You know the usual stuff by now blarg. I own what I came up with NOT what I could get sued for. Last we left off, Minato decided to test the Genin before the exams officially begin.
"So I take it you know what this meeting is about?" Kakashi said.
The Genin nodded. "We had run into some ninja from another village and figured it out." Sakura said though that's not exactly how it went. "Well anyway, here. These are for you, contracts for the Chūnin exams." He handed them each a paper and pen. "Now since this is a rookie squad I need you to know that all of you have to participate or none of you will. The choice is completely yours." He knew they'd all sign the contract but he was hoping to see a sign of thought. In fact, what surprised him most was the lack of it. Almost as soon as he finished talking, Sakura was handing him the pen back. Sasuke was quick to follow, Naruto had been last simply because he actually read the contract. "Take these to the academy. The admissions process will take place there on the third floor. You must turn these in before Friday otherwise you won't be participating this time." They nodded and went on with their day. Elsewhere in the village another team was earning their spot.
"Come on now! You mustn't dilly dally. Either show me some platinum level fighting or last long enough to earn some pity."
Kanata Uzumaki, what she lacked patience she made up for in style. Her unconventional style was not uncommon in the Uzumaki ranks. Unique and brutal just like her teaching although if you asked her students it was actually torture. "Alright when I give the signal Kenshin you need to attack her in your beast form, that should buy Kyō and me some time to get ready. So any questions?" Karin asked. She had been made the leader of the team after the team's 5th mission in which they finally got the better of their sensei. She was hoping to do it again but she knew first hand how hard it was to get the jump on her teacher. "Yeah what if she tries that poison rain thing on us again?" Kyō asked. "If that happens then we go for Baal directly hit her enough times that Kanata sensei has to release the summons. And if she summons her for anything else use projectiles, we can afford to play jump rope with her tongue. Now let's go times limited." Kenshin ran out from the hiding spot while the others split off in different directions. "Uzumaki style: Cheeta within" in a burst of red light a black and red cheeta was in Kenshin's place pouncing on Kanata. She dodged his assault. Getting her weaponized microphone a good spin. "Come on now you know that won't be enough for me!" She laughed. He swiped his claws at her and an arch of magic followed grazing her left side. She sang into the mic, charged up sound waves shooting out of it at her student. He jumped into the air transforming again. "Oh taking off so soon? Here I thought we were finally starting to have fun!" She was wrong in her assumption though. After getting enough distance Kenshin huge bird body flapped his wings strongly. Gusts of wind and sharp gray feathers with black spots came for her. While the wind pushed her back slightly it was the dagger sized she had to keep dodging. She was just about to enter witch time when she saw a dart land next to her. "Shit-" the dart exploded and she was launched to the other side of the clearing. "Uzumaki style: Adamantine net!" Gold glowing chains caught her in the air pinning her down to the ground once she landed. "Adamantine chains: constrict!" The web of chains around Katana quickly bound themselves around her like a snake strangling its prey. The spikes piercing her skin and still locking in place her on the ground. "Kyō one of you needs to get the box NOW!" She said holding her hands together in concentration. Kyō sprinted over to the box sitting in the tree previously guarded by Kanata. He opens the box and pulled out the contracts. "DONE!" He said waving them around. "Good job you three! Oh and you still have some time to spare." Kanata said. She burst into a swarm of horned beetles and reformed in the middle of the clearing. "Now I know that sometimes you can get a bit nervous but remember that this test is really just a talent show. Show off a bit and stay alive. I know you can do that much." She said handing them the pens. After they signed them they were instructed to take them to the academy that way the rest of the week could be used to train. On their way the members of team 11 ran into Naruto.
"Eh? Oh hey guys!"
"Hey Naruto!" They chorused the quartet always met up in off days but it was still nice to have missions and training schedules aligned. They walked together to the academy, chat all the while. "Kenshin are we gonna talk about the creep following us?" Karin asked. "I don't think we'll have a problem, especially with all of us here." Her brother answered. If only he was right, strange man was still stalking them and Kyō had gotten sick of it. "I'm gonna teach this guy a lesson." He whispered to the group. They all nodded not wanting to be under the strangers gaze any longer. Kyō took out one of his darts. After a few seconds in between his fingers the darts crystal core turned light green. He threw it near the strangers feet. When it made contact with the ground a seal formed and sludge of the same color spat out from the array. It hardened into a darker green crystal around the man's legs.
"Look I don't know what you want but, if it's trouble, you found it punk." Kyō said.
"Good but not good enough!" The man was replaced by a log in a poof of smoke, reappearing behind the quartet. Kenshin took out his fans and jabbed into the man rapidly while Karin's chain snaked around his leg. She slammed him into the ground several times before binding him in front of Naruto. The Uzumaki heir had his lion head gauntlet charging its freezing cold attack. Successfully defeated the stranger surrendered.
