AN: Hello again! I'm back, and hopefully as good as ever. And wow, I just read chapter 267 and wow! He he he I got Yuki's personality and hair color down before Kishi even said anything. Maybe he stole it from me 0.o. I think you should enjoy this chapter, you might even get a BANG out of it. To all the reviews last time thanks. To those who read without reviewing... I feel used and thrown away like a soda can. XD Read and review. Enjoy.

The Chunnin Exams

Akira had recovered in record time thanks to a medic-nin called Tsunade. Two days and he was up and about again. Yuki who normally recovered two to three times as fast as Akira was still out cold. Most injuries for her healed in just one nights sleep. For her to have not even woken up in two days was a bad sign. However Akira was determined not to waste time. He had heard from Tsubaki what she had done after he left, and it made him feel like he was falling behind her. He had asked Zal about summoning.

Flashback

"Zal-Sama, I was wondering if you could teach me to summon?" Akira was hopeful. With a summon of his own he could easily keep up with Yuki.

Zal shook his head. "Akira, summoning isn't just about knowledge of a jutsu. You must sign a scroll in blood, and then be accepted by the creatures you make a contract with. As far as summoning, I would suggest you talk to your teacher. He is after all the legendary toad sage."

Akira was surprised "You mean I can't just sign your scroll and be able to summon dragons?"

Zal shook his head again. "I'm sorry Akira but Yuki is going to sign my scroll. Dragons are very picky, they won't accept a summoner who does not have dragon blood coursing through their veins. Besides would you want the same summon as Yuki?"

Akira thought about it before shaking his head. He wanted to be his own man. If he had the same summon as Yuki he wouldn't be able to stay ahead since their summons would be the same. He decided he would talk to Jiraiya about it. He supposed toads would be cool too.

End flashback

Akira searched high and low for the hermit, but couldn't find him anywhere. Finally he decided to go on his own and practice his new jutsu.

About one year ago he read some scrolls that taught about elemental manipulation. It taught about ways to combine typical jutsu's and elements. Doing so you could create unpredictable reactions. It actually seemed pretty simple on paper. Once he actually tried it he discovered just how wrong he was.

Akira was unused to failing at anything. So he took it as a major blow when he didn't get it right away. But being stubborn as he was he tried again. Eventually he discovered he was much better at wind manipulation than any other element. So he began to focus on this more than the others. He began to be able to spin the wind at high speeds in circles around his palm.

It was fun but wasn't really accomplishing anything. Eventually he decided to give up on trying to make it do anything for now, and focused more on being able to speed it up even faster. Perhaps he would be able to throw wind shurikens or or something of the sort. For nearly a year he had been getting more and more proficient at controlling wind element. Now it took almost no effort to create a whirling vortex around his palm. But he had hoped that he would have it be capable of doing at least something by the chunnin exams. Now they were in a few days, and he still hadn't figured out a way to use it for anything.

Yuki had just gotten out of the hospital. The doctors were amazed. One minute she was out cold, the next minute she was up and walking about. She was still looking drained, but there was no way this side of hell they were keeping her in a hospital a second longer than necessary. The instant they turned their heads to call for more doctors so they could "Assist" her back to her bed, she was gone.

She went off to look for Akira. Just to see how he was. He was probably still mad because he had to leave in the middle of their fight. But he had saved their lives by doing it. Searching around she found Akira at training area seven, rushing towards a tree with a blue pulsating mass of chakra. She watched to see it blow the tree into shreds. The explosion was so huge he was knocked flying, and he landed at her feet.

She was about to ask if he was ok, when she noticed tears running down his cheeks. He looked into her eyes and whispered "Who am I?"

Her eyes widened in horror, the explosion had given him amnesia!

Flashback

Anyone who knew him, and could see him now would have been shocked. He was beating a nearby tree to a pulp, to relieve his frustration. The reason why they would have been surprised is because Akira never got frustrated.

In the middle of him giving the tree what it deserved just for being around when he was as angry as this he heard a voice. "Well, well. This just won't do. I can't have it be known that my prize student enjoys beating the crap out of defenseless shrubbery. People would begin to think he was a bully."

