Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters aren't mine. This story has been inspired by Vixen Tail's story Deja vu No Jutsu and Hermionechan90's Inoue Shiori. Both authors have given me permission to use ideas and themes from their stories.
A/N: Um...hi?
I apologize for going AWOL. I had thought I'd be able to finish this chapter in the week after I posted the last one but...well, that didn't happen. I can't promise the next chapter won't take just as long, as I'm back to posting as I finish each chapter and we are preparing to move on to the next job.
I will try to post bi-weekly (I really, really doubt I'll be able to do weekly) but don't be surprised if it takes longer than that.
The Chunin Exams begin!
A/N 12/18: Just corrected the times the First Exams starts and fixed a mangled sentence, nothing changed scene wise. I'm currently re-reading the chunnin exams to refresh my memory, so bare with me. Hopefully will have next chapter out by the 19th.
When Aioka had decided to take the week before the Chunin Exams off from her duties to the Corp, she had never imagined how hard it would be to stay away and not worry about whether or not her Lieutenants were taking care of everything.
The first day was nice. She spent the whole day with her kaa-san and imoto—cooking, laughing, and catching up on house projects she had neglected and her Kaa-san insisted on helping with. At the end of the day, her father had joined them for dinner along with Naruto and his teammates.
That fiasco had been fun. Sasuke and Sakura's expression when Mikimaru squealed out 'Naru-nii!' and bodily attached herself to Naruto had been hilarious.
Days two through four had been excruciating. Her chunin friends had been unavailable to meet up like she had hoped and Kakashi didn't make an appearance. She had spent her days meandering the market place and people watching. While people watching was interesting—especially with so many foreigners—it was also maddening.
Why, oh why, hadn't she thought about giving the civilians some general safety guidelines to follow with so many strangers in village?
Yes, she was confident that her corp could protect them from physical stupidity but was it really necessary for some of them to give out so much personal information?!
There were so many foreign shinobi walking around unsupervised it was making her skin crawl. She really hoped the Hokage knew what he was doing by allowing them to wander unmarked.
In an attempt to keep herself occupied—and not throttle the next shinobi chatting up a civilian for village information—Aioka set about writing out ideas on how to prepare civilians for such an event in the future. As she put the finishing touches on a syllabus for civilian safety classes at the end of day three, Aioka wondered if she might have issues. It probably wasn't normal for someone to find comfort in writing manuscripts, instructional texts, or class materials. She had already written several scripts for the corp as its commander. She had even written as complete of a history of the Genin Corp as she could. She was toying with the idea of actually getting it published one day.
Having so many days off led her to the realization that she had no hobbies that did not correlate with being a shinobi somehow. While that wasn't exactly a bad thing for a shinobi, was it a good thing for a person? That philosophical question ran around in her head for most of a day before she decided it didn't matter. She was a shinobi and she was happy how she was.
The morning of the Exams came with a feeling of relief. She greatly disliked having so many days off.
Aioka exhaled slowly as she gazed at the Hokage Tower and did her best to let go of her nerves. She had done everything she could. Her six genin were as prepared as she knew how to make them and all that was left was to see if it was enough. Her job, now, was to trust in her students and their skill.
Spreading out her senses for a moment, Aioka took note of who was around, and made her way to the room she had been informed to wait in with the other Konoha jonin-sensei.
The message had been delivered to her two days ago by Runners stationed at the Mission Desk in the Hokage Tower. The Runners had informed her that multiple rooms had been set up with for the jonin-sensei to wait for results of the First Exams.
Upon entering the room, Aioka found herself in the company of three jonin. The men were in their mid to late twenties and from shinobi families. Two were armed to the gills with small weaponry, while the third was deceptively unarmed. Aioka suspected the third was a strong ninjutsu user if the potency of his chakra was anything to go by.
Nodding respectfully, Aioka made her way to the coffee machines while taking in other room was well lit and painted in soothing neutral colors of browns and creams. The furniture was placed strategically so its occupant could see the door and most of the windows. The coffee bar was situated in the center of the room where everyone could see it at all times—no one wanted another tampering with the food or drinks.
