Naruto: A Little Help


Author's Notes: Hey guys. Sorry it took so long. I had to put both of my stories on hiatus due to exams, which still aren't complete. Theoretical exams are complete, I just have to take the remaining practical exams. Anyways, I have started working on both stories, but the update schedule will remain inconsistent for the foreseeable future.

A warning before you get into this chapter. I have taken heavy creative liberties and changed around many things.

Another thing you guys should know is that this story isn't about Naruto, its about Junaid Ahmed, who travels to various universes causing chaos in their respective timelines. I want to wrap up this story, but there is just so much to do. Our OC won't remain in this universe for long and will travel to another one. I'm torn between DC Universe (Canon Universe where I will take more than necessary creative liberties), with main focus on Batman or One Piece where things will get upturned (Where things will remain consistent with canon events).

This story's main idea was to be a pan-universal one. It was an ambitious goal for my first ever literature, I know. But, I have every intention to see it through to the end. This will help me learn to be a better author for when I finally write my original story. That's why I always ask you guys to give me feedback. Even flames are welcome. So, drop a review where you think I can d better.


Chapter 10: Chunin Exams

Konoha, Yoshida Residence.

'Last day of the academy. My current mission record: 86 D-Ranks, 11 C-Ranks. Supposed Rank: Elite Chunin. Experience: 7 years. Age: 13.', Ichika recounted as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She was currently wearing a dark-green leotard. Light brown arm and leg warmers, navy-blue shinobi sandals, and a Konoha headband. She had grown fond of her leotard over the years. It was comfy and maneuverable, light and elastic. This was the first ever gift her sensei had given her.

Speaking of., Might Guy had taken a team of young Genin under his wings and focused his attention towards them. Ichika still managed to get few minutes of training and advice from him in secret. Still had to keep things secret. Even during missions she was forced to use a henge, not the standard illusion type, but the physical type Naruto came up with. It was quite an accomplishment to upgrade a jutsu at his age, and he did that without even trying or realizing what he had done.

Even with all the secret missions, secret training, group training sessions, and studying, she never neglected her friends and family. Her relationship with Sasuke was still at an initial phase, not getting overly physical barring a few chaste kisses and hand holding. She also had Naruto study hard all the time and in just few weeks of studying he started to ace every test, standing beside her in position. Every teacher was stunned at his sudden growth.

Due to Ichika and her mother's frequent complaints, the principal and Hokage had fired many of the staff and hired new teachers until an environment of unbiased equilibrium was reached. Seeing Naruto, the village pariah, acing the tests, everyone, even his fellow students, realized that he was never taught well and their scorn for their previous teachers grew. The only one remaining of the previous staff was Umino Iruka. Only because Yua had personally approved of his methods.

Furthermore, Ichika had helped Hinata gain a lot of confidence and helped her with training. In a few spars she had seen between her and Neji, ever the little bitch of fate, she had seen her improve. Even her opponent had realized that. His taunts weren't working on her. His attacks were being dodged with fluidity. His blocks were being met with devastating strikes from impossible angles.

The reason for this was that the Hyuuga Style of Juuken is based on Earth nature of rock hard defense and swift counter-attacks. This was not compatible for Hinata as her build was lithe and agile. So Ichika helped her develop her own style of fighting, which involved raising her confidence level and having her spar an actual opponent rather than a log post.

After a few more spars, the Main Branch was met with a surprise when Hinata had used her own invented version of Hyuuga Style: Kaiten. It was revealed when Neji had backed her up into a corner and prepared to end the match like he always does, despite her improvements. However, when he was hit with her defensive and offensive combo move, he stood no change. She was praised for finally overcoming her adversary and her father had smiled openly for the first time after her mother's death. He was proud of her.

The other thing Ichika did was start training her sister in the Ninja arts as well. She had been a bit reluctant at first but conceded when Ichika pointed out, "There may come a time when you are the only one available to defend mom in my absence.". This was a fair point and Fukushima had thrown herself into training with gusto.

Her other friends weren't neglected either. She had trained all of them into the dirt everyday and made them monster in their own rights. Even Shikamaru, the lazy bum, had done as she said, under various threats, and had at least put on some muscles. All of them could now be considered prodigies when compared to the rest of the academy.

Seeing their growth, many had gotten jealous and formed their own little groups for training. Many of their own classmates had joined Ichika and co. during weekly sessions.

Suffice it to say, she had done great in shaping Konoha with her little hands and her small influences will create tsunamis in a few years. The Third Hokage was quite pleased with her progress as well. Whenever he met her he was relieved in to learn he was correct in choosing her. Although she hadn't really hidden her school performance, still acing every single test and exam, he knew she had a reason for doing that, so he let it slide.

"I am all ready. Let's go for team allocation!", Ichika exclaimed with her right arm in the air as she exited the bathroom. "Oh, hey, Sasuke-kun.", she offhandedly greeted the boy sitting on her bed.

"I have been waiting here to see you for half an hour and all you say is 'Hey, Sasuke-kun'?", he ex-emo replied.

"Sorry. I was just organizing some stuff in my inventory.", she answered.

"And please! Don't wear that Godawful clothing.", he said with annoyed eyes.

"Really?", she asked rhetorically as she turned around, showing off her body to him, "I thought you loved it, judging from the way you keep ogling me all the time."

"It's awful because other people will see you in that.", he said as he let his eyes wander over her body.

"Ooh~ Wanna keep me all to yourself, I see.", she said bending over to him, her face within centimeters from his.

"Is that a crime?", he asked as he pulled his face up to meet her lips and gave her a kiss.

"Not if you know your limits.", she said seductively.

The aforementioned limits were something they had agreed upon a few years back. Basically it stated that they are not to engage in any sexual activity, even touching yourself in the presence of the other, until they both at least became Chunin. This was proposed by Ichika. Reasoning behind it being, if they waited for a certain time then the reward will be that much sweeter. This arrangement was unusual for a couple but Ichika was no ordinary girl, she was a guy in her previous life with a loving, compassionate, late wife. As such she had to stop herself from overstepping her boundaries, morals and such, which were ingrained into her mind from her previous life as well. Sasuke felt reluctant at first, but then got advice from his mother and accepted it without question.

Back in reality, the both of them broke it off and went outside her room for breakfast. Arriving at the dinner table, Naruto was already present. "Back again, you Free Loader?", Ichika mock insulted him.

"This is my home as well, you Demon Girl.", he spat back.

This new nickname for her was established when someone in the streets had called Naruto a Demon Brat to his face. Ichika had taken that personally and beaten up everyone who even looked at him with disdain. This gained her, her new title "Demon Girl".

"Stop this, you two.", Fukushima commanded from her seat as she stood up to serve the new arrivals. "You know that mother has forbidden the usage of those derogatory nicknames in this household. If she were to hear you right now you will be in big trouble.", she said as she set the plates down in front of them and bonked Ichika and Naruto on the head.

