The Cloud Over The Leaf

The moon hung over the night sky as Hii finished practicing his techniques in the training fields.

"Phew! I think that should do it."

Hii wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he looked around the area.

The training grounds was covered in bizarre streaks and slashes all over the ground and trees.

Hii smiled as he felt he made a lot of progress with his technique.

Akumu and Fuyuki watched nearby as they laid on the cool grass.

[Looks like he's made a lot of progress.]

{I'm glad he figured out how to do that! Though I guess we'll have to refill his energy more often now.}

[That's nothing compared to him being safe.]

"Hehe! I'm just glad I got that inspiration from Kurama."

Hii smiled happily as he checked his sword for any damages.

After finding nothing wrong, he sheathed his blade and put it on his back.

"Let's head back home. The big day is coming up pretty soon."

[Are you ready?]

"As much as I'll ever be."

{You'll be fine!}

Hii just smiled as he headed back home.

'I've done as much as I could for now. Hopefully, it's enough.'

Hii enjoyed his stroll back to his home, looking up at the stars as he walked.

He made it back home and tried to tread softly to his room.

"Chi!"

Hii stopped and looked down to find Mochi looking at him.

"Hey Mochi. Hope I didn't wake you up."

"Chi~!"

Mochi scurried up Hii's leg and onto his shoulder as he quietly squeaked at Hii.

"Good to see you too, buddy. Mom and them still scared of you?"

"Chi...."

"Give them some time. I'm sure they'll come around."

Hii rubbed Mochi's head with his finger as he continued to his room.

Hii always left the Mochi's cage open so he could go in and out when he pleased. 

Mochi was more like a roommate to Hii than a pet.

"Good night, Mochi. I have to do some maintenance tommorow, so don't be alarmed when I get up."

"Chi!"

Hii turned out the lights and laid on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before going to sleep.

************

 Hii woke up the next day refreshed. He was glad he had a good night's sleep. There was a lot to prepare and do.

Hii looked over at Mochi's cage and found him still sleeping underneath a small blanket with a black cloud on it.

'Haha! They might not like him like Yozora does, but he's already family.'

Hii silently got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up.

After coming out, he headed back to his room and woke up Mochi.

"Come on, Mochi. Sun is up."

"Chi....."

Mochi slowly got up and wiped his eyes.

He then slowly climbed up Hii's arm and rested at his shoulder. He looked like he'd fall asleep at any moment.

Hii shook his head and headed out to the kitchen.

He saw Riku preparing food while Di was inspecting the latest order of kunai.

"Morning, Grandma! Grandpa!"

"Morning."

"Good morning, Hii. Help me get the rest of the food ready."

"Okay! Let me wash my hands first."

Di greeted him without looking away from the kunai in his hand while Riku asked Hii for help.

Hii placed Mochi on Yozora's chair and went to wash his hands before he assisted his grandma with cooking.

The food was soon done, so the two began to put plates down on the table.

"Morning!"

"Oh! Morning, Yozo! Where's Moya?"

"Hiding behind the corner."

"....."

Hii had a wry smile as he looked over to the corner to see Moya peeking behind it. Not only Moya, but even Kaya was behind her!

Hii could tell they were still wary of Mochi, but it was a lot better than before. He didn't have to pull them down from the ceiling this time.

Mochi was also mindful of them as he tried to make the least amount of noise possible and move slowly about so he didn't alarm them.

"M-Morning!"

"Morning, you two. Are you going to join us?"

Hii was really surprised that Riku had recovered from her fear of Mochi so quickly. She even petted him now and then!

"W-We'll join! Just, give us a moment."

Riku nodded her head as she sat down and looked around the table.

"Where's Henda?"

"...Hehehe..."

Riku looked at her daughter giggle with a frown on her face.

"Haaaa. I know you love your husband, but you should tone it down a bit. At least let him be able to get up in the morning."

Kaya pouted a bit as Riku reprimanded her.

"But you did the same thing when I was younger...."

"That was different. I only had you and no one else. I tried hard to get you some siblings, but it wasn't meant to be."

Everyone else started to eat their breakfast silently as the two continued to argue. This was a pretty frequent event at the table.

'Hang in there, Dad.'

Hii and his siblings all sent prayers over to their Dad as usual. He would definitely need them. Kaya seemed pretty stressed lately.

************

"Okay. I think that's everything."

Hii checked his list and nodded his head as he walked through the village back home.

He found all the things he could think of that might be useful in the Chunin exams.

All he had to do now was get ready for whatever was thrown at him.

"Hey! Hii-Nii!"

"Hmm?"

Hii looked up and noticed Naruto was heading towards him.

"Hey! What are you up to?"

"Haaa~! I was just boooored~! Everyone has holed up in their rooms! No one wants to hang out."

"Well, the Chunin Exams is in a few days. Everyone is getting fired up."

"Tell me about it! Even Sakura has changed! She's even more fired up than before!"

