"Clone Jutsu!"
It was early morning of the second-last day before the Graduation exam. Lee stood alone in the centre of the running track, practicing jutsu after jutsu in preparation. Infuriated by his failure, he widened his stance a little and tried a different technique. He made the signs, and shouted; "Transformation Jutsu!"
Still nothing happened.
A tear slid down his cheek. Why? Why is it not working? I do not understand what it is that I am doing wrong!
"Hey, kid."
Lee looked round. Behind him stood a man he'd never seen before. He recognised that the stranger must have been a Chuunin at least; because he wore the standard flak vest that Lee had seen on his teachers, and various other ninjas in passing, but Lee knew that he'd never seen any other ninjas in such a bizarre outfit. A skin-tight green jumpsuit, accompanied by orange legwarmers made for an odd combination.
The newcomer grinned widely, the morning sun glinting off of his shiny black hair. "The glory of youth is in its unbridled passion. You just keep chipping away at it son; you'll make a splendid shinobi some day!" He struck a confident thumbs-up pose.
Lee turned round to face the man directly. Who is he? He is so confident!
"Grab hold of life by both horns! That's what youth is for. Goodbye!" The man turned to leave, waving as he left, and laughing self-assuredly. As he walked away, Lee couldn't help but smile, in spite of his earlier frustration.
That's the first time any adult has ever said anything like that to me…
His confidence restored in full, Lee returned to the task at hand.
X
Allia rolled over in bed. She opened a bleary eye to peer across at her alarm clock.
7:58 AM.
'One day left to go,' She thought groggily. 'I don't have any time to waste.' She rolled out of bed onto the floor, the resulting impact jolting her awake. Lying there for a few minutes, she listened to the sounds of her family on the floor below. 'I'm the last one up, I must've been really tired.' she thought.
Allia heaved herself up, changed out of her pyjamas, pulled on her clothes hurriedly, made her bed and ran downstairs. Her three brothers were already eating breakfast, and her Mum, Akemi, was sweeping the floor in the next room.
"Are you going out to train again today?" asked Hikaru, swallowing a mouthful of food.
"Yes. The exam is tomorrow, and I want to make sure I've got everything."
"Don't overdo it. The last thing you want is to be stiff and sore from practice when you go to do the real thing."
Allia eyed the empty seat next to Hikaru. "Is Mitsuo still away on that mission?"
"Yes, he said he might be gone for a maximum of three weeks." Hikaru replied. "But he should be back soon."
"I'm all finished," Takeshi chimed in. "I can spar with you if you like for a while after breakfast?"
"Thanks a million, Takeshi" said Allia, a smile on her face as she took a seat at the table and began eating.
"Are you comfortable with your Theory work?" asked Hikaru. "Remember, the various jutsus and techniques are only half of the equation. They'll give you all sorts of scenarios that'll to test your knowledge, they may ask questions on the history of the Leaf Village, and they might even test your understanding of the Shinobi Laws…" He laughed when he saw the blank and horrified look on her face. "Seriously though," Hikaru continued, taking a sip of his drink, "The odds are against you enough as it is, given your difficulties with Ninjutsu. You need to excel in all the other disciplines if you want any chance of Graduating."
"Come on Hikaru, don't start daunting her this close to the exam itself," said Takeshi reproachfully. "We'll just make sure to go over that stuff while we're sparring." He got up from his seat and tucked it under the table. As he moved over to the door to slip on his shoes, he added, "If you're not busy, why don't you help out as well?"
"Much as I'd like to, I've been sent another assignment. I should be finished by noon though." Hikaru looked meaningfully at Allia, who was still munching on her breakfast. "We can review the facts in the evening though, so don't get back too late."
Allia nodded fervently, mouth too full of food for a spoken reply.
X
"…And the Fourth Hokage is revered as the one who saved the village from the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon eleven years ago." Allia finished breathlessly.
