Chapter 1: The Hokage and Me
At a train station, somewhere in Japan, a young girl waited for the train from
Tokyo to come in. She wasn't very tall, and she didn't look like she could fight
off an attacker, but really, she could bring a full grown ape to its knee's (not by
fighting. Just because she saw a documentary on training apes on Animal Planet).
Juel Bera ran her fingers through her red and blonde hair. What was taking that
train so long? Her friend from America was coming to join her at "The Village
Hidden In The Leaves" and she was excited to see him, but at the same time she
was apprehensive. In his letters to her, he said how he had changed his life and
focused his energy into the martial arts. She knew no matter how tame he was
now, he was still crazy as hell back then.
-Flashback-
Bera and Kiyo walked down the street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania talking
and laughing about school. "So I told him," Kiyo said to Bera. "I told him
'Either you stop blowing on that kazoo, I'm going to shove it so far up your
ass, every time you fart, you will hear that sound that will make you think that
I'm right behind you about to bring you down with a baseball bat!" He was
quaking in his boots! And you know what I did? After school, I walked up to
him, and STILL shoved the kazoo up his ass!" As they laughed about the
violation of Wade's ass, a cop turned the corner and was now walking In front
of them.
"Hey Bera," Kiyo said. "You dare me to ask that cop a question?" Bera
looked delighted at the idea of Kiyo walking up to the cop and wasting his
time. "Do it! Do it!" Kiyo crept up behind the cop and grabbed his gun
quickly. Bera couldn't get out the words, "Oh, fucking, shit" before Kiyo was
dangling the gun in front of the panicked cops face. "Ha pig! I got your gun!
You want it? You want it? You can't have it! HAHAHA!" With that he ran
down the street, chased by the cop, and taken down just one block away.
-End-
Bera laughed to herself and jumped as the train whistle startled her. When the
train came to a stop, people started to pile out of the train. When the flow of
people stopped, Bera looked around to see if someone was looking for her too.
As she looked, a boy with shoulder length black hair, with blue chunks in it,
came up behind her. He had chiseling good looks and a fighters build, and he was
wearing a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt with the words, "The day I care is the
day after the day I die". He put his hands over her eyes and she attempted to flip
her "Attacker", but when he flew over her head, he landed on his feet and flipped
her instead. "Come on, Bera. That's the oldest trick in the book!" Bera's alarm
quickly turned into happiness! "Iori! You buggy June bug dirty dog!" Kiyo
laughed loudly. "Well," he said. "You can take the girl out of the country, but
you can't take the redneck out of the girl!"
Bera got to her feet and looked at the man in front of her. He had gotten taller
since she had last seen him (like he needed it. Last time she saw him, he was 15
and already 5' 10" tall). "So," he said, looking around. "Are you gonna just look
at me or are you gonna give me a hug?" Bera laughed and flung herself at him.
He hugged her back and then released her. "Where's this village at?" Kiyo asked.
Bera had almost forgotten. "Well," she said. "We'll have to walk there. It's not
too far. Lets go." Bera grabbed one of his two bags and the walked off towards
the west.
They weren't 30 minutes into the woods when Kiyo noticed the arm bandon
Bera's left wrist. "What's that for?" Bera looked at him and saw he was
gesturing to the arm band. "Oh," she said. "It's what recognizes me as a ninja.
You can gat one too, but it won't be easy." Kiyo looked slightly amused by this
new information. "So What do I have to do?"
"You have to either take the whole course and wait until the next graduation,
or demonstrate to the sensei's and possibly Lord Hokage that you know a Jutsu
so advanced that they feel you will have no problem catching up to our class."
Kiyo looked at her and smiled. Bera noticed this and smiled to. "What?" Kiyo
looked at her and chuckled. "I should have no problem proving I can catch up.
You did send me those three books and you'd be amazed at what you can find on
the Internet…" Bera laughed openly. Even though he was crazy, he was a genius
on the computer. After a year and a half he was still into it.
An hour later, they reached The Village Hidden In The Leaves. Bera took
Kiyo up to the building where Lord Hokage was. Before they entered, Bera
turned to Kiyo and looked him dead in the eyes. "This is very important. Only
speak when spoken to and remember to be respectful. Let me do all the talking."
Kiyo looked at her turned back as though he was looking at a displeasing piece
of toast. When hey entered, Bera led Kiyo down a hallway and stopped at a door
on their left. The door slid open and there at a long table, sat three men. The one
on the left had his face covered except for his eye and he had tall, white hair. The
man on the right had shoulder length black hair and a focused look in his eyes.
However, the man in the middle seemed different. He was wearing a hat with
white robes. Hmmm, thought Kiyo. This must be the famous Lord Hokage…
Lord Hokage was the first to speak. "Name?" Kiyo knew he was talking about
him. Bera attempted to speak, but Kiyo stepped forward, bowed, and said, "My
name is Kiyochi Iori. I believe you have my paperwork that was sent here by
messenger this morning?" The Lord Hokage looked at Kiyo without raising his
head. Kiyo knew from the nod that it meant he got it. "Well," the Hokage said.
"We have a headband here for you… IF you can demonstrate your worth, you
may have it. If not, you will have to take the classes. Now if you would like to go
ahead, they're having my favorite sushi for dinner." Kiyo looked at Bera and
exhaled. He moved forward and yelled, "Bladed Wind Shredder No Jutsu!" Kiyo
made hand movements that seemed rehearsed, and gusts of wind flew into the
room. The wind focused in front of him and formed three large shuriken. Kiyo
made a move which looked like a large push and the blades charged at the three
men. Bera screamed as the blades just stopped in front of the men, one for each.
The blade was only a fraction of a centimeter away from Lord Hokage's nose
when they all faded into thin air.
Lord Hokage looked up into Kiyo's face. Kiyo didn't blink and neither did the
Hokage. No one said a word… until… "Here is your band. Juel will show you to
your room." Kiyo walked up and got his band and bowed. Leaving the room, he
laughed at Bera, "He called you Juel!". Still sitting at the table, the man on the
right said to Lord Hokage, "I have a bad feeling about him. He could be the next
Naruto." The Whit haired man looked at he Hokage and said, "I don't know. This
could be fun…"