Hi everyone reading, thank you for alerting and reviewing on the last chapters! I'm glad people are liking my story so far, I'm hoping that my story will be different from all the others that I have read as I feel the way I have planned it all out you will all be pleasantly happy and surprised!

Drop a review if you feel like it to tell me what you think about the story so far!

The Exam Begins!

Onyx and Ivory

Two and a half years passed peacefully in Konoha, the seasons changed and peace was more or less solidified within the village. The academy was brimming with new students and the shops and markets were flourishing.

It was the middle of summer; the hot Konoha heat bore down on the village but it didn't stop the villagers from enjoying their days of peace. Countless people flocked to the rivers and enjoyed their time cooling off. The sky was cloudless and a stunning cornflower blue.

Entering the Uchiha compound on the far side of the village, a fourteen-year-old Hoshiko strode through the area with a grin on her face. Her long sleek black hair that she had grown out over the two years reached the middle of her back as it swished from side to side as she walked. Her front bangs curled around her chin as her forehead protector sat proudly at the top of her head. Her face had thinned out and lost most of her baby fat, her silver eyes were the brightest they had ever been and a faint red touched her cheeks from the blazing sun above.

She was wearing her new uniform today, for today; was her ANBU entrance exam. Her legs were covered in the loose fitting trousers and black ninja sandals, she wore a long sleeved black shirt for the time being, she would be getting her armor when she went to headquarters. Her weapons pouch was strapped to her right leg and a belt with three more weapons and scroll packs on her rear.

Hoshiko walked the familiar path to the large Uchiha mansion, she greeted some of the friendly Uchiha's that recognized her from always being around their heir so much as she walked up to the door. She rapped on it quickly and waited for someone to answer. It was a much different scene from a few years ago when Hoshiko would almost beat the door down to get Itachi's attention; she had matured over the two years.

The door slid open to reveal Uchiha Mikoto. She saw Hoshiko and her smile brightened at the young girl. "Ohayo, Hoshiko-chan."

Hoshiko smiled back, using her manners, "Ohayo, Mikoto-san!"

Mikoto stepped out of the way to let the girl in as Hoshiko slipped out of her shoes and pushed them to the side. "He's upstairs right now, he returned from a mission last night; good luck on your exam today," Mikoto said pleasantly as Hoshiko bowed in respect to her and watched the mother leave. Once she was gone Hoshiko's silver eyes glinted maliciously.

Hoshiko headed to the stairs as a little figure came bounding down them, his spikey hair bouncing on his head. Sasuke's dark eyes glared up at his arch nemesis as he crossed his arms.

"Nii-san's sleeping. You can't disturb him." He stated to her firmly as Hoshiko rolled her eyes and slapped her hand down on top of his head.

"Now now, little Sasuke, this is important ANBU business," she said with a smirk as Sasuke gripped her hand and yanked her hand off his head.

"You're not even in ANBU!" He exclaimed as Hoshiko growled at him.

"I will be after today, gaki!" Hoshiko mocked him as Sasuke continued to frown up at her. Sasuke yelped when suddenly Hoshiko pinched his cheeks and pulled on them roughly. "So you better start respecting me!"

"Okaa-san!" Sasuke cried out as Hoshiko removed her hands and laughed at the redness of Sasuke's cute little cheeks as he ran off to his mother. Hoshiko took this as her chance as she dashed up the stairs; she tip toed to the door at the end of the hall she knew was Itachi's room as she stood outside. With a grin she opened her mouth.

"Ohayo! Ita—" she kicked the door open with her foot, "chi!"

The door flew open and hit the other side of the wall as Itachi shot up in his bed, his black orbs immediately changed to red, thinking that he had come under attack as he narrowed his gaze at the grinning girl as she strode into the room.

"What are you doing?" He asked her monotonously. Hoshiko reached out and shut the door calmly as she pointed to it.

"Shutting the door, got a problem with that?"

Itachi's eyes faded to his onyx as he rolled back onto his bed, he had only gotten in at four in the morning, and if his body clock was right it was barely seven in the morning. There was a shift on his mattress as he turned onto his back, seeing Hoshiko bending over him, her legs on either side of his waist.

