Day 2

Taiki sat Indian-style, memorizing the chunin exam as he thought.

"Hmm, a quiz … the survival test … then the one on one fighting." He said. He froze for a second, surprised at the simplicity and brevity. The test took about a week or so to complete, with the longest segment being the Forest of Death. If the students made it through, a certain amount of time was given so the finalists to be considered for chunin could rest up. He felt Taru on his shoulder, and he reminisced on his match in the massive arena…

He was fighting Hiro Tanaka, the most popular genin so far. He'd won both his matches easily with his Ground Ripper technique, something everyone thought was an advanced bloodline. It wasn't, but right now, that didn't matter. 16 year old Taiki felt a little nervous facing the year older fan favorite, but stomached his butterflies, ordering Taru to fly overhead. Hiro quickly formed a hand seal, creating a huge circle in front of him.

"Magnification! Ground Ripper!"

Taiki had watched all of Hiro's matches, and had never seen him perform his magnifying technique. The Magnifying technique simply made attacks stronger and cover more ground. Instead of a simple straightforward fault traveling at his opponent, the whole stadium shook, and split. Taiki shook, and tried to steady his feet to jump, but the ground was too unstable. He formed a hand seal, then looked up at Taru, who flew toward its master. Unheard among the stunned crowd, Taiki let out what could have been his final words.

"Convocation!" he shouted.

A mass of eagles flew above the destruction caused on the ground.. They began to form a formation, and flew slowly in a circle, a sign that meant something dead was nearby – or death was immanent. Hiro, not affected, formed another hand seal, but this time it didn't involve any magnifying or ground ripping. He was about to use his bloodline limit. He finished his seal, then looked up, lightning engulfing his whole body.

"Tanaka … Shockwave!" he leapt high into the air, then crashed his fist down, sending electricity throughour the stadium. The fans quickly ran out of harm's way. A few weren't so fortunate. The eagles overhead were quickly dissolved, and as the dust settled, there was only one person seen.

Taiki was breathless, sitting behind the tree, wondering how he'd managed to evade the lightning. He peeked out to see Hiro was beginning to look for him. Taru was nearby, not moving.

Awww man … if anything happens to Taru … Taiki thought.

Hiro ignored the downed animal, searching for the more important beast – Taiki. The downed Morita formed a hand seal, closing his eyes tight…

Hiro heaved breaths in and out, taking the time to regain his stamina. He walked toward the tree, hoping to feel some shade as his skin was very hot.

"Talon Breeze!" Hiro turned to see a gulf of wind – with Taiki in the middle – rushing on him. He moved quickly, knowing that he had to find a safe spot. He knew if he stopped, it would be over. He stopped in the middle of the arena, cooking up and idea. The gulf easily maneuvered, spinning then throwing Taiki and a fleet of kunai's at Hiro.

"Thunder … Revelation!" Hiro shouted. The whole arena –

"Taiki-sensei, it's noon. We've been training for a while. Can we eat?" Shun tapped him on the shoulder and Taru screeched. He nodded, surprised the time went by so fast. Taru screeched again, flying off his shoulder.

"Yeah, I was." Taiki said sheepishly. "I should've been paying attention."

Taru screeched, flapping his wings before perching on a tree.

"Hmm, really? That's good to know. I'll test them when they get back…"

- - -

"The town is green, and the plants are brown. The sun is yellow, and the ground is white." Kaito said, his eyes closed, and his genin sitting in front of him. Asuka and Saraidenn seemed a little restless, but Takeh seemed interested.

"Now, Sarai!" he shouted. "What color are the leaves?"

Sarai turned from staring into space, and looked at Kaito, whose expression meant that this was no rhetorical question. She looked around, and smiled easily. She saw green leaves, so that had to be the answer, right?

But Kaito was no ordinary riddler. He always had weird answers and strange reasoning behind it them, at least she thought. She decided to get it over with. Besides, being a ninja didn't mean answering questions on paper.

"Green. The leaves are green." She replied. Takeh laughed, and Asuka turned her attention to the group, fearing she was next.

