Any summons suggestions think small people! Like Kakashi and his dogs small.

Any ideas for the usage of Genjutsu if I go that route?

I hate the First exam, it is so boring unless you are Naruto or have a clear cut way to cheat.

Dodging Raido's strikes Mika, having learned over the last hour to not block the strong man's swings, jabbed at him with his tanto. Over and over, each one was easily dodged by his sparring partner. Gritting his teeth, Mika Shushined behind the man and slashed across the man's back, only for Raido to flip over the slash and place his sword at Mika's throat, ending the sparring match.

"That is another one in my favor, still you are pretty good, kid. You have a good battle sense and your shushin is excellent. Still, you were right to get a sparring partner, you need more battle experience to get your mind where it needs to be. All the smarts in the world cannot replace experience. There a few small things you do that need correcting but only experience will help."

Mika nodded, appreciating the man's honesty. "I can see why you are the Hokage's guard. So, do you think I am ready for the Chunin exams?"

The man smiled, tightening the scar on his face. "I think you are, your kenjutsu skills are about High Genin level which is insanely impressive from only a month of full training mixed with what you learn with kunai in the academy, but mixed with all of your other skills and you are easily a solid chunin. I still haven't seen your Hidden Mist jutsu yet, wanna show me?"

Mika nodded with some hesitation. "Sure, but I haven't mastered it, yet. The Hidden Mist jutsu is not hard by itself, but to get full mastery I need to get more control over my Water Affinity. I am having some trouble with condensing the water. The problem is that affinity training is in the library's chunin sections, alongside the sealing and other things. Still, I have been making progress." Mika ran through his handsigns. " Hidden Mist jutsu." And breathed out a long stream of Mist that quickly enveloped the entire clearing.

Raido nodded, a smile on his face. " Have you tried the Silent Killing technique yet?"

"Not much, I was focusing on just mastering the Hidden Mist jutsu and increasing my kenjutsu and taijutsu and evasion skills. Still, I am already pretty quiet on my feet, so that is helpful." The boy moved backward, vanishing into the Mist. There were slight wooshing sounds, Raido only really noticed them due to his track record as an assassin. He had no idea where the boy was, at least until the boy stopped moving and Radio easily blocked the boy's blade with his own.

"Very, very nice. If you focus on the Silent killing, even if only for an hour day, you should gain mastery rather fast. Actually, here's an idea. Why don't you try keeping the Mist Jutsu up while you train in Kenjutsu and Taijutsu in general, that will give you a way to cut down your training time and allow you to preserve your chakra and stamina." The man smiled. "I am so betting on you when you go into the exams. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, that Lord Hokage approved your temporary transfer onto Kabuto's team. The chunin exams are on the Fourteen, you have thirteen days to prepare. I will be sparring with you every Thursday and Saturday, that should be a boon to your combat skills."

"I am also sparring twice a week with Hinata Hyuuga, You will help my kenjutsu, she will help my taijutsu. I cannot wait to show what I can do, to prove my value."

"You will kid, you will... I am still amazed you got so far on self training alone, that is pretty rare. Now, I think we should spend at least half our sparring time in the mist, give you more experience with the silent part of the silent killing and also help you with fighting without your eyes. Trust me, a valuable skill all by itself."

"Sounds great."

"""

Two Weeks Later

Mika shook as he followed Kabuto into the academy. Though he was well trained, well armed and confident, he was also deeply terrified. He was on a significant step in his journey forward, one that he could not afford to fail. Kabuto and his teammate Yoroi had taken the test six times and failed, the test had to be extremely hard. He was in all rights to be nervous.

"Sorry, Mika." Kabuto whispered as they walked past the pointlessly easy genjutsu making a lot of people think they were on the Third Floor. They didn't even stop to look at it, it was so obvious it did not deserve focus. "I know we were supposed to train together at least once, to get us used to each other but we had a mission, you know how that is."

Mika nodded. "It's fine, I am sure we can manage."

