I admired Taka's harness as I waited at the village gates. I had slid a blank scroll in it for now to give Taka a chance to get used to carrying the weight.

Taka flapped, readjusting from my arm to my shoulder with a squawk, done with my fiddling.

"Hey. Good morning Tsume, Taka." Kokuei sounded from behind me.

I turned and waved. "Good morning."

Noriko-Sensei was right behind him with her hands in her pockets. I waved to her as well. Haiku was the only one left, though it was still a little early. We stood together for a few minutes in silence before he showed up. Right on time.

"Morning." He greeted.

"Ready to get started?" I asked cheerily.

Everyone nodded, and we started out. The trip to The Hidden Sand would take about three days. That meant three days where Taka and I could practice with our new gear. For now though he merely shifted onto my head, out of the way of the backpack straps l was readjusting.

"Taka's got a backpack too?" Haiku asked as we walked out of the villages main gate.

I sighed. "It's not a backpack. It's a harness."

"So what's he carrying?" Haiku continued.

"Just an empty scroll for now."

"Then why is he carrying it?"

"So he can get used to the weight."

"Ok. Then what are you gonna put in after he gets used to it?"

"I don't know yet." I ground out rolling my eyes. "Can we stop playing 20 questions now? I don't ask you every little detail about your life."

Haiku laughed. "Maybe you should. We are teammates after all."

I rolled my eyes even harder in response, shifting the backpack so it sat more comfortably on my back. I hoped I had packed enough. I knew we would be gone from the village for quite a while and I wasn't entirely sure what we could expect when we got to the Hidden Sand Village. I was sure it wouldn't be like when we were out in the field, but beyond that I had no clue.

We walked in relative silence till the sun was high in the sky.

"Let's take a break and eat something." Noriko-Sensei stated as we entered a small clearing in the trees. She pulled off her backpack and set it down by the tree. We copied her setting up a little pile of gear.

"One of you, get some wood. The others find some food for us." She ordered lightly as she rummaged in her bag.

"I'll get the wood." I responded, turning and leaping into the trees before the others had a chance to say anything. Taka took off from my head as I did so. Being up in the branches made it easy to see the dried bits that had fallen below. I dropped back down to the ground as Taka continued to fly through the branches above, calling out areas filled with branches. Sure it was a bit extra for just gathering branches, but it made for a good small training session for Taka. Making him navigate the tight spaces of the tree canopy with the new weight on his back was a good excercise.

I quickly returned with an armful of twigs and branches dropping them in the clearing. Taka chirped as he settled down on a tree limb behind me and as I turned he flew back down onto my head. I chuckled and reached up to pat his wing as he settled.

Noriko-Sensei took a handful and started a fire for us. While she did so, Kokuei and Haiku returned with edible plants and some small game. We all prepared the food together while Sensei stoked the fire. I fed some of the guts we took out to Taka. He happily devoured the meal, and I chuckled in response.

"He's gonna have finished his meal before the rest of us even start." Haiku joked.

"Well he can eat his food raw…unless you want some nice bloody raw rabbit for dinner." I joked back

"Gross!"

"Well then guess you gotta be patient."

"Yeah, yeah." He relented with a dismissive wave.

Finishing up with the food prep we placed them on a spit over the fire to start cooking.

Sitting down around the fire we watched in relative silence as the food cooked.

Luckily, the meat cooked relatively quickly and we all tucked in. Finishing quickly. Before Sensei doused the fire, she cooked some extra rations, handing them out to us we placed them in our backpacks.

"This way we don't have to light a fire when it gets dark outside. We may be in peace times but it's more than just the other nations' shinobi on the road." Sensei explained as she doused the fire, then scattered the remains of the ashes to obscure the traces of their presence.

Gathering our bags we started out again. Onwards, towards the Hidden Sand. I was nervous, wary, and excited all at once. A part of me wanted to start running to get there faster, and yet another part wanted to turn right back around and head home.

I stuck my hands in my pockets to suppress my fidgeting. This was really happening. We were going to be taking the Chunin exam. In a separate village no less. Not only were we trying to prove ourselves, but we were proving the strength of our village.

"Sensei. What are the Chunin exams like?" I asked.

"Hmmm. That's hard to say." She tilted her head back thoughtfully "They are different every year. Specifically so that the prospects can't prepare too much. But there are usually several rounds of elimination. You tend to start with team focused tasks and then go to individual tasks." She explained.

I knew it wasn't much to go on, but it was something to think about. Team tasks mean they would probably be testing our ability to work together. The types of teamwork aspects that could be tested though, were numerous.

I grumbled a little as I realized there wasn't much prep beyond normal training that we could do, especially on the road.

Noriko-Sensei chuckled. "I can smell the smoke. Don't worry too much. I wouldn't have recommended you three if I didn't think you could handle it." She reassured us with a smile. "Ultimately, despite all the emphasis we put on the importance of these exams, it won't be your only chance to take them."

