A/N: Hello, people! COVER ART BY: Niyuu_Trickster_Kat!

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TAGS for this Chapter: SWEARING.

I'm writing Ch. 19 right now.

I'm glad y'all are liking this. :)

All Iruka knew that morning was that Mizuki would not be turning up to work like usual and that an Anbu member that was pretty sure was Hatake Kakashi judging by his silver hair that defied gravity, appeared at his door to inform him that Mizuki had been taken into custody and that Iruka would need to think of something for his class to do that would take enough time for them to find a good replacement.

He was given a sixty hour window of time. Something that that wouldn't have his students asking about Mizuki until a judgment had been passed.

What could he do without alerting anyone to the fact that something was going on? Iruka wasn't even a senior leader in the administration! But his class was an important one with all of the clan heirs.

What to do? What could he do? Few lessons required that much time to be seen to.

And how was he going to survive being the only person teaching the class for two and a half days?!

His head snapped around in realization! Survival! A survival test would be a good way to begin preparing the students for missions! He could make it a competition of a sort with a good lesson thrown in for good measure.

He would tell them this morning when classes began, they'd come in the next morning properly prepared and spend a day in the forest expected to survive until personally picked up by him. And then they'd have a day of rest in between the test and the results! He was a genius!

The Hokage would surely find this type of training useful. Since they;d begun fixing the Academy, things had gotten more difficult and the expectations of their shinobi had raised. Their current forces were seeing a re-work as well. The amount of Chunin lacking in some basic skills put them all under watch and Iruka had already been tested to see if he should remain a Chunin. Some people had already been demoted until they fixed their mistakes.

Things were changing slowly but surely and it was for the better. He just hoped that whatever Mizuki had been caught doing was the extent of the situation and it didn't get any worse. Thinking of there being some kind of corruption of power in their village made him uneasy.

However... perhaps exposing such things was truly the best option in the end.

Yuuki thought of the team she'd been given for this 'Survival Exercise'. It was her, Pineapple, a girl named Ami that Yuuki preferred to call Fangirl #4, and Hinata. They'd been prepared ahead of time with the information that this would take an entire twenty-four hours and that they'd be left in a specific training ground to fend for themselves the entire time.

Now going twenty-four hours without food or water wasn't honestly the most terrible thing. As an orphan, sometimes the orphanage ran low on certain things and as such, some kids went without in turns to make it fair on everyone. Also one full day wasn't detrimental to physical health. So even if they didn't get any food at all, they'd wouldn't die from it. Just be a little tired and hungry the next morning.

They could have just stayed in place the entire time and not really suffered for it. Still, this was supposed to test them. Iruka-sensei would be by to retrieve them at exactly nine the following morning and he would be overlooking their process and the work they'd put in.

So they had to prove themselves. Which meant work. Not exactly Yuuki's favorite thing but as it was familiar work and not something she'd never done before, she felt calm and ready.

Two civilians and two clan kids lumped together. An interesting mix for a team but probably for the better. If he'd put all clan kids on a team he'd be accused of favoritism because of course they would have a higher chance of survival with lessons from their families on their sides.

"Okay, let's get this drag of an exercise over with," Pineapple began in a bored tone, looking tired already. "What are your individual skills? It's best we know so we can determine who contributes what to the team. I'm a tactician first and foremost. My aim with kunai is relatively decent."

Hinata stuttered out, "My Byakugan allows me t-to see nearly three hundred and sixty degrees for up to one hundred me-meters. I have perfect precision in shurikenjutsu."

Fangirl #4 sighed dramatically and then grumbled. "I don't know. I'm like, good at getting info from people. Gossip is my thing."

Yuuki shrugged. "I can build a natural fire. I can swim and hold my breath for over a minute and a half. And I know which plants shouldn't be eaten. That's something I learned really early on." Being poor meant being somewhat desperate. Eating something you think is one thing but it ends up being toxic as hell wasn't a fun situation to be in. Satomi never did come back from the hospital after mistaking yew for rosemary.

Pineapple nodded. "Hinata will be our lookout at thirty-minute intervals up until bedtime. Yuuki will build us a fire to use and will maintain it while we're here. Ami, you and I are going to get into the river and heard the fish toward Hinata who will then use her shuriken to kill them for dinner. If it's possible, Yuuki will search for any plants we can consume with the meal. At night, we will each take a two hour watch and swap out with the next person. Yuuki will go first, then me, then Ami, and then Hinata. Yuuki first because of the famed chakra punches possibly coming in handy and Hinata last because the Byakugan uses up chakra and can be tiresome for children to use too much." He was a very informal kind of guy apparently. Or maybe he just didn't care for formalities.

Fangirl #4 looked unhappy with the set up but didn't say anything. Maybe she realized she was out of her depth? Either way, they each set about their own tasks. At least Yuuki's was easy.