Taking her cup of coffee and a muffin, Aioka settled unobtrusively in what she deemed as the least desirable section of the room. A single chair at the front of the room in the corner had limited field of vision and was fairly hard to maneuver from if a fight broke out.
It was unlikely anyone would challenge her for her spot and if trouble did happen, she was confident in her ability to kawarmi to a more suitable location.
Aioka settled herself in her chair and began playing Face-Name-Signature as jonin-sensei gradually arrived. She knew each signature and where they lived or spent most of their time, but only had faces for half of them and a name for three of the fourteen jonin that were in the room.
A startling few jonin seemed to notice her and those that did mostly dismissed her. Or so it seemed. She really didn't want to believe that they could so easily ignore an unknown.
It was nearly five and she had been her since three, surely someone should've questioned her by now.
"Hiding, Aioka-san?"
Aioka was hard pressed not to flinch at the casual drawl and the abrupt appearance of a signature much, much closer than it had been seconds ago.
Copper eyes fixed on the jonin, leaning nonchalantly at her side, with muted admiration and a good deal of respect. Not a moment before, Kakashi had been three floors down with Team 7. Between one heart beat and the next the man had used two shunshin—smokeless, sealless shunshin with a suppressed signature—and appeared at her side without warning; reading as if he had been there all along. Here was the control and skill she expected from Konoha's Elite.
"Observing, Hatake-san," Aioka replied. Amusement and disquiet warring as half the jonin in the room flinched at her voice in some manner. Though, she silently admitted to herself that it was gratifying to know she could fade from an average jonin's awareness without relaxing her signature.
The Copy nin glanced down at her with a lifted brow at her lapse into formality. "Call me Kakashi, Aioka-san."
Aioka flashed a brief smile while she took in the way the jonin relaxed at hearing Kakashi's overture. She had known that Kakashi was well known and respected, but it spoke well of him that his peers trusted his word, especially since jonin were a paranoid bunch.
"Who do we have here?"
Aioka's amusement spiked when three other jonin joined them. The way the two shinobi—one Maito Gai and a Sarutobi clansman—placed themselves before her was a subtle intimidation tactic often used to test a strange shinobi's defense triggers by making them feel claustrophobic. The third, a lovely red eyed kunoichi, paused slightly behind the bearded Sarutobi.
"Why, Ausma, do you need uniform remedial training?" Kakashi inquired innocently, his nose once again buried in his book.
The bearded jonin gave her masked companion the look that comment deserved. Career Genin had pretty consistent uniforms, unlike the regular forces who could wear anything they liked. Career genin had to wear their tan vests at all times while on duty. Their pants and shirts could be any style so long as they were muted grey, brown, blue, green, or black.
Personally, Aioka favored blacks, greys, and browns with conservative styles. Her style made her easy to overlook by shinobi and more approachable to civilians.
Chuckling at the way Kakashi was baiting his comrades, Aioka got to her feet—acutely aware of the lack of space the four jonin were allowing her—and bowed politely. "Shojikina Aioka: Career Genin, jonin-san's."
"Yosh! Your Youth is astounding, Shojikina-san! To stand so coolly with us is Youthful!" the green spandex wearing jonin hollered, flashing a blinding grin and striking a pose involving a thumbs up and a puffed up chest.
Aioka grinned at the enthusiastic man, shoving her discomfort of his choice of attire to the back of her mind. The green monstrosity left little to the imagination and she wasn't thrilled about it. "Thank you, Jonin-san."
Maito Gai was known to the Career Genin. The jonin always had an encouraging word for them and was brimming with life as he went about his day in the village. The Corp had to calm more than one disturbed civilian whenever he chose to grace the civilian district but they all found him entertaining.
"Will you introduce us, Kakashi?" the kunoichi jonin spoke up, a kind smile on her painted lips as Gai and Asuma stepped back to give Aioka a little more breathing room.
