In the village of Konohagakure, the way of the shinobi is the way of life. Classes of cadets gathered to be trained. After they pass this class, they are split into cells of three and given a jonin teacher for further training. The final exams for the cadets occur now…
Chapter 1
"The final test is to transform into me. And as an added bonus, I'll pick the best me for a special treat," said Master Ai, "Let's see…let's get Saratobi down here first." A young girl got up from her seat and stepped forward to stand in front of Ai. "Alright, transform!" Saratobi yelled. She made a hand sign and turned into an almost flawless Ai. "Very good! Now, stand over there. Next, Gaku." Ai commanded.
While that was happening, the Kashime brothers sat all the way in the back, bored. "Transformations? What kind of final test is that? Does he think we're pansies?" Daisuke complained. He's the older brother by nine months. He favors conventional weapons, like swords, over ninja tools, such as shuriken or kunai. He can be a loudmouth, but he's got the greatest sense of justice.
"It does seem easy…" Korosu thought aloud. Korosu is, ironically, the master of ninja tools. He found throwing needles to be his forte. He doesn't talk much, and that mysteriousness creeps some people out.
"I mean really, didn't we just do this the other week?" Daisuke continued.
"Daisuke! It appears you want to tell us something?" Ai asked, annoyed.
"Don't do it…" Korosu whispered, but it didn't get to Daisuke's brain.
"YEAH!" he cried, "Why is this so easy!" Ai smirked and motioned for Daisuke to come down. He did, and stood in front of Ai.
"Well, Mr. Kashime…" then Ai punched Daisuke so hard, he spun back into Saratobi.
"Eww! Get off me!" she shrieked.
Daisuke jumped up and transformed into Ai. "There, are we happy?" he asked. Ai nodded.
"Korosu, while your brother's down here, you might as well be next." He said. Korosu sighed and transformed into Ai while walking down the steps. "Excellent as always. Next is…"
Daisuke stuck his tongue out at his brother, "Show off."
That's how it is. The next day, everyone returned to class for cell divisions. "Who do you wanna be hooked up with, bro?" Daisuke asked, looking around.
"…hmm…Well, that Hyuga boy seems good. And Zawato appears like a great ninja." Korosu said.
"This just in, we're not ninja yet. Anyway, I'd want Fey or Bijin with me…oh! Or Satsuma." Daisuke began thinking very deeply, grinning.
"Daisuke, those people you named off…are all girls." Korosu pointed out.
"So!" Daisuke cried.
Korosu folded his hands, "The ratio of males to females has it so only one girl will be in each cell." He said.
Daisuke's heart broke. "What idiot made that rule?" he asked, sadly.
"The First Hokage, the creator of this village." Ai answered from his desk at the bottom floor. "Now, to the matters at hand. Korosu, you made the best me at the tests yesterday, so I'll allow you to choose one person to have in your cell with you and someone else. When it's your turn, that is. First cell…ready?" Ai looked up at all of his students. "First cell contains Gaku, Jin, and Bijin."
Gaku lowered his head, "Not Bijin…"
Daisuke, too, lowered his head. "Not Bijin…" he sighed. "Well, at least Fey is out there."
Ai looked back at his clipboard. "Cell two is Zawato, Isshinta, and Fey." Zawato slowly nodded. Isshinta shivered and his eyes started watering. "Cell three…oh! What do we have here? Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi. Very unique combination, if Korosu picks Daisuke." The brothers grinned at each other.
"You were my 5th choice." Korosu whispered.
"So I guess you do choose him…moving on…" Ai started.
Saratobi stood up, drawing the classes' attention to her. "Please master Ai, not the Kashime brothers! One's a cocky pervert and the other is creepy! Can't I get normal teammates?"
Ai studied her. "I think you can handle it. Korosu won't bother you, and if Daisuke does, let me know. Anyway, cell four is Sasuma, Satsuma, and Setsuko…how…annoying…" Saratobi looked up at Daisuke. He blew a kiss at her, causing her to duck in fear.
