Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mokushita Hyuuga ❯ Chapter 9
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Moghedian 
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.30.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 782 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.30.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 782 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 9
Kouden opened his eyes and sat straight up, nearly making himself dizzy in the proccess. Looking on the wall of the cluttered room that he had called his for the last 2 and a half years, he spotted his large green calender that was emblazed with the symbol of Konoha in gold lettering and script.
Tenten had bought him that for his 10th birthday. Kouden's eyes were drawn to a single day that had been circled five or six times with a bright red marker. Staring at the spot for a few seconds, an almost audible click was heard has Kouden remembered what day it was. Throwing his cover back, he didn't even bother to tidy his pallet up and he shoved himself into his clothes at inhuman speeds. The only thing he slowed down for was to slide a thick silver ring onto his right ring finger.
The ring was studded with two crystals that was tinted purple, but only if you looked at it the right way. Sasami had given it to him a few months prior. She said the stones reminded her of his eyes.
Lastly, he stumbled out of his door, tying his kunai pouch on. Knocking on Aiko's door, she grunted and he slid it open.
Unlike Kouden, as he and Aiko were like night and day, her room was tidy and neat, all one colour scheme. The light from the hall spilt onto Aiko and she rolled over, moaning into her pillow.
"Get up, Aiko-chan, you have that test, dont you?" Kouden said. He heard Aiko gasp and watched as she threw her covers back. Wearing nothing but a tank top and her panties, she looked at Kouden, blushed, and threw her pillow at him. Kouden slid the door shut and nearly burst out laughing as he heard the small whomp.
Running down the stairs with enough grace to make it seem like he was just gliding down them, he neatly sat down and slid to his spot at the table that still occupied the middle of the room. Neji looked up from his tea, already dressed in his ANBU uniform, his mask sitting on his head.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Neji-ni-san." Kouden said, offering a small wave as Neji poured him a cup of tea. Kouden brought his cup to his mouth and inhaled first, as he often watched his mother do.
Green tea today. Not his favorite, but it would do.
"You excited?" Neji said, reading the paper that was sitting on the table. Kouden nodded while sipping the tea.
"Are you gonna pass?" Kouden set his tea down and stared at his elder cousin. Neji just grinned, not looking at his face.
Neji finished his tea and stood up just as a yawning Aiko sauntered down the stairs wearing her day's attire. A dark red jacket styled like Tenten's usual clothes. Kouden had been told it was in style of a country called China that was to the south. Aiko also had light gray leggings that were baggy at the bottom, and stopped just below her knees. Beneath her jacket was a light purple sleeveless shirt with gold trim.
Seeing that her father was leaving, Aiko walked over to Neji and gave him a hug. Neji wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.
"Itterashai, Tou-san!" Aiko said. Kouden looked back at his empty tea cup, a small feeling building up in his stomach. He had been here for 2 and a half years, and he saw his mother once. She was waiting for him in the living room one day when he had got back from a sparring session with Sasami. Neji was serving her tea, and Tenten and Aiko were nowhere to be seen.
He had chatted with her, and caught up, but Kouden hadn't seen her since. That meeting was almost 2 years ago. Kouden started to fear her dead, but banished such thoughts from his mind. Instead he tried to focus on the strange lady, Kasumi, as she had told him, that came to visit every week or so.
She had even stayed for dinner once, but looked very uncomfortable around Tenten. Tenten herself didn't seem to notice, but Kouden was ever watchful.
He also wondered whether or not Kasumi was the one watching him and Sasami spar every so often. Kouden caught the watcher once with his byakugan, but before he could focus on the person, they dissapeared.
Kouden was a bit paranoid that week, but it didn't last long.
"Ni-chan, if you keep zoning out, we're gonna be late!" Aiko said, tugging on Kouden's jacket. Since it was winter, instead of wearing his thin black and orange jacket he usually donned, Kouden wore a thicker and longer orange and yellow hoodie with a black stripe down the front. The red swirl of the Uzumaki clan, and the red and yellow flame of the Hyuuga clan decorated each shoulder. A fellow student once asked about the swirl, and Kouden just said it looked cool.
Standing, Kouden grabbed his shoulder bag, crammed with paper, and followed Aiko out the door.
Walking down the street the stores were just starting to open, and a few people dotted the long road. At the first fork a bobbing head of pink made her way to Kouden and Aiko. She raised her hand and said,
"Ohayou, Hyuuga sibs." Kouden waved back and Aiko nodded.
"Ohayou, Sasami-chan." Sasami fell instride with Kouden and grasped his hand.
"Excited, Kouden-kun?" Sasami said, leaning over. Kouden smirked.
"Somewhat. Slightly nervous, Otou-sama failed it three times." Sasami laughed and waved to Noneko as she rounded the corner to join their small group.
The group of four turned another corner before the Academy came into veiw. A few of the younger children were swinging on the new swingset, and some of the older children were punching and kicking logs. Just as Kouden's group walked past the gates, a tone sounded and everyone started to file inside.
Walking into his classroom, he hurried to the backrow to save a seat for Sasami as she crossed their names off the attendance sheet at the front of the class.
A few minutes of titter tatter and Iruka walked in the door, sliding it closed with his foot. Raising a hand the class fell silent, and Kouden still wondered how he did it.
