As they walked through the door, walking into the light, they stopped in a hallway to see what had been waiting for them. It was none other than their Sensei. Kakashi. When they arrived the four kids all watched as they listened to what their teacher had to say.

"Welcome, now you may finally apply for the Chunin Exams. For you to be a part of these exams every member of the team has to be a part." Kakashi explained as Sakura looked at him in confusion.

"But Kakashi-sensei, you said that it was each of our choices if we wanted to come to the Chunin Exams." Sakura complained as Kakashi nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I said that because I didn't want you to feel that were forced to come because the boys would pressure you." Kakashi said as Kakamei was the next one to speak up.

"Since that's one question that's been answered here's another one, you said that only teams of three would be able to participate in the Chunin Exams. What about us? We have four people in our squad." Kakamei said. Kakashi looked at him with a nod and sighed.

"That again is something that I had to lie about. Even though I gave all four of you tickets only three of you can pass through this door. The one to sit out will not be able to become a Chunin through the exams this year." Kakashi said. This took everyone off guard. Naruto raised his fist and looked at Kakashi as Sasuke watched with an expression of surprise and slight confusion. Sakura was looking down to the floor nervously. Kakamei was the odd one out of the group. He looked on to his sensei with a bland and blank expression.

"What do you mean only three of us can take the test?! We made it here as one team and now you want us to let one of our own teammates sit on the sidelines and watch as we become Chunin!" Naruto yelled, ready to get angry and fight anyone who had come up with this rule but Kakashi lowered his eyes jokingly and raised his hands to calm his student.

"Calm down. You're always jumping the gun when I say things like this. If you were listening I said that the person sitting out would also get a chance to become a Chunin. Just not through the exams." Kakashi said as Sakura looked up hopefully.

"Really?!" She yelled out, which surprised all of the other teammates. Naruto looked at her, almost angry that she had yelled that.

"Why are you saying that Sakura!? Aren't you angry that one of us has to give up the chance to fight at the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked, which the girl replied by shaking her head.

"No, this is better for all of us. You three can go ahead and become Chunin through the exams while I can stay behind and cheer you guys on without becoming a burden." She said quietly. Naruto and Sasuke looked at her as if she was speaking blasphemy.

"But Sakura…" Naruto trailed off. Kakamei spoke up and caught his teammates off guard.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. The other three turned to him with looks of confusion as he smiled and pointed to Kakashi.

"I'll be the one who goes on the mystery test to become a Chunin. It would only make sense." Kakamei said. Naruto jumped into his face and started his screaming.

"What are you talking about?! Now you're spouting nonsense!" He yelled. Kakamei smiled and pushed Naruto back lightly.

"No, it's not nonsense. If anything it makes the most sense. Since the formation of this squad I was the one who was added onto the team because there was one too many people in the graduating class at the academy." The three looked at him with confusion while he simply took a step forward to Kakashi. Naruto grabbed his hand and tried to pull Kakamei back.

"We didn't even talk about it! It wouldn't be fair for you to miss out on everything that's about to come from the Chunin Exams! You should stay and fight to be in the exams." Naruto almost pleaded. Kakamei simply chuckled and kept walking.

"I never said I wasn't going to fight, I'm just taking a different path than you. I'll be watching and cheering from the sidelines so all three of you go out and become Chunin." Kakamei said as he put his fist out and waited for his teammates to reach out and connect.

It took a few seconds of the others looking at each other before they eventually joined. The last one to join was Sasuke, who was looking at Kakamei with a smile.

"You better come back stronger than you are now because if you don't, then we'll leave you behind." Sasuke said confidently and sarcastically. Kakamei chuckled and nodded before pulling his hand out and looking at Kakashi.

"Alright, I'm ready to go now." Kakashi looked down at him, pleased at the decision.

"Ok, if that's what you've chosen then we'll be off. I wish all three of you the best of luck." Kakashi said. Kakamei nodded in agreement and then looked at Sakura.

"Tell Ino I said hello," Kakamei finally said before they poofed into smoke and jumped away from the scene.

A few seconds of silence passed before Naruto walked forward and looked at the door before continuing to walk.

