In the stone city of Iwa, filled with jagged cliffs and unforgiving walls of rock, a figure hid behind the cover of an alley wall, peeking around the corner at his prey. The figure, a man, seemingly whispered into the wall its self, "I have spotted the intruder, My Kage. He seems to be attempting some sort of complex jutsu. How shall I proceed?" The figure turned to look his way, and he hid once more, confident that he hadn't been seen; a look back to the alley confirmed this, the enemy hadn't budged an inch... what was he up to? Either way, the infiltrator was clearly a very experienced shinobi; close cropped short black hair, two deep scars running sideways across each cheek bone, and an all black generic special ops suit, nixing any village identifiers. The response echoed in his ear just loud enough for him to hear.

"Kill him; do not let him follow through with his plans. We will need to harvest him for information later, so keep his head intact." The wall whispered back silently.

A sinister smile crept onto the man's lips as he heard the command."My pleasure."

The man, his long, dark hair draped over his cloaked body, slid up the building he had been pressing against effortlessly, vying for an ambush position; He knew just how he wanted to confront this foe.

"Team leader to bravo; I fear that I may have been spotted." He whispered into the headset on his face as he continued with the preparations. "fall back, I am going to try and infiltrate-" the faint sound of feet pushing off from stone alerted him to an attack, With expert grace he dove and threw three shuriken behind his back, rolling to his feet facing his foe. The figure he saw was one of contrast, dense black clothing and hair made the man's pale skin stand out more than it might have. He recognized the man, or at least he fit the description of one of this village's more infamous shinobi.

"You would be Kanteki of the salt fields. Good, I had hoped to strike a deep scar into the village while I was here; the loss of a jounin such as yourself will be perfect." The figure laughed almost pleasantly at the statement as he dropped the three shuriken to the ground at his feet; he felt the man's eyes look him up and down.

"I wasn't aware I had a fan outside of this village. I suppose I would, though~ But, you see; this leaves me at odds, as I have no clue who you, the man who thinks he can kill me, are." He was prying for information; it was to be expected, but his attempts would prove futile. "What does it matter, ugly? You'll be dead soon anyhow." he sent back the reply that he thought would anger his obviously prideful opponent the most; an angry opponent was easier to outsmart. He didn't quite expect the reaction he got.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH I'LL SLIT YOUR-" The outburst was silenced as quickly as it had started. Obviously he didn't like being called ugly; that was a good tool to use against him. "Pardon me... well, we can always get your name from that head of yours after you die... I'll call you deadman until then, alright? Well, I'd better kill you and get this over with."

The dark haired man sprung into action, and deadman did as well, pulling out a kunai to send a slice at his opponent. To his surprise his blow landed, opening up a huge gash in his opponent's chest. The man stumbled back, and deadman pressed what seemed to be an early advantage; could killing this village ace really be so easy? No, no way. The man danced around his blows with seeming ease, spinning, juking, and making a fancy display of it. He didn't seem to be concerned about the bleeding chest wound at all. What the hell was with this guy, anyways?

He would have to try something drastic; he jumped back, making a hand signal, and then springing forward once more. All of a sudden a hail of kunai erupted from his body, flying right at his bleeding foe. In response, the man spun, letting his cloak envelop his body. All of the kunai made contact, and the cloak wriggled about as if who was inside it was about to fall. whew... That was close, too; using a technique like that and having anyone actually live to tell about it might have gotten him identified sooner or later. He watched warily as the cloak wriggled more, and then leaned over to fall. It fell flat, empty. His eyes widened as he heard a sound behind him... clapping. He spun quickly, seeing his cloakless enemy, the chest wound still visible, but none others. "That was certainly an interesting technique... I'll have to look it up, deadman." He stopped clapping, and then suddenly opened his hand wide, letting what looked like a sugar cube materialize slowly between his middle and index finger. "It's salt, if you're wondering... most people ask, and I get tired of hearing the questions. To make a long story short, I can regulate the salt in my blood to incredible extremes, hence, my name. I can even make it multiply, and grow at intense rates, even at a range. For example, when you cut me, and I let you cut me, you got some of my blood on your knife." His eyes quickly darted to the kunai in his hand... no blood. "I then used the salt in the blood to move it onto your hand, and then up your arm." A sinking feeling appeared in his gut as he looked over to his arm... a perfect circle of blood lay on it. "Don't try to brush it off, it's too late... I have already pushed some of my blood into your system, and am increasing the amount of salt in your blood. Normally, I would leave it at that, and let you dry out like a slug, but... well, you called me ugly, so instead, I'm going to use the salt if your blood to rip every last drop of blood from your body! Hmm, that wasn't really a short story, was it? Oh well, nice knowing you, deadman."

