Difference

HUGE AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, here's the deal. I've decided to post the rest of the chapters that I was working on for some time. I was going to finish the story and then post the first chapter but I was way to anxious to see how it would do. I found out that my character is a Mary-Sueish girl. Thus, I have decided to edit and make adjustments. So basically I'm going to take down the story in a week or so. This is your LAST chance to read the original. So after a week, you'll be able to read the hopefully IMPROVED version of Difference. The storyline will change a bit and character traits may change as well. I really can't go into detail. The title will also stay the same. So I have to say, thank-you to all that helped me along this journey. I hope that I shall give readers more enjoyment than this story. Well, thank-you so much!

HUGE AUTHOR'S NOTE

At the crack of dawn, three children appeared in a forest filled with creatures of all arrangements. Lack of sleep was portrayed on each child's face. For several minutes, the children waited. The sunrays began beating on their worn faces.

"Where is this Orikawa? He should practically have been here by now," Derno whined.

"He'll come soon enough," Sierra replied, irritated also by the untimely sensei.

After an hour of waiting, a distant shape appeared in the nine eyes. In front of them was a dark brown haired man in about his twenties clothed in regular jounin clothes. A forehead protector was placed on his forehead and tied to the back of his head to keep the unruly (but cool) hair. He was average in height. His face also contained youth that made him look quite handsome.

"You're late!" Derno yelled out of frustration.

"Ahhh…. Yes, sorry about that. Well, look at the bright side, I'm not as late as other jounins," Orikawa apologized and began his directions, "The mission will be based on how well each of you can handle genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. You can all try these types of attacks together or alone. Either way, it does not matter to me. I'll give you five minutes to decide, no exceptions.

"We'll do it alone," Toro blurted out without thinking.

"Is this with the groups consent?" Orikawa questioned.

"It is. We do not have to trouble with deciding if we already know what each of us will say," Sierra replied immediately after the question.

"Yeah, what they said," Derno consented without arguing. He was actually happy since he could only do one of the types of attacks well; the others only made him unhappy –but he could practice the other two types of attacks if he was made to.

"Fine then," Orikawa shrugged and added, "So who will showcase the attacks?"

"Sierra will do ninjutsu, Derno will fight using taijutsu, and I will use genjutsu," Toro replied confidently and smiled.

'This is perfect. Nothing could be better than this lineup,' Sierra thought and smiled inwardly, 'However, Toro and I know very little of Derno. I hope he can do taijutsu.'

"Fine then," Orikawa agreed, "Behind you is three roads. Sierra, you will travel on the road towards the right, Toro, the left, and Derno, the middle. It's a long way, so don't expect to see me for at least two hours. So, on your mark, ready GO!"

Both Sierra and Toro jumped off the ground and went their separate ways. Derno just stood looking at his feet.

"You can go," Orikawa replied.

"I'm debating," Derno replied incoherently.

"Just go when you're ready," Orikawa answered, confused with Derno's actions.

Derno looked at the road and then started moving his legs slowly. Then, Derno ran much quicker than imaginable. His legs became a blur, along with the surrounding trees and shrubs.

'He's fast,' Orikawa commented. With those last thoughts, Orikawa began traveling to the appropriate destination.

Two hours had past and Toro looked around. How was he supposed to know if he had reached his destination yet? There was no guarantee if there was such thing as a destination either.

"Yo," Orikawa greeted from a rock in front of Toro.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Toro asked.

"Genjutsu," Orikawa replied plainly.

"And the point is…" Toro interrogated again without any signs of irritation on his face.

"To get past mine," Orikawa replied behind Toro.

Without indication, the image of his sensei disappeared from the rock. It was only an illusion. Toro immediately jumped into the air and threw kunais towards Orikawa.

Derno observed his surroundings, trying to spot any traps that his sensei may have prepared. Something looked different her, however. He couldn't place it, but the surroundings differed from a few meters behind. He sensed something wrong.

"Yo," Orikawa greeted to Derno.

Surprised by the immediate appearance, Derno assumed his fighting stance, "I will make my dream a reality."

"So you are using taijutsu. Your stance is poor," Orikawa observed, staring at the awkward leg and arm positions.