"We'll pass this and become Chunin with KakameI!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke and Naruto yelled a prominent "YEAH!" before the doors opened to the hardest trial that they would have to face in their lives.

Kakashi and Kakamei had been transported out of the school and to the front door of the Hokage. Kakamei looked up at the huge building and the monuments of the Hokage that were on the face of a mountain.

"So, how'd you know that you had to be the one to come with me?" Kakashi asked. Kakamei smiled in response.

"It couldn't have been any of them. They were all too excited to be in the Chunin exams. Plus, since the exams are being held in the village I guessed that the Hokage would be trying to improve their relationship with the other villages. And what better to do that than to send a the only member of a clan with a powerful kekkei genkai to an ally village?" Kakamei answered. Kakashi looked at him in astonishment and confusion for a few seconds before nodding and starting to walk forward.

"You're right. It's impressive that you were able to think of something like that at your age." Kakashi admitted as he opened the door. Kakamei walked through the door.

"It's not that surprising when you consider that I have been shuffled around as a piece of diplomacy all my life." Kakamei said as he waited for Kakashi to walk through the door.

After this there were few words that were spoken as they walked up the steps. They arrived at the door of the Hokage quickly and Kakamei prepared himself to see the Hokage.

Even though Kakamei had been expressly brought to the village because Hiruzen had wanted him there were few chances when Kakamei would actually would actually meet the man. The only times he had ever had a chance to speak with the Kage himself was once a school term when he would have to report his activities and grades to the elders of the village and they would send him home while they contemplated whether they would send him to a different village or let him stay in the village longer, which would obviously end with him staying in the village for another term of school.

When the door opened to the Hokage and the rest of the elders in the village Kakamei saw that it was much different than anything that he could remember the room looked like. The room was empty except for the Hokage himself and two elders who were usually seen by the old man. When Kakamei walked into the room Kakashi closed the door behind him and waited behind the door, only thinking of what type reaction Kakamei would have for his mission. Kakamei simply started the meeting by bowing and showing respect.

"As always it is a pleasure to be in the presence of you three leaders of the village of Konoha." Kakamei said as he continued to hold his head down. Hiruzen smiled at the looks of the child while the elders looked on with plain faces.

"You may stand young man." Sarutobi ordered. Kakamei raised his head to see the old Hokage standing in front of him with a hand out, wanting a hand shake. Kakamei took his lead and shook his hand. The Hokage put his other hand on top of Kakamei's and looked at him with a happy grin.

"I'm very pleased that you agreed to come to meet with me and my counsels. We have selfishly asked of you to leave the Chunin exams and serve a service to your village." He said with a mix of happiness and disappointment, which Kakamei shook his head at.

"No, it's an honour to be asked by the Hokage himself to do a task for the village. Just ask me and I will do it." Kakamei vowed. Sarutobi nodded and took a step back and reached his hand to the left side, which was the female counsel. She handed him an envelope with a special seal that looked like a leaf on it.

Hiruzen took the letter and handed it off to Kakamei, who looked at it for a few seconds before opening it. He took the letter out to expose a piece of paper that was folded into three pieces. When he unfolded it. It was three paragraphs filled with details of his mission. Kakamei looked at it for a few seconds before getting the gist of the message and folding it and attempting to put in his pocket. Before he could the male elder stopped by letting out a booming, "NO!" that shook Kakamei more than he thought. The Daichiki turned his head up quickly and saw that the man was holding a fireball in his hand.

"Once you have read the contents of your mission thoroughly then you must destroy the papers that held the message itself." The old man said. Kakamei looked at him with a look of anger and annoyance that was covered by the blank and plain face that he tried to hold during the entire meeting. But, in that instance his entire face was changed slightly enough for the elders to take notice.

Kakamei took the route of simply following directions and reading it.

The contents of the mission were fairly simple sounding:

He would be escorted to the Village Hidden in the Clouds by Anbu Ninja

Once there he would meet with the Raikage

Meet the Jinchuriki of the Village

Return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves safely

Relay any unusual movements throughout the village that he noticed

These were the terms of the mission in shorter terms than the paper held. Kakamei read through this calmly before nodding and handing the message to the elder, who burned the paper. Kakamei, once again, bowed to the leaders of the village and spoke humbly.

