Hooray! Chapter One is up!

Enjoy the story guys, and comment if you like it!

Please no flames... we will sob... AND COME AFTER YOU WITH KUNAI!

...scratch that last part...

Disclaimer: We, Shiori Kuroshima and Hitomi Yamanaka, make no claims to any recognizable characters.

We only own ourselves, Raiden Nagahara—

[Raiden: You guys do NOT own me!]

[Hitomi: SHUT UP, RAIDEN!]

—and a few more characters that will be on the way.

Thank you!

Chapter One

"Tanaka, Kazumi?"

"Here."

"Tsuchito, Mariko?"

"Present, Sensei."

"Uchiha, Sasuke?"

"Accounted for."

"Uzumaki, Naruto?"

Silence.

"Uzumaki, Naruto…"

Iruka-sensei was twitching again. Naruto was late to class. So as usual, Iruka-sensei would have to leave the class to find out why. All us Konoha Academy students knew that we would once again have quite a few minutes to ourselves before lessons started. Then again, there shouldn't be any too difficult lessons today, since the final exams were tomorrow. Hopefully, it was just going to be review.

"That idiot's ALWAYS late to class! Can't he ever be NORMAL, and get to class on time?" That was Sakura Haruno, chastising Naruto, as always.

"But, Sakura, I-I'm sure that N-Naruto is on his way right now… It's p-probably not his fault, you kn-know?" That was Hinata Hyuga. She's a very sweet girl, and always sticks up for Naruto. I mean, it's not like he's a bad kid or anything, but for once I agree with Sakura; it would be nice if he could show up for class, and not cause a delay. But I guess it can't be helped.

The Academy classroom was buzzing. All of a sudden, a jonin ran in and whispered something to Iruka-sensei. When the jonin left, sensei was still twitching, but now with gritted teeth.

"Okay, class," he began. "Naruto's not here right now. I'm going to be gone for a few minutes, and while I'm gone, no fooling around. Got it?" He glared at us all meaningfully.

"Of course not, sensei!" Kiba Inuzuka piped up, his little dog, Akamaru, yipping as well. "I mean, since when have we ever fooled around?"

The class broke into a chorus of laughter.

Iruka-sensei smiled. "Ha-ha-ha. I'm serious, guys!" He looked around the classroom. While walking out, he said, "Yamanaka, you're in charge."

Both my friend, Hitomi, and another classmate, Ino, looked up.

"But, sensei!" They called out simultaneously.

"Oh, sorry!" Iruka-sensei hopped back in, and stuck his head in the doorway. "Sorry, girls! I meant Ino's in charge!"

Hitomi slammed her head on the desk in front of me, her short black hair flying. I could almost see the lines of depression seeping out of her. Ino, who sat in the seat before her, turned around and stuck out her tongue, pulling down her eyelid.

I tapped Hitomi in the back. "Don't worry so much! It's probably only because she sits in the front. Sensei must've spotted her first, nothing major!" Of course, that wasn't enough to cheer her up. So I kicked the back of her seat, jolting her upright. I took one of the hair pins keeping her crowning braids together.

Meanwhile, Ino was triumphantly walking up to the front of the room. Technically, she didn't have to do this. All she had to do, really, was make sure the class didn't become too rowdy, like throwing things or having all-out fist fights. Or worse, ninja fights! She could easily do this from her desk. But of course, she loved the spotlight, a fatal flaw of the Yamanaka Clan. A fatal flaw of both Ino Yamanaka, and Hitomi Yamanaka.

Hitomi turned around, eyeing the hair pin in my fingers. "What are you doing?" She asked hesitantly.

"Waiting for the right moment." I replied with a mischievous smile.

Hitomi shook her head, grinning. She took out the other pin, and laid it flat on her desk. She undid her braids and smoothed out her hair, rendering it straight and the slightest bit longer.

Ino sat on top of Iruka-sensei's desk, smiling proudly. She crossed her arms and legs and then started to brag about random talents of hers. Hitomi and I sighed exasperatedly when she started to add, "See, Sasuke? Isn't that right, Sasuke? Isn't that so cool, Sasuke?"

