Chapter 1
Sitting in the temperature-controlled dojo I watched, slightly enraptured, as Sakura spun on the ball of her foot. Her long, pink hair twisted through the air as she twirled out of the proctors reach to escape a punch. Grinning, she stuck her tongue out at the stoic man. All the while, she slid a single leg backwards, lowering her body under his following high kick. Seamlessly she tried to sweep his planted leg but he recovered quickly and was already sending a fist downwards to meet used an open hand to redirect the force of the blow away from her body whilst rolling away from the proctor. Flipping from the roll, she somersaulted backwards, legs kicking out unnecessarily halfway through. The picture of grace, she landed on her feet, hair spilling around her again.
I loved watching Sakura in hand-to-hand combat. She never seemed to take it seriously; she laughed at odd moments, grinned and pulled the occasional silly face. Even exams didn't stop her.
Her technique wasn't perfect, she wasted too much movement and she had next to zero aggression but she was one of the best in the class. She had the effortless grace of a ballerina and it worked for her. Always in control of her body, even with her flips and twirls, she sucked people into attacking a weakness that wasn't there.
I loved her matches because she didn't look like she was fighting. It was as if she simply liked being in motion. I liked to think she understood that free movement wasn't something to be taken lightly and therefore fully enjoyed the experience. I was probably reading too much into it. At nearly fifteen, I probably liked her matches the most because she was the prettiest in the class.
Whilst the spar continued to play out, I kept an eye on the panel of examiners. The exam was taking part in a large dojo. The walls were made of rich, dark woods and there were more decorations than normal. A long table was placed facing the central large mat, and four men of varying ages were sat at the table watching carefully.
I wasn't familiar with any of them but they would be venerated combat experts in order to be on the examining panel.
On the far left sat a 30-something year old man who looked as if he was carved out of diamond. He wore a glossy, black, bowl haircut and a Jounin flak jacket over a skin tight body suit. Of all the judges, he seemed to be the least bothered with hiding his thoughts. He was smiling and nodding enthusiastically while taking the occasional note. Sat next to him was a long brown haired man, with the all-encompassing pale lavender eyes of a Hyuuga. It wasn't at all surprising that on a panel of taijutsu specialists a member of the Hyuuga family would be present. The man in question seemed to be very restrained, giving nothing of what he thought next seat was occupied by a very elderly man. From his age alone I knew he would be highly considered. To have reached that age, in such a volatile occupation, spoke of last seat was taken by a seemingly very sickly young man. He coughed into his hand regularly but he did seem to perk up on the second exam stage.
The spar was called to a close with the Sakura and the Proctor bowing to each other.
Sakura raced back to the long benches where all the students were sat. Sakura's eyes briefly met mine and my stomach did something funny. I smiled at her which she returned widely. Turning her walk into my direction she was about to reach the bench when she was met by Ino. Her best friend, hugged her and speaking very quickly said,
"Ow I am soo jealous, you aced that! You did much better than I did. I swear my proctor was just plain vicious!"
The two continued to talk as they returned to the bench whilst I watched from the chair annoyed at Ino. Sakura was turning her body in my direction after our eyes met. She wasn't the type to ignore someone; she was too sociable for that. The students welcomed Sakura back to the benches, offering her their thoughts. Sakura seemed to engage everyone simultaneously, holding herself at the centre of attention.
The same proctor called Uchiha Sasuke to the mat to be examined. He rose silently from the back of the benches and began to make his way forward. Unlike in the other exams only Sakura and Ino seemed to bother to wish him good luck. Upon hearing them he paused slightly and offered them a small nod of acknowledgement before continuing.
The physical combat exam took part in three parts. The first of which was a small display of ranged accuracy. Against the far wall stood dummies at various distances and heights from the central mat where Sasuke now stood.
In a flurry of movement, Sasuke began to launch kunai and shuriken from hidden places within his clothing in a continuous stream. His hands blurred as he threw weapon after weapon at a furious pace. All the while, he remained in motion. Ducking and weaving, he proved he was capable of ranged fighting whilst in motion. This wasn't required and no one had attempted it. Typically, it took away from accuracy and that was what mattered most.
When he was finished, I looked at the various dummies. Every weapon had hit dead on the small bull's-eye dot or tightly clustered around it. I heard Sakura give a long, quiet whistle of appreciation and I felt a tightening my gut. It only made it worse that I could understand the appreciation. To have thrown so many, at that pace and keep moving all the while took a lot of talent.
