A/n: Hey everyone! Sorry about taking forever on this chapter. I'm working on the next one so hopefully I'll have it posted soon. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I doubt that I'd be writting fanfics about the series.
Claimer: I do own Katsumi, Chiko, Morio, and Master Seiji.
Chiko and Morio froze. They were in the middle of the forest training against Chiko's older sister.
Chiko shot Morio a look that said, where is she?
Morio shrugged.
Suddenly the forest behind them exploded. The force of the blast sent the boys slamming against a large tree trunk.
Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!
An assortment of shuriken, kunai, and senbon flew threw the air and pierced through the edges of the boys' clothes, pinning them to the tree.
The smoke from the explosion cleared and a girl about the age of fifteen stood before them. She had glossy, dark purple hair that fell to her' hips, and sharp black eyes that missed little.
"Ah, Kat!" Chiko called. "Can't ya ever go easy, just once?"
Katsumi cocked an eyebrow at him. Chiko sighed, knowing that he had received all the answer he was going to get. Katsumi was a Jounin and the leader of their' team, cell 20.
She was a tough teacher. At times Chiko even thought she was tougher than the teams' sensei, Master Seiji.
"Can you at least let us down?" Chiko asked. "Please?"
She sighed. "Chiko, you and Morio have to learn to get out of predicaments on your' own. I'm not always going to be there to save your' sorry butt!"
Chiko wriggled in an attempt to free him' self, but to no avail. Kat's well-aimed weapons were deeply imbedded in the tree trunk.
"Come on Kat." He begged. "Just this once?"
Katsumi sighed in exasperation. "Fine Baka! But next time, you're on your' own!"
She stretched out her' hand and the shuriken, kunai and senbon began to tremble. She made a fist and they shot out of the tree and towards her' as if drawn to a giant magnet. The two boys dropped to the ground as the weapons returned to their' places on Katsumi's belt as if of their' own accord.
Chiko stood up and rubbed his' sore behind. "Jeeze Kat! Must you always go so hard on us? Were not as experienced as you, ya know."
"Which is exactly why I don't go easy on you." Katsumi told them. "You two need to push your' selves. I know that you two haven't gone on very many, really dangerous missions yet, but you will soon enough. And when you do, you will be glad that I made you work and didn't let you slack off!"
Morio nodded. "She's right ya know."
Chiko sighed. "I know that. But can't you go just a little bit easier? I hurt all over!"
"No. You need to toughen up." She told him.
"But Kat, look at me. I'm covered in bruises!"
Katsumi shrugged indifferently. "Not my' problem lil bro."
Chiko rolled his' eyes.
Katsumi was one of the best shinobi in their' village, the Village Hidden in the Lightning's Shadow. Confident and authoritative, she always ended up as the leader of every mission she was assigned.
Katsumi sighed. "Come on guys. Master Seiji said that he wanted us to meet him when we finished training." She eyed the two boys skeptically. "And something tells me that if I were to try to work the two of you any longer, you'd fall over dead!"
"We're going to Konoha?!" Chiko and Morio shouted in shock.
Kat rolled her' eyes and leaned against a tree. "So why exactly are going to Konoha?" She asked the team's Sensei.
Master Seiji smiled slightly. He was a tall, well built man with sandy, blond hair, and hazel eyes. "Well, basically we're going there so that Chiko and Morio can participate in the Jounin exams. And Katsumi, I was wondering if you would be willing to help operate the exams. Would that be alright?"
Katsumi nodded. "Yeah, Sure."
"Great!" Seiji turned to the boys who were staring at him with wide eyes, and mouths hanging open. "So, what do you guys think about going to Konoha now?"
Morio and Chiko exchanged glances.
Katsumi rolled her' eyes and plugged her' ears. Three…Two…One!
"YAHOOOOOO!!!!!" "Alright!" "Yeah!" Morio and Chiko were jumping up and down in ecstasy.
Katsumi shook her' head at her' teammates' enthusiasm.
Chiko rushed over and hugged her' so tightly that Katsumi thought her' ribs would crack. "Thank you for pushing us Kat! You rock!"
Katsumi smirked. "Yeah, whatever. No problem." She smiled as they jumped and skipped and twirled about in elation chanting, "Jounin exams…Jounin exams…Jounin exams…"
Seiji Sensei finally calmed them down. "Alright, The exams begin in three months. We are going the day after tomorrow and we will train there for the next few months."
The boys started whooping and shouting for joy again.
Katsumi and Seiji exchanged knowing glances. Any attempts to calm them down again would be ineffective.
"Alright everyone. We'll meet here the day after tomorrow and set out for Konoha.
Hinata stared at Kurenai. "Really? We're actually going to the Jounin exams?!"
Kurenai smiled and nodded. "Yes, you are." Hinata started rambling excitedly along with Kiba and Shino.
This was going to be awesome!
A knock reverberated off of the door to Neji's room.
"Who is it?" Neji asked eagerly. He was soooooooo bored!
"Yo! Neji kun!" A female voice called out.
"Tenten?"
The door opened and the girl came bouncing into the room. "Yep, it's me! And Lee is here too!"