'I don't think that's because of the Chunin exams.'

Hii had different thoughts on Sakura's change, but he decided to keep it to himself.

He still remembered how Sakura had to get healed by him quite a bit when her training started. That dead look in her face was hard to forget.

The two walked around the area for a while, chatting about topics such as Ichiraku's new addition and training with Kurama.

"Ahh! Let me go!"

The two looked ahead and saw Konohamaru being raised up by his scarf by someone.

The person holding him was dressed in all black with something like a body strapped behind him. His face was filled with anger, purple lines, and....white cream?

There was also a girl with blonde hair holding in her laughter as she watched the situation.

"Apologize, brat!"

"No! It was your fault!"

"I didn't do anything!"

""......""

Naruto and Hii looked at each other, then back at the situation.

"Should we go help?"

"Yep."

"Well, you talk to him. I got your back."

Hii looked at him with a frown as Naruto looked up into the sky.

"....Fine."

The two walked over to the fight, attracting the attention of everyone.

"Naruto Nii-san! Hii Nii-san! Help me!"

Hii looked at Konohamaru for a moment, then back to the mystery man. He noticed the headband on his head was from the Sand village. He should be a bit cautious just in case. 

"What exactly happened here?"

"I was walking and eating my ice cream, then this guy came from around the corner and scared me! I even dropped my ice cream in fright!"

"You're lying! We saw you walking by and you tripped on your stupid scarf! Your ice cream landed on my face! You did it all by yourself!"

"Pfft!!"

The man and Konohamaru argued while the girl behind them couldn't stop chuckling.

"Temari! It's not that funny!"

"Hahahaha!"

Temari started howling with laughter as the man's temper reached his peak.

"Okay! Let's calm down a bit and talk this through."

Hii tried to defuse the situation, but the man wasn't having it!

"Shut up! I didn't come here to be drenched in ice cream!"

"Hey now. Just calm down for a bit."

*Shuu*

Hii appeared right in front of him and lightly tapped on his wrist, releasing Konohamaru in an instant!

"!!"

"Wha-!"

Hii quickly grabbed Konohamaru and flashed back to where he stood before, placing him down on his feet.

"Eh?!"

"There. Now we can talk without any issues."

Hii gave the man a smile as he patted Konohamaru's head.

The man watched Hii with a stern gaze as his hand brushed against the strange bundle behind him. The girl also lost her laughter as she also grabbed at her weapon with a serious face.

Naruto also became wary as he took a stance.

"Wait! We only want to talk. No need to get antsy."

Hii raised his hands in the air, still with a smile on his face as he stepped forward.

"I know it must be a bit nerve-racking to be in a village outside of your own, but I assure you we treat everyone fair here."

"Eh? Outside of their own village?"

Hii turned back to look at Naruto with an exasperated face.

'Really?! He didn't see the headbands?'

Hii quickly shelved the thought for later as he turned back over to the foreign guests.

"Anyway, I'd like to apologize on behalf of my little friend here. He's a bit headstrong without his Grandpa around."

Konohamaru's cheeks puffed up as he looked at Hii.

"No I'm not!"

Hii turned to glance at Konohamaru.

"Urk! Uuuh...."

Konohamaru just looked down at the ground as he stopped talking back.

Hii shook his head lightly and turned back to the man.

"As I was saying, I'm very sorry about what happened earlier. I hope you can forgive him for his excitement and stubbornness. He's young after all."

"......"

The man dropped his hands and stood at ease.

"I guess I can let it go. It would be unbecoming of me to get mad at a kid."

'You already did though?'

Hii smiled brightly as nodded his head.

"Yup! Accidents happen all the time with kids. Thank you very much for letting it go."

"Hmph! That's right, isn't it?"

The man folded his arms proudly as he agreed with Hii.

"Ooh? I can't believe you can make friends, Kankuro?"

"Tch! Lay off!"

Kankuro started to wipe off the ice cream on his face as Temari stepped forward and looked over Hii.

"Hmmmm. You're pretty cute."

"Ugh, thanks?"

Hii had a strained smile on as he backed away slightly.

This only made Temari smile a bit more.

"Thanks for calming my little brother down. My name is Temari, while he is Kankuro. You are?"

"Hii Kurokumo. Pleasure to meet you, Temari-san."

Temari gave Hii a smile and turned her gaze to Naruto.

"Hey there! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Welcome to the Leaf village!"

"...It's a pleasure."

Hii and Naruto interacted with Temari as they waited for Kankuro to finish cleaning himself up.

""!!!!""

Everyone soon felt a shiver crawl up their spine as a strange sensation swept over them!

'Killing intent?!'

Hii's hand moved straight to his blade as he quickly moved in front of Konohamaru and found the source of the intent.

He stared into a pair of aquamarine eyes as a boy stood upside down on a tree branch next to them.

