Hiya! So, this is going to follow the original story plot, starting with the Chunin exams. I'm only changing it slightly by adding an OC. Speaking of which, I only own Mizure and her supporting characters, not any of the original 'Naruto' characters. If I did...Sakura probably would've died before she got the chance to become useful o.o But anyways, yes there will be romance, no it will not be with any major characters (Naruto, Sasuke) because that would be changing the story plot too much. Was thinking she might have a fling of some sort with Naruto, but in the end it will amount to nothing. Probably. If there's a specific character you want to see her end up with, tell me!
"Your mission is to form a bond."
Mizure Akane glanced up from her kneeling position to eye her Sensei warily. "A bond?" she asked incredulously.
"It's important to earn the trust of the Five Great Nations. We start with the Hidden Leaf, heart of the Land of Fire," the woman explained.
Mizure sighed, resigned. She knew she wouldn't be given any more information. She was capable for the young age of 12 (and a half), which might give hint as to why such an important mission was entrusted to her. 'That, or they don't want to lose any significantly skilled ninja,' she supposed dryly.
Her Sensei frowned, as if sensing her thoughts. "For this particular mission, you will be put into a 3 man squad led by Iratai."
Mizure closed her eyes, feeling a headache already coming on. Half the time Iratai didn't even make sense. He was an old, senile man who should have retired ages ago but, then again, they were pretty short handed..."Very well, I suppose I can find a way to force that in my favor," she said.
"And the other two on your squad will be..." the woman's words were interrupted when the doors suddenly flew open, almost blowing the candles out, temporarily embracing them in darkness.
As the lights flickered back to life, a feeling of dread overtook Mizure when she saw her future 'team mates.' "Certainly not...them!" she cried.
In front of her were two boys, giving eachother sour looks. The first, who was a year older than herself, was Tamake Yagamura. From what she'd heard of him he was a ladies man, and very passionate about his beliefs. The second was Rue Hagashi, who was a year older than the first. Seemingly indifferent with messy black hair and emotionless black eyes, not many people apprached him. Both were fine Shinobi alone, she'd heard of the numerous successful missions at the hands of the two. There was only one problem. It was well known that the two hated eachother, and were constantly arguing when together. "Yes, those two. They're ideal for the job, with Rue being a natural genius and Tamake having such impressive charisma," her Sensei tried to reason.
"Okay...but why put them together?" she inquired.
Her teacher only sighed. "Just deal with it. You'd be a Genin back in your village right now wouldn't you? It's time to grow up," she was told firmly.
Mizure lowered her head meekly. "Yes Sensei," she muttered.
"The reason you are here...well, you know why. Just in case." She nodded, standing and walking over to her current team mates.
"I'm Mizure Akane, and it looks like we'll be working together on this mission together," she introduced herself shaking each of their hands.
"Akane huh? I've heard that name before, I'm sure. Well, whatever. My name's Tamake," the first said, flipping wispy brown hair away from amber eyes.
She tried to seem nonchalant about it, but the heat of the blush creeping up her neck let her know she was failing at that. She focused her attention instead on the second boy. "I'm Rue," he stated, and left it at that.
"Uh...right," she started, turning back towards her teacher. "When do we leave?" she asked.
"Tomorrow the Chunin Exams start in the Hidden Leaf. That will be your opportunity. Show off your strength, and let the Leaf know that we would be powerful allies."
Mizure heard Rue scoff behind her. "You expect them to simply trust us inexplicably? This is going to backfire, I just know it."
She frowned, thinking she'd pulverize him later for contradicting her Sensei. "I'm sure you 3 can make it happen. Don't disappoint me, or Leader-Sama. You know how she gets when things don't go according to plan," the woman narrowed her eyes, emphasizing her words.
The 3 looked away nervously. 'Man, Sensei can be scary when she wants to be,' Mizure thought, shuddering lightly.
"I'm glad you understand. Now, go meet Iratai at the front gates, he's waiting for you," she commanded.
"Right," they chorused, and were gone in a flash.
As they grew closer to the Leaf, Mizure began to understand where the name originated from. "There are so many damn trees!" she cried as she nearly tripped over another branch.
She knew if she fell, she'd have to save herself, and nobody would wait for her to catch up. And with how fast they were moving, she'd be left behind, and she'd never be able to find her way to the Leaf without Iratai Sensei as her guide. Independance was something hammered into their brains in the academy, and as far as anybody was concerned, including herself, she didn't need help. So she fought to keep up with their pace, cursing the geezer's unnatural speed with each step. She nearly bumped into Tamake when the 3 in front of her skidded to a halt at the tree line. She was righted with a nod and a smile, making her blush once again. "This village is known to it's inhabitants as Konoha. To us, it is the Hidden Leaf, future allies. From here on out, most of the work will be done by you, my little chitlings," the old man turned to them, smiling broadly.