"Mina-san, ohayou gozaimasu." He said,
"Sensei, ohayou gozaimasu!" The student said in unison. Their apparent excitement evident in their voices. Iruka grinned, crinkling the long scar across the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry to dampen it, but your much awaited Genin exams wont be until after lunch. This morning will be used to reveiw." a few moments of collected groans later, and Iruka was passing out sheets.
After handing the papers out, Kouden glanced at it, and nearly moaned. It was a quiz.
"Ok, you have 2 hours to complete this as best you can. If you pass your genin exam this afternoon, you will never have to set another foot in this class again, and I intend to see that you are educated." Iruka paused, and said, "If anyone can score 95% and higher, I'll give you a bonus mark on your actual exam. Start!"
For the next two hours, Kouden breezed through the written exam. Sparing a glance at Sasami, he saw that she had finished already.
Ten minutes of nothing to do but doodle on the back of his paper and Iruka stepped up to the first level of the desks.
"Time! Good, now pass your papers to the end of the row and bring them to my desk. Make sure you have your name on them this time, Sakana." A girl in the middle row with long orangy-brown hair blushed and quickly scribbled along the left side of her paper.
"Good. Lunch break started ten minutes ago, so you can go relax for another half an hour, but don't be late. If you miss your turn, unless you have a very good reason for being late, you wont get a do-over." Kouden shoved his bag under his desk, and stood up. Sasami stood in front of him and they walked out the door to the training ground.
Walking to their favorite tree, they used chakra to jump to the top of the branches, and sat down.
"How do you think you did?" Kouden said. Sasami shrugged and said,
"It was pretty easy, I mean, I probably knew most of the stuff by last year. What about you?" Kouden grinned.
"Covered it was I was 7 with Ka-san. She drilled me hard when it came to knowledge." Sasami smiled.
Peering through the dead brown leaves that were still clinging to the branches of the tall tree, Kouden pointed.
"See him? Shiro?" Sasami followed his finger. Leaning towards him Sasami nodded. The boy Kouden was pointing at had black hair that was short in the back, and quite long in the front. He was leaning against the dark red wall of the academy, trying to ignore three girls that had grouped a few metres away. His jacket was a contrast against the school as it was white with a strip of blue across the shoulders and down the zipper. Even from across the yard and up in a tree, Kouden could see that his face was red.
"Is he blushing or is he angry?" Sasami said after a few seconds. Kouden looked down at her.
"You can see it too? I think he's blushing. I think one of his fan girls might have said something perverted. I've heard them do it in class before." Kouden refrained from telling Sasami that he also earned a black eye for evesdropping on the girls.
The pair in the tree continued to watch the disstressed boy try moving to another spot, only to have the giggling girls follow him. He tried to talk to another boy in their class, but the giggling girls made speech impossible. Moving around the courtyard, he finally stopped under the tree Sasami and Kouden were sitting in.
"Should I give him an escape route?" Kouden said. Sasami nodded and Kouden pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. Using the pen that Sasami always had with her, he scribbled on the paper, and tied it around a kunai that he had hidden in his hoodie.
Dropping the kunai in front of Shiro, who caught it automatically, Kouden watched the boy unwrap the paper. Shiro looked up for a second and saw Kouden wave. Shiro smirked and walked off.
Walking around the corner, his fangirls, who had been distracted, flustered, but as soon as they saw him come around the corner again, they fluttered to him. As Shiro kept walking away from the girls, another boy, one with short red hair and black eyes walked up to Kouden's tree and used a burst of chakra to jump into the first branch.
"You made it, eh?" Kouden said to the red head. He nodded and sat down on a lower branch that Kouden and Sasami. A pop was heard and The red head turned back to Shiro.
"Konnichi wa, Shiro-kun." Sasami said, offering a wave and a smile. Shiro just nodded.
Turning his attention back to the Shiro that was walking around in the courtyard, he nearly laughed out loud when the boy, or buunshin disapeared in a puff of smoke. His fan girls looked around wildly before letting out a noise of frustration that Kouden could hear from his tree.
"Man, why can't I have fan girls?" Kouden said to Shiro. Shiro looked at him and said,
"You want 'em? Take 'em. Please." Sasami giggled and Kouden said,
"Actually. You can keep them. I have my own fangirl, one's enough." Putting his arm around Sasami, she blushed and Shiro chuckled. Stretching back so his legs hung over each side of the branch he sat on Shiro said,
"You guys ready?"
"Of course we are. I made sure Kouden was smart enough to pass the written test at least." Kouden faked offence and said,
"Well I never. Why do I remember Ka-san teaching me at the tender age of 7, miss I-learned-everything-at-school?" Sasami gasped and glanced at Shiro. Kouden snapped his mouth shut. Shiro spoke though.
"7? I thought your parents adopted you when you were almost 9?" Kouden avoided his eyes, and said,
"I meant my temp family I had once. In the village I lived in, I was adopted once for a month or two when I was 7. They made me learn nearly a years work of stuff that you'de find in year two." Shiro looked up at Kouden, his blue eyes matching his sweater.
"In two months? Wow. That's a little cruel." Kouden nodded.
"That's why I was pulled out of that one. They were a little abusive." Shiro nodded and averted his eyes to the leaves. Sasami's face was unreadable, but she felt like laughing. Not that the lie was funny, but that Kouden was so good at it.
Kouden looked at Sasami, and noticed her eyes were on the brink of tears and nudged her. She grunted but swallowed her laugh.