His red, scruffy hair hung away from his face so Hii could see the tired, baggy marks around his eyes.

Kankuro and Temari both tensed up as they saw the boy.

""Gaara!""

Hii  lightened up his stance just a bit since they knew him, but still kept his guard up.

He wouldn't give it up until killing intent  fully disappeared.

"....."

Gaara continued to stare at Hii with a stoic expression for a moment before glancing at Naruto.

"Ugh!"

Naruto braced himself against the killing intent and didn't turn away from him!

"......"

Gaara looked between the two for a moment before his eyes came to Kankuro and Temari.

"Kazekage-sama is looking for you two. He sent me to find you."

"Dad is?!"

Kankuro blurted out in surprise as he didn't think his father would need them so quickly.

'His father is the 4th Kazekage?!'

Hii was mildly shocked, but he kept his face from showing it.

"Eh?! You guys are the 4th Kazekage's kids?!"

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't have that ability.

Kankuro looked at Naruto and nodded his head.

"Yeah. All three of us are."

Naruto and Hii both looked back at Gaara who kept staring at them.

"...What are your names?"

The question caught him off guard, but Naruto quickly answered him with a smile.

"Oh? I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Gaara looked at him for a moment and turned to Hii.

"And you?"

"Hii Kurokumo."

Gaara slowly nodded his head and committed both of their names to his memory.

"I'm Gaara of the Sand. You seem strong. I hope you two will make me feel alive once more."

""??""

Hii and Naruto became confused as they heard Gaara, but the other two siblings became pale after hearing him.

"H-Hey! Let's go see what Dad wants! Come on, Gaara!"

"....Fine."

*Shuuu*

Gaara disappeared from under the tree and headed off back the way he came.

Kankuro turned to the two and clapped his hands together.

"Sorry! We have to go! Hopefully, we'll see each other again soon!"

He quickly dashed after Gaara once he said his piece.

Temari looked at the two as well and nodded her head before dashing after the two.

Hii relaxed his stance and went into deep thought as he watched them go.

"Geez! What was that about?!"

"......"

Hii didn't say anything and turned his head to look at Konohamaru. 

He was looking down at the ground with his fists balled up in frustration.

Hii sighed as he came up to him and crouched to his level.

"Konohamaru-chan?"

Hii's soft voice made him jump for a moment.

He slowly looked up to Hii's face and found him smiling.

"Are you okay?"

"....."

Konohamaru slowly nodded his head as Hii sighed in relief.

"Good. You have to be careful with foreign ninjas. You never know when you'll run into someone who would be happy to hurt you if they found out your relationship with Lord 3rd."

"...Aren't you mad at me?"

Hii looked at Konohamaru with a confused expression and turned to Naruto.

"Are we mad, Naruto?"

"Hmm? What would we be mad for? It's not like you did anything wrong."

Naruto looked at Konohamaru and gave him a thumbs up!

"Don't trip so much next time, okay? Strong ninjas don't trip!"

Hii turned back to Konohamaru with a smile.

"You think you can do that?"

"I, I swear I won't trip again! I'll be cool just like you two!"

"Hehe! Then you better get to training! We're gonna get stronger and stronger! You'll have to keep up with us!"

"That's right."

Hii stood up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a few coins and placed them in Konohamaru's hands.

"Go get another ice cream and remember, don't trip this time."

"Okay! Thank you!"

Konohamaru ran off towards the ice cream store as Naruto and Hii watched him go.

"Naruto."

Once Konohamaru was gone. Hii's face grew serious as he turned to Naruto.

Naruto's face also grew serious and a bit fearful.

"Kurama told me about him. That guy is just like us."

Hii shook his head and looked back over in the direction the Sand siblings went.

"No. He's not like us. He's nearly being controlled by whatever is in him. He's dangerous."

"...."

Naruto nodded his head as he also looked in the direction they disappeared to.

"Could we have become like that?"

"Possibly. But we didn't."

Naruto nodded his head and clenched his fists.

"He was strong. He'll be a tough opponent."

Hii had a small smile on his face as he rubbed his neck.

"Looks like these exams are going to be very interesting."

*************

Yamato looked at his students with a big smile on his face.

"Are you guys ready for the exams?"

The three of them looked at Yamato with smiles on their faces.

"Come on, Sensei~! You know we're not gonna back down from a fight."

Shizuka shook her head as she stretched her limbs.

Maka nodded her head silently as she looked at her teammates.

She could feel they were a bit stronger than before, which made her excited.

She couldn't wait to see just how strong they had become.

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

Yamato nodded his head and looked at all 3 of them seriously.

"You have to be careful during these exams. Your life and ninja career are on the line. Stay focused and protect each other and yourselves well."

The three nodded in unison.

""Yes, Sensei!""

Yamato nodded his head and pointed towards the building they needed to go to.

"Go on and make me proud."

Hii nodded his head and made his way towards the building.

"We won't let you down, Sensei!"