Kakashi motioned to each jonin as he named them, eye never leaving his book. "Maito Gai, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yuhi Kurenai; taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu specialists respectively,"
Aioka bowed again and glanced at the kunoichi with a small smile as she took in the woman's welcoming posture. "A pleasure."
"What brings you here, Shojikina-san?" Asuma inquired. "I don't see Career Genin by themselves much any more."
Aioka rested most of her weight on one leg and relaxed. Sarutobi Asuma was not well known to her. She knew he was the Hokage's last living son, and had served the Daimyo for a number of years. She had heard he was one of the few Fuuton users in Hi no Kuni, specialized in protection or bodyguard missions, and he smoked. Seeing him now, Aioka could say the man was solid, unflappable, and incredible observant. She doubt the man missed much even if he chose to ignore what he saw.
Not many had paid attention to the Corp and it was interesting that the Sarutobi clansman had remarked on that detail at all.
"I'm representing two teams from the Genin Corp, Sarutobi-san." Aioka smiled at the trio and at their various looks of curiosity. "If all goes well, the Corps participation will be a regular occurrence."
"Huh," Asuma huffed, and looked from her to Kakashi—who was happily ignoring them in favor of his book—before shaking his head and motioning toward the couches he and his companions had been at before Kakashi had arrived. "Come join us, the couches are more comfortable than the chair or wall."
Aioka's lips quirked at the invitation and picked up her empty coffee cup. "Let me grab a refill," she agreed and glanced at Kakashi. An offer slipping from her lips before thinking of the stupidity of it. "Would you like me to get you anything, Kakashi-san?"
"Coffee, please," he answered carelessly, glancing at her as he pushed off the wall and made his way to the couches. "Two spoons of sugar, easy on the milk."
Aioka would have laughed at the open startlement on the faces of the jonin around her if she wasn't struggling to hide her own shock. Jonin of Kakashi's calibre didn't accept food or drink from anyone they didn't trust implicitly. There was a difference in the man accepting food and drink in the privacy of her home and office—where he could easily track her actions—and accepting it in front of his peers where he would lose sight of her. His acceptance of her offer was a louder advocation of her than his taking her to the Rusty Kunai had been. In fact, Aioka doubt him screaming it from the top of the Hokage Tower could get it across nearly as well.
Pushing her emotions aside, she turned to the coffee bar that suddenly felt much further away than it actually was.
She was used to being watched: by civilians, by her subordinates. But she hadn't anticipated the weight the eyes of a dozen plus jonin could feel like. Eyes that saw everything she didn't do. It took a very conscious effort for her to not let her signature relax into nothingness, to move to the bar without physically tensing, and to not tremble as she poured herself and Kakashi their beverages.
No one looked at her for longer than a moment, just a casual glance new movement usually garnered, but it felt as if every single one of them were bending their full attention on her.
The journey took less than two minutes, but Aioka was more wired than she had been when sparring Kakashi the previous week by the time she handed the masked jonin his drink.
While she was thankful Kakashi had accepted her thoughtless offer and she didn't have to deal with the fall out of her impulsive faux pas, she wasn't sure she didn't prefer the embarrassment over the intense scrutiny she was now subject too.
"Did your teams make it in alright? I didn't see them when I left Team 7," Kakashi asked, tilting his head in invitation for her to sit by him on the couch he had claimed. Asuma and Kurenai had taken the other couch and Gai was sitting with his arms folded over the back of simple chair.
Aioka shoved her gibbering thoughts to the back of her mind—there was not a snowball's chance in summer that she was going to have an anxiety attack in front of these people—and took a sip of her coffee to ground herself.
"They did. How is Haruno-san holding up?" she asked.
She had seen Sasuke almost every night since the spar with Kakashi and was slowly getting to know the boy beneath the anger and trauma. Naruto was good for him and he for Naruto. The two boys were inseparable, feeding off each other's competitiveness and dreams. Aioka could almost see wisps of what the two would become together, and the vision raised hairs at its potential for prosperity or destruction.
"I still think you underestimate the girl, Aioka-san," Kakashi deflected mildly, his eye drifting in a casual sweep of the room before returning to his book.