"Oi, Itachi-baka! Did you forget what day it is?" She hissed at him as she placed her hands on her waist as she glared down at him. Itachi sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Of course not, you've been talking about it non-stop the past three weeks," he muttered grumpily as Hoshiko stepped off his bed and went and sat on the desk on the other side of the room. "In any case, I thought you weren't a morning person, I expected I would be the one to come and drag you to the meeting." Itachi grumbled as she sat up and tossed his legs over the side to plant them on the ground.

"I'm not, I couldn't sleep at all last night." Hoshiko whined as she played with a kunai relic. Itachi sighed in annoyance as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Please don't drop that."

"I wont," she said defensively, "I'm not a child."

"Could've fooled me," Itachi muttered.

Suddenly the door opened as Sasuke came bounding in; his cheeks were still red as Hoshiko snorted at the sight of him.

"Nii-san! I tried to stop her!" Sasuke hollered, his eyes as wide as saucers. Itachi exhaled sharply; all he wanted was a nice peaceful sleep, apparently that was too much as he had a friend like Hoshiko. Before Itachi could tell his beloved little brother that it was all right Hoshiko was already at the door, her hand covering Sasuke's face as she pushed him back.

"Thanks for dropping by, Sasuke!"

Hoshiko slammed the door in Sasuke's face as the two teens heard the annoyed yelling of Sasuke as he pounded on the door.

"Nii-san!" came the muffled yell of Sasuke as Hoshiko sniggered. Itachi rubbed his face and sent her a pointed look.

"You should be more nicer to him," he said to her as he watched Hoshiko hold the door handle as Sasuke tried to open the door once more.

"But it's so much fun seeing him squirm!" She laughed as Itachi rolled his black orbs at her.

"He's going to resent you one day." Itachi stated as Hoshiko scoffed at him.

"He already does, besides, he's so easy to rile up; all I have to do is pretend that I'm going to make your life miserable and he's comes rushing in all heroic."

"You already make my life miserable," Itachi stated with a pointed look. Hoshiko mocked being hurt.

"You're incredibly grumpy this morning."

"I've had three hours sleep," Itachi said through gritted teeth as Hoshiko laughed. Her laugh was music to his ears.

Over the two and half years since Hoshiko and Itachi had began training together the friendship they had formed was strong. Hoshiko was no longer the brooding and snappy child that she used to be; she used to hate social interaction and did her best to avoid it at all costs, as well as Itachi. But the two were now as close as Itachi and Shisui were; it was as if the two most anti-social people found solace in being around the other.

She was now more outgoing and ever the sarcastic, not that she wasn't before but the way she carried herself, she was proud and confident, not like when she was eleven and shied away from people who seemed to dislike her, now she relished in it.

"Well don't go back to sleep, we've got a big day ahead!" Hoshiko cried cheerfully as she wrenched the door open. Sasuke tumbled into the room as he crossed his arms and glared up at Hoshiko.

"You're so annoying!" He cried as Hoshiko faked surprise.

"My, Sasuke-chan, what are you doing outside, you should've knocked on the door I would've let you in!" Hoshiko held her hand to her chest as Sasuke seethed; the anger was coming off him in waves.

Hoshiko patted Sasuke on the head, not gently, as the young Uchiha winced and turned his pleading gaze onto his older brother.

"Nii-san! Aren't you going to yell at her?" Sasuke complained as Itachi chuckled at the two of them. "Oi! Nii-san!"

"Ja ne, Sasuke-chan!" Hoshiko waved as she left the room, leaving Sasuke to run over to his brother who still had a smirk on his face.

"Nii-san, why are you friends with her?" He asked with a big pout on his little face. Itachi bowed his head and sighed.

"I don't know, Sasuke."

Sasuke suddenly perked up as he grinned at his brother, "Can we train together today?" He asked eagerly as Itachi gave him an apologetic look and beckoned him closer. Sasuke beamed as he stepped closer and winced when he felt two fingers poke his forehead roughly.

"Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe next time."

The sound of a cane tapping on the hard concrete floor echoed throughout the underground complex as the withered old man walked slowly to his bowed subordinate. His orange haired Root, hidden behind his rat mask raised his head as Danzo approached him. Danzo came to a stop a few feet away as he settled both hands on his walking cane.

"It is time." Danzo stated as the Root nodded.

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

"I have made all the necessary arrangements, you will be placed on the team with the girl; make sure you do not kill her, we need her to unlock her powers."