A voice, unmistakably Lee's said, "Hey Neji. How are you my' friend? I have come bearing a youthful spirit to brighten your' day!"
Neji suppressed a grimace at Lee's …expression of youthfulness. "Hey guys. Any interesting news?"
"What?!" Lee exclaimed. "You mean you don't know?"
"Know about what?" Neji asked.
"I can't believe he doesn't know!" Lee exclaimed to Tenten.
"Doesn't know what?"
"Well we just found out our' selves Lee." Tenten reminded him.
"Found out what?"
"Still, I'm surprised that someone didn't tell him about it." Lee said.
"Didn't tell me about WHAT?????!!!!!!" Neji exploded.
Lee and Tenten turned to look at him. "About the Jounin exams!" They exclaimed in unison.
They proceeded to fill him in on what they knew about the upcoming exams.
"We've got to be going now Neji." Tenten said after an hour or so. "Guy sensei said that we have to meet at the training grounds early tomorrow for extra intense training. And you know how Guy sensei is, if he says that the training is going to be extra intense, then you know that it's going to be almost lethal!"
Neji's former teammates said goodbye and left.
Neji heard the door snap shut, and then he heaved a depressed sigh. "The Jounin exams…" He whispered miserably. "…Everyone is going to enter but me." Neji closed his' eyes. Before the…accident, he had been one of the top Chunin of Konoha. As the Hyuga prodigy and the Byakugan genius, He was expected to be a great shinobi. He was tall, strong, and good-looking. (Just ask his' many fan girls!) But because of one battle, all of that had been taken away from him. And now, all of his' friends- the ones, once considered weak when compared to him' self- were surpassing him and moving forward in their' lives, while he was forced by a cruel twist of fate to spend the rest of his life an invalid. He felt disappointed, angry, bitter, depressed, and jealous.
With a sigh of hopelessness, Neji lay back onto his' bed and fell asleep.
Katsumi glanced around her. "Hmmm… So this is Konoha eh? Not a bad place."
Morio nodded in agreement. "Hey Chiko, What's wrong pal?"
Chiko was standing with his' mouth hanging open his' eyes glued to a scene, taking place across the street.
Katsumi and Morio followed the direction of his gaze. Across the street from them stood the Konoha training grounds. A man stood in the center of the training grounds facing a girl and boy. The boy looked like a younger version of the man. Suddenly, the boy burst out crying.
Katsumi quirked an eyebrow. "What's his problem?" She became even more confused when, a moment later, the man began to sob as well. The two of them embraced and simply stood there, bawling.
The girl shook her head. She turned away from the emotional duo and caught sight of Katsumi and her' team.
She grinned and waved at them. "Hey! I'm Tenten, a.k.a. the weapons mistress of Konoha."
Chiko smiled. "We're from the village hidden in the Lighting's Shadow. I'm Chiko, this is Morio and that's my' sister Kat."
"Katsumi actually." Katsumi corrected.
"Are you all here for the Jounin exams?" Tenten inquired.
Morio nodded. "Chiko and I are, we're both Chunin. Kat is already a Jounin and is here to help out with the exam procedures."
Tenten's grin grew. "That's awesome! It must be great to have a Jounin on your' team!"
Chiko grinned. "Not when she's your' sister!"
Katsumi smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "So what's with those two?" she motioned to the still sobbing man and boy.
Tenten rolled her' eyes. "Oh, that is just my' sensei and my' teammate having their' usual, twice a day, emotional breakdown. They should be done in five…four…three…two… Now!"
At that moment the boy and the man both stood up and turned towards the Katsumi, Chiko, and Morio. They jumped into their' "good guy" poses and flashed blinding smiles at the new kids.
Guy stepped forward saying. "Tenten! Introduce me to your' youthful companions!"
"Oh crud!" Tenten muttered to Katsumi under her' breath. "Now your' in for it!"
Hinata walked up to the door of her house and slid it open. She stepped inside and immediately knew that something was very wrong.
Her father, Lord Hiashi, was pacing to and fro in the living room, looking very worried while Hinabi sat, fidgeting on the sofa, her eyes red from crying. Hinata's mother, Lady Amaya, sat in a chair holding her head in her hands and looking very upset.
"What's the matter?" Hinata asked.
Her family started at the sound of her voice. "Oh Hinata, you're home." Amaya said.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, what's going on?"
Hinabi began to sob. "Neji's dying!" were the first words out of her six-year-old mouth.
Hinata froze. "Wh-what?" She asked.
Amaya rose from her seat. "Don't say that Hinabi." She scolded her younger daughter. "I'm sure Neji will be fine." But her eyes held a look of fear that strongly contradicted her words.
Hinata turned to Lord Hiashi. "What's wrong with Neji father?"
Hiashi shook his head. "I don't know Hinata. He was fine this morning, but this afternoon he came down with an extremely high fever and has been delirious. We called the doctor and he's with Neji right now, but he doesn't know what's causing this illness." He pulled his stricken daughter into a tight embrace. "Neji's a strong boy. We must have faith that he'll make in through this."