Three months later found the Orb Knights in a new and curious situation that they had never been in before. Nearly at kunai point to take the test for early graduation from Kurenai-sensei. They would have expected it from Anko-sensei, but from Kurenai-sensei it was downright terrifying.
"Ya know guys... I think we should have stopped complaining about training..." Naruto offered while looking back to see Kurenai glaring at the five of them fidgeting in their seats. Iruka sat a good distance from her, feeling the chill air rolling off her in waves.
"I believe that you are right Naruto-kohai... or it may have been the prank last week..." Lee offered while staring straight forward, his back straight as a board. "I mean we did manage to have all of the jounins save Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei stuck in a lecture by that jounin Gai-san... His lectures on the power of youth while motivating were... a little disturbing..."
Tenten kept staring straight ahead, a slight twitch to her eye as she wanted to play with her kitty now. But nooooo Kurenai-sensei had forbidden her playing with the kitten until she graduated from the academy, on the threat of revealing to Anko exactly who that kitten was. It wasn't fair, she had only been in a secondary player in the prank... it's not like she had placed any of the glue or anything, okay so maybe she did, on a few dozen seats... but it wasn't like she'd been the one to get Gai to start the speech... she had helped Hinata there.
Okay, so maybe they were all as guilty as sin, but she wanted her kitty!
Hinata, was just grinning proudly that she had gotten all of the jounins of the Hyuuga family stuck on her own. And the best part of that was that her father and many of the others needed their hair cut off to release them. She liked this feeling of righteous vengeance that had swelling in her chest. That and her last physical had shown something else in that region was developing nicely. So all in all, it was a good week, now if she could only get Naruto to fall in love with her, then it would be perfect.
Shikamaru was... sleeping, but hey it was only fair, his mother had nagged him so much last night that he only got eight hours of sleep.
"Well then, this is highly unusual... normally we would not allow any student barely through their first years to attempt the graduation exams, but due to your unique circumstances, the Hokage has allowed this testing..." Iruka started, waking Shikamaru up in the process. "Is there anyone that feels they are not ready, please speak up now..."
Five hands started to raise from their places on the desk in front of the attached bodies, when suddenly an icy chill gripped their spines with an iron force and reminded them gently that failure, or even surrendering were NOT an option today.
"I see... well since you have all agreed to continue with the testing... let's begin shall we? Oh and if you fail, Kurenai-san here has requested that I make note of where you need improvement, and shall supply you with supplementary lessons. Isn't that nice of her?" Iruka asked, wondering only briefly why the students paled more at the mention of supplementary lessons. He probably should have asked the Hokage to reconsider, since only Tenten was even remotely near the top of her class, the rest fell nearer to the bottom.
"Let's begin then... Hinata, if you'd follow me please..." Iruka offered with a kind smile on his face.
Three hours later, all five members of the terrified band of ninja hopefuls were looking at the brand shiny new hitai-ate on their foreheads. The biggest surprise had been that the Hokage himself had been there to present them the new protectors personally, each one getting his biggest smile. However as they compared it to the one on Iruka's forehead, they noticed a small difference. Each of theirs had a tiny hemisphere cut out of the center of their spirals.
"Congratulations Orb Knights..." the Hokage announced, breaking them out of their huddle of confusion. "As you've noticed, your hitai-ate are different than normal ones... That is because I feel that you will have things to face, that mere shinobi are unable to stand against. Bear these as a mark of honor that you stand among Konoha's shinobi forces, but that each of you hold a bond together that others cannot break. Yuhi-chan and Mitarashi-chan will both attend you as jounin advisers, but I believe you will work best as an autonomous unit. When you are ready, please select a leader."
Four of the five stepped back and shoved the fifth forward, pointing at the still startled individual. Slowly they looked back at the four that had shoved them and sweat dropped. "Uhhh guys... not that I'm not honored... but I really think Shikamaru or Tenten would be better..."
"Congratulations Naruto, you shall be the first one I contact about the Orb Knights..." Sarutobi stated with a beaming smile as the blonde tried to get the others to reconsider.
"Now usually we would break you into groups of three, but I feel that this team will better serve as a whole... for now you will serve under Kurenai and Anko's joint leadership, but once you advance sufficiently in ranks, which I expect to be soon, you will be commanded by Naruto," the Hokage continued, still beaming the devil's own smile at the blonde in question.
