Okay, to get myself going this time around: I heard that we're not allowed to answer reviews directly. That's why I invented the interview thing, but right now I'm still a bit scared to answer them even in this way, so as a result, I'll be answering your reviews via e-mail or in any, other way possible (still the idea of interview isn't dropped and perhaps I'll continue it despite to what I wrote above, but wanted to warn you just in case).

There weren't many questions last time around, so I'll just announce that many OC's will be appearing during the coming chapters and most of them will play a part in the story... however I promise to make a list of all of them soon (around chapter 29 or 30 when all, new shinobies will make their appearance)... for now (coz I don't want to spoil too much) I hope you'll be able to get used to them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: being busy at collage right before Xmas there's a possibility that this chappie will be the last one publish this year (still have two, other fics to update before Christmas too). It's not official but be prepared that you may have to wait for the 28th chapter till January. Sorry for that.

Now, let's get to the story:

Chapter #27: The Arrival – part I

Chapter Cover: Shikamaru and Naruto are playing chess in the park and the lazy jounin owes the blonde... naturally

The five shinobies stood on a cliff near the village gates. They had Kusa Gakure forehead protectors and they were looking at their destination with interest.

"So this is the famous Konoha?" asked the blonde guy with a black and white bird mask on his face. He was wearing a black suit with green waistcoat. You could easily spot a long chain ended with a huge blade tied to his belt, where also his forehead protector was placed. "To be honest, it's not very impressive. Moreover, those faces on that mountain are so cliché…"

"We didn't came here to admire the village, Taka…" reminded a young girl with short, blonde hair, wearing a small, blue shirt. "We're here to test their ninjas. Besides, whether you're impressed or not, you shouldn't forget our true reason for being here…"

"I know, I know…" ensured the bird mask. "But are you sure you want to do this, Hizoku?"

The one asked was a medium-height boy with long, spiky, red hair, clipped in a ponytail that was falling on his back. He was wearing a black shirt with short sleeves and a grey waistcoat on it. You could also spot a strange-looking spear on his back. He wore his hitae-ate on his left arm.

"Whether I want to or not… I have no choice in this matter…" replied the red head.

A small rat climbed on top of his female comrade who had medium-length, brown hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white shirt with a black, kanji symbol for 'pest' on the back and had her headband on her forehead. The girl looked at the rat on her head and then spoken:

"Hamaru's right… it's risky… we should do this before the final exam…"

"Well then…" the last of the five, a boy who's face as well as the whole body, was hidden under a black jet robe with a hood, cut in. "… this exam may be interesting then…" and with that the five grass-nin headed towards the Hidden Leaf.

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"So, the exam starts in six days…" reminded Naruto as he walked with his hands behind his head. "You gave your students fill-in forms yet?" he asked his companion.

"I've planned to do it today…" replied Hinata. "If I'd do it too soon, Senkou will keep on pushing to train all day long… as well as Galu…"

"Yeah, I heard about those two a bit…" nodded the blonde. "Senkou was the third best in the Academy, right? But if I recall he got beaten by one of your other students, wasn't he…?"

"Yes…" nodded the girl. "Kokoro was the second. But it surprises me that he didn't made it as the best… he is of the Benda clan after all… they always finished the Academy as best…"

"Things change…" reminded the loud mouth. "You should know that by now… well, I'm off to give my students the fill-in forms, I advice you do the same…" and with that he started to walk away but stopped after making a few steps and turned to her once more: "Em… Hinata… since when our students will enter the exam we'll have some free time… what'd you say if we… well, um… you know… go somewhere… together? We could recall old times…"

"Did he just… asked me out?" the head of the Hyuuga was both happy and surprised. After a longer while she was able to reply with a slight blush: "I'd love to…" and with that she gave the blonde a warm smile.

"See you in six days then…" he responded and with that he was gone.

The white-eyed girl smiled widely as she slowly walked to the meeting spot where her students already waited for her.

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Shikamaru was slowly walking through the town with an old friend. The man to his left was a chubby fellow long, a little spiky, brown hair and round, shell-looking tattoos on his cheeks, wearing a black shirt and a samurai-like armor on it (A/N: sorry, but describing this guy was always hard for me…you should know who it is already, so I can say that his design it practically the same as in the newest, manga chapters… if you wanna see how he looks, you should read chapter 283). The man was carrying a bag of potato chips from which both of them ate.

"So, you decided to enter your subordinates into this years exam, eh?" asked the chubby man. "How do you think they'll do?"

"You're mostly interested in Hanamaru, aren't you?" replied the lazy jounin with a question.

But before the other man could answer, they both stopped walking and Shikamaru performed a quick set of hand seals, extending his shadow towards the nearby corner. "Kagemane no Jutsu…" he thought to himself as a figure jumped from the corner and onto the street.

But it was the thing the chubby man needed. Enlarging his right hand he aimed a powerful blow at the figures head but stopped just a before the fist connected with it's face as he realized who it was.

The figure turned out to be a girl around their age, only a bit older. She had long, blonde hair, clipped into four ponytails. She was wearing a violet dress with an armor on, similar to the one the chubby jounin had. What caught the most attention in her was a huge fan attached to her back. She had a Sand forehead protector around her neck.

The kunoichi smiled slyly as Shikamaru walked towards them. "So, you're here already?" he asked the sand-nin. "So I guess you're leading a gennin team too…"

"Coz…" replied the girl. "And since I finally got a chance to visit the town, I've decided to pay you a visit… how's it's been, lazy ass?" she asked with a smile.

