Ethanol
05-18-2006, 01:26 AM
This is my fanfic/autobiography for my Naruto RP character at another site, Central 46.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1- A Diamond in the Rough
It was a tough life growing up in Iwakagure. The village wasn’t rich with green grass or fields to play in. No, our village was rugged. No one could stand around doing nothing; everyone contributed to better the village.
My family was one of the most renown in the village. We always produced great shinobi, and my father followed in line. You could ask anyone in the village who Sarutobi Shiranui was, and they would answer knowingly. He was one of the strongest shinobi, and I believe I got his powerful strength and toughness passed down to me.
Surprisingly, my mother also was a shinobi. I say surprisingly because you don’t encounter a large number of female ninjas. She didn’t have the great strength that my father had, but she had a way with technique and precision that could put some of the intermediate male shinobi to shame. I remember seeing her control the earth so smoothly one time when a tornado had come out of nowhere, endangering the festival that we were having. She and a few others quickly built a defensive wall of mud and earth to fight back the fierce winds. Happily, the festival continued in peace as we were protected.
Now that you know about my family, I can begin the story. I was born during the fall, a young boy in the village of rock. My parents smiled at me that day, and the Tsuchikage at the time told my parents that this boy would grow into an excellent shinobi. They decided to name me Izumo, after one of my grandparents name.
The first few years of my life were uneventful. I followed the standard life of living in the village. I learned about the ways of the ninja, and heard stories of the missions that they would go on. From right then, I knew that I wanted to become a great ninja. At the age of 3, I finally got my hands on some kunai and shurikens. Sure, they were just made out of stone, but I got the feel of the weapons. I wasn’t spectacular with them at that age, but I could throw rather accurately. However, the biggest point of my life up till then happened when I was 4. At the age of 4, I was eligible for the village academy and enrolled in to begin my shinigami training.
The academy was an interesting experience. I didn’t expect all the different classes on weapons, jutsus, agility, combat, etc. However, I managed to pull off excellent grades and stay near the top of the class. I never could totally ace all the strength and agility tests though, even when I trained more with my father. There was always someone stronger or faster than me in the class. I was always disappointed when I came in second or third.
However, I shone in the jutsu classes. Remember, my mother was an expert in earth jutsus, which was what many of the classes were based on. Getting trained at her by home prepared me well for those classes, and it was there that I stood at the top of the class, controlling the earth with great skill. All the other kids were jealous of my jutsu ability. I had one major competitor, even at this young of age. His name was Maito Genma, a kid from the Maito house, which was known for their expertise in projectiles. He and I would always go back and forth in the grades; one time I would be the top, next he would be, and so on.
Those three years of my life went by so fast. I look back and smile at all the good memories I had of training and the fun I had back then. I was just an innocent kid, aiming to be one of the best shinobi from the Rock Village. Then, the day came when I was elated more then when I first entered the academy: The day of graduation.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 – The Graduation Exam
Graduation from our academy required the shinobi to perform a number of basic techniques that they should of learned throughout their time spent here at the academy. The first was a basic accuracy with a shuriken and kunai. There were six targets in total, each one placed at a different angle and distance from the thrower to test their accuracy. I hit all 6 targets that needed to be hit and smiled, happy to pass my first exam. Genma also hit all 6 targets. After he hit the 6th target, he turned to me and gave me a smirk before walking back to his place. Yes, even during the graduation we were competing with each other.
The next test was of agility. I groaned when I saw this test. I was never the most agile one in the class. This test consisted of the student maneuvering his/her way through a small obstacle course while two of the teachers would be throwing needles into the course, trying to cut the student. Genma ended up going before I did. He was one of the most agile students in the class, so no one was surprised when he aced this test. Then, I was called. I took a deep breath and ran the gauntlet. Sadly, I didn’t get out without a scratch. I was hit with two needles, one that cut my knee, and the other that hit me on the left shoulder. Still, that was enough to pass the test. It was obvious that the smile on Genma’s face was one of victory, as he was up 1-0 on me.
However, his smile didn’t last that long. The examiners announced the next test was the jutsu test. Genma’s smile vanished from his face as a smile crept on mine. Between the two of us, I was superior in using earth jutsu to him. I was called up and asked to perform a number of jutsus. With ease, I created the earth wall, threw a boulder over the wall, and then went underground to sneak up and grab the dummy from below. I received the highest grades for this part of the test, and made the highest earth wall of all the students. When Genma came up, he under performed and didn’t make a wall as high as mine, or a boulder as big as mine. After he finished, I grinned at him and he looked at me with contempt. We both knew the score was 1-1 going into the last test.