Aioka inwardly rolled her eyes at the evasion and smiled at the curious gazes of her new companions. "Kakashi and I have differing opinions of his kunoichi genin," she explained, resting her hands in her lap and absently running a thump along the styrofoam cup. "How long have you three been jonin-sensei?"
"I've been stoking the flames of my team's youthfulness for almost two years, Shojikina-san," Gai answered, doing...something with his eyebrows Aioka wasn't aware was physically possible. The jonin may be the nicest person in the world but he made her skin prickle uncomfortably.
"This is my first time," Kurenai offered. "Both Kakashi and Asuma have tested others before their current teams. I made jonin last year and only recently completed my requirements to take on a team."
"What are the requirements, if you don't mind?" Aioka asked, visibly interested and trying to distract herself from the vividness that was Maito Gai. She had wanted to be a jonin-sensei before she ended up in the Genin Corp but hadn't thought any more about it once that avenue had been shut to her.
"Survive a year leading cantankerous career chunin," Asuma said dryly, fiddling with an empty cigarette box.
Kurenai gave a sigh of exasperation but didn't refute the shinobi's statement.
Aioka smiled briefly as she did some mental math and carefully sounded out her conclusion. "I take it that your team is from Team 7's year, then?"
At the kunoichi's proud affirmative, and Asuma's addition that his team was also a batch fresh from the Academy, Aioka turned her eyes to the only jonin she could claim any sort of familiarity with. For a moment she considered opening her mouth to question the intelligence of Konoha's elite, to ask why they wished an early grave for their charges. These genin were children for all that they were seen as adults in the eyes of the village. They needed guidance and chances to gain experience. They needed the bad habits the Academy neglected to correct, corrected. These things were impossible to fix in six months.
Kakashi looked back at her after a moment too long of silence and Aioka came back to herself. She was a genin and it was not her place to voice such things to these people. Kakashi had been gracious in allowing her to speak about her concerns for his team in the privacy of her home. It would be unwise to voice those same concerns to strangers.
"I hope they are looking forward to the challenge," Aioka settled with. The statement was a little too delayed to hide the fact she wanted to say something else, but not so long that it was awkward.
"Yosh! My team will burn brightly with success! They are more than ready to become chunin!" Gai exclaimed, launching a bandaged fist into the air.
Aioka's eyes tightened at the unexpected shout but managed a smile. "Do your students follow you as Taijutus specialist, Maito-san?"
Aioka listened as the four jonin shared stories about their students' successes and several humorous mistakes. Every once in a while Aioka would share an experience but for the most part she listened and observed.
"I think this is the longest I've gone without my team causing mayhem," Kakashi commented into one of the comfortable silences that had fallen over the group. "It's almost boring."
Aioka shot Kakashi a sly smile as the others chuckled. "If rumors are true, you might not enjoy the boredom for much longer, Kakashi-san."
"What rumors?" Kurenai inquired, concern for her team flickering in her eyes while Kakashi simply shot Aioka a brief inquisitive glance.
"Morino Ibiki is in charge of the first stage," Asuma explained, studying Aioka with renewed curiosity.
Aioka caught the man's looked and refrained from shifting nervously.
Was she not supposed to have known that? Her Runners in T&I had assured her that the division wasn't making it a secret of who was handling each stage.
Kakashi frowned as he looked up from the final chapter of his book. "That sadist? I figured it would be someone a little lower on the food chain."
"Sadist?" Kurenai asked, alarm coloring her tone and her hands twitching in what Aioka could only assume was an aborted genjutsu.
"I suppose you wouldn't have a reason to know of him since you're still a new jonin," Asuma mused, turning his attention to the worried kunoichi. "Morino Ibiki is the Head of Torture and Interrogation. He's also in charge of the assassin squads."
"Torture isn't something I was taught as a genin," Kurenai protested. "That isn't required until prepping for the jonin exam."
Aioka tucked that tidbit away. She had wondered what rank Konoha expected its shinobi to deal with torture. Plus she hadn't known that the jonin rank was tested for. She had assumed it was all field promotion after chunin.