Neither of them even flinched. In fact, it was Fukushima who flinched. Ichika's game system had actually altered the children's bodies to accept the increased amount of strength. They had toughened up quite considerably.

"Sis.", said Sasuke grabbing the elder girl's attention. "Where is Yua-san?"

"She has gone to an early meeting and won't be back 'til later in the evening. I guess it has to do with the team assignments.", she replied.

"I see.", he said simply and went back to eating.

A short while later all of them were finished with their breakfast and ushered out for the academy and Fukushima realized they were going to be late. Still Ichika and Naruto insisted on giving her a hug before leaving. Sasuke felt out of place here and hugged her when his turn came with a heavy blush. Ichika noticed and stored it for teasing material later.

At the academy, the four of them were sitting closely and surrounded by others of their group. They were talking about team placements and stuff when Iruka came in and coughed for attention. He gave a long winded speech and called out every team number and assigning three students to them each.

'Funny that none of the placements are actually changed from the original story', the brownette thought. And truly enough Team 7, 8 and 10 were similar. She even learned of the teams 1 through 6 and still labeled them as inconsequential. Still, one thing was bugging her. Why wasn't she herself called out?

"And lastly,", Iruka spoke up, "Yoshida Ichika will be on team 11 that is still in circulation on Hokage-sama's orders. Your Jonin instructor will be Kitagari Marin."

Everyone, including her friends, looked at Ichika, flabbergasted. She herself was flabbergasted.

'This is a new development.' she thought before speaking her mind, "Why is that so, Iruka-sensei?"

"The reason behind that you will learn from Hokage-sama himself.", he stated with an unsure smile.

"Alright.", she said and proceeded to summon a Shadow Clone, who immediately went outside the class and took off towards Hokage Office. "I'll just ask him myself."

"I… would suggest appearing in person, Ichika.", Iruka said with uncertainty.

"Don't worry about it.", she said.

Iruka reluctantly accepted that and continued his speech to the class before calling for a lunch break. Just as soon as the bell rang, Ichika was surrounded with her classmates and friends.

"What the hell, you bitch?", Kiba exclaimed.

"Yeah, what the hell, Ichika?", Naruto followed.

"It is surprising that you would join an already formed team right off the bat.", Ino gave her two cents.

"Guys, calm down. Even I don't know what is going on. I thought I would be teamed up with you guys.", Ichika answered.

"Too bad you aren't in my team, Ichika-chan.", Hinata meekly added.

"It's a shame, yeah.", she replied with a sad sigh.

Sakura was sitting in her place two desks back. A dark gloom surrounded her aura, her head was down on the desk. Ichika pointedly ignored her, causing the blond female of the group to sigh deeply.

"I think something special is planned for you.", Shino spoke, "Why, you ask. The reason is your record. You have far surpassed any of the previous 'geniuses'. You must be getting special treatment."

"That is the longest sentence I've heard from you, Shino.", Ichika answered, "But yeah, I suspect that might be the case. I have to get to know those teammates of mine. They are approaching as we speak, along with Kitagari Marin-san."

"How do you know that?", Sasuke asked his girlfriend.

"My clone made another clone and dispelled it to let me know after having a brief meeting with them."

"That… is a quite a convenient use for them. The clones, I mean."

"Hehe. I just like to completely master any techniques I know.", Ichika said, "By the way, I should get going. You guys should have team meetings during lunch break. You know, to talk strategies and stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, you prude. You go do you.", Naruto dismissively said.

"Right, Take care all of you. I won't be here when your new teachers come to grab you so say hi to Hatake Kakashi and Yuhi Kurenai-san, for me.", she said and took off through the window.

"How does she know our teachers?", Hinata asked Sasuke and Naruto.

"Her mom's on the council, I bet she must have met them previously.", Sasuke answered.

X-X

Outside the academy.

"Hey, sensei!", Ichika yelled to the approaching figure from the gate.

"Hello, Ichika. How are you doing?", the female Jonin greeted her. The adult was around 5'6" in height and had a slim figure that hid dense muscles. She had black irises and black hair. Her face seemed like to be tailored to be unrecognizable. Her voice was deep, giving off vibes of a woman in her 50s living in the slums, but she looked no older than 25. That's a pretty young age for her to be a Jonin. Her clothes consisted of standard Jonin uniform with her forehead protector around her right arm. She carried two short blades on her waist, one on each side, they could possibly be daggers, suggesting this woman favors speed.

"Good morning, Ichika. I'm Koto. No family name.", said an enthusiastic boy standing beside her teacher. He wore a darkest shade of green t-shirt she had ever seen and black full length jeans and forehead protector in a black cloth around his forehead. He had light brown hair and black irises. His build suggested he is a brawler.

"I'm Masahi Ren. You can call me Ren, if you like.", said the other boy on the team with a charming smile that didn't even faze Ichika. He had silver hair and blue eyes. His face was what most considered handsome. He was a bit taller than Koto and more slender. He also carried a Katana on his back, the handle of which poking over his right shoulder. His clothes consisted of black pants and light pink t-shirt covered with a blue jacket with two pockets in the front.

"Good to meet all of you. My name is Yoshida Ichika. Call me whatever you like, I don't mind.", Ichika introduced herself.

"Right, now that the intros are all over, I want all you kids in training ground 11, in ten minutes.", her new teacher said and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"She does that often?", She asked her new teammates.

"Yeah, she has a bad habit of being abrupt and vanish all of a sudden.", Koto answered her.

"Great, my friends are stuck with a teacher who is terminally late for everything and I get a teacher who doesn't stop and listen."

"Come on. Honestly, it's not that bad. Her training is hellish but she comes in clutch whenever we have need of her.", Ren said before he began walking, Ichika and Koto following him. "How about a race to our destination?"

"You're on!", Ichika replied and, without any prompting, the three took off."

X-X

Kumogakure, Nii Household.

"Congratulations on acing your exams, Sora.", Big Sis Yugito praised me.

"Great work. I'm proud of you my girl!", father exclaimed in a boisterous voice, unable to control his happiness.

"Thanks, dad, sis. But, please, don't make a big deal out of this.", I answered the both of them.

"How can we not!? My girl scored better than the clan kids! That is praise-worthy in and of itself, but actually getting perfect scores!? That's just phenomenal, just like what Yugito did! Oh I'm so happy! Both of my daughters are amazing!", father kept weeping while shouting praises for me and my sister.

"Hehe, don't know why he dragged me into this. We are supposed to praise you here.", sis whispered to me, not wanting to interrupt father in his happy moment.

"Well, you were the first one ever to ace the final exams.", I replied in a whisper as well.

"I didn't think of that at the time, I just had something to prove back then, since even my cute little sister was afraid of me."

"I grew out of it, didn't I? As for me, I just want to be as strong as you.", I smiled at her.

"It will take you years before you can challenge me."