"I was taught this stance by a jounin must stronger than you," Derno said truthfully without consenting to his own rudeness.

"Stronger than me, eh? Well, come," Orikawa commanded and merely stood without assuming a stance.

Derno merely looked at his sensei and smiled, "You first. I'd rather you give me the first blows, sensei."

Orikawa gave a questioning look on his face and nodded. Within a second, Orikawa moved from his original spot and gave a deafening punch to Derno behind his head.

Sierra stopped immediately. She sensed something on her right and moved her head gracefully towards that direction. She could not see an object with her own regular eyes.

"You may come out from the forest, sensei," Sierra replied and eyed her sensei from his hiding spot.

'She's good,' Orikawa thought and commenced saying out loud, "So you are assigned ninjutsu. You are quite unlucky. Shinobi across the land call me the Student. I only need to see a technique once to remember it and copy it. There are only few instances where I needed to see it twice to remember the technique."

"It does not matter if you see my techniques or not," Sierra replied confidently.

"You sound like my rival," Orikawa gleefully retorted, "You may have heard of him. He's a bit like me actually. His name is Kakashi. He is a Sharingan user and has memorized over one thousand techniques."

"And you?" Sierra questioned.

"The same," Orikawa answered without a meaningful tone, "So, enough about me. I know your past very well, so you do not have to hide anything from me."

"So, you know my past, but do you know my present?" Sierra asked, looking downwards so her face was darkened.

"Yes, a few things have been concurred at the Academy. However, past that is a blank. So, I suppose you are excited to fight a jounin. Come," Orikawa commanded.

"Sharingan!" Sierra shouted, and her eyes instantly turned a dark shade of red with black marks inside.

A faint smile reached the lips of Orikawa. Sierra ran towards Orikawa at top speed without hesitation. A punch was given towards Orikawa stomach which of course, was easily blocked. Another punch was given at the neck which allowed another block by Orikawa's arm. With both of Orikawa's stable arms, Sierra jumped upwards and landed one foot on Orikawa's right shoulder. This time, Orikawa did a similar move where he jumped upwards and kicked Sierra in the back. Luckily Sierra saw this move using the Sharingan and forced herself to jump to a safe spot. Nevertheless, Orikawa predicted the landing and sped towards the falling body. For defense, Sierra gathered chakra into both her right and left palm.

Surprised, Orikawa thought in his mind, 'She shouldn't do that. Her body could deteriorate from so much chakra build-up.'

"Toro, I hope your thinking skills are more advanced than your throwing ability," Orikawa replied sadly, dodging the kunai.

A smile appeared on Toro's face as he started making seals. Within a few seconds, smoke appeared around the area. Toro had disappeared, and a forest appeared that differed from the original forest. This forest was plagued with disease. Trees had begun to wither away and the ground was bare.

'This technique must have been taught by his father. It is not something a young boy can do, though,' Orikawa thought again, "Simple tricks like this do not work on me. You have to think out of the ordinary to defeat me."

With that being said Orikawa built-up chakra and easily drove the image away. Opening his eyes again, he found himself in his original environment. The trees returned to its lovely green, and the forest thrived. Orikawa looked around and widened his eyes. Five kunai from all directions came towards him.

A smile came from Toro's mouth. He finally would pass the exam.

"Toro, you may have to think ahead before enjoying your happiness of actually passing the exam," Orikawa replied.

The same smile still stayed upon Toro's lips.

"Arrogance can be a boy's downfall," Orikawa instructed and used the back of his hand to slap Toro across the shoulder. The image of Toro disappeared, and Orikawa looked around. This was merely an image of Toro and nothing else.

"I'm right here, sensei," Toro appeared behind Orikawa, holding a kunai at his sensei's throat.

"Using a replication technique in such a way is quite resourceful at a time like this. I must commend you on it. However—" Orikawa began, "It will take much more planning than that."

Toro looked behind him and saw his sensei. In a quick movement, Toro jabbed his kunai into the replacement and jumped upwards. He began making seals to form another scene.

"It won't work," Orikawa replied before the image swallowed his body.

'I need to find Sierra,' Toro reminded himself, 'There's no way we can do this alone.'