They eventually made it into a large classroom filled with angry, bloodthirsty looking chunin hopefuls. Mika felt their weak killer intent oozing in the air, oddly enough he was less intimidated than before. The sight of Hinata coming into the room just minutes later burned away all of the fear entirely, in it's place was a sense of pride. Hinata, as he had learned through his training with her, was a wonderfully bright and interesting person with way more courage than anyone knew. It had just been squashed by her vile clan. Two weeks of sparring with him and her vet training had done wonders. She was standing tall and had changed her outfit, now wearing a cream-colored vest that he knew had herbs and first aid equipment in it. She looked thicker too, mildly, having started wearing weights like he was and his medical eye had noticed the slight increase in muscle.

"Hey, Hime." He smiled at her, getting a smile in return.

The girl moved to him, she did not hug him in such a public place but he knew she wanted to. "Are you okay?"

"A tad nervous, but good. You?"

"Terrified... but I think our training has done me good." He knew it was true, while her raw skills hadn't really changed in just two weeks, confidence had allowed her to access her full skill set more fully turning her into a real beast. Mika guessed she was easily low Jonin in terms of sheer taijutsu skill. If she continued on her path, she would easily be a juggernaut in a year's time. "Oh, I tried the mystic palm yesterday. I manifested the green light, my chakra control training and anatomy trained really helped, but I could not heal the fish. I need to work on resonating the chakra with the cells first, but Hana thinks I will manage in a few days, maybe a week. Our training sessions have been really helpful, sparring over the water really is making it easier to control my chakra, and it is giving me more chakra to waste on practicing that technique. Plus, when you heal me after sparring, I used my byakugan to monitor your chakra and it is really helping, that and your advice on the subject."

"I knew you could do it." It was then then that Naruto and the rest of Team Seven burst into the room, with Naruto being his typical dramatic self. Hinata flushed immediately at the sight of Naruto, gross as that was. "I am going to meditate until it is time to start, I need the focus it brings. I wish you success, Hinata."

She nodded, smiling as warmly as the sun. "Same to you, Mika."

He moved over to where Yoroi was, just as Kabuto moved over to the other Rookies. Mika ignored them entirely, focusing on meditation, mostly to calm his nerves. Unlike the other rookies, who he could hear being dramatic from his place, he knew the risks he was being presented. The death toll of the Chunin exams was... legendary. He had no desire to be a statistic. He would do this...

He would thrive.

Fifty minutes later.

Mika had barely believed that they would have a written test at the Chunin exams, let alone one so mathematical and advanced. It had been easy for him to take the test, he had read on such topics like mechanical energy analysis and other things in the past. A love of learning and being a geek really came in handy sometimes. He didn't even need to cheat, even though he figured out they were testing for information gathering. It just seemed rather obvious, what with the punishment system... however, he knew that he lacked the skills needed to cheat. He simply had no information-gathering skills, or at least not the kind that would serve him in this case.

'Note to self, work on that facet of my skills... like majorly, it is a huge impediment to my path as a ninja.'

He wanted to strangle Naruto when the idiot passed the test, likely only doing the final question since there was no way he could answer a single one of those questions. That someone could and would get by in life by the seat of their pants at all times was... irritating. Kind of funny, but irritating nonetheless.

Soon enough, Mika and Kabuto's team passed the test.

He made his way to Hinata. "How'd you do?"

She smiled. "I didn't need to cheat, but let Naruto use my paper... I think we got caught, but they didn't stop us... he didn't end up using my test though. He answered nothing... "

"Of course he did, he always manages to fly by the seat of his pants." Mika did his best to not roll his eyes. "I know we have to stop sparring for a but, at least until the exam is over, but I do wish you luck and cannot wait to start up again."

"You too!"

"See you later, Hinata... and kick some ass tomorrow."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a joy to write. We might see flashbacks for Hinata and Mika training over the last week... I just want to make them perfect, hence why we haven't seen one yet. We will see him and Raido more too, but they did not bond just trained so there is no point in showing it over and over again.

Two weeks of sparring with Hinata and Raido has borne some fruit, not a lot but it has helped Mika enough to be noticed.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.