Rue and Tamake both brushed passed him, muttering that he shouldn't address them so fondly. Mizure smirked. "Well, Iratai Sensei, are there any specefic blood lines we should know of participating in the exams?" she asked, falling into step with her comrades.
"Several actually, but none that you haven't studied I'm sure. First, the Nara clan." She waved the name off.
"An easily countered Jutsu," Rue said. "The Akimichi," he continued, "and the Yamanaka." Rue scoffed.
"The Akimichi are a bunch of slow lazy wimps, and the Yamanaka are no threat as long as you're mobile." Mizure glanced at Rue, in awe of his knowledge.
'He must have really read up on this,' she thought.
"And last but not least, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha," Iratai finished.
"The Hyuuga...now that could be fun. Fast, agile, strong, not to mention the Byakugan," he smirked, "And the Uchiha...as far as I know, there are only two of them, which means the youngest should be entering the exams." Rue's face suddenly turned serious. "I don't know if he's unlocked Sharingan or not, but...if either of you should have to face him, run." Both of his team mates stopped in their tracks, staring at him in surprise.
'What could be so scary that Rue would adopt a tone like that?' Mizure wondered breifly before running to catch up with him, Tamake in tow.
They reached the gates where an old man and two masked Shinobi awaited them. The old man smiled warmly as they approached. "Ah, Iratai my old friend. It's good to see you again," he chirped, reaching for her Sensei's hand, which was offered politely.
"Hiruzen...it's been some time hasn't it. Chitlings, this man is the Hokage of the Leaf Village, treat him with respect," Iratai said.
"Lord Hokage," they greeted, bowing at the waist.
He shook each of their hands before motioning them through the gates. "Welcome to Konoha. Make yourself at home," the man said. "These two are part of the Anbu Special Ops, allow them to take you to a nice Inn."
Mizure peeked at her Sensei and noted his stiff posture. 'Just as I suspected...the Leaf doesn't trust us. These two were probably ordered to keep an eye on us,' she thought.
The masked men lead them through the village, pointing out good places to eat, or bars and gaming pubs. 'A wonderful facade they've put up...' she narrowed her eyes.
Once comfortably settled in her room Mizure sprawled onto her bed. "Ah, there are many perks to being a girl, and having one's own room is one of them," she sighed in contentment.
She opened her eyes slightly, gazing at the ceiling. "They didn't think we had any idea what the Anbu is used for...as if the Academy taught us nothing about the infiltration of villages," she muttered quietly, in case she was still being watched.
"Furthermore...it's obvious only the higher ups have been told where we're really from."
She reached up to run her fingers across the fake Mist headband she wore around her neck. "Still, this should be fun. I get to show off as much as I want, and I don't even have to become a Chunin in the end if I don't want to. I just have to make it to the final round. Shouldn't be too hard," she laughed.
"Eh? What's this place supposed to be?" Tamake wondered outloud as they entered a building crowded with other Genin.
"Well, it looks to be a room full of people," Rue answered indifferently.
Naturally, this caused a eruption from Tamake, and suddenly all eyes were glued to the trio as Tamake tried to engage Rue in a fight and Mizure stood to the side, acting as if she wasn't with them. Though she was sure everybody could tell they were on the same team, since they were the only ones with Mist head bands. "Ah, to hell with it! Both of you shut up, we're gaining unwanted attention," she elbowed them both roughly in the ribcages.
Rue glanced at their audiance with disinterest, while Tamake flashed a brilliant smile and was suddenly engulfed by a bunch of babbling girls. Mizure will never admit to the pang of jealousy she felt that day. As attention was dragged away from them by Tamake, Rue took the chance to pull Mizure close, lowering his head to her level. "Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka..." he began pointing out clans to her, "Aburame, Inuzuka. And over there are two Hyuuga. You can tell them by their eyes alright?"
She nodded, and he pulled away from her. She'd read a little about each, but only knew the basics, she had no clue about the depths of any of their powers. 'Nara: Shadow Possesion, Akimichi: Expansion Jutsu, Yamanaka: Mind Possesion,' she mentally counted them down, 'the Aburame use insects, which is gross. I really hope I won't end up facing him in any situation. The Inuzuka raise Ninja Hounds, looks like he even has his with him. Really hope that puppy is house broken since it's sitting on his head of all places...and the Hyuuga use something called Byakugan.'