Frankly, it made everyone who came before him look amateur.
The proctor returned to the mat offering Sasuke a selection of wooden, blunted, weapons for their armed-combat portion of the exam. Sasuke selected two kunai and held one in each hand to the slight surprise of the proctor and examiners. The proctor selected the standard single wooden kunai and after placing the box back, returned to the mat.
Sasuke settled into a exotic stance, legs splayed wide, a single arm raised above his head. The elbow was bent sharply with the kunai pointing unerringly at the proctor's heart in an imitation of a stinger. His lowered arm was kept straight, kunai pointing forwards at the proctor's feet.
The proctor began lightly bouncing on his feet and after a moment gave a small nod, signalling that the exam had officially begun.
Immediately Sasuke shot forward. Spinning, he began slashing at the proctor in swift efficient motions. Relentlessly he kept on applying pressure. He looked machine like with his sharp, error free motions. Any attempt to break the flow of attack was quickly turned away. Each of his movements fast and clean, he attacked the proctor in a circular pattern, making the proctor continuously adjust his position. After long moments, the flow of battle remained the same. There hadn't been even the smallest break in Sasuke's endless assault.
As I continued to watch from my wheelchair, the knot in my stomach continued to tighten. Then I heard Sakura whisper to Ino,
"God, Sasuke is good at this."
My frustration bloomed fantastically and I tore my eyes away from the match down to my legs. They already burned and twitched from the small amount of work they had been put through in the morning. I couldn't refute her statement. Using a weapon in each hand meant you were unable to block or parry an attack using your hand on an opponent's wrist. You could only evade (which was tricky) or meet an attack blade on blade (which was trickier).
To have kept up such a long assault spoke of polished technique and talent. By now, most people who tried this would have made a slip-up, leaving an opening.
My anxiety building, I mentally clamped down on my wayward thought trails.
So what if I couldn't do that!
Eventually I would be so good at everything else that it simply wouldn't matter. I begun to flick my fingers in familiar handseal motions with a blurring speed that Sasuke could never match. I closed my eyes and concentrated on fluctuating chakra inside my body in various ways, keeping an internal dialogue on the tenketsu I was activating.
No one would be able to touch my performance in the next exam.
I stood in a corridor with the waiting students carefully maintaining my posture. Whilst the rest of the students chatted their nervousness away, I focused on keeping my balance and the task ahead.
Gathering after lunch for the final exam of the day, we were particularly noisy. Just as the noise level begun to reach a new peak, the main academy instructor Umino Iruka walked down the hallway and stopped in front of us. His presence alone quieted everyone. Giving a smile, he addressed us all,
"Alright, I just came down to wish you all good luck in your exam." Pausing slightly, his eyes scanned each of his students to show that he really meant it.
"I know that we have run over this before but I just wanted to make sure you were all ready. This may be labelled the Ninjutsu Exam but they will be testing you on all chakra based techniques. Each of you will be going in their alone. They will ask you to perform the mandatory techniques, but after that they will open the floor to you to perform any additional techniques you know."
Iruka stopped for a moment, his face growing serious, he expanded,
"Some of you here will already know some extra techniques. It is very important that you show everything you can do. All of you hear are pledging for a Combatant Ninja position. The panel need to properly evaluate your abilities to place you in the most suitable teams. I'm aware that a lot of you have been instructed not to show your techniques if it isn't important. That is why you will be going in alone. It'll just be you and the panel. So show them what you can do!"
The hallway outside the hall was deathly silent once the exams started. A rather severe looking Chuunin watched over us whilst we waited.
I had spent a moment trying to figure out exactly what he was there to stop us from doing, but I quickly crushed that thought in favour of meditation. Both The Journal of Tenabi Irishai and Thoughts of a Master agreed that deep meditation would increase short and long-term chakra control.
I was to doing the exam without the aid of either my cane or that chair. I didn't want to give them any reason to down mark me. Actively creating and running a minimal level of chakra through my legs, I controlled the small twitches they gave.
The door opened suddenly, admitting a pale looking student who walked out quietly, eyes on the floor. The Proctor walked out behind him and officially called out my name. A slight shot of adrenaline went through me but I crushed it; it wouldn't help the twitches or my control. Walking in I was surprised by what it looked like. The corridor had been official looking similar to at least 20 other buildings in Konoho.
The actual hall looked like it was built to withstand a bomb.
