Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto
Chapter Five- An Unexpected Surprise: Squad Fourteen's Final Exam
"This is terrible," Choya frowned, sitting back in his chair. Squad Fourteen was calmly waiting for their sensei to arrive. Sai hadn't met them in their designated meeting place the previous day for their final examination and they were asked to report to this new locatin.
"Relax," Shikawa said, shaking his head. "I'm sure that he'll be here soon."
"He better! We can't eat until he comes and pays for us!"
The new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho was sitting in a rather small restaurant which served Choya's favorite food, barbeque. He had been waiting all day for the all-you-can-eat restaurant - he had even skipped breakfast from anticipation. He could practically feel his stomach churning in on itself.
Shikawa didn't care. Squad Twelve had already left that morning on their first mission to the Sand Village. He too wanted to venture out and accomplish missions for the Leaf, and he couldn't let the others get the better of him. He was anxious to see what his team would be assigned to complete.
"Can I get you anything?" the waitress asked.
The woman had short, curly brown hair with deep red eyes. They were dark enough to be mistaken for Sharigan, but it was clear to Shikawa that was not the case. Her shirt, which was rather loose, was a pale green color. The rest of her outfit consisted of black leggings underneath a pair of unbuttoned shorts. Her sandals were odd as well, acting more like boots that came up to her mid thigh. She wore blue metal bracers on either arm.
"Everything on the menu!" Choya panicked, his saliva almost dripping out of his mouth.
"Choya-san," Shikawa scolded, looking back at the waitress. "I'm sorry, but we're waiting for our soon-to-be Sensei."
"Oh?" the woman shrugged. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"It's rude," Inoki said, never taking her eyes from the window. She was watching birds in the distance - she had always been fascinated by them.
"I see," she shrugged, sitting next to the children at the table. "And if your sensei said it was alright for you to eat without her?"
"Her?" Shikawa said, raising a single eyebrow.
"Mika Sarutobi, leader of Squad Fourteen," the waitress said, pulling her head band from her pocket. She wrapped it around her to show the Leaf Village insignia brightly around her forehead. "Nice to meet you three." She smiled and gave them all a "thumbs up."
"What…happened to Sai-sensei?" Shikawa questioned. Choya didn't seem to care. When it came to food, he was exactly like Kiyoshi - food almost always came first.
"Sarutobi's always lead the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho," she answered. "It's tradition. Now, go ahead, order whatever you want. I'll think of a good 'final exam' for you in the meantime."
Shikawa didn't seem impressed. Squad Twelve's leader was his father, Shikamaru Nara, one of the strongest ninja in all of Konoha. Mika seemed rather ordinary, almost childlike in personality. Stranger yet, it seemed as though she replaced Sai as though it was planned. It all just seemed rather odd to him.
'This is my father's protégé,' Shikawa pondered, sitting back in his chair. 'Not impressive.'
'Are you so sure?' Mika thought back.
Shikawa's eyes opened wide. His sensei just winked back at him, and then turned her attention to the menu in front of her. Had she done what he thought she had done?
Things had begun to get slightly more interesting for Shikawa. And for once, he was pleased.
"Alright, so if you can out eat me, you pass," she winked.
"AW HELL YEAH!" Choya exclaimed, attracting the attention of everyone in the restaurant. "Waitress, one of everything!"
"I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into," Mika laughed, putting her face into the palm of her hand.
'You have got to be kidding me,' Shikawa frowned, placing his head face down on the table.
'Do you have anything else in mind?'
'Are you sure you're a sensei? My father said something about the bell test. Maybe we could give it a try. I don't want my chances of becoming a Genin left up to an eating contest."
'Ditto,' another voice thought. Shikawa looked over to Inoki, who was still staring intently out the window. It was clear to the boy that he had just heard the young kunoichi think. 'You know, the Yamanaka Clan has a technique similar to this, but it requires physical contact. That being said, I don't want you two in my deepest thoughts.'
So, they could share thoughts now? Shikawa's mind started to race through the possibilities. They could become an unstoppable mind, sharing information and ideas with mere thoughts.
'Well tell me about it, we have all the time in the world,' Mika smiled. 'Too bad we will have to upset your friend over there. He seems content.'