She really didn't know much about Byakugan, just that it was a visual jutsu, and that was enough information for her. What she really wasn't sure about was this Sharingan Rue had warned her about. They hadn't been taught about the Uchiha, just that there weren't many of them left, and the chances of encountering one was little to none. 'Great advice you lazy teachers...' she thought dryly.
In front of them, some sort of commotion began. "What's happening?" she asked, turning to her team mates.
"Some jerks won't let anybody through," Tamake answered, shoving his way through the crowd.
"Well, what's going on here?" a new voice wondered aloud.
Everybody turned, and Rue suddenly pulled both of them in. "Uchiha," he whispered, nodding at the one whose voice had cut through the argument.
The first thing Mizure thought was that he was pretty cute...but he looked arrogant. Not her type. Then her attention was drawn to a bright looking ninja. He wore an orange jacket and pants, and had a shock of yellow-blonde hair. It was hard not to notice him. "This...is a Genjutsu. Right Sakura? You're good at seeing through these kinds of things," the Uchiha said, addressing a girl with pink hair beside him.
She blushed, suddenly looking brazened. "Yup. In fact, this isn't even the 3rd floor," she stated.
The 2 blocking the way grinned, and the sign above them shimmered, now reading 'First Floor.' "Well...crap," Mizure stated, biting her thumb in frusteration.
Her small outburst earned a glance from Sakura, a smirk from the Uchiha, and an amused snort from the orange guy. The rest of the room remained silent, either angry they hadn't noticed the illusion, or in awe that the girl had. Said girl flashed a triumphant smile before grabbing her team mate's wrists and pulling them down the hall. "C'mon Sasuke! Naruto!" she said.
"What a waste of time," Tamake complained, following after them. "Let's go too. We need to find the real site before time runs out," Rue said, taking her hand and leading her down the hall.
'I've never worked with males before...are we supposed to be this friendly with eachother?' she wondered, peering curiously at their entertwined hands.
"What's going on?" she asked as they neared Tamake, and Rue quickly dropped her hand.
"Some weird guy with a bad haircut challenged the Uchiha kid," Tamake answered, leaning further against the railing and looking down into an open circular room. "Who's winning?" she asked, coming up beside him.
"That's the funny part. The Uchiha is getting it handed to him," Tamake laughed. "We don't have time to watch children bicker," Rue reprimanded, crossing his arms.
"Well, why don't you tell me how to safely pass them then," Tamake rebuted. "Simple," he said, and jumped over the railing.
Just as the bowl cut kid unwound bandages from his arms, Rue appeared before him, kicking him into a wall. "Nothing personnel," he droned, "but we need to get through." He exited, and Mizure fought to catch up.
"That wasn't very smart! We're supposed to be trying to make friends with the Leaf!" she yelled, throwing up her hands in exasperation.
Without turning, he answered, "Nobody said anything about friends. They said allies. Alliances aren't made by being nice, they're made by showing off strengths and allowing eachother to see weaknesses."
Mizure sighed, deciding to focus instead on the new atmosphere. 'Yes, very leafy indeed,' she decided absent mindedly.
'Seriously?' Mizure thought, raising one eyebrow in the direction of a burly man who had just introduced himself as the Head of Interrogation for the Leaf Village.
Those who were left after a short elimination process were told that the first exam would be written. 'This isn't good...academics were never my thing. I wonder if maybe Rue...no, he said anybody caught cheating fails,' thoughts raced through her head.
And then, as the beginning of the exam was signaled, the lightbulb in her head flashed on. "Anybody who is caught," she murmured, sneaking a glance at Rue. Both he and Tamake were already staring at her expectantly. She sighed. 'I see, they've already figured it out. And it seems I've been designated to get the answers.'
She looked around at the other Genin, knowing it was impossible to use that on any of them without being caught. 'Hmm...then I won't use it on mere Genin,' she thought, smirking. "Excuse me!" she called, waving a hand in the air.
"Yes...small one in the back," the one called Ibiki addressed her. "It's Mizure," she drawled.
"Right. What do you want?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I need to use the bathroom."
A short pause followed before he grinned, "Go then."
She narrowed her eyes. 'Smug bastard,' she thought. "I'll need to ask somebody to take me..." she trailed off, eyeing some of the Jonin watching them. "You," she started, staring into the eyes of a female Jonin with a stoic expression, "please guide me to the the rest room." The Jonin immediately stood, much to the surprise of her companions.
