A/N: Hey! I'm getting super close to one of the big events in this story that I have planned out! The super-big event is most likely going to happen in the next chapter, so please be kind enough to follow and review this story and see what fate has in store for them (a favorite might not hurt either)! Feel free to give me tips or simply guess what's going to happen later on! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it! :)

It had been a long time since Jiyuu made his rebelious stand against Mendona, almost nine months ago to be exact. The time for the finals was just around the corner, and Jiyuu had been studying as well as training with both Tenshi and Tsuyo. Today had gone by fast, it was already late in the afternoon. With the sun setting and all the children going home with their parents, one would expect them to do the same. However, by Jiyuu's request, they were all out on the training grounds practicing some basic taijutsu...

"C'mon Tsuyo, you can do better than that, can't you?" muttered Jiyuu as he crossed his arms and looked down at an exhausted Tsuyo, an eyebrow arched upwards in a similar fashion to his father's. His friend was sprawled out on the grass and panting deep, crooked glasses positioned over a face covered in sweat and light bruises. Jiyuu sweat-dropped and sighed at the sight of this. "Don't tell me that you don't know how to fight! How do you plan on being a ninja if you can't even defend yourself?" He offered Tsuyo a hand, which the boy sheepishly grabbed onto. Jiyuu helped Tsuyo stand up, dusted him off and looked at Tenshi. She was leaning against a log which had a bullseye attached to it, one of the many in the area used for target practice with shuriken and kunai. She was also munching on a some chips from a bag she was holding; something she did more often than one would have thought. She stopped chewing and gave him a confused look, a few crumbs from her snack lingering on her lips.

"What," she asked quizzically with a partially-filled mouth.

"It's your turn. Tsuyo needs a break," said Jiyuu as Tsuyo nodded quickly in agreement. At this point, he would take any excuse he could use in order to stop 'practicing' taijutsu...if you would even call it that. He didn't know the first thing about hand-to-hand combat, so he felt more like a punching bag than a sparring partner.

Tenshi paused a little as she looked down into the bag one last time, a loud gulp coming from her as she swallowed the food in her mouth. She wiped her lips with a sleeve and put her snack on top of the log before making her way over to Jiyuu, Tsuyo promptly moving over to the space she had given up. They both stepped away from where he was sitting, and gained some distance from one another. Jiyuu slightly grinned as he got into a stance. "Don't hold back now..."

This is it! This is my chance to impress him! Tenshi blushed a bit and nodded at Jiyuu with a shy smile. She also got into a stance, yet her mind began to wander as she thought about other things. Ohhh, I wonder what he'll say if I do alright! Maybe I'll get to train with him alone? Just the two of us? She began to imagine it all in her head, just the two of them alone in the woods somewhere. She would falter often, and he would always be willing to dash to her side and aid her. After a hard day's worth of training, they would sit on one of the Hidden Mist's many boating docks and watch the sun set behind the misty mountains. Yeah, that would be nice...just the two of them...alone and happy... She couldn't help but let out a sigh...

...and then heard Jiyuu shout "GO" as he began to rush her at full speed.

She was suprised to hear that, and snapped back to reality only to see his right fist fly at her face. Her irises shrank and she smacked his forearm on the side, redirecting his punch past her head. Jiyuu looked a bit suprised, since he wasn't expecting such a fast reaction from her. Instead of pulling his fist back though, he pulled his right fist in towards his chest, and spun around. He then slightly lowered himself and attempted to hit her with his left elbow. She didn't see it coming, and his elbow connected with her stomach. She stumbled back and held her gut, bowing her head and gasping for air.

He's being serious...that one actually hurt. She looked up and began weaving hand signs, but he rushed at her before she could finish whatever technique she had planned.

"No ninjutsu! Use your fists!" he shouted at her. He brought his right knee up to hit her again, but she quickly slammed both of her palms down onto it, stopping the attack. He lowered his knee and threw a left hook, which she barely managed to dodge by ducking. However, dodging gave her an opening to strike: his mid-section. She threw a left punch at his gut, and it connected.