Oh god, he was going to die! With a yank of his long haired opponent's hand, he felt the skin at his wrists pull open, and his lifeforce being pulled out. He couldn't let it end like this...the deadman turned and stumbled to the circle he had been preparing the jutsu in. He had to do one last thing!

What was he doing? Didn't he know it was futile? He would have to hurry, then; there went the pleasure of watching this guy die slowly and painfully. The man made it back to the circle he had been preparing a jutsu in, but only got one handsign in before Kanteki pulled both of his hands out to the side quickly, escalating the speed at which he extracted the man's blood. With a terrible tearing sound, the man fell to his knees, and then flat onto the ground, still in his neat little circle. In his last second of life, before Kanteki knew it, he reached up and pressed a seal on his temple. He was trying to destroy his brain! Kanteki sped forward, kicking the hand away from the seal before he completed the process... The hand fell limp to the ground; the man's life was over.

Another shinobi appeared, a chuunin with brown spiky hair that was just a little too long "Kanteki sama-... Ah, you have succeeded." He moved over to check the body, looking up. "Oh man... The kage won't like this... it looks like he managed to erase some of the information in that noggin of his. Well, i'll take him down to intelligence to see what we can still get." He stood and patted his hands together, looking at his dark haired senior. "Man, this guy was some sorta bad ass, huh? From the looks of it he didn't have a drop of blood left in his body, but he still had the presence of mind to try and wipe his own memory... Wonder what his name was."

"He's just another dead man, Roma, do your job." Roma snapped to attention, nodding. "yessir!" He then grabbed the body and disappeared into the night. Kanteki didn't pay any more attention to the somewhat tardy chuunin; he instead stared at the circle... what had this shinobi been planning? He supposed it didn't matter anymore; what ever it was, he had failed.

"We will require your participation." The voice, rasped and hardened by decades of experience, spoke in a clearly measured tone. The response came in a slow drawl, as if its owner was just waking from a deep sleep.

"Yes, honorable Kage."

The kage's voice, which came not from a body, but from a small hole in the stone wall, shaped to resemble a mouth paused for a moment, and then responded once more.

"As you know, we are short on qualified personnel since the last war. I trust your… condition will not get in the way?"

"No, Honorable Kage." The shinobi responded, sitting up in his bed slowly. He reached up to rub his eyes as the village leader responded in a short, satisfied syllable.

"Good." The mouth in the wall closed, and then dissolved into the wall once more, accompanied by a low gravelly sound. Moments later a folder slid from the smooth stone surface as if from a mail slot, landing on the awoken shinobi's lap. He looked down at it for a moment, and then sighed, reaching down to open it.

"WAHOO!" the voice echoed down the hallways and through the walls of the academy building, reaching the ears of a certain young shinobi. He ignored it. He knew exactly who was yelling about like an idiot, and why. It was most certainly that dolt, Kobu, and he was yelling because he had passed the exams. He showed no signs of reaction behind the mask he wore on his face, instead waiting for a response from his interviewer.

There were three parts to an academy student's final examination; The first was the written exam, the second, the skill test, and the third was the interview. He sat on his knees in the final stage, a seal below his prone body that prevented him from telling lies.

"One final question," the older shinobi asked, eyeing the young student's demonic mask… of all the kids who had come through the academy, he had never met one quite like this. He never showed his face, never spoke unless spoken to, and excelled at everything but making friends. It creeped him out, but he couldn't hold him back just for that. He finished asking the final question.

"What is your goal in life? What do you hope to achieve."

The question got the most reaction out of the young ninja that he'd ever seen. It wasn't saying much; he simply paused for a moment, barely tilted his head for a fraction of a second, straightened it, as if caught doing something he shouldn't, and then answered very plainly.

"I wish to be immortal. To live forever."

It was an interesting answer, but he couldn't exactly mark it as a crime. He checked off the last box on his clip board, set it aside, and then reached into his bag, producing a head band with two stones staggered upon each other. He placed it on the desk in front of him, speaking in a serious tone. "Basariku, Kebimara; do you solemnly swear to live the life of an Iwagakure shinobi, to uphold and follow our laws, and give to us your servitude, your health, and life for the good of the village?"

"I do, Sensei." The boy responded almost immediately; he was eager to get started, it seemed.

"Good. From this day forward you are an Iwa shinobi; you will be assigned an instructor, and given a time and place to meet them. Your training will commence tomorrow. Take your head band." The older man then placed his thumb on a small seal on his desk, causing the seal underneath the boy to fade away. The boy then stood, and walked over to the desk, reaching out to grab his head band. A feeling arose in the interviewer's chest, and he suddenly felt the urge to speak more. He place his hand on the headband as well, looking into the eyes of the mask the boy wore.