Maka quickly followed Hii after receiving Yamato's support.

"Hehe! I'm sure Sensei is already proud of us. This is just extra credit now."

Shizuka followed her team after giving Yamato a cheeky smile.

"Haaa! That girl is too devious sometimes."

Despite his words, a big smile came over his face.

That smile disappeared rather quickly as he fell into thought.

"I hope these exams won't be chaotic. It's not everyday two nations host an exam."

Yamato thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Perhaps I'm thinking too much. I just have a bad feeling."

**********

"Ahhh! It's been so long since I've seen you two! How've you been?!"

"Pretty good. I've made some progress with my techniques."

"Awesome! So have I! We gotta spar against each other again at some point."

"......"

Maka silently led them as they passed by groups of ninjas.

"Hey? What's wrong with Maka-chan?"

"It might be because of what you're doing with my hair."

Shizuka was peeking through Hii's hair from his shoulder, using it like a wig for herself.

Hii didn't mind. He realized earlier in life that his hair was going to be a plaything for women in the future. He just had to accept it.

"I don't see why she would be mad."

Maka turned and glanced at her.

"You should be serious! We're going to be up against all these people and the first thing you do is play around."

Shizuka looked at her with a bored face.

"Fine. I'll stop only if you do it with me. Grab the other side and let's match."

Maka stopped walking and looked over at Shizuka with a frown.

Her bright smile together with Hii's silver hair made her look a bit prettier than usual.

She....was slightly envious.

"....You promise?"

"Promise!"

".....Haaa."

Maka went in front of Hii and blushed.

"Excuse me then."

She then promptly went to the other side and copied Shizuka's style.

Shizuka smiled brightly as she saw her joining in.

"Great! Now, We are the Silver Siblings! Fear our power!"

"Pfft! Hahahahaha!!!"

Hii couldn't hold it in as he started laughing at Shizuka's joke.

All the ninjas around them turned to look, only to see a boy laughing with two girls playing in his hair.

Maka's face turned red as she quickly darted out of Hii's space and stomped her way to the exam.

"Hehehehe! Hey! Wait up, Maka-chan~!"

Shizuka quickly caught up with her and tried to coax her forgiveness.

Hii shook his head and stifled his laughter as he tried to catch up.

"Hii-kun."

"Hmm?"

Hii turned around and was shocked by who he saw!

"Neji-san!"

Hii saw a boy approaching him with long brown hair and lavender pupils. He came towards Hii and folded his arms.

"I hope you haven't been slacking in training. I will win this time."

"Heh! You say that everytime, yet you're only right 50% of the time."

"I'm going to be 100% right this time."

Hii folded his arms as well and looked into Neji's violet eyes with a smug confidence.

"We'll have to see if you can back that up."

"Neji has been training pretty hard lately. You might be in for a surprise."

Hii looked to the side of Neji and saw a girl with her brown hair in two dumpling buns and a pink shirt.

"Hey, Ten-san."

Tenten smiled and waved at Hii.

"Hmm? Wait a minute. If you're both here, then where is Lee?"

"Gaaah!"

*Thud*

The three turned their heads and saw Lee getting beaten up by two guards.

Both guards were blocking the entrance to the exams with a sneer on their faces.

"Ha! A weakling like you wants to pass the exams! Pathetic!"

"Seriously! Why don't you go back home and train some more?! Hahaha!"

 Rock Lee got up from the ground and wiped his face free of dust.

"Ngh! I won't lose to you!"

"...."

Hii watched the scene with a confused expression.

"What the hell is Lee doing?"

"Ugh..."

Hii asked Neji what was going on, but he only groaned and shook his head.

Hii turned to Tenten, who scratched her cheek with her finger.

"I think Lee wanted to motivate his competitors a bit by fighting against the guards."

Hii grew more confused as he looked at the sign at the top of the door.

He had long noticed it was a Genjutsu and he was on the wrong floor for the exam.

 he also knew if Lee or Tenten didn't notice the Genjutsu, Neji definitely would!

He couldn't wrap his head around why Lee was fooling around like this.

'Youth, perhaps?'

"Don't worry about it too much. We still have time anyway before the deadline."

"Hii."

Hii turned to Neji.

"Yeah?"

"Weren't you chasing after someone?"

"Ah! Right! I gotta go find my team! See you guys later!"

Hii dashed off in the direction Maka and Shizuka left in while the two watched him go.

Tenten turned to Neji and tilted her head.

"Hey, Neji?"

"What?"

"Did you really used to get beat up by him for bullying Hinata-chan?"

"......."

Neji ignored her as she leaned in to watch his face.

"Not gonna answer?"

"....No comment."

"Gaah!"

The two turned back to see Lee selling the crowd with his technique.

"You gotta let us take the exam!"

"Yeah! You can't just block the way!"

"Keep fighting, Bowl cut!"