Akira turned around to discover Jiraiya crouched on a rock behind him. Sometimes it almost unnerved Akira how someone like Jiraiya could seem like such a pushover, and other times he could sneak up on you with no effort at all. No matter how lame the toad sage seemed sometimes, his skills were not to be questioned.

Akira stopped his abuse of the poor tree to ask him. " Ero-Sannin, I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to ask you a question. Would it be possible to teach me how to summon toads?"

Jiraiya was surprised, based on the fact he had been planning on asking Akira if he wanted to learn to summon toads. He decided not to waste any time and pulled out his scroll. "Of course. And since you asked so nicely I'll tell you a secret. This scroll is very sought after. Very few get this privilege. Don't take this for granted."

Akira nodded happy for the first time that day. It was finally his turn to shine. Jiraiya showed him how to inscribe his name on the scroll. Akira bit his finger and signed his name in blood. Akira Tsikyn. Then watched in horror as his name faded into non-existence.

Akira shouted in anguish "Whats going on?" He may not have known exactly what was supposed to happen, but he knew that wasn't it.

Jiraiya replied "Well I've heard of this happening, but I've never actually seen it. This happens when someone signs a name on the scroll, but the name they signed was not theirs. In other words, the name Akira Tsikyn is not your real name."

Akira reeled back in shock. His entire life he had been known as Akira, and now he was hearing that that name was not real. Jiraiya continued "I will do my best to find out anything about your past that is hidden. You have my word." With that Jiraiya headed off to fulfill his promise.

Akira returned to turning the nearby shrubbery into woodchips. His anger just kept building. It was even worse than before. He felt like he was just filling with pressure, and would just keep filling until he exploded. Then it came to him. A crazy idea, but one that just might work!

He began building his wind chakra again. This time building it into a ball, poring all his frustration and rage into this mass of swirling wind. Finally it reached such a high speed that he was sure it would explode if it made impact with anything. Looking around he saw one of the tree's he had been beating up earlier. Rushing towards it he smashed the convulsing mass of wind into the tree trunk. He held his breath on impact hoping something would happen, anything. And it did.

The explosion blew him off his feet. It worked, but he still felt so empty. He should be happier that he had finally created something, but he still heard those words over and over again. "The name Akira Tsikyn is not your real name."

He looked up and noticed Yuki standing there. His eyes felt watery for the first time in years, he whispered "Who am I?"

End Flashback

Yuki kneeled down and propped him up. Then she said to him "Your name is Akira Tsikyn, my name is Yuki Ukriz. We're in a town called Konoha, you live with me and my fath..." She was interrupted by him laughing.

"Yuki, I haven't forgotten you. Or anything else. I just found out a few minutes ago that my real name is not Akira Tsikyn. And I can't sign a summoning scroll until I know my real name." His mood had improved a little over what had just happened. Yuki always had a way of taking stress out of the air. It was a knack he hadn't quite mastered yet. He was the one who always had a smile on his face, yet she was the reason for that over half the time.

He got up when it hit him, he had actually created a new jutsu! The incredulity of it was still dawning on him when Yuki spoke. "What jutsu was that? I've never seen you use it before. Looks pretty powerful too."

He realized he had no name for it, and thought carefully, finally at a loss he said. "I dunno really. I just created it, and I haven't thought of a name for it yet. Maybe... AIR BOMB!"

Her eyes started calling him an idiot, when he decided maybe he would sleep on it. Couldn't hurt to think on it for a day or two. So they headed back towards the house throwing names back and forth at eachother to see if one sounded cool enough for the "AIR BOMB". For the first time that day Akira felt just as completely relaxed as back when they used to play in the sandbox as five year olds.

Jiraiya kept tearing through scrolls in the birth record section of the library. Around most kids he felt like he was talking to infants, and that no amount of explaining would make them understand a word of what he said. But with Akira it almost felt like talking to an equal. And they were years apart. Now he had a chance to ensure that Akira would follow in his footsteps.

