Need I say more?

Boring? Check!

Filler? Check!

Horrible character development? Double check!

Perfect!

And beware! It is looooong!

Chapter #2, Part 1:

The 7th Leader, RyuKage

It was eerily silent in the hallways of the school. Like the universal volume control had been turn down; even the chirping of the birds outside was inaudible. It was as if the entire structure had been soundproofed or ripped from reality itself as time slowed to a crawl.

Rasha padded down the empty hallway, his eyes flickering to the number above each door. Finally he stopped when he reached the doorway numbered five. As his hand reached up to open the sliding door, he remembered his first day in class three months ago. He smiled, recalling how his teacher had nearly ripped his own hair out in frustration of the class's general attitude of laziness and uncaring. That along with the several class clowns who made it a goal to drive the already emotionally taxed man to the brink of insanity made for an interesting first day.

Pulling the door aside, Rasha's earlier feeling of contempt towards his classmates was dashed to the wind; the assemble twenty students appeared to be contemplating their own previous inadequacies in the classroom leading up to this critical moment. A general feeling of dread pervaded the atmosphere in the room; certain students had what appeared to be a doomed grimace, while others remarkably sported a certain abandonment of emotion that lead to the assumption that the owner's brain was slowly working out a new method for breathing.

Rasha bit back a smile as he sat in the center of the class.

"Fools. Now you see why you're supposed to listen in class!"

The boy he was sitting next to was having a nervous breakdown; his knees knocking together in such rapid succession it made his teeth clatter. And now that he took the time to notice, the entire class was beginning to take note of his drastic change of both clothing and behavior. Having worn casual clothing and sat in the back of the class every day, his dramatic change to a weapon-wielding, armor-clad, battle-ready shinobi was not hard to miss.

Confidence surged through Rasha's veins as he realized that he was probably one of the few whom had even armed themselves before coming to class. Even now as he watched, a few kids around him began searching their desks for any spare chance of a forgotten weapon within. The boy with the shaky knees began viciously sharpening his pencil against the edge of his desk in utter desperation.

As the rest of the class worked itself into a silent state of pandemonium, Rasha began to wonder what would be on the test. But before he could begin the concentrate, the sensei walked into the class.

A generally boring man by nature, his usual personality was cast aside for a small smile and twinkle in his beady eyes. Wearing the customary attire of a Chuunin instructor, a white body suit and black pouch-covered vest, he twirled a kunai casually in his left hand.

"Good morning guys!" he chuckled, he eyes beaming at the assembled. His gazed locked onto Rasha for a moment before wrinkling into an ear-to-ear grin, "You're in luck!"

The class, already hanging on his every word, now sat on the edge of their seats holding their breath.

"No the exam is still on." The sensei confirmed, shaking his head slightly.

The class settled uncomfortably back down into its original stupor.

"But you should all be honored!" continued their sensei, "One of the Kages volunteer himself to test your prowess instead of me!"

The class, excluding Rasha and a few others, took the next few moments to collectively soil themselves.

"A Kage?"

"So, since we have about five minutes before he arrives," started the instructor as a broad wave of heavy, lama-type, breathing broke out in the class," I thought I would quiz you all on the basic's once more before he gets here."

"And here we go."

Rasha rolled his eyes. It seemed like every day the instructor would be forced to go over the painstakingly obvious for the uncaring few in class. As a side result Rasha had taken to daydreaming whenever the man would break into monologue for the benefit of the worse half.

Now, as the dull droning of the Chuunin buzzed around his head, he took the time to look out the window and think. His mind wandered around as he gazed at the darker outline of the ancient trees in the distance. At the orange streetlamps outside every building and around every corner, giving a poor imitation of daytime.

It wasn't unusual for Rasha, living in a village of constant night, for he had been born and raised in the darkness and knew nothing else. Sure, there were patches of clearing in the forest where a little sunlight could get through, but on a whole he had never seen his home without it doused in shadows. From above the entire ghostly outlines of buildings could be seen, broken sometimes by the illuminating streetlights. It was that simple; patches of light surrounded by unchanging darkness.