"Ne, do you think Tsunade-sama will take me in an apprenticeship after I pass the genin exam? She told me to come back when I was a genin, and my chakra control is perfect, according to Iruka-sensei." Sasami said, breaking the tense pause.
"Sasami-chan, Tsunade probably said that to shut you up, and it was like, more than two years ago." Kouden said. Sasami stuck her lower lip out.
"Way to ruin a kunoichi's dream." Kouden laughed.
"I wanna try and get Sasuke-sama to teach me katon and what not. I mean, remember the clan project we did?" Kouden nodded. It was the thing that made Shiro start talking to Kouden, and eventually befriend him. They weren't that close, as Shiro only joined Sasami and Kouden when invited, but he was intresting to talk to.
"That project answered alot of my questions." Kouden said. Sasami piped up and said,
"Mine too. Remember the look on my face when I found out that my baa-sama was a Haruno? Iruka-sensei laughed at me and said that my pink hair was probably from her." Kouden nodded and nudged Sasami.
"Remember the look on Ne-chan's face when you told her that her aunt was your baa-san?" Sasami laughed.
Sakura had actually squealed, scaring her pink haired son. She hugged Sasami and told her to visit with her father when ever she wanted to.
"Have you told Sasuke-san that you went over board on your report and accidentally found out that you were his like, 8th cousin 7 times removed?" Kouden said to Shiro. Shiro laughed quietly.
"No, but I plan on using it to convince him to train me. I heard he can summon snakes. That'd be a cool thing to learn." Kouden nodded eagerly and Sasami nodded as well.
The tone sounded for lunch break to end and Sasami, Kouden, and Shiro all jumped out of the tree, and hustled into the academy, hoping they wouldnt run into Shiro's fanclub.
Successfully getting into class, Sasami told Shiro good luck, and she and Kouden took their seats at the back of the class.
After the stream of students lessened, and then eventually stopped, Iruka, who had just finished marking their tests, raised his hand. The class fell still, but the tension was so thick, Kouden thought he could cut it.
Iruka stood up and Iruka started to talk.
"Ok, I'm just gonna read the name and scores out, and then we can start." He paused, searching for the first name. "Ok, Azuyama Ame? You scored 89 percent." a groan was heard from the middle row. Iruka continued, but Kouden's attention strayed slightly.
"Ditama Sasami? You scored 98 percent, good job!" Kouden groaned. If he didn't score higher than her, she'd gloat all week.
"Hibiki Sakana...you scored 67 percent. I think that you need to study a little bit more." Sakana let out a sigh and slumped to her desk.
"Hyuuga Kouden? You scored 94 percent. Almost, but not quite enough." Kouden's eyes widened, and he looked at Sasami, who looked about to burst.
"Oh shut up, pinky-chan." Kouden said whispering so Iruka wouldnt hear.
After Iruka called the scores, Kouden was dismayed to learn that Shiro had scored 96, and that he was the only one not getting an extra point. Clenching his fist Kouden mentally raised his determination to do his best on the actual exams.
"Ok, now here's the part you've all been waiting for." The door slid open and another chuunin slipped in and sat down on the extra chair.
"Benri and I will judge you as you perform a kawarimi, a buunshin, and a henge. For the kawarimi, try to use the log that Benri brought in. For the buunshin, two or more is better, and they should be able to move on their own. No sickly ones please. For henge, Keep it to me or Benri." Iruka paused as Benri wordlessly stood the log up, and sat back down with a bored expression.
"Azuyama Ame, you first." The girl got up from her seat and stood infront of the desk. She ran through a few seals and shouted, 'Kawarimi no jutsu!', and in a puff of smoke, she switched places with the log.
Benri and Iruka both ticked their pages and nodded at Ame to continue. When Ame performed Buunshin, she got the two required, but they both looked a little queasy. Kouden heard her swear from his seat in the back. Her henge didn't go as well ether, as Iruka was missing a face. Iruka sighed and Ame went back to her seat to wait for the rest of the class to be tested before she hears if she passed or not.
"Im nervous, Kouden-kun, I have to go first...What If I cant do henge good enough?" Sasami whispered to Kouden. Kouden mindlessly watched the Byuuno twins do their test together.
"Dont be, you've got the best chakra control around. I'm sure you'll do great, but you've got that extra point too. Just do your best." Sasami smiled and blushed. She turned back straight and twidled her thumbs.
"Ditama Sasami, you next." Iruka said, smiling. Kouden grabbed her hand breifly and smiled when Sasami looked at him.
Not three minutes later and Sasami was sitting back in her seat, the smile on her face forcing her eyes to close. Kouden rolled his eyes.
"Show off." He said. Sasami made 6 extra buunshin, just to impress. Each one had a perfect look to it as well. Kouden was still grumbling when his own name was called.
Sauntering down the stairs, He grinned at Iruka and performed the seals for kawarimi, and performed it perfectly. He then used buunshin, and made 4 of them. Iruka raised his eyebrow, and ticked his page.
Kouden grinned, and his buunshin picked up the log and put it back, making the bored looking Benri raise his brow. When he did henge, Benri's hair colour was slightly off, but Iruka patted his shoulder and Kouden returned to his seat. Leaning to Sasami he said,
"See that? I made my buunshin clean up. What a good boy I am." Sasami giggled and said,
"But what about henge? Benri has black hair. How does black look like blonde to you?" Kouden wrinkled his nose and sniffed at Sasami. Sasami just giggled more.