"I know.", I managed to get out before father tightly hugged the both of us with tears falling from his eyes like waterfalls.

"I'm so proud of my girls…", he spoke just that and went silent, ominously so, I might add.

"Hey, father. Are you alright?", I asked worriedly.

"…", he kept silent. We separated from him and saw his happy mood was replaced with fear and sadness. "… this means… you too will be going on dangerous missions. Fighting dangerous people. I can't allow that. You listening to me!? I can't allow that!"

He suddenly grabbed my shoulder and started shaking me, while yelling "I can't allow that!" over and over again. This was how he would become when we let him dwell in his thoughts for too long. He didn't take mom's death very well. It broke him. We have been subjected to emotional blackmail by him many times since then. Right now he was having an aneurysm. Sis quickly freed me from his surprisingly strong grip. He went into seizure right as I separated.

I grabbed his head so he doesn't injure himself. Sis and I then carried him to his room. Celebrations canceled, we began taking care of him. Big sis gave me an apologetic look, I returned it with a sad smile.

"It would take a few hours for him to get back to normal. You go ahead and meetup with your team. I'll look after him.", Big sis told me.

I looked at father once more, then nodded in her direction. I walked out of the room and then the house. While walking to the training ground I had to meet my new team at, I began thinking back to my own world. How is every one there doing? Are the mages even alive back there? What about the survivors? Can I even find the person I'm looking for here?

Over the course of my new life here, I had tried to leave clues all over the village that only a transmigrated person would catch. So far, no luck. That leads me to believe that the summoned "hero" would be found outside the village. And my best bet would be to become a Kunoichi if I want to get out and search for him. But, for the formula to work, it has to have a large quantity of Mana, which I learned is similar to Chakra in this world. But gathering it in large amount would be difficult to do, being a civilian and all. I assume the amount of Chakra big sis has would be enough, but I don't want to get her involved in this mess.

Just as I was about to turn a corner, a window appeared in my vision. It was similar to the status screen transmigrated people are said to have, I have one myself, but it wasn't showing my status. It had a message.

"Welcome!

You have entered the Naruto Universe. You are speaking to [The Author]. You have transmigrated into [The Author]'s universe without [The Author]'s permission. [The Author] would like you to explain yourself."

'What is this? Who is this?', I thought to myself. Suddenly the current window vanished and a new one popped up.

"Answer!

As stated in the previous message, you are speaking to [The Author]. [The Author] is able to read your thoughts to an extent. However, you are someone outside of [The Author]'s full control, for now."

'Then I will consider myself lucky. I will change my question for now, what exactly are you and how are you able to hijack the status screen like this?'

"Answer!

You can consider [The Author] someone akin to God in this world. [The Author] controls every aspect of this reality, alter events, create or erase new [Characters], change fates and control time, all for [The Author]'s entertainment."

'I have seen gods and goddesses brought to their knees by mighty warriors and sickly scholars alike. You will be no different.' I thought with disdain. The reason being, the gods of my world went mad with power generations before I was born. Armies with specialized god killing weapons were mobilized all over the world to bring down their, now evil, reign. The bests of the bests in their crafts gave the final strikes in their own ways, because might was not what brought them down, minds did. And I'm fully prepared to kill this god as well.

"Alert!

You cannot hurt [The Author]. [The Author] does not exist in this reality, just controls it. Wouldn't you want to know of the fate of your summoned hero?"

'You know something? Tell me where he is!', I yelled as I quickly ducked into an alley. My constantly changing facial expressions were getting me weird looks in the middle of the streets.

"Answer!

He would come to you in the near future, just not in the state you expect him to. [The Author] have made some... modifications to his character. Attend the next Chunin exam in Iwagakure as a spectator. You will see him, or her. Hahaha…"

'What does that mean?', I thought frantically, "What does that mean!?", I yelled in frustration. 'If it means what I think it means, I would have to look for her instead of him. That is not how a summoned "hero" is supposed to be treated. He is in that predicament because me. I have to quickly find him/her.'

I looked at my surroundings and tried to calm myself down, 'It's alright. I just have to be patient. I will meet… her in the next Chunin Exams, which are next week in Kumogakure. Big sis is going, I can go with her as a tag along. For now, I just have to meet up with my team.'

Finalizing my decision, I continued my walk to the training grounds.

X-X

Konohagakure, Training ground 11.

"What!?", I yelled at my teammates and teacher. I didn't know where that curve ball came from, but this was unexpected even for me. "I have to take Chunin Exams right out of the academy!?"

"Why, yes. Hokage-sama informed us of your circumstances and requested to put you, a rookie on our team. I thought that if you are as good as he claims to be you will be able to handle it. I told him as much and he agreed. This is the second time our team will be taking it, so don't worry.", Marin-sensei explained to me.

Thoughts started to swirl in my mind. Chunin exams are really difficult. Especially if we don't have home base advantage. And these exams are going to be held in Iwa. And I won't have the team I was building for just then. Granted I can take on even experienced Chunin on my own, but I lack in so many other departments and hoped my friends helped me in those. Years of preparation, down the drain.

"I… see… Do I really have to?", I hesitantly asked. Since I was recommended by the Hokage, I had no chance to decline. My clone told me as much after it's talk with him.

"Yup! That's what was agreed upon with Hokage-sama and me! You have no choice!", Marin-sensei replied with a more than a little creepy smile. This bitch is psychotic. "And since you are only joining this team for the Chunin exams, you won't have to put up with us any more than that."

"To be frank, I don't like you.", I curtly answered her.

"You wouldn't be the first one to say that.", she replied in her creepy voice which complimented terribly well with her creepy smile.

"Stop that, sensei. We need her on the team to even be allowed to take the exam.", Koto interjected.

"Also, the exams are next week. We should be preparing for the travel. Even at our max speed, Iwa is five days away.", Ren said.

"Aw, poo. I was just starting to have my fun.", Marin-sensei said.

"Anyway.", Koto pointedly ignored her and turned to me. "Will you please join us? We need you on this team."

I stared at his extended hand and began contemplating. Before I could even consider the pros and cons and message window popped up.

"Quest Alert!

Participate in the Chunin Exams in Iwagakure. Place first on the third round.

Side Objective 1: Complete round one in 30 minutes.

Side Objective 2: Complete round two in a single day.

Side Objective 3: Kill two members of the same opponent team.

Side Objective 4: Protect [?] in round three.

Quest Completion Reward: 20,000 EXP, Rep gain with everyone in Konoha by 70%, Rep gain with everyone in Iwa by 20%, A Random Reward.

Quest Failure Reward: 4,000 EXP, Rep gain with everyone in Konoha by 30%, Rep gain with everyone in Iwa by 5%

Side Objective 1 Reward: 500 EXP, Rep gain in Iwagakure T&I by 200, Rep gain with [Koto] and [Masahi Ren] by 1,000.