"I understand," the Root nodded as Danzo studied him for a few seconds before inclining his head gently.

"She will be protected by the Sharingan user, be sure that they never find out that you had any part in this."

The Root was silent, he knew the success of the mission rested on his shoulders.

"Go, and do not disappoint me," Danzo threatened him as the orange haired Root disappeared in a puff of white smoke. After he was gone, Danzo's mouth twitched up into a malicious smirk.

Finally, we can get to work.

"So, for today your codename is going to be Tsuki." Kakashi told Hoshiko as they stood on top of the Hokage tower. The girl was beaming as Kakashi handed her a porcelain mask with the markings of a cat on them. Hoshiko was now wearing a sleeveless black shirt with her grey ANBU armor covering her chest, back, arms and shins. Her hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail as she secured the mask to her face.

"Got it, Kakashi-senpai!" Hoshiko cheered as Kakashi deadpanned and smacked his forehead.

"Oi, what did I just tell you! My codename is Inu," he hissed at her as Hoshiko waved her hand teasingly.

"Hai, hai!" She said with a giggle.

Kakashi sighed heavily as two more people appeared a few feet behind them. Both were ANBU were male and wearing masks; one had bright orange hair with the mask of a rat and the other was light haired with the mask of a monkey. All of them towered over Hoshiko as Kakashi nodded to the two ANBU.

"Captain, everything is ready." The light haired ANBU said with a nod as Kakashi turned his masked face to Hoshiko.

"Good, but for today, Tsuki is captain."

Hoshiko felt her stomach drop as she looked over at the obviously more experienced ANBU that would be helping her with her exam today. Even though she couldn't see their eyes, she could feel their critical gazes on her and she tried not to let her nervousness seep through. This is what she had been training for the past three years, she was finally catching up to Itachi.

"You two, your code names." Kakashi said to them as the light haired one nodded.

"Hai, I am Mon."

"Renji," the orange haired one said dully.

Hoshiko took note of their names, she'd probably forget them soon enough, she was never good at learning people's names. Hoshiko missed Kakashi pulling out a small scroll and handing it to her.

"Captain, the missing brief." Kakashi said to her as Hoshiko was still trying to remember their names. Kakashi sighed and smacked her lightly on the arm as she flinched.

"Ah, gomen!" She took the scroll from him and opened it up. She read it quickly and as if a switch had been flicked inside her, the aura around Hoshiko changed as her happy and cheerful mood switched to serious and focused.

"The Daimyo's granddaughter has been taken for ransom. The enemy's base has been spotted near the border and we have been tasked with her safe retrieval. The enemies' numbers are unknown and their skills are unknown. We have until the end of the third day to complete the mission before she is killed."

Hoshiko read out, as her teammates remained silent. They were waiting for her to make the next decision. She quickly ran over all of her options in her head and then nodded.

"Mon, what are your strengths?" She asked from the monkey wearing ANBU.

"I'm a Ninjutsu user with my strength lying in Genjutsu."

Hoshiko nodded and then turned to the bright haired ANBU.

"Renji?"

"I'm a sensory user," he replied sharply, "my strength is Taijutsu."

"Ok," Hoshiko sighed as she went over a few formations in her head, it took a few seconds before she looked over at Kakashi.

"We'll be using the single file formation when we travel. Inu, you'll be first, your sense of smell is unrivaled and if the enemy is masking their chakra you can pick them up. You also have the Sharingan, you'll be able to see any incoming attacks first and warn us." Kakashi nodded, behind his mask he was smiling at the way that she took charge; she certainly knew what she was doing.

"Mon," she said sharply. "You're next. If Inu is engaged in an enemy I want you to immediately cast a Genjutsu on the area to obscure us."

Mon nodded to her.

"I'll be next," Hoshiko said pointing to herself. "Renji you'll be last, you're a better sensor than me and with your strong Ninjutsu you can use it from afar if any of them jump out. I'll be watching your back if that happens."

There was a slight incline of Renji's head, saying that he understood.

"We'll travel as far as we can today, and we should hopefully make it to the border by the morning of the third day. Once there we'll stake out their base and plan our infiltration from there, understood?"

"Hai!" All three of then chanted together as Hoshiko rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into her pocket.

"Let's head out," she said with a fierce determination in her eyes as the four of them leapt off the Hokage tower and towards the village exit.