The final test was one of strength. I gulped and wasn’t that confident. Both of us were strong, but there wasn’t a clear decision of which of us was stronger. The test consisted of a number of earth walls all lined up behind each other. The student would strike the front wall and see how many walls he can knock down with one strike. I thought about all my training and remembered a hidden weapon I had. My father was a master of Rakanken (Achiever of Nirvana Fist), a style of fighting which consisted of strong strikes. I was working with him on the art, and he tried to teach me HouShou (Demolishing Palm), one of the moves that involved a strong palm strike. I hadn’t fully mastered this move, but I had a decent understanding of it to perform it for this test.
I was called up and I prepared myself affront of the dominos of mud. I looked around and spotted my dad in the stands. He gave me a wink and I nodded to him. I turned my attention back to the walls. I concentrated my chakra as I used HouShou, striking the wall with my palm. The force sent part of the wall crashing into the other and so on, toppling a number of them. At the end, the total ended up being 16 walls knocked down. I breathed a sign of relief, thinking that number would be enough. Genma came up and I watched, anticipating his strike. Genma concentrated as he attempted to knock down the walls. A large ruckus was heard as the walls came tumbling down. Genma and I both looked at each other as we waited for the official count of how many he knocked down. It was official…Genma only knocked down 14 walls. I had beaten him by two walls, and won the little competition between us 2-1.
Sure, we both had passed the exam and graduated with flying colors. However, this little competition between us would continue through out most of our lives. I was relieved that Genma and I didn’t end up on the same shinobi team. His team was team 2, while I was placed on team 8. Little did I know how special the people on team 8 were…
Chapter 3
Chapter 3- Team 8
I was curious to see who was on my team. When I arrived at the meeting place for team 8, I looked around in surprise. I had recognized one of the two other genin that were on my team. Her name was Miwara, and her family was experts with needles. They actually preferred to use them over the standard shurikens and kunai. She was about my age, a year younger than me, and had long red hair. She was very elegant in her motions, although she lacked a lot of physical strength. I quickly made friends with her as we had been in a couple of classes through the academy together.
However, it was rather different with the other member of my team. His name was Kiwu, and he was a beast. He was a good foot taller than me and was more built then some of the jounin in the village. I was surprised to find out that he knocked down the most walls in the strength test, racking up 22 walls. My ego got quickly deflated when I heard that. Luckily, he wasn’t a thickhead like Genma. He was the strong silent type.
Last, but certainly not least, was our jounin who taught the team. Yusami Otoko, a jounin that was strong in all areas a rock shinobi had to be in. He was built normal, and it seemed like he wouldn’t stand up in a fight, but he can surprise you with his moves. The minute he got us all together, he began agility training. He said that if we couldn’t move well together, we’d die together. I knew that this was going to be a long time in my life.
The first couple of months actually went by pretty quickly. We did a couple of missions together; stopping thieves, fixing damages from sandstorms, etc. The more missions we did, the better the team gelled and we learned each other’s strengths. For example, Miwara could unleash a fury of needles to strike down a group of thieves in a blink of an eye. I would see her countless times practicing her family’s signature move, the Pinwheel technique. From what I gathered, it involved the user to spin rapidly in the air and release the needles in the same motion.
Kiwu…..he liked to break things. He was good when we needed manual labor and brute strength. He wasn’t that skilled at jutsus, but he could knock a boulder into the next country. I remember on one mission he single handily helped rebuild a house. Miwara and I just stood there in shock as he carried each rock to its place and pounded it all together.
Of course, my expertise was earth manipulation. I didn’t have the brute strength of Kiwu or the elegance of weaponry like Miwara, but I could make the earth dance and sway to my rhythm. I always took the lead when it came to rebuilding projects and environment, since I could use the ground to mold the buildings back. Let’s see Mr. Kiwu top that.
Meanwhile, Genma took charge of his team from the get go. It almost seemed like a dictatorship over there, where his teammates did whatever he told them to do. Somehow, they managed to succeed in their missions. His team and my team were the top two teams of genin of that year. It was no surprise to anyone in the village when we both were nominated to go to the chuunin exam held at the hidden sand village this year. I was thrilled and disheartened at the same time. It brought another opportunity for Genma and me to compete against each other, and those can be some intense times.
Chapter 4: Part 1
Chapter 4 – The Chuunin Exam
Part 1: The Wormhole
The day of the big exam had finally arrived. My team and Genma’s team were the two representatives from our village. There were a lot of other teams from Sand, Rain, Grass, Mist, and Leaf. It was the largest gathering of shinobi I have seen up to this date. I was excited to finally be in another shinobi village. Who knows what jutsus and fighting styles I would encounter.
When we got there and settled in, we were quickly ushered over to the arena where most of the exams would be organized. I looked around and saw all the genin and even some of the jounin from the village that came along. My attention finally turned to the first examiner. He was a tall, slender man, with sand-colored hair. Even though he didn’t look strong, he spoke like he knew what he was talking about.
I listened intently to every word that he said. Apparently, the first test was to test how well the team worked together. We had to make our way through this cave to get a scroll. The catch was, the cave was full of traps and jounin from the sand village dressed up as strange ninjas to stop us. I looked to my team and we nodded in agreement. We can get through this…we knew it.