"Hehe! You brats think being a ninja is easy?!"

Neji shook his head as the show continued while Tenten giggled, wondering how long it would take for them to realize they were on the wrong floor.

**************

"Where did those two go?"

Hii ran down the hall and looked for the two girls, but they were nowhere in sight.

"They sure move fast."

[They shouldn't have gotten far.]

{Good luck with the exams by the way!}

'Thanks! Good luck with your patrol!'

Fuyuki and Akumu were not going to help Hii during the exams.

Hii didn't want them to help, but they also had another task to do while the exams were going on.

They had to patrol for Orochimaru's movements as well as the unknown group with him.

"Oh! There they are."

Hii came close to the exam room and found Maka and Shizuka waiting for him by the door.

"Took you long enough. You got lost?"

"No. I just ran into an old friend. They'll be taking the exam too. You guys made up?"

"Yep! Nothing a good old apology can't fix."

"You didn't apologize."

"Shhh! He didn't have to know that. He'll steal my secret."

Hii shook his head at Shizuka's antics.

"We're heading inside?"

"The door only opens for three~."

Hii nodded his head and pushed the door open.

The three walked into the room and were noticed by most of the ninjas inside.

The three paid them no mind and found a place to sit nearby.

"It's about time you got here."

Hii looked over and smiled at Shikamaru and Choji who came over to greet him.

"I thought you guys would've waited until closer to the start time to be here."

"They would've if it wasn't for me!"

Ino came from behind Choji and stood proudly.

Hii snickered and turned to Shikamaru.

"So she just nagged you to be on time?"

"Pretty much."

Choji nodded his head as well as he kept munching on his chips.

"Haaaaa~. These two! Do you wanna trade, Shizuka-san?"

"Pfft! We'd get nothing done if I was with them."

Both groups huddled together as they continued to talk amongst themselves.

"Yahoo!! It's finally time!"

'Oh boy. He's as loud as ever.'

Everyone turned to look at the door and found Kiba, Shino, and Hinata coming in.

"Looks like part of the class is already here."

Shino pushed his glasses up as he walked over.

"Gah! What is Hii-san doing here?!"

"Why are you so loud? Be quiet."

Kiba kept his mouth shut as he came closer to the group.

"Arf!"

"You're fine, Akamaru."

Hii went over and petted Akamaru as Kiba frowned.

"Don't bully him, Hii-kun. Kiba is just excited."

Hinata came over and vouched for Kiba.

"....Fine. Only because it's you, Hinata-chan."

Hii decided to leave Kiba alone for a while.

He knew he would be loud again soon enough.

"Hii-kun~! You're being unfair!"

Shizuka pouted as she glared at Hii.

"How?!"

"You're always too nice to her and Hanabi-chan! I demand equal treatment!"

Shizuka raised her hand and Maka's hand as she gave a one man protest.

 Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee came in while she huffed and puffed.

Hii stared at her for a moment and folded his arms.

"What do you really want?"

Shizuka stopped immediately and smiled.

"I just want the signature of Fall-chan~!"

"No!!"

Everyone was surprised by how loud Hii was with his rejection.

"Come on~! I already have Summer-chan's signature! I just need to run into Spring-chan to get hers. Fall-chan and Winter-chan are all that's left!"

"No!"

"Pretty please~! With a Dango on top!"

"......"

Hii turned away from her and shook his head.

Why did she ask about such a cursed thing?!

"Hmm? Fall-chan?"

"Could she mean?!"

"Is my goddess in the area?!"

"I wonder if I can meet one of them! Any one of them is fine!"

Hii felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard several scary murmurs from the crowd.

He turned back to Shizuka with a glare that sent shivers down her spine.

"NO."

".....I...S-Sorry. That might've went too far."

"......"

"Alright! We're here!"

'Oh good. A distraction.'

The group turned back to see Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke walking in.

"Heh. That's the whole class then."

Shikamaru chuckled as the new group joined into the existing one.

Naruto was as happy-go-lucky as ever while Sasuke was still silent and brooding.

The change that everyone was surprised by was Sakura. She was no longer fawning all over Sasuke, but checking out the competition around them. Ino was especially shocked to see her hair much shorter than the last time she saw her.

They also noticed once she saw Hii, she shook lightly before relaxing.

"Phew, it's just Hii-kun."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?"

"N-Nothing, Naruto! Just talking to myself, I guess."

Hii had a wry smile on his face as he remembered the days he had to heal her and carry her back home.

She did get stronger, but the price seemed a bit high.

'Well, she'll probably be okay after she sees how much stronger she's become after all that.'

"You guys mind shutting up for a bit? Everyone is already on edge. They don't need more stimulation."

""!!???""

The group all turned to find a man with glasses and silver hair approaching them. 

"What are you talking about?!"

"You being so loud. Haven't you noticed everyone's looking this way?"

Sure enough, Naruto could tell that everyone was indeed looking at their group.