"We'll stop here." Hoshiko called out over the loud wind. She jumped down from the tree she had jumped to and landed on the ground in a crouch as she watched the others join her. Kakashi, Renji and Mon all surveyed the area they were in. It was a small clearing with the tree's to their right and a cliff wall to their left, the area was surrounded by bushes, which obscured them; it was a good place for camp.

It was the morning of the third day; they had travelled hard and long to reach this place. It was just after dawn, dew was still stuck to the grass and a chill was in the air. They were at the border of the Fire country and the Waterfall country; it was much colder at the border at this time of year. Hoshiko brought out her map and scroll as she laid them on the grass as her three companions gathered around her.

"From the information given the enemy has a base set up here," Hoshiko pointed to a small dot just inside the Fire Country. "We're here." Hoshiko pointed to a spot that was a few miles away.

"We'll head up to the base and stay just out of range of any sensory ninja's that they might have. Once there I'll go and survey the area, seeing how many ninja are around and any blind spots that we can use. From there I'll be able to gauge how many we'll be taking on an what approach will be necessary."

Mon and Renji nodded as Kakashi was still, Hoshiko looked over at him.

"I think I should do the recon," Kakashi said as Hoshiko shook her head.

"No, I will. I can completely mask my chakra, they wont be able to detect me, and if they do, I'm fast and lighter then you all, I'll be able to slip away and signal you three for help."

This time Kakashi nodded as Hoshiko rolled up the scrolls once more. "This will be our meeting place, if we get separated or come under attack, retreat back here."

The three ANBU nodded to her as Hoshiko inhaled sharply and leapt up into the trees.

The team stopped when Renji gave the signal that they had come to the edge of a sensor's range. They ducked behind trees as Kakashi and Hoshiko stood together, the older ANBU towering over her as the peered through the bushes; they could faintly make out the building from their distance. Hoshiko glanced up at Kakashi through her hair.

"How am I doing?" She whispered to him as she heard the silver haired man sigh.

"You shouldn't be asking me this, we're in the middle of a mission."

"So that means I'm doing good?" She asked with a grin. Kakashi was silent and Hoshiko took that as a yes. She chuckled quietly and felt a sharp hit to the back of her head as she hissed and glared up at the man. Kakashi was smirking from behind his mask.

Hoshiko glanced over at Renji and Mon, who were both facing the base; they met her gaze as she gave them the signal that she was going in. Hoshiko made the rat seal and in a second her chakra signature completely disappeared. Kakashi was impressed to say the least.

Hoshiko jumped up into the trees again as she diligently made her way closer to the base.

Hoshiko crawled under the bush as she moved some of the sharp branches out of her way as her cunning silver eyes scanned the area. The base was a large four-story house; it was wooden and was surrounded by a tall wooden fence. At the front was a gate that was guarded by one masked enemy wearing a dark cloak. Hoshiko looked around the fence and saw three more masked enemies atop the wall. They were all standing still, the only thing moving was their heads, as they looked from side-to-side, scanning the area. Hoshiko closed her eyes and concentrated on expanding her chakra sensory. She wasn't as skilled as Renji in his sensor, he could sense over a large space; Hoshiko had to be within a hundred meters to be able to sense all of the people in one area. As she focused, she could feel the chakra signatures of all the ninja's inside the base.

There were the four outside; all had at least Chuunin level chakra abilities. Then there were about six inside, four on the bottom floor and two on the second level; all were about Chuunin level. On the third floor there were only two signatures, but these one's were a lot more advanced than the others, they would be about Jounin level; Hoshiko guessed this was where they were holding the Daimyo's granddaughter. On the top level were two more ninja's, one was a Jounin level and the other a Chuunin level.

She huffed; they weren't making this easy, were they? There were fourteen enemies all together and four of them. The only thing that they had on their side was the fact that her team consisted of stealth. It would at least give them the element of surprise when they went in.

Hoshiko was trying to decide what method would be the most effective, having them sneak in and take out the one's on the top level and get the Daimyo's granddaughter? Or burst in through the front door?

The front attack was out of the question. They would be outnumbered immediately if they lodged a frontal attack, all of the enemies would be on them in a second and they'd be overpowered. It didn't matter that these enemies were weaker than them, they had more; and if they saw them coming, they'd kill the granddaughter before they had even stepped one foot into the building.