"I see you truly are ready for the trials soon to come... my students." Another poof and the strangers face was revealed. Bound in adamantine chains was their former sensei, Iruka. "Now there's other I have to visit, keep this a secret okay!" They nodded and released him. "Weird, he could've just told us what was going on." Naruto said. Karin rolled her eyes "No Naruto, he couldn't. If he'd told us we wouldn't do the test properly." Kyō agreed with her but this got the other twin thinking. "When we test actually test for promotion though we need to display our skills knowing that we're being tested. So that doesn't make much sense." Kenshin said. Before an argument could start Naruto handed each member of the quartet a lollipop. "Now why don't we finish doing what we came here to do."
Hinata couldn't be more displeased. Not only was her father forcing her to train more in the traditional ways of the Hyuga she was being made to fight her 7 year older sister. There was no privacy during the matches either. There hadn't been since she "finally got serious" about her training. In truth, she just stopped trying to do exactly as she was told. Her eyes could read the guarded and quick movements of the Gentle Fist just as well as her teachers. Seeing wasn't enough to practice though. The movement were too rigid for her and constant correction replayed in her mind delayed her strikes and beat at her confidence. That was until she decided she'd do things differently. She still had a similar foundation but she now took complete advantage of her flexibility and agility. She'd been able to create a whole new technique with some help from her side branch attendants. She was adamant on making the technique available to the side branch because of this. With less ties to the "traditional and stronger" fighting styles they were able to give her a less biased approach to making her idea a reality. Now her good deed was being punished. She had so much training to do with the clan that she only saw the outside of the compound for missions. The Chūnin exam had been just the excuse the elders were looking for to pull something like this. They couldn't have the Hyuga princess fighting like she wasn't a Hyuga. Her father definitely didn't do anything to stop it opting to train her privately without the semi-encouraging gazes of her attendants. She had to pretend like it was all normal. Being expected to brutally beat a small child so she could prove her worth and be supported during the exams. She didn't have to win it all but she did need to show off the main branch's might. She did have to impress some clansmen and make allies. Otherwise she could kiss uniting the clan away forever.
"Big sister! He's asking for you next." Hinata heard from her left. On the steps of the courtyard was Hinabi Hyuga her younger sister.
She was different than Hinata, a traditional Hyuga. From her brown hair to her attitude she was always the perfect Hyuga princess. The sad truth was that it hardly mattered, Hinabi wasn't the heir and was already in a shaky position. Hinatas fear from the moment she became a big sister, was loosing her to the family's horrible decisions. She'd seen what playing by the rules in this family was rewarded with; pain and suffering. She tried her best to shut down the opponent without beating them up needlessly. This was her weakness according to the elders of her clan, something to grow out of lest she embarrass the clan. It was with that sort of traditional "strength" she was expected to use on her sister.
"Father certainly wouldn't step in if things got serious." Hinata thought.
"Let's go then. I'm sure you have something you want to show me how well you've been doing." She said with a smile. Hinabi giggled a bit at that. "I have been doing really well though! Not as good as you and Neji nii san but Father says I'm still good for my age." Hinabi told her excitedly as she walked over to her sister. Hinata used to wish she could change everything instantly. But now she knew better change on such a large scale takes time. As the sisters stepped out of the courtyard you'd think a genjutsu was cast. The smiles that the two exchanged were gone. In their place was a stone faced cold expression that had become a trademark of the Hyuga. It was a quick trip to the dojo where their father resided. Hiashi Hyuga, father of the two girls and clan head, wore a matching expression. One that seemed even colder as he spoke.
"Hinata, until now I have left you to your own devices but the elders have decided to test you via combat. As the next head you need to prove yourself. Don't let me down, you know the consequences." He said. It was times like these that Hinata chose to tune out and focus on the bright moments of her life. "Mother, Hinabi's birth, Naruto, Mother, my first spar with Neji nii san, Mother, creating Protection of the eight trigrams-
"Hinata, you may begin now!" Hinata's father told her. Voice had just barely raised from his usual stern tone but she chose not to test his patience. "Yes father."
She turned to her sister and they both assumed the gentle fist stance. Her younger sister had perfect form she look immovable, and if she weren't her sister, she'd even look intimidating. Hinatas stance was more relaxed something that could be mistaken for several things, cockiness, laziness, practiced ease. People saw what they wanted to see and she could usually tell which of the three they picked based on the fight. Hiashi called for the match to start and the two girls activated their byakugan, after a small pause Hinabi went to attack.
"8 trigrams, 24 palms!" She said hands firing at her sister's weak points.
"Protective 8 trigrams 12 palms." Hinata said cooly. Each pair of attacks being met with one hand and sharp stream of chakra. Hinabi tried to go for her liver, jabbing at speed that made it seem only a few strikes had been made. With this speed however she seemed to be unable to pull back in time, she couldn't even land a blow. "8 trigrams 32 palms!" Hinata said. She stepped forward attacking her sister's torso as soon as the other girl's technique was finished. Hinabi in the traditional Hyuga fashion decided not to retreat from the pressure but try powering through it. She attempted to block the palm strikes but was very quickly overwhelmed. When she was blown back a bit Hinata gave her sister a moment to recollect herself. Something she'd have to make up for in the eyes if her father with a quick defeat. As Hinabai rushed over for another attack Hinata compressed the chakra in her hand. "Areal trigrams air palm." At point blank range a burst of air knocked Hinabi down. Since she didn't hear the que from her father, Hinata restrained her sister and put her hand over her heart.