Kouden and Sasami continued to whisper for the rest of the exam, only stopping to watch Shiro do his test, and when someone's buunshin blew up, fluttering the papers on Iruka's desk around, scattering them all over the floor.
"Ok, now that that's that. If I call your name, please make your way to the other room, congradulations, you pass, the rest stay here. Azuyama Ame, Byuuno Ranji and Renji, Ditama Sasami, Hibiki Sakana, Hyuuga Kouden, Higurashi Souta, Inuzuka Koharu, Oketsu Shiro, Ogawa Kohaku, Shikikami Daisuke, and Tendou Masashi. Please go to room 206."
Kouden and Sasami hid their looks of glee as they walked to the next room. Sliding open the door to the next room, the first few students hustled inside. Once Kouden was through he glanced around. The room was the same colour as the classroom, a dull yellow, but this one was devoid of furniture, save a desk right in the middle. Sitting at this desk was Benri.
What? How did he get here so fast? Kouden thought. Sasami nudged him and said,
"How did he get here so fast?" Kouden shrugged. He saw other people whisper as well.
After all the student had filed in, they lined up against the wall, going with Benri's instructions. After a few minutes, Iruka slid the door open and made his way to the desk, leaning back on it.
"Im proud to say that you 12 Academy students, can now claim the title genin of Konohagakure. Congradulations." A few students gave a whoop, but after they calmed down, Iruka pulled a bag that clinked when he moved it, out of the desk.
Going to the first person in line, Koharu, Kouden thought, he reached into the bag, and handed her a shiny hiteate with the leaf symbol on it.
"Inuzuka Koharu, you are officially genin. Please make your way to the back of the room and wait for your team to be called." Koharu nodded eagerly and made her way to the back. Iruka continued to hand out headbands and before he knew it, Kouden was sitting in the back of the room, a hiteate on his forhead, and his fingers hurting from trying to help Sasami tie hers around her forehead.
Iruka raised his hand, and the murmurs died down. He pulled out a paper from his vest.
"When I call your group number and members, please stay here untill your Jounin Sensei comes to retrieve you." The newly administered genin nodded and Iruka continued.
"Team 7, Ditama Sasami, Hyuuga Kouden, and Oketsu Shiro." Kouden grinned madly, glad that his best friend was on his team, and more than happy that Shiro was as well. Shiro made his way over, a small grin trying to escape. He sat down beside Sasami and listened to the other teams.
"Team 8, Azuyama Ame, Tendou Masashi, and Ogawa Kohaku." The said genin grouped near the front. Kohaku seemed a little intimidated, as he was smaller than both his teamates.
"Team 9, Byuuno twins, and Hibiki Sakana." The twins perked up, and when Sakana aproached them, they shook both her hands at the same time, making her giggle and blush. The boy's twin blue eyes were secretly conversing in twin language.
"And finally, Team 10, Higurashi Souta, Inuzuka Koharu, and Shikikami Daisuke. Please wait here untill they come for you. They have been notified now, so it shouldn't be more than ten minutes." Everyone nodded and started to chat as people greeted their new partners. Iruka walked out of the room, followed by Benri.
"Ahh, I'm happy our team turned out like this." Sasami said, clapping her hands toghether. Shiro nodded.
"I'm happy that Kakashi-sensei is our sensei." Shiro looked up and said,
"Kakashi? How do you know he's our sensei?"
"Uhn, Well, he was the old team 7 teacher, according to Neji-ni-san, and he told me so himself once." Kouden nodded, confirming his own story. Shiro gaped.
"You know him? Personally?" Kouden grinned and nodded.
"He was with the ANBU back then, though. He was scouting me and Sasami-chan's village when he ran into us. It was thanks to him that I even got adopted." Shiro nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
A few mintutes of silence between Team 7 passed before the door slid open, and a pretty woman wearing white bandages entered. Her red eyes scanned the room before she said,
"Team 8?" Three genin stood up and left with her, Ame waving to her friends before leaving with her new team.
An hour passed and only one team was left. Kouden told Sasami and Shiro about Kakashi's lateness, and had since made bets at the time he showed up.
It wasn't untill after 6 pm that Kakashi finally did stick his head in the room.
"Team 7?" he said, Kouden stood up, followed by Sasami and Shiro. Kouden gave Shiro a ryo, as he had won the time bet, and said,
"Kakashi sensei, you're late." Kakashi looked at him, then at Sasami, and then at Shiro. He closed his eyes and said quite audibly.
"Kami-sama. I am going to kill Tsunade. I swear." all three genin twitched and cautiously followed Kakashi down the hall towards a training ground that Kouden had trained in once or twice. Right by the cenograph.
On their way there, Kouden still received a few looks of hatred, so he kept his face down. Sasami's face reddened with anger, although neither of them knew why the looks happened. Shiro just watched everything. He resolved to ask his team mates some questions later.
Kouden heard laughter. Looking up he saw a lady with long blonde hair, holding a little girl with hair just as blonde in her arms.
"Oh Kami-sama. That's great Kakashi-sensei. Just great. You have fun with them now." She said, wiping a tear and moving past them. Kakashi just glared at her.
On the way to the cenograph, they received a few laughs from a few people he recognized as the 'rookie nine' that Neji had told him about.
Finally reaching the centograph, Kakashi sat down in front of it and regarded his students.
"Now, first, for introductions...tell me your name, age, and your dislikes and likes."
Kouden opened his mouth to go first...
