Infinite Time
Chapter One: Arrival
By Ame Rokugatsu
Disclaimer: I don't own it and wishing on the freaking star for the past three years hasn't changed that.
The guards at Hidden Leaf gate stiffened. There were four strangers approaching the gate, two males and two females. The tallest one looked the oldest. He had light brown hair pulled into a ponytail and was wearing a long sleeved red shirt, black pants, the traditional blue sandals, and had a dark green hitae-ate tied above his left knee. At this distance they could not make out the symbol on it.
In the front of the group was a tiny little blonde who was bouncing around happily. Or was it hyperly? The guard on the left tightened his grip on his sword as the young blonde reminded him of his own village's hated blond demon.
The little blonde girl was wearing black Capris, a light violet Chinese styled top, and the sandals. Her hitae-ate was also dark green and tied around her upper right arm. She did a little twirling spin, promptly lost all sense of balance and tripped over her feet. Soft ringing laughter reached their ears as the other female helped her up.
This female was older by at least two years and a redhead. Her hair was styled into three braided loops. She was wearing a medium green haori with no sleeves tied with a black sash, black pants, and sandals. Her hitae-ate was also a dark green, but was tied around her neck.
And finally the fourth stranger, who was bringing up the rear was also male. He was tall, but in a way that suggested he wasn't done growing. He was perhaps a bit older than the redhead, but not by much. He wore a blue tank top, blue arm bracers, black pants, and sandals. His hitae-ate too, was a dark green, tied around his forehead, barely keeping dark locks out of his eyes.
They drew closer and finally reached the massive Konoha gate. The guard on the right stepped forward eyeing the symbol on their hitae-ate's. 'Infinity?'
The older male stepped forward with a relaxed smile. "We're here for the Chuunin Exam," he dug through his bag. "Here are our papers."
The guard looked at the papers. Everything was in order and official. "The Chuunin Exam starts tomorrow. You need to see the Hokage first," he stepped back and let the strangers pass through, eyeing them warily.
The left guard looked at his partner quizzically. "So, where are they from? I didn't recognize their village symbol."
The right guard shifted uncomfortably. "They're from Hidden Time, and yes the paper work is official and not foraged."
"I've never heard of a Hidden Time."
"Neither have I."
Tsunade looked up at the knock on the door. "Come in."
The Hidden Time group entered. Their sensei stepped forward. "We come from the Village of Hidden Time. My students are here to take the Chuunin Exam. Our names are Jinko Ekai, Hyo Koi, Kaida Haku, and Kotori Yuki," Jinko handed the Hokage their paperwork.
"Hidden Time, eh? The new village that split off from Hidden Tree right?"
"That's correct."
"What can you tell me about your village?"
"Not much. We have yet to decide who our official representative is and as such, we are not permitted to give much information. What we can tell you is that our village is two years old, wants to have peace treaties with the other villages, and we are located on the boarder between the mountain and the desert, as your map should show you."
Tsunade sighed, disappointed that there was no new information on this new village. Not even an idea of what their village specialized in. "Well, your papers seem to be in order. The Chuunin Exam starts tomorrow at eight o' clock sharp at the Hokage monument. We have a two room apartment you may borrow for the duration of the exam. I wish you the best of luck in proving yourselves."
The group from Hidden Time bowed respectfully and left to find their apartment. Several wrong turns and interesting mishaps later, they made it to their apartment. Jinko sighed in annoyance, "Forty-five minutes to find a building that's a fifteen minute walk from the Hokage's office. What's wrong with this picture?"
"We're hopeless idiots who can't find their way out of a wet paper bag with a flashlight and a map?" Kotori offered cheerfully.
Hyo snorted.
"Well, we didn't do too badly for us," Kaida said soothingly. "Besides we couldn't have known about the Saturday market discount."
"No, but we could have avoided the incident with the chickens."
Kaida smiled innocently.
Hyo shook his head in bemusement. "Alright we have two bedrooms. I guess that means Jinko-sensei will share a room with me and you and Kotori will share. Um, let's see. Kaida, you're the only one here who can cook so if you would buy food that would be great-"
Jinko decided to take over before his student tried to make him do something degrading, like finding out about the other teams by going out undercover as a woman at a bar or restaurant. That was not a pleasant memory and that would be the last time he played poker with Hyo. "Hyo, you and Kotori clean the house and put your stuff away. I have something I need to do."
"Okay!" Kotori chirped cheerfully. "I'll put your stuff away too, nee-san!"
Hyo grumbled but nodded and went in search of cleaning supplies.
Kaida smiled gently and patted her on the head, "Thank you imoto-chan. Behave and help Hyo and I might get you a treat." Kotori squealed gleefully and hoped off to help Hyo-nii.
Jinko pulled Kaida aside once they were out the door. "Kaida, don't get her any sugar."
Kaida smiled calmly at her sensei. "Now would I actually do something like that?"
"Yes, you spawn of Satan."
Kaida smirked and walked off.