"Worry not, Kurenai-san!" Gai encouraged, shooting Asuma an amused look for winding the pretty kunoichi up. "Ibiki won't physically touch them."
"That's not as comforting as it probably should be, Maito-san," Aioka remarked dryly as the genjutusu mistress gazed worriedly toward the door leading to the rest of the Hokage Tower. The T&I specialist didn't need to touch someone to mess them up. From what she understood from her Runners, Morino Ibiki loved psychological warfare. More than one of her Runner's had transfered out of T&I to get away from the mind games that occured on a daily basis.
"Where did you hear the rumors, Shojikina-san?" Asuma inquired. "I only found out last night from a relative."
"I have genin stationed at T&I for missive running, Sarutobi-san," Aioka replied. "The T&I employees made no secret of what they had planned for the first phase. The second phase is a little more hush hush, but we know who is leading that one and we made a few educated guess at what it would entail."
"You're in charge of the message genin?" Kurenai clarified, turning her gaze away from the door and her mind away from whatever she had signed her genin up for. "I always wondered how they were managed."
Aioka would have let the assumption stand—she had no reason to advertise her rank—but Kakashi had finished his book and decided to stir up some entertainment.
"Didn't you know, Kurenai? Aioka-san is the Genin Commander."
The intense interest the room as a whole had been showing her was just becoming manageable for the out ranked kunoichi. With the Copy-nin's revelation, however, the pressure of scrutiny intensified once more.
Aioka eyed her empty styrofoam cup contemplatively, wondering if there was a viable way to injure a jonin with it. She supposed she could crumble it and force him to inhale the flaky particles and choke, but with him wearing a mask it would be a mite difficult.
She really was coming to dislike being around so many Jonin.
"Genin Commander?"
"Hai, Yuhi-san." Aioka sighed at the confused kunoichi's inquiry, and gave Kakashi a flat look for the unwanted attention she was getting. A look the mischievous jonin happily beamed at her for. She turned to the other kunoichi and continued before she gave into the temptation to attempt at shocking the man with a low level raiton. "I am the Genin Commander. I'm responsible for the organization of the Genin Corp and signing lots of paperwork."
"I wasn't aware that career genin had a commander," Asuma commented. Amusement coloring his voice as he eyed the two across from him. Kakashi looked far to pleased with the (for him) tame teasing he had just delivered. As far as Asuma could tell, the woman wasn't even that irritated, but judging by how pleased the last Hatake was with himself, Asuma was missing something.
Aioka made a dismissive gesture. "Not many do, Sarutobi-san, it's mainly administrative any way."
Before anything else could be asked, commotion in the hall drew the attention away from her and Aioka closed her eyes briefly in relief. The jonin all stood, and Aioka followed their example. Time to see how her genin faired.
A:CG
Morino Ibiki watched the last of the remaining genin leave. Making last minute observations as they went.
If not for Uzumaki Naruto speech, more than half the remaining teams would have quit. He did not expect most of the teams to get through Anko's test unscathed. He would be surprised if most didn't die.
The skill gaps he saw between villages was understandable. Konoha usually did not test well on intelligence—usually on purpose. Oto put out quite the showing this round, as had Ame, and Suna. However, it was the skill gap with the Konoha teams that stood out to the Interrogator.
From the start, the differences were present. Where others had arrived ready for a spar or a day challenge, the Genin Corp teams had arrived mission ready with packs for a week of supplies. Where others had puzzled over the genjutsu—either genuinely or to mask any perceived skill—they had henged and by passed it completely. The six did not ignore their fellow leaf-nin, or treat them suspiciously, as the others had. They had not stood around while they waited, rather they took the time to mingle with the other teams, both foreign and domestic, and acquaint themselves with their opponents.
The manner the six went about gathering intel during the test was unclear, but whatever they had done had garnered more than one look from the Hyuuga's in the room. He would love to know what put disbelief on one of their faces—and confusion on the others—and was impressed that he couldn't figure it out himself. He would have to ask before he dismissed the Analysts.
