Chapter Three: Kakashi's New Team

"Welcome back, guys!" I shouted in greeting to the two approaching figures. Perhaps they sped up a bit, but it wasn't long before my teammates and I were finally reunited.

"Shien, you're looking good, man!" This, coming from Uchiha Kentaro, first son of Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura. As a wielder of the mighty Sharingan eye, not to mention the team's Genjutsu and Sword master, Kentaro can essentially cut you into very thin slices… and you wouldn't realize it until you tried to walk. I've known him since I was in diapers, due to how close our families are. "How're Mom, Dad, and the rest of the family?"

"Your parents are the same as always, and your brother and sisters are, by all accounts, making life rather interesting for their tutors, mostly because most of the tutors can't beat them in a fair fight. You know how it is. Try to do anything to one of them, and you get ambushed by the other three."

"What about MY family, Shien-kun?" Hyuuga Hiromi was, in a word, cute. I've had something of a crush on her since about the time I became a Chuunin, six months ago. As the daughter of Hyuuga Neji and Tenten, though, don't underestimate her. As our Medical and Taijutsu specialist, she can rip you apart in about fifteen different ways. You can say what you want, but I sure wouldn't. Not within fifteen feet, anyway. I've known her for about six years, ever since I started taking lessons in the Jyuuken Style from her father.

"Eh, the entire Hyuuga house is up in arms since about last week, from what I can gather, Hiromi-chan. Ever since Hanabi-sama's son turned three. All I know is that Dad had a head-on confrontation with about half of the Hyuuga clan elders yesterday, and they don't seem to realize that he has them severely outnumbered. I have some info for you guys that'll be useful at the exam, though, but Kakashi is on his way as we speak with your applications. I don't think he'll be as late as he usually is… since he's standing about two meters behind me."

Surely enough, as I said it, he stepped out from behind the tree I'd been leaning on. To this day, I have no idea how he manages to get from place to place so quietly and quickly. "That's a lot of information you've managed to gather in only twenty hours, Shien. The last three months have been good for you. Well, I suppose it was inevitable. Naruto was the same way." He smiled again (and again, I have no idea how I knew he was) "Well, here are the forms. Turn them in at room 301 in three days, just like last time. I could give you more of the details, but I'm sure Shien will want to do it, instead. I'm off." And so he was, before any of us could say anything back. On the ground were the two forms.

Both of my teammates glanced at me, but it was Kentaro who spoke first. "I must be missing something rather glaring, but it seems that we aren't going to have a third teammate for this exam. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"Shien-kun, how is it possible?" Hiromi interjected. "The exams always have to be taken in teams of three!"

"That might have been true for the last thirty years or so, but not this time. You'll never believe who took the initiative and wrote the proposal for the exam revision."

"You gonna make us wait for it?"

"Not really, Kentaro. Would you guys believe that it was Nara Shikamaru?"

"Nope."

"No, actually, I wouldn't"

"Unfortunately, Hiromi, he actually did. You know how he is, Konoha's master tactician. He figured that constantly finding replacements and integrating them was, in his words, 'more troublesome than just rewriting the way the whole thing works.' With so many villages having teams split by rank, he rewrote it. Thing is, he did the written part himself. Good luck, by the way."

A thoughtful look crossed Hiromi's face. "Wait a second. The written portion has never been team-dependent. Not as much as the practical part, anyway. What gives?"

"The practical part has been turned into a gauntlet of sorts. That's all I could gather, but dad said that teams from one to four people would all have exactly the same chance to pass."

A troubled look passed Kentaro's face. "Shien, Hiromi, we almost missed a fairly big detail. If incomplete teams can take the exam, then won't there be something like three times as many Gennin there?"

The crickets seemed obscenely loud as we pondered THAT one.

Interlude 3: About the Chuunin Selection Exams

The Chuunin Selection Exam is considered the ultimate test for a rising Gennin. Those who pass have earned their stripes, and are acknowledged to be in the top half of all shinobi. Those who can't forever find themselves taking a poor second place, never having their opinions heard, never getting the good missions, never gaining honor, respect, or a truly good paycheck. This is why some ninjas find themselves taking the exams for upwards of ten consecutive attempts before giving up. Some ninja never do give in at all, trying in vain to attain a rank that they are not qualified for.

For this reason, among others, the exam changes each time it is administered, which is usually twice every year. However it changes, certain overreaching patterns emerge. First among these is that the exam tests teamwork, determination, know-how, and the very will to apply these traits. Perhaps the greatest examiner in the history of the exams was one Morino Ibiki, originally trained in interrogation and torture. This is also why, until this most recent exam, the Gennin taking the exam had to join as a group of three, or not at all.

Among its traditions stand a three-phase setup, including a written, practical, and tournament section. The first, to test the examinee's raw know-how. The second, to check for aspects of application, teamwork, trustworthiness, and survival traits, among others. The last, also the only public section, was for the final determination. This promotion was not by placement, but rather by the collected opinions of various attending lords and examiners. Thus, one could lose in the first round, yet still be promoted. Case and point was Nara Shikamaru, who conceded after tactically outmaneuvering his opponent. However, one could win overall, and not be promoted.

A recent revision to the examination process has eliminated the need for teams to enter as exactly three, although it still encourages teamwork. This is due to the fact that some teams found themselves broken by the promotion of only one or two of its members. No matter how promising the remaining members may be, they find themselves failing each time they attempt, as the new member is inevitably not as integrated into the whole, and the Chuunin cannot in good conscience be allowed to help his team.

How this revision works out remains to be seen, but it is interesting to note that is was designed by one Nara Shikamaru, mentioned earlier. He is currently known Konoha's premier tactician, and one of the main reasons the Leaf Village was not obliterated in the Fourth Secret World War.