Hoshiko watched as one of the masked men turned a different way and scoped out the area he was now facing, she noticed that the other two on the wall did the exact same. A thought suddenly lit up in her head as she grinned.

Hoshiko continued to watch the area for another hour, she was taking note of all the positions that the enemies took inside and tried to go over her plan a dozen times in her head to make sure that it would work. She was putting into account all of the different things that could go wrong and how she could get around them. It was this critical thinking that Itachi had installed in her from their training sessions. He had always warned her to plan everything out, even the minuscule things that could go wrong and compensate for them; even if there was a slim chance that it could happen, she still planned a work around, so that if it did, she wouldn't be left out in the dark.

Hoshiko jumped suddenly when a large black bird, a crow, landed on the ground in front of her. It cawed loudly as Hoshiko sighed and glared at the bird, it had scared her half to death as she hissed at it, trying to get it to fly away from her; she would be damned if a stupid bird blew her cover. The crow picked out a worm from the ground and then swiveled its head to stare at her in the eye. She glared at it. "Shoo! You stupid bird," she hissed at it vehemently as the crow cawed again and then flew off. Hoshiko rolled her silver eyes at it and then with a final scan of the base again, she crawled out of the bush and hurried back to her team waiting for her.

When she arrived back she sighed in exasperation at Kakashi's stance, he was leaning against the tree lazily while Renji and Mon were waiting patiently and alert.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?" Hoshiko asked as Kakashi shook his head.

"Nope, all quiet, captain," Kakashi remarked with a smirk that Hoshiko couldn't see but could hear in his voice. She sent him a pointed look that he wouldn't be able to see but from the way her body was turned to look at him, he knew that she was threatening him.

Hoshiko beckoned them over as she took out a blank scroll and set it down on the ground, she took out an inkwell and a brush from her rear bag and drew a crude drawing of the base and what she saw.

"Ok, so from my recon, there are fourteen enemies. Four are stationed outside," she drew on the map the location of each of the ninja's. "One is by the gate and three on the wall. Inside on the first floor is four ninja's," she drew in them and then proceeded to draw in the two on the second floor, "and two on the second floor. All of these ninja's seem to be around a Chuunin level; they'll be easy to take out. It's the one's on the third and fourth floor that we need to watch out for." She drew them in quickly while also drawing in the granddaughter on the third floor. "Two Jounin level ninja's are on this floor, because the Daimyo's granddaughter isn't a Shinobi she doesn't have a chakra signature, but my best guess is that she is here, being protected by these two. The top level is watched by two ninja's; a Jounin level and a Chuunin level."

Hoshiko glanced at her three companions, but seeing as all their faces were covered she could only guess at what expressions they held.

"How will we get in? We've only got until the end of the day to come up with something otherwise she's dead," Mon asked Hoshiko as she nodded.

"I've already come up with one, I wasn't just scouting for our enemies out there, I thought of about ten different infiltration plans, this one is going to be our best bet of getting in and out with the least casualties."

Kakashi nodded to her to continue on, he was eager to hear what she had come up with in such a short amount of time.

"We'll wait until nightfall, it's when they'll be expecting us to attack anyway, they'll be on high alert and ready."

"That doesn't sound very smart," Kakashi whispered to her as she shushed him loudly.

"There is one blind spot. It's miniscule and only lasts for about three minutes. When the guards around the wall switch angles there's a point here," Hoshiko pointed to the west corner of the sketch, "that they miss completely. My plan is; we sneak in through the roof. Mon and Renji will take out the two guards at the top level while Inu and I go to the third floor and engage with the two other guards guarding the granddaughter. Inu, I'll have you make a shadow clone and have it attack the front gate once we engage the enemy, they'll be fighting on two fronts and your shadow clone should be enough to hold them off for a while."

Kakashi nodded to her as Hoshiko looked at her two other companions, she could feel their eyes on her as she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

"Everyone understand?" She asked of them as Mon and Renji nodded stiffly.

"We should get some rest, we'll head back to base camp and set up a safety perimeter for our extraction and take shifts guarding the area. Once it's dark we'll make our move."

"Hai, captain," Mon replied as Hoshiko grinned behind her mask. She could get used to this.

"Let's head out."

The action and plot picks up next chapter! It's sure to be exciting!