That was true. I didn't like that if we failed it would be in some foreign village while carrying the reputation of the Hidden Leaf Village on our backs. But there wasn't anything to be done about it at this point, beyond doing our absolute best.

"Besides, you're not new genin. You've been working as a team for quite a while." Noriko-Sensei added.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully. The occasional break was occupied with bouts of minor training while the travel was quietly watchful. Taka seemed to take to the harness and the weight of a scroll with relative ease. Quickly regaining his maneuverability. Once we left the shelter of the forest and started walking through the desert though, the trip started to feel much less relaxing. Partially because it meant we were no longer in the Land of Fire, and partially because we were now dealing with the sun beating down on us all hours of the day. I was thankful when we finally made it within sight of the village. We would soon be able to rest within an actual building again. I was most excited about the prospect of that over everything else at the moment. I was so tired of walking.

Even from here I could tell that the village looked very different from ours. But like ours, we weren't allowed to enter freely. That part wasn't surprising. The Sand shinobi we were greeted with seemed super intense, though. Maybe I was just too used to seeing the shinobi who guarded our village as friendly since we weren't strangers.

We were escorted to a processing center to get our visas before we were directed to an inn of sorts where we would be staying during the exams. We were also instructed on the locations we would need to be at for the first phase of the test. We would be told any further locations if we passed.

Making our way to our rooms, I placed some of my items away and took off Taka's harness. I would give him a break for now. Let him relax his muscles a bit before we officially start the Chunin exams.

Taka, who had found a spot on a chair, chirped an alert that someone was at the door. I had already started moving towards the door when the knock rang through the room.

"When you are done settling in. We are meeting up in my room, which is next door to your right." Noriko-Sensei sounded through the door. I responded with an affirmative grunt through the door. Our rooms were all grouped together. I, being the only female member of our three man team, had technically gotten a room to myself. Though it was connected through a sliding door to Sensei's room. The boys shared a room across the hall.

Despite us being housed here, I didn't feel entirely safe leaving my more important items here, so I decided to keep them on my person. I put out my padded right arm for Taka to jump onto as I made my way out of the room and into Sensei's

She was seated on one of the couches, with the other two sitting at seats opposite her around the room. Taka and I found a spot by one of the walls.

"Good we're all here." She started. "I am sure you are all ready to rest, but before we do, I wanted to make you all aware of some things when it comes to our presence here in this village." She folded her hands together and rested her elbows on her knees.

"While your main mission here is to take the Chunin exams. You also need to be aware that you are shinobi in foreign lands. There will be plenty of people who will want to know about any secrets you may be carrying about our village. So, while you are here, do not let your guard down."

I looked between my teammates. They all looked as serious as I felt. We would not be the only ones who were wary of our presence here.

"But as long as you don't make trouble outside of the exams, all should be fine." She finished with a smile.

We all nodded.

"By the way. While we are here. This room will be used as our meeting place…well, besides when I'm asleep, of course." She added with a chuckle.

We all nodded again. I stood up with the other two. "Well then, I guess for tonight I'm calling it a night." I stated. "Thank you, Sensei."

I made my way back to my own room. Taka hopped onto a nearby surface while I looked around at what the room had to offer. I pulled an extra blanket from the closet and bundled it on the surface of the drawers. Making a little nest for Taka. He hopped into it and settled down.

I pulled out a book I had brought with me to read and relax for a while. The evening drifted into night as I read. Once it was too dark to read by the light of the window, I closed the book and settled down to sleep. We had a day or two before we actually started.

Waking up the next day, we all met up and headed out into the village looking for some food. I knew it was because we were foreigners in their village, but I couldn't help but notice the wary stares of the people around us.

"Ignore them." Kokuei mumbled to me as we walked.

"That's easier said than done." I responded. Looking over at Haiku, he seemed the most relaxed of us. He had his hands resting on the back of his head, fingers gripping where his scruffy mouse brown hair was tied, as he walked his eyes scanning for food options. Taka, who was on my head, let out an irritated trill and fluffed his feathers.

The smell of bread hit us first as we came upon a bakery. This seemed like as good a place as any to eat. Looking at Haiku and Kokuei, we all silently agreed, our stomachs speaking for us.

The shop was relatively empty and we were greeted by the shopkeeper. He was polite and served us without any extra chatter. Ordering and paying for our food, we made our way back outside. I started to wander further away from the Inn. I wanted to get an idea of what the village was like while we could. No matter how wary these villagers seemed, we were allowed to be here.

"Let's see what this place is like." I stated, ignoring my slight anxiety.

Haiku chuckled a little and Kokuei nodded. "Sure."

The village seemed pretty bare bones for the most part. Nothing seemed to grow, and the lack of trees made the whole place feel lifeless. As nonchalant as I was trying to be, I still tried to stay away from areas that seemed like groups of homes and keep to the areas that were more public. I wasn't trying to overstep our welcome.