End Chapter 9
Kouden opened his eyes and sat straight up, nearly making himself dizzy in the proccess. Looking on the wall of the cluttered room that he had called his for the last 2 and a half years, he spotted his large green calender that was emblazed with the symbol of Konoha in gold lettering and script.
Tenten had bought him that for his 10th birthday. Kouden's eyes were drawn to a single day that had been circled five or six times with a bright red marker. Staring at the spot for a few seconds, an almost audible click was heard has Kouden remembered what day it was. Throwing his cover back, he didn't even bother to tidy his pallet up and he shoved himself into his clothes at inhuman speeds. The only thing he slowed down for was to slide a thick silver ring onto his right ring finger.
The ring was studded with two crystals that was tinted purple, but only if you looked at it the right way. Sasami had given it to him a few months prior. She said the stones reminded her of his eyes.
Lastly, he stumbled out of his door, tying his kunai pouch on. Knocking on Aiko's door, she grunted and he slid it open.
Unlike Kouden, as he and Aiko were like night and day, her room was tidy and neat, all one colour scheme. The light from the hall spilt onto Aiko and she rolled over, moaning into her pillow.
"Get up, Aiko-chan, you have that test, dont you?" Kouden said. He heard Aiko gasp and watched as she threw her covers back. Wearing nothing but a tank top and her panties, she looked at Kouden, blushed, and threw her pillow at him. Kouden slid the door shut and nearly burst out laughing as he heard the small whomp.
Running down the stairs with enough grace to make it seem like he was just gliding down them, he neatly sat down and slid to his spot at the table that still occupied the middle of the room. Neji looked up from his tea, already dressed in his ANBU uniform, his mask sitting on his head.
"Ohayou gozaimasu, Neji-ni-san." Kouden said, offering a small wave as Neji poured him a cup of tea. Kouden brought his cup to his mouth and inhaled first, as he often watched his mother do.
Green tea today. Not his favorite, but it would do.
"You excited?" Neji said, reading the paper that was sitting on the table. Kouden nodded while sipping the tea.
"Are you gonna pass?" Kouden set his tea down and stared at his elder cousin. Neji just grinned, not looking at his face.
Neji finished his tea and stood up just as a yawning Aiko sauntered down the stairs wearing her day's attire. A dark red jacket styled like Tenten's usual clothes. Kouden had been told it was in style of a country called China that was to the south. Aiko also had light gray leggings that were baggy at the bottom, and stopped just below her knees. Beneath her jacket was a light purple sleeveless shirt with gold trim.
Seeing that her father was leaving, Aiko walked over to Neji and gave him a hug. Neji wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.
"Itterashai, Tou-san!" Aiko said. Kouden looked back at his empty tea cup, a small feeling building up in his stomach. He had been here for 2 and a half years, and he saw his mother once. She was waiting for him in the living room one day when he had got back from a sparring session with Sasami. Neji was serving her tea, and Tenten and Aiko were nowhere to be seen.
He had chatted with her, and caught up, but Kouden hadn't seen her since. That meeting was almost 2 years ago. Kouden started to fear her dead, but banished such thoughts from his mind. Instead he tried to focus on the strange lady, Kasumi, as she had told him, that came to visit every week or so.
She had even stayed for dinner once, but looked very uncomfortable around Tenten. Tenten herself didn't seem to notice, but Kouden was ever watchful.
He also wondered whether or not Kasumi was the one watching him and Sasami spar every so often. Kouden caught the watcher once with his byakugan, but before he could focus on the person, they dissapeared.
Kouden was a bit paranoid that week, but it didn't last long.
"Ni-chan, if you keep zoning out, we're gonna be late!" Aiko said, tugging on Kouden's jacket. Since it was winter, instead of wearing his thin black and orange jacket he usually donned, Kouden wore a thicker and longer orange and yellow hoodie with a black stripe down the front. The red swirl of the Uzumaki clan, and the red and yellow flame of the Hyuuga clan decorated each shoulder. A fellow student once asked about the swirl, and Kouden just said it looked cool.
Standing, Kouden grabbed his shoulder bag, crammed with paper, and followed Aiko out the door.
Walking down the street the stores were just starting to open, and a few people dotted the long road. At the first fork a bobbing head of pink made her way to Kouden and Aiko. She raised her hand and said,
"Ohayou, Hyuuga sibs." Kouden waved back and Aiko nodded.
"Ohayou, Sasami-chan." Sasami fell instride with Kouden and grasped his hand.
"Excited, Kouden-kun?" Sasami said, leaning over. Kouden smirked.
"Somewhat. Slightly nervous, Otou-sama failed it three times." Sasami laughed and waved to Noneko as she rounded the corner to join their small group.
The group of four turned another corner before the Academy came into veiw. A few of the younger children were swinging on the new swingset, and some of the older children were punching and kicking logs. Just as Kouden's group walked past the gates, a tone sounded and everyone started to file inside.
Walking into his classroom, he hurried to the backrow to save a seat for Sasami as she crossed their names off the attendance sheet at the front of the class.
A few minutes of titter tatter and Iruka walked in the door, sliding it closed with his foot. Raising a hand the class fell silent, and Kouden still wondered how he did it.
"Mina-san, ohayou gozaimasu." He said,
"Sensei, ohayou gozaimasu!" The student said in unison. Their apparent excitement evident in their voices. Iruka grinned, crinkling the long scar across the bridge of his nose.
