Okay, my exams are almost over and due to the miracle that I even got an A on my Administration Law I've decided to sit down to it and write the next chapter of the Next Generation even though I'm still quite tired after all the tests.
Without making this longer then it has to be, here's the 30 chappie of the story:
Chapter #30: The First Exam
Chapter Cover: Kai and Takaru are arm-wrestling with each other and Ibuki is the judge
"My name is Hyuuga Tenten…" announced the woman with her arms crossed. "And I'll be the examiner for the first test!"
"Should we feel lucky that your mother was chosen as the examiner?" Taki whispered to Hitomi, who just seemed to ignore her and kept staring at the black-haired sand-nin and his team that was standing just few meters away.
"I dislike repeating myself, so listen carefully when I'll explain the rules and objectives of the first exam!" said Tenten, looking around the square. "Seems like there's something around a hundred and fifty teams… those new alliances sure gave the Chuunin Exam more participants… luckily the rules changed as well…" she cleared her throat and then said out aloud: "To put the goal of the first test as simple as it can be: it is to check your skills in surviving on enemy territory! As chuunins you'll often be send to places even outside your countries. Sometimes to gather information about enemy villages, maybe even to make assassinations… however other ninjas won't be the only thing you'll have to watch out for during such missions! When you're on enemy territory, remember that traps might be spread all over the place! The ability to notice and avoid them are basics of survival in a shinobi world!"
"Trap is the basic of ninja tactics…" Kitsune said, mostly to himself. "Everyone knows that, so what's even the point in making an exam like that?"
"Whatever…" replied Rei as she turned away from her teammate. "Just wake me up when the talk is over and the exam will begin…" and with that her sight wondered to the sky.
"So how will this exam look like?" asked Tsuino, surrounded by his team.
"The rules are easy to explain, but that doesn't mean the test itself will be a walkover…" announced Tenten as she pointed to the nearby mountain with many caves in it. "There are preciously fifty two passages that lead to the other side of that mountain… each of them is almost equally long and hard, so the chances should be even… your mission will be to get through the tunnel you enter to the other side of the rock!"
"So what was that about this not being a walkover?" joked Reiji as his teammates laughed.
Tenten only smirked at his words: "If this was it, then indeed it'd be an easy test, however there are certain things you must be aware of, before the exam truly beginnings! First is the fact that your time to get through the tunnel is limited! You have one hour from the time you enter the cave! And the caves themselves aren't just simple tunnels! Each of them is filled with all sort o traps! Some are just meant to slow you down, but some can be deadly… to put it simply: you can die, even though this is just the first test!"
"Die?" Mikka's eyes widen at hearing that.
"Heh, usually they waited for the second exam to allow deaths…" Taka smirked behind his mask. "Seems that Konoha changed their exams after what happened in the Grass a year ago."
"You guys took the exam already?" Kusari got interested.
"No…" replied Hizoku. "This is our first time attending the exams. But we gathered some information about the whole thing… that's how we know some details about it…"
"What do you know?" asked Senkou after throwing Kokoro a questioning glare. "Like how many tests will there be or what they'll be about?"
"The tests are different every year…" answered the one called Tobane. "The only exam that stays the same every time is the last one… as for the number of exams it's also not stable… but usually the number of tests is between three to five…"
"But since you gathered some information, it's only natural you know what was the point of the tests last year…" noticed Kumiko. "It's practically the basic thing you'd look for…"
"The tests are known only to the examiners and those who participated…" replied Nezumi. "All we were able to find out that most important, shinobi skills are tested during those exams…"
"You can guess few things just from that…" stated Toku lazily.
"Now, every team that'll lose a member, even if the rest of it will make it through the tunnel in time, will be disqualified!" continued Tenten, once more drawing everyone's (A/N: or at least most of the people's) attention to herself. "Teams are not allow to separate at this moment, because we'll be giving each of the teams a number. When your number will be called, you'll have to join the chuunin you'll be told and he or she will guide you to the entrance of one of the tunnels… this tests shouldn't last longer then few hours, so I expect those of you, how actually have some skills to get through the caves in less then half an hour! We'll assign your numbers now!" and when she said so a group of chuunins appeared and walked through the crowd, giving some of the gennins number tags and writing down the team members in their notebooks.
