39

Two Weeks Later

It was an early morning in Konoha; Chi-Chi was staring out of the hotel window in something of a daze. Today was the beginning of the final exams and she was nervous to say the least. She was being grouped with the best of the best to go all out with. Her first matchup was even a bit worrisome, considering how good of a taijutsu expert he was, and he probably spent the entire month training like her fellow Kumo resident Son Goku.

Bulma stirring in her sleep made her turn around and she tried to smile at the girl as she woke up, "Good morning, Bulma-chan." She greeted as she walked away from the window so she could continue preparing for the big day she had ahead of her.

"Morning," Bulma said groggily as she rubbed at her eyes. She looked around the room, seeing Mao still sleeping, and the empty spot that usually held Goku, "Goku's still not back?" Chi-Chi shook her head and the blue-haired teenager got out of the bed and stretched her arms. She only chose to sleep in a simple t-shirt and a pair of panties.

As she was stretching the door flipped open and Master Roshi immediately had a nose gushing with blood once he caught wind of the young girl. She wasn't naked, but the old man had an active imagination. His sunglasses starting sliding down his face, and he would have gone unnoticed had he not been breathing so hard upon entering.

Chi-Chi yelled out all of a sudden and a sandal was instantly planted in his face, "SENSEI!" The man was sent flying through the door of the opposite hotel room and a fuming little girl stormed back into her own room pointing at Bulma, "Put some clothes on, please!"

Bulma frowned, "It's not my fault he's a pervert!" She said as she walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Master Roshi quickly regained his composure, since he was excited about the day. He pushed his sunglasses back up and wiped away the blood that managed to drip out. He entered the room with a big smile, "Are you ready, Chi-Chi!?" The girl sent back a stale face and he raised a curious brow, "Today's the first day of exams!" The old man was giddier than Chi-Chi was for sure.

"I'm nervous," Chi-Chi admitted as she folded her arms over one another. The girl sat down on her bed, "There's going to be some pretty strong genin there…" Her mind trailed off into thinking about Raditz, who defeated Choji with one hand. Even Rock Lee was strong in his own right, and her skin was almost crawling at the thought of walking into the arena.

Her sensei saw her sulking and patted a gentle hand on her head, "You've got nothing to worry about, Chi-Chi!" She looked up and grinned at the man, "Now let's show Goku and K who's the best team and Kumogakure."

XxX

(Konohagakure ~ With Team Vegeta)

Raditz face was slightly cringing while he re-bandaged the stump that used to be his hand. He glared at Vegeta as the boy got up from his seat and strolled across the room. He hated living with the constant reminder of how untrustworthy and irrational his teammate was, but there was nothing he could do to change the past. He had a big day to prepare for, since he was the only genin representing Iwagakure.

Vegeta had gotten up to open the door for Mai, their recently added teammate for the exams. She had a big box in her hands, "Hm, the package came I see." He said as he snatched it out of her grasp and went over to the table to tear it open with a knife. "What did that wretched old man send us this time?" He asked as he didn't hesitate to pull out the contents.

The trio of genin stared at the cases full of capsules, and Vegeta handed them off to Mai if it looked uninteresting to him. For the most part, the care package consisted of medical capsules, and weapons that Vegeta didn't care for. The last item he lifted out of the crate was a metallic box that had a note attached to it, "Open immediately." The saiyan prince read out loud and turned to his two teammates, "This is your job." He placed it in Mai's hand like the other items and went to sit back down on top of his bed.

Mai furrowed her brow, always being tasked with things Vegeta found too annoying to do. Every day she questioned her worth to the team, but shook it off as her mind turned to the metallic box that hardly looked like tech this planet had to offer. She looked up at Vegeta and Raditz, remembering Alien technology was highly plausible in her life now, "I don't know how to open it."

"Well, figure it out, girl," Raditz said as he finished covering his stump and went to find a seat. He shut his eyes while he waited for Mai to do so.

"It's not that—fine," The girl shook her head, fiddling with the object trying to make it activate. Mai sat in silence trying to figure out akin to a child trying to solve a Rubik's cube, except her task was a thousand times more frustrating. The girl growled and threw the box against the wall and it suddenly sprung open, beginning to buzz loudly. Her eyes widened, "Did I break it?"

Vegeta jumped up instantly, "You idiot!"

Before the petty argument could ensue, a light started to shine from the device, and a hologram version of Onoki was projected out of it, "Greetings, children." Raditz and Vegeta raised a curious brow, not seeing this kind of tech for years, while Mai was in complete awe. "Don't think because I'm not in attendance I don't hear about your endeavors. You three are representing my village very well, and I hope to continue to hear good things… However," All three genin gulped hard when the man's tone began to change. "Remember that everything gets back to me. Should you step out on your orders, you will be dealt with by me personally. I will overlook your previous mistakes Vegeta, but I expect nothing but excellence from here on out."