Side Objective 2 Rewards: 1,000 EXP, Rep gain with everyone in Iwa and Konoha by 50%, Rep gain with [Koto] and [Masahi Ren] by 500, A Pair of Sickles.

Side Objective 3 Reward: 1,500 EXP, Rep gain with [Masahi Ren} and [Koto] by -700, Rep gain with opponent's village by -30%, Wind Ninjutsu Scroll Rank-A.

Side Objective 4 Reward: 6,000 EXP, Rep gain with [?] by 300%, Transmigration Scroll Rank-(unknown)."

'A quest for this? I'll take a look at it later.', I dismissed that window and accepted the offered hand. "Of course. Although, I am a bit scared of going up against more experienced peers, it should be fun!"

"You must not know about these exams but they are deadly. We lost our previous teammate in the previous one held in Sunagakure. And he died of thirst.", Ren informed me with a solemn look. I just gave him a smile.

"Not to make light of the exams or your situation, but I am confident in my abilities. If you doubt that, I will take both of you on right here, right now.", I suggest to try to dispel the gloom that settled over the three.

"I'm in. A spar is a good way of getting to know your teammates.", Koto replied while pumping his fist in the air.

"Fine. Just don't cry when you lose after challenging us like that.", Ren said in a surprisingly competitive tone.

"Let's set the rules. Not fatal blows, half an hour match, match ends when I or the both of you yield, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are off the table. That okay with you two?", I asked them while the three of us start doing our stretches. Twin nods were my answers as I dropped into a sitting position and unwrapped my leg weights. Then I stood up and undid my arm weights. All four of which I placed to the side. The weights were super heavy for a normal person, but not for me, I wear half the weights Guy-sensei wears with ease. The reason they didn't form a crater in the ground was because I placed them lightly.

Koto and Ren were in their ready stances already, with the former holding to Kunai and the latter leveling his Katana on me. I quickly observed their statuses and activated [Time Freeze].

Status

Name: Koto

Age: 16

Level: 22

Job: Genin

Status: Healthy

Experience: 9876/581900

Attributes

HP 400/400

CP 222/222

Str 45

Vit 40

Stm 39

Int 22

Wis 25

Dex 36

Atk 45 (+5)

Def 47 (+2)

Lck 30

Points: 132

Status

Name: Masahi Ren

Age: 15

Level: 24

Job: Genin

Status: Healthy

Experience: 58670/750000

Attributes

HP 350/350

CP 207/207

Str 42

Vit 35

Stm 40

Int 32

Wis 29

Dex 45

Atk 42 (+10)

Def 42 (+5)

Lck 30

Points: 144

'Just to fan my narcissistic ego, I will now compare them to mine. Hehehe', I thought and pulled up my status.

Status

Name: Yoshida Ichika

Age: 13

Level: 29

Job: Genin

Status: Healthy

Experience: 403069/1305000

Attributes

HP 500/500

CP 260/310

Str 54

Vit 50

Stm 55

Int 60

Wis 66

Dex 75

Atk 54

Def 57 (+6)

Lck 44

Points: 0

'See this peasants? I'm overwhelmingly more powerful than both of you combined!', I mused in my mind but pulled myself in. 'I shouldn't say such things lest I become someone like Orochimaru. I need to be careful.'

With that, I deactivated [Time Freeze], it had only been a minute in there judging by the Chakra consumption. "Ready, guys?", I asked while cracking my knuckles menacingly. They looked visibly distressed.

"Whenever you are.", replied Koto with stupid bravery.

"I'll be the referee for this match.", spoke Marin-sensei. "I will call the match if something goes wrong, or right."

"Alright.", I answered with a nod and dropped into my Goken stance.

The boys must have recognized the style because I can see them getting visibly paler. Or they could have finally recognized me, the little girl with the scary reputation. "Demon Girl".

"Begin!", Marin-sensei spoke and chopped her hand in the air. Just as soon as she stepped back, Koto and Ren came at me in unison. Ren's Katana was flipped, the blunt side coming for my head, while Koto was low aiming for my torso or maybe stomach. Either way, I flipped between the two attacks and spun kick both of them in opposite directions, Koto into the ground and Ren into the air.

I patiently waited for them to regain their bearings. Both of them regrouped and had some sort of non-verbal conversation. I watched them with wariness. They silently went for a pincer attack. I recognized their simple tactic and took out my Shuriken. With a precise hit I stopped both of them in their tracks.

In that moment of confusion, I utilized my natural speed boost, one that I gain after losing those weights, and dashed right into Koto like a freight train from my distant past. His eyes bulged and head snapped forward. Then he was shot backwards like a rag-doll. By my estimate he went back 10 meters. I was going easy there.

While I was busy with Koto, Ren sneaked up behind me and swept my right leg off with his Katana. He went for a vertical downward slash at my torso, which connected. I was on the ground trying to shake off the pain in my chest when Koto came barreling in and kicked me back a few meters.

I rolled back to my feet. They were already back on attack. It would be a cinch to deal with them with even a single Shadow Clone, but I wasn't allowed that. And so, I settled for the next best things. Chakra Dash activated, I dashed towards Ren, stepped on his right foot and pivoted myself to kick him in the face. He began seeing stars.

Then I turned to Koto. I grabbed his fist that was coming at me and twisted his entire arm to his back. He screamed in pain as I kicked the back of his left knee making him buckle. I kept applying pressure and he screamed some more. My spider-sense tingled (Haha) and jumped back from a kick to the face, narrowly dodging it. Ren looked to be more than a little haggard but still seemed to have a lot of energy left.

He came at me alone since Koto was nursing his sprained knee. His Katana was sheathed and he was just using his kicks and punches. Fisticuffs ensued. I was on the defense, not because he was pushing me, but because I didn't feel like mauling him to death. I evaded or blocked every single one of his blows. This infuriated him. He upped his speed to at least nick me. Having had enough I grabbed his left extended fist and pulled it towards right, when he was off balance, I punched his clock, sending him into the ground, unconscious.

Koto looked at me and then his friend from his sitting position. I waited for his response. Correctly judging the situation, he raised his hands.

"And that's match! Good work, everyone.", Marin-sensei yelled from the side. She walked up to Koto to see his injuries. "Nothing to worry about, a bit of rest will have you back to your optimal in no time."

Koto nodded in understanding. She then walked up to Ren's prone form and bent down to inspect him. "Minor injuries, nothing to worry about.", she then proceeded to pick him up and drape him over her shoulder. "I've now seen your prowess, Ichika. And, I can certainly say you will do great against any Genin in the Chunin Exams."

I bowed to her, "Thank you, sensei. I will make sure to give it my all.", I said as I straightened up.

"That will win us the entire thing!", Koto jokingly said.

"I wouldn't go that far. There is always an 'X-Factor' that will ruin our plans.", I said.

"With you on our teams, any of the, so called, X-Factors will not even stand a chance!"

"What if it's someone like Uchiha Itachi was our X-Factor? I trained under him for the better part of my childhood and even still I wouldn't wanna go up against him."