"Running through some dirty, dark caves?" Karame's eyebrow went up. "This will be boring…"
"Don't worry…" replied his teammate, the one with blonde hair and strings around his fingers. "We'll just complete this test ASAP and wait for the real fun to begin…"
"Horamaru, thanks to talk like that, you're drawing attention to us" announced the other sand-nin, the one carrying the sword. "It might gives us problems later on, so do shut up…"
"So, team number 47…" began the chuunin as he started to write the names in his notebook. "Junsei Teela, Tenka…" with that he looked at the other girl. "Kihako Tasuki and Chishio Nobu and Kumo…" and with that he turned to the twins, who nodded. "Done, you can wait for your number to be called…" and saying so, he walked away.
"Teela, stop staring at that brat…" Tasuki asked his blue-haired teammate. "We have an exam to pass…" but to his irritation, the girl just ignored him.
"What are you worrying about, Tasuki?" asked the blonde twin, Nobu. "With your abilities getting through that tunnel shouldn't present any problem…"
"I'm not worrying…" replied the green-head. "I just hate it when she does that…"
"Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari and Haisha Kai…" the son of Tsunade declared to the chuunin once he gave them their number. As the older shinobi left, Kai instantly began an argument with his 'arch-rival':
"Why did you mentioned my name last?"
"First the girls and then it was alphabetical, moron…" replied Takaru simply.
"So those are your teammates, sis?" came a question and as soon as everyone turned around, they noticed a group of leaf-nins, we already met, coming their way. "An interesting bunch…" announced Funbo, smiling widely.
"Like you're the one to talk…" replied Ibuki, not paying that much attention to her older brother. "You even gotten a Hyuuga…"
Tsume looked at her dog, which backed away a bit. "What's the matter, Uramaru?" she questioned. "Are they that strong?Though this guy with blue hair… there's something…different about him..."
"And who the hell are you guys that you just come to us and start to provoke us?" asked Galu, who didn't really seemed to be interested in an answer.
"The name is Tanken Funbo…" announced Ibuki's brother. "And those are my teammates: Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira and Horohoro (A/N: I know, I know… but I liked the name)" and with that he pointed at the blue-haired boy.
"That girl with white-eyes…" Mikka looked at Hitomi for a moment. "She must be somehow related to Hinata-sensei…"
"What's with that guy?" Kai whispered to Kusari as he pointed at Akira. "Does his eyes hurt that he keeps them shut or something?" the chain master only shrugged at the question, he was curious about it also though.
"I guess this is Hasaki's younger brother…" the one called Horohoro wondered as he took a quick look at Kusari. "The resemblance in looks is easy to notice… I wonder is he's as talented as his brother…"
"Ibuki, you remember what our father said, right?" asked Funbo, breaking the silence that felt between the leaf-nins. "I'm also curious how strong you became during that year so I hope you'll manage to the point we get to face each other…" and with that he and his team began to walk away.
"So, what do you think, Hizoku?" Tokame asked his teammate.
"They seem rather strong…" replied the red-head. "They should be watch-out for…"
"Ibuki, I have a question…" announced Kumiko, drawing their attention. "That Funbo guy is your older brother, right?" the young assassin only nodded. "But Naruto-sensei said you were the Tanken heir, so what's the deal?"
"Well, technically, both me and Funbo are the heirs of Tanken…" responded the weapon mistress. "You see, the succession in the Tanken is a bit different then in other clans. If the head of my clan has more then one child, it's not the birth date that matters in the decision of who'll inherit the leadership. The children has to fight with each other and the one who'll prove to be stronger then others, becomes the head of the clan. Age has nothing to do with anything…"
"Sounds kinda fair…" noticed Kogane.
"Yeah well, still those who are older usually have bigger chances in winning anyway…" replied the young assassin. "Besides, it's not like I really care whether I'll become the head of the clan or not…"
"What are you talking about?" yelled Kai, getting closer to his teammate. "If you'd won, you'd become the head of one of Konoha's greatest clans! That would be awesome!"
"Think of all the food you could get..." Hanamaru wondered off.
