Public Enemy Number One
"Tanuki, I need you to take another solo mission." I ordered my older friend. "It's a very important one, S-rank, so please be careful. All the intel we have in addition to the mission itself is in here, so make sure to read properly through it."
I handed her the map of files I had just finished organizing. Kamiko opened it and quickly scanned the mission before giving me a quick nod and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"As for the rest of Team Chi, I have another mission for you guys in Kusa. Mouse is the Captain for the mission." I continued and handed the mission files to Mouse.
"Oh thank Kami, Tanuki has been evil lately…" Leopard muttered, earning a light hit from Mouse.
"Mou, you shouldn't speak badly about your Captain!" I stated with a smile hidden behind my mask.
"Commander, yesterday she had us go through her strength program thrice!" Frog complained.
"It's her job though… You just need to reach her level of awesomeness!" I cheered happily, raising my fist into the air.
"Commander you sound like Gai talking about youth!" Mouse commented, sounding rather traumatized at the idea.
"Oh please, he can never reach my level! I'm the ever-awesome Commander Fox after all!" the squad nodded slowly in response. "Just get going."
My old squad left, leaving me alone with the last team of the day, Team Ro. Cat, the Captain who started leading the squad when Kakashi quit, stepped forward to receive the next mission.
"How much do you guys want to bet that Tanuki finally runs off and becomes a missing nin?" the newest addition to the squad, Panther, asked his teammates.
"She won't." I stated confidently. "She knows I can't be bothered to water her cactuses so obviously she has to be back by Friday to do it herself."
"That's a ridiculous excuse, Commander…" Panther complained, and I could practically feel him roll his eyes.
"I wouldn't doubt Commander Fox, Panther." Cat told her subordinate softly. "She has a scary talent of being right about these things."
"Yeah right…" Panther scoffed, and I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Everyone reacted the same way when I explained why Kamiko would return from her different solo missions. Nevertheless, I knew my friend and there was no way she would abandon Konoha regardless of how much she hated spending time around people. She just didn't like to socialize.
"Seriously, Cat's right. I've been here since Tanuki started receiving solo missions." Ape said seriously. "We all thought she would run off and become a missing nin back then as well. But like Fox explained back then, she still returned."
"To water her cactuses?" Panther asked in disbelief.
"Huh? No back then she didn't have her cactuses, she had to return in time for the Rinne Festival to help me get my kimono on properly." I corrected him happily and handed Cat her mission assignment files. "I need you guys to look into these people, they'll be arriving for the upcoming Chunin Exams, and to avoid a similar occurrence as to the Invasion, we'll need to be thorough. I'll need a rapport by the end of the week."
"Yes Commander!" the Team called in perfect synchronisation and quickly left me alone to finish up writing who took care of the different missions. 'Okay, now to report to Tsunade.'
"-and lastly the intel on Iwa." I finished my rapport of the month to Tsunade. "Anything else I can do for you?"
"Have you heard anything from your Akatsuki source?" the Hokage asked me, carefully wording her phrase, showing me that she believed that someone was listening in.
"I believe Jiraiya currently knows more than I do. Is there a reason you're asking now?" I asked her, being as discreet in my phrasing.
"The Kazekage was kidnapped by the Akatsuki, I've sent Team Kakashi to deal with it." Tsunade explained, her eyebrows creasing slightly. "Jiraiya did find out around the same time as we did, so your source might have heard about it late."
"Yes that would make sense." I concurred, knowing that the Akatsuki usually only got information regarding the other members when it was time to seal a biju. "Would you like me to send a squad to back up Team Kakashi?"
"No, I've sent Team Gai after them, that should be enough. We can't afford to send more Shinobis than absolutely necessary." Tsunade said thoughtfully. "But have a squad on standby should backup be needed."
"I'll have the squads currently patrolling ready should the situation call for it." I nodded my head deeply. "Anything else?"
"I'll let you know if anything changes regarding the Kazekage situation. I want all rapports about the Chunin Exam delivered daily and not as a part of the normal monthly rapports." Tsunade commanded.
"As you wish." I nodded my head in respect.
"Dismissed."
I scanned through the final rapports on the Village Security quickly and looked back up at Dragon and Shikaku.
"I don't believe we need to prepare for a full change in our security this time." I stated calmly and looked back up at the other two Commanders. "None of the rapports on the Villages competing in the exams have shown any signs of odd behaviour."
"Aa, it would be a waste of our resources. I suggest we simply tighten it a bit during the exams and makes sure to have enough guards when it's time for the final test." Shikaku said lazily, earning nods from Dragon and I in agreement.
The ten-year-old Akira was glaring fiercely at her sensei. That bastard had refused to enter them for the Chunin Exams for years, and this year Akira knew that Itachi was participating alone. 'There's no way I'll let Tachi become a Chunin before me.'
"Sensei! Hokage-jiji has been having us do B-rank missions for a year now, it's obvious that we're already Chunin level! Enter us already!" Akira whined childishly with a dramatic pout.
"But when you guys become Chunin, I won't get to take you on fun missions anymore!" Hayato whined back with an equally dramatic pout.
"But sensei!" Akira activated her puppy-eyes. They always worked. Always. "I want to prove to everyone that I'm the ever-awesome Nakamaru Akira. Are you really going to stop me from advancing as a ninja?"
Hayato stared at his youngest student, trying desperately to make his expression stern. Akira stuck out her bottom lip slightly more and blinked twice.
