Hey, guys! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. Thank you everyone who has favourited and reviewed this story.
I decided to do my own thing and not force Ryoko ontoTeam Seven and make it that semi awkward four man squad. I've read some stories that did it well but... eh, I dunno. And then there was the other option, replace a member with Ryo. As much as I... dislike Sakura, she still is a part of the story and I have a rule to never remove an original character. So it took me a while to figure it out, but I did so I hope this works for you, my precious readers.
I hope you enjoy it.
"Ryo, is it?" The Third Hokage took off his hat and leaned forward. She bowed politely and stepped back to beside Kakashi.
"It's actually Ryoko Kazuki. It is an honour to meet you, Hokage-sama."
"Kazuki, that name does sound familiar." He held his chin in thought. "Ah yes, Kirito Kazuki."
"That's my father. He spoke highly of you."
"He was an excellent jounin. It was a shame he had gotten injured. You were a small baby back them." She nodded. "And your family moved back to your mother's hometown, Amegakure. How is Kirito?"
"He passed away a year ago. He, my mother and my brother died in a house fire while Hakkai and I were on a mission."
"I give you my sincerest apologises, Ryoko. Is that why you're back?" She nodded.
"My father also left some important documents regarding my family in your care. He wished for me to get them if anything happened to him."
"Ah, I know what you're talking about. There are more but I need to find them first." He stood up and went to the bookshelf and pulled out a thick leather bound book filled with loose pages. He handed it to Ryoko with a smile. "Treasure this, child."
"I will." She smiled back and hugged the book to her chest.
"Another reason I called both of you here." He sat back down and turned to Kakashi. "Your father taught her father when he was a genin. I think it would be nice for you to take her under your wing." Before Kakashi could get a word out, the Hokage spoke again. "Actually, that would be rather difficult. You have Naruto and Sasuke to deal with." He rubbed his beard in thought when Ryoko piped up.
"Thank you for your consideration but I am more than capable of taking care of myself. I won't be staying long anyway."
"Nonsense, you should stay. You are of Konoha and your skills will be an excellent asset to us. This is your home after all." She couldn't argue with that, more like she didn't have the heart to argue with his kindness. "Also, Kakashi told me you have admirable skill in medicine and anatomy. That is amazing for someone of your age."
"I was taught by the best!" She grinned.
"Which brings me to my last point. You are to join the chunin exams. From the intel I have gathered you were almost at jounin level in Amegakure but here we'll have to start from scratch. Putting you through the Academy would be a waste so we will start with the exams."
"If I may, Hokage-sama." Kakashi stepped forward. "How will she be able to compete in the exams if she doesn't have a team?"
"That has been arranged." He called out to the door. "Kotestu, Izumo. Bring in the squad." Two chunin level ninjas entered followed by a boy and a girl, twins, who both had curly brown hair and dark eyes. "This is Risa and Touya Hajime. Their third member recently passed and they require one more to enter the chunin exams. You will take that place. This is Ryoko Kazuki."
"It's nice to meet you," Risa said as she shook her hand.
"Yeah, hi," Touya added.
"Now hurry up, or you'll be late for your first test." They all bowed and left the room.
"So what brings you to Konoha, Ryoko?" Risa asked her as they approached the exam hall.
"It's my hometown," she muttered. "And call me Ryo. Have you done this before?"
"Once," Touya said. "That's how we lost Yuri." They both went silent as they remembered their fallen comrade.
"I'm sorry if I am of any inconvenience."
"Don't sweat it!" Risa grinned and patter her back. "As long as you can keep up, we've been training for a year now!" She smiled and followed them into the exam hall. They gestured for her to sit in the back corner. "This spot is great because you can see everyone. There are five main villages that produce the best ninja from each country, including Konoha," Risa explained. "So those are your Iwa-nin, from the Land of Earth, Suna are from the Land of the Wind, Kumo are the Lightning Country and the Kiri-nin come from the Land of Water."
"There are other ninjas too bit from smaller villages like the Oto-nin and the Ame-nin." She looked at to where Touya was pointing to the ninja from her old home. No one would recognise her as she passed these exams years ago. Also, it helped when everyone thought you were dead. There was a loud commotion coming from the entrance and she saw the ninja kids she met in the Wave country. Naruto was happily greeting his friends and chatting loudly, completely oblivious to his ominous surroundings. She heard him call out to his mates, catching their names.
"Would you guys keep it down?" A young male dressed in purple with white hair and glasses approached. "This isn't a school field trip, you know. Take a look around." The rookie ninja finally took in their surroundings and finally felt the severity of the situation when they saw the glares of the other ninja.
"Watch out for the group behind you," the glasses boy advised. "They're Ame ninja, from the rain village, and they've got very short tempers."
You got that right, Ryoko thought.
"Everyone's on edge, waiting to take the exam. I wanted to give you a heads up before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you." Naruto and his associates froze in their spots.
"Who do you think you are?" The blonde girl, Ino, asked
"I'm Kabuto."
"Since you seem knowledgeable about the exams, I assume that this is your second time taking them." Sakura assumed.
Kabuto chuckled, "Not second…seventh. Twice a year, going on four years now." He digs into his shinobi pouch and pulled out a stack of orange cards, "Since you're all beginners…I'll give you some vital information on what you're in for with these Shinobi skill cards."
