A/N: This story is set in an alternate timeline, and will not follow Canon events completely. This fic is set a year after the events of the Chuunin exams, and is set around the second chuunin exams. There won't be much action in this chapter, these first two chapters will be more of an introduction to the OCs, but after that I'll throw in some action.

Kino's POV-

I lay in the back of the room, my eyes closed as I attempted to fall asleep. Yea yea, Tokama-sensei wanted us to pay attention, it was almost time for the Chuunin exams in Konoha, and we had to train harder. Whatever. When the time came I'd destroy the Konoha-nin, passing the Chuunin exams would be easy, I didn't know what the big deal was about.

It wasn't until I heard a small hissing sound in front of me, and I heard Yacou scream loudly that I opened my eyes. Oh crap... Tokama-sensei's summon was staring me in the face, as I stared into the reptilian eyes of the Komodo dragon. "A-Akamundai… Nice of you to visit." The lizard hissed loudly, flickering it's tongue out as it stared at me, it's front legs on the desk, supporting itself in a standing position as it's hindlegs scrabbled on the floor, making a loud clicking sound. It would have been funny if it weren't for the foul lizard breath blasting me in the face.

The lizard's tongue flitted out once more, and it blinked once, it's tail swishing violently. I was trying to decide if it's silence was good or bad, and I looked to Yacou, trying to figure out if it was good or bad. Her face only registered fear, so I instead turned to Dakede, who was too busy trying not to laugh to help me. Great, those two were such a great help.

It was at that time that the lizard opened it's mouth wide, it's breath stingingly hot on my face. "Kino, issss there any reasssson you feel the need to ignore your ssssensssei?" I coughed lightly, shaking my head at the reptile, as I sat up. "N-no Akamundai, I'm listening." The lizard merely laughed, a high pitched hissing laugh that grated on my ear drums. "Very well then, tell me who your opponentsssss are for the pre-chuunin exam contessst that your ssssensssei hasss arranged?"

I winced inwardly, knowing I was doomed. I hadn't been paying attention, leave it to Tokama-Sensei to arrange a contest a week before the Chuunin exams. "Ummm… Tokama-Sensei?" The lizard hissed angrily, snapping it's jaws at me and sneaking off, as Tokama chuckled from his side of the room. The jounin approached my desk slowly, and I could feel my mouth growing dry.

When the man reached my desk, I tried to shrink under it, but I couldn't. I could hear Dakede and Yacou snickering, at least they were until Tokama-sensei brought his hand down on the desk, glaring at them. "Did I say something funny to you too? Kino is your teammate, his failures are your failures, his mistakes are yours. You'd do well to remember that."

The two glared at me, and never before had I wanted to disappear as much as I did then. Tokama-sensei began walking back to his spot, and I listened carefully as he spoke up once more. "NOW! There are only two gennin teams in Iwa this year, ours, and Shinuhi-san's. Tomorrow, the two gennin teams will clash to see who has come the farthest since the day you all graduated from the academy. Now, due to the fact that Girin is on Shinuhi-san's team, as well as Seika, neither I nor Shinuhi-san will be able to judge the contest fairly, so for this reason Oonoki-san will be the judge. "

I paled when the man mentioned my grandfather judging the contest… This would be bad, especially if I didn't impress him. I couldn't help but worry as Tokama-sensei continued. "Now, while we have fewer Gennin than the other villages, our Gennin started training at a younger age, so I expect all of you to win at the Chuunin exams, however, in this contest the goal isn't to win, merely to show off your strength. Remember, we don't want any casualties, luckily none of you are quite proficient enough with your techniques to be fatal, but that's no excuse to fly off the handle. You're all using quite complicated techniques that are of Chuunin or Jounin level, but you can't quite control them, so be careful."

I reached my hand up to brush my hair out of my face, the red strands falling back into place as soon as I did. Seika was a weird kid, he was just too happy. Not many of us liked him, but we did tolerate him, because his uncle was the head of his clan and the second gennin squad's sensei.

Seika intimidated us to some degree, but I would crush him if I had to. Yacou and I could take him out if we worked together. Speaking of the girl, I turned to her, nodding my head in an encouraging way, before turning to Tokama-sensei. "Don't worry Tokama-sensei, we can handle these guys, no problem."

Rather than smiling like I'd expected, Tokama-sensei merely shrugged, turning to the drawing board behind him. "Maybe, maybe not. Kekkei Genkai users have always been seen as skilled, and they are no exception. We'll just have to do our best. Yacou will attach her seals to Seika at the start of the fight, and then she'll use her puppets to bombard Girin and Kokoro. Kino will attack them from the right, and Dakede will attack from the left. Remember Dakede, you're not allowed to open any gates or use the splitting technique."

Dakede groaned at this statement, before shaking his head. I couldn't believe he was so disrespectful, I should hurt him… Oh well, he was on my team. Tokama-sensei dismissed us then, and I bowed to the blond haired man, staring into his dark eyes for a moment. I could tell he was uneasy, but I didn't know why.

As Yacou and Dakede walked by, I could see the two arguing. They both irritated me immensely, but they were still my best friends. No one could believe the two were friends, they had nothing in common. Yacou was a fun loving girl who was almost always smiling, Dakede was too serious. Dakede had sandy blond hair and green eyes, Yacou had raven hair and brown eyes.

I watched them carefully as they left, trying to decide if they were ready for the Chuunin exams. They were both skilled, but whether or not they were skilled enough remained to be seen… Still, even if they weren't ready, there wasn't anything I could do about it. I said good bye to Tokama-sensei and Akamundai, before turning to make my way out of the classroom, exiting into the halls. I'd better go get ready then.

As I walked, I took a final look at Dakede's red and black steam armor, noting the similarities to the one worn by Han. I'd always wanted to see what Dakede could do with that thing, now seemed to be our chance. Apparently only one Konoha-nin had made it to Chuunin last year, so that would give us a chance to take on some experienced opponents. Maybe this pre-chuunin exam test wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.