"Alright so the rules are simple," Mika smiled, cracking her knuckles. She drew a cigarette from her pocket and held it up to her mouth. She lit it was a small lighter in her pocket. "Get the bells from me anyway you can. I think it will be more fun if we do one-on-one matches." Miko jingled the three bells around her waist, smiling slightly.
"But I ate more than you," Choya frowned.
The trio found themselves in a large field. The Twenty-Seventh Training ground was rather strange in comparison. Instead of there being a variety of tools and dummies to train with, there was just a large field. No trees or bushes or even a body of water. That meant there was no hiding of any kind - it was clearly intended for an all out battle. That didn't bode well for Shikawa's fighting style.
"You'll each get twenty minutes. Any questions?" the Jonin smiled. "No? Then your time starts now!"
"Alright," Choya smiled. "I'll go first. " The ninja, flatfooted, turned towards his opponent. His arms were outstretched and slightly down at either side. The child was ready to take on his new sensei. Inoki and Shikawa treated him like he was a loser. Now was the time to show his skills. Now was his time to shine. He ran forward, jumping high into the air, using his Expansion Jutsu to greatly increase his body mass. The ninja then began to spin forward, turning his body into a massive bullet like shape. "Human Boulder!"
Mika had more riding on this fight than she had originally thought. She had to first assess her subordinate's skill levels. From what she had heard from Shikamaru and Kakashi, this generation of Ino-Shika-Cho could prove to be the strongest yet, but she would soon see. She also had to prove to the Genin that she was the real deal, not just some joke. So she had to be strong, but not too strong.
Mika first decided to prove her strength. The ninja dug her feet firmly into the ground, and stuck out her arms, catching Choya's rolling body. The speed at which he was moving created a huge amount of friction, but Mika used her power to completely halt Choya's forward momentum. When he stopped rolling, Mika delivered a powerful punch. His body went flying. If there had been any objects in the grassy clearing, he could've easily ricocheted around like a pinball. However, this wasn't the case and he simply was thrown in one direction. The child changed his body back to his regular shape, planting his feet into the dirt to stop his movement.
"You're strong," Choya said, surprised by his sensei's strength. Mika winked back at him, and pulled a kunai from her pocket, tossing it at the Genin. The child expanded his right hand, causing it to grow six times its normal size. He was able to easily knock the projectile away, rushing forward once more. He threw a size-enhanced punch directly at the Jonin. Mika knew she wouldn't be able to simply block the hit this time. It could be done, but the risk was too great. If he landed a lucky hit now she would be in no shape to fight the others. She sidestepped the punch, delivering a roundhouse kick of her own.
Choya ducked underneath the attack, and took a deep breath, swelling the size of his stomach. At close range, the child exhaled a mud bullet, attempting to hit the woman head on. Any normal Jonin might've actually gotten hit with the surprise attack, indicating to Mika that this child did have some talent as the Sixth had suspected, but then again, Mika wasn't your ordinary Jonin. She bent backwards, narrowly sliding underneath the attack.
'That's it, come at me with everything you've got!' Mika smiled, delivering a powerful punch that dropped Choya to the ground.
'I intend to!' Choya retaliated. "Expansion Jutsu!"
Mika had been standing rather close to Choya, and when his body expanded at such an alarming speed, he was able to catch his sensei off guard. She landed on her backside just as the first alarm rang, indicating that his time had ended.
"Aw man!" Choya frowned, shaking his head. His body deflated and he stood, running over to help his sensei stand.
"Alright, you pass," she smiled, rubbing the back of her head.
"But he didn't-" Shikawa began to say, but he was cut off by his sensei.
"Forget the bells, they're unnecessary. I'm going to judge you simply by your skill and determination. Inoki, you're up next."
The child remained silent, taking a few steps forward to distinguish herself from the other two. She knelt down, grabbing a single flower from the grass. It had a long stem and beautiful white petals. She looked up into the sky, trying to spot a bird, but there weren't any around. She sighed, holding the flower to her side like a kunai.
'This is frivolous.' Inoki thought. She shook her head to show her distaste.
"Why don't you speak more?" Mika asked. She was curious. Inoki's thoughts revealed so much about her, something that her tongue didn't do.