"Thank you for entrusting me to something so precious to the village. I will try my hardest to accomplish this mission quickly and return." Kakamei said, which made the Hokage smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Kakamei. As consultation for you participating, if you are able to complete this mission then you will be granted the title of a Chunin. This is your test that the other genin of the village could not complete." The Hokage said. Kakamei nodded at this fact before turning and walking out of the room. When he walked into the hallway he noticed that Kakashi had left and that he would be walking out of the place alone.

He started the long stretch that was getting back to the outside. During this period of around 5 minutes Kakamei was able to dive into his thoughts about why the village would send him, why was he going to the Village Hidden in the Clouds, and who was going to be guiding him to the place.

'Why did they pick me for this? It would have been better to send a discreet team of Anbu to the village to get more information than just some simple genin. I get that it's a sign of trust between the villages but it just doesn't make sense. Why would I look for a jinchuriki? Those are supposed to be hated by everyone in a village. There are exceptions to the rules but for the Hidden Leaf Village to send me to the village just to find dirt on this person. And in the end if I'll be going to the village who will be my chaperones? The village needs as much help as it can get protecting the Chunin Exams so who would be not needed enough to leave the village but strong enough to infiltrate a village like the Village Hidden in the Clouds?' Kakamei thought to himself. Before he could continue he was cut off by the sound of someone yelling, "HEY!" into his ear. At first he jumped at the yelling before realizing that it was Kakashi trying to get his attention.

"Sorry sensei! I was thinking and I couldn't hear you." Kakamei apologized. Kakashi looked at him with a sympathetic look.

"Look, just calm down. I know all about your situation." The teacher said with a softer voice than normal, which caught Kakamei off guard. He was used to Kakashi being stale and harsh but now he seemed to be genuinely interested in his situation.

"When I was only a year older than you, I became an Anbu shinobi. When I first started I tried to understand every single that the village took and after a while I eventually had to stop before I went you only have a very limited, nearly minute, amount of information it's almost impossible to see the largest picture without losing your mind," Kakashi said calmly. Kakamei looked at him with a soft look, appreciating what his teacher was saying before he continued.

"Well, you might want to continue to think like that because you're so young but remember that you are only one person. You can't do an entire mission on your own. I know better than anyone." Kakashi advised. Kakamei looked at him for a few seconds before talking.

"Thank you sensei. That really helped me." He responded. Kakashi nodded and started talking again.

"Now that that is out of the way," Kakashi said, back to his normal blank voice, "I have already met and given approval to the Anbu who are going to be your escorts. They'll pick you from your house in exactly three hours before you set off for your destination. You'll only be there for 5 days so you need to make the most of those 5 days and depending on the way you handle yourself you may be able to get yourself higher in the shinobi ranking and maybe be able to become an Anbu sooner than the average person." Kakashi said factually. Kakamei nodded and listened for more of this wisdom but Kakashi sighed and then turned around.

"That's the rest of what you need to know about your mission. Go home and get ready for the mission." Kakashi said as he poofed away into smoke. Kakamei watched as the smoke completely faded from his view and then turned to walk home. After a few seconds of walking Kakamei's ego flamed like a wildfire and he clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood.

"Sensei! You want me to take orders from old people like that with no insight or knowledge as to what I'm doing?! I'll never be someone who's as dumb as that!?' Kakamei yelled in his mind as he walked away.

Standing on the top of the Hokage balcony Kakashi and Sarutobi leaned on the rails and watched as Kakamei walked away from the scene. Kakashi shook his head at the boy who was walking away.

"Hokage-sama, are you that Kakamei is ready for something like this? I trust that the guards you have given him will be helpful but to be honest I don't think that Kakamei is mentally prepared for something like going to a village to spy on the Two Tailed Beast's host." Kakashi complained. Sarutobi acknowledged the worrying by nodding and blowing out smoke from his mouth.