First was to dig a good hole in the ground, in which a kunai became very useful. The dirt was pushed off to the side for later. Then came the stone pit. Basically, to lower the chance of causing a forest fire but also preventing any wind from putting the fire out before it got going, first she needed something to contain the flames. She liked to think of it as a little stone fence around a bowl.

The next step was to break off several branches from the surrounding trees and build a steady lean-to in the center of the bowl. Then she had to gather a decent amount of kindling which included dried grass, twigs, and leaves and scatter it all among the collected branches. Her tinder ended up being a roll of dried leaves that she bound with a spare hair tie from Fangirl #4 who was assured that the tie would not make it back into her possession.

Next was the actual flame. They hadn't been allowed to bring anything themselves on this mission, but had been equipped with a standard kunai and shuriken pack before being dumped in the forest. This meant they had no matches or lighters or fluids used to light fires, but thankfully that wasn't how she'd learned to start a fire anyway since those were expensive and good old-fashioned methods were fine.

Knives and sparks basically. And kunai were just fancy ninja knives and they definitely sparked when making harsh contact.

Taking out two kunai, she proceeded to strike them against one another in the direction of the tinder while blowing short but quick breaths on the bundle. The sound was jarring and a bit annoying, and the sparks flew very quickly, landing everywhere in the bowl.

Finally, bits of smoke trailed upward and with the addition of air pressure, a low flame began to spread along the leaves. With haste the bundle was placed in the center of the lean-to of branches with more quick blowing to inspire the fire to grow higher.

By the time the others returned from fishing with Pineapple's hands filled with tons of dead common trout, Yuuki had managed to get a decent fire going that she had enough materials to keep going for several hours.

"Nice job," said their unofficial team leader complimented.

She gave a thumbs up and pointed to a massive stack of leaves off to the side. "So while I waited for you, I collected those. They're bigger than my hand which makes them perfect as replacement toilet paper."

Fangirl #4 blanched at the suggestion and merely got a shrug in return. "What you'll do is you'll rinse those leaves off just to be safe, and when you feel nature's call, you'll pick a spot a good distance downwind from camp, dig a hole big enough to squat over, and do your business. Then cover the evidence up with the dirt you dug up. I would recommend holding it until after dinner, if you can. And make it a big dinner so skipping breakfast won't bother you all that much. Unless you don't mind unclean hands touching food and spreading germs, then do can do what you want."

Yuuki then set to descaling the fish on the ground. As they'd all have to be rinsed off in the river anyway, a little dirt didn't matter. She cut the scales off with practiced precision that left her teammates quiet in awe. She motioned for them to come closer. "Pay attention to he descaling and filleting. This will be useful for you later on. always go against the scales, keep your thumb placement in mind at all times so you don't but yourself, and learn the anatomy of the fish ahead of time so you know where to cut."

The night continued on in the same vein basically. It was an interesting exercise to say the least. And in the morning she tossed the contents of the fire into the river, including the stones, pushed the dirt back into place and patted it all down to mask the fact that there had been a pit at all. Fallen leaves were then carefully distributed over the area to make everything look more natural and the wind certainly helped the image in the end by blowing things everywhere.

When Iruka picked them up, he ended up giving them a high score.

"A secret village built beneath a vast nation of rice fields? Even more hidden than any of the other Hidden Villages to the point that no one knows about it?" asked Nara Shikaku.

Yamanaka Inoichi nodded in confirmation. "Mizuki had much information on his own. The geisha we brought in is very well-informed as well. She talked the moment she realized where she was and what was about to happen. It coincided with Mizuki's information and then some."

The Hokage sighed. "And the information Kakashi retrieved?"

"Confirmed her claims as well. They've been feeding Orochimaru information on the village for years. The geisha, named Aiko, has gotten many of our shinobi talking and I think we should have an evaluation regarding loyalty and confidential information in missions," suggested Morino Ibiki with a demented grin on his face. His work in T&I was practically his life and he took a little too much pleasure in breaking people.

"We'll have to," said the old Kage. "So many shinobi falling for the most basic seduction technique concerns me. Is this a result of not teaching the young boys of the Academy about these things for so long?"

None of them answered, but it wasn't difficult to see.

At least they were fixing the problem now.

To think they still had the issue of Danzo to look into as well. He wasn't ready for that type of headache and wondered if sake on the job would be considered inappropriate for this situation.

Two days later, after a day of rest between them, Iruka decided to bring up the survival exercise in class discussion. To go over the choices each group made and help them understand what they did right and what they did wrong.

"I will begin with what you did right, and then follow it with what you did wrong," the Chunin warned. In his hands was a massive packet of information. He'd taken it very seriously.

"Team #1 - Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Choji, and Uotani Hikaru. You started and maintained the fire with ease. This is thanks to Sasuke-san already knowing Katon jutsu and being able to light the tinder through chakra alone. Choji-san collected a veritable amount of edible foods for the team to share. Naruto-san caught and skinned two rabbits for dinner. Hikaru-san followed instructions very well.