Hitomi turned around again, her dark gray eyes bulging. "Planning to act anytime soon? I don't think I could take another minute of this. I might puke!"

The classmate to my right folded his arms behind his head. "I know, right? What a drag. It's always Sasuke this, and Sasuke that… Man, sometimes I wish that guy wasn't so… Sasuke-like."

I laughed. "What's the matter, Shikamaru? Feeling a bit jealous?"

Shikamaru Nara sighed. "Tch. Really, Shiori? Jealous? Of that guy? That'll be the day. What about you, Shino?" Shikamaru motioned to the boy in front of him, and next to Hitomi. "What do you think of Sasuke?" Shino Aburame was… well, to simply put it, the quiet type.

"Well, I can't say that I respect him, and nor that I hate him." He said in a monotone voice, without turning around.

Shikamaru grimaced. "Whaa?"

Shino gave a curt reply. "I don't like to explain the same thing twice."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow. Shino really creeped her out sometimes, she would tell me. There was almost something… unsettling about him. I mostly understood what she meant by that. He was very, how to say, mysterious about everything, never taking off his dark sunglasses and hiding behind the collar of his jacket.

"So, when are you planning to… er, 'deploy your plan'?" Hitomi asked again.

"Hahaha! Not to worry," I patted her teasingly on the head. "After all, patience is a virtue!" She seemed satisfied with this answer, and turned to face the front. Seeing Ino with her hands on her hips, face to face with Sakura Haruno, she slammed her head on the desk again. I followed suit. We both knew what was coming, along with the rest of the class.

"STOP IT, INO-PIG! YOU'LL NEVER GET SASUKE, AND YOU KNOW IT! HE'S MINE!"

"AS IF, BILLBOARD-BROW! HOW COULD SASUKE EVER FALL FOR SOMEONE WITH SUCH A HUGE FOREHEAD? YOU'VE GOT NO CHANCE!"

They went on and on, while Sasuke turned towards the window, grinding rocks to dust in his hand.

I kicked the back of Hitomi's seat again, and she turned.

I attempted to make a series of hand signs, concentrating on the hair pin, and aiming at Ino.

But just then, angry footsteps were heard in the hallway, stopping me midway. All the students scrambled for their desks and sat perfectly still.

Iruka-sensei stomped inside, dragging a tied up Naruto by the collar. I couldn't help but suppress a chuckle.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto!" Iruka-sensei started out. "You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, and you're messing up again!"

The class was silent, watching intently.

"Hmph!" Naruto defiantly turned away from Iruka-sensei, pointing his nose upwards. Sensei's temples started to visibly throb.

"FINE! BECAUSE YOU MISSED IT, NARUTO, EVERYONE WILL REVIEW THE TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!"

"Awww!" The whole classroom was filled with whines and moans.

Well, I thought to myself. It seems that I was right. We ARE doing a review. But I didn't think we would review THIS jutsu. We perfected it a LONG time ago!

We all lined up against the desks in the front of the room. Sensei called each of our names, and asked us to transform into him, and everyone was doing it correctly so far. Hitomi and I were near the end of the line, right behind Hinata Hyuga. She's actually one of our good friends, though she's very shy. Once you get to know her, she's a kind, thoughtful, and creative individual.

At the moment, however, she was staring at Naruto, who was near the front of the line, right behind Sakura and Sasuke. Hinata was talking quietly with us about a recent assignment, but we could tell that she was disorientated, since she was poking her fingers together and blushing furiously.

Sakura and Sasuke did it perfectly, and the line moved on.

"Next, Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka-sensei called out.

Come on, Naruto! I thought. At least get this right for the sake of the class!

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru said near the front of the line.

"Yeah!" Ino agreed. "We always have to pay for YOUR screw-ups!"

"Like I care…" Naruto said spitefully. Then he walked up towards Iruka-sensei.

Hinata made a quiet sigh, still poking her fingers together and blushing. Both Hitomi and I could tell that she was hoping for Naruto to do well. He had such a determined look on his face that we actually believed that he was confident enough, and that he would succeed!

That's where we were utterly wrong.

Things went downhill from there.