"You have much to learn. Being that you're only ten, I'll let such a rudimentary answer pass." Kaito said, pointing to Asuka, who groaned.

"Sensei…" she began. He shook his head, expecting an answer.

"Um … well … I'd say the leaves are … yellow?"

"No. Takeh, maybe you have the answer." The boy nodded and answered.

"The leaves aren't there. It is winter. The ground is white with snow, and the plants are brown because the sun is far away." Kaito smiled. If anyone was capable of analyzing a situation, it was Takeh.

"The next riddle." Both girls groaned. Takeh listened intently.

"The sun is high, Grumbling is heard, and smoke is rising. Sarai!"

She moaned inwardly. She didn't eat this morning either.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"But sensei, I'm hungry! Is it lunchtime yet?" she said out of frustration.

"Correct! We'll have lunch!" he said. Sarai beamed, finally answering a riddle right.

Kaito grinned under his jacket. A ninja must have great timing. He thought.

And a little luck doesn't hurt…

- - -

Miharu watched her genin eat their lunch, and it seemed that the way they ate rivaled their fighting styles. Yama picked pieces off of food, Kazaki ate without using his hands and Ayumi began slicing her food. She enjoyed watching how they handled situations out of battle too. What a ninja did and how they lived was also a sign of how they'd react in combat.

She preferred not to eat today, which wasn't too common. She'd eat just to get her blood going, but today felt, different. Ayumi placed her knife down, then stopped.

Is it … her?

Miharu sat down, then immediately stood, her brown eyes as wide as saucers. Her light skin began to turn red.

It is her…

"Ayumi-san!" Ayumi looked behind her to see Natsumi Kuroda, otherwise known as her best friend. They were the same age, and took the same classes outside of the academy. Natsumi wore a black dress with black pants underneath and a tan jacket which came to her elbows. She wore her protector on her forehead.

"How's the training?" Ayumi asked. Kazuki and Yama both looked at each other, then at the two … then kept eating.

"Good. I've been learning so much with Yoshi-sensei. I think she's the best female chunin!"

A young woman with short black hair walked in. She wore a white shirt with blue pants that had red stripes down the side. She wore red shoes with yellow stripes, and wore her protector around her neck. She also wore a white and yellow sleeve on her right arm.

"You speak well, Natsumi." She beamed. Following her in were her other two genin, Kento Higashi and Kyo Shiritsu. Kento was 14, and known mostly for his trash-talk and bragging about his skill. Kyo was 13 years old and quieter, but a quick learner, using a unique weapon. He carried around a rope that he controlled using charka. When he wasn't using it, he'd wrap it around his waist.

"Yoshi Nakashima …" Miharu mumbled under her breath. Kazuki and Yama looked up, surprised to see their usually calm chunin apparently angry. Yoshi stopped beaming and stared across the room. Ayumi and Natsumi stopped conversing and froze. It seems they felt the tension rising in the room too.

The anger arised from when they were genin together. Mission after mission, they slowly began to realize that they were equals in just about everything. But, Miharu was younger by six months. Even fighting on the same teams, they treid to outdo each other, but they only ended up with the same results over and over. Kazuki coughed and Yama started nervously laughing.

"Nice to see you Kyo." Zazuki said. Kyo nodded and Kentu tapped Yoshi on the shoulder. She turned, giving him the nastiest look he'd ever seen.

"Umm … I'll just go … get some food. Come on Kyo, before we die…" Kentu said, pushing Kyo ahead of him.

Miharu cleared her throat, aware of the friction she and Yoshi had caused.

"Hello, Yoshi. I see you have quite a class on your hands." Miharu said. Yoshi calmed down, the color leaving her skin.

"Yes … and your genin are looking quite healthy indeed. Have a nice day." She said, flipping a kunai quickly at Miharu, who easily caught it. She gave a faint smile, and returned to her genin., watching as Natsumi walked away from Ayumi. They were both friends.

But that's how she and Yoshi started too.