"You say that but we gave you the chance to become Chunin and Jonin at such young ages and you turned out to be one of the strongest assets that the village has to offer. If we are going to invest into the next generation of the world we have to allow them to gain the experience of the real world" The Hokage said as he turned his back on the boy. Kakashi watched Kakamei continue to walk before turning and following the Hokage back into the building.

Right on the dot of the third hour that Kakashi specified. When he opened the door, there were two tall figures standing in front of him. He walked through the door with only a backpack and a water bottle in his hand, which was pretty much empty.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei told me about you guys. He trusts you so I'll trust you too. Let's go. The trip should be long so I want to get it over as fast as possible." Kakamei said plainly. The Anbu didn't respond to what he had to say, they simply turned around and started to walk away, towards the front of the village and out into the world. Kakamei walked after them until they reached the front of the village, when the Anbu actually started to speak to him.

"Leave your backpack here." The man said. Kakamei looked at him with a confused look.

"Come on. If we don't leave now we won't make it until tomorrow and we need as much time as possible. If we depart for the Hidden Clouds now we can make it before dark." She said. Kakamei continued to look at them with a continuous stare of confusion before talking.

"Why do I have to leave my things? I won't have anything to wear when we make it there." Kakamei asked. The woman shook her head.

"Leave everything that isn't mandatory. If you don't we may be able to be tracked by things dropped or the strong scents left by owned possessions." She said calmly. Kakamei continued to look at her, but with a look of upsetness before sighing and dropping his bag by the side of the village doors.

"Fine, but if it's not here when I get back then I'm going to want compensation for anything that was in this bag." Kakamei complained. The two Anbu nodded, not to Kakamei's agreement but to each other that it was time to go. They both jumped into the trees and left Kakamei behind, mumbling to himself.

"Now everything I put into the bag is going to get stolen." Kakamei said before jumping into the sky and landing on a branch and started to catch up to the Black Ops.

Hours Later

After only about three hours of traveling the three made it to the gates of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Kakamei actually landed for a few seconds later because he couldn't completely catch up with the ninja who were in front of him, showing just how fast the Anbu ninja actually were. But, Kakamei landed in front of the village, observing everything around him, he noticed that the village was much different from his "home" village. The Leaf had been centered right next to a cliff that was surrounded by barriers of water and rock prefectures poking out all over the place. He looked in amazement at the difference that he had seen from the two villages but something else was pulling him as well.

``I've never been here but something is different… it feels like something else is here for me… I needed to be here.' He thought to himself. He went to take a step into the village but was stopped by the male Anbu's hand, which crossed his chest. Kakamei looked up at him to see that he was shaking his head. Kakamei watched as the man bent over and picked up a rock and tossed it into the village. Nothing happened to the rock itself but in less than a second two more Anbu popped out of nowhere and with kunai in hand.

Kakamei tried to stand his ground because he didn't want to look weak in front of the rivals of his village but when they landed in front of him he took a step backwards before being stopped by the man's hand once again. The ninja were far enough away for the Leaf ninja to speak without being heard.

"Don't falter. We are the representatives of the village. We can not back down from any other ninja village." The man whispered. Kakamei caught his composure quickly and nodded.

"Thank you." He whispered back and watched as the ninja walked forward.

"I'm guessing that this is Kakamei Daichiki, who had been requested by the Two-Tails Jinchuuriki Yugito Nii-sama." One of the ninjas said proudly. Kakamei looked at the ninja now and noticed that they looked very similar to the average Anbu officers. They had masks covering their faces with their shinobi ties wrapped on their foreheads. One of the men was wearing all black with a simple ninja outfit while the other one wore the same thing except his was in red. Kakamei looked at him and then started to speak.

"Yes, I am Kakamei Daichiki." Kakamei explained as the men walked forward and ignored the boy and stopped at the two Leaf Anbu respectively.

"Yes, this is him." The woman said. Kakamei grumbled to himself and waited for his time to speak again. The man who was standing in front of the man nodded and pointed to the forest.