Naruto yelled transform, yes… but…

"TRANSFORM!"

Hinata fainted.

Hitomi yelled in horror.

My arm spazzed and punched Kiba Inuzuka in the face.

"What the—HEY!" he spluttered.

Naruto had transformed into a very… well, noticeable blonde woman, causing Iruka-sensei to fall backwards with a nosebleed and a disturbed yell.

Another one of our classmates, Mariko Tsuchito, pushed her cropped blue hair out of her eyes and shouted, "YOU PERVERTS!"

Naruto transformed back into his normal self and burst into laughter. "HAHAHA! Gotcha! That was my sexy jutsu!"

Iruka-sensei snapped. "CUT THE STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

This brought Hinata, Hitomi and I back to sanity. I looked to my side to see Kiba staring at me with narrowed eyes, my hand was still in contact with his nose.

"Heh, sorry, Kiba. My arm... spazzed..."

"Whatever, it's fine," he shrugged. "I don't blame you. That Naruto's somethin' else, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," I turned to Hitomi and Hinata. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it through the day, guys."

Mariko came over to our little group, shaking her head. "I don't know if I'll be able to either! By the way, how are you guys feeling about the Genin Exams tomorrow?"

Hitomi answered first. "I'm so ready for this! I just know I'm going to ace this!"

Hinata and I agreed.

"Yeah, I feel pretty confident, too," Mariko continued. "Graduating from the Academy isn't supposed to be that hard, from what I've heard. I think they're just going to ask us to perform a few jutsus, actually."

"Really?" I replied. "No written section?"

"Well, I'm not really sure, I'm only guessing."

Hinata piped up. "Do you th-think that Naruto will pass? I hope he doesn't f-fool around in the exam."

Hitomi nudged Hinata in the shoulder with a smile. "Don't worry about it, Hinata. I'm sure he'll do fine."

Hinata gave a small smile back.

Classes had ended about 10 minutes ago, and Mariko, Hinata, Hitomi, and I were chatting and walking home. A few minutes later, after passing the Hot Springs, Hinata's stop came.

"Bye, everyone!" she called, looking backwards and waving as she walked towards the Hyuga main household.

After we replied our farewells, told her we'd see her tomorrow, and wished her good luck, we continued walking.

Mariko turned around and started to walk backwards with her arms folded behind her head. "I still can't believe Naruto had the guts to do that…" she was looking at the Hokage Monument. We could still see a thin outline of his and Iruka-sensei's figures. Mariko wasn't actually talking about the… er, incident in class, but of what Naruto had been doing before he was tied up and brought in. He had put graffiti all over the Hokage faces.

Hitomi made a low whistle. "I didn't think anyone would do something like that. It was totally unexpected. I thought he had just done something like the usual, like playing hookie!"

"Or setting off fire-crackers in the hospital…" I added humorously.

Mariko didn't want to be left out. "Or even spending the whole day in Ichiraku Ramen Bar!"

I laughed. "Well, you can't really blame him for that. Ichiraku is the BEST! By the way, Jun said she's going to take me there tomorrow, after we graduate. Any of you want to come?"

"Is that even a question?" Hitomi squealed. "Of course I'm going!"

Mariko sighed. "I can't. I have to go to the B-B-Q shop with Choji, Shikamaru, and all our dads. It's going to be so awkward… AND I DON'T EVEN LIKE BARBECUE!"

"Aw, that's too bad!" Hitomi said sympathetically.

"Yeah," Mariko nodded. "But I guess that's what happens when your dad's best friend is from the Akimichi Clan…"

I chuckled. "C'mon, don't be so mean!"

Mariko sighed. "I'm not trying to! Anyway, here's my stop. Bye, guys!"

"Bye, Mariko!" Hitomi said.

"See you tomorrow!" I said as well.

Mariko waved and headed towards her house. Now, it was just me and Hitomi. And the Yamanaka Clan wasn't too far away. We kept walking.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," Hitomi said quietly. "I feel incredibly excited, but extremely anxious as well."

"I feel the same way. What if the exams aren't so easy after all?" I replied. That's it, I thought to myself. I'm practicing every jutsu I know tonight, I don't care if I drain out my chakra!