"Good, this is what we expect of our princess." She heard. Only it wasn't her father's voice, it was an elder. No doubt here from the beginning of the match just waiting for any mistakes. It explained her father's lack of critique as well. "I know now that you will not fail us in the exams. You...or your cousin." And with that they left. Leaving Hinata alone with her family. Most importantly her thoughts.
"Who the fuck is this guy!" Mizu said. He'd simply been headed back to the forest to test out some new traps when this weirdo ambushed him and now he was fighting to get away from him. After a small chase Mizu Hagihara nearly fell out of a tree he was resting in. "Ok...now what!" He didn't get much time to think as masked ninja jumped up on to the branch above and flung kunai at him.
"Unsurprisingly like every other battle against my former students he somehow managed to beat me." Iruka said in his report. He was wrong but that only meant his students were stronger than before. He could only hope they were strong enough for what's was coming.
The five days were over one by one all the rookie teams of the leaf village entered the academy to formally register in the Chūnin exams. Like magic, they all gravitated to each other. The Uzumaki quartet mingling with the team 13, the Ice princesses, while teams 10 and 8 split up into various arguments. Sakura and Ino Yamanaka were just getting into a heated debate over Sasukes true love when a strange boy walked over.
"Hey, you guys! You might want to try keeping it down a bit. No offense but you are the rookies right, fresh from the academy right?" When no one said anything he chose to continue. "This isn't a class field trip you know so calm down."
"Oh? And who asked you! Who are you?!" Ino demanded
"I'm Kabuto Yagushi, but really look around. You've made quite the impression. This exam makes everyone tense, don't want to rub anybody the wrong way." He said casually. This had them all scanning the room seeing the annoyed faces of many ninja from many different villages. "There's already talk about how this years class had the most graduates since wartimes. But it's not like you can help how they perceive you, your just rookies. How could you know?" He said chuckling.
"While I'm grateful he could shut Ino up, this guy rubs ME the wrong way." Naruto thought.
"Kabuto was it? This isn't the first time you've taken the exams?" Sakura asked. He suddenly turned sheepish.
"Ah no...this is...my seventh time." This had Shikamaru the laziest in the group confused. "You seee they're held twice a year and this is my fourth year."
"Wow a veteran! You must really be an expert by now." She said with mock enthusiasm. "Yeah sort of." He said Naruto deciding to hop on the bandwagon, spoke up. "Cool, so you can give us all the inside tips!"
"Some expert he's never passed. I guess what they say about the exam being tough is true then what a drag" Shikamaru chimed in.
"Well 7th time's the charm! Don't give up hope. I think I can help you with my...ninja info cards." When questioned about it he said that that were chakra encoded with all the knowledge he had on ninja at the exams." I've got more than 200 so I haven't been wasting my time. They don't look like much, blank even, but we don't want just anybody getting this information." He said flipping over a card revealing a white empty surface. He poured some chakra in to the now rotating card and suddenly a map appeared. Each participants village highlighted with a number next to each symbol. Marking how many had come from each one. "You got some specific info, on individuals?" Asked Sasuke."Can't say it's complete but I have something on just about everyone here, even you guys!" Kabuto said
Sasuke and really anybody else who was listening was given a rundown on Gara of the dessert and Rock Lee. They each stood out in their own way. Gara from earlier had apparently never been harmed on any of the missions he'd done. Including his b rank mission. And Rock Lee, the creep who'd bothered them at so point before entering the exam room was next. The weirdo who tried to court Sakura and Kyō(thinking he was a girl) was apparently a great taijutsu user like he'd demonstrated in his fight with Sasuke. But also he was on the same team as Hinatas cousin Neji Hyuga. If that hadn't shaken them up, Kabuto had started listing all the participating villages.
"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Waterfall, Sound, and Cloud. They've all sent some exceptional candidates this year from the looks of it." All the rookies looked to Hinata briefly, not only was her older cousin taking the exams too, the village responsible for her attempted kidnapping was also there.
"Sound is a very new village though with only a few people, the hidden cloud though has the smallest amount of people by far. Just one team, though I hear they seem pretty intimidating."
He blabbered on about how much potential this group had and how the exams will definitely be tough. Succeeding in shaking up the confidence of a few rookie teams. Before they could really calm themselves something else happened. A couple of sound ninja walked over everyone in the room turned to see what would happen. "We've had enough of your constant chatter." And one guy said. He was wearing a hide on his back and had his face covered in bandages apiary from his left eye. He swung at Kabuto who seemingly dodged very well. He had just enough time to look like he had some skill before it all came crashing down. First his glasses shattered despite the lack of contact. Then he was double over in pain. The sound nin jeering at him about his cards. Nobody could place just what had happened to the white haired boy but maybe that was best.
"All right you babyfaced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up, it's time to begin." A man yelled from the front of the room. When the smoke cleared a man with scars all over his face, surrounded by subordinates were revealed. "I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor for the first exam, and from this moment. Your worst enemy."