It was large, with thick cement walls and exposed iron support columns everywhere. The ground, in contrast to most indoor buildings, was composed of dirt so compact it felt like rock. The decorations consisted of a few dummies near the far right wall and that was all. A standard table was placed near the centre of the hall where the four examiners where sat.
Making my way to the table, I spared a moment to look at each of the examiners.
On the far left sat another Hyuuga. This one was older but seemed to be dressed the same as the one from the Physical Combat exam. Unlike the Hyuuga in the taijutsu exam, the veins surrounding his eye sockets bulged out and those odd eyes were glowing. Even as the thought passed through my mind, I was analysing those eyes.
I could only guess that the glowing was caused by channelling chakra to his eyes. It most likely activated an ability that would allow him to analyze some aspect of jutsu.
Sat next to him was an eccentric looking man. His hair was pure white, and stuck directly upwards wildly. His official Konoho headband was slanted so that it covered one eye. The man seemed to be playing with his pen, looking faintly bored.
Next to him was a woman of similar age and delicate features, she wore the outfit marking her as a Healer. Upon meeting her eye, she gave him a warm, encouraging smile. She was probably a chakra specialist. Undoubtedly, she would know exactly how efficient someone was with their techniques.
Lastly, sat the Hokage himself.
I did a double take upon seeing him there but that quickly turned into a smile, which Hiruzen-jiji happily returned.
I knew that the Hokage was widely considered the most talented ninjutsu user in the world, but this made it apparent how seriously he took his passion. To make time to examine every prospective ninja personally, whilst keeping up with the other Hokage duties, took dedication.
My nerves settled somewhat on seeing a friendly face. It did make me reconsider the other examiners again. To be able to sit next to the Hokage as an equal judge in this area told me they would be very talented. Setting my bag out of the way I stood in front of the examiners. It was Hiruzen-jiji, who spoke,
"Uzumaki Naruto you are here for the Ninjutsu portion of your graduation examinations. You will be asked to perform four mandatory techniques, after which we will open the floor for you to perform any additional techniques you are capable of."
Even as the Hokage delivered his official speech, he was grinning slightly at me. Pausing and making a visible effort to straighten his face he continued,
"Okay. If you're ready, can you perform the cloning technique to create a replica of yourself?"
Nodding slightly to myself, I took a second to close my eyes and gather my focus.
Feeling myself centre, my fingers blurred through short-cut handseal motions. Too fast for most eyes to follow I was through the six necessary hand seals.
I had mixed the exact amount of spiritual and physical energies, smoothly creating the chakra necessary and shaped it to my will whilst the handseals changed the chakra's frequency. Complete, and sure I had emitted no chakra to telegraph the jutsu I stepped to the left whilst an image of me stepped from a superimposed position, in an exact mirror to the right.
Each of the examiners took a second and then made a few notes. When they were finished the Hokage addressed me again,
"Okay, you can dispel your technique. Can you now perform the cloning technique on an inanimate object?"
Dispelling me illusion I prepared myself for my next task. I was aware that the other students would have performed this technique using either kunai or shuriken. That was what we practiced in class, but I had to prove I was far above the curve in order to stand a chance.
Speaking up I asked,
"Can I borrow a document from you for a moment?"
I noticed a few raised eyebrows at the adventurous move. The Hokage selected an unimportant document on exam procedure and I walked forward to collect it. Once I had it my hand, I stayed at the desk and took another second to gather myself. Placing the paper back on the desk between the examiners and me, my fingers flowed through the first four seals of the technique. Pausing on the fourth, I applied the chakra I had created to the document using both hands.
Eyes closed, I focused my senses on how my chakra was telling me the document reflected light. After a snap second, I felt I had it. Opening my eyes, I completed the final two hand seals of the technique. Finished I seemingly pulled a very fragile copy of the document from the original.
I stayed at the desk allowing the examiners to analyze it. The Healer seemed to be most openly impressed.
The characters were a little blurry but definitely readable. Most students used an item they were intimately familiar with, like the kunai we used to practice. To have used something of such detail, on the fly, was very impressive. I just had to hope they considered it 90%+ impressive.
The copy disappearing, the Hokage allowed a few moments for each of the examiners to make their notes. Finished, he continued the exam,
"Well done Naruto! If you are ready, can you now perform the replacement technique with the red dummy by the wall? It has already been prepared."
Looking over, I saw the dummy in question; it stood about 30 feet from my place in front of the table. I could just about make out the small tag attached to it where a unique seal would be placed. For the first time in the exam I felt a small bloom of nerves.
