Mike Zolo
Chapter 3: The Flaming Outcome
Amazed at the sight of Ricky being able to use the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Zola pushed through the crowd of students at the window so she could get a closer view of the battle. As everyone watched the scorching flames of both of their jutsu clash, Zola stopped to think for a moment. She put her finger on her chin and tilted her head, thinking, "Wait a minute..." With that, her question sprung up as she looked up at the teacher, who was standing right beside her. "Won't their jutsu both start a real uncontrollable fire? Since they are surrounded by a bunch of grass?"
"Hmmm, yes, you're right." The teacher said. "Nice observation, Zola. Yes, it will. Don't worry, though. We'll be able to put it out."
"We?" Zola thought out loud for a moment. The teacher simply ignored her, so she just went on with watching the fight.
Mike and Ricky constantly held their jutsu up. Each ball of fire slowly grew bigger, due to all of the chakra being poured into them, and it caused more loose flames and sparks to scatter across the field. Since they were still young, and not even Genin yet, it wouldn't be much longer until they both completely ran out of chakra. If that kept up, they would have to stop, or suffer from the results, later. "I can't keep this up much longer!" Mike panicked in his mind, barely keeping his jutsu steady. He tried seeing through the flames to look at Ricky, who still seemed calm and collected. "How much chakra does Ricky have?! There's no way I can beat him at this rate!"
"I think he's finally backing out!" Ricky thought, noticing Mike's decrease in chakra and power through his jutsu. Using this to his advantage, Ricky let out one final outburst of energy, breaking past Mike's ball of fire and soaring straight for him. Ricky let go of his fire ball and watched it aim right for Mike. "Yes, I got him!" He yelled, waiting for it to hit.
Just before Ricky's Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu met with Mike, the teacher instantly appeared next to him and threw him over his shoulder. Making a getaway at the last second, the teacher then disappeared and let the ball of fire race towards the Hidden Flame Academy's doors.
Appearing right outside of room 243's window, the teacher knelt down to place Mike gently on the ground. After that, he quickly arose and looked at where the fire ball went. "..."
Not letting Ricky's jutsu reach the building, a certain ninja ran outside where the flames were aiming for, holding out his hands as if he was going to stop the fire, physically.
"Is he crazy?!" Zola wondered, watching everything.
Right outside the window, the teacher spoke, "No, Zola. That's Kimino Knight. Probably the most elite Jonin in the Village Hidden in the Flames. I'm only a Chunin. Therefor, making him much more suited to stop the flames, rather than me."
"Shouldn't you already be able to stop the flames, if you're a Chunin?" She whispered, slightly mocking him.
The ninja, Kimino, had red ninja sandals on, long red pants with a bandage wrapped around his right leg, a long-sleeve red shirt with orange flames rising up from just the sleeves, and a dark red, buttoned-up Jonin vest. Covering his neck and about halfway up his nose was a red mask that seemed to be part of his shirt. Besides that, he was normally wearing his red headband. Kimino had dark eyes, orange hair that spiked to the side like Kakashi's, and he had orange fingerless gloves on both hands. "I'm certainly surprised a student can perform a jutsu like this." He said, smiling under his mask. The fire ball hit him, and with his hands, he absorbed the entire jutsu into his body all at once, extremely quick. It was so fast, everyone was left with their mouth wide open in surprise. Everyone, except for Ricky and the teacher.
Leaving Mike, the teacher approached the Jonin and said, "Nice job, Kimino. What are you doing here, so early?"
Heated up from Ricky's jutsu, Kimino scratched the back of his head as he answered, "Ah, you know me, always coming early. Guess I had nothing better to do." He said, following up by a short laugh. "What about you, Pike? How come your class is the only one finished up with the exams? And, why are these two students fighting?"
"Shhh, don't speak my real name around here. I kinda' kept my identity a secret ever since... that day. And, I really prepared my class for this. Those two students over there," The teacher then turned around to look back at them. "are Mike Zolo and Ricky Momochi. I think you know the whole story behind them, right?"
"Ah, yes. The Momochi boy and the orphan. I always expected they would never get along. Considering how their tales are so different, but their backgrounds are so alike... It's common for them not to realize how they're the same. Have they passed on to becoming Genin yet?"