Later, the three new teammates sat alone in a small room, waiting. "I wonder who our new teacher will be. I hope it's a woman." Daisuke said, balancing his sword on his nose.
"You're such a pervert, Daisuke. I swear, if you try anything on me, it'll be your life! KARMA!" Daisuke sheathed his sword and checked her out. She had dark blue hair, of medium length. Her clothes, to Daisuke were a desperate cry for a boyfriend. She had one yellow eye and one red eye. The red one was a family trait of hers. It doesn't do anything, as far as everyone knows, but it's quite beautiful. Her personality is what could use a tweaking. "And you!" she cried, pointing at Korosu, "Say something! Smile! Cry! Do something!" Daisuke waved his hands in front of her.
"Calm down! Our teacher could…" just then, the door slid open. In walked in a firm man, though not muscular.
"S'up. My name is Kishimoto Gensai, and your lives are in my hands now."
After days of light training, Gensai readied the group for their first mission. "We'll start with a D rank, of course. The ranks go up to A, but they're reserved for jonin, like me." Gensai explained.
"What kind of mission is it? Assassination?" Daisuke asked.
"No, you idiot! That's an A rank mission." Saratobi said.
"Very good. No, it's not an assassination, but it's almost as fun…we're going to help a cat out of a tree!" Gensai cried.
"Get down here, you stupid animal." Daisuke groaned, climbing a tree. The cat hissed and scratched his face off. Korosu walked up the tree and grabbed the cat. He threw it down to Saratobi, who gave it to the owner.
"I think we're ready to get your stats registered to shinobi cards now." Said Gensai, two days previous to the cat incident.
"Shinobi cards?" Saratobi repeated, "What are they?"
Gensai pulled out three cards and revealed them to his students, "These were mine when I was a genin like you. They show your stats. A lot of ninja collect them. If you can get good stats, or at least specialize in one area, other shinobi will recognize you."
Daisuke got excited. "I want some!" he cried.
"Great. Then let's go to the registration desk at the academy." Gensai brought them to a room with funny gadgets all over. "First, we'll check your Taijustu, or physical strength. Daisuke, go punch that target."
Daisuke went up to the machine. "Here goes!" He punched with great force. The machine analyzed and processed data.
"Excellent Taijustu. Rank A." Gensai smiled.
"Nice! Better than I was!" Korosu also punched the machine.
"Fair Taijustu. Rank C."
Daisuke laughed, "Weakling!"
Next, Saratobi punched it.
"Poor Taijustu. Rank F." She frowned.
"F is a rank? I had no idea." Gensai said to himself, causing Daisuke to laugh harder. Even Korosu chuckled. "Next is Ninjustu. Ninja Arts, in other words. Like transformations and copying." Gensai pointed to a platform. "Stand on that, Daisuke. This is one of two stats that I get to rate you." Daisuke stood unsteady on the platform. "Become me." Gensai commanded. Daisuke did so, and became three more of him, under Gensai's directions. "Well. That was…bad. Rank D." Daisuke jumped off the platform.
"What the heck! That was rank A material!" he yelled.
"Whatever, Daisuke. Korosu?" Gensai asked. Korosu also did the Ninjustu. "Okay. Rank B stuff there, Korosu, next up is our fair lady. Take it away Saratobi." She went up and showed an impressive show. "Great. Rank A! That may be the best Ninjustu in years for a genin!" Gensai cried. Saratobi stuck her tongue out at the other two.
"Now we have Ningu. This is ninja tools. Let's see how good you are." Gensai handed a kunai to Daisuke. "Hit the target. Try to make up for that crap Nin." Daisuke angrily threw the kunai and got close to the bulls eye. "Rank C" said a mechanical voice. "Rank A." for Korosu, and "Rank B" for Saratobi.
"That was quick and easy. Hurry on to the next one. This is Chi, which are your genetically inherited traits. Here, I'll type in your name and will tell me which clan you come from." Gensai said. Daisuke and Korosu stepped back.
"You first." Korosu said to Saratobi.
"You guys are weird. Okay! Check me master Gensai!" Gensai nodded and typed in Saratobi's whole name.