The teams were brought to random openings into the cave. They figured that if each team started at their own entrance, it would minimize the risk of cheating. So, I went in with my team. The cave was rather dark, but we could make our way through the first part easy. After all, we enjoyed being in a rocky atmosphere….it was what our village was known for.
Suddenly, a gigantic wall that sprung out from the ground blocked the cave ahead of us. We stopped and heard noises all around us. Shurikens started being thrown at us from all directions; I told Kiwu to focus on getting rid of the wall and Miwaru to help fight off the shurikens. She was so elegant to watch as she jumped up in the air, throwing her needles with such accuracy to hit each one and knock it away. The ones that she didn’t get were easy to dodge as I kept looking for whoever was throwing the shurikens at us. I spotted two of them in one of the dark corners firing away, and I quickly used Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi (Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction) to cause the rocks in the cave to fall down on them. That got their attention and they stopped as they had to run away.
Just then I heard a large crushing noise. I turned towards it and saw that Kiwu had managed to break through the wall. Miwaru and I quickly went over to him and we got through the wall as we passed our first trap.
We managed to get through another good portion of the cave without any problems. We didn’t run into any of the other teams and finally found one of the scrolls. The only problem with the scroll was that it was dangling above a large pool of quicksand. We stopped and stared at the neverending vortex of sand below it. Something was out of place; even if the scroll was over the quicksand, we could make the jump and grab it without worrying about the scroll.
I asked Miwaru if she saw anything and she shook her head no. She was the most nimble of the three, so she jumped for the scroll. When her hand touched the scroll, the sand below her shifted and a large massive beast came out to attack her. I gasped and quickly tried to save her by using Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet). The fireball is shot out at the side of the beast, causing it make a gruesome sound. Miwaru threw a couple of needles down at the beast to knock it back so she could clear the quicksand gap.
Kiwu slid down the side of the chamber to attack the beast. He lunged into the air and grabbed onto the side of the creature, pounding into it with his brute strength. I followed up with another Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi (Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction) to cause the rocks to collapse onto the beast, trapping it back in that hellhole quicksand it lived in. The three of us all were tired and shocked from what had just happened. However, Miwaru managed to still hold onto the scroll and we were relieved to have passed this first test.
We had managed to get out of the cave alive, surviving the surprise of that sand worm beast. Little did we know the tests got a lot tougher than that.
Chapter 4: Part 2
Chapter 4: The Chuunin Exam
Part 2: Mind Games
Two hours after the first exam was fully over, we were all rushed into a classroom. Every genin sat down and I finally got a chance to see who had passed the first test. Genma’s team passed, along with a couple other ones I heard were good contenders in passing the whole thing.
Finally, the next examiner stepped into the room. He was an elderly man and slowly made his way to the front of the class. I was thrown off guard and wondered what he could be testing us on. When he got there, he headed over to a control panel and pushed a button. Suddenly, shackles from around the base of the chairs clamped shut, trapping all of our legs to the chair. We all started to panic and wonder what was going on until he spoke.
He quieted us down and told us that he was referred to as “T”. The second part of the exam was one to test a person’s mental health and endurance. We would have to survive a series of tests that he would put us through to pass. If at anytime we wished to stop, we just had to push the button under one of the armrests, but doing so would fail us from this exam. He went back to the control panel and pushed another button. All the windows shut and the shutters were close, turning the room pitch black. We could then hear some large clinkering noise as T spoke again.
“What you are hearing…are the heaters being turned on. They are pumping hot air into this room and it will get blazing hot in here. Let’s see who really has endurance.”
I was in shock. Can they really do this to genin? This is almost torture. Surely this is somewhere against the rules. Lucky for me, we were used to hot temperatures back at the rock village, so we could handle some of the heat. I could hear the genin from the more cool villages really burning and squirming in their chair. I heard a couple of buttons pressed and the shackles were unlocked on those chairs. Good, at least he wasn’t lying about that part.
After a couple hours of the heat torture, we heard T say that he was going on to the next test. He pushed a button and we all yelped in pain as what felt like needles were being shot throughout the entire room. The needles weren’t going for any critical parts of the body, but there were painful to get hit by constantly. I could feel the sting all over my body, blood being drawn on a couple of the cuts. Shackles could be heard unlocking all over the room as this test weeded out a lot of the genin.
“Hmm…seems a lot of you are too weak to really be shinobi. You aren’t all that you were talked about.” T says, his voice having a slight tone of evil in it. “Now, for the final test….”
He pushed the final button and we saw some dim lights in the room turn on. What we saw was a horrible sight. All those that had pushed their buttons had been killed and were lying lifeless in their chairs. It was a gruesome sight to see, and I gasped when I saw Miwari was one of the fallen. It was painful to see her body there, cut and bloody. Other people had pushed their button, unable to take such a gruesome sight, ending their own lives because those they cared for had been massacred. When all was said and done, there were 16 of us that remained.