'Mother was always so loud. Her voice annoys me, and I presume I just wanted to be different,' she responded in her thoughts. 'Can we begin now?'
"Alright then, fine," Mika said, shaking her head. "Your time starts now!"
Inoki didn't move, didn't take a single step forward. Unlike her teammate, Inoki understood the strength of her opponent. Even a three-on-one battle would've most likely fallen in the Jonin's favor. If Inoki wanted to be even remotely victorious, she would have to fight tactically.
"Ninja Flower Style: Covered with Flowers!"
The flowers in the meadow began to lift from the ground, being spun by the wind. In mere seconds, a tornado of flowers was summoned, completely surrounding Mika in all four directions. The bright pink color made it difficult for Mika to see and she was completely helpless within the walls of the jutsu. The Jonin attempted to escape, but, when she extended her hand, she touched a single petal that was sharp enough to create a deep cut in her hand.
"Shit!" the exclaimed, drawing back. 'How does a Genin have this much power?' Mika panicked, her eyes growing wide.
That's when she noticed it. Flying around in the pink storm of flowers was a single purple wolfsbane, a rather poisonous plant that could potentially spell her doom. By cleverly hiding it within the other flowers, Inoki coud potentially poison her opponent without them even knowing it.
'You can't escape Sarutobi-sensei!' Inoki's thoughts pierced through the pink jutsu.
'You think you can trap a Jonin inside your little genjutsu?'
'H-How did you know it was a genjutsu?'
'Lucky guess?' Mika laughed slightly, slowing down the chakra flow within her body. She took a deep breath and expelled a decent amount of chakra, steadying her body and mind with the expulsion of energy. The pink flowers fell to the floor and even the cut on her hand seemed to fade away. The only thing that remained was the single wolfsbane flower.
"How about this," Inoki frowned, pulling out four more of the same flower. She tossed them simultaneously at the Jonin. "Ninja Flower Art: Flower Bomb. The four flowers reached Mika's position poised and ready to detonate. Just as they were about to explode, Mika made the 'bird' hand seal.
"Wind Release:" the Jonin began. "Dust Cloud Technique!" Mika took a deep breath, blowing an incredibly powerful gust of wind from her mouth. The flowers were completely decimated as the dust particles within the wind tore through them and the bombs. "So, Choya is basically taijutsu. You use genjutsu and a bit of ninjutsu." As the Jonin spoke the bell rang indicating that the battle was over. "I'm guessing you focus on ninjutsu."
"Hmm," Shikawa frowned shaking his head. "I guess that now it's my turn, Sarutobi-sensei."
"I've been looking forward to it Shikawa-san," Mika smiled. "Show me what the self-appointed leader of Squad Fourteen can really do."
Shikawa shook his head and pulled out a single shuriken from his holster. The Genin tossed it forward rather easily, and it slowly flew towards his sensei. Mika was rather confused at the child's lax attitude and decided to merely catch the projectile.
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Defense!"
"What?"
Just as Mika extended her hand to catch the star-shaped projectile, it miraculously expanded, catching the Jonin rather off guard. The shuriken was no longer small and compact. It had grown to a full sized fuma-shuriken inches away from Mika's eyes. It was split decision time.
The Jonin pulled a kunai of her own from her holster and barely managed to derail the massive weapon. Mika didn't want to admit it, but Shikawa had come really close to severely injuring her. She hadn't been prepared for a clever technique like that. If it weren't for the Flying Swallow Technique Shikamaru had shown her, Mika feared she wouldn't have been able to block that attack in time. She glanced to her kunai, witnessing the bright blue wind chakra dissipate.
"Gotcha!" Shikawa smirked. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!
His shadow stretched forward at an alarming pace. Just as his technique was about to reach Mika's shadow, the Jonin jumped backwards, just out of Shikawa's reach. Overtime, and with practice, Shikawa would be able to increase the length of his shadow. For now, it could only go a few feet without outside assistance.
When Mika jumped backwards, the tree behind her exploded in a hail of fire. Shikawa had clever thrown a fire-tagged kunai while his sensei had been preoccupied with his previous technique. The resulting explosion blasted Mika forward, directly towards the young Genin's shadow.
'What?' Mika panicked, trying to stop her momentum.
