"What's this all about?" groaned Nenshō opening the door to Tsunade's office. Kumo and her were already waiting for him sitting patently in the room.
"You certainly took your time getting here." Tsunade commented, he noted the evident tone of irritation. Eight months living in Konoha and he had only once managed to annoy the Hokage to the point of physical violence. He wasn't eager to repeat the experience any time soon.
"I was training with Guy." He explained knowing this would be an adequate excuse for his state of exhaustion as well as his tardiness.
"Well now that your hear I can explain why I've summoned you two." She began. "Due to your impressive service record you two have received special permission to participate in the Chūnin exams."
Nenshō smirked. "About time. Who's our third wheel?" he asked.
"You two have special permission to participate together without a third member." She explained. "Considering all the participating Genin are already in assigned teams of three and we have no single Genin taking the exam."
Nenshō raised an eyebrow, "That knuckle head isn't taking the exam?"
"Naruto's off on a mission with Kakashi and Sakura." Explained Kumo.
"In truth this exam is more of a formality than an actual test of your abilities, the council is in fact eager to promote you both considering your impressive records."
"Of course they are." Bragged Nenshō.
"Of course you are expected to reach and compete in the third round if you're to pass the exam."
"Should be simple enough." Said Kumo. "Is that all? I have a date."
"Yeah we both do." Nenshō added.
"Yes that's all for you both, enjoy your dates. And good luck Kumo." She said dismissing them.
"Why is Kumo the one getting wished luck?" he asked.
"Because he'll be humble about it." sighed Tsunade as they left her office.
"The Chūnin exams?" inquired Ino after both Kumo and Nenshō had told them about their meeting with the Hokage and their acceptance to take the Chūnin.
"That takes me back." Said Tenten taking a sip of her tea, "It's been almost five years now since we first took it." She admitted.
"How was it?" asked Kumo over his beef miso soup.
"It was difficult the first time. Tenten and I were taken out during a preliminary fight after the second round in the Forest of Death. We had to retake the test a year later." Said Ino.
"Sounds challenging." Said Nenshō pulling a cigarette from his pack. Tenten elbowed his side and pointed to the no smoking sign. He sighed and tucked the smoke behind his ear for later.
"You two should be just fine." Smiled Ino. "I can't imagine a Genin standing a chance against you two. The test is done in three stages."
"And those are?" inquired Kumo.
"A written test, followed by a competition in the Forest of Death. After that's a fighting tournament to further judge the skills of the competitors but it's possible for everyone who makes it into the third round to become a Chūnin at that point."
"What if you and Nenshō end up fighting each other in the third round?" asked Tenten.
"We'd forfeit." They both said in unison.
Both girls raised their eyebrows. "What why?" asked Ino.
"Listen." Explained Nenshō sipping his tea. "If Kumo and I were to truly fight each other we'd have to pull out all of our tricks. It'd be to destructive for one but we'd also showcase all of our Jutsu. We can't reveal all our tricks in a public match."
"That's a shame." Pouted Ino. "It'd be an interesting match to watch. I'd like to see who'd win."
"Well enough about the exams." Said Tenten pulling Nenshō out of the booth. "It's about time we got home."
Kumo and Ino followed them as they paid their bill and walked out into the night. Kumo struck a match and lit his pipe the orange glow of his pipe reflected off his tinted lenses.
"How did you get into the habit of smoking that pipe?" Ino asked watching the smoke swirl from the bowl.
"My mother smoked a pipe. When she died she left me her pipe. So I fell into the habit of smoking it. I lost the pipe when I was captured by the Hidden Mist." He explained pulling a photo from his jacket and handing it to her. Ibiki had allowed him to keep the photograph after his interrogation. As far as he knew it was the only remaining picture of her in existence.
Ino took the photo and looked at the sandy blond staring back at her. A smoking redwood pipe with a bamboo stem was clutched in her hands. "I'm sorry." She said handing the photo back to him.