After a large dinner and a brief work out in which it took Jinko, Hyo, and Kaida the better part of an hour to pry Kotori off the ceiling, they retired for the night. Hyo and Jinko in one room on separate beds, and Kaida and Kotori in the other. Kaida shifted in sleepy surprise when Kotori slipped into her bed. "Can I stay with you tonight nee-san? I'll leave if you want, it's just that my mother used to let me sleep with her when we were in a new place and-"
"It's fine Kotori. Go to sleep imoto-chan. We have a big day ahead of us, ne?"
The next morning Jinko woke up to a loud crash. He was startled, rolled off the bed, and landed with a painful thump. He looked up; Hyo apparently had gotten up before him as he was no longer in the room. He got up off the floor to investigate the mysterious crash, though he had a fairly good idea of what it was. He opened the door and was nearly trampled by Kotori's mad dash to the bathroom in the morning chaos of getting ready for the exam. He looked in the kitchen. It was just as he thought. Kaida had thrown the frying pan at the wall in frustration. Hyo was looking zombie like as he drank what was likely his third cup of coffee.
Jinko blinked in bemusement. "It's six forty-five; the exam doesn't start until eight. The monument where you are supposed to meet only towers over the entire village. There is no possible way for you to miss it."
Hyo, looking more awake and less like the undead, gave him a half smile. "We want to scout out the competition first and look around down town."
Jinko nodded sagely, "Ah."
Kotori flipped herself over his head as he was taking up the entirety of the kitchen door. Her mouth opened and she neatly caught the toast Kaida threw at her. She tucked into a ball and rolled to her feet. She chewed and swallowed. "Thanks nee-san."
"Sleep well?" Hyo asked his little sister figure.
She nodded cheerfully.
Kaida downed the rest of her tea and stood up. "Finish up Kotori, we're leaving soon."
At the Hokage monument, Kaida poked Hyo with her foot. He looked up at her from his tree branch, absently he wondered about Kaida and her obsession with heights. "What?"
"How many teams are participating in the exam and where are they from?"
Kotori from the lowest branch looked up at her two teammates, curious for the answer.
Hyo tilted his head to the side and bit his lip as he thought. "There are five teams from Leaf-"
"Well it is the home team so that makes sense," Kotori pondered.
"Shut up brat if you want me to continue," Hyo snapped a little annoyed. Kotori stuck her tongue out at him and then smiled cheerfully. She knew he didn't mean it, he was just stressing over the exam.
"Let's see, there are three teams from Rain, two from Mist, one from Sand, and us."
"Hm, not too bad. That would be thirty-six people right?" Kaida asked.
"Wow, you can do math," a sarcastic voice cut in.
The group in the tree tensed. The voice had come from a violet haired female from Rain. A blue haired and black haired boy stood on either side of her, slight behind her. The blue haired boy spoke up. "Mana, don't. We have ten minutes until the exam starts. I don't want to be sent home before it starts for you causing trouble."
She growled feral like. "Fine."
The two groups waited tensely, the atmosphere only broken by the arrival of the other ten groups. A puff of smoke announced the arrival of the examiner. The students looked on curiously as the smoke cleared. It revealed a tall, dark brunet male. He smiled cheerfully, blue eyes sparkling. "My name is Suoh and I will be your examiner for this first test." His cheerful smile never wavered as he handed out a scroll to every team. "Okay, your first test is a scavenger hunt!"
All team members had the some thought, 'Scavenger hunt? What the hell?'
"You have five hours to get these thirty items and you may only go to the down town market place and no other," Suoh practically sparkled. "If you can't get all thirty items don't bother coming back as you will fail immediately."
A female from Leaf piped up. "But we can't afford to pay for all these things!"
"I never said anything about paying for it," he smiled cheerfully. "This is to test your stealth skills."
"In other words we're supposed to steal?" a male from Mist asked skeptically.
Another female from Leaf looked horrified. "Do you know what happens to thieves if they get caught?"
He smiled sadistically. "Yes."
The teams all shuddered.
He smiled perkily again. "Time starts now!"
All the teams except for the group from Time immediately took off for the market.
Hyo opened their list. Kotori and Kaida looked over his shoulder.
Kaida blinked mystified. "How the hell are we supposed to steal a cow?"
Okay to clear up any questions you might have about the characters. Kotori calls Kaida nee-san, which means big sister, and Hyo, Hyo-nii or nii-san, which means big brother or big brother Hyo. However she is not related to any of them but sees them as family. Kaida does call Kotori imoto-chan, which is little sister, even though they aren't related. If you're still confused I can simplify it into one sentence. None of my characters are related to each other.
A special thanks goes to Sailor Fortune, the author of Constricting Loyalities. She inspired the first two tests as well as the symbol on the hitae-ate. But everything else is mine.
Ame
Sakurazuka-chan
Thanks for the review. I don't like to put too much detail into the prologue. Anyways I was planning on putting more about Hidden Time in this chapter anyways. I hope all of your questions you might have had were answered.
BlackWindKaze
Thanks for reviewing. But next time please leave a review, emailing me is fine but still…