T grinned, “Congratulations you 16…you passed the test.” He pushed a final button and the windows opened. The 16 of us were shocked at what we saw. All those that had push their button were alive and well and sat in their chairs. Further examination showed that none of us had any marks from the needles that were cutting us.
“What’s going on here? What happened to us?” one of the finalists asked T.
T just chuckled as he took a bow and headed off. One of the jounin representatives from the Sand Village came to the front of the class to explain it. He told us some news that explained the whole situation. Apparently, T was a master of genjutsu and all that he had done to us was just some of his genjutsu abilities to see how strong our minds were.
I was starting to get tired of all these tests. They were almost lethal. Oh well, I knew that the final test would be a tournament, so I had to get myself prepared for that and what will follow next. Boy was I in for a tough challenge.
Chapter 5: Part 1
Chapter 5 – The Tournament
Part I – The First Round
I had finally gotten to the last round of the chuunin exam, which was common to be a tournament between all those that survived. I looked around at who had survived; there were 8 of us in total. Kiwu, Genma, and me were all representing the rock village in the tournament. There was some genin from the hidden mist village named Tarkajas, who seemed to be one of the stronger throughout the competition. The only other major threat was this female ninja named Arayai from the sand village. She was the only female ninja in the finals, but was supposed to be an excellent shinobi.
We all gathered in the meeting room overlooking the arena and stopped in our tracks. Most of us were expecting a standard arena to fight in, but the sand village decided to throw a twist at us and alter the arena. Instead of a normal arena, the arena had one center flat area in the middle and the rest of it was filled with pillars coming from the bottom of the pit. So, not only did we have to fight our opponent, we had to make sure not to fall in. The examiner for this exam finally got around to post the match-ups.
I was paired up with some ninja from konoha;
Kiwu was paired up with Tarkajas;
Genma was paired up with a low skilled shinobi from hidden grass village.
Arayai was paired with a hidden mist shinobi.
I sat in the watching room as the crowd of people from all the villages flooded into the stadium to watch the fights. I was the last to fight, so I had a chance to see everyone else’s fighting style. First was Genma and the shinobi from hidden grass. As I expected, Genma easily disposed of the grass village, sending him sprawling into the wall and he barely managed to land on a pillar. The fight was rather boring except for that incident.
The next fight was the home-grown talent of Arayai against a hidden mist genin. The crowd went wild when she entered the arena, and she had a cool resolve around her. When the fight began, she quickly performed some jutsus which used what the arena was made out of to disable the mist shinobi. He tried to counter with some of his water techniques and evading, but he was easily caught and disorientated. She then created some sort of “Sand fireball” and shot it out towards her opponent, knocking him out cold.
My mouth dropped after I saw that fight was over that quickly. I had heard she was good, but I didn’t expect anything like that. She was extremely skilled at using jutsu, and was accurate in everything she did. There was no doubt that she is definitely the one to beat if you want to prove yourself. I then turned towards Kiwu who was heading out to the arena. It was his turn to fight. I wished him good luck, and he nodded towards me as he headed into the arena.
Kiwu’s opponent was Tarkajas, the strongest mist genin in this exam. Tarkajas was tall and slender; his hair was an ivory white and reached down to mid-back. He was dressed in seaweed colored gi. He didn’t look that menacing, although that look of determination could invoke fear in most people. Too bad for him, Kiwu wasn’t afraid of many things.
The fight began and Tarkajas broke out a bottle of water. The common person wondered what he was doing, but it was obvious. The arena had no water for him to manipulate, so he brought some of his own. Even with a little water he can mold it into something much greater. He poured the water on the ground and performed a water jutsu, causing the water to rise up and shoot like a rocket towards Kiwu. Kiwu smirked as he just gave it a strong punch and splashed the water throughout the arena. He then gathered strength in his hand and pounded the ground, causing it to quake with the tremendous shockwave.
Tarkajas backflipped onto one of the pillrs and threw three shuriken towards Kiwu. Kiwu just rolled to the side as he reached over to grab one of the pillars. He grabbed on tight and actually pulled off a large chunk of it with his strength. With a grunt, he hurled it towards Tarkajas. Tarkajas gasped, not expecting him to be that strong. He created a ball of water in his hand and held it affront of him. The ball began to spin faster and faster until it created a spinning disk of water. The chunk of pillar collided with the water and he was pushed back a bit, almost going over the edge of where he was standing. However, the water shield he created was doing a good enough job to hold back the chunk and he shrugged it off and into the abyss below.
Everyone was on his or her seats watching the fight. We all knew Tarkajas was skilled, but creating water out of thin air? No one expected that. Tarkajas grinned at Kiwu as he threw the water shield like a shuriken towards Kiwu. Kiwu jumped out of the way of the shuriken, but it caught him a bit on the arm and gave him a nasty wound. He grabbed his arm and the crowd could see the blood dripping down his arm. He turned towards Tarkajas and growled like a mad beast.