"On the flipside, you didn't prepare the campfire correctly so it required constant handling. Soft wood burns fast, meaning it burns out fast as well. Learning the flora of your surrounding area is imperative. Also, when putting the fire out, you just dumped a lot of water into it, which caused the still hot kindling to smoke and it left behind a visible trail that took time to dissipate. If you were being pursued by an enemy the smoke would have caught their attention and the scent which lingered on all four of you would make you easy to track even for a non-tracker."

Damn, he took the exercise very seriously if he was going into such detail over it. Yuuki cut a look over to Broody, the boy every girl seemed infatuated with. He did not look happy. Not that he ever did, but while he usually looked bored, now he looked pissed. Probably didn't like his faults being exposed. No one did really. Perfection was something society sold at a high and unattainable price and when people failed to live up to those expectations it was embarrassing.

"The rabbits weren't disposed of properly and would have lead an enemy to you easily. Finally, you neglected to remove evidence of the fire or where you bedded down."

Iruka did this for each team, listing out their entire process even though she was certain he didn't ask anyone anything about what they did, until he reached the last.

"Team #7 - Nara Shikamaru, Yuuki, Hyuga Hinata, and Takeru Ami. Your fire was prepared expertly, handled expertly, and then hidden expertly. The remnants were dumped into the nearby river, which took them downstream over a mile away. Yuuki-san, where did you learn to start a fire without matches?"

She shrugged. "In the orphanage we would have chores and mine were in the kitchen. They have a very old, cast iron wood-burning cooking stove and I was taught how to use it in case the cook couldn't work for whatever reason. Usually 'cause of joint pain or illness. I'm used to starting fires."

The Chunin nodded, looking pleased. "The entire process was impressive. It took several sweeps of the site for me to determine just where you built your fire. Furthermore, the team ate fish for dinner, and disposed of the innards and remains properly in the river which carried it all away. How you handled your waste as well was smart and not something the others thought of.

"The only negative I can possibly think of was that none of you drank any water which left you all dehydrated. Of course that could be explained away as having no way of knowing if it was safe to consume in mass quantities and not having a pot to boil it with. Overall, your team received the highest score in the exercise. Well done. You'll each receive a coupon for a free bowl of ramen at Ichiraku and a good mark."

Instantly, Loudmouth began to whine, screaming about how he loved ramen more than anything in life and how could Iruka do this to him. And he really looked downtrodden over it too. Perhaps he too was a lover of food.

During lunch, Yuuki trudged on up to Loudmouth while he was lounging with his group of slackers, and held her coupon under his nose.

The boy stared up at her from his sprawled out place on the ground, looking confused.

"I don't eat ramen," she said simply, leaving the coupon on his chest and walking away.

It didn't pass her notice that his friends watched her go silently but intensely.

He was an orphan too. As he wasn't in the orphanage any longer, he probably lived on his own as well. And with his personality, she doubted he was the kind of person to care about maintaining a balanced lifestyle when it came to food. And he probably didn't get an additional 20,000 Ryo a month because someone bullied him for a year.

So in the end, this was the best option. Also, there was no way she was going to be hunting down a restaurant she didn't know. That would take forever and she'd just rather sleep in and get food at home.

Uzumaki Naruto was an orphan. Had been one his entire life. Had already been through the whole song and dance about wanting parents and wanting to be adopted. And it wasn't that he'd gotten over that, he'd just stopped whining about it because no one was listening. And realizing no one was listening had hurt more than anything else.

He did not remember Yuuki from the orphanage. Of course he'd left when he was four to have his own apartment and he hadn't interacted with every kid there, but if they were around the same age then surely he'd remember the other boy.

The news of another orphan joining their class hadn't seemed important. However, transferring directly from spending a year in the civilian school was a big deal. How the shinobi that visited the orphanage looking for recruits hadn't noticed him was weird. Orphans were scouted all the time. Being able to use chakra already, especially in a fight, isn't something people looking to recruit would overlook. That wasn't normal behavior.

And he had fit right into the class even though he didn't have any friends. He just came, took what Iruka-sensei threw his way, and did his own thing.

To top it all off, he then gave Naruto his free ramen coupon. And he didn't ask for anything in return. Naruto wasn't used to people just being nice without expecting things of him. He didn't know what to do about it.

A knock on his door captured his attention and when he went to check, he found Jiji!

"Good afternoon, Naruto-kun. I'm afraid we need to have a talk."

With how serious the old man was being, Naruto found himself a little scared. "What's wrong?"

He was lead into the kitchen and told to sit at the table. The old man took the seat across from him and folded his hands. "It involves your schoolwork."

A/N: Another chapter is done!

How was it? Let me know.

Ja ne! :D