"Good. Now for some tactics." Takeshi looked at his watch, before consulting his personal notebook. "Let's see…"
He flipped through the pages for a few minutes, then came to rest about a third of the way in.
"You're in a four man squad. You've been issued a request to escort and protect an individual, and then on the way to the destination, you're ambushed. What's the most effective position for the squad to assume, given that no-one knows where an attack is most likely to come from?"
"The Manji formation?" Allia wheezed. When Takeshi nodded to confirm the answer, she stood up and added, "I don't need to do any more push-ups, do I?"
"No, I think we should go back soon, take a break, and get Hikaru to take over later." Takeshi replied distractedly. "I've got one last exercise for you to try though. A stealth exercise."
"How are you going to test me for that?"
"I'll head home, and then about ten minutes after I leave, I want you to catch up to me and follow me back. Without me noticing you're there."
"Sounds fun…"
Allia watched Takeshi walk out of the training field, and stood waiting, checking her own watch every so often. When five minutes had passed, she took to wandering aimlessly around the wooden training posts, striking them occasionally to pass the time. Her stomach gurgled, and her mind drifted to contemplating what she might be eating for lunch. She had zoned out so completely that she was wholly oblivious to Lee walking into the training field to practice on the posts as well.
She came crashing back to reality when she accidentally walked headlong into one of the posts. Only when she heard a barely audible snigger at her accident did she then realise that she had company.
"Good afternoon, Lee," Allia greeted, bowing, "I see you've had a haircut." she added, eyeing Lee's hair, which was now a little shorter than her own.
"Good afternoon to you too," Lee replied, bowing as well. "Mum wanted me to look smart for the Graduation tomorrow. She said that it'd be less likely to get in the way if it was shorter." He rubbed the back of his hair absentmindedly, as though he still wasn't used to the absence of the long plait he used to sport.
"Worried about the exam?" asked Allia. "Takeshi was just helping me with Taijutsu training, and Hikaru said he'd help me later today with the Theory. Would you like to join us?"
"I appreciate the offer, but I would like to focus on my Taijutsu from now on." Lee replied. "I am fairly confident with all of the Theory, but I know that my Taijutsu needs a lot of work."
"Fair enough. You'll have to excuse me, then. I've been set a stealth challenge by Takeshi, and," Allia checked her watch again, "I'm sort of late for the start time." She sprinted out of the field, and waving as she left, she called out; "See you tomorrow morning! Good luck with your training tonight!"
X
"I think you ought to call it a day now, don't you?" said Masako as she walked into the living room. Hikaru and Allia both looked up from the piles of notes scattered across the floor.
"But Mum, the exam is tomorrow, and I want to be fully prepared." Allia protested.
"Didn't they teach you the importance of rest as well at the Academy? You're more likely to be alert if you've slept well." Masako's point was reinforced by Allia's poorly stifled yawn. "You've worked hard, especially today. I'm sure it'll pay off."
Acknowledging defeat, Allia began tidying away her notes, while Hikaru did the same. After she'd stacked them all into a neat pile, she carefully placed them back into her bag and stood up. She made to leave the room, wishing her brothers good night, as she did so. Masako stopped her on the way, handing her a package wrapped in brown paper.
"I made you a new outfit to wear to your Graduation exam tomorrow. Your brothers said you might want something a little more functional for it." Masako explained, glancing at the long sleeved shirt that Allia was wearing.
"Wow, thank you very much!" said Allia gratefully. "Goodnight, Mum!"
Masako stood aside to allow Allia to run upstairs to her room. She returned to the living room, where Hikaru was returning his own notes to the books he kept them in, and sat down at the table, picking up a cup of tea she'd made for herself earlier.
"What do you reckon her chances are?" she asked between sips.
Hikaru let out a deep sigh, and didn't answer immediately. "If it wasn't for the fact that so many different Ninjutsus will be tested," he began, "She'd be fine. In other words, not so good."