"We will deliver him once again to the front of the gate in 5 days. You may come to pick him up on that day at 12:30 in the morning." The man said. The Anbu from the Leaf nodded and jumped off into the trees silently before the two Anbu looked down at Kakamei, who could only see their eyes.

"Now can I speak?" Kakamei asked, which seemed to feel annoyed by the kid. One of the men walked forward and ignored him while the other one looked down at Kakamei.

"Watch your mouth. If you keep running it when you're not supposed to then you may not make it back to your village in one piece." The man said confidently. Kakamei scoffed and walked forward.

"I don't know who you think you are but I don't think dogs of the Kage should speak out more than needed either. Now take me to the Two-Tailed Jinchuuriki." Kakamei said as he followed the first man. As he was walking forward and followed the Anbu in front of him even though he could feel the killing intent from the ninja behind him.

'Ok, now that I'm in the village I don't think that I can have outbursts like that again. If other ninja have tempers like him then I won't last very long. I still have to show the strength of Leaf without going too far. I have to either become more powerful or find the sweet spot for teasing this village without starting a war by talking. Kakamei thought to himself as he walked between the two ninja. He walked along the path until he made it to where he was supposed to meet this infamous Two-Tails Jinchuriki.

'This is the only person to hold a Tailed Beast and if she's anything like Naruto then this'll be easy.' Kakamei thought to himself as he walked past village buildings that were much different than those of the Leaf. They were made to resist flooding and strong winds so they were tall and thin compared to the flats of the Leaf.

They travelled through the village until they arrived at a thin bridge and that was surrounded by the calm waters. The ninja in front of him stopped moving forward across the bridge and turned their attentions to Kakamei. He noticed this and reached into the only thing the Anbu had allowed him to bring on the trip, his ninja pouch, and pulled out a kunai.

The man who was backtracking to get to Kakamei raised his hands to show no hostility.

"I don't know what's about to happen but I can tell I won't like it." Kakamei said. The two ninja walked into earshot and the one behind him started to speak.

"You have been brought to this village by the wishes of out great, Master Yugito. Because of this request we can already guess as to what she has planned for you." He said with a hint of comedic effect in his voice, which made Kakamei slightly nervous.

'What does he mean by 'What she has planned for me?' He thought to himself before the two ninja blurred from his sight, or more that he wasn't able to see them, or anything for that matter. The only thing that he could feel was the pain rushing from his left arm and the wind pushing against his face as he flew through the air. He tried to flip and land on the ground but instead he sipped across the water before slamming against one of the rocks. He could barely move from this one attack. The kunai he had been holding had been dropped from his hand and his mind was in a rush to find what had done this to him but also wondering where the attack had come from.

'What the hell was that?! From just a single attack I think my left shoulder's been dislocated and i can barely feel it.' Kakamei thought as he pulled himself out of the hole in the rock that he created and flipped himself onto the wall and used his newly taught chakra control to hold himself to the side of the less of a rock and more of a boulder that was protruding from the water. He grabbed another kunai from his pouch and closed it as he watched the scene that was in front of him.

Standing on the bridge were the two ninja who had escorted him there and another person, a woman, who was talking to both people. She looked at the boy who was standing on the wall, and from what Kakamei could make out from the distance was that she pointed at him before nodding. That was when she proceeded to say something to the two people before they both jumped out into the distance away from sight, not to be seen again.

Kakamei kept his eye on the woman as he tried to come up with a plan to fight the woman but before he could make another move she disappeared from his line of sight. Out of instinct he threw a backwards kick and moved forward and did three backflips before ending on the edge of the rock. When landed on his feet and caught sight of the woman he could see that he was right to do this as the woman had been standing behind him but he hadn't landed the kick. Kakamei rushed forward to fight head on, to see if the gap between them was as large as he thought.

When he ran up the rock and readied himself for a swipe of his kunai to her neck he was stopped. Not because he was bound by a jutsu but because he wasn't able to see his opponent, instead he was looking at the afterimage of a blue chakra. He took a jump backwards and tried to summon chakra.

Only after a second of amassing chakra a voice spoke to him in his ear.