Hitomi sighed. "Well, if we don't pass with flying colors," here she pumped her fist into the air, as we neared the Yamanaka Clan community. "WE'LL AT LEAST PASS AND LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE TO EAT OUR DUST!"

All of a sudden, Ino came into view, who was heading home as well. "Tch. Yeah, right, Hitomi! If anyone's going to be 'eating dust', IT'LL BE YOU EATING MINE!"

Hitomi's face contorted into one of pure rage. "INNNOOOOOO!" She ran at Ino at full force, but didn't get too far once I grabbed her shoulder, restraining her.

"Oh, leave her. She's not worth it." I said calmly.

"HA!" Ino shouted. "YOU HAVE TO BE SAVED BY YOUR DORK FRIEND! HOW LAME IS THAT?"

I frowned. Then, my face twisted into somewhat of an evil smile. "Oops!" I said sweetly, as I let go of Hitomi.

Hitomi ran towards Ino, while Ino screamed and ran for the Yamanaka Clan's gates.

"INVISIBLE BARRIER JUTSU!" I yelled. But then, I saw the kunai in Hitomi's hands.

That's when I regretted my mistake, and my jutsu.

"HEY, YOU THREE! BREAK IT UP!" A boy with light blonde hair, the same color as Ino's, was running up to us from inside the Yamanaka residence. I quickly dispelled the Invisible Barrier Jutsu.

Hitomi stood up and grinned, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry, Kazuhiro! I couldn't resist." He looked only a bit older than us, probably only 16, or 17.

"Uh, Hitomi?" I said awkwardly. "I think it's time for me to go now. See you tomorrow!" Then I put on a creepy smile, and voice to match. "You too, Ino!"

Ino looked away defiantly. "Hmph!"

I waved to Hitomi and continued along the path. I looked back and saw the one named Kazuhiro ruffle up Hitomi's and Ino's heads and smile while they looked away from each other. Then he laughed and said, "You two are hilarious…"

I kept walking, past the markets and shops that littered the streets' sides. Two young boys were running and dodging in the alleyways and in the open, 'playing ninja', throwing cardboard shuriken at each other. A girl was following behind, looking as if she was about to cry.

One of the boys stopped. "What's the matter, Moegi?"

The girl named Moegi sniffed. She began to tearily say something when she took out some cardboard shuriken of her own and pinned the boy. "HAH! GOTCHA!"

I laughed to myself and kept walking. After I passed the Konoha Stadium, I reached my own home, the Kuroshima Clan.

I walked through the gates. It was quiet, as usual. I saw one of my cousins, Shun, practicing with nunchaku near some sparring posts. She turned when she saw me and made to greet me, when she moved her hand the wrong way, making the nunchaku handles hit her on the head.

"SHUN!" I yelled, dropping my knapsack and running over to her. "Are you okay?"

Shun's eyes were spinning. "Uh… whaa? H-Hello, Ju—I mean, uh…. Shiori?" Her eyes focused. "Heh, sorry, Shiori. I'm such a klutz!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked, looking at her head. There was a slightly protruding bump in the midst of her tousled brown hair, but it wasn't too big.

"Hahaha! I'm sure that I'm just fine. Not to worry!" she reassured me.

I smiled, picked up my bags, and walked a bit farther, to my own house. As I turned around, I saw the reassuring smile slide off Shun's face and turn into a look of anxiety. She ran into her own house, and yelled to her mother about wanting an ice pack.

When I finally reached my house, I walked in and said, "Hello? Anyone here?"

Nobody answered.

"Ah, well." I set my bag down and walked to my bedroom. The walls were lined with sketches of different plants, buildings, and people in the Hidden Leaf. Even though I had promised myself, I didn't feel like practicing my jutsus, so I grabbed a couple of graphite sticks and a pad of paper and went back outside. I found a tree and sat under it, when I realized I had no idea what to sketch. Suddenly, I didn't feel like sketching at all.

