In no way do I own any part of Naruto. I only own Sora. Enjoy!

A month had flown by, and Sora was anxious. Today was the day she was tested in order to become a genin. She needed this. She had to get stronger. It was the only option. She wanted to be someone who could take care of herself. This was her way of doing so. She had trained hard with Iruka-sensei and Gai-sensei. Every once in awhile, even Kakashi would help out. It was wonderful to learn with all of them. She admired them. They became friends in this aspect. It started with the first time the three of them went out for ramen, and after that, they just hung out a little bit more. She smiled at the thought. They were great people. She reminded herself to thank them afterwards, no matter the outcome.

Sora got to the exam a little early, which was surprising since she showed up late to everything else. She began pacing outside of the room. Her mind was on overdrive and she began to panic. Doubt was entering her mind and it was starting to cripple her. It was maddening. A hand appeared on her shoulder, startling her out of her panic and caused her to whip around. It was Iruka-sensei.

"You will end up wearing holes on the floor with how much pacing you are doing." He said with a soft smile. Sora returned the smile.

"I am sorry. I am just very nervous." Iruka nodded knowingly.

"You've trained a lot, we just need to show the panel that." He responded. "Don't doubt yourself." Sora nodded and began focusing on all she had learned.

The door to the exam room abruptly opened.

"Sora Hayashi. We are ready for you." The proctor announced and led her and Iruka-sensei in. The panel consisted of three people. She strode into the room with faked confidence. Her insides were boiling.

"Are you ready to begin?" A man on the left asked.

"Yessir," Sora responded calmly. The judges looked at each other before beginning the exam.

"We need you to produce three clones." The first ordered. Sora nodded and formed the sign. She exhaled, then performed the Jutsu. Three replicas appeared in a puff of smoke next to her. The first judge nodded and wrote something on the paper in front of him.

"Next, we will need to judge your stamina and strength." The second judge said while standing up. He motioned for Sora to follow him out the back. They were in an open space that contained a small forest in front of them. "At the end of this forest is a scroll. We need you to retrieve it as fast as possible." He instructed. "Go."

Sora bolted into the trees, jumping over roots and fallen logs. At one point she infused a bit of chakra into her feet to enhance the speed. She was practically flying through the woods. She got to the end and saw the scroll. She quickly went to pick it up and made to turn around. But the scroll didn't leave the pedestal. She looked at it more closely before using two hands to pick it up. It was heavy. Extremely heavy. She held it against her chest and began to run again. The chakra in her feet amplified a bit to give her a bigger push. She was starting to tire and lose hope before she made it out of the entrance and to the judge. She dropped the scroll on the ground with a loud thump. He didn't say anything as he turned around to head back inside. The last judge had come out to see Sora.

"With this last task, you will demonstrate your taijutsu skills against one of our own ninja." The last judge nodded for someone to enter the room. A large man came out from inside the building and stood across from Sora. She immediately sized him up. He was at least twice her size. He looked to contain a lot of bulk muscle as opposed to lean muscle. Thank God Gai-sensei gave her so many lessons. He took one look at her and scoffed. He wasn't intimidated or felt challenged at all.

"Are you ready, girl?" he asked in a low booming voice. Sora said nothing but got into her fighting stance. The one Gai-sensei had her work so hard on. The left foot was bent and the right was barely on the ground. He looked at what appeared to be a weak defensive stance before grinning and running to her. He raised a hand to punch and Sora leaped forward from her left foot. Using, even more, chakra, she flung herself under the arm and punched him three times in the gut, before jumping back. He bent over a little bit, before beginning to try again. Sora repeated her pattern in different ways. Sometimes she would jump left to avoid a kick and try and swipe the leg. Other times she would jump up and aim a kick at the face. On one such attempt, he grabbed her leg and flung her towards the ground. She hit hard and landed in a heap. She quickly stood back up grimacing. She decided to change her form again. This time, she stood straight up, with her knees slightly bent and her arms crossed in front of her body. The man hesitated before charging at her. He swung an arm in and Sora ducked, absorbing some of the blow above the X she created with her arms. She then used his momentum and wrapped her arms around his and threw him over her shoulder onto the unforgiving ground. He grunted with the impact.

"That's enough." The judge stepped in. Sora straightened up, but her breath was still uneven. "Come inside and wait." He said gesturing for her to sit down just outside the door. She complied and took a seat. He shut the door behind him as he went to converse with the other judges.

Sora was a bundle of nerves. They had her waiting for what seemed like hours. She had to start drumming on her legs to try and get rid of the tension. Her breath was starting to get shallower and shallower. At this rate, she was going to pass out. She then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, counting. She counted her inhalations as well as her exhalations in order to regulate her breathing. Soon her breathing had evened out and she was more relaxed. The anxiety was still there, but not to the extent of hyperventilating.

The door opened.

"Sora, you may enter." A man said. Sora quickly stood up, maybe too quickly as she almost bumped into the person opening the door. A shy sorry escaped her mouth before following him inside. He took a seat at the table and looked at his fellow judges. They seemed to be communicating non-verbally, which was starting to irritate Sora. She had been waiting for the outcome. Suddenly all three judges looked at her. She froze. The held out a forehead protector to her.

"Congratulations, Sora Hayashi. Welcome to Kahona."

Thanks for reading! Comment and Review below! I should have the next chapter out by next week. See you all then!