'You're mine Sensei!' Shikawa smiled, his confidence soaring to new heights. He was rather pleased with himself, having almost caught a Jonin level Konoha ninja.
"Not quite!" Mika shouted. "Earth Style: Great Mud River!" The ground around Shikawa transformed into a small river of mud, causing Shikawa to lose his balance. The momentary loss of concentration dissipated the shadow, allowing Mika to land safely. "You're pretty good kid. You almost caught me twice, but now it's my turn."
Mika put her kunai away and rushed her pint-sized opponent. She had planned to deliver one decisive blow to put the child in his place. He was too confident, too arrogant. Mika feared that the only way their team could operate was if Shikawa practiced a little humility.
Shikawa was too fast for the Jonin's punch. She hadn't expected Shikawa to practice the Mach Style of Taijutsu, a fighting style that focused on speed and countering rather than power. His punch caught Mika completely off-guard, allowing Shikawa the ability to get one clear uppercut on his sensei. For a moment, he was proud.
"Ah," Mika cringed, taken back by the surprise attack. "I wasn't expecting that. You almost trapped me twice so far.
"Three times," Shikawa said matter-of-factly. The boy gave his sensei a sly smile and pointed upwards. Mika, confused, humored the child and looked directly into the air. "NOW!"
"Ino!" Inoki shouted, throwing her Chakra Rope forward. The Jonin had been staring up in the air, blissfully unaware of her surroundings.
"Shika!" Shikawa nodded, connecting his shadow to his sensei's.
"Cho!" Choya smiled, using his partial Expansion Jutsu to expand both of his hands to almost ten times their size. He latched onto Mika even though the Chakra Rope Technique and Shadow Possession Jutsu had already made it practically impossible for the Jonin to move.
"You tricked me," Mika smiled, laughing slightly to herself. In truth, she had forgotten she was in the middle of a battle. Shikamaru and Kurenia had always warned her that she was far too flighty for a ninja, but Mika figured it was one of her more endearing qualities. "And you cheated."
"When in a fight will the other team play fairly?" Shikawa smirked, releasing his hold on Mika. "Sai-sensei told us that deception is incredibly important." Choya and Inoki released their jutsu's as well.
"And the Ino-Shika-Cho formation is all about teamwork," Choya nodded, going for a high-five that Inoki refused.
"So, you're each probably wondering if you passed?" Mika smiled, turning her head slightly sideways.
"The thought had crossed my mind," Shikawa said, nodding slightly.
Mika thought long and hard.
Choya was the powerhouse, attempting to master the Arhat Fist style of taijutsu. His attacks were precise and yielded great power. His jutsu obviously were centered around the Akamichi hidden jutsu that had been passed down through generations, but he also seemed to dabble in basic Earth Jutsu.
Inoki was the mystery. She hadn't used any Yamanaka techniques like the Mind Transfer Jutsu, nor did she do a good deal of direct combat. Perhaps, like her mother, she felt it was best to offer herself in more of a supporting role. However, the short battle wasn't enough to tell either way. At least the Flower Ninja Art Jutsu was interesting, and it was rather strange that she had managed to learn the forbidden jutsu the, Chakra Rope Technique.
Shikawa was the mastermind, possibly containing an IQ as high as Shikamaru's. He preferred the shadow based techniques of the Nara clan, but also possessed a completely new jutsu centered around his projectiles. In this way, Shikawa reminded Mika of Tenten, and she was interested to see how that was going to play out. The Mach Style taijutsu also made him a deadly opponent at close range. Plus, she couldn't dare face her master after having failed his only son.
"I think the three of you… pass. Starting tomorrow we'll go get our first mission as a team. And we're going to go out for dinner to celebrate. Inoki's buying!"
"W-what? But- I um," the flustered kunoichi stammered. "I-I don't have any money."
Author's Notes
For those who care, sorry it took so long and sorry that this chapter focuses on Squad Fourteen rather than Squad Twelve. I know that they appear much more static than the main characters, but I truly want to create an amazing story without marysues or one dimensional characters. And that, almost requires that I give my Oc's character development, something I cannot hope to achieve without first giving them clear personalities and, of course, screen time. I hope anyone reading this enjoyed the chapter nonetheless, and I should be back focusing on Kiyoshi, Katsu, Akira, and Shikamaru next week. 3