CHAPTER 2

"Ok Hikaru, try it again. You make... there you go. Now imagine your chakra being split in half, torn from you, and then being put into a separate body."

"That's the thing, I can't comprehend actually doing it! I can only make a normal clone!"

"Just try. Hikaru, I really want you to pass-"

"Doing this won't matter! We've already taken the Genin test!"

"Yea, that's right..."

Nazimo, the Orokage, seemed like he was trying to change the subject.

"Do you even have a weapon?"

"Oh... um... Yea! My body, jutsu, and fists!"

"Thought so. Hikaru, take these. These are brass knuckles. With these, you'll be able to inflict adequate damage on your fellow-... enemies... With some luck, you'd also be able to defend yourself from bladed weapons. Here, let's take a little break. Be back here in an hour and we'll continue working on this jutsu."

In this hour Hikaru went to the nearest burger joint and stuffed himself with a double cheeseburger. The joint was a lot like a picnic. The 'building' was barely a hut, and there was a bunch of little tables outside for people to sit at, eat, and socialize. He sat down with a kid roughly his age who was sitting with two people who weren't eating but had thier mouths occupied with something else.

"Vashiro!"

"Er... (what's his name...) Hikaru?"

"Hey! When do you think we'll get the results of the test?"

"I dunno, man. However, because of the Gomu Kamo Massacre, there's barely any jounin or chunin left, so promotion shouldn't exactly be hard. I'm not worried. You?"

"I'm concerned about that last question. All the other questions seemed pointless. Like... 'Which Uchiha brought his clan to near extinction? What team of shinobi killed him years later?' We won't need to know that stuff in the middle of a mission."

"Heh... you're right Hikaru. You see-"

"Crap! Fifteen minutes left! I gotta get goin! Later!"

The Gomu Kamo Massacre. It happened two years ago. There was unbelievable tension between all ninja countries, then, like a rubber band being stretched too far, You feel it about to break... but no one was willing to let go, and it snaps. All countries were at war. For the Sound village, all Chunin and Jounin were deployed. The Sound village got hit the worst. They lost 97 of all Chunin and Jounin, and went through 6 kages in the two years. Hikaru's real parents were killed in this war. They in a defensive squad which ran through a curious hail of projectile weapons. Mysteriously, each of their swords were used to cut their throats to make sure they were dead. Nothing was gained in this war. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed... needlessly...

Before he knew it, he was back at the training site with Nazimo there early as usual.

"Let's do it," He yelled. He wanted Hikaru to make that 'special clone'.

"Fine..." With the massacre in mind, his patriotism blazing inside of him, he closed his eyes, focused his chakra, and thought one last time of the people who died from the Gomu Kamo Massacre. He wouldn't let that happen to his friends or his brother! "ART OF THE SHADOW CLONE!!"

He felt the chakra pull away form his body and form a separate entity. The pull felt heavier than a normal clone. He opened his eyes and peeked at Nazimo. With curiosity in his eyes, Nazimo walked up to the clone, then punched it! It went flying back and dissipated in thin air. Went flying... what?

"It had mass? That's... That's amazing!"

"If you took a better look at it, it also had your brass knuckles and whatever else you have on your person. It would be very useful with the... oh, I'll let you figure your own little combos out. Now that you've done it once, you can do it again. Try making two now."

So Hikaru did as he was told, still fueled by history and promise, and made two shadow clones.

"Ok, you've got the hang of it. I hope I see you tomorrow, Hikaru!"

Once again, the Orokage showed off his power and left so fast it nearly knocked Hikaru down.

"He hopes he sees me tomorrow? Someone usually doesn't say... 'hope'..."

THE NEXT MORNING, AT THE ACADEMY...

"Ok, Listen up everybody! The test results are up! They're posted up here in front of the desk, so you may all come look at it now!" Said Tozeru, one of the top Jounin who survived the massacre.

As if a fire were trailing them, the students charged the desk. Rikimaru walked away from the front of the class with a satisfied grin. Vashiro put his hands on his forehead and looked up with an open-mouthed smile on his face. He passed. Kazemogachi looked depressed...

"Kaze! What'd you get?"

"I don't know... I failed."

"But... they didn't tell you why?

"I bet it was because of that friggin' last question... I said I would never have fought my friends..."

"Oh... Yo-"

"Attention! It seems everyone has seen whether they have passed or failed!"

"(Crap! I didn't see yet!)"

Hikaru strained to see his name on the sheet, and he saw a green PASSED next to his name. Awesome!

"Sixty percent of the one-hundred twenty students who took the test passed!"

There was light applause coming from the students, congratulating themselves for becoming Genin.

"However- It's not over yet!"

Sounds of surprise and shock came from the students, but Tozeru spoke over them.

"We will now pit you against your classmates; Pitting you against your friends if you will! This is what the last question was about! Now..."

He snapped and the pass/fail papers caught fire and burned revealing a long list of names, with pairs.

Tozeru ended class for the day which allowed everyone to see the list. Kaze walked up with Hikaru to see who he was fighting. Hikaru ducked down and found his name, and bumped heads with Vashrio.

"Sorry."

"No problem... uh oh. Erm-"

Hikaru saw what the uh oh was about. He wished he could fight Rikimaru... but in this case, he was fighting Vashiro, whose ninjustu skills were above nearly every academy students' level.

They looked at each other, turned around, and left. They had preparations for tomorrow.

END CHAPTER 2