The Prince of all Saiyans grumbled something under his breath and the hologram literally turned to face him. His eyes widened, but remained silent.

"Now that you have made it this far, I can update you with your true mission. Normally I would never trust such brats to carry out something so serious, but to remain inconspicuous I put this in your hands. You will be working with a new set of friends I've made in Hi no Kuni. I have sent everything you will need to carry out your part, and said new friends will be explaining the rest," The hologram disappeared and the trio of genin stared at each other.

"New friends," Vegeta said distastefully, he hated taking orders from anyone especially a new comer.

The room went silent once more when there was a knock on the door, "Must be the new friends he was talking about," Mai said as she looked at Vegeta. "Well, go open the door."

XxX

(Konohagakure ~ With Team Deidara)

Karin wrapped bandages around N's torso, while said blonde was staring hatefully at Deidara, who was sitting on a branch. Mere minutes ago their teenage leader was 'teaching' his student about different types of explosives, and their lesson went wrong. The red head genin had to pull shrapnel out N's torso, "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

"I know," N got over the pain once he got a chance to bite Karin's arm and utilize her ability, but what bothered him was Deidara's childish demeanor about it all. Once the girl was done, he put his sweatshirt back on and adjusted the drawstrings. He looked up at his 'sensei' and furrowed his brow, "Nothing to say?"

"Actually, yes," Deidara smirked said as he flicked his wrist, and a clay bird shot out from his sleeve and landed on N's shoulder. "Since you're the only one out of you three to make it to the finals, you have to take on this very serious mission, un." The boy's eyes showed some interest, so Deidara began to smile. He knew he was about to ruin N's mood even more, "Since you three are here, you know about Earth's little alien problem. You were put in this exam to build a clientele for regular humans who are tired of being harassed by this alien presence. When you get the chance, I want you to capture Son Goku with this new technology."

N rolled his eyes, but the moment he did that the clay bird on his shoulder melted down and squirmed onto his chest. He wasn't surprised at all, "I'm guessing if I don't do what I'm told, you'll kill me?" Deidara nodded happily.

The older blonde threw a capsule down to N and the boy caught it, "I'll let you know when to use it. If you disobey, remember, it's your head, un."

The boy stared at the capsule and then put it in his pocket. He felt bad about being turned against one of his best friends, but he would follow along with the Akatsuki's strange orders for now, lest he wanted to be killed. Hopefully Goku would escape when the time came.

Something in N's mind clicked while Deidara was still spouting off orders and he nearly smiled while the teenager was ranting. If he actually had to capture Goku, could he even do it? The saiyan child was extremely strong and he had gone MIA while training. Only time would tell, but now N was legitimately interested.

"Ok, un! Let's go to the arena!"

XxX

(Training Field ~ With Team Gai)

Ten-Ten pulled out weapon after weapon as she polished, sharpened, and maintained her arsenal. After seeing what Lazuli did to Vegeta with relative ease, she wanted to be as ready as possible. Just like her teammate Rock Lee, she was excited for what was ahead of her. Facing another strong kunoichi like Lazuli was making her blood boil with excitement.

Rock Lee was doing non-stop push ups, he wasn't worried about his first round opponent, even though she was quite capable. After seeing what 19 did to Neji, he wanted to revenge not only his teammate, but Hinata who lost her eyes in the Forest of Death. He believed in Son Goku, but he wanted the chance at the chubby Otogakure genin. Neji was still injured, couldn't walk, move his arms, and he was just now getting to the point of sitting up straight.

Avenging the Hyuga's was his burning motivation for the day. He jumped up from the exercise and dusted himself off as he walked up to salute his sensei. The older man smiled at his student, Ten-Ten followed behind Lee, "We're ready, Gai-sensei!" He threw his hand up in excitement and Ten-Ten rolled her eyes as the teacher-pupil duo immediately started crying tears of joy.

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU," Gai wiped tears out of his eyes as he placed a hand on top of Rock Lee's head. He looked at Ten-Ten, "Ten-Ten! I am proud of your progress too, a very youthful kunoichi indeed!" Gai returned his hand back at his side and promptly folded his arms over each other. "Remember your motivation for today, kids! Our dear friend Neji needs our youthful energy to help with his recovery. You've made it this far, let us show the village why our team is the strongest to walk the streets of Konoha!"

Lee yelled out passionately, while Ten-Ten simply nodded.

"So we should head to the arena then?"

XxX

(Streets Of Konoha ~ With Jirou)

The boy sat quietly on top of a stream as he let his chakra flow freely. Jirou's eyes were pressed shut, just feeling out nature around him. He slowly went through a string of hand signs while meditating, the earth around him beginning to rumble. Slabs from the ground began to rise up and shape themselves, as the stream elevated as well. The water flowed over the edge, and the boy finally opened his eye to see if what he created was what he wanted. The man-made waterfall made him smirk.