Over all, he was impressed with how the career genin were handling themselves and looked forward to Anko's observations.
Once the last genin slipped from view, Ibiki turned his attention to the chunin who had helped him administer the written exam. A quick glance showed the men and women wandering the desk and retrieving the papers. Although the tests had not been part of what allowed the genin to move to the next round, the answers would go toward their consideration for chunin.
"Hitomi-san." The branch Hyuuga looked up from organizing the tests she had gathered. "Tell me about the career genin teams," he ordered.
The others made gestures that betrayed their interest in the subject, but they didn't pause in their tasks.
The woman neatened the stack of papers in her hand as she answered. "They employed henge and kawarimi to answer their questions."
Ibiki's brows rose sharply. He had not seen any sign of hand seals or smoke at any point from them. Even the Uchiha had used a hand seal to activate his bloodline. Sealless, wordless, smokeless jutsu were incredibly rare; even among jonin and Anbu. The amount of time that sort of mastery took was rarely worth the effort.
"Elaborate," he commanded.
The Hyuuga woman obeyed, her amazement occasionally slipping passed the stoicism her clan was famous for. She explained how the kunoichi of the team had filled out the test—cursing creatively using words like 'hopscotch' and 'masks'—then proceeded to switch with a shinobi from the second team so he could read her answers while she filled out his test. The switch had been done without any visual disruption. The kunoichi had henged into her teammate, and her teammate into her, with no visible flaws. They had switched back once she had finished the shinobi's test then proceeded to switch among their teammates to answer their tests. At no point had the Hyuuga Analyst been able to see what was happening without the use of her Byakugan.
Silence reigned for a moment before Tobitake Tonbo— a blind Sensor in the Analyst Division—spoke up. "The Kunoichi wasn't always the one to initiate the switch. I sensed each initiate the switch once. They seem to 'knock' on each other before following through with their jutsu. When did they henge, Hitomi-san?" the Sensor asked, turning his bandaged face toward the kunoichi.
"As soon as the Kawarimi begins," she answered quietly, her expression awed and troubled.
Until today, kawarimi was thought too difficult to use on a living being. Most attempts left the initiator aching and dizzy.
Ibiki shelved his thoughts on the career genin teams. "Right, hand over the tests and you all can go. Good work today."
Once he was alone, Ibiki combed through the tests; organizing them by village then by teams. A few tests stood out for their creativity and one made the Interrogator bark out a short laugh. In his hand was a blank test, the sheet only marred by the name in the corner.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you're a funny guy," he remarked to the empty room. Huffing another laugh he fished out the six pages he wanted and compared them to the most senior genin team that had participated.
Each of the career genin tests were written by two people and had identical answers. If the six survived Anko's test, Ibiki would advocate for the two team's advancement. Konoha needed more quality chunin.
Briskly, Ibiki graded the tests and then dropped each pile off at rooms designated to each village. He stayed to explain which teams had failed and why before moving to where the Konoha jonin and one career genin where waiting.
Upon his entry into the room full of Konoha Jonin, he quickly found the target of his interest. The flash of relief on her face gave him a pause before he felt a tang of amusement when he saw the company she was keeping. That was a formidable welcome committee for any rank.
"How'd our teams do, Morino-san?"
Ibiki scowled; the team of this particular jonin had tried for chunin twice before this. The only reason this jonin's team had moved on to the second round was due to Uzumaki's rousing speech before Anko's arrival. All the rookie teams had done better than them.
"See for yourself," he grunted, shuffling through the tests to find the jonin's team.
One by one he handed the jonin their teams tests or told them their team failed. When he handed over the last tests to Shojikina, he held onto them a second longer to bring her gaze to his.
Her copper gaze was curious but not worried. The steadiness he had seen in the Hokage's office hadn't been a fluke then. Her test had begun the moment she had filed the petition for her corp. She had passed the first test when she had met the Hokage. The second stage was about to begin.
"We need to discuss your teams."
A:CG