"You're from the Hoashi clan. That's why your eye is red. It doesn't do too much, I guess, so it gave you rank C for your Chi." Then he looked back at Daisuke. "I only need to get one of you, so I'm going to type in Daisuke's whole name, okay?" The two said nothing. "Okay…You two are from the Kashime clan. I haven't heard of that one yet. You both got rank A too. What's your clan technique?" Gensai asked.
"It's…Henshin." Korosu murmured.
"Transformation? Impressive." said Gensai.
"Wait, transform what?" Saratobi asked, confused.
"Anything. Even you." Gensai answered for the brothers. They nodded, and there was stillness. "Oh." Gensai pointed to a smaller room. "One more test. Genjutsu, or illusions." They went into the room and Korosu shut the door behind them, leaving no light in the room. Gensai found a chair in the dark and pulled out a lighter. He lit a candle a sat back. "I'll also be rating you personally here. Saratobi, I wanna see what that eye can do. Your mission: scare me. Let's go." Saratobi calmed herself and focused on her chakra.
"Bloody Eye!" Gensai was soon in a room by himself. Two vents broke and blood came pouring in. He was soon drowning, but the illusion ended.
"Nice. I'm not too fond of blood. Rank B. Korosu, you're next." Korosu sighed and pulled up his sleeves. Gensai was soon being attacked by giant scorpions. As soon as one of the scorpions' tails made contact, the illusion was over. "Korosu, I'm sorry, but I only felt rank C or D work there."
Saratobi jumped for joy. "Yes! I'm gunna have the best Genjutsu! Beat my rank, Daisuke, I dare you!" she cried.
"Yeah, let's see if you can get me to wet myself." Gensai said.
As Korosu walked back next to the door, he whispered, "Don't go all the way." Daisuke readied himself. He pulled out a kunai and threw it at Gensai. It stuck two inches into his head, and he was frozen. Saratobi shrieked and fell to her knees.
"You went way too far Daisuke, you idiot!" she sobbed. "I wanna go home! You're crazy!" she had a dry heave, causing her to shut up. Then, after a moment of stillness, Gensai leaned forward and threw up. "Master! You're alive!" Saratobi cried in relief. Gensai looked up at Daisuke in fear.
"I'm sorry." Daisuke said, turning away.
"R-r-rank A…" Gensai sputtered. 'Amazing. Not only did it look like he killed me, it felt like it too! This kid has mastered Genjutsu, the hardest art, as a genin!' he thought. Then he jumped out of the seat. "I'm fine! Let's move on." They went back out to the machine room and gathered by a computer. "Here, I'll type in your weapon of choice. Saratobi, you don't have one. Korosu, you use needles, right?" asked Gensai. Korosu nodded. Gensai glanced at Daisuke. "And how about you, Daisuke? Just those dual blades?" Daisuke gave his teacher a weird face.
"What do you mean "Just those?" You think I have more?" he asked.
"Well, when you got out that kunai, I thought I saw another one. But I guess not…Well, we're done for today, you can go home. Tomorrow we're gunna spar so I can finish your stats."
Back to the present… "Thank you so much!" cried a young girl, taking the cat in her arms. Daisuke fell off the tree and bled all over the grass. Korosu walked down stared at his brother.
"Good job. And especially you, Korosu. You have good chakra control." Saratobi brushed the cat hair off of her.
"So what's new?" she asked.
"The Chunin Exams. They're in six days." Gensai replied.
"So soon!" Saratobi exclaimed.
"The Hokage realized how skilled this year's genin are. I think you'll pass—most likely. The exams are very dangerous. You up to it?" Gensai asked.
Daisuke threw up his hand from on the floor. "I'm is!" he yelled deliriously.
Six days later, the day of the exams, strange new people began to enter the village hidden in the leaves. They came from all over the world, each headband with a different insignia. Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi were walking down the road to the first test, when they caught three teens from the village hidden in the waterfall picking on a little native kid.
"Want your doll back? Jump for it!" teased one of the Waterfall guys. He had wings sprouting from his back, and bombs wrapped around him.