He was trying to a get a handle over his abilities and this was just the beginning. Jirou tried to follow up with another string of hand-signs but a sudden spasm in his fingers destroyed the sequence. The boy grasped at the hurt hand and hissed quietly, shaking it off like it would make the pain go away, "How did that old man do it?" He asked no one in particular as he tended to his hand.

An ink bird landing on his shoulder let him know his time was up. He shooed the bird away and it dipped into the water, dissipating into the words 'time to leave.' Jirou shut his eyes, because despite the fact that Sai looked up to him as a leader, he seemed to always be the one getting orders. He let out a low sigh, and the waterfall he just created slowly sunk back into the ground.

He stood up on the stream and walked onto the grass, watching quietly as Sai emerged from the shadows with his usual stale face, "Nice to see you, Sai." A simple nod was all he got in return from the stoic teenager. "Why are you in such a rush leave?" Jirou hated to be interrupted from his training session.

"I may have found a lead for you," Sai said with his usual disingenuous smile creeping onto his face. "We went through your files back at the base, remember who was apart of the original 'Cell Project' don't you?"

Jirou nodded, "Orochimaru before he left the village."

"He stole documents, naturally, but he also took half of the entire project. There were more cells that were supposed to be infused into you that would have made you more powerful," Sai reminded the newly born Jirou. The boy looked somewhat confused, "Orochimaru defected, but had recent ties in Otogakure. There's a team of Otogakure ninja in the exam, if we use them; we can lure him out."

"You think he has the answers," Jirou scratched at his chin and then simply nodded. "Perhaps it would be best to head down to the arena then. Let's go."

Both boys disappeared in a swift shushin and left the area like it was before. Once they left, bushes started to shift and a small pug with a Konoha hitae-ate wrapped around its head walked out, and from the opposite side of the stream were more dogs, as well as Kakashi. He was seen moving his headband back over his eye and letting out a long sigh.

Pakkun sniffed the ground as Kakashi walked up to him, "Any idea what's going on around here anymore?" He looked up at his summoner with a frown.

"Not at all," Kakashi said with a frown underneath his mask. There were a lot of wild things happening within the walls of Konoha and he was tasked with figuring it out outside of the ANBU. The man kneeled down to further talk to Pakkun, "A lot of shit is brewing. He's been searching for something the last few days; he's not covering tracks so it can't be bad."

"Or he doesn't care who finds out," Pakkun said to Kakashi with a hint of skepticism in his voice. "Danzo disappeared the day he appeared, he could have killed him. The boy could be worse for Konoha than the old man, which would be ironic." The pack of dogs got more of their scents and was ready to move out again.

"I've never seen that kid he was with either," Kakashi tried to connect Sai's face to a recognizable name but only drew blanks. Something else clicked in his mind though, "Oh! I'm supposed to be picking up Naruto and Sasuke at the gate, I might be a little late." He disappeared a poof of smoke and the group of nin-ken did the same promptly after.

XxX

(Konoha's Gates – 30 Minutes Later)

"I hate adults," Naruto said, sitting down with his head resting between his knees. Kotetsu and Izumo wouldn't let him and Sasuke inside the village until their sensei showed up. "I hate adults," Naruto reiterated while Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'm going home," Sasuke said with his hands stuffed in his pockets and started walking away, but Naruto snapping at him made him turn around and groan. "What?"

"What if Kakashi-sensei shows up? He said he had something special for us today!" Naruto yelled with excitement in his voice, jumping up and running up to Sasuke. "We already learned the Rasengan; maybe he's going to teach us something even cooler!"

"He would have to show up to show us anything in the first place, dobe," Sasuke spat back in response and tried to turn his back on his teammate once more. They had been traveling around Hi no Kuni watching Jiraiya flirt with every woman in the country, and then he dumped them on the Konoha's doorstep for Kakashi to come get. Sasuke was done with his so called mentors for a while, he just wanted to relax at home. "Just go home, Naruto."

"You don't at least want to see the exams?" Naruto asked with somewhat of a frown. Sasuke was in one of his moods when he wanted to be alone, and he wasn't a big fan of it.

"Not a—"

A poof of smoke popping up behind them made them turn around to see what it was, and it was none other than their tardy sensei Kakashi, "Yo." He simply waved to his two students and they growled, both boys tackling Kakashi to the ground and tried to punch him, and once again he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

The real Kakashi waved from the gate, "Ok, kids, let's go see the exams."

"YEAH!" Naruto jumped up and ran after Kakashi as he walked away.

Sasuke growled and followed behind his sensei and teammate.

He just wanted to go home.

XxX

I SWEAR I'M TRYING LMAO. HAPPY LUKE CAGE DAY. DEATH IS IRRELEVANT NEXT I SWEAR. DAILY UPDATES I SWEAR. I SWEAR. I SWEAR.