It wasn't that I couldn't perform the technique. I was only worried about the state I would be in once it was done. Undoubtedly, I would be able to continue but this exam was important (especially for me) and I couldn't afford to give them any reason to mark me down.
Ready, I focused my chakra, forming it into a string I sent it to where the seal was placed. Feeling it connect, my fingers flashed through the necessary handseals and I sent a surge of chakra through my body. Instantly feeling the effect of the jutsu, my muscles began to thrum with barely repressed energy. Quickly, before the jutsu finished, I blasted myself at tremendous speed towards the dummy.
The speed, lent by the jutsu, was so great that the chakra string I raced down was my only method determining where I was. In less than half a second, I had replaced myself with the dummy. The chakra string had slingshot the wooden dummy to my previous position.
Getting over from the slight disorientation, I focused on the bigger problem. The rapid movement had caused my legs to burn and twitch as if I had just electrified them. I felt a moment of unsteadiness but I kept myself as still as possible.
Carefully, I made my way to the central mat, trying to hide the shakiness in my stride. By the time I had made my way back the examiners had finished their notes.
"And finally can you now perform the transformation technique to alter your appearance"
My eyes stayed on the Hokage for a moment. As I looked at him, I realized what had caught my attention.
It was that slight look of sympathy.
For fuck's sake! I silently screamed to myself.
Who was I fooling? I was in front of a panel of experts. Each of them would be a master at evaluating movement. Of course they noticed my lack of composure, no matter how well I concealed it. My eyes shot across the line of judges. The Hyuuga still looked like his face was carved from stone but that meant nothing.
Mr out-of –control hair looked like he was doodling on the corner of his note pad (which I noticed was full of writing).My eyes stopped on the healer and I felt my hopes drop. There was a clear softness to her face. In fact she looked like she was prepared to leave her seat any minute now.
I felt despair envelope me like a wave.
No, no, no, No!
I had worked so hard for this. I wasn't an incompetent. I wasn't goddammit!
I had to show them that I was without match in this field.
The kid gloves had to come off! I would push even my limits to make up for this slip. I closed my eyes and created a tiny amount of chakra. With a level of control that even some Jounin didn't posses, I sent it up my spine. With expert precision, I used chakra to coat the Frontal Lateral Cortex of my brain.
Surgical Chakra Expression by Senju Tsunade had named this phenomenon "Ninja's Requiem."
I felt my focus tighten. My self-awareness skyrocketed. I could sense the pulse of pressure each of my heartbeats sent through my blood stream. I could even faintly sense the slight chakra expulsion from the Hyuuga's eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I noticed all of the examiners had their eyes locked onto mine. The healer looked like she wanted to leap out of her chair immediately.
Sending a steady stream through the localised circuit in my brain I cut out all distractions, a slip up here would result in brain damage(in the most important area to boot). Splitting my focus three ways I kept up the circuit and created some more chakra. Using my increase in functions, I discarded handseals and mentally changed the frequency of my chakra while bringing it to my skin.
I focused on every aspect of my new appearance and double-checked that I was spilling absolutely no chakra. Before the judges eyes I would have become a beautiful blonde twenty-something dressed in provocative clothing. I paid increased detail to a light amount of makeup. I even included a slight pulse in her neck, a steady movement in her chest, plus hair and clothing movement.
The illusion would be nothing short of perfect and it would need to be. I had purposely picked the most eye-catching of illusions. Most ninja used an illusion that was as mundane as possible, something that didn't attract attention.
Unfortunately, most ninja were on the lookout for that. So if you had the talent for it (and goddammit I did) you could employ a bit of the reverse psychology that the Sandaime himself encouraged. People would naturally be drawn to noticing me but the illusion was perfect and they would already mentally be discounting me as a potential enemy anyway.
Walking forward a little and flicking my hair a little, I raised my hand to look at polished fingernails to show I was capable of synchronizing movement with the illusion.
"Impressive Naruto. You can dispel that illusion now," the Hokage said and I promptly did so.
I continued running chakra through the circuit in my brain. I saw the Hokage raise his eyebrows a little at the move. I was certain that I was no longer giving off any chakra, so I'm guessing that with the illusion dropped he had noticed that my eyes were still glowing minimally in the tell tale sign of "The Requiem".
"Okay Naruto, the floor is now open for you to perform any additional techniques that you know"
I cracked a grin; it was finally time to show these people that they had no reason to feel pity for me.
It was time to show them a performance they would remember.