Akira was going to become famous someday. Jiraiya could tell about this sort of thing. And when people looked at Akira, Jiraiya wanted them to say "Oh! Thats the student of the legendary Toad Sannin. One of the greatest men that ever walked the earth." And of course with Jiraiya, being great was associated with being very studly. Women would come flocking then. And he could retire with a small amount of women always at his beck and call, only about thirty or forty. That should cover most of his needs. He began to drool as he thought about them "Covering" all his "Needs". Then he remembered that in order to do this he needed to find Akira's true identity.

Now a great Sannin would never do anything in a frantic manner, yet he tore through scrolls at such high speeds that he didn't even bother to put them back after he was done. The floor was littered with half closed scrolls. And of course there wasn't a person in all of Konoha that would dare kick him out of the library. So he continued late into the night. His unspoken vow a constant reminder. He would find Akira's true name. Nothing this side of hell was going to stop him.

The day of the chunnin exams had arrived and so had all the gennin that were going to participate in it. Team five showed up near the office to turn in their papers so they could participate in the exam, when three older gennin stood in front of them. "You guys are too weak to enter these exams. You'll just be wasting space. We've been trying to pass these exams for three years now and haven't managed yet. What makes you think you can even come close?"

Yuki instantly was up in a huff, and ready to kick their asses when Tsubaki of all people intervened. "Well, then if you're still alive I guess that means they can't be that hard. After all if someone who is as obviously as talentless as you are then managed to even survive these exams then a team like ours will pass without even breaking a sweat."

The older gennins didn't like what he said so much. And decided to show their displeasure by beating the snot out of these little gennin, to show them just how weak they really were. They noticed shortly that all they were managing to do despite their best effort was give these little gennins a bloody nose. Then something dawned on one of them. "KAI!" And they all felt a genjutsu lift off them. They looked at eachother in astonishment before looking towards the registration office, to see Team five calmly walking away.

After team five got out of sight they each released they jutsu and transformed back into the chunnin they really were. "Those kids are something, I can't believe they actually got us with a genjutsu without us even noticing. Thats amazing, their teamwork must be unrivaled by any other team here."

One of the other chunnin shook his head "They didn't catch us in a genjutsu. He caught us in a genjutsu. Just the one of them. His is that one clan thats eyes turn red shortly after puberty. And if what I've heard of them is correct, then hes not even the strongest link of that trio. This is going to be an interesting exam this year."

Team five continued into the waiting room where all the other gennin who were participating in the exams stood. There were gennin from all four villages here. And all of them looked just as anxious to get this thing started.

Then a jounin entered the room and announced "All gennin who will be taking the chunnin exams follow me." Without another word he turned around and walked into the room behind him. All the gennin followed him.

In the room they had a seating chart set up on the far wall, showing where all of them would sit. Something all the gennin noticed was that all of them were separated from their own teams. And they found out it was a written exam. Akira almost laughed at Yuki's distress. He knew how she always shirked studying. He almost laughed, until he found they all had to pass as a team or they would all fail, then his mood darkened a little. This was going to be difficult.

He jounin explained the exam. "Everyone starts off with ten points. There are ten questions. Each team needs twenty points to pass. However If any member of a team gets a zero on their test the whole team fails. For every wrong question you lose one point. Every time you are caught cheating one point is also deducted from your score, but if you are caught cheating three times you and your team fail. Also the tenth question will be given after forty-five minutes. In other words you get forty-five minutes to pass or fail this test... well what are you waiting on? You only have forty-four minutes left I wouldn't suggest you waste it gawking at me, I'm not that ugly."

The gennin all turned over their papers and began working on their test, And the jounin known as the "Baboon" smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to give the final question, although wolverine had been begging to be the one to give it Baboon refused. This was his fun time.

Akira soon realized that while he could answer most of his questions, there was no way most of the gennin could answer any of them. So he began to think carefully, why would they tell you that you would fail the test if you got caught cheating, not once but three times? Then it came to him, this test wasn't about your knowledge on things that were obviously beyond most gennins levels. This test was to see if you could cheat without getting caught!

