Prologue/Chapter 1:

"Come on hurry up Murai! We're gonna be late if we don't hurry up." A young girl yelled as she ran up the street towards the red building that housed the Hokage, her pink hair flitting around her neck behind her, her pink skirt flicking just above her knees, her black top reached to just below her waist. A black haired boy, with a black top and black trousers, jumped down from a roof and landed next to her as he laughed and whispered "Caught up with you already Hitomi" before laughing and running onwards before jumping onto an awning and then to the rooftops again. Hitomi laughed before running faster and reaching the double doors as the black haired boy landed in front of her. A blonde haired boy, his bright blue eyes shining out, skidded to a halt and looked at his two friends as they grinned at him.

"That was cheating Akihito, and you Hitomi. Leaving me a message to say it's a race to the Hokage's building whilst you guys sprint off in front of me is unfair." The boy said, as he looked them both in the eyes with his pupil-less lilac eyes.

Hitomi laughed as she flicked a piece of her bright pink hair out of her eyes, "Uh huh, like you've never done it before Murai, and besides, didn't you say you were faster than me?"

Akihito chuckled as he pushed the doors open and led the way inside whilst Murai and Hitomi carried on bickering behind him. After a minute or two they reached a plain door, which he knocked on. "Enter" a soft voice called out.

They did so and pushed the door open to reveal the Hokage's room. A desk stood at the end of the room, surrounded by windows looking out over the village, to the right, five portraits hung on the walls, nameplates below, with a sixth empty. Murai's eyes swept the room, taking in everything, the piles of paperwork to one side, the coat slung over a chair to the other, and a man standing behind the desk looking out over the village, his back to the door, hands together. His green khaki vest bulked his slim frame out, his white hair spiky, reaching to the top of the windows. He turned to look at the three genin, his forehead protector down over his left eye, a black mask covering his nose and mouth, left only his right eye visible, the black pupil seeming to penetrate everything. "Lord Hokage" Akihito and Hitomi said reverently.

"Yo, Kakashi-Sensei what did you want us for?" Murai grinned as the Hokage sat down in the chair behind the desk. The Hokage smiled before going "The Chunin Exams are coming up, in less than a week to be exact. Konohamaru has put all three of you forward for it."

"Excellent!" Murai yelled punching the air, Hitomi grinned widely and Akihito pulled a sly grin, before asking, "What's the catch?"

Murai looked over at him before returning his gaze to the Hokage. The Hokage smiled beneath his mask and chuckled, "You understand the situation we're in at the moment don't you? With the temporary ceasefire, the Chunin Exams are more important than ever. As you know, the Chunin Exams are there to promote friendship through the nations on the surface, whilst conducting a miniature war between the nations under the surface. However, there are going to be plenty who do not wish to promote the friendship even on the surface, and are going in with the full intent to kill as many other candidates from other villages as possible. Yet, due to the rules of the exams, there is little that we can do to stop them, as the second exam will show you. However, I request that you hold yourselves back in this exam. Only use enough strength to defeat the opponent, but make it look like your struggling or trying hard. We need to keep some of our strength hidden to the other competitors, in case war breaks out again, and if it does, Konoha will need some shinobi who have skills unknown to our opponents, you three are some of those shinobi that will be required. You three are some of the best shinobi we have, even though most of the shinobi in this village believe that you three are simply standard and slightly lazy genin."

Murai laughed, "Well that's because you keep us up all night Sensei, if you didn't we might be more attentive in class."

The Hokage chuckled before replying "Are you complaining about all the extra classes I've given you Murai?"

"Of course not Sensei, those extra lessons are starting to pay off, I've nearly got my new jutsu completed." He chuckled before muttering to Hitomi "and this one, is unknown to everyone, even Kakashi-Sensei." She raised her eyebrows at him as he finished his sentence.

"So our mission is to pass the Chunin Exams, yet holding ourselves back and looking like we're going all out as we do in lessons and all other training, correct Lord Hokage?" Akihito asked.

"To put it simply, yes. Also, I do not want you to tell your parents of this mission either." He paused before continuing, "And there the discussion will have to end, although you will not be able to come to any of the night lessons anymore, at least until I tell you again, understood?"

"Completely"
"Crystal clear sir"

"Totally Sensei"

Murai turned to the door as the Hokage said, you can come in you six." The door opened and three men and three girls walked in. The men stood tall, two with black hair, one pulled back into a ponytail sticking into the air, the other's hair was short and dangled over his headband, the third, had his blonde hair sticking up at all angles, his black headband holding it back from his forehead. The first had a green khaki vest like the Hokage's, with black clothing underneath, a metal plate with a leaf inscribed on it sewn into left sleeve. The second had a black top, which stopped before his stomach, red straps leading down either side of his chest. The third stood at the front, orange trousers and top, with black sleeves and upper chest.

The girls stood behind the three men, one a blonde, her hair split into four ponytails, with bangs hanging over the front of her headband, a large closed fan across her back, wearing a black dress with a red cloth wound round her waist. The second stood with a deep red sleeveless shirt, black gloves, grey skirt reaching to her thighs and shoulder length pink hair. The third had waist length dark navy blue hair, pupil-less lilac eyes, a lilac top with long cream sleeves, and navy blue trousers reaching to her shins.

"Hey Shikamaru, Sai, Naruto, Temari, Sakura, Hinata." The Hokage nodded to each of them in turn.

The three genin smiled at the six shinobi as they walked in, "Hey Dad, hey Mum" Murai spoke first, smiling at the blonde man and the dark navy haired girl

"Hey kid," The blonde smiled ruffling his son's hair.

"Hey Murai," his mother smiled. Akihito and Hitomi greeted their parents similarly, before the Hokage looked at Akihito's father and said "Shikamaru, can you go find Choji please? I need you him and Lee to go on a mission"

Shikamaru looked up "Sure," He turned to face the door, tapped his son on the shoulder, nodded to the others and walked out the door, his black hair disappearing round the door. The blonde girl nodded to the others before turning to Akihito and saying "Come on, we need to get back." Akihito nodded to the other two before heading out the door in front of his mother.

"Naruto, we need to go back as well" Murai's mother said to his father. Naruto nodded, "See ya Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura, Sai." before walking out the door with Hinata and Murai. Hitomi turned to face the Hokage, "Anything else Lord Hokage?" He shook his head, leaving Sakura, Sai and Hitomi to walk home. The Hokage turned back to face out the window once more.