As Rasha snapped himself out of his trance, the sensei was winding up from his speech," –and you will all do fine as long as you remember what you've learned over the past three mon-"

The sensei's words were cut short by the arrival of a man clothed in black robes and wearing a black, rounded hat decorated with gray kanji that sat upon his head like a turtle shell. Several scars cut the old, wrinkled face of the man and his beady eyes sized up the students with piercing scrutiny. He was the seventh Kage of the village, RyuKage.

"Out of your seats! Now!" barked the miserable old man, his small eyes shifting through the class as he ignored the Chuunin instructor. The students leapt to their feet in unison, their postures ridged. "Follow me and keep you mouths shut!"

The students followed the short, old man out into the hallway, then out of the school. He led them around the building to the large training playground behind the school that was used primarily for weapons and large-scale genjutsu techniques. Once in the courtyard, the Kage made them line up along the eastern wall encasing the grounds.

"Your test begins now! You are to st-"

"Sir?" interrupted a small, mousy haired boy at one end of the line.

RyuKage turned on the spot and glared at the unfortunate boy," What? What is it?"

"A-Aren't w-we supposed t-to…individually ta-"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" spat the Kage into the boy's face. Not waiting for the terrified boy to answer, he continued in a mocking voice," You will speak only when I address you! And since you seem to be so eager to participate, you will be the first to fail in front of your peers!"

The wretched Kage stepped back to address the class, pulling the boy by the lapels of his shirt before the others," Your first test, by far the simplest, is to hit a target with a kunai."

Hearing this the class relaxed; the sensei had taken them through the weapons training portion of an obstacle course just yesterday. However what little hope seeping back into them was immediately squashed as the Kage pointed and said," Your target is there!"

His hooked finger led their eyes to the "target"; a miniscule wooden circle three diameters wide nailed to a stick jutting out of the ground. This tiny bull's-eye would be hard enough to hit without it being close to one hundred feet away. Thankfully the courtyard was well lit enough to see the target clearly, but it would not help much.

The boy mumbled something that Rasha couldn't hear, but guessed by the furious reaction from the Kage what he said.

"WHAT! You are completely weaponless! This is unacceptable! You stand before me, believing you are of Genin quality, and come to class unarmed!" shouted the Kage, his face contorting in rage.

"Ryukage?"

The enraged leader turned to find the Chuunin instructor leaning against the wall of the school, his arms crossed," I brought this bundle of kunai just in case of this situation." The instructor tossed the leather bundle to the Kage who easily caught the package in one hand while muttering under his breath.

After handing a throwing knife to the boy, he waited, impatiently tapping his foot by his side. Rasha knew he had a snowball's chance in hell of hitting the target; it was a difficult challenge even for a person who had practiced weapon-throwing everyday. Rasha knew that most who did not have the power or experienced to throw that hard would be tempted to hurl the kunai at an upwards angle and hope to hit the target on the downfall. But at the angle that the kunai would fall would lessen the surface area the knife could strike. This information would be coveted information should Rasha care to share it, especially the student up on the stand; the boy was one of the class clowns.

Nonetheless the boy raised a shaking hand and hurled the kunai with all his might upwards. The weapon arched before sticking into the ground ten feet from the target.

Between a cracked smile the Kage snarling laughter taunted the boy's efforts before calling," Next!"

Rasha watched as his fellow classmates each took their turn, each failing as miserably as the last. But Rasha couldn't judge, most of the other students were poor marksmen, and some of the actual serious participants had yet to go. However you would think the Kage was enjoying his tormenting challenge, as he sneered at the best efforts of the students. He taunted them with snobbish remarks and snappy insults as each student's face fell along with their inaccurate blade.

Rasha's pity for his fellow trainees began to be overshadowed by his anger towards the miserable little man in black as he repeatedly disgraced the students. It was unnecessarily cruel and inhuman. Needless to say, he was simmering beneath his veiled face when Ryukage called out his name.

Ignoring the kunai held in the Kage's crumpled hand, he drew his own from a pouch on his belt. Twirling the thin handle of the double-edged weapon skillfully between his smooth fingers he was resulted with the small, but distinct whistle of rushing air passing over the metal loop at the end of the taped handle.