"It's not a doll, it's an action figure!" the native boy yelled, jumping for it.
"Come on, Oiyoba, we're gunna be late." said the Waterfall girl. She looked normal enough.
"Hey!" Saratobi yelled. "Give the boy his doll back!" Everyone looked at her.
"It's not a doll. It's an action figure!" the boy cried.
"Who are you?" Oiyoba asked, annoyed.
"My name is Hoashi Saratobi! Not like you need to know." She replied. "And you need to stop being a dick to that kid! Or else!" Oiyoba took one of his bombs and placed it next to the toy.
"Or else what!" he demanded. Saratobi jumped behind Korosu and pushed him forward.
"Or else he'll fight you!" she said. Korosu looked back her and shook his head.
"So you wanna go?" Oiyoba asked, putting the bomb away and throwing the toy over a fence. Korosu said nothing and stood firm.
"Korosu wouldn't waste his time on you." Daisuke cried from the sidelines. Oiyoba got infuriated and threw a punch at Korosu, which was caught by someone else.
"Huh? Kiyuta?"
A short guy with glasses held Oiyoba's fist, "Enough, Oiyoba. Fuu was right. We'll be late." Then the three Waterfall teens walked away toward the test hall.
"What a bunch of idiots! I could have took 'em all on!" Daisuke said.
"I dunno," Korosu whispered, "That Kiyuta was extremely fast."
Gensai met them at the door to the test hall. "S'up!" he said.
"Master Gensai, what are you doing here?" Daisuke asked.
"Morale boosting! You can do it! I have confidence in you!" he replied.
"What are you really doing?" asked Saratobi.
"Just wanted to remind you of the consequences of failing the exams." Gensai said. "You may have to be a genin your whole life."
They entered and immediately received the stare from every ninja there. "Uh…yo." Daisuke said. Then everyone went back to what they were doing.
"Weird." Saratobi thought out loud.
"Look! It's Saratobi!" called Fey. They looked over and saw Fey motioning for them to come over, which they did.
"Finally you arrive," said Zawato, "We were beginning to think you wouldn't come."
Daisuke grinned, "We got hassled by those three from Waterfall." Isshinta looked over at Oiyoba.
"That guy with the wings seems like the leader figure." he stuttered. Soon, Gaku, Jin, and Bijin gathered around.
"You three see the guys from the village hidden in the mist?" Jin asked. "What about 'em?" Zawato said.
"They're brothers. Like Daisuke and Korosu." Jin replied.
Korosu adjusted his glasses, "It seems we have rivals, brother."
Daisuke nodded, "Yup. And I bet you they won't last a second against us."
Then, a large scarred man rose up from the crowd, "Good afternoon. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'll be your 'teacher' for this part of the exam." He pulled out a small wooden block that had a one painted on it. "Each one of you will get one of these. It will determine were you'll sit for this test. A pencil will be provided." Something fierce hit Gaku, Oiyoba, and Daisuke.
"Crap! Then this is a written test?" Daisuke asked.
"Yes," answered Ibiki, "And it starts now."
Everyone found their seat. The room was full of hopeful ninja, quietly sitting. Ibiki walked in and folded his arms. "I see you all found your seats." Then, jonin appeared in chairs all around the room. "They will be watching your every move in case you cheat. Now let me explain the rules…" he turned around and starting writing on the chalk board. "Now," he started, "You'll start off with ten points, per person, of course. So each cell has thirty points together, for those of you who failed math. For every question wrong, you'll loose a point. Get four or more wrong, and you're out. So you can only have seven through ten correct to pass."
Daisuke lowered his head. "I'm screwed. I can tell." He sat next to Setsuko, of the fourth cell. He had no pupils or irises in his eyes because he's in the Hyuga clan.
"Now, if one person from a cell fails, their whole cell fails."
Saratobi lowered her head. "I'm screwed. I can tell."
Ibiki continued, "If any of the jonin proctors or I catch you cheating, then we'll take two points from the cheater's cell."
Kiyuta removed his glasses to prepare for reading a paper. "So we get five strikes for cheating until you pull us out?" he asked.