“Uh-oh….” I said, looking at Kiwu get angry. I saw him get like this a couple times before in the past, and it never ended pretty for the opponent.
“What is it?” I heard a voice behind me. I turned and saw it was Arayai, the sand shinobi that just went to town in her match.
“Tarkajas is going to have a hard time now.” I replied to her, keeping my eyes on the fight and not on her.
“Why? Tarkajas seems to be able to handle Kiwu quite well.” Arayai said, almost as if she was supporting Tarkajas to win.
“Just watch.” I said, grinning as I looked over at Kiwu.
Kiwu lunged towards Tarkajas, clearing the distance between them in seconds as he came at him with a devastating punch. Tarkajas ducked and it was a good thing for him, because the punch hit the wall and created a massive crater in it. Tarkajas grinned as he was preparing another water ball to hit Kiwu with, but he couldn’t pull it off in time. Kiwu unleashed a strong front kick that planted Tarkajas neatly into the wall. He then was ready to finish off the fame water ninja. He spun around as he gathered his energy into one devastating haymaker punch. Tarkajas was still stunned and in the wall, so the punch will be a coup de grace against him. When the punch connected in his stomach, you could clearly see him.
cough blood a couple feet out ahead of him as his body hunched over the hand.
With a shrug, Kiwu flipped the body back onto the center arena where he flopped unconscious and more than likely with some broken bones as well. Kiwu had finished him off with his massive strength, which required him to use his bloodlust jutsu. The fight was over, and there was only my fight left. I nodded to the jounin that arrived to escort me into the arena. I dusted myself off as my opponent entered the arena. I was finally going to get some action in this tournament.
The fight began and the konoha ninja quickly jumped into the air and performed some sort of fire jutsu, shooting a blast of fire at me. I countered by using Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Release: Earth Shore Return), the earth wall blocking the flames. I then used the Houshou technique to send part of the wall up towards him. He landed back down, avoiding the piece of earth as he threw 5 shuriken towards me. I ducked behind the part of the wall that was still standing and the shuriken got stuck in it. I jumped up from over the wall and rushed into him to fight.
He was alright in close combat, but nothing challenging. He could dodge and block, but when he tried to go on the offensive, he gave away his moves so it was easy to counter. I decided now was the time to unleash the two new techniques I had learned while training with my father. I started with ShouShitsu (Rising Knee), a strong knee strike which sent him into the air. I then spun around and followed up with ShouGekiShou (Rising Palm Attack), a palm strike which sent him spinning off onto the wall. He hit the wall and screamed as he couldn’t hold on and fell into the abyss. The crowd was in awe at what just happened, before applauding.
was the first to send someone into the abyss, and both rock genin pounded his opponents into the wall. It was going to be an interesting second round, as now only the skilled fighters were left.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1- A Diamond in the Rough
It was a tough life growing up in Iwakagure. The village wasn’t rich with green grass or fields to play in. No, our village was rugged. No one could stand around doing nothing; everyone contributed to better the village.
My family was one of the most renown in the village. We always produced great shinobi, and my father followed in line. You could ask anyone in the village who Sarutobi Shiranui was, and they would answer knowingly. He was one of the strongest shinobi, and I believe I got his powerful strength and toughness passed down to me.
Surprisingly, my mother also was a shinobi. I say surprisingly because you don’t encounter a large number of female ninjas. She didn’t have the great strength that my father had, but she had a way with technique and precision that could put some of the intermediate male shinobi to shame. I remember seeing her control the earth so smoothly one time when a tornado had come out of nowhere, endangering the festival that we were having. She and a few others quickly built a defensive wall of mud and earth to fight back the fierce winds. Happily, the festival continued in peace as we were protected.
Now that you know about my family, I can begin the story. I was born during the fall, a young boy in the village of rock. My parents smiled at me that day, and the Tsuchikage at the time told my parents that this boy would grow into an excellent shinobi. They decided to name me Izumo, after one of my grandparents name.
The first few years of my life were uneventful. I followed the standard life of living in the village. I learned about the ways of the ninja, and heard stories of the missions that they would go on. From right then, I knew that I wanted to become a great ninja. At the age of 3, I finally got my hands on some kunai and shurikens. Sure, they were just made out of stone, but I got the feel of the weapons. I wasn’t spectacular with them at that age, but I could throw rather accurately. However, the biggest point of my life up till then happened when I was 4. At the age of 4, I was eligible for the village academy and enrolled in to begin my shinigami training.
The academy was an interesting experience. I didn’t expect all the different classes on weapons, jutsus, agility, combat, etc. However, I managed to pull off excellent grades and stay near the top of the class. I never could totally ace all the strength and agility tests though, even when I trained more with my father. There was always someone stronger or faster than me in the class. I was always disappointed when I came in second or third.
