AN: Hi again! How is everyone? Good? Glad to hear it. If not, I'll weep for you. That's right, I even cry for my readers when they're feeling down. Now then, BEHOLD! I have updated sooner than I expected myself to. Ain't the world full of amazing surprises? Don't expect me to update this fast all the time. Just ask my Zelda fic readers, they'll tell you all about the long waits that you'll be put through.

My thanks to the reviewers, I love it when I get them.

Disclaimer: I own my memories of Naruto episodes that I've watched. I own this story. I don't own anything else even remotely related to Naruto. Unless, of course, you want to count the television I watch it on.

Chapter 1

Before the Exams

As was always the case, the instant his eyes snapped open, Jordan knew exactly where he was and what he had to do that day. He was in the Leaf Village. He was in his room, in the apartment he shared with Niles. And today he had to take the first of the Chunin Exams.

He quickly jumped out of bed and got dressed in his normal mission attire. His black sleeveless, pants and boots, and then his equipment. He fixed his belt around his waist and pulled off one of his shuriken holsters and started loading four-point shurikens into it. Unlike their smaller cousin, the star shuriken, the four-point was bigger by a whole inch and the points were narrow and without blades. This made them ideally designed for piercing, rather than cutting like the star. This meant the four-point required more precision but it could dig in deeper and do more damage in the right spots.

After both his holsters were fully loaded, he went on to check the status of his knives. He had two, one below his left shoulder in an effective throwing position, the other on the back of his belt in a good spot for close quarters. He was a firm believer in the old battlefield superstition that a knife was guaranteed to save his life at least once. They were both combat knives, similar to the K-bars used by soldiers back home, but with an edge down both sides. He preferred these over kunai knives because the kunai wasn't made to be held comfortably in close encounters. His knives were made perfectly for both.

After making certain his knives weren't rusted or anything of the sort, he strapped on his gauntlets. They weren't much for protection, but they made for a good hiding spot for needle shurikens. With only a light flick of his wrist, he could have one out and ready to leave his target short one eye. His right gauntlet also made for a good platform for his windmill shuriken. A smaller version of the demon wind shuriken that was employed in the east, the blades on the windmill measured about six inches each. It was faster than its counterpart, and could be launched off the forearm. It also had a boomerang effect, so one was enough.

After that was taken care of, he went over to his closet, and pulled out his sword. It was longer than the traditional ninja's sword, and more curved. It was more suited for a samurai than a shinobi, but he found good use in it despite its limitations. Tying together the strings on the sheath in front of him, the blade sat comfortably on his back. Then looking in the mirror, he gave himself a brief nod of satisfaction and went over to Niles' room.

"Hey, meathead," he addressed the still sleeping lump of muscle. "Wake up."

"Five more hours," Niles mumbled sleepily.

"Wake up or it's your head," Jordan warned him. "We've got those exams today, or did you forget?"

"No, I remember," he replied, almost half awake. "Not like it matters though. We're not from here, so why should we worry?"

"You really are an idiot, you know," Jordan said with a look of sheer exasperation on his face. "This isn't just a test for the sake of killing time. We're gonna be able to gather some good intel on what these Easterners can do. If we miss an opportunity like this, the clan leaders back home'll have your head, and I won't be able to get a job anywhere from Eastport to New Grey City."

"Why is it that it'll only be my head they'll be takin'?"

"What, you think I'm gonna let them kill me because of your laziness?" Jordan said with a sardonic smile.

"Geez, you're the ideal comrade, aint you," Niles chuckled. "Alright, I'll be up in a minute. You mind startin' breakfast?"

"I always make breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" Jordan complained. "You really need to learn how to cook."

"I tried learnin', but my master wasn't that great at it either, so I never had a decent teach," Niles replied.

"Whatever. How do want your yokes, broken or not?"

"Not."

After a rushed breakfast, Niles was ready to go. But Jordan had one final preparation to see to. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up," he assured him. "And don't forget to act like a meathead. You nearly blew it last week."

"I know, I know," Niles replied. "Would you like me to clean my room before leaving, Mother dearest?"

"No, but watch it, smart ass," Jordan laughed.

After he was sure that Niles had left, Jordan went back to his room and sat down on the floor. Taking a few shallow breaths, he began his meditation. He did this everyday before going on any mission. It was an exercise of control, and that was exactly what he needed.

Closing his eyes, he listened carefully to the world outside. A young boy was throwing a ball and catching it. Not far from the boy, his mother called him inside for breakfast. Further out still, some loons were diving for food, and came up with a soft splash. A wind chime on his neighbor's deck slowly tinkled as the soft breeze flowed through it. The boy dropped his ball, and his feet clapped against the street as he went inside.

Jordan stood up and opened his eyes. He was ready…

Jordan walked into the building the first exam was supposed to be held in and walked up the first flight of stairs. Upon reaching the second floor, Jordan looked over to the side, and to his mild shock, there was a crowd of people trying to get into a room. He looked at the sign above the door and noted that it showed this being the door to the room where the exam was supposed to take place. Looking a bit more carefully at the sign, he noticed that something was not right. It was an illusion, a subtle one, but still noticeable. He also saw that Niles was up at the front of the group, trying to push his way through.

"Not only is he faking stupidity, but he's even acting like he's not strong enough to get by whoever is barricading," he smiled inwardly. "Well done, Niles. Just don't overplay your hand."