"Why would someone like The Uchiha Itachi attack us during Chunin Exams? It's not like he would attack us for no reason."

"He is part of a mercenary group from what Hokage-sama told me. What if that group's interest lie with Iwa or Chunin Exams? There is always a possibility of things going horribly wrong."

"That's fair, I guess."

We then began walking toward the tree where Ren was laid down, still unconscious, with sensei watching over him. "Anyways, you said it would take us five days to reach Iwa at our max speed, right?"

"Yes, but our stamina will give out before that. Even with Soldier Pills, we won't make it in time."

"I can reach Iwa in four days on my own.", Marin-sensei said. "But Chunin Exams are for a team of Genin, not a lone Jonin."

"Right. I can do something about that.", I spoke up.

"Like what?", Koto asked skeptically.

"I am adept at Sealing Jutsu. I can increase your stamina, or rather, keep it from depleting too fast.", I pulled out a large paper seal. It was as close to A-4 size as I could get without knowing the actual dimensions. It had an intricate geometrical pattern with a bit of kanji surrounding it. The words read: Seal, Chakra, Stamina, and Conserve. "This is a seal that conserves stamina over a long period of time. The only draw back is that you will feel like shit for at least 24 hours afterwards."

"It's all well and good, but what will we do if we are not ready for the exams the next day?", Koto voiced his suspicion.

"The first round is always written exam. We'll do fine."

"If you say so."

"It's settled then. But Ichika, I want to learn more about that seal of yours." Marin-sensei told me. "That will be all today. Koto, take Ren to his home."

"Yes… sensei…", Koto replied dejectedly. It almost seemed like he didn't want to comply.

"Then, Ichika, would you please explain to me how your seal works? Can I replicate it?", Sensei turned towards me as Koto hauled Ren over his shoulder and started walking away.

"Replication in itself is not a problem. The problem is the quality of the seal. You have to at least be intermediate in Sealing Arts to be able to safely do so.", after that I went into a long and detailed explanation about my seal and pointed out the fine prints. I didn't hold back anything because this was my invention, I am free to pass it onto anyone I want to. The explanation took a good part of the hour before we parted ways.

X-X

Iwagakure, Some Unknown Temple.

"If you wish to join us, we will be waiting for you outside the village. Just head south from here directly, we will find you once you lose your tails.", said a hunch-backed figure. It was covered in a black robe with red cloud pattern all over and a straw hat and face cloth hiding his face. Beside him stood Uchiha Itachi in a similar garb, staring down their two targets.

The targets themselves were wrapped in centipedes created from clay covered in modified paper bomb seals. They were Deidara and Reidara, with the former holding his hand in a half tiger seal, seemingly to activate the clay contraption wrapped around him and his twin sister.

Their assailants left in a sand and leaf Shunshin respectively. The twins relaxed their bodies simultaneously, the centipedes wrapped around them relaxed as well.

"That was fucking close.", Reidara exclaimed

"Sorry… I thought I could take them. I wasn't strong enough.", Deidara dejectedly said.

"Not your fault. I should've seen the Genjutsu coming.", the girl said as she began picking off her seals off the centipedes.

"No, no. I was just too eager.", the boy said as he turned his creations back to clay. "What will we do now? Would we join them or not?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I always wanted to get out of this dump. This feels like a good chance to do just that. But I'm not sure if I want to join them."

"I just want to knock that smile of that Uchiha bastard.", she punched her palm.

"I say we do it. Let's join the Akatsuki."

"For once, I agree with you."

X-X

Konohagakure, Yoshida Residence.

I walked into the living room to find Mom, big sis and my friends there. Sasuke-kun was frowning which turned onto me, Naruto was downtrodden, Hinata-chan seemed concerned, both for me and Naruto, and big sis was sitting calmly off to the side. I stood at the door, staring at the scene, especially at Sasuke.

"What going on, guys?", I asked to try to judge the situation. I had my suspicions as to what occurred, but I need confirmation before speaking anything.

"Well, first of all-", Sasuke-kun tried to speak but Naruto cut in.

"Congratulations on pulling ahead of us.", said the blonde with an uneasy smile.

"Oh… kay…", I spoke then turned to mom. She nodded and I took that nod as a sign to spill the beans. "Listen, I'm sorry I had to lie to all of-"

"We understand. We are not asking for you to apologize.", Sasuke-kun cut me off. I closed my mouth and waited for him to finish. "It's just that… I thought… We thought that we would take on everything as a team. But you're here going off on your own."

"I know, and I'm sorry…", I managed to speak while facing the floor.

"We don't want an apology, Ichika-chan.", Hinata was the one to speak next. "We are happy for you.", she then turned to Naruto, "Aren't we, Naruto-kun?"

The blonde, who was downtrodden and inconsolable, cheered right up. "Oh yeah, we are. Don't get us wrong, dattebayo!"

I couldn't help but smile. Feeling the cloud of guilt wash away I managed to bring myself to walk over and sit beside Sasuke-kun. 'At least his frown is gone.', I thought as I put m hand in his unconsciously. "Honestly, we can still take on missions together. After I become Chunin, I'll be a lone wolf. I can request joint missions with either team."

"That would be nice.", Hinata-chan answered me. "By the way, we learned that we have another test before our sensei accepts us."

"Hmm, figured.", I spoke without thinking. Everyone looked at me in puzzlement. "I mean, Hokage-sama told me about it and even today I was tested against my teammates."

"That would explain why that god forsaken leotard is in torn from your back.", mom spoke with mock spite.

"Come on, it's not that bad. I like it and it's comfortable.", I replied with sarcasm.

After that conversation, we moved to the dining table for lunch. Shared a few laughs, bickered amongst ourselves, had a good time.

"When are you leaving for the exams?", surprisingly, it was Naruto who asked.

"Yeah, It must be a long journey to get there on foot.", Sasuke interjected.

"It's a four days journey to Iwa and the exams are five days away.", I answered offhandedly.

"That's easy enough for you.", said mom.

I thought about it a little, "For me and my sensei, sure. But my teammates are not that fast. Luckily, I can use my very own sealing tags to maintain their stamina for the entirety of our journey."

"I can't believe you have turned Sealing Arts, the most difficult techniques to master, in everyday conveniences.", Sasuke said while poking my shoulder.

"It just felt easy enough. Don't know why."

"And you even managed to alter the Caged Bird seal on Ko-san.", Hinata-chan mentioned, "That's just impressive."

"It wasn't difficult, though. Even Ero-Senin could've done that if he didn't have to worry about the political implications."

"Still, seals are amazing. I wish I could be as good as you.", said Naruto dejectedly.

"Aw, you will get there. The seals are in your blood, you idiot. You would be even better than me, just keep on practicing.", I replied to console him.

By this time, we were done with dinner. Everyone finished up and went about their day.

X-X

Konohagakure, North Gate.