"Must those brats be so loud?" asked the bandaged sand-nin, the one called Tarakudo. "Keep it down, dammit!"
"Calm yourself, Tarakudo…" asked his teammate, the one with white hair and purple eyes. "Remember what that jounin said… we'll be thrown out of the exams if we start a fight outside the test…"
"Honemaru's right…" nodded one of the girls, the red-head. "The exams will begin soon enough anyway, you just have to hold on a bit more…"
"Leave it, Aoru…" the second girl with blonde hair cut in. "You know how he is…"
"Now that the teams have been listed, the first exam will begin!" announced Tenten, again getting most of the people's attention. "Just wait until your number is mentioned and then follow the assigned chuunin to the right entrance. I'll be waiting for you guys on the other side of the mountain! Good luck, coz you're certainly gonna need it!" and with that she disappeared in the cloud of white smoke.
"Miaka, don't forget that you're our thumb card for this test…" Tetsu reminded his teammate, a girl with the tiger. "You better do good…"
"That's us, that's us!" yelled Kai as he hear their team number called out.
"We know, bonehead…" assured Takaru as he and the rest of his team walked towards the right chuunin. "You're just annoying…"
"Good luck, Takaru-kun!" Kogane yelled after them, which made the son of Tsunade sweat drop a bit.
Few minutes later, Kai and his team stood in front of the small entrance to the tunnel. The inside was dark and they couldn't tell what exactly was in it.
"Your test begins now…" announced the chuunin and with those words the five rookies charged right into the shadows of the tunnel.
And with that this chapter ends. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave a review once you're done reading.
Also my exams are practically over, so I should be able to get back to updating once a week (that is if I'll ever catch up on sleeping from the time I studied) so hopefully you'll get to read a bit more (the Chuunin Exam is REALLY long in this fic... but also will allow you to know better the more important characters). Well, I'm still a bit tired, but at least I'm quite free.
Something that might interest you: Now, before I end this chapter for good, two extra things: starting soon I'll be making character profiles of the new OC's, so if you're interested in any, specific one let me know and you can expect his or hers profile to be one of the first I'll place. And the second thing:
Bonus info: I've already told you how team number seven was created, so why not reveal how the others were made? By random selection I'll give you the process of making team number four led by Hinata.
Since Hinata is practically my favorite character in the manga I made a decision she'll lead one of the teams almost immediately. However making her subordinates prove to be more problematic then I thought. In the beginning there was Kokoro and Galu. I can't really recall from where I get the idea of the first one, but I liked it so much I decided that this will be the one that will stay in the team for sure. Galu's situation was different.
Don't get me wrong, I grew to like him, but for quite some time I couldn't think of any, interesting skills for him nor did he stand out. I'm not gonna lie: when I started uploading this fic on this site, the main reason he stayed as the member of the team was because due to the fact that there were five-man teams I required three boys and I couldn't think of anyone better. As I developed the storyline he prove to be a character that can play a big part in it after all and now I'm satisfied with the fact I kept him in the team.
Creating the other three was one of the hardest things so far though. For the long time I couldn't think off the third member and then it turned out that the teams will be five-man it became even harder coz I had to make two, extra characters. The third one that became the member of this team was Tsume. I always liked Kiba's fighting style so I guess that's partly the reason for creating Tsume... plus I figure making a female Inuzuka can be fun.
Mikka at first was actually a member of team seven. It's her that I had in mind when I wrote that I was thinking about putting a Hinata-wannabe in team 7... she ended up here mostly due to the fact that Ibuki seemed a better choice as one of the main characters... and there's always the relationship Mikka and her sensei has now.
Even though some of you may not believe this, Senkou who seem to be an un-official leader of the five, was not only created last in the team but was also THE LAST of the Leaf gennins that came to my head! What's kinda unproffesional is that I started to submit this fic before he was even created! What inspired me to make the son of Hokage? I guess there were few reasons... one was that I didn't really saw any children of Kakashi in the future fics on this site... but as the storyline is right now I'm actually really happy I came up with him... and it's better to have two sons of the Hokage instead of one, right?
Well, with that I'd like to finish this.
Take care and hopefully till the next time!