I got him! I actually got him!

Jiyuu grunted a bit, and reacted fast by grabbing the arm she used to attack. He threw her arm to the left, which caused her to stumble in that direction. He then reverse spin-kicked her iin the left side of her mid-section, making her fall onto her right side like a rag doll. She groaned and got up, rubbing where he got her. She looked pretty discouraged right now.

Oh, who am I kidding...he's too good for me. I'm not going to impress him like this. I wont be able to impress him at all...

Before she could say anything, Jiyuu just gave her a smile, as if he read her mind. "Hey, don't look so down, you're doing alright!" Her eyes snapped to his, a little surprised to hear the words he said. "You just need to speed up a bit, and you wont have a problem."

The comforting words combined with his heart-melting smile caused her to grow an embarrassed grin on her face as her eyes darted towards her feet. "Well...I would have used ninjutsu since that's really the only thing I'm good at. You just got too close before I could do it. You're too fast for me," she said as she began twirling her hair with a finger.

"Maybe, but we gotta work on you and Tsuyo's taijutsu for the final exam. Ninjutsu and major genjutsu won't be allowed because they dont want anyone to get seriously hurt, y'know," Jiyuu said with a more serious voice. He didn't want to sound too harsh, but he did hope to have Tenshi understand why they were even doing this.

There were two portions to the final exam at the academy: a written portion and a physical portion. The written portion was self-explanitory. You go in, answer a bunch of questions relating to things like chakra control and so on, and head outside. Then, when everybody in the class was done, the physical portion would begin. The physical portion was a free-for-all, five-minute melee between the students to determine how they would react to certain combat situations while on missions. It was essentially the same test given in the days where the village was still known as the "Village of the Bloody Mist," but with one major exception: no serious harm was to be inflicted on the other students. As a result, ninjutsu, kenjutsu and high-level genjutsu were not allowed (if a student was able to preform such techniques, of course). Anyone who DID use any of those would automatically fail, so any students experienced in taijutsu would have a slight advantage. However, the biggest part about this portion of the exam was that the top three students would be placed into the very first team of genin (assuming they all passed the written portion). This team would be considered very important to the village, and were expected to reach great heights in all aspects important to a ninja. So, it goes without saying that being in Team One was a pretty big deal; so big, in fact, that there were always students who forged alliances in order to ensure that they all got spots on Team One; Jiyuu and his companions were no exception. However, it meant nothing if the team could not preform well when separated.

Tenshi felt her grin falter. "Yeah well...the exam is only a few days away. My taijutsu isn't the greatest and Tsuyo has no talent for it at all, since he only practices genjutsu. We can't improve ourselves that fast, so I think we need another plan."

Jiyuu paused as he took this in. He spent a load of time with these two, sure, but he just realized that they never EVER talked about themselves when they hung out. He looked at Tsuyo, who just scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "...wait...you guys NEVER practiced taijutsu? Like, one of the BASIC FORMS of self-defense? Which uses little to no chakra?"

There was complete silence among them, and Tenshi just let out a nervous laugh.

"Well...it sounds bad if you put it that way...but yeah..."

Instantly, Jiyuu grew an anger mark and started shaking his fist at them. "ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME? WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GONNA DO OUT THERE, HIDE WITH GENJUTSU UNTIL THE FIGHT'S OVER? I HOPE YOU DIDN'T EXPECT ME TO TAKE CARE OF THE FIGHTING BY MYSELF!"

Again, Tenshi and Tsuyo were both silent, the latter looking down and making a small, nervous sound. Jiyuu looked at them both, and sweat-dropped. "Really...that was your plan..." he said as he lowered his eyelids, shoulders sagging in unison.

"W-w-well, Tenshi m-mentioned that you t-t-trained a lot, so we t-t-t-thought that you could handle it..." mumbled Tsuyo, now trembling upon realizing that they may not be able to accomplish their goal. Tenshi twirled her hair faster as she became more concerned, realizing the same thing.