"Sorry to dampen it, but your much awaited Genin exams wont be until after lunch. This morning will be used to reveiw." a few moments of collected groans later, and Iruka was passing out sheets.
After handing the papers out, Kouden glanced at it, and nearly moaned. It was a quiz.
"Ok, you have 2 hours to complete this as best you can. If you pass your genin exam this afternoon, you will never have to set another foot in this class again, and I intend to see that you are educated." Iruka paused, and said, "If anyone can score 95% and higher, I'll give you a bonus mark on your actual exam. Start!"
For the next two hours, Kouden breezed through the written exam. Sparing a glance at Sasami, he saw that she had finished already.
Ten minutes of nothing to do but doodle on the back of his paper and Iruka stepped up to the first level of the desks.
"Time! Good, now pass your papers to the end of the row and bring them to my desk. Make sure you have your name on them this time, Sakana." A girl in the middle row with long orangy-brown hair blushed and quickly scribbled along the left side of her paper.
"Good. Lunch break started ten minutes ago, so you can go relax for another half an hour, but don't be late. If you miss your turn, unless you have a very good reason for being late, you wont get a do-over." Kouden shoved his bag under his desk, and stood up. Sasami stood in front of him and they walked out the door to the training ground.
Walking to their favorite tree, they used chakra to jump to the top of the branches, and sat down.
"How do you think you did?" Kouden said. Sasami shrugged and said,
"It was pretty easy, I mean, I probably knew most of the stuff by last year. What about you?" Kouden grinned.
"Covered it was I was 7 with Ka-san. She drilled me hard when it came to knowledge." Sasami smiled.
Peering through the dead brown leaves that were still clinging to the branches of the tall tree, Kouden pointed.
"See him? Shiro?" Sasami followed his finger. Leaning towards him Sasami nodded. The boy Kouden was pointing at had black hair that was short in the back, and quite long in the front. He was leaning against the dark red wall of the academy, trying to ignore three girls that had grouped a few metres away. His jacket was a contrast against the school as it was white with a strip of blue across the shoulders and down the zipper. Even from across the yard and up in a tree, Kouden could see that his face was red.
"Is he blushing or is he angry?" Sasami said after a few seconds. Kouden looked down at her.
"You can see it too? I think he's blushing. I think one of his fan girls might have said something perverted. I've heard them do it in class before." Kouden refrained from telling Sasami that he also earned a black eye for evesdropping on the girls.
The pair in the tree continued to watch the disstressed boy try moving to another spot, only to have the giggling girls follow him. He tried to talk to another boy in their class, but the giggling girls made speech impossible. Moving around the courtyard, he finally stopped under the tree Sasami and Kouden were sitting in.
"Should I give him an escape route?" Kouden said. Sasami nodded and Kouden pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. Using the pen that Sasami always had with her, he scribbled on the paper, and tied it around a kunai that he had hidden in his hoodie.
Dropping the kunai in front of Shiro, who caught it automatically, Kouden watched the boy unwrap the paper. Shiro looked up for a second and saw Kouden wave. Shiro smirked and walked off.
Walking around the corner, his fangirls, who had been distracted, flustered, but as soon as they saw him come around the corner again, they fluttered to him. As Shiro kept walking away from the girls, another boy, one with short red hair and black eyes walked up to Kouden's tree and used a burst of chakra to jump into the first branch.
"You made it, eh?" Kouden said to the red head. He nodded and sat down on a lower branch that Kouden and Sasami. A pop was heard and The red head turned back to Shiro.
"Konnichi wa, Shiro-kun." Sasami said, offering a wave and a smile. Shiro just nodded.
Turning his attention back to the Shiro that was walking around in the courtyard, he nearly laughed out loud when the boy, or buunshin disapeared in a puff of smoke. His fan girls looked around wildly before letting out a noise of frustration that Kouden could hear from his tree.
"Man, why can't I have fan girls?" Kouden said to Shiro. Shiro looked at him and said,
"You want 'em? Take 'em. Please." Sasami giggled and Kouden said,
"Actually. You can keep them. I have my own fangirl, one's enough." Putting his arm around Sasami, she blushed and Shiro chuckled. Stretching back so his legs hung over each side of the branch he sat on Shiro said,
"You guys ready?"
"Of course we are. I made sure Kouden was smart enough to pass the written test at least." Kouden faked offence and said,
"Well I never. Why do I remember Ka-san teaching me at the tender age of 7, miss I-learned-everything-at-school?" Sasami gasped and glanced at Shiro. Kouden snapped his mouth shut. Shiro spoke though.
"7? I thought your parents adopted you when you were almost 9?" Kouden avoided his eyes, and said,
"I meant my temp family I had once. In the village I lived in, I was adopted once for a month or two when I was 7. They made me learn nearly a years work of stuff that you'de find in year two." Shiro looked up at Kouden, his blue eyes matching his sweater.
"In two months? Wow. That's a little cruel." Kouden nodded.
"That's why I was pulled out of that one. They were a little abusive." Shiro nodded and averted his eyes to the leaves. Sasami's face was unreadable, but she felt like laughing. Not that the lie was funny, but that Kouden was so good at it.
Kouden looked at Sasami, and noticed her eyes were on the brink of tears and nudged her. She grunted but swallowed her laugh.