Too bad for them, Naruto didn't care at all.

"So what? They'll see me as Hokage soon enough!"

Naruto turned towards them with a smile and pointed at his face.

"Take a good look! My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'll be Hokage one day! Believe it!"

Everyone was shocked by how bold he was! 

Some had a bit of respect for him while others would remember to try and eliminate him from the test for being so arrogant.

Naruto didn't care as he turned back to smile at the man.

"Hmph! You're pretty arrogant, but you would have to be if you want to be Hokage."

He pushed up his glasses and stared at Naruto.

"Well then. I guess I should give you something for being so entertaining. My name is Kabuto, and I specialize in gathering information."

"Information? What kind of information?"

Kabuto smiled and pulled out a stack of cards from his back pouch. 

"All kinds of information. Knowledge of countries, products, specializations, and ninjas."

"Do you have information on individual ninjas as well?"

Sasuke suddenly spoke up, making Kabuto smile.

"Depends on how much you can describe about the ninja in question."

Naruto and Sasuke suddenly became serious as they looked at Kabuto.

"Do you have information on Gaara of the Sand?"

"Or Rock Lee of Konoha?"

"Ooh! You have their names? That makes it easier."

Kabuto pulled two cards from his stack and placed them on the floor.

He quickly made a seal and pointed at the cards.

*Poof Poof*

Information suddenly appeared on the card as well as a portrait of the person in question.

The two received the cards and analyzed them in silence.

Shizuka looked at the information in Naruto's hand while Maka hovered over Sasuke's card.

They both frowned when they read the details.

"Only using Taijutsu and completing that many missions?"

"Completing missions without a scratch? He doesn't look fast at all."

Everyone frowned as they heard their comments.

Hii was the only one with a smile on his face as he grew excited.

'How interesting. So Gaara is about as strong as I thought. Even Lee got better than before. That shouldn't be too surprising since Guy is his teacher.'

"Those two are only a small portion of the ninjas here. This exam has the cream of the crop in regards to applicants. Even Otogakure sent their rookies in, despite them being a backwater country."

Some of the group started to have second thoughts about their prospects at the exam while others were getting more excited.

"Competition is necessary to grow stronger. I'm not going to run from that chance."

"You said it, girl!"

Maka embraced the challenge while Shizuka agreed with her.

"I love a good challenge."

Hii also welcomed the challenge, bringing the competitive side out of the others as well.

Kabuto merely scoffed at their naivety and shook his head.

"At least you're courageous. That's essential for surviving the test."

Sakura tilted her head as she looked at Kabuto 

"You seem pretty experienced with this test, Kabuto-san. Have you done this before?"

Kabuto nodded his head as he checked one of his cards.

"It's my seventh time taking it."

""Eh?!""

Everyone was surprised!

Was the test truly that difficult?!

*Shuu Shuu Shuu*

Hii suddenly noticed fast movement in the crowd of people.

'An attack? Doesn't seem like I'm the target.'

Hii's hand twitched before it relaxed as a man jumped up from the crowd!

Hii noticed his headband had a musical symbol on it.

"Take this!"

*Swish Swish*

The man threw kunai at Kabuto from the air!

"Tch!"

Kabuto clicked his tongue and dodged backwards!

*Swish Swish*

Several shurikens flew from within the crowd as a girl with a Sound headband also attacked Kabuto!

*Swish Clang Clang*

Kabuto quickly pulled out a kunai and deflected the projectiles!

*Shuu*

The last Sound ninja darted towards Kabuto with a strange glove on his arm!

*Swish*

The ninja threw a punch at Kabuto, but Kabuto dodged it with ease!

"Hmph! What was all that for?"

"Whoa! Cool moves!"

Naruto praised his techniques as everyone else realized how skilled Kabuto was.

*Crack*

"!!"

Kabuto noticed his glasses cracked and took them off in surprise!

"This is what you get for calling Otogakure backwater."

Kabuto didn't understand what he meant until he suddenly felt dizzy!

*Bluergh*

Kabuto vomited suddenly as he lost his balance.

"What?!"

""!?"'

Everyone was surprised as they looked at the Otogakure team.

They couldn't pin the exact way he was attacked!

'They're rather strong, but nothing too impressive. Looks like their skills are mostly sound based. If you counter that, they won't be much.'

'Interesting concept, but I'm sure I can nullify it with at least 2 seals.'

'If you move faster than them, they can't set up anything. Seems surprise is their best condition to win in a fight.'

Maka, Shizuka and Hii all appraised the team quickly and didn't pay them much more attention.

Hii watched Kabuto recover slowly as he pulled out another pair of glasses.

'He's more dangerous than all of them together. Whatever they did, he has already recovered from it. He probably knows more about them than he's letting on too. He could even be holding back to the Genin level.'

Hii's eyes sharpened as he watched him stand back up slowly.

"Alright! That's enough playing around!"