"This way," she said, leaving the room. Mizure was well aware of the eyes following her as she exited, and she couldn't help but grin in Ibiki's direction.
"You Leaf Shinobi are pretty impressive. You've got strong ones among you, though some of them aren't the brightest," she told the Jonin once they were walking down a long hallway.
Mizure distinctly remembered the orange ninja who had made a fool of himself in front of formidable enemies. 'He'll become a target for sure, just so people can say they took down the annoying one,' she thought, sneering at the thought.
"Yes...I suppose we do," the Shinobi gritted out. Mizure laughed, "Wow, you're really trying to fight this aren't you?" The Jonin only glared at her in response. "Don't worry, I won't make you spill any village secrets alright? I just have to ask you not to tell anybody about this, it's my secret weapon you see," she told her in a teasing manner. They paused outside a door marked as the bathroom.
"Go on then," the female Shinobi said.
"We both know I don't really have to go. Just tell me the answers you know, and then I'll release you." The Jonin obeyed, giving her every answer, which Mizure memorized. "Now then, let's go back shall we? My team mates are impatient guys y'know?"
Rue and Tamake snapped their heads up when she entered. Seating herself, she immediately began lightly tapping her pencil in a code the two could undoubtedly decipher. "Time's up," Ibiki announced, and everybody immediately set their pencils down, including Mizure. She'd be the first to admit he was an intimidating guy, and even she didn't want to provoke him further. He was probably at his limit with her attitude. "Before I collect your tests...there is one more question you must answer," he said.
"Eh?! Another one?" the orange ninja, who'd loudly introduced himself as Naruto earlier, began to panic.
"Yes," Ibiki silenced him with a look. "But first, you must know something. If you miss this question you fail, as do your team mates. Not only that, but you will remain a Genin for the rest of your life." The room was suddenly eerily silent as everybody soaked in this information. "And so, if any of you want to leave now, and try again next year, now would be the time." Several people slowly raised their hands, and were guided out with defeated looking team mates following. She peeked at her own team mates, though she knew they wouldn't raise their hands. If they failed, then the mission was over. But telling her Sensei she had failed would be much easier than explaining how they'd given up, and a rank like Chunin didn't matter there anyways. What she was most interested in were the actions of the loud mouthed Naruto. Currently he was shakily raising his hand, much to the obvious relief of his team mates. 'They really don't have much faith in him do they? That information could prove useful one day,' she decided, folding her hands together and resting her chin there.
Suddenly his hand turned into a fist that he used to bash the desk in front of him. "Ha! Like I'll give up. I'm gonna be the Hokage one day, believe it!" he shouted, and triumphantly flopped back into his seat.
Mizure's eyes widened, and there was murmuring among the Genin left. Some thought he was a fool, the others he thought he was pretty brave. None seemed to think he'd actually make it though. Mizure's surprised expression slowly turned into a fond smile. "That guy has guts," she murmured.
Rue and Tamake grunted their agreement, like she knew they would. They were trained to look for this kind of enemy. 'A gutsy ninja is a dangerous ninja,' they'd been told, 'because they don't know when to give up.'
"No others? Great then...well, you pass," he told them, grinning.
"Huh? Wait, really? No kidding? Great!" Naruto yelled, leaping from his seat and shoving a fist into the air.
"But what about the last question?" the one called Sakura asked timidly. "That was the last question: Will you stay, or go? On a real mission, there is no giving up, you have to stick with it, or you'll end up risking your life and potentially dragging your team mates down with you," he explained.
"And our term papers?" Mizure piped up.
"Don't matter. Only the last question mattered. And of course we wanted to see how you'd get the answers. I have 2 people in this room who had the answers, and of course the Jonin around the room, whom some of you somehow used," he said, directing the last part at her in particular. "Even I'm not entirely sure how some of you did it, but I'm sure I'll find out if I keep watching the Exam," he smirked. "Next, you'll go immediately to the location of the second round, by the Forrest of Death."
Naruto whined, "What? No break?" Ibiki shook his head, opening the door for the Genin to exit.
"Forrest of Death? That doesn't sound pleasant," Tamake noted as the 3 left together, following the Leaf Genin who knew where to go.
"Really? I thought it sounded like a picnic," Rue drawled sarcastically. "Oh, for the love of Kami! Both of you shut up. This doesn't sound as easy as I thought it would be, so be on your toes," Mizure commanded. 'Difficult, but still fun,' she thought to herself.