"Ne, do you think Tsunade-sama will take me in an apprenticeship after I pass the genin exam? She told me to come back when I was a genin, and my chakra control is perfect, according to Iruka-sensei." Sasami said, breaking the tense pause.
"Sasami-chan, Tsunade probably said that to shut you up, and it was like, more than two years ago." Kouden said. Sasami stuck her lower lip out.
"Way to ruin a kunoichi's dream." Kouden laughed.
"I wanna try and get Sasuke-sama to teach me katon and what not. I mean, remember the clan project we did?" Kouden nodded. It was the thing that made Shiro start talking to Kouden, and eventually befriend him. They weren't that close, as Shiro only joined Sasami and Kouden when invited, but he was intresting to talk to.
"That project answered alot of my questions." Kouden said. Sasami piped up and said,
"Mine too. Remember the look on my face when I found out that my baa-sama was a Haruno? Iruka-sensei laughed at me and said that my pink hair was probably from her." Kouden nodded and nudged Sasami.
"Remember the look on Ne-chan's face when you told her that her aunt was your baa-san?" Sasami laughed.
Sakura had actually squealed, scaring her pink haired son. She hugged Sasami and told her to visit with her father when ever she wanted to.
"Have you told Sasuke-san that you went over board on your report and accidentally found out that you were his like, 8th cousin 7 times removed?" Kouden said to Shiro. Shiro laughed quietly.
"No, but I plan on using it to convince him to train me. I heard he can summon snakes. That'd be a cool thing to learn." Kouden nodded eagerly and Sasami nodded as well.
The tone sounded for lunch break to end and Sasami, Kouden, and Shiro all jumped out of the tree, and hustled into the academy, hoping they wouldnt run into Shiro's fanclub.
Successfully getting into class, Sasami told Shiro good luck, and she and Kouden took their seats at the back of the class.
After the stream of students lessened, and then eventually stopped, Iruka, who had just finished marking their tests, raised his hand. The class fell still, but the tension was so thick, Kouden thought he could cut it.
Iruka stood up and Iruka started to talk.
"Ok, I'm just gonna read the name and scores out, and then we can start." He paused, searching for the first name. "Ok, Azuyama Ame? You scored 89 percent." a groan was heard from the middle row. Iruka continued, but Kouden's attention strayed slightly.
"Ditama Sasami? You scored 98 percent, good job!" Kouden groaned. If he didn't score higher than her, she'd gloat all week.
"Hibiki Sakana...you scored 67 percent. I think that you need to study a little bit more." Sakana let out a sigh and slumped to her desk.
"Hyuuga Kouden? You scored 94 percent. Almost, but not quite enough." Kouden's eyes widened, and he looked at Sasami, who looked about to burst.
"Oh shut up, pinky-chan." Kouden said whispering so Iruka wouldnt hear.
After Iruka called the scores, Kouden was dismayed to learn that Shiro had scored 96, and that he was the only one not getting an extra point. Clenching his fist Kouden mentally raised his determination to do his best on the actual exams.
"Ok, now here's the part you've all been waiting for." The door slid open and another chuunin slipped in and sat down on the extra chair.
"Benri and I will judge you as you perform a kawarimi, a buunshin, and a henge. For the kawarimi, try to use the log that Benri brought in. For the buunshin, two or more is better, and they should be able to move on their own. No sickly ones please. For henge, Keep it to me or Benri." Iruka paused as Benri wordlessly stood the log up, and sat back down with a bored expression.
"Azuyama Ame, you first." The girl got up from her seat and stood infront of the desk. She ran through a few seals and shouted, 'Kawarimi no jutsu!', and in a puff of smoke, she switched places with the log.
Benri and Iruka both ticked their pages and nodded at Ame to continue. When Ame performed Buunshin, she got the two required, but they both looked a little queasy. Kouden heard her swear from his seat in the back. Her henge didn't go as well ether, as Iruka was missing a face. Iruka sighed and Ame went back to her seat to wait for the rest of the class to be tested before she hears if she passed or not.
"Im nervous, Kouden-kun, I have to go first...What If I cant do henge good enough?" Sasami whispered to Kouden. Kouden mindlessly watched the Byuuno twins do their test together.
"Dont be, you've got the best chakra control around. I'm sure you'll do great, but you've got that extra point too. Just do your best." Sasami smiled and blushed. She turned back straight and twidled her thumbs.
"Ditama Sasami, you next." Iruka said, smiling. Kouden grabbed her hand breifly and smiled when Sasami looked at him.
Not three minutes later and Sasami was sitting back in her seat, the smile on her face forcing her eyes to close. Kouden rolled his eyes.
"Show off." He said. Sasami made 6 extra buunshin, just to impress. Each one had a perfect look to it as well. Kouden was still grumbling when his own name was called.
Sauntering down the stairs, He grinned at Iruka and performed the seals for kawarimi, and performed it perfectly. He then used buunshin, and made 4 of them. Iruka raised his eyebrow, and ticked his page.
Kouden grinned, and his buunshin picked up the log and put it back, making the bored looking Benri raise his brow. When he did henge, Benri's hair colour was slightly off, but Iruka patted his shoulder and Kouden returned to his seat. Leaning to Sasami he said,
"See that? I made my buunshin clean up. What a good boy I am." Sasami giggled and said,
"But what about henge? Benri has black hair. How does black look like blonde to you?" Kouden wrinkled his nose and sniffed at Sasami. Sasami just giggled more.