"Funny," I said aloud. "It seems that I've become bipolar in a day." Though it was probably only from the anxiety of the Genin Exams. So instead of practicing ninjutsu, which was bound to be in the exam, I practiced taijutsu, which was not going to be on it, with Shun.

"Oh, that's right, the Genin Exams are tomorrow." She said while swiping a roundhouse kick at me. I dodged and jumped up, attempting to land a falling axe-kick. She evaded the technique, and appeared behind me. I thrust my elbow backwards, but… no contact.

Wait, no contact? I did a double-take. The Clone Jutsu!

"SHUN! This is taijutsu! No ninjustu allowed!" Still, she sent several clones at me, each dissolving into thin air as I struck.

"Hahaha! Always be prepared for anything, Shiori!" Then, that demonic girl threw a flash bomb in my direction. I managed to get out of the way, so that there was no impact, but I was still temporarily blinded. As I started to see things again, she threw four smoke bombs from different directions. I wasn't able to see, again.

I was panicking. I had to tell myself to calm down. I closed my eyes, and stopped struggling to see through the smoke.

You see, most descendants of the Kuroshima Clan have an interesting talent. We are able to force all our concentration into one of the human senses, and use our chakra to strengthen it. And it's not just the five senses; this also includes the sixth sense, the sense of balance, the sense of temperature, and many more kinds. I just happen to share this talent with many of my kith and kin.

I concentrated on my senses of hearing and of direction. This way, I could be able to perceive where Shun would attack from with the sense of hearing, and at the same time be able to tell where I'm going based on my sense of direction. Shun's elder sister, Jun, and yes, those are their names, told me once that the sense of direction can come especially in handy when on missions, because it gives you the ability to detect the direction one is facing, also referred to as magnetoception.

Once I concentrated on hearing and direction, Shun immediately attacked.

"DEFENSIVE IMPACT!" Shun delivered a tremendous punch to the ground, causing the ground to shudder and rise up in a semi-sphere. The strange thing was, I heard the yell from one direction, and the earth moving in another. The smoke suddenly dissipated, revealing Shun to be aiming a spinning kick right at me. I struck her leg with my arm, and we engaged in a grueling fist fight that lasted a good half an hour, kick after kick, punch after punch. Eventually, we realized that this might never end, so we called a truce, laughing and collapsing in front of a tree.

"So, do you think you'll be ready for the Genin Exams tomorrow?" she asked with a chuckle. She tightened her Leaf headband.

"Well, actually, Taijutsu isn't—"

"I know, I know, I mean, how confident are you?"

"Well, pretty confident, I guess. And I can't wait to get a Leaf headband!" I added.

"I remember when I first got mine," Shun removed the headband, and looked at it in her hands. "I felt like I couldn't wear it for weeks, because I didn't feel any different after I passed! But the feeling went away. Now, I can hardly take it off!"

I smiled in reply. Then I looked up to the sky. "It's getting late. I should probably go now."

"You better get a good night's rest. It's never good to miss out on sleep before something important."

I nodded and stood up. "Bye, Shun."

She waved and stood up as well, and we went our separate ways.

The house was still empty when I came back, so I went along and warmed up some miso soup with an onigiri. Most days it was like this, considering my mother is a jonin, always on missions, and my father is an ANBU Black Op.

After I finished eating and drinking a cup of milk, I headed upstairs to go to sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

"HELL!" I shouted. I ran as fast as I could, jumping over newspaper and magazine stands. People were yelling at me to watch it, I could hurt someone. I even scared the old man from Ichiraku Ramen Bar by running into him while he was carrying several orders!

"Sorry! I'm in a hurry!" I yelled, looking back.

He just shook his head and sighed. "Youth these days… always in a hurry…"

I kept running, dodging children and swerving for elderly women. I attracted many stares and curious looks. I don't really blame them, though. A girl with half-brushed wet hair, running through the streets as if Death were after her? Pretty strange.

I had forgotten to put an alarm for today, since I was stressing so much. Thankfully, I woke up just 20 minutes after I was supposed to, and not too late. I only had time to change and grab another onigiri for a quick breakfast. To top off the bad beginning of my day, as I ran out of my still empty house, I bumped into Shun's mother, who was carrying a big basin of water, which of course, spilled all over me. You could probably imagine that my day was not going too well.