"You're early." Marin said, looking at her students plus one. Honestly, she considered Ichika just a place holder who will just guide her team into the ranks of Chunin. From what she was told by the Hokage, she assumed that Ichika would definitely advance ranks at a fast rate. She was jealous of her, and she wasn't ashamed to admit that. It just meant that she would be even more strict with Ren and Koto so they would definitely make it next time if they fail now.

Looking around herself, Ichika just shrugged her shoulders in response. Ren and Koto copied her.

"Then let's not waste time. We have to make it in time. We are last minute contestants and the only one from our village." Marin reminded them. "Ichika, your seals please."

The girl nodded her head and quickly took out four seals and handed every member one each and instructed them to place it on their fore arms. Getting ready, all of them started running towards the Village Hidden in the Rocks.

X-X

Iwagakure, five days later.

Our team was panting at the entrance of Iwagakure. Their sensei was talking to the gate guards to iron out their reasons for entering the village. A few minutes later, one of the gate guards and Marin approached the panting teens.

"Come on, you three. We will be escorted to the exam hall." she told them with a serious gaze. Without any protest, the children followed.

Fifteen minutes or so later, we arrived in front of the exam hall, which was just the Ninja Academy, just like back home. Due to the urgency of things, we weren't really focusing on the sights. I noticed the architecture is not too different from Konoha, just a bit more refined and more like a regal Japanese style. I turned to my teammates who were standing behind me. "Don't remove your seals guys, not until second part of the exams."

A collective nod and we went in. The exam room was on the second floor. On the first, we passed by a crowd where disguised Chunin were weeding out the weaker teams. Surprisingly, many of the weaker teams were from Iwa. I assumed that home base advantage gives confidence to younger Genin and they participate more. That's why they are generally weaker and there is a need to weed them out. Can't compromise with quality, I guess.

We had just reach the next floor and had to find Room 203. I found that the room numbers were random. Either that or the Name Plates were swapped. "This is another one of those tricks to weed out the unworthy." I said under my breath. The goal seemed to be to find the correct room. If we go with the obvious answer, which was the third door from stairs or the door that says "203", we will fail. The problem here was that no matter which door you pick, you won't come out, either you will find the correct room and take your seats or you will be kept in the wrong room so you don't tip off others.

The solution for me was simple, run a simulation in real life. And Shadow Clone is the best way to emulate the simulation functions of artificial intelligence. 'You can call me artificially intelligent.', a wry thought went through my brain. 'Whatever. There are five rooms on this floor in this section of the building. Five doors to check. Five teams, all clones. Fifteen clones will do the job.'

"Such an easy puzzle." Koto stupidly claimed and went for the third door from the stairwell.

"Stop. I have a better solution.", I called out.

Koto stopped and turned towards me. "What are you saying? It's such an obvious answer."

"That's what they want us to think. Logically there are only two answers. None are the right one. There is a different pattern than what appears obvious."

"What's your solution?", Ren spoke from beside me.

"Let me handle this and you'll see."

"Hold up, little one. I know you think you are some god-like being with all the answers, but we're doing this ninja thing for more than 2 years.", Koto

"Koto. Let her. Either this will be a lesson for her, or us."

"… whatever, Ren-bro."

"Don't call me that."

With that back-hand permission, I cross my fingers and silently called forth fifteen Shadow Clones. The boys were surprised, more like shocked. Five of the clones then transformed into Ren and five into Koto. Five teams were paired up. Each team went into each room.

Just a few seconds of silence later, four teams poofed out. "It's the second room which says '201'." I told the boys and started moving towards our destination. The boys, however were stuck in their original positions, Koto's jaw was hanging and Ren's eyes were peeled.

They wordlessly started walking again, following me into the second room. When we entered, my clones vanished and we replaced them. The room was filled with many Iwa Genin, 5 teams to be exact. Others were comprised of Kumo, Ame, Kiri, and Ochagakure. 'Only four other villages participated, huh? Iwa has such a bad rep.', I thought. In total there were there were 14 teams, us included.

All eyes were on us, as we were the last to arrive and they were surprised with the headbands we were wearing. I was standing in the middle, flanked by Koto and Ren who were trying to look intimidating. We kept standing at the back, waiting for the invigilators to arrive, keeping to ourselves. In the desks, there was unrest. Eyes were darting at each other among the Iwa Genin in some form of code messages. They then nodded at each other, which I saw from my peripherals. A Genin rose from his seat and walked up to us.

"So, your trash village finally sent someone to Iwa's Chunin exams, huh? Do you think you three have what it takes to become a Chunin, you damn tree-huggers?" the boy that was trash-talking to us was a lanky fellow. There was barely any flesh on his bones and wielded dagger-like twin blades, spinning in his palms.

I was more focused on what was happening behind him. Six more guys and three girls rose from their seats and went to either side of the room. 'They are trying to flank us.', I thought bemusedly. I was prepared to take them on myself and just kept quiet.

"You even have a shorty with you. When did Konoha's Genin became babysitters?", the boy in front kept babbling on, buying time for his comrades to get in position.

"I'm a rookie.", I answered to humor him. My teammates picked up on the guy's facade and prepared themselves as well.

"And I'm a rookie killer!", the guy yelled before swinging out with his right blade right towards my face. Only a split second was needed for me to be safely out of range. I had bent myself backwards and stuck my leg in front, which got him on the nuts. He hadn't even hit the ground in pain before his comrades jumped us.

I was looking at the scene in slow motion though. This was nothing to me. Ten Genin? Easy mode. I crossed my fingers faster than my teammates could retaliate and produced twenty clones, which pinned down each of the attackers in pairs.

The counter attack from me was so sudden, neither of them had anticipated that. Even the two hidden attackers that I had overlooked were too stunned to attack and were taken down by Koto and Ren.

Silence ensued in the aftermath. The Iwa Genin were coming to terms with their easy defeat with a Kunai at each of theirs throats, Kumo, Ame and Kiri teams were looking at us with amused surprise and Ocha teams were sweating bullets.

"What you did can get you disqualified, you idiots.", Koto chastised the fallen teens.

"Not the time to preach, Koto.", Ren chastised him in return. He then turned to me. "That was splendidly done, Ichika."

"Of course it was. I have to be awesome to carry this team to the finale.", one of my clone spoke up. "What should we do with these fuckers?", another one chimed in.

Before either Ren or Koto could answer, the front of the class was covered in a "dust-nado". When it settled, it revealed a rotund man, who had more flesh than fat, with a bulbous nose and bandanna-styled Iwagakure headband. "I will only say this once. Take your damned seats!", he bellowed.

My clones, that were pinning down the Iwa Genin scattered around in pairs, began vanishing one pair at a time. Dispelling so many would give me backlash and I am not repeating that mistake ever again. The defeated and humiliated Genin slowly went back to their seats. We found an empty desk and sat ourselves.