Flashback

Jiraiya looked at his students with a serious face, something he only did when on a mission usually. "Here is something you must never forget, To a shinobi rules don't exist. Your only goal is to achieve your objective by whatever means are necessary. Don't forget this, no matter what mission you are given, it must be achieved. Obviously your not gonna kill a person for getting in your way on the "Finding the cat" mission, but I think you understand what I'm saying."

End flashback

As soon as Akira realized this he knew he had to find a way to get the message to Yuki and Tsubaki. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Tsubaki and discovered that he was already done. Apparently he had already figured it out. That was good, but now he had to get the message to Yuki, and he was unsure of how he could. Then he remembered. If you were caught cheating three times you would be disqualified. Well he would only have to be caught once.

Akira wrote down a message on a piece of paper and boldly stood up. Then he walked over to Yuki's desk and placed it on her desk, before walking back to his seat. "Well" he thought to himself, "I only have two more times left. Better not get caught."

Yuki looked down at the piece of paper and read it. "Here is something you must never forget, To a shinobi rules don't exist. Your only goal is to achieve your objective by whatever means are necessary. Don't forget this, no matter what mission you are given, it must be achieved Better hurry, we don't have much time left."

Yuki was so grateful to him, she hadn't managed to answer a single question, and was on the verge of tearing her hair out. Now that she knew she was supposed to cheat she only had to figure out who to cheat off of. And of course Akira was the obvious choice as he would probably have already finished. Inscribing a seal on her test sheet she activated it and waited for the results.

Akira noticed a seal appear on his paper, and he knew it had appeared on every other test sheet in the room. Most people would wonder what it was, but he knew. This seal had been invented in the Sealmasters clan, by students who hadn't studied and decided to cheat. When the seal was activated on one paper all other pieced of paper in the entire room that were similar to that one would gain the seal as well. The downside was that once those kids grew up and the next generation tried to use it, the teachers already knew what it looked like so it pretty much stopped there. But it managed to make it to the library somehow.

Once someone else activated their side of the seal all the information was transferred from their paper to the seal. When someone else activated their end, their papers information would also be transferred into the seal where the information from both papers would fuse. Because of this both parties would have to wait till after this to write their names on their papers as their names would become fused together in a blob.

Akira activated his seal and watched it change shape slightly. To anyone who didn't know what it was, it just appeared to be some sort of symbol.

Yuki quickly transferred the seals contents over to her paper then filled in her name. She suddenly felt much better. Now she would pass the test.

The Baboon slammed his hand down on his desk. Everyone stopped what they were doing. "Times up." Most everyone looked fairly satisfied as they figured they had passed the first nine. The tenth question couldn't be too difficult. "I'm sure you all think that this next question will be a breeze. Well this question is not one you can pass simply by cheating off someone who knows the answer. This question has it's own set of rules as well. You can stand up right now and choose to not take this question, in which case both you and your team fail."

A gennin from the village hidden in the mist yelled out "Why the hell would we choose to fail on purpose no less? You think we're stupid?"

The Baboon looked at him before replying. "As far as the first question, because if you take the tenth question, I can guarantee you will die." There was a hush as he continued "And as far as your second question, do you really want me to answer that?"

Unfortunately all the gennin seemed to miss the humor of his last remark. Then the same gennin spoke again "Well if we are all gonna die by taking the tenth question why would anyone take it?"

The Baboon looked as them just as calmly as before and said "Because if you take the tenth question there is a possibility that you will make chunnin before you die." That pretty much did it. The instant he said that nearly a third of the class stood up. They all knew that each year there was a different instructor. So they would just take it a year when they had someone who wasn't out to get them. And chunnin wasn't worth dieing over. Of course since a third of the class stood up, all their teammates had to leave by default

By the time it was done and over with only ten teams remained. The Baboon looked around before saying. "So your all willing to take the tenth question even though you know you will die?"

Akira spoke out "We knew the instant we became gennins that there was a possibility that we would die. You say we will die. Be that as it may, I like to defy the odds."