See, the unfortunate thing is, the Academy is all the way on the other side of the Leaf Village from the Kuroshima Clan. The Yamanaka and Hyuga Clans and even Mariko's house are all closer to the Academy.

But when the Academy came into view, I finally relaxed, and sped up. I pushed through the gates.

I sighed with relief. The students were just filing into the building. I guess I wasn't that late, after all. But then again, when I normally go to the Academy, I walk slowly with Hinata, Mariko, and Hitomi, building our posse in the opposite way than going home.

Hitomi was speaking with Mariko, who had a glum face, when she turned around and saw me.

"Hey, where've you be—Wait… what happened to you?"

I shook my head and said that I was just running late.

We sat down at our desks, chatting with the people next to us and worrying about the exams.

Iruka-sensei cleared his throat. "We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, please proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on…"

We all waited with baited breath.

"The Clone Jutsu!"

NO WAY! I shouted in my head. THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHUN KEPT TRYING YESTERDAY! I'M SO GONNA ACE THIS!

Mariko turned around from her seat in the front and winked at me and Hitomi. She had even said that the test would probably be on performing jutsus.

I looked to my left to see Naruto a few seats down, holding his head in his hands. That was a bad sign. Then something else caught my eye. In the front, Sakura was… punching the air in front of her. It was, kind of disturbing actually. She just kept on punching, as if at an invisible target.

"First up," our sensei called out. "Aburame, Shino!"

From next to Hitomi, Shino slowly got up, and walked to the testing room, hands in the pockets of his freakishly large jacket. Most probably, we would be testing in alphabetical order. My hypothesis was proven when the next two students called were Choji Akimichi and Tatsuya Chiba. After a student took the exam, they were sent outside of the Academy. Though, I didn't really see the purpose of this, since there was virtually no way to cheat on performing a jutsu in front of an examiner.

Names kept being called, and then sensei would follow the student into the testing room. After Hinata went, sensei came out and called my name.

"Kuroshima, Shiori!"

Well, no need to say it with such enthusiasm! I was a bit gritty at the time, being anxious and all. I knew the jutsu perfectly, but call me paranoid, there were still many things that could go wrong!

I walked into the testing room. It was similar to our classroom, but without all the student desks; that way there was more room. At the front of the room, was a table where Iruka-sensei sat down, next to a man with spiked grayish-white hair that reached down to his shoulders. He was sitting with his elbows on the table, his arms and hands supporting his head while leaning forward. He was profusely smiling as well.

What a creep… Why is he smiling like that? I thought to myself.

"Look at you, you've got hair similar to mine!" He said cheerfully.

Okay, now this is getting disturbing. I decided to only look to Iruka-sensei.

"This is Mizuki-sensei; he's a chunin, like myself." Iruka sensei told me.

"Hello." I said nervously.

"Why, hello to you too!" He was still smiling.

"Alright, Shiori, go ahead. Make three clones, and you'll pass." Sensei prompted.

I took a deep breath, turned away from Mizuki-sensei, and made the hand signs.

Ram… Snake… Tiger…

"CLONE JUTSU!"

To my right, left, and front, three clones appeared, each holding either kunai or shuriken.

Mizuki-sensei clapped and smiled cheekily. "Very good, very good!" I had to fight the urge to go over there and punch him into the wall.

Iruka-sensei looked at him and then turned back to me. "Nicely executed, Shiori. You pass!" He then handed me one of the many Leaf headbands lying on the desk where the two men sat.

I made a quick bow, and uttered my thanks to both sensei, and exited the room from the second door, leading to the outside while putting on my headband. There were a total of 8 students already outside. The only two girls were Sakura and Hinata. Sakura was bragging to nobody in particular, saying how easy the examination was.

I went over to Hinata. "How did you do?" I asked her.

Hinata gave a small smile and pointed to the Leaf headband, which she had placed around her neck. "I did perfectly, Iruka-sensei told me."

I congratulated her, and told her that I had done well, too. Then I frowned. "Was there another sensei in there?"