Jiyuu released an agitated sigh and looked up at the sky. Well...they sure do seem to have a lot of confidence in me, that's for sure. But what about themselves? They must be really doubting themselves right now. He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. Can't say I blame them though...

Jiyuu clapped his hands together, instantly granting him with the attention of his friends. "Alright, here's what we'll do! We're gonna meet out here every day after class, all week! I'm gonna practice with you two until you're able to handle a bunch of the class by yourselves, got it?" His voice was filled with authority, yet sounded friendly and confident. A small grin played on his lips as his eyes kept shifting from Tsuyo's to Tenshi's, watching to see if their expressions change in the slightest before he continued. "Yeah, it'll be a little rough, and you guy's wont be pros by the end of the week, but I'm determined to help you guys pass this thing! We'll be an awesome team, for sure; one of the best that this village ever had." He gave his friends a wider grin and put his fist out for them to pound.

"We'll be in Team One together, I promise."

Tenshi and Tsuyo remained silent and looked at Jiyuu's fist, both soaking in his words like sponges as they thought about his promise. This was a matter of trust, a matter of friendship; did they believe in their friend enough to go along with such a promise? Tenshi certainly did, only giving her decision a few seconds of thought before lightly tapping Jiyuu's fist with her own. Her face became more flushed as he gave her a nod of appreciation; she would do anything for him in the end, as long as she managed to win his heart. She had full confidence in him and his determination, and fully believed that he would help her and Tsuyo achieve their goals. Speaking of which, she realized that Tsuyo's fist had not joined the group, and turned her head to face him.

Tsuyo was scratching the back of his head as he stared at the two fists, tempted to join them simply because Tenshi had done so without haste. Wow...she must really trust Jiyuu if she was so quick to put her fist in. I'm not sure though, that promise seems impossible to me. I'm never going to be good at taijutsu...heck, I'm never going to be a shinobi. I'm not cut out for it, everyone knows that. His unsure eyes looked to Tenshi's, a little guilt hitting him in the gut when she gave him a slightly worried look. After all, I only joined the academy because of you, Tenshi...

"What's up, Tsuyo," Jiyuu asked as he turned his attention to the blond, an eyebrow raised with curiosity.

"H-huh?" Tsuyo said as he Jiyuu's words snapped the boy out of his train of thought. After a small pause, he adjusted his glasses and looked down at his friends' connected fists. "Oh, it's n-nothing. I j-just don't think I c-c-can do it, that's all..." He shuddered with embarrassment at his last sentence.

Tenshi gave off a sad moan as she placed her free hand on his shoulder. "Oh Tsuyo...of course you can. You just have to believe in yourself, and train. That's all it really takes to be a good shinobi, right? You're really smart, I know that's going to help you be one of the best ninja out there!"

Tsuyo slowly lifted his head and looked at his oldest friend, the one who's been by his side for as long as he can remember. The one who's always believed in him, no matter how many times he failed. The one who made him feel like he was worth anything...and even now, she still managed to make him feel like he actually had a chance. He looked over to Jiyuu, who gave him a reassuring grin.

"She's right, man. I'll help you get there as long as we all stick together. I intend to keep my promises, y'know," he said before giving a small chuckle and placing his free hand on Tsuyo's other shoulder.

The boy looked to both his friends, feeling a small tear welling up in his eye. This was real, someone else other than Tenshi actually believed in him! His new friend actually had faith! He felt his insides warm up with glee, and gave them both a nervous smile as he slowly put his fist out, connecting it with his friends' own. "Th-thanks guys. I'll try my b-best," was all he could think to say.

There they stood, three good friends in the middle of the Hidden Mist's training field as they swore on a promise. They would be a team, the best team that the Hidden Mist had ever seen...they would make sure of it. A cool breeze began to blow, causing the leaves in the trees around the field to rustle loudly as the setting sun's light began to escape from the grassy area. Night was coming, and the three quickly noticed as they began to glance around. Realizing how late it was, as well as the fact that they all had some sort of curfew, the three said their goodbyes and parted ways. Tomorrow would be their first day of intense training, their first step to ensuring their future together.