However, I shone in the jutsu classes. Remember, my mother was an expert in earth jutsus, which was what many of the classes were based on. Getting trained at her by home prepared me well for those classes, and it was there that I stood at the top of the class, controlling the earth with great skill. All the other kids were jealous of my jutsu ability. I had one major competitor, even at this young of age. His name was Maito Genma, a kid from the Maito house, which was known for their expertise in projectiles. He and I would always go back and forth in the grades; one time I would be the top, next he would be, and so on.
Those three years of my life went by so fast. I look back and smile at all the good memories I had of training and the fun I had back then. I was just an innocent kid, aiming to be one of the best shinobi from the Rock Village. Then, the day came when I was elated more then when I first entered the academy: The day of graduation.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 – The Graduation Exam
Graduation from our academy required the shinobi to perform a number of basic techniques that they should of learned throughout their time spent here at the academy. The first was a basic accuracy with a shuriken and kunai. There were six targets in total, each one placed at a different angle and distance from the thrower to test their accuracy. I hit all 6 targets that needed to be hit and smiled, happy to pass my first exam. Genma also hit all 6 targets. After he hit the 6th target, he turned to me and gave me a smirk before walking back to his place. Yes, even during the graduation we were competing with each other.
The next test was of agility. I groaned when I saw this test. I was never the most agile one in the class. This test consisted of the student maneuvering his/her way through a small obstacle course while two of the teachers would be throwing needles into the course, trying to cut the student. Genma ended up going before I did. He was one of the most agile students in the class, so no one was surprised when he aced this test. Then, I was called. I took a deep breath and ran the gauntlet. Sadly, I didn’t get out without a scratch. I was hit with two needles, one that cut my knee, and the other that hit me on the left shoulder. Still, that was enough to pass the test. It was obvious that the smile on Genma’s face was one of victory, as he was up 1-0 on me.
However, his smile didn’t last that long. The examiners announced the next test was the jutsu test. Genma’s smile vanished from his face as a smile crept on mine. Between the two of us, I was superior in using earth jutsu to him. I was called up and asked to perform a number of jutsus. With ease, I created the earth wall, threw a boulder over the wall, and then went underground to sneak up and grab the dummy from below. I received the highest grades for this part of the test, and made the highest earth wall of all the students. When Genma came up, he under performed and didn’t make a wall as high as mine, or a boulder as big as mine. After he finished, I grinned at him and he looked at me with contempt. We both knew the score was 1-1 going into the last test.
The final test was one of strength. I gulped and wasn’t that confident. Both of us were strong, but there wasn’t a clear decision of which of us was stronger. The test consisted of a number of earth walls all lined up behind each other. The student would strike the front wall and see how many walls he can knock down with one strike. I thought about all my training and remembered a hidden weapon I had. My father was a master of Rakanken (Achiever of Nirvana Fist), a style of fighting which consisted of strong strikes. I was working with him on the art, and he tried to teach me HouShou (Demolishing Palm), one of the moves that involved a strong palm strike. I hadn’t fully mastered this move, but I had a decent understanding of it to perform it for this test.
I was called up and I prepared myself affront of the dominos of mud. I looked around and spotted my dad in the stands. He gave me a wink and I nodded to him. I turned my attention back to the walls. I concentrated my chakra as I used HouShou, striking the wall with my palm. The force sent part of the wall crashing into the other and so on, toppling a number of them. At the end, the total ended up being 16 walls knocked down. I breathed a sign of relief, thinking that number would be enough. Genma came up and I watched, anticipating his strike. Genma concentrated as he attempted to knock down the walls. A large ruckus was heard as the walls came tumbling down. Genma and I both looked at each other as we waited for the official count of how many he knocked down. It was official…Genma only knocked down 14 walls. I had beaten him by two walls, and won the little competition between us 2-1.
Sure, we both had passed the exam and graduated with flying colors. However, this little competition between us would continue through out most of our lives. I was relieved that Genma and I didn’t end up on the same shinobi team. His team was team 2, while I was placed on team 8. Little did I know how special the people on team 8 were…
Chapter 3
Chapter 3- Team 8
I was curious to see who was on my team. When I arrived at the meeting place for team 8, I looked around in surprise. I had recognized one of the two other genin that were on my team. Her name was Miwara, and her family was experts with needles. They actually preferred to use them over the standard shurikens and kunai. She was about my age, a year younger than me, and had long red hair. She was very elegant in her motions, although she lacked a lot of physical strength. I quickly made friends with her as we had been in a couple of classes through the academy together.
However, it was rather different with the other member of my team. His name was Kiwu, and he was a beast. He was a good foot taller than me and was more built then some of the jounin in the village. I was surprised to find out that he knocked down the most walls in the strength test, racking up 22 walls. My ego got quickly deflated when I heard that. Luckily, he wasn’t a thickhead like Genma. He was the strong silent type.