"Also, we usually have a test to demonstrate that the genin can work together... I believe recent events... have shown you five more than capable..." the Hokage finished while Iruka and Kurenai both chuckled, remembering the fact that all the jounins were stuck to their chairs during Gai's lecture. Okay so it was funny, when it happened to someone else, but they had to punish them. "You may begin reporting for missions tomorrow morning, unless your instructor wishes for you to train more."
Every single one of the newly minted knights began praying and hoping to any deity that they could think of that they could go on nice safe missions, away from the training ground of pain and agony that they had been attending for the past three months. Even if they had to clean out the sewers with toothbrushes, they would do so with a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts. ANYTHING to get out of training with a pissed Kurenai and Anko.
"Unless we have some... unforeseen issue, I believe we shall see you tomorrow Hokage-sama... right knights?" Kurenai asked with a icy tone that chilled the five fresh faced genin to their very cores.
"Right ma'am!" The five chorused their response, driven primarily by sheer terror.
That night, Neji Hyuuga was fuming in his room. His nothing of a cousin had managed to beat him in graduating the academy, and not only her, but the dead last of her year, a slacker, the dead last chakra-less wonder of his year, and the one girl that he actually considered a worthy potential teammate for him. He would admit that she had been growing in strength during their spars, but fate had decreed him to remain the victor, or so he thought.
He couldn't understand it, how had that group of losers, and Tenten, gotten so good? To hear Hinata talk about it, she hadn't even wanted to graduate, let alone get a special hitai-ate for her own group of genin. It just grated on his nerves so much that a mere nothing of the main family could so easily best the paragon of the branch family.
"Wouldn't you love to beat her? Take her special little hitai-ate from her and prove that you deserve to be the better?" a voice whispered at the edges of his consciousness. A snarl formed on Neji's face as he ground his teeth angrily. "I bet she cheated... she must have had special help..."
"Yeah... that's right, she had to have had help..." Neji muttered to no one in particular as he wrung his hands together. "But if that is so... then fate has decided to deny me my chance at winning freedom from the main family's accursed rule over the branch family..."
"I could show you the power that she has..." the voice offered while a strange warmth curled around his neck, "Just say yes..."
Neji froze as he thought about it, he would get the power to set fate right again. If he was being offered such power, then fate had decided he was ready for it. So he said the only thing that he could, "Yes."
Darkness overcame Neji, and he wouldn't wake again until morning, but by then it was done. He smirked in the mirror as the solid black band around his neck stood out in stark contrast to his off white shirt. "Oh yes... this body will do nicely for my mission..."
The Orb Knights were enjoying a lovely break from the practice from hell, okay so maybe they were just painting a fence, it was still better than attempting to survive training. Well that's what they were thinking with Kurenai anywhere within a five mile radius. They didn't know how, but they knew she could read their minds, and if they even started thinking about complaining...
The shudder of terror thankfully didn't damage the fence, but it did cause a subtle hum that buzzed through the air, annoying the ears of one Sasuke Uchiha. He was promptly glomped by fangirls while trying to clear out his ears, but that's not important to this story.
There was one benefit to being a ninja that they hadn't considered when they first took this mission, they were getting paid to do chores for others. And that meant that they could have some of their favorite foods more often.
Another benefit that they hadn't thought about before hand, was that it was a bright, sunshine filled day that made the work a pleasant and relaxing especially with the pleasant breeze taking the paint fume far away. All in all, it was a relaxing and pleasant experience, if it wasn't for the patrolling teachers making sure they were still working. After all, none of them ever wanted a pissed Anko after them, and if someone could tame her like Kurenai-sensei did, they did NOT want to piss them off.
So now it was a simple matter of making sure this mission last long enough that they didn't have training after, they knew they couldn't get it done in time to get another mission. It was listed as a two team all day job, so they got it, and only hope and pray that nothing interrupted it.
Just as they were finishing up the first coat of the paint on the fence, something happened that caused all of them to dive for cover. Well, when a pillar of stone slammed into the fence in front of them, you would think that their training would take over like that, wouldn't you?
Turning as one to where the pillar had come from, they were all shocked to find a walking body of stone heading for them. "Umm... Guys? I think that it's time to break out our friends..."