"Actually, I have to settle that out right now. They were the last students to take the final part of the exam. Please excuse me, Kimino." The teacher bowed shortly, then began walking over to Mike.
Already standing beside Mike, Ricky leaned on the brick wall beside the window. "You're lucky, Mike." He said with his eyes closed and his arms folded. "If my jutsu hit you, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be in the hospital, regretting ever picking a fight with me."
Despite Ricky's bragging, overconfident, cruel personality, Mike just smiled and stayed on the ground. "Heh, if you say so. I shouldn't have used so much chakra before. Otherwise, I bet we would have been equal!"
"Yeah, right! Still... you put up a pretty decent fight. For that, Mike: I respect you. Just don't blow it-"
"That's right, I put up a decent fight! There's no way I could have lost if it wasn't for that little mistake in the end!" Mike roared, interrupting Ricky.
"You blew it..." Ricky thought, sighing. Soon after, the teacher went up to the two of them, smiling in an evil way.
"Uh-oh! He looks mad!" Mike panicked in his mind.
"We're in so much trouble..." Ricky thought, calmly.
"You two..." The teacher hovered over Mike and Ricky. "...pass!"
Confused, Zola, who was listening from inside the building still, asked, "What? How in the world did they pass?"
"Yeah, how did we pass?" Mike repeated after her.
"They played out a perfect example of how a real ninja battle should be. They used everything they learned here, they fought excellently, they even mastered the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu! Both of them! In my book, I wish I could do more than rank them as Genin."
"Like, perhaps, rank us Chunin?" Mike questioned him with a greedy smile.
Actually pleased at his words, the teacher hid his thoughts and told him, "Don't push it..."
Eventually, Mike got up and went back into room 243 with Ricky and the teacher. Kimino tagged along as well. Mike and Ricky received their headbands, Mike got a red one, Ricky got a light blue one, and they took their seats as the teacher stood in front of the class, holding a piece of paper. As everyone settled down, the teacher looked over to Kimino who stood beside him, then nodded. All that was left was to announce the teams. "Team One..." The teacher called out. Nobody really payed attention to the teams unless their name was called. Then, that's when destiny was decided, as three particular Genin were partnered up with one selected Jonin. "Team Three." The teacher read out loud. "Mike Zolo,"
"Oh, yeah! Finally, I'm up! Team Three, huh? Awesome!" The boy shouted, excited. He punched the air, as if this was an achievement.
"Ricky Momochi," The teacher continued.
"What?!" Mike and Ricky both gasped. "How could I have been partnered up with him?!" Mike asked, quickly leaving his state of excitement.
"Yeah, he's way below me! Plus, I can't let a weakling like him drag me down! There has to be some mistake!" Ricky complained.
"Like I said, see how alike they are?" Kimino whispered over to the teacher.
"Yeah..." Ignoring their complaints, the teacher went on. "and Zola Spark."
"Why did I have a feeling I was going to be caught in that pairing?" Zola asked herself, sulking her head down. "Just my luck..." She thought.
Looking at Kimino, Mike wandered around in his mind for a second, then called out, "What about Kimino? Who's team is he going to lead?"
"How ironic. Kimino will be leading Team Three, Mike." The teacher said, smiling.
The three Genin, Mike, Ricky, and Zola, were all very pleased to hear that Kimino was going to be their sensei. They already felt like a team before they were actually assigned.
"This is great!" Mike yelled out loud.
"Heh, this might not be so bad after all..." Ricky said in his usual, calm tone.
"Stuck with all boys? It would be nice to have one other girl to be with, but, oh well..." Zola said, taking what she got.
"So I get to lead Team Three, huh?" Kimino thought, looking at the three Genin. "The Zolo, the Momochi, and the Spark... I have a feeling these kids are going to be quite a handful... sounds interesting."
The teacher soon concluded the ceremony of becoming a Genin by saying, "Team Three's first official mission will be given tomorrow at the Firekage's Mansion! Rest nicely and restore your energy! You've all got a big day ahead of yourselves!"
"Heh, all right, I'm finally a Genin!" Mike roared, jumping up into the air.