He continued past the crowd and saw some others who were watching. One was wearing a green jumpsuit and had his hair done in a ridiculous bowl style, and his eyebrows were so big, he looked nothing but comical. The second in the group was a girl wearing a pink shirt and her hair was done up in a pair of buns. She was fairly attractive, but not enough to count as a seductress. The third was obviously the guy in charge. He wore a white field shirt and his hair was hanging loosely down his back. What really got Jordan's attention though were his eyes. His eyes were the same as that girl he had met the other night.

"What was her name again?" he thought quietly. "Hinata, I think. Yeah, that was it. They're probably related. Best not to ask though. It'll probably get mentioned or something later."

He approached the three calmly, and stood next to them as though he belonged there. "Enjoying the circus?" he asked, referring to the crowd. "Wonder how long until they figure out it's a trick."

"It is rather amusing," the head guy agreed. "I'm guessing we won't see any of them in the real exam room."

"Not at this rate," Jordan nodded his head slightly. "I'm Jordan."

"Neji."

"Anyone here worth worrying about?"

"No," Neji said flatly. "Not even you."

Jordan flashed him a menacing smile, then said, "I think you'll find me to be a bit more challenging than these fools."

"I don't really care about your delusions," Neji replied calmly. "You're nothing."

"You sure I'm the delusional one?" Jordan asked. Then walking away, he added, "I know how to win. Perhaps I'll show you how it's done sometime."

He then went upstairs, and into the real exam room. Upon entering, Jordan knew that he had been right. There would be a lot of vital information here. His first impression of the room was a shady bar. It wasn't very loud, in fact, it was almost too quiet. But the other exam participants seemed to be very rough customers indeed. They were there in all shapes and sizes from the very tall, to the very creepy. There were even a few that didn't even stand out. In Jordan's experience, they could be the most troublesome.

He decided to take a wall and wait to see what happened. After a short time, there was a sudden flood of people, among them was Niles. "Guess the circus is over then." Another short while later brought Negi and his team, shortly followed by a young looking group.

There wasn't any defined leader to this new team, they seemed to be equals. One had blond hair and wore an orange jumpsuit. He looked like it was his birthday or something by the eager grin he was wearing. Next to him was a girl with pink hair and wearing a red shirt, or whatever they called that thing. Unlike her friend, she seemed to be very nervous. The last of them was another guy. He was wearing a blue shirt offset by white shorts, and his thick black hair was pretty much everywhere. Unlike either of the other two, he seemed to be very calm.

Almost instantly, the blond one came out and yelled, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat every last one of you! Believe it!"

Jordan looked around the room to see the reaction from the others. By the looks of things, that Naruto kid had just made about sixty enemies. He wasn't including himself, of course. He was too confused just trying to figure out if he was being confident or just using bravado. Whatever it had been, it seemed all but forgotten a moment later, as the entire room went back to its abrasively quiet atmosphere.

A small group came up to the three newcomers. Six of them in all. Jordan ran a casual eye over them. It was certainly a motley crew. From what he could read of them there was a would-be seductress, a lazy smart guy, a classic fat and hungry guy, one who screamed self-proclaimed-coolness, one of those guys who didn't stand out much, and…

"So she decided to show up after all," Jordan couldn't help but smile. There, standing with a shy slouch, practically shrinking away from the others, was Hinata.

The nine of them talked for a while and then broke away. Jordan decided that he should talk to Hinata. He didn't have much better to do while waiting for things to get started anyways, and he couldn't talk openly to Niles.

He walked up to them slowly. One of them, the guy who didn't stand out much, noticed him, and drew their attention over to him. He continued, with a casual smile on his face, and when he was close enough, he said, "Hi."

"Y-you?" Hinata said, looking somewhat shocked.

"Glad to see you chose to come," he said, still smiling.

"You know this guy?" one of her teammates asked. He was wearing a rather warm looking gray coat and had a dog sitting on his head. Something about this guy seemed… wild. It was like a part of him was an untamed beast maybe. Perhaps he was some sort of berserker.

"Um, yes," Hinata replied. "This is… Jordan?"

"And you're Hinata, right?" Jordan said with a nod. "And you two are?"

"I'm Kiba," the suspected berserker said, then pointing to the dog on his head, "And this is Akamaru."

"Shino," the other said. There wasn't anything extraordinary looking about him. He was wearing what appeared to be a lab coat with an oversized collar, and sunglasses. His hair was the spikiest Jordan had seen. What was it with Eastern guys and spiky hair anyways?

"Um… I thought you said you were… an anthropologist," Hinata said.

"Well my job here is one of anthropology, in a sense at least," Jordan said. "But it's not my usual job."

"Then what is your job?" Kiba asked.

"Oh you know, the usual sorta thing," Jordan said in a nonchalant manner, "Information gathering, escorting, occasional thievery, assassination. Stuff down that line."

"So you're like us then?" Shino said. "Only you're one of those Westerners, aren't you?"

Before Jordan could even react to the comment, something caught his attention. Someone was being attacked. One of the ninja from one of the other villages, his headband marked him as from the Sound Village, had taken a swipe at an older Genin from the Leaf Village. He managed to dodge the attack, but an instant later he was puking like he'd taken a hard one to the gut.

"But that Sound guy didn't even graze him!" Jordan remembered. "How'd he pull that off? Hope Niles got a better look."

"What the hell was that?" Kiba asked.

Before he could get an answer, a man in a trench coat appeared at the front of the room. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

AN: Well there you go. Chapter One is done, and the story has officially begun! Now, please review. You've gotta do it. I compel you to do it. And for the record folks, yes I do have the power to force you to review. So I'm forcing you right now. But before you do review, I have a question. What's the first proctor's name? I kinda forgot it. Also, I'm trying to decide on a better title for this story. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks much. Laters!