The Baboon decided he had done his fair share and let the know the tenth question. "Well, here is the ones who have died because they took the tenth question in years past." He began listing off names. And it wasn't a short list. Fifteen minutes had passed by the time he had finished. He looked slowly back up at the class.

"These are all those who have died in service of Konoha in just the last ten years. This list does not include any of the other villages as the list would take far longer than we have. Those of you who are interested I'm sure you can ask for a list like that back at home. Something you need to know. Some people become shinobi and only take missions that don't sound dangerous so they will be safe. Well thats fine as we always need someone to do missions that other find boring. But a true shinobi knows that he can die at any moment, and therefor does not fear death but walks side by side with it. All of you will die, that is set in stone. But something all those who walked out seem to have forgotten, is that so will they. Everyone dies, the only thing about death that can be changed is when and where. Remember that."

With that he turned and walked out holding his left shoulder remembering a friend who had always managed to stay one step ahead of death. The very same friend who had taken a step back to save him from deaths grip, and gotten snatched instead.

An older, grumpy looking jounin entered the room, and glanced around. Then he turned around and started walking out again, he stopped at the door and said "You coming or not?" Then walked out the rest of the way. Everyone looked around in confusion, was he an instructor? Finally one person got up to follow him, and the rest of the classroom followed suit.

They followed him to a forest that they had all been forbidden to enter their entire lives. At the edge there was a fence, with a man sitting with his back propped up against it. When they got closer they noticed he was snoring. "Get up fool! Your gennin are here!" The grumpy older man shouted.

The man looked up with sleepy eyes. He had extremely dark brown eyes, and red hair that had the edges tinted black. He was obviously from the Irikari clan, who all had the same color hair. They were actually born that way. They were known for their incredible stamina and knowledge of different Taijutsu fighting styles. It was said that there was only five styles that their clan had not mastered in the entire world, and the Gentle Fist fighting style, which the Hyuuga's were known for was one of those five.

"Why hello there, what took you so long? I coulda had a nap with how long you were gone." His eyes barely opened as he said this, only a select few would even notice the absolute awareness that shone through, the mark of a true veteran.

The older man's fists trembled in barely controlled fury. He was remembering about twenty minutes ago when he had been told to go get the gennin, because the Irikari had been to "Tired" to go himself. "I apologize, I must work on being faster."

The Irikari nodded his head lazily before slowly getting to his feet. "Well little gennin, my name is Lee, Irikari Lee. I am to be your instructor for the second part of the chunnin exams. This exam will be taking place in the forest of death. Each team will be given one scroll. The are three types of scrolls. You need all three to pass. Also you must reach the tower located in the center in three days. Those who have not made it there in three days fail, as do anyone who has not obtained three scrolls. I would suggest you do not doddle. On average, one forth of those who enter this portion of the test, die. Because of this it is only required that two thirds of your team survive. But remember the more of your team that dies, the smaller chance you have of succeeding."

The older man nodded his head before saying. "Proceed to the tent that is located over there. There you may pick up your scroll. You will have one hour to prepare yourselves before the second part of the exam begins. I suggest you be prepared."

All the gennin had become extremely silent. They went over to the tent to pick up their scrolls. After an hour had passed they gathered near the entrance where Lee was waiting. "Those who wish to back out now may do so, as I'm sure your opponents will show you no mercy. No one? Very well, if you are all prepared... BEGIN!

AN: dun dun dun. I coulda continued but as I was taking forever I decied to end this chapter here to give you guys a little something while I work on the rest of the exams. Sorry I have taken so long. To aNg3l0fDaRkNeSs, HAH! Its not Arashi! Faced! Anyways, The reason I have taken so long on this one is very simple... I'm very lazy. Sorry but it's the truth. I kept starting to work on it, then would get distracted and go play a video game. I guess I'm just rude. By the way, pay close attention to any clans that you haven't heard of before, I assure you each one will become very familiar with the characters we all know and love from the actual manga. Well until next time, I promise to get chapter 14 out sooner than this one was.