Kouden and Sasami continued to whisper for the rest of the exam, only stopping to watch Shiro do his test, and when someone's buunshin blew up, fluttering the papers on Iruka's desk around, scattering them all over the floor.
"Ok, now that that's that. If I call your name, please make your way to the other room, congradulations, you pass, the rest stay here. Azuyama Ame, Byuuno Ranji and Renji, Ditama Sasami, Hibiki Sakana, Hyuuga Kouden, Higurashi Souta, Inuzuka Koharu, Oketsu Shiro, Ogawa Kohaku, Shikikami Daisuke, and Tendou Masashi. Please go to room 206."
Kouden and Sasami hid their looks of glee as they walked to the next room. Sliding open the door to the next room, the first few students hustled inside. Once Kouden was through he glanced around. The room was the same colour as the classroom, a dull yellow, but this one was devoid of furniture, save a desk right in the middle. Sitting at this desk was Benri.
What? How did he get here so fast? Kouden thought. Sasami nudged him and said,
"How did he get here so fast?" Kouden shrugged. He saw other people whisper as well.
After all the student had filed in, they lined up against the wall, going with Benri's instructions. After a few minutes, Iruka slid the door open and made his way to the desk, leaning back on it.
"Im proud to say that you 12 Academy students, can now claim the title genin of Konohagakure. Congradulations." A few students gave a whoop, but after they calmed down, Iruka pulled a bag that clinked when he moved it, out of the desk.
Going to the first person in line, Koharu, Kouden thought, he reached into the bag, and handed her a shiny hiteate with the leaf symbol on it.
"Inuzuka Koharu, you are officially genin. Please make your way to the back of the room and wait for your team to be called." Koharu nodded eagerly and made her way to the back. Iruka continued to hand out headbands and before he knew it, Kouden was sitting in the back of the room, a hiteate on his forhead, and his fingers hurting from trying to help Sasami tie hers around her forehead.
Iruka raised his hand, and the murmurs died down. He pulled out a paper from his vest.
"When I call your group number and members, please stay here untill your Jounin Sensei comes to retrieve you." The newly administered genin nodded and Iruka continued.
"Team 7, Ditama Sasami, Hyuuga Kouden, and Oketsu Shiro." Kouden grinned madly, glad that his best friend was on his team, and more than happy that Shiro was as well. Shiro made his way over, a small grin trying to escape. He sat down beside Sasami and listened to the other teams.
"Team 8, Azuyama Ame, Tendou Masashi, and Ogawa Kohaku." The said genin grouped near the front. Kohaku seemed a little intimidated, as he was smaller than both his teamates.
"Team 9, Byuuno twins, and Hibiki Sakana." The twins perked up, and when Sakana aproached them, they shook both her hands at the same time, making her giggle and blush. The boy's twin blue eyes were secretly conversing in twin language.
"And finally, Team 10, Higurashi Souta, Inuzuka Koharu, and Shikikami Daisuke. Please wait here untill they come for you. They have been notified now, so it shouldn't be more than ten minutes." Everyone nodded and started to chat as people greeted their new partners. Iruka walked out of the room, followed by Benri.
"Ahh, I'm happy our team turned out like this." Sasami said, clapping her hands toghether. Shiro nodded.
"I'm happy that Kakashi-sensei is our sensei." Shiro looked up and said,
"Kakashi? How do you know he's our sensei?"
"Uhn, Well, he was the old team 7 teacher, according to Neji-ni-san, and he told me so himself once." Kouden nodded, confirming his own story. Shiro gaped.
"You know him? Personally?" Kouden grinned and nodded.
"He was with the ANBU back then, though. He was scouting me and Sasami-chan's village when he ran into us. It was thanks to him that I even got adopted." Shiro nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
A few mintutes of silence between Team 7 passed before the door slid open, and a pretty woman wearing white bandages entered. Her red eyes scanned the room before she said,
"Team 8?" Three genin stood up and left with her, Ame waving to her friends before leaving with her new team.
An hour passed and only one team was left. Kouden told Sasami and Shiro about Kakashi's lateness, and had since made bets at the time he showed up.
It wasn't untill after 6 pm that Kakashi finally did stick his head in the room.
"Team 7?" he said, Kouden stood up, followed by Sasami and Shiro. Kouden gave Shiro a ryo, as he had won the time bet, and said,
"Kakashi sensei, you're late." Kakashi looked at him, then at Sasami, and then at Shiro. He closed his eyes and said quite audibly.
"Kami-sama. I am going to kill Tsunade. I swear." all three genin twitched and cautiously followed Kakashi down the hall towards a training ground that Kouden had trained in once or twice. Right by the cenograph.
On their way there, Kouden still received a few looks of hatred, so he kept his face down. Sasami's face reddened with anger, although neither of them knew why the looks happened. Shiro just watched everything. He resolved to ask his team mates some questions later.
Kouden heard laughter. Looking up he saw a lady with long blonde hair, holding a little girl with hair just as blonde in her arms.
"Oh Kami-sama. That's great Kakashi-sensei. Just great. You have fun with them now." She said, wiping a tear and moving past them. Kakashi just glared at her.
On the way to the cenograph, they received a few laughs from a few people he recognized as the 'rookie nine' that Neji had told him about.
Finally reaching the centograph, Kakashi sat down in front of it and regarded his students.
"Now, first, for introductions...tell me your name, age, and your dislikes and likes."
Kouden opened his mouth to go first...
End Chapter 9