"I knew your father. He would be proud of you." The boy paused, looking right back at him for a few moments before responding.

"Thank you, Loku, Sensei." He then took his head band, and walked out.

The older shinobi watched him leave, and then let out a deep breath. Jees, the kid was nothing like his father. Even so, he showed more promise than most of the kids of this generation, strange or not. He would have to keep an eye on him, though.

"Wahoo!" She was snapped from a daze as she looked up from the little paper in her hand. That would be Kobu... What an ass. Judging from the excitement, he had gotten through with flying colors. Her, on the other hand; she looked down to the slip of paper in her hand once more. It was her assessment. She had passed, barely. She didn't know whether to feel relieved, or like a failure. She heard rapid footsteps approaching, and quickly placed the paper behind her back; she would be damned if anyone would see the horrendous scores she'd gotten.

"Hah! Flying colors!" The voice rounded the corner with it's owner, a young boy with a round face, blue eyes, and a blue Mohawk atop his head, not spiked so it listed lazily to the side. He had a look of reckless excitement across his face, which transformed into a mischievous grin once he spotted her. Oh great.

"Hey Marin~"He spoke, sliding on up to her and eyeing her arms, which were placed behind her back, hiding the assessment paper.

"Hi, Kobu." He ignored her response, maneuvering his head around to try and see what she was hiding.

"Howd' ya do, huh? Pass this time? It would be a bummer if you failed again." What. An. Ass. Of course he would bring up, once again, that she was the oldest student in the academy, and that she had failed the assessment twice before.

"Sorry to disappoint. I passed. With flying colors." She did her best to put on a confident smile, but the boy saw through her guise right away.

"Really, now? Wacha hiding, then? That your assessment?" He made an effort to reach around her to grab the slip of paper, which was poking out behind her back a little. She tried to move away, but he predicted the movement, and juked around the other side, reaching around widely and snatching the paper from her without making any contact. ARGH! Why did an ass like him have to be so talented? She jumped forward to snatch it back, but he stopped her with a palm to the face, holding her back as he examined the paper

"Lets see here… Ohhh. Written assessment… Acceptable, not bad. Ninjutsu, fail, ouch. Genjutsu, barely passing; double ouch. And of course… Taijutsu, Sloppy, but with potential due to bloodline." He let his arm go limp, stepping back so that she stumbled forward a little, glaring at him with a look of seething hatred. "Hah! You only passed cause of your stupid bloodline?" She stared at him for a moment, and then clenched her fist tightly.

His eyes darted to the fist for a moment… was she going to hit him? He was smart enough to know that a punch from someone like her was… dangerous. He stepped back a little, but realized quickly that there was no blow coming; he looked back to her face to see tears streaming freely from it. "Y-… you're such an ass, Kobu!" She then turned and bolted out, leaving her assessment behind.

The young shinobi stared at her as she went, and then frowned slowly. Wow. He'd really done it this time, hadn't he? He dug up his own assessment, and eyed it for a moment; he was average across the board. Did he really have any space to poke fun at Marin? He sighed, and turned to leave as well. Maybe he really was an ass. Well, at least he wouldn't have to really deal with her much in the future, would he? He would just wait for a while and apologize to her later.

Before he made it tow steps he found himself face to face with a dark haired kid about his height, but with starp features, and a sly grin. "Ahh, Kobu. All average, huh?" His eyes widened as they slowly followed the other kid's line of sight to the assessment held loosely in his grasp. "Dakera..."

"How does it feel?" The kid asked him, prompting him to look up slowly, and nervously. Was he going to get hit now? Being around this kid was distressing, especially when someone big who liked you wasn't around... He quickly looked for someone to hide behind. "look at me." His eyes snapped to the bully. "How does it feel to know that you'll never been as good as I am?"

"It feels better than it would If I was as ugly as you." It came out before he had a chance to think. Oh crap. He had never talked back to Dakera before. What has he thinking? He saw the fist in front of his eye just a moment before it made him see stars.

From his 'knocked on your ass' position, he heard the boy hissing as he walked away. "You smart mouthed little prick! I'm never gonna let you forget disrespecting me. Never."

"I heard that he was in the house when it happened. The fire burned his face all up, and that's why he's wearing that creepy mask!"

They spoke just loud enough for him to hear, on purpose. Children where spiteful like that. Cruel. He didn't have to be; he was above them. He was the same age, yes, but he was not immature enough to resort to such childish means when it came to explaining something he didn't understand.

"I heard he set the fire himself… Cause he wanted to steal his daddy's soul!"

He heard their words. He listened. But he didn't care. They were weak; they were jealous.