Ryukage turned his back to Rasha and shouted over the whirling noise to the instructor, stilling leaning against the wall," Well, here is a surprise! One of your students actually comes to class prepared! Perhaps your teachings are not entirely inadequ-"

SCHINK!

The whirling noise stopped. The Kage turned slowly, his eyes wide, to look at the target of wood a hundred feet away. But the circle was no longer there; further investigation revealed the kunai that had been through was pinning the target to a wooden fence ten feet beyond the stick in the ground. The blade had been flung with such force that it had traveled a hundred feet, striking the target hard enough to rip it from its mounted perch, and carry it another ten feet before embedding itself into a wall.

The Kage was dimly aware of his jaw hitting his toes.

"Keep the insults to yourself, Pal." Came a cool voice behind him.

Ryukage turned to see Rasha, his arms crossed with a blank look on his face. Was this boy ordering him? The nerve! The audacity! One so inferior did not dare to look at him with those cold eyes, let alone scold him like a mother would a child!

"Show some respect to your betters, boy!" shouted the Kage, his voice rising in pitch as veins pulsed in his head.

"The second you show some to others." Came the curt reply.

Ryukage nearly choked on his frustration. The arrogance! This boy had to be taught a lesson in rank; brought down a notch from his high little world he lived in. "Do you know what I think?" the Kage asked, his face merely inches from Rasha's, I think you waited for me to turn my back on you so you could cheat!"

Ryukage knew that his eyes did not deceive him as a dark shadow passed momentarily over the boy's face. His gray eyes became frigid cold, his muscles in his neck flexing. But as quickly as it came it flickered and was gone, leaving behind the blank and unreadable, sunken face of Rasha. The Kage stood with his right side to the target still, perpendicular to the line of students as he stared down the young boy, waiting for him to retort.

There was a rapid blur of motion; a rippling airwave sent by the speed of movement followed by a second distinct-

SCHINK!

Rasha's left arm was now pointing straight at the target, which now held was impaled by a second kunai. Ryukage's mind worked out the details quickly; his sharp eyes were own of the few who had followed the entire action start to finish. The boy had, at lightning speed, drawn a second kunai and in the same motion of raising it to eye level in a lengthy arc, let the knife fly. It was fast but it is not what the Kage was most intrigued in; if he recalled correctly Rasha had been twirling the first kunai in his right hand.

"He threw that with his offhand?" thought the Kage incredulously.

Rasha did not respond, but refolded his arms and waited for the old man's response. Ryukage's eyes narrowed as his mind worked feverously. Rasha settled into a more comfortable footing; he could tell when a monologue was coming on.

Sure enough the Kage turned on the spot and faced the stunned spectators of the class. His face uncharacteristically beaming with joy he said in his warmest voice," Congratulations, everyone passes!"

The sensei's eyes nearly disappeared into his hairline. He had heard that the seventh Kage was slightly unfair and hard to please man by nature, but this was more than that. This was breaking the rules!

Meanwhile Rasha was already expecting the Kage's next move; he knew when a person had a chip on their shoulder and this man outright hated him for whatever reason. So he relaxed his posture as much a possible, trying to conserve all energy for whatever ridiculous, undeserved test would be next. And as expected…

"But," said the Kage, turning to Rasha with a twisted grin on his scarred face, " your skills are laughable!"

From where he was standing Rasha could see the astounded expressions of his fellow classmates behind Ryukage's back. Whispers broke out like wildfire amongst the ninja ranks as the children wondered in amazement what the Kage's grudge was against the boy in black.

"Silence!" scolded the Kage over his shoulder, quieting the students. He turned back to Rasha, his previous annoyance once again substituted by a beaming grin as his cold eyes matched his voice," Being both humble and generous, I will give you one more chance to pass this examination! But if you fail this challenge you will not become a Genin or ever be accepted into the Ninja Academy again! It is your choice to whether to continue or not!"

"Choose!"

And there it is. Trust me, I will make sure that Rasha ( it is almost like speaking in third person…) does not become godlike. Remember he lives alone (we will find out why later, trust me) so he has nothing better to do than practice out of sheer boredom. If you guys had kunai just laying around the house and could hurl them left and right without a pesky neighbor, or the proper authorities, taking notice, wouldn't you?

Thanks for playing along, Rasha