"Listen up! My name if Hako Gojuro, the main proctor of the written exam. This damned test is designed to cull the herd, weed out the weak. That's exactly what' been happening ever since you stepped into this building today. Only 30% of the applicants made it to this room. But don't consider that a damned accomplishment! Your first part of the exams is a written test. Don't expect it to be damned easy!", the main proctor yelled at us.

From side doors on both sides of the room, many Chunin proctors appeared, dressed in a dark red, almost maroon, uniform. All of them arranged themselves on the respective sides of the class with a one pair of Chunin examiners on either side of each row. 'This looks familiar.', I thought.

"Flip the question paper in front of yourselves. You will have three hours to attempt 10 questions. Each question is unique so you can't cheat off of others. The proctors on both of your sides are to ensure you don't communicate with anyone in this room. Each question carries 1 mark. All team members must have equal marks to pass this test, and you can only pass or fail as a team."

After the inspiring speech from our venerable invigilator, I took a look at the instructions. It read, "1. Each Question is worth 1 (one) mark. 2. Attempt any and all question you are capable of. 3. Teammates must have equal marks to pass. 4. You have three hours to attempt your test. 5. Communication of any kind between any participant is strictly prohibited. 6. Only use pencils provided to answer the questions in their designated area."

The question paper itself was fairly simple. Two columns, one with a question the adjacent one was for the answers. The questions ranged from mathematical problems to logical problems and even knowledge based. Reading the questions, I was confused. Each question was a problem in and of itself. Meaning, something was missing that made the questions unanswerable. For example, Q1) Calculate the velocity of Shuriken in the x-axis at the last possible moment in the trajectory. After that a bunch of data values were given, but "time" was missing altogether. Even the units of Velocity and Acceleration were given with "m/-" and "m/-2", respectively. How do we know what unit of time was being used. Is it minutes, seconds, hours? Any answer could be the wrong one.

Another question was related to battle tactics. We were given a situation but weren't told how many enemy we were facing, or even how many allies we had fighting besides us. In these types of questions, we cannot take liberty and just assume something. Every question was missing vital information.

This written test reminded me of the tricks we had to go through before coming into this room. But, this time I cannot just calculate the answer in every possible way, because the possibilities are endless, unlike the finite number of doors on this floor. I was stumped at every question. I gave up. Didn't even try to answer any. Looking up, I scanned the room. Most were just observing their papers with stupefied expressions. Some were writing something relentlessly in the answer boxes, I assume either they are not aware of the trick or have figured something out. I wouldn't risk copying off of them. I then turned to my teammates beside me and they were, too, flabbergasted.

Forgoing the observation and focusing on the main proctor's words, I began analyzing each sentence from both the speech and instructions. They rules were obvious, with hidden meaning. That means we have to find lop holes in order to pass. Main point was: all members must have equal marks to pass. That sentence itself was fishy, and, like a click, it dawned on me. No body ever said that we will fail with equal marks. That also explains why we were not told about what passing marks are. Meaning, we can pass even with a total of zero marks. Other possibilities include 3, 6, 9, etc. marks in total, but that would include answering these unanswerable questions.

So the only answer here is to not answer at all.

'If I wasn't so doubtful about my solution, I would call myself a genius, like a total narcissist. But there is a possibility I am wrong in this scenario.'

Koto and Ren must have realized it too as I heard a tap of a pencil from my right, where both of them were sitting. I gave them a look and just smiled. 'Best answer is no answer at all.', I thought as I swept the paper to the edge of the desk and kicked my feet up. They were both surprised by my actions, and so were the proctors. I didn't not anyone any mind and just closed my eyes to relax. From the faint sounds I could hear that they were rustling in discomfort but couldn't say anything since communication is not allowed.

Two hours went by and not sound of a pencil scraping was heard from them. I crack one of my eyes open and saw that they had flipped their sheets and were just sitting there, almost like they were meditating.

Seeing that I smiled again and finally decided t acknowledge the pair of eyes that were looking at me from time to time. It was a girl, from Kumo. She did not carry any signature weapon. Her hair were sandy blond and divided into two pigtails with two bladed weapon things tied in a knot at the ends. Her teammates beside her were, for the most part, unremarkable.

Ever since I had entered this room, that girl has been staring at me. Author guy had told me that I would meet someone here, that I have to bring them under the author's control. At least that's what it implied. And I'm pretty sure the Author cannot influence that person, so the chances of this girl being the one I meet here are close to zero.

'That's because this girl is, drum roll please, Nii Yugito, Jinchuriki of Two-tails, Matatabi no Nekomata!', I stupidly thought in my head. 'Can't believe I will be going up against her. Fate truly hates me, no? A rookie Genin who hasn't won against anyone worth a damn will face off against a prodigy, and a Jinchuriki to boot. If she has already tamed Matatabi then I'm doomed.'

"Your damned time's up, you pieces of shit!", the main proctor bellowed suddenly. And sure enough, it was five thirty, we started at two thirty. The Chunin began collecting papers and stapling teammates' papers together in sets of three. Once the collection was done, the papers were taken to the front where the main proctor began flipping through them, not even checking the answers. "Genin Team 5, you're out!" he bellowed again and one Iwa team walked out dejectedly. They were the one of the teams that were writing stuff down.

At a very fast pace, the invigilator went through the papers and kept calling teams out in ascending order with broken numbering. All of the teams that I had seen writing something down were kicked out. Finally, came our turn and the proctor did not call us out. I breathed a sigh of release.

"Only 9 damned teams remain, huh? I getting too old for this shit." I heard him say under his breath before he bellowed again. "Those off you who remain here, damned congratulations. You all pass."

"How come we pass that easily?", Yugito's teammate spoke up.

"Because you all did not falsify 'information'. Each damned question is a 'report' and each damned answer would be considered an 'opinion'. You are not supposed to give damned opinions in report, you are supposed to give facts. Any opinion, whether objective or subjective, would be considered damned falsification of 'report'. That's why the question were unanswerable, because to answer them, you are damned to assume something. Even if your assumption was logical and undeniable, it is still your opinion and not a fact. Other minor tests that took place outside this room were of similar nature. You were supposed to learn a damned vital 'fact' from the first obstruction to enter the right door in the second obstruction."

I winced at that. Since it was my idea to ignore the first trick. I had assumed it was the same as the canon Konoha's trick in the Chunin exams that are to take place in the near future. That could have cost us this exam had I not taken the risk of tripping all the traps. My teammates were glaring at me for my mess-up. The Proctor then turned to us.

"But it seems those obstruction were barely an inconvenience to Genin Team 14, since they entered all the rooms at the same time, alerting the enemy of your presence in every damned part of the hideout. That's a damned analogy, by the way. If this wasn't a test with set parameters, you three would damned well be out of here."

I was cringing hard under the heated glares of my teammates and snickering of the rest. I lucked out this time, I need to be more careful in the future. Maybe I should let my seniors take the lead next time.