In the distance, behind a target practice post, a fellow classmate had been listening in. It was the fifth student who was in the top five of their class: the Hoshigaki girl. Her skin was pale blue and she had small gills on her cheeks along with solid yellow eyes that looked almost like glass. Her hair was long, wild, and dark blue, and strangely matched the somewhat muscular body she sported, despite only being around the age of 13. She wore extremely dark-blue, sleeveless top with shinobi pants to match, a small amount of bandages wrapped around her waist to act as a belt. She had white arm and leg warmers with thin black pinstripes on them, and had a katana slung over her right shoulder. She had been listening to their whole conversation ever since she arrived to the training grounds, and it granted her a twisted malicious grin as she chuckled to herself.

Heh...so that geek is teaming up with the other two geeks. That figures... She could feel that sadistic smirk of her's widen, her sharp, triangular saw-like teeth reflecting what little sunlight hit them. I don't know why HE wants to know all this stuff, but whatever. She casually walked off the training grounds and headed down the white brick road past the academy, as if she had nowhere to be and nothing else to do. She began to whistle as her footsteps seemed to get louder, the silence of the Hidden Mist's residents retreating to their homes for the night being the main reason for it. She got farther and farther down the road before coming to the first street light to illuminate, and 'he' was standing right beside it. 'He' looked right at her, anticipation dancing in his eyes.

"Hey. What did you find out about them?" 'He' was brash, rude, sudden with his approach.

She was unfazed by this reaction to her presence, and gave him that creepy, toothy grin. "Heh, in a rush, are we? Well, here's the scoop." She told 'him' every single detail about the alliance, how they planned to train together throughout the week, and so on. 'He' thought about all of this, then nodded with satisfaction as a sly grin manifested upon 'his' lips.

"Heh, I guess I was wrong about you, Sakana. Not all the Hoshigaki are scum."

She gave him a look that practically screamed bloodlust, and he quickly stopped smiling. "You watch yourself, jinchuuriki. Unlike most people in the village, I've got no problem with skinning you alive."

Mendona felt his eye twitch at yet another disrespectful reference to his title, but maintained a cool demeanor nonetheless. "Well, I think you might want to reconsider doing that. I have a proposal for you. How about you help me take out the rest of the class, and I'll make sure that we can be on Team One with one other person of your choice. Deal?"

Sakana folded her arms, her face suddenly becoming serious. "My father's wishes are that I be on the same team as Jiyuu...so, he is the only one we won't be touching IF I agree. Would you be alright with that?"

Mendona's brow furrowed as he felt his jaw tightened with anger, biting back a curse that nearly escaped him. Of course, of all the people she wants on the team, it has to be him. That loser... Regardless of how he felt, he felt like he had no other options. A blood-thirsty Hoshigaki would be a great member to have on his team, no doubt, but he did not want Jiyuu to gain many achievements either. Well, maybe I can find some other way to make him suffer. After all, if he's on my team, I'll just have more opportunities to make his life a living hell. He extended his hand to shake, which she took quickly. "Deal," he said as they shook on it, much to his displeasure.

She regained her bloody-thirsty, toothy grin. "Perfect. See you in a week, jinchuuriki." She quickly ran off, leaving Mendona alone in the fading light of the setting sun to think about this new alliance he formed, a small grimace plastered over his face.

"Can you believe it? Why do I have to be put in such a crappy position, huh?" His question fell upon deaf ears, only the howling wind giving him a response. He remained silent, gaze downcast as if he were listening to the wind and it's words. A corner of his mouth rose up slowly, and he allowed a small chuckle to escape him. "Heh, guess it can't be helped..." He slowly turned around and began to walk, heading home in anticipation for his training tomorrow. You think you can stand up to a jinchuuriki, Jiyuu? Just you wait, I'll show you just how badly you've screwed yourself for getting in my way...

One week had passed. Jiyuu, Tenshi and Tsuyo now stood at the front door to the academy. They had studied and trained hard, now feeling more confident and ready to succeed, ready to become the new Team One. They all looked at each other, nodded, and went inside together. It had finally begun.