"It was just a pipe." He said tucking the picture into his jacket again.
"But it was still your mothers, and besides even after four years in that cell you still took up the habit again."
Kumo didn't say anything he just returned his pipe to his mouth and hooked an arm around her waist pulling her figure to him as they walked together.
Ino stopped and turned to face him keeping his arm around her. She plucked the pipe from his mouth and kissed him not caring about the smoke in his mouth. Her hands brushed the back of his neck brushing past the strings of his skullcap and goggles. He could tell she was fighting her desire to remove his mask. "Do you want to spend the night at my place?" he asked breaking this kiss.
"That's really tempting. And you're becoming a better romantic." She confessed placing the pipe back into his mouth. "But you have an exam in the morning and it can be a tough one even if it's a simple written exam. And I don't want to keep you up all night."
"I shouldn't have any trouble with a written exam. I also sleep better with you." He explained brushing her hair from her eyes. Her cheeks burned scarlet.
"You should try flattery more often. It's working well for you." She winked.
"It's not flattery. I'm relaxed when you're around. And I know you hate these goggles. I like knowing I can remove them when I'm alone with you."
"Fine" she surrendered. "But you are not staying up all night with me. If you fail the written exam so dose Nenshō and he'd never let me hear the end of it if I was the cause of your lack of sleep."
"That's fine." He smiled. "Since I doubt he's going to get much sleep with Tenten coming home tonight."
"So what's this secret training that's got Guy all curious?" Asked Tenten looking up at the stars that managed to shine through the black veil that was the sky.
"You mean the training that has Guy being nosy." Corrected Nenshō blowing a smoke ring up into the night.
"He just wants to help is all." She said leaning against him her hand moving through his messy red hair.
"This isn't something he can really help me with." He said.
"So what is it?" she inquired.
"I've been learning new ways to learn by burning palm." He explained holding his hand out summoning small balls of fire to his fingertips.
"You've learned the dragon claw Jutsu." She remarked remembering the Kinzoku clan's technique. "How'd you learn to do that? I thought you only knew the basics of your clans Kekkei Genkai."
"I did." He confirmed. "But back when were attacked the rebel camp in the Land of Mountains Kumo managed to steal my clans Hidden Scroll and hide it in one of his puppets. I've been studying it with Hinata's help. She's been helping me control my chakra better."
"And here I thought Kumo was trying harder to improve his Taijutsu." She said having noticed her friend's busy schedule.
"Kumo's may be a genius like the rest of the Hyūga's but I doubt he'll ever be anything than above average when it comes to Taijutsu. It's always been his bane."
"How much have you learned from the scroll?" she asked watching the fire in his hand disappear.
"I've learned a lot. But I've hardly managed to master everything it has to offer. I expected my clan's techniques to be lost when they perished. It's fortunate Kumo saved the scroll, I can put my clans Jutsu to good use."
"That should be handy for the Chūnin exam; the contenders don't hold anything back so expect some dirty tricks."
Nenshō chucked and slipped an arm around her waist pulling her to him. "I always expect something nefarious. It isn't fun otherwise."
Ibiki started the timer and the test began. Nenshō picked up his pencil and opened the written exam. He sighed as he heard the younger Genin around him begin scratching away at their test. He looked over the various questions each one more complex than the last. Tenten had mentioned last night that the written exam was designed to encourage participants to cheat so they could judge their intelligence gathering abilities as well as their intellect and how they worked with their teammate under close observation of the examiners. When he had met Kumo and told him of this he apparently had already devised a method to cheat as well as share any information with him.
Nenshō's pencil twitched in his hand, drawing a black line on his paper and twitching again forming letters. He spotted Kumo sitting across from him three chairs down his finger pointed and a thin chakra string barely visible in the light attached itself to his pencil moving it into the form of answers as he wrote on his own paper. Nenshō smirked; he was controlling his pencil like a puppet while he gathered the answers with his Byakugan. If the other stages of the exam where this easy he'd be a Chūnin in no time.