The main proctor then bellowed again, "This is no time to relax, you damned maggots!", everyone silenced at that. A beat later another man came in from the right door at the front of the room. "This, here, is your proctor for the damned second part of the Chunin Exams. He will be taking over."

"Thank you, Hako. My name is Jien, just Jien. I will be the proctor of the second part of the Chunin Exams, which is a field survival test. The test will start at 2100 (9:00 pm) sharp. The training ground 35 is your destination. The exam will take five days at most. In the meantime, I expect all of you to prepare your equipment accordingly. Further instruction will be given right before the test begins. Good luck. Also, if you can't find your way around, ask any of the Iwa Shinobi and they will guide you there.", Jien, the proctor of the second test, spoke in a calm manner.

That explanation was way too short. Still, it was better than Hako's speech and way more respectful. Now we just need to decide whether we will rip off the seals at the hotel or not, because their effectiveness will dwindle in an hour or so regardless. We started heading out with the rest. The Iwa Genin were keeping their distance from us. Nii was giving me side glances all the way to the academy gates.

At the gate, Marin-sensei was waiting for us. In my periphery, I spotted a few eyes trained on us. Sensei picked up on it and explained, "Don't worry about them. They are to keep their eyes on us just in case, they won't interfere unless we step out of line." I gave her a nod. "So, our lodgings are provided for us in the southern district, called Rockswell. You have 4 hours to prepare, take your time and meet me there."

With that, she up and vanished in a Shunshin. One of the tails broke off, after her in hot pursuit. 'Other three are tailing us, it seems.', I thought before turning to my teammates. "If you two don't need to buy anything, we should get to the inn and rest. We will need it since all the exhaustion will come crashing at once."

The two remained silent before Ren spoke, "… we will be talking about your mishap later." he then turned to Koto, "Need to buy anything?" he asked. When Koto shook his head he turned towards the southern district and started walking. "Then let's get to the inn, post haste."

Nodding behind him, we both followed him with hasty steps before we took off full steam ahead. In a matter of minutes, we were at the inn, checking in for today. We made it to our room where Marin-sensei was sitting on her bed.

The room was fairly large and specifically equipped for foreign teams that come to Iwa during Chunin exams. It had four single beds, evenly spaced out and two separate bathrooms connected to it. Decorations were minimal, but still present. A desk was sitting in the corner for writing letters back to our village. A balcony was connected to the back wall, giving us a view of the mountains surrounding the southern side of the village and a few mountains inside the village with building built into and above them. Instead of peaks, there were plateaus, assuming the peaks were either occupied by wealthy family to make their homes on top of or they were training grounds, which was very risky, considering there are house at the bases of each mountain.

"So, you guys made it. Any difficulties finding the inn?" Marin-sensei asked in a jovial tone.

"No, we are familiar with your abrupt behavior and we also know how to navigate to places without you." Koto answered her and her smile was replaced by mock frustration.

"You guys are no longer fun." she complained.

"You make a single joke enough times and it stops being funny." Ren added.

"Anyways," she switched her tone to serious. "You guys have four hours of rest. That won't be enough to get you back to one hundred percent after you remove those seals but it will be enough to get you guys moving. I removed mine when you guys entered the test site and I am barely able to move."

"I suggest laying down first before removing them, otherwise you will not have enough strength to pull yourselves up." I warned them from experience. The first time I had used the seal I was lethargic for the rest of the day. But, since then, I have built up my endurance so my effects won't be that adverse. Still, I would need rest.

Heeding my warning, the boys lied down on their beds and removed the seals abruptly, like pulling off a band-aid. Immediately their eyes drooped and moans and grunts escaped their lips. Their hands holding the seals dropped like hammers. I wasn't long before they were in the dreamlands.

Following after them, I sat on the edge of the my bed and pulled off the seal. I felt weak, but my resistance to the effects were substantial. My eyes were droopy but I was still sitting.

"Your body is taking that backlash pretty well, young lady." Marin-sensei pointed out. Honestly, I wanted to drop right there and be done with life, but I know we are in enemy territory and shouldn't let our guards down. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you guys up at 2030 (8:30pm)."

I gave her a thankful nod and finally lied down and went to sleep.

X-X

Same inn, different room.

When Nii Yugito entered the room with her teammates, she was greeted by Sora, her little sister. "Heya, sis! How'd it go?"

"You are not supposed to be here. This is inn is for participants only." she chided Sora.

"Leave the kid alone, Nii. She just wanted to meet her sister." one of her teammates spoke up.

Nii looked at him and then back at her sister, then she sighed. "Whatever." she said and turned to her teammates. "You guys go buy what we might need in the mountains. Make sure to pack enough ration bars for one extra day."

"So bossy. I like it." her other teammate added with a sagely smile.

"You will like me less with my fist in your mouth." she bit back.

"Kinky…" that was the last thing he said before he vanished in a water-style Shunshin and a fist penetrated the watery veil.

"Haah… I hate that idiot." the other teammate spoke before he followed after his perverted friend.

"Your friends are funny." Sora spoke with a giggle.

"You won't be saying that once you actually work with them."

"So, putting that aside. Did you find her?"

Turning her expression serious, Nii faced her foster sister. "There was a girl, barely fourteen, with extraordinary strength and agility. I doubt that's the adult man-turned-little-girl you are looking for."

Sora remained silent for a while. "… I'm sorry for dragging into my mess, sis. I wanted to handle this on my own, but I don't have much leeway."

"It's alright, my dear little sister. I know what you're going through. Remember, I've been tackling these types of situation since I was born."

"Yeah…"

"So, anyways. Do you think that's your target?"

"Yes. Universal travels have adverse effects on people, especially when this magic seal is involved. I just didn't know it could affect things to his extent. But, without a doubt, that's the man I'm looking for."

Nii then donned a playful smirk, "Not much of a man, though."

"That's not in his control. That author guy/thing changed things."

"Are you sure he didn't affect you in any other way?"

"No, my mind was just merged with your sister's. I'm sorry… for hijacking her body."

"Don't worry, you are still my sister. It is hard to accept it, but I know that you really are my sister. And your pain is my pain."

"… Thanks."

"What do you want to do now?"

"I will meet her in the month you guys will have. I have no doubt she will pass the second part. She may even fight against you in the tournament."

"I would love to test her, then."

"Just don't go too hard. If you meet her in the field test, can you pass on this letter for me." Sora held out an envelope for her, which Nii took.

"Don't I need to conform if she is the girl we are looking for?"

"Ask her if she knows about a blue screen. If she reacts, she is the one."

"That's a rather handy tool, that screen."

"Yes… yes it is."

"Alright, You go back to father, I'll handle her."

Sora stood up from the bed she was sitting on and starting walking out of the gate. Just when she was completely outside, Nii called out to her.

"And Sora," her little sister turned back. "Thank you for trusting me with this."

With a sad, yet thankful, smile, Sora was out of sight.