"You can move quickly but you don't seem to be able to use your chakra very well. Let's see how much punishment you can take." The woman's surprisingly calming voice said as Kakamei tried to respond by swiping his kunai but before he could get the attack off she stopped the momentum of his body by sweep kicking his leg and throwing him off balance. As he fell to the ground the woman clasped her hands together and hit Kakamei in the chest, not only slamming onto the rock but straight through it. He was sent flying through the water quickly.

Once again the useless kunai that he had in his hand had dropped somewhere across the "battlefield" even though it could barely be called that.

'Damn, I can't get a break. I need to get this under control. If I could use Scorch Release then I could win. I just need a while to get it ready.' He thought to himself as he let himself float through the water, trying to give himself the most amount of time to gather chakra. Twenty seconds had passed before Kakamei had become immersed in gathering chakra that he hadn't noticed anything going on outside of the water.

'Just a little longer. I just need a few more seconds and I'll be able to use it.' Kakaei said as he could feel the same fire in his body that had happened when he was running to the battlefield during the fight with Zabuza. This time he would be able to conjure it on purpose.

'GOT I—' He tried but when he opened his eyes he almost wanted to go back to the safety of his mind that he was in when he was gathering chakra.

On the outside of the water he could see a huge red orb of fire looming over his body. Before he could move an inch this fire catastrophe zoomed directly down on top of him. The water became steaming, which was rare for Kakamei as he was usually unfazed by the heat of anything. The water that was boiling around him now was different from anything he had ever experienced. He could feel the screaming of his skin as he felt the water.

Kakamei's mind was rushing and becoming foggy from the pain and the unexpected shock of his body be agonizingly hot. The only thing that drove him from this point on was not his determination to win this fight, escape, or his wanting to defeat an enemy this strong. The thing that took over now was his simple urge to fight. Even though he knew that he couldn't win he could at least go out with a bang. This was something that could only be compared to the feelings that he had when he fought against Haku. The urge to destroy whoever he was fighting.

The woman who was standing on top of the water was watching the bottom of the water, waiting for something to happen.

"Where's he at? That Daichiki should be acting up right about now." She said as she watched a single red point in the water become more and more visible until Kakamei burst out of the water. A huge column of water came up and to try and hide his presence. The woman smiled at this attempt and jumped back a few feet.

"That's what I was waiting on. Show me what you can do with the Scorch Release." She said confidently as she looked at the water column and waited for Kakamei to jump out. He didn't jump out and walked forward to test it but before she could she raised her two arms into an X and covered her head to block the knee that Kakamei came down from the sky with. She pushed Kakamei away and watched as three balls of pure heat came from his hand and blew away from his body and toward her. Before the balls could make it to her body the woman created a wall of fire that stopped all three of the red balls. She jumped into the sky and watched as Kakamei tried to create more of those balls while he was floating in the air. Instead of allowing him to do this she raised her hands and weaved a combination that Kakamei was familiar with.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" She yelled as she took a breath and rained down a huge ball of fire that was the same as the fireball that she had thrown earlier. When Kakamei noticed this he was nearing the surface of the water and weave the signs for a fire ball jutsu but there wasn't enough time. The only thing he was able to do was to cover his body in a shell of fire and tried to protect himself from the opposing fire.

The thing about Kakamei's fire was that it was not normal fire but it was Scorch Release fire that he had changed slightly to be tailored for his own body. A technique he had been saving for the Chunin exams. After a few seconds of waiting for the water to cool Kakamei swam to the surface of the water to catch his breath. The moment he surfaed the woman's hand grabbed him by the face and picked him up out of the water.

Kakamei's vision became blurry and his muscles had become relaxed. His body had reached its limit and he could barely move at this point. Something about this woman seemed to drain everything out of him. When he tried to reach out and punch the woman it was a useless attempt as she simply let go of his face and as he dropped through the air she kicked in the stomach. This, once again, sent him flying through the sky and landing into one of the other pillars of rock and passed out. His head fell and the woman who he was facing walked across the water and until she was standing in front of Kakamei. She looked at the unconscious boy with a smile and grabbed him by his shirt.

"This should be fun." She said as she jumped from the water and onto the bridge and walked back into the village.