"Are there any cards there that have detailed personal information?" Sasuke asked.
Kabuto smirked. "Yes. Is there someone that interests you?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Yeah."
"The information of this Exam's examinees is not perfect, but I've burned and saved them. They include information about the nine of you, as well. Tell me whatever you know about the person that interests you." He lifted a card. "I'll look for you."
"Gaara of the Desert and Rock Lee." Sasuke told him.
"Oh, you know their names." Kabuto said, sounding a bit disappointed. "That's too easy."Ryoko leaned forward, intrigued by his techniques, as Kabuto took out three cards and put chakra into the first of them. Rock Lee's picture appeared on it, along with some graphics and smaller pictures of his team members. "He's one year older than you." Kabuto started. "Mission experience: 20 D-rank and 11 C-rank. The squad leader is Might Guy. His Taijutsu skills have increased dramatically this past year, but his other skills are terrible. He got everyone's attention last year as a skilled rookie Genin, but he didn't take the Chunin Exam. This is his first time taking it, like you. His team is composed of Tenten and Hyuuga Neji."
"Next, Gaara of the Desert." Kabuto put chakra into the next card. "Mission experience: 8 C-rank and…wow, he did a B-rank mission as a Genin. Not many Genin get B-ranked missions. He's a foreign ninja and it's his first time taking the exam, so I don't have any information on him. But it seems that he has returned from all of his missions unharmed."
"He did a B-rank mission as a Genin and was unharmed?" The lethargic one, Shikamaru if she recalled correctly, asked in disbelief.
"This year, many talented Genins have come here to take this exam." Kabuto explained. "Otogakure is a village of a small country that was just made recently, so I don't have much information on them. Either way, they're all from powerful villages." Naruto lowered his head. For the first time since she met him, it looked like he was thinking, probably about the difficulty of getting through the Chunin Exam. There were many enemies, some much more powerful than him. Naruto closed his fists, but said nothing. Then he lifted his head with a triumphant yell. He placed one hand on his hip and pointed forward with the other. All the stares turned to him.
"MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE TO ANY OF YOU!" The room fell in a deathly silence, every single person there glaring at Naruto.
Sakura gritted her teeth and glared at Naruto, "You just don't care about what you yell, do you?" One of the Oto-nins, a spiky black haired boy, threw kunai, aiming to Kabuto. Kabuto jumped backwards, avoiding them. Another Oto-nin, his face severally bandaged, appeared in front of Kabuto. He tried to punch him, but missed it. Interested in their skills, Ryoko leaned closer and watched, observing and memorising their every move. Kabuto smirked triumphantly at his ability to dodge when suddenly, his glasses broke. This didn't seem to faze him as he took them off.
"I see. So that's the kind of attack it was."
"What's going on?" Sasuke inquired, wide eyed. "You definitely dodged it. Why did your glass-?"
"It must have hit his nose." Shikamaru said monotonously. "That's what happens for trying to act like a hot shot."Kabuto's eyes suddenly widened before he doubled over and vomited.
"Sound as a weapon. Interesting..." Hakkai muttered from underneath her kimono top.
"How can you tell?" she asked quietly enough so Risa and Touya couldn't hear her.
"My senses are more acute than yours, Mistress. I mildly felt the effects of that shinobi's attack. That boy, Kabuto, better hope there isn't any long term damage done." She nodded and continued to watch the confused rookies. Sakura and Naruto ran to Kabuto's side, trying to help him while the Oto-nins stood smugly in front of them.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked him. He stared oddly for a minute before nodding.
"You're not as good as I thought for a veteran who took the exams four years running." The one that had bandages covering his face said.
"Write in this card…" The Sound nin with spiky hair, said. "The three from Otogakure will definitely become Chunin."
"Quiet down, you worthless punks!" Smoke cleared, revealing the proctors of the Exam, all dressed in a gray uniform. A middle aged man with two large scars, a cruel look and the only one who was dressed differently, seemed to have spoken. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said in a tone of authority. "I'm the examiner of the first test of the Chunin Exam, Ibiki Morino." Ibiki's eyes scanned the room looking for the reason of outburst from before. "You three from Otogakure, don't think you can do anything you want before the Exam!" He warned, raising a finger at them. "Do you want us to fail you already?"
"I'm sorry." The bandaged one feigned an apology. "I was excited, since this is my first Exam."
Ibiki smirked. "This is a good chance to say this… You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. Even if the permission is given, you're not allowed to kill each other. Anyone who goes against me will fail immediately, understood?"Everyone nodded in silence, intimidated by the examiner.
The Oto ninja with spiky hair chuckled. "This Exam seems so soft and easy."
Ibiki continued. "We will now begin the first part of the Chunin Exam. Turn in your applications, take one of these number tags and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out the papers for the written test."
Naruto's eyes turned white wide at the last words. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him.
"A WRITTEN TEST?!" Naruto yelled and Ryoko giggled as she took her designated spot.
"Hey, Ryo!" Risa and Touya called to her. "Good luck." With a wink the twins went to their allocated seats.
Hope y'all enjoyed that and I'll be seeing you soon. Very soon.
Muahahaha \(^0^)/