The smile melted off her face as well. "Yes, h-he was very awkward."

"He smiled creepily the whole time, I felt like I was going to lose control and release my inner fury." I joked.

Hinata nodded. "It was very unpleasant."

We kept chatting while more students filed out. After me, Kiba came out, followed by Norio Izumino, then Akane Kimura. Akane went over to Sakura and they started talking about how dreamy Sasuke was and that they knew he would pass with flying colors.

After exactly 9 people came out, Mariko arrived with her headband on her forehead, walking around the area till she found us. "Hey, did you see that other sensei?"

"You mean, Mizuki-sensei? The guy with a never-ending grin?" I replied.

Mariko laughed. "Yeah, him. But wait, isn't that a girl's name?"

Hinata joined in. "Really? I'm n-not so sure about that."

Mariko shrugged, tapping the Leaf headband. "Anyway, he's a real scoundrel. Staring at all the girls like that… Why I oughtta…" Mariko was usually like this. Plotting against the men of the world. That's one of the real reasons I like her!

She continued. "Shikamaru told me he wasn't like that for him, or any of the other boys. What a creep…"

Sasuke came out a few seconds later, causing the 4 other girls to run over to him and start bombarding him with questions, some of which did NOT even come close to being related to the exams. Next, Naruto came out, but he looked extremely droopy, and walked over to the wooden swing that was tied to one of the trees. He just sat there in the shadows. No headband in sight.

"You don't think…" I started out, feeling extremely bad.

Hinata looked incredibly depressed. "Oh, Naruto…"

Mariko looked a bit glum as well. "Poor kid."

Finally, Hitomi came out. There were just 2 people who had to come out after her, Ino and a boy named Takumi Yoshido. Hitomi ran over to us, holding the headband in her hands above her head. "I PASSED! IRUKA-SENSEI SAID I DID IT EXCEPTIONALLY!" Then she did a little victory dance. She stopped suddenly when she saw the gloomy looks on our faces. "What happened?"

I nodded towards Naruto sitting on the swing. Hitomi looked for a moment, and then her smile melted off her face. "Oh," she said quietly.

Hinata, Mariko, Hitomi, and I had mostly forgotten our pity for Naruto as we walked away from the Academy, but I suppose that Hinata was still feeling terrible deep down.

"Hinata, are you sure you can't come with Hitomi and I to Ichiraku tonight?" I asked her once again.

Mariko groaned. "You guys are so lucky…"

Hinata smiled. "Thank you for the offer, but again, m-my father wouldn't like it if I went out at night."

So we left it at that.

After Hinata and Mariko disbanded from the group, Hitomi and I kept walking.

"When we reach your place, you can go in and leave your stuff, I guess. I'll come back from my house after an hour or so. Hopefully, Jun will come by then."

"I guess, sure! Anyway, I should probably see if my dad's at least home yet."

"Sure, alright."

We arrived at the Yamanaka Clan, and Hitomi went inside, this time no brawl with Ino, thankfully. I waved to her, and continued home.

As I entered the Kuroshima Clan, I spotted Shun's mother. I went over to her and apologized again about bumping into her earlier.

"Oh, don't worry about it Shiori, it was just an accident. But why were you in such a hurry?"

I took my headband out of my bag and held it up to her.

"The Genin Exams were today?" she asked in astonishment.

I nodded, and she congratulated me. Then she said something about going to find Shun and chastise her about not telling her that I was going to graduate. I laughed and proceeded to my own home.

I emptied my bag of all my school books and put them neatly away in a cabinet. I decided not to bring anything to Ichiraku, not even the sketchbook which I keep with me at all times. The only thing I decided to keep with me was the Leaf headband. I looked at it again. A blue cloth with a metal plate with the Leaf insignia engraved on it. I tied it around my forehead and went off to show Shun.

About an hour later, I started off to the Yamanaka Clan. As I walked along, a figure with long black hair was running towards me. She had a mask on, but I couldn't exactly see what it looked like, she was running so fast. Then she passed me. Then she backtracked, jogging backwards.

The mask had vanished, as if it were never there, revealing Jun's face.