*Poof*

A loud voice suddenly boomed throughout the room as a large cloud of smoke appeared!

Several figures could be seen as the smoke cleared, revealing a group of Konoha ninjas.

The leading member wore all black and had several scars on his face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. My name is Ibuki Morino and I'll be your proctor for the exams."

Ibiki gave off an intimidating air to the participants as he began to explain the rules of the exam. 

Unfortunately for Naruto, it was a paper exam this year.

"Why?! Why would it be a paper exam?!"

Naruto began to freak out as Shizuka patted him on the back.

"Calm down, Naruto! Let's hear the rest of the rules first. Maybe there's a way for you to pass still."

Shizuka tried to calm Naruto down, but as the rest of the rules were given out, it only made him more nervous.

"Any one who doesn't have any points by the end of the test will be disqualified! If anyone is caught cheating, they will also lose points for their team and can also be disqualified!"

"Uuuugh!"

Tension was in the air as everyone nervously looked at the paper in front of them!

"You have 1 hour to finish the test! Begin!"

The sound of paper being flipped echoed through the room as everyone started to take their test.

Hii was placed in a corner far away from everyone while Shizuka and Maka were on the other ends of the room.

He was all by himself.

He flipped the test over and looked over the questions, then paused for a moment.

'Huh? These aren't that hard to solve.'

Hii expected the questions to be ridiculous, but they seemed rather tame compared to his medical books.

Hii started to write his answers down as he steadily made his way through the 9 questions on the test.

15 mins into the test, he placed his pencil down and looked over his answers. 

'Seems right. Now I guess I wait for the last question.'

At the bottom of the test, the applicants could see that the 10th question would be released near the end of the test.

Hii looked around the room and noticed that many ninjas were trying to cheat secretly to get through the test. He shook his head when he managed to spot someone slipping up badly.

*Swish Tak*

"Aah!!"

An applicant fell out of his chair from a  kunai flying towards his test.

"W-What was that for?!"

"You're out. You and your team can go."

The applicant's face became pale as he saw two others stand up.

He held his head down and quickly made his way out of the room with his teammates.

'Looks like people are starting to lose all their points now.'

Hii had quickly figured out he needed to possibly cheat during this test to pass, but he didn't expect he could actually answer all of the questions.

'With these, Sakura will probably be able to pass. Maka and Shizuka should be fine for most of them as well.'

Hii turned his attention to Naruto and was suddenly stunned.

He was writing on his test!

'He can actually answer one of the questions?!'

Hii was surprised to see Naruto attempted to answer a question and smiled.

'I'm glad he seems to be getting smarter.'

Hii didn't notice the small seal that was on Naruto's neck as he wrote his answers.

'For the next one, put down 36. Just make up whatever proof you need to make it look right.'

A voice came into Naruto's head as he continued to write with tears in his eyes.

'Thanks, Nee-chan! I don't know what I'd do if you didn't help me!'

Shizuka had actually planted a new type of seal on Naruto's body before the exam started!

'Don't worry about it. Just keep listening and don't talk too much. This seal is still experimental and might be noticed.'

Shizuka kept talking to Naruto mentally as she kept an eye on the nearby competition.

'Huh? Someone even put a mirror in here! These guys have all sorts of tricks.'

Shizuka enjoyed her remaining time analyzing everyone's cheating techniques as she guided Naruto through the questions.

Maka discreetly activated her Sharingan and copied Sasuke who was in front of her a few rows away.

She noticed he suddenly started writing quickly while looking ahead.

'Good job spotting a smart one, little brother.'

She cross checked the answers she got off of him and they seemed correct.

*Swish Tak*

"You're out!"

"Nooo!!"

*Swish Tak*

"Pack it up!"

"I'm sorry..."

Teams started to drop out left and right as time slowly dwindled down to the 1 hour mark.

Once it was close to time, Ibiki stood up and addressed the room.

"Time's almost up! I will now prepare the final question! I will also be adding a new rule to this question! If you can't answer it, you will be immediately disqualified and banned from taking the test!"

"What?!"

"That's not fair!"

"How can you do that?!"

Angry voices rang out of the room, but they didn't faze Ibiki at all.

"If you feel so strongly about it, you can turn around and leave. You can try again next time."

""........""

"I'll give you a few minutes before the final question to decide."

Silence hung over the group for a moment before the first person stood up.

"I'm sorry! I don't want to lose my chance!"

"I-I'll be back next time!"

More and more people stood up and left the test.

Hii shook his head as he watched them go.

'Even if you can never take the test again, they could always get raised in rank by their Kage if they do well enough. They must be too scared to take the risk.'

Hii patiently waited for the question. He wasn't too worried about it. As long as he had strength, he would be recognized either way. He was sure the others thought the same as well. 

Once a few more teams disappeared from the room, Ibiki checked the room for a moment and smiled.

