Nice to see you again,

Terribly sorry for the insanely late post, but I was going through some family trouble.

But that doesn't stop me from posting!

One week later -

I awake from the ringing of my alarm clock, doing a relieving morning stretch. Right then, it's the chunin exams today! I get brush my teeth, get dressed, and bring the registration scroll with me, dashing through the path to the Hidden Leaf Village while I take bites from a piece of toast. As I look around, I find that there's barely anyone there, even though it's only 10 minutes before the required arrival time. Oh, this might be a long wait. But on the bright side, it means I have time for a proper breakfast. I pull it out, surprised to see that my mother has replaced my pork onigiri with a bowl of pork ramen and a boiled egg. Thanks, Mom! It's still steaming hot as well. I gobble it down, but stop when I see the same blond-haired boy with whisker markings on his cheeks, staring at me hungrily. Experimentally, I move my bowl to the left, and his eyes follow it, to the right and the same effect.

"Oi, loser, stop staring at Mizuki-san!" I hear a familiar voice ring out. I turn around to see Sasuke strolling up. He's the only genin on time- besides Naruto. "Hello, Mizuki-san," He greets me.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." I add a playful edge to my tone. "Learn some manners, eh?" He grins at me in return, which is surprising, and walks off somewhere - presumably to get food. Well, somebody's in a good mood today.

"Haha, Sasuke got-" Naruto gets cut off by a whack from his pink-haired teammate.

"Baka, don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that!" She turns to me and bows politely, "Good morning, Mizuki-sempai!"

I reply, "Good morning, Sakura-san. Ready for the exams?" She nods, then races off after Sasuke. Naruto crosses his arms and pouts. Aw, isn't someone jealous, maybe some food will cheer him up.

I call out to him, "Hey, you want some ramen? I have extra." He stares at me, shocked. What, does everyone call him a loser? Naruto looks around, to make sure I'm not talking to that nonexistent person behind him, then looks at me again. "Yeah, you! Naruto Uzumaki, right? Come on!"

He trudges over, staring at my ramen hungrily. I spoon half of it into a bowl that my mom brought for me - and the one that I never use. I pass to him my spare chopsticks, and he stares at it. "Go ahead, eat up."

He hesitates, then finishes the whole thing in a blink of an eye.

"Whoa. Careful, you're supposed to eat the noodles, not inhale them." He grins at me and passes back the chopsticks and the bowl, then hops off the bench.

Naruto says enthusiastically, "Thanks! Uhhh… what was your name again?" Quite the clueless one aren't you.

"Murakami Mizuki."

"Alright, Mizuki-nee! See ya!"

After he leaves, all the proctors stare at me. Anko stares after Naruto. "Wow..." she mutters.

"What? Is there a problem, senpai?"

Anko chuckles. "Nothing, it's just that you're the first person I've ever seen him be so polite to."

"I have my ways…." I smile. She pats my back in response, then walks into the building - presumably she's taking charge of Stage Two.

A particularly young proctor speaks up. "Don't you know that talking to him or things like that are considered taboo?"

"Taboo? For what reason?"

"When that kid was born, a beast was unleashed. The Nine Tails. It destroyed the village, killing thousands. After much destruction, the beast was sealed, but at the cost of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, his own parents. The people here see him as a monster."

Ah this, Anko told me this before. I didn't think much of it… It's no reason to exclude him...He was a baby, he had no control over it. Anger bubbles up inside of me, I clench my fists to keep it contained. "That's not fair! He is a citizen of Konoha, a valuable ninja and human."

"Tell that to everyone else." The young proctor turns away, talking with another one. Geez. I look around again, and see that most of the genin have arrived - but there seems to be a commotion over at the entrance.

I have seemed to walk into Izumo's and Kotetsu's little "test" that they set up every year. Their genjutsu covers the classroom plate 101, making the students see classroom 201. Near the frame of the door, a clock ticks by. Let's see... In three... two... one…

"This is a genjutsu. This is classroom 101!" a familiar voice calls. Sakura rises to the front of the crowd, side by side with Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura? Wow, impressive… Sasuke gives me a quick glance then back to Izumo and Kotetsu, but I got the message. Not so impressive now… But that was sweet of him to do that for Sakura.

"Heh, good eye, kid," Kotetsu chuckles, and jumps away with Izumo on his tail. "This seems like an interesting group, eh?" I hear him mutter to Izumo.

I smile at the genin and say, "Well then, let's start the first stage of the exam." I make my way up, the horde of genin following behind me, climbing up the stairs to the correct classroom. I wave at an intimidating-looking man standing next to the chalkboard. "Hey, Ibuki-san. Here's your round of little genins. Have fun with them!"

He smiles back at me and says mysteriously, "Oh, I will." The little kids whisper to each other, clearly looking nervous. The rest of the proctors are already sitting in the room, their expressions ranging from bored to wicked.

"But you aren't ditching on your duties, you're staying, aren't you? As requested by the Hokage?" Ibuki reminds me.

"Never dream of missing this." He thumps the chalkboard with his fist, getting everyone's attention.

"Take your seats!" Ibuki explains the whole first stage to the genin, and pretends to delight in their anxiety. "Start in five, four, three, two, one - BEGIN!" All the genin immediately begin to read over the questions furiously, with only a few scribbling out answers - including that Sakura girl. Everyone else sits and scratches their heads. Oh- there's already one trying to cheat - way too obviously. I mark down his name, and watch the others. All the scribbles and nervous expressions amuse me. My fellow proctors also have amused and satisfied expressions as we quickly mark off names.

5 minutes in, the first person is marked off by none other than Kotetsu himself, who throws a kunai onto the boy's paper. "Out. Your group goes with you." The boy sullenly stands up, and walks out the door, his group following behind him. The genin start muttering to each other, but are immediately silenced when Ibuki pounds on the chalkboard again.

"QUIET!" he roars. "We will take out more!"

When it passes the 40-minute mark, Ibuki announces the tenth question, then watches as all the genin start getting all jittery. Let's see how many leave, wait for it….A horde of groups leave immediately, leaving behind around only a handful left. More than last year.

The rest look like they're considering leaving, but Naruto stands up, and yells, "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run! You can act tough all you want! You're not gonna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday!" And slams his hand down onto the desk, dramatizing his short speech.

Hokage, huh? Someday… I can't help but smile. This boy's knuckle-headed determination is very interesting. Someone who is hated in this villages strives to become their leader. That could end as a great accomplishment, or as a huge failure. Low chuckles and giggles started as Ibuki grins, completely different from before.

"Congratulations! All of you passed!" The genin look around in bewilderment. "You could think of that question I just asked you as the tenth question. Since you all decided to stay, you've passed the first stage of the exams!" The genin start cheering, and I notice everyone looking at Naruto appreciatively. Guess they don't all hate him...

The cheering dies down as, Anko suddenly crashes through the door, and looks around at the remaining genin. She slaps a poster on the chalkboard, reading out Stage Two. "Heads up, boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor. Anko Mitarashi. You ready for the second test? Good! Then let's go, follow me!"

"Such a premature entrance, Anko; You are too early."

"Ahh, well it never helps to be early!" Anko states, slightly embarrassed. "Anyways, get all of your stuff and follow me!" The genin get out of their shock and follow their next proctor, seeming unsure about the next stage. A few of the proctors and I depart from the migrating group and set off for our stationed tower.

About the family trouble, there is bound to be more, so I apologize in future further notice if there are any delays or lack of content.

I will hopefully get over this, but I can't tell the future.

Sooo ciao!~Grai