"Why, hello, Shiori!" She said with a chuckle. "I got a little bit ahead of myself. My, you've grown. I haven't seen you in… a year or so, have I?"

I nodded with a smile. It was true. Shun had told me of Jun's wanting to treat me when I graduated, not Jun herself. She's an ANBU Black Op, like my dad, and actually like Hitomi's father as well. Jun had recently been visiting the other lands for some important business, 3rd Hokage's orders.

"You've gotten taller, as well, Jun." I told her. She was about… 24 right now, more or less.

She laughed and we walked in the direction of the Yamanaka Clan. "So who else is coming with us?"

"Just Hitomi. You remember her, right?"

"Hm… the Uchiha-Yamanaka kid?"

"Er… Yeah, I guess."

"Hahaha, sorry. She's the one with the long black hair, right?"

"Not anymore, it's short now. Some girls thought that she was trying to impress the other Uchiha boy in our class by growing it long, like they did. She was really insulted, so she cut it."

"Interesting…" she had a contemplative face.

"Wh-what?" I asked, confused.

Jun turned to me, confused. "What? Oh, no, it's nothing." Then I noticed she was staring at my own long hair, tied in a ponytail.

I softly punched her in the arm. "Expel the thought. I hate that kid as much as Hitomi."

Jun chuckled.

We reached the Yamanaka Clan, where Hitomi was sitting outside of the gates on the floor, with her own sketchbook in hand. When she spotted us, she got up and left the book in a bush next to a pillar.

Jun stared at her. "Hitomi? That you?"

"Hey, Jun, long time no see!"

So with a bewildered Jun, we set off to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

When we got there we each ordered a bowl of ramen from Ayame, Hitomi and I having seconds and even thirds. It's that good. Then the old man, Teuchi, who I also bumped into earlier today came in and looked closely at me, squinting. "Hey, you were that girl who was in a hurry today, weren't you?"

Jun and Hitomi stopped halfway in slurping up ramen to look at me.

I scratched the back of my head and grinned. "Heh, yeah… Sorry about that, Teuchi-san. The Genin Exams were today, and I woke up late." I pointed to the headband on my forehead.

"Really?" Teuchi looked surprised. "I didn't know that!"

"I didn't either!" Ayame added.

It seems that nobody knows about when the Genin Exams… I thought humorously. Shun, Shun and Jun's mother, Teuchi, Aya—

Teuchi smiled. "Then one more bowl of ramen to each of you, on the house!"

Hitomi's eyes widened. "Seriously? You'd do that?"

Ayame grinned. "Of course! It's not every day that you become a qualified ninja!"

Hitomi and I looked expectantly at Jun. She laughed. "Sure, go ahead. But please, Ayame, don't try to force another bowl on me. I won't be able to make it back if I eat more than this!"

"Gosh, you have such a small stomach!" I said to Jun.

All of a sudden, several shouting voices were heard outside. Jun turned around and lifted the Ichiraku banners blocking the view, revealing several Jonin shouting and running in one direction.

"Wonder what's going on…" she said quietly.

Hitomi and I were looking at the jonin as well. They looked angry, and we managed to make out a few words. Scroll of Sealing, Stolen, and Forbidden Jutsu.

Jun sighed. "I should probably see what's going on. What a bother…"

"What a role-model ANBU…" I muttered with a smile.

Jun pinched my nose and got up. "Bye, guys, congrats on graduating! I know you guys'll become great kunoichi."

Hitomi and I both waved, ramen noodles sticking out of our mouths.

Jun exited the Ramen Bar. A few seconds later, a thought occurred to us.

We stuck our heads out and through the banners of Ichiraku, to see Jun far in the distance.

"JUUUUUUUUUUUNNNN! YOU FORGOT TO PAY FOR THE RAAAAAMMMENNNN!"

I remember that day well, don't you, Shiori?

[Shiori: (sad face) How could I ever forget... my wallet was almost empty...]

Hahaha, it's a good thing that the fourth bowls were on the house, then, right?

[Shiori: I don't want to talk about it...]

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-Melpomene Black (Shiori)

-Lucky the Leprechaun (Hitomi)