Ibiki nodded. "Yes. Five and you're gone, along with your team. I think the rules are clear now. The tests are being handed out. You may start when you get one."
'Alright,' Daisuke thought, 'let's see what we got…' he read the first question, but got confused and started reading the second one. 'The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A, could throw a shuriken star from the top of a twenty-three point three foot tall tree…calculate the specific features of the scenario and deduce the shuriken's effectiveness, assuming a consistent speed for shinobi A's assault upon any enemy shinobi operating within the arc that the flight of the shuriken describes…show your work…………….what the heck does that mean!' he thought. 'Maybe if I start at the end, it'll be easier…Question ten: This question will not be provided until forty-five minutes into the exam….crap.'
Meanwhile, Korosu read all the questions over. 'No way will Daisuke be able to answer these. In fact, I'm quite sure most people here can't. How can they expect every team to pass? At least Saratobi and I can answer them all, I think. I hope Daisuke can get…seven correct…no way.' He sat next to Oiyoba, who took up two seats due to his wings. 'I get it now! They want us to…''cheat!' thought Saratobi, 'like a real ninja would! And we have to try not to get caught! That scarred fool deceived us!'
Ten minutes and two rows in ahead of her, a shuriken came out of nowhere and caught a cheater by surprise. "You're out! Take your teammates!" A jonin yelled.
Jin, meanwhile, realized they had to cheat. 'We're all against each other. It's a cheating frenzy!' he said to himself. 'But lucky for me…I have an unnatural vision advantage. I'll get my answers from the lovely Saratobi in front of me…' Then a mirror appeared on the floor beneath Saratobi. Setsuko used the Hyuga clan specialty, Byakugan, The Evil Eye, to see through one smart person's body, where all correct answers were.
Kiyuta sat with his head down. 'Now, I only should take a few milliseconds, or they'll catch me,' then he disappeared and reappeared in a flash. He looked over all the proctors, and saw one writing something down on his clipboard. 'Darn. They noticed…' he lifted his paper, with all the answers on it. 'But I got what I wanted.'
A huge guy next to Isshinta put both his hands together and closed his eyes. "Foresight!" he whispered. He glanced into the future and sighed. 'I don't have to write anything down at all to pass. Better tell the others…Hayate! Hitomi! This is Ryu! Don't even try cheating! Just wait…' Ryu told his teammates with his mind. A thin guy next to Sasuma nodded. He had a scar over his nose, and long fingernails. 'Got that, Hitomi?' Hayate asked, psychically. A girl with feathers in her hair on the other side of Daisuke put her pencil down and folded her hands.
'What's she doing?' Daisuke asked himself. 'I guess she knows something I don't, because her paper is empty! I'm probably taking a big chance, but I'm not gunna write anything either.'
Forty-five minutes into the exam, after at least half of the cells were gone from getting caught, Ibiki stood up. "Attention! I will now state the tenth question. But first, know this. If you get it wrong, you'll be stuck as a genin…for the rest of your life!" Everyone gasped.
'Forever! That's not fair!' Daisuke thought. Hitomi next to him looked back at Ryu, who nodded. She smiled and sat patiently. 'I'm luckier than a horseshoe being next to her!' Daisuke continued.
Korosu raised an eyebrow when he caught glimpse of his brother's paper, 'You wrote nothing?'
Ibiki looked over the genin. "If you want to fail and try again next year, raise your hand now." He stated.
Immediately, some kid raised his hand. "I'm sorry! I can't do it!" he cried.
A jonin helped his cell out, and Ibiki smiled. "Any one else?" Then four more kids raised their hand. Their cells also left with them, as Ibiki grinned. The genin who gave up shut the door behind them. Then nobody moved. "Well then," Ibiki said, "All of those still here…pass." Everyone was shocked.
"What do you mean, we passed? You didn't even read over our answers!" Gaku yelled.
Fey sighed. "Gaku, don't remind him. I didn't have any answers."
Ibiki chuckled. "The genin are braver every year! If you lasted long enough to reach where you are now, then you a truly a ninja! Congratulations!"