"I'll leave you two, love birds to yourselves…" announced the chubby jounin. "See you during the exams, Shikamaru…" and raising his hand in a goodbye, he walked away.

"Well, that guy didn't changed much… Chouji, wasn't it?" asked the kunoichi.

"Yeah…" nodded the lazy jounin. "Glad to see you again, Temari… Is your brother here as well?"

"He is… but I have no idea where… he's probably training with his students…"

"Shouldn't you train with yours? The exam is only six days away…"

"I'm not worried about them… they're strong… probably stronger then Gaara and us were their age… and guess what, I've got Torune on my team… she grew quite a bit since the last time you saw her…"

"So she's here?" Shikamaru tried to hide his happiness, but was failing at it. "But I won't bother her right now, she's got more, important things to do… I'll surely like to talk to her though…will you guys be staying for a longer while?"

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Another kunai hit the bulls-eye of a target places on a straw dummy. The one who was throwing appeared to be a boy around fourteen years of age. He had medium-length, spiky, brown hair, clipped in a short ponytail. He was wearing a tide, black dress with a brown waistcoat on it, which was filled with hostels for weapons. He was carrying a long stick on his back and had a Konoha hitae-ate on his forehead. He was exercising since early morning and not once had he missed the bulls eye.

"Why are you even practicing throwing, Funbo-kun?" asked a girl with really long, black hair, clipped in a ponytail, who was sitting on a branch of a nearby tree. She was wearing a red and black dress. She had big, blue eyes, a boomerang attached to her back and a headband with a leaf symbol on her forehead. "You never miss unless the target moves and even if so, it's still likely for you not to hit it…"

"You know that in his clan using weapons is the most basic ability…" reminded a girl with long, brown hair who was meditating with her eyes closed. The girl had bandages on both her hands and was hearing an orange shirt with short sleeves (A/N: kinda like the one Neji used to wear) and she had her hitae-ate on her forehead. "He must came to perfection in it… especially since the rules of succession in his clan are like they are…"

Right next to the girl laid a boy, propped under the tree. His eyes were closed as well, but he wasn't meditating. He had short, spiky, black hair and was wearing a red dress with a black kanji symbol for 'eye' placed in a yellow circle on its back. He had his forehead protector in the same place his teammates did.

"Akira-kun, wake up!" ordered the girl on the branch. "We're supposed to be training! The exams will soon start and…"

"Give it a rest, Taki…" came a voice from a branch of another tree. There, propped with one hand on the tree, stood another boy with short, light blue hair. He was wearing a long, white dress with blue decorations on it. He had his headband on his forehead as well. 'You should know him by now…" but he suddenly stopped talking.

"Few meters to the north from our location…" announced the one called Akira. The one who was looking like he was sleeping. "They're either very bad at covering their presence or so confident they don't bother trying… Hitomi, would you mind checking them out?"

The girl that was meditating instantly opened her eyes, which were completely white. After performing a short set of hands seals, veins appeared around her eyes as she looked in the direction her teammate told her to. "Five people… seem around our age, but they're not from the Leaf… two girls and three guys… there's something unnatural about those three, but…" she paused, not sure what to say about what she saw. "They're sand-nins and will show up about… now…"

And then , as on queue, five sand-nins came into view. The one who led the way was a boy about a year younger then them. He had short, spiky, black hair. He was wearing black and had his hitae-ate on his left arm. What seemed strange about him was the fact that he carried a wide backpack and a big scythe. His eyes were bloody red.

The second boy was completely covered in bandages and only his big, green, left eye was visible from under them. He was bending over a bit and was wearing a violet top with wide sleeves. Funbo noticed some shurikens and kunais wrapped here and there under the bandages.

The third boy had long, white hair and purple eyes. He was wearing a jet white robe with wide sleeves and his skin was extremely pale. The leaf-nins didn't spot any weapon hostels on his dress or body.

The shorter of the girls had long, red hair and was wearing black with no sleeves. She wore her forehead protector as a belt, but what drew the attention in her was a big, wavy blade attached to her back.

The last of the sand-nins was a girl with long, blonde hair, wearing purple and orange dress. She had her headband around her neck.

"What do you want?" asked Funbo coldly as he got back to his throwing practice. "I suppose you're here for the exam… coz if not, we'll be forced to imprison you…"

"Interesting…" replied the one in bandages. "And you think you'd manage?"

"Tarakudo… don't start…" asked the blonde kunoichi. "We aren't looking for trouble…"

"To speak more clearly, we wanted to train a bit as well…" finished the black-haired boy. "And you seemed like a worthy, sparring partners… and a good, measuring stick… give me your best shot…" he said while grabbing his scythe. "And maybe you'll have the honor to join my 'collection'…"

"Not again…" sighed the red-head. "Takai, don't you remember what the sensei said?"

"I care not…" replied the boy. "I wish to test my life… again…" and with that he came at the leaf-nins.

And this concludes this chapter. Hope you liked it. Please leave a review with your opinion once you're done. In the spirit of Christmas.

The only jutsu used this time was Kagemane and I believe you know about it just as much as I do... just to make sure I'll remind that it should be translated as "Shadow Bind Skill" and it allows the user to force the opponent to copy his moves as long as their shadows are together.

Now, in case I won't be able to update before this year ends:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Till the next update, hopefully.