"It seems like you all are the only ones remaining. Congratulations! You've passed the first exam!"

""...Eeeeeeeh?!!""

Everyone was shocked! 

"Why did we all pass?!"

A nearby ninja couldn't hold it anymore and asked the question everyone wondered about. Ibiki just chuckled and responded.

"You all passed because you took the risk."

He then removed his headband, making several ninjas gasp.

His head was covered in gruesome scars and wounds, leaving no part of his head unscathed.

"Information is important to a ninja, but the most important thing is to have the guts to seek the information at any cost and not get caught. It can save the lives of your comrades or loved ones depending on what information you can gather. Fail, and you'll experience the pain of losing that chance first-hand whether it be physical, or emotional. You must keep that in mind as you continue on your path to becoming a great ninja. The fact that you put everything on the line for this chance proves you have those guts."

"".......""

Everyone silently memorized those words as Ibiki put his headband back on.

"There's quite a lot of you this year. We'll see how many of you can make it to the end."

*Crash*

One of the windows suddenly broke as a black ball of cloth came flying into the room!

*Swish Swish Tak Tak*

The four corners of the cloth held kunais that opened up and shot into the ceiling and floor of the room, stretching out a banner for all to read!

*The Second Exam Starts Now!*

A woman stood in front of the banner and stood dauntingly in front of the crowd!

She wore a mesh body suit with a beige trenchcoat and skirt. Some ninjas didn't know where to look as she proudly flaunted her curves.

"Alright! Don't get too happy just because you passed the first exam! It only gets harder from here! Now, get ready and follow me!"

"Sure, but who are you, Sexy Nee-san?!"

"".......""

Hii slapped his forehead as he groaned.

'Why did you call her out like that, Shizuka?!'

The girl in question had a big smile on her face as she watched the face of the woman grow bright red.

She forgot to introduce herself!

"Haaa. You have to follow procedure, Anko."

"Kuhum!"

Anko cleared her throat and reasserted herself!

"My name is Anko Mitarashi, and I will be your Second Exam Instructor. We'll be having lots of fun in this next part, so get ready!"

Anko gave a playful smile as she scanned the room, counting the number of participants.

"30 teams?! Did you go soft on them, Ibiki?!"

"Hehe! There are a lot of gutsy ninja this year. I'm sure you'll see for yourself. There's even some favorites of yours in this batch."

"Hmm?! Favorites of mine?"

Anko scanned the crowd once more with more scrutiny as she looked at their faces.

'Who is she looking for, I wonder?'

"Ah!"

Hii wondered to himself for a moment as she soon found who she was looking for.

Or more accurately, they were waving right at her!

"Anko-san~! You messed up your cool intro~! I won the bet~!"

"Tch! Shut it! I'll get you your sweets later! Let me work!"

"Thank you~!"

'Oh no.'

Hii could feel a headache coming as he saw the two interact.

'They know each other. This means that lady is probably trouble then!'

Hii made up his mind to avoid her as much as possible!

One Shizuka was enough!

At least, until she noticed him.

"...."

"...."

The two stared at each other for a moment before a smile crept up Anko's face as she swiftly walked up to him.

'Please no.'

Hii's frown deepened as Anko's smile grew brighter and brighter the closer she got to him!

'No no no!'

*Glomp*

Before he could think of getting away, Anko had grabbed his head in a tight hug!

"I finally get to meet the infamous Hii-chan! Your mom just won't stop talking about you!"

Hii could barely see Anko's mischievous smile as she smothered him in her meshed curves.

Hii could feel anger directed to him by some of the guys in the room as he struggled to get out of her grip.

"Ooh? Who's pointing killing intent my way? Don't start what you can't finish, boys~."

*Gulp*

Hii felt all the killing intent disappear from the room in a flash as Anko flashed a sinister smile!

Well, almost all of it!

"Hmm? Oh~! I guess that's enough of that for now."

Anko finally released Hii as he caught his breath!

He didn't see Anko lick her lips in a savory manner.

He also couldn't see Maka frowning viciously at their new examiner!

"Hehehe! This will be a fun exam if the little Storm is here!"

'Great! What did Mom do this time?!'

Hii swore he was going to throw the biggest water ball he could at her when he got back!

It was never a good thing when Kaya was involved!

Anko smiled brightly as she leaned in close to Hii's ear.

"I can't wait to see if your girl form is as cute as the pictures."

Hii couldn't process the whisper at first until an expression of overwhelming frustration appeared on his face!

'Moooooooom!!!!'

***********

"Haaachu!! Uwaah! Is someone talking behind my back?"

Kaya rubbed her nose as she looked around.

"....Probably just my imagination. Now where was I?"

She turned her attention back to an album she was completing. It was filled with pictures of her, Moya, and Hiyo together in many different poses and outfits

The top of the album read "Mama and her girls".

Kaya looked at the book with a satisfied expression.

"Fufufu! My children are the cutest!"