Then a young woman dived through the window. "My name is Mitarashi Anko! I'm the proctor for the second part of the exam! Come on, we're wasting time!" she yelled. She wore nothing but fishnet and a trench coat. Nobody moved; they just sat, either exhausted or confused. "LET'S GO!" Then everybody jumped up and followed Anko out.
"So quick again, Anko! It's not like you're ever late!" Ibiki called out to her.
Later, Ibiki gathered the papers from the tables and looked over Saratobi's and Korosu's. "Two of four who got 'em right without cheating…and the other two were jonin in disguise for people to steal answers from. Impressive." Then he looked at Daisuke's. "But their teammate did badly. For question four he said, your mom…"
Anko led them to a giant forest, in which the trees were the biggest thing mostly anyone had ever seen. There was moss hanging from the branches, and fungus growing like crazy. "This is ground forty-four!" Anko cried. "Also known as the Forest of Death!" Korosu's ears lifted. His name meant 'to kill' and any mention of it caught his attention. "This is where the second exam takes place. Dark setting, isn't it?" Anko continued. "Well, before we get started on the rules, you all have to sign these consent forms so we won't be held liable when half of you die!" she said cheerfully, passing a ton of papers around. "Then submit them over there." She pointed to a booth where four men sat impatiently.
"Daisuke, can I borrow a pen?" Saratobi asked. He glanced at her.
"I was gunna ask the same thing." Then they both looked at Korosu, who shrugged.
"Darn it, doesn't anyone have a pen!" Daisuke cried. Bijin overheard him and handed him a pencil.
"I stole it from the last test." She said. Daisuke blushed at took it.
"Thanks…" After everyone submitted their forms, they crowded around Anko.
"Now, about those rules," she pulled out two scrolls. "This test is set up like capture the flag. There are two scrolls, one of heaven, and one of earth. Your team will be given one at random. The idea here is to get to the center of the forest with all of your teammates alive, with both scrolls. So, yes, you'll have to steal from another team. The catch is: you have no idea which scroll the other team has. Some of you may want to gather extra scrolls to lessen the number of teams that move on…and make me look good! Basically, half of you are gunna lose, no way around it. And now, the time limit…you'll spend five days in there. Food and water are your problem. I recommend having a night watcher, because you'll always be surrounded by enemies." Everyone gasped and talked amongst themselves. "One last thing!" Anko yelled. "You are absolutely forbidden to look at the contents of each scroll! You'll do that when you get inside the central tower!" One team at a time entered the booth, which now had a veil over it.
"Not only don't we know what scroll each team has, but we don't know who's got it." Korosu said.
Daisuke drew his swords. "Somehow, I'm actually looking forward to this!" he cried.
Saratobi shivered in fear. "We could die…" she repeated over and over. Zawato walked up with his cell and sat by them. The six took time to gather their thoughts.
"I hope it doesn't come to us having to fight eachother." Zawato said.
Isshinta blushed. "I-I don't want to hurt you, Saratobi…" he muttered quietly.
"What was that, Isshinta?" Saratobi asked, out of her trance.
Daisuke clanged his two swords together. "Just think of it as a friendly spar. Let's all promise not to kill each other." he said. They all agreed.
"The cell containing Kashime Daisuke, Kashime Korosu, and Hoashi Saratobi, please come get your scroll!" Anko called. The three got up and went into the booth. Setsuko watched Daisuke's cell go in.
"My Evil Eye tells me they have the heaven scroll." He said. Sasuma and Satsuma looked at Setsuko with a frown.
"Man, they'd be the easiest to steal from, but they have the same scroll we do." Satsuma complained.
Sasuma shrugged. "Let's just steal it anyway."
As the third cell of Konoha made their way to their entrance gate, Daisuke chuckled under his breath.
"What's so funny?" Korosu asked. Daisuke showed them the heaven scroll.
"This is really an earth scroll. I know Setsuko is of the Hyuga clan. He watched to see what scroll we got, so I used my superior Genjutsu to make it appear like a heaven scroll!" he replied.
"Good one!" Saratobi cried.