"Fine… I'll enter you guys if you pass my test!" Hayato stated and struck his fist into the air.
"YES!" Akira cheered happily and started jumping on the spot, grabbing both of her teammates to make them jump with her. To no one's surprise, the other two stayed completely still
"A test? That sounds troublesome." Tadashi groaned and managed to release Akira's grip on him.
"Tch…" Kamiko rolled her eyes at her teammates. "What do we need to do?"
Hayato smirked evilly at his three genins. "Prank the Jonin Lounge."
"That's it?" Akira snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I was planning on doing that anyways. They keep calling me short!"
"Troublesome girl, you're half their height, of course they'll call you short…" Tadashi muttered, earning a glare from Akira.
"I'm sorry, do you fancy waking up covered in pink glitter again?" Akira asked her oldest teammate sweetly.
"How troublesome…" the Nara complained. "Then I assume you have a plan for the prank?"
"Well obviously! It involves flamingos, pink paint and pink feathers." Akira stated with a mischievous smile. "By the end of the prank, Konoha will have trouble distinguishing between jonins and flamingos. I have your permission to go as wild as I want to, right sensei?"
"Of course you do!"
As expected, Team 5 had no problem pranking the Jonin Lounge and furious jonins covered in pink paint and feathers were seen running around Konoha to capture the herd of wild flamingos which had appeared out of nowhere. Hayato having been forced to admit that they had indeed pranked the jonins exceptionally and gotten away without getting caught, had no choice but enter them for the Chunin Exams. The trio had walked in with three very different expressions: Tadashi looking bored, Kamiko looking slightly murderous and Akira smiling brightly.
"Tachi!" Akira cheered happily as she spotted the only other person at her age. The young girl quickly ran over to her friend and hugged him tightly.
"You look excited." Itachi remarked, looking as emotionless as ever. Though Akira, having known the boy for years, could tell by the slight rise in the corners of his eyes that he was just as excited as she was. Still, Akira hated it when he hid his emotions like that.
"Tachi! Smile! The ever-awesome Akira has graced you with her amazing presence!" the girl chided.
"STOP TALKING BRATS AND SIT DOWN! THE EXAM WILL BEGIN IN TWO MINUTES!" the man Akira assumed was the protector of the first exam yelled. "My name is Morino Ibiki and I'm in charge of the first test. Take a number and find the correct seat, and I'll explain the rules."
All the genins quickly rushed to the seats and sat down according to the numbers they had gotten.
"In front of you, you'll find a sheet with the first nine questions for the exams. There are ten questions in total. You all start out with ten points, for each question you either answer wrong or don't answer, you'll lose one point. For all the times we catch you cheating, we'll take two points." Ibiki started explaining harshly. "The points of the entire team will determine whether or not you pass the test. If one person loses all of his or her points, the entire team will fail alongside that person. Once one hour has passed, I'll ask you guys the tenth question. Understood?"
"Yes!" all the genins called in unison. Some eying the chunins sitting alongside the wall with a stressed look on their face. Akira merely smiled innocently and activated her Sharingan. With her black lenses hiding them from the world, nobody would notice her copying the writing of the person in front of her. As such, the young genin finished her test long before the time-limit. 'Just sitting here and waiting will be so boring… I've already done the prank I had planned, so what else is there to do?' Still, there was one jonin in the village she didn't get to prank. Her lovely sensei. She had the perfect idea. With a mischievous smile on her face, she turned the sheet around and wrote in detail how the entire prank was her sensei's idea. How he was the one who ordered Team 5 to do the prank or he wouldn't allow them to enter the exam. She knew that Ibiki had gotten hit and that all of the chunins in the room had been forced to help capture the wild flamingos. They'd probably enjoy having someone to take revenge on. Oh yes, she would enjoy making him everyone's enemy.
"Now for the last question, you can choose whether or not you'll take it. If you choose to take it, the member with the lowest score will remain a genin forever. If you choose not to, the entire team will be disqualified, and you'll have to take it again next year." Ibiki explained, releasing a tiny bit of killing intent. Though compared to what Kamiko released on a daily basis, it was very weak. "Those who refuse to take the question can leave the room now."
Akira quickly figured that she would not be the person to refuse one of her teammates their promotion. The young girl stood up and started leaving the room, her squad members following her.
"This is troublesome anyways." Tadashi muttered, as if attempting to cheer up his teammates. Surprisingly, very few chose to leave. Still, Akira noted that Itachi had left with them. 'Though as he entered without a team, he would be the member with the lowest score so that makes sense.' Akira snickered slightly. The new room they entered was blocked, leaving the genins locked inside the room.
"What's going on?" they heard someone ask, only to be hushed by his teammates. Suddenly a poof of smoke caught everyone's attention and Ibiki showed up.
"You all pass!" he stated, and the room erupted in wild chatter caused by the confusion. "The test was to see whether you were willing to leave your teammates behind for personal gain. By leaving, you proved that you value your teammates over your possible promotion."
"Then we're done?" I asked the other to Commanders while gathering the files on the table.
"Yes, that should be it." Dragon responded calmly.
"My force should return with more information by the end of the week, so I'll update you both on the next meeting." I stated and nodded to the other two.
"I'll finalize the list over Shinobis in the village as well." Shikaku nodded respectfully to both Dragon and I. "Then I'll be off."