's moving."

"What, already?" sighed Miramaru. "I was hoping for an untouched one. No battle, no risks. Well, we better go now while we still can. The central dome isn't that far away."

"It's moving underground", Haiko answered curtly.

"Underground? No way…" Kushina's eyes darted from one place to another, like they could pierce the ground and see their prize.

"Yes. And relatively fast."

oooOOOooo

Akagufuzubochi, the Lotus Swirl Cemetery, was one of the most striking marks of the Great Ninja War. Apparently it was created by the infamous Kabuto in his battle against Temari and Kankurou's force who managed to stop the insane scientist from entering Suna. According to the popular knowledge, Kabuto used some powerful jutsu to summon a whole legion of dead shinobi at the same time to throw them against his enemy. Although he ultimately failed, Kabuto's cemetery remained, stretching for many thousands jou across the desert. What's more, despite the fact that the original evil chakra disappeared long ago, the place somehow attracted the most vicious creatures of the sands, including venomous snakes or even giant scorpions. It was a pretty clever move for the Kazekage to use it for the Chuunin exam, there was not much else to be done with the damn place.

The group of young ninja who were trying to catch their breaths weren't in the mood to appreciate the Kazekage's decision though. They were all tired, disappointed and frustrated. Still, they didn't look like they were ready to give up yet.

The most active one was a girl with long, untamed blond hair who that were worn in a ponytail, probably to keep them at least somewhat arranged. She was wearing a white jacket with a black spiral mark on the back and a pair of black pants that only reached a little below her knees. Despite the modest outfit, she clearly had a curvy, feminine figure with large breasts and wide hips. It would take a keen observer to notice that her blue eyes looked a bit unnatural, having square-shaped pupils.

Next to her was a tall boy, also with blond hair, but even longer and fairer than the girl's. He was wearing a greenish-grey outfit that looked a little like glorified karate uniform and a matching cloak to provide comfort against the desert. He was lightly built and had a quite pretty face, but he looked clearly masculine. He was leaning against some trapezium-shaped tomb, looking displeased.

The last member of their group was a girl who looked a few years younger than her comrades. Dressed in green hoodie and a black skirt, she gave off hardly any presence at all, so it was relatively easy to overlook a short wooden sword resting at her hip. Her bespectacled eyes hidden under the hood were focused on her surroundings, quickly darting from one point of interest to the next.

"We lost it because Miramaru couldn't catch up with me!" Kushina complained.

"That's not true", Miramaru lied, still gasping for air. "I was merely… covering… your back." Miramaru had learned long ago that lying was much easier when you were a tall, long-haired bishounen.

Kushina cast him a dirty look; despite her simple nature, somehow she could see through Miramaru's charm with ease. "Well, I guess we should try again. It's a pain, but what else can we do? The token won't find yourself!" she finished with her finger pointing up.

"Yes, yes. Once we have something to follow."

"I have a theory", said Haiko, as softly as she usually did. "The token may be alive, or attached to a creature that travels underground."

"Hmm," Miramaru mused, "that would sort of make sense. Why make it easy for us? Any idiot with chakra perception would find something unmoving if given enough time."

Haiko nodded. "Also, pure chance would play a major role then. The group lucky enough to get near the object first would probably succeed with ease."

"But how do we catch something moving underground?", wondered Kushina. "Are we supposed to dig or what? This little bugger is fast too…"

"I could try and stop it with my Shintenshin, but I'd have to see it long enough to execute the jutsu", said Miramaru, referring to the Yamanaka Clan's trademark technique of Mind Body Switch. "You'd have to take care of this."

"Well, you could try and blow it up", Kushina suggested with a smirk.

Miramaru cast her an annoyed look but restricted himself to a sigh. "I am perfectly aware of the fact I look much like that Deidara person and I've told you many times that I do not enjoy this."

"Okay, okay. Sorry about that, it's hard to remember." Kushina grinned with a hint of embarrassment.

"Are you sure it is a safe plan?", inquired Haiko emotionlessly. "This creature may be exotic."

"I know best that Shintenshin can be dangerous when used on a non-human", answered Miramaru, crossing his arms. "I can do it though, and I'm not a coward."

"Yeah, we'll totally catch that little bastard!" Kushina shook her fist theatrically.

"Your language, Uzumaki-san", Haiko reprimanded her softly. It appeared that their sensei had asked her to keep an eye on Kushina, and Haiko took orders very seriously.

"Tee hee, sorry, Haiko-chan."

"Anyway, we need to find a way to expose it", remarked Miramaru. "Haiko, do you think you're up to it?"

The girl nodded. "I will laid a trap underground."

"Splendid. Then we have a plan."

"Hey, what about me?" asked Kushina. "What's my part?"

"you'll be guarding my body in case it escapes", answered Miramaru. "For all we know, this creature may be pretty strong. We need someone to cover us both."

"Got it!", answered Kushina with her usual enthusiasm. "You can count on me thrashing this monster!"

"Now I feel so much safer", said Miramaru sarcastically. "Well, we'd better go and look for a way to put this plan into action."

"I sense it again", Haiko reported. "Follow me."

They obeyed without fail, following the hooded sensory type genin deeper into the cemetary.

Author's notes: I decided to use traditional Japanese units of measure for this story. A jou is a unit of length a little more than the Anglo-American foot, or around one third of metre. I hope it's simple enough and I'm not going to overuse it.

When it comes to other Japanese stuff like the honorifics, I'll try to be reasonable about it. Still, I felt some basics were welcome; they fit well with the Naruto universe and most Naruto fanfic readers will probably understand what "chan" means. I promise not to go crazy with them though. I also tried to keep jutsu names in Japanese, because in any other language I know they sound lame, but will try to make sure to provide a translation if necessary.