"What? That doesn't make any sense. What would he do with his father's soul?"

"He keeps it in his mask."

It was all nonsense anyways. Still, the rumors made them fear him, which in turn meant they had to respect him. This gave him an edge. It would make him stand out, which, combined with his exceeding assessment would land him with the best sensei. Perhaps he would be selected by Kanteki, sensei; he was a pretty boy, but was widely recognized as a very skilled ninja. A teacher like that would bring him closer to greatness.

"Ohhh… creepy. That's impossible, though. I bet he just wears it cause he thinks it makes him cool."

He decided that the conversation had gone on long enough, and turned to look at the three fresh genin talking about him. The three boys, Doseki, a short, sharp looking kid with a big, pointed nose, Houbu, a nerdy looking chump with glasses, and Bakku, the ring leader, a boy who was slightly taller and stronger than most people his age, all froze in their tracks, eyeing him cautiously.

"It might be because it makes me look cool… But then again, how do you know it's not?" All three boys gulped audibly, and then dispersed awkwardly into the rest of the crowd.

Idiots.

A big grin plastered his face as he tied on his head band. Sure, the whole deal with Marin charging off blubbering was sad and all, but he had just finally become a shinobi! How could be stay distressed? His academy days were through with, and he was about to find out who his instructor would be! He hoped it was someone dark and mysterious like Rothe, or openly bad ass like Kokuma, then again, neither of them was as famous as Kanteki. His thoughts were interrupted by three girls passing by chattering madly at one another… It was the Kanteki fan-club, Parimae, Karina, and Narika, otherwise known as Pari, Kari, and Nari. They were all very open about their admiration for the long, raven haired jounin with the sharp features and the reputation to match.

"Omigodomigodomigod I hope he picks me!"

"Nonsense! He's gonna pick me! I have higher scores"

"You're both wrong! He'll pick me, I'm the cute one! You know he has a thing for cute girls!"

"You're 12! He wouldn't want you! He would want me, I'll be 13 soon!"

He couldn't help but chime in under his breath. "…really?"

He got a unison, "huh?" in response, and blinked for a moment, Awkward… he hadn't expected them to hear. "Eh… nothing… nothing at all." That wasn't true… what he wanted to say was that Kanteki was easily double their ages, and hoping that he would 'want' them was… Gross, and on top of that, all three of them where lower rung shinobi; they never paid any attention in class because they were too busy with their stupid fan club! It was doubtful that any of them would be selected by a shinobi of such renown, especially with such a limited pool of shinobi to pick from.

The girls eyed him for a moment, and then went on chattering.

"Omigad did you hear he took down a spy?"

"He so coo~l!"

Kobu decided it was best to blend into the background. He passed Doseki, Bakku, and Houbu on the way into the crowd, but decided not to say hi because, well, they looked like they were freaked out about something… Oh well, they were all kinda thick anyways. He finished blending, and ended up behind that Kebimara kid… The creeper with the demon mask. Truth be told, he really couldn't knock the guy; he was kinda cool in his own strange little way.

The crowded assembly room went dead silent as the doors opened, and the three academy teachers walked in. They all wore small smiles on their faces as they walked up onto the stage, letting the crowd of anxious students part in front of them as they did. The head teacher, Roku-sensei held a scroll in his hands, and took center stage, the other two teachers at his flank.

The room went from a low, excited hum of chatter to dead silent with a wave of the teacher's hand. "Yesterday, you were children; boys and girls. But from today, onward, you are shinobi. You will start as genin, and some of you will die before you ever reach chuunin. Since this moment, you were protected as boys and girls, but from here on you are young men and women, and you are responsible for yourselves. Be proud of this. Use that responsibility as a privilege, a ladder with which you can climb to new heights, and serve your village to your greatest ability. My students, I am proud to say that I believe in every single one of you. As you all know, many of our shinobi were wiped out in the last war; this means that this village needs, and will depend, on all of you being successful in your training. This village believes in you, and has its trust and hopes buried deep within each one of you. Do not let it down."

Wow. That was morbid. The teacher's face went from a holding a solemn, serious look to a small smirk immediately.

"Now that I'm done rambling, I'm sure you all would like to know who your jounin team leaders will be, respectively. I have, in my hands, the list containing all of the teams. I will post it on the wall behind me on the way out; the shinobi that reach it first get to find out first. Fun, huh?" He grinned, spun, and threw the scroll at the wall so hard that it unrolled on impact. With a quick flick of the wrist he sent two senbon into it to pin it in place. In a poof of smoke, he, and the other teachers, were gone.

The room went silent for a moment once more as all of the students took a moment to register what just happened. The silence was broken by a loud. "ME FIRST!" just before all hell broke loose.