Last, but certainly not least, was our jounin who taught the team. Yusami Otoko, a jounin that was strong in all areas a rock shinobi had to be in. He was built normal, and it seemed like he wouldn’t stand up in a fight, but he can surprise you with his moves. The minute he got us all together, he began agility training. He said that if we couldn’t move well together, we’d die together. I knew that this was going to be a long time in my life.
The first couple of months actually went by pretty quickly. We did a couple of missions together; stopping thieves, fixing damages from sandstorms, etc. The more missions we did, the better the team gelled and we learned each other’s strengths. For example, Miwara could unleash a fury of needles to strike down a group of thieves in a blink of an eye. I would see her countless times practicing her family’s signature move, the Pinwheel technique. From what I gathered, it involved the user to spin rapidly in the air and release the needles in the same motion.
Kiwu…..he liked to break things. He was good when we needed manual labor and brute strength. He wasn’t that skilled at jutsus, but he could knock a boulder into the next country. I remember on one mission he single handily helped rebuild a house. Miwara and I just stood there in shock as he carried each rock to its place and pounded it all together.
Of course, my expertise was earth manipulation. I didn’t have the brute strength of Kiwu or the elegance of weaponry like Miwara, but I could make the earth dance and sway to my rhythm. I always took the lead when it came to rebuilding projects and environment, since I could use the ground to mold the buildings back. Let’s see Mr. Kiwu top that.
Meanwhile, Genma took charge of his team from the get go. It almost seemed like a dictatorship over there, where his teammates did whatever he told them to do. Somehow, they managed to succeed in their missions. His team and my team were the top two teams of genin of that year. It was no surprise to anyone in the village when we both were nominated to go to the chuunin exam held at the hidden sand village this year. I was thrilled and disheartened at the same time. It brought another opportunity for Genma and me to compete against each other, and those can be some intense times.
Chapter 4: Part 1
Chapter 4 – The Chuunin Exam
Part 1: The Wormhole
The day of the big exam had finally arrived. My team and Genma’s team were the two representatives from our village. There were a lot of other teams from Sand, Rain, Grass, Mist, and Leaf. It was the largest gathering of shinobi I have seen up to this date. I was excited to finally be in another shinobi village. Who knows what jutsus and fighting styles I would encounter.
When we got there and settled in, we were quickly ushered over to the arena where most of the exams would be organized. I looked around and saw all the genin and even some of the jounin from the village that came along. My attention finally turned to the first examiner. He was a tall, slender man, with sand-colored hair. Even though he didn’t look strong, he spoke like he knew what he was talking about.
I listened intently to every word that he said. Apparently, the first test was to test how well the team worked together. We had to make our way through this cave to get a scroll. The catch was, the cave was full of traps and jounin from the sand village dressed up as strange ninjas to stop us. I looked to my team and we nodded in agreement. We can get through this…we knew it.
The teams were brought to random openings into the cave. They figured that if each team started at their own entrance, it would minimize the risk of cheating. So, I went in with my team. The cave was rather dark, but we could make our way through the first part easy. After all, we enjoyed being in a rocky atmosphere….it was what our village was known for.
Suddenly, a gigantic wall that sprung out from the ground blocked the cave ahead of us. We stopped and heard noises all around us. Shurikens started being thrown at us from all directions; I told Kiwu to focus on getting rid of the wall and Miwaru to help fight off the shurikens. She was so elegant to watch as she jumped up in the air, throwing her needles with such accuracy to hit each one and knock it away. The ones that she didn’t get were easy to dodge as I kept looking for whoever was throwing the shurikens at us. I spotted two of them in one of the dark corners firing away, and I quickly used Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi (Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction) to cause the rocks in the cave to fall down on them. That got their attention and they stopped as they had to run away.
Just then I heard a large crushing noise. I turned towards it and saw that Kiwu had managed to break through the wall. Miwaru and I quickly went over to him and we got through the wall as we passed our first trap.
We managed to get through another good portion of the cave without any problems. We didn’t run into any of the other teams and finally found one of the scrolls. The only problem with the scroll was that it was dangling above a large pool of quicksand. We stopped and stared at the neverending vortex of sand below it. Something was out of place; even if the scroll was over the quicksand, we could make the jump and grab it without worrying about the scroll.
I asked Miwaru if she saw anything and she shook her head no. She was the most nimble of the three, so she jumped for the scroll. When her hand touched the scroll, the sand below her shifted and a large massive beast came out to attack her. I gasped and quickly tried to save her by using Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet). The fireball is shot out at the side of the beast, causing it make a gruesome sound. Miwaru threw a couple of needles down at the beast to knock it back so she could clear the quicksand gap.
Kiwu slid down the side of the chamber to attack the beast. He lunged into the air and grabbed onto the side of the creature, pounding into it with his brute strength. I followed up with another Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi (Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction) to cause the rocks to collapse onto the beast, trapping it back in that hellhole quicksand it lived in. The three of us all were tired and shocked from what had just happened. However, Miwaru managed to still hold onto the scroll and we were relieved to have passed this first test.
We had managed to get out of the cave alive, surviving the surprise of that sand worm beast. Little did we know the tests got a lot tougher than that.
Chapter 4: Part 2
Chapter 4: The Chuunin Exam
Part 2: Mind Games
Two hours after the first exam was fully over, we were all rushed into a classroom. Every genin sat down and I finally got a chance to see who had passed the first test. Genma’s team passed, along with a couple other ones I heard were good contenders in passing the whole thing.
Finally, the next examiner stepped into the room. He was an elderly man and slowly made his way to the front of the class. I was thrown off guard and wondered what he could be testing us on. When he got there, he headed over to a control panel and pushed a button. Suddenly, shackles from around the base of the chairs clamped shut, trapping all of our legs to the chair. We all started to panic and wonder what was going on until he spoke.
He quieted us down and told us that he was referred to as “T”. The second part of the exam was one to test a person’s mental health and endurance. We would have to survive a series of tests that he would put us through to pass. If at anytime we wished to stop, we just had to push the button under one of the armrests, but doing so would fail us from this exam. He went back to the control panel and pushed another button. All the windows shut and the shutters were close, turning the room pitch black. We could then hear some large clinkering noise as T spoke again.
“What you are hearing…are the heaters being turned on. They are pumping hot air into this room and it will get blazing hot in here. Let’s see who really has endurance.”
I was in shock. Can they really do this to genin? This is almost torture. Surely this is somewhere against the rules. Lucky for me, we were used to hot temperatures back at the rock village, so we could handle some of the heat. I could hear the genin from the more cool villages really burning and squirming in their chair. I heard a couple of buttons pressed and the shackles were unlocked on those chairs. Good, at least he wasn’t lying about that part.
After a couple hours of the heat torture, we heard T say that he was going on to the next test. He pushed a button and we all yelped in pain as what felt like needles were being shot throughout the entire room. The needles weren’t going for any critical parts of the body, but there were painful to get hit by constantly. I could feel the sting all over my body, blood being drawn on a couple of the cuts. Shackles could be heard unlocking all over the room as this test weeded out a lot of the genin.
“Hmm…seems a lot of you are too weak to really be shinobi. You aren’t all that you were talked about.” T says, his voice having a slight tone of evil in it. “Now, for the final test….”
He pushed the final button and we saw some dim lights in the room turn on. What we saw was a horrible sight. All those that had pushed their buttons had been killed and were lying lifeless in their chairs. It was a gruesome sight to see, and I gasped when I saw Miwari was one of the fallen. It was painful to see her body there, cut and bloody. Other people had pushed their button, unable to take such a gruesome sight, ending their own lives because those they cared for had been massacred. When all was said and done, there were 16 of us that remained.
T grinned, “Congratulations you 16…you passed the test.” He pushed a final button and the windows opened. The 16 of us were shocked at what we saw. All those that had push their button were alive and well and sat in their chairs. Further examination showed that none of us had any marks from the needles that were cutting us.
“What’s going on here? What happened to us?” one of the finalists asked T.
T just chuckled as he took a bow and headed off. One of the jounin representatives from the Sand Village came to the front of the class to explain it. He told us some news that explained the whole situation. Apparently, T was a master of genjutsu and all that he had done to us was just some of his genjutsu abilities to see how strong our minds were.
I was starting to get tired of all these tests. They were almost lethal. Oh well, I knew that the final test would be a tournament, so I had to get myself prepared for that and what will follow next. Boy was I in for a tough challenge.
Chapter 5: Part 1
Chapter 5 – The Tournament
Part I – The First Round
I had finally gotten to the last round of the chuunin exam, which was common to be a tournament between all those that survived. I looked around at who had survived; there were 8 of us in total. Kiwu, Genma, and me were all representing the rock village in the tournament. There was some genin from the hidden mist village named Tarkajas, who seemed to be one of the stronger throughout the competition. The only other major threat was this female ninja named Arayai from the sand village. She was the only female ninja in the finals, but was supposed to be an excellent shinobi.
We all gathered in the meeting room overlooking the arena and stopped in our tracks. Most of us were expecting a standard arena to fight in, but the sand village decided to throw a twist at us and alter the arena. Instead of a normal arena, the arena had one center flat area in the middle and the rest of it was filled with pillars coming from the bottom of the pit. So, not only did we have to fight our opponent, we had to make sure not to fall in. The examiner for this exam finally got around to post the match-ups.
I was paired up with some ninja from konoha;
Kiwu was paired up with Tarkajas;
Genma was paired up with a low skilled shinobi from hidden grass village.
Arayai was paired with a hidden mist shinobi.
I sat in the watching room as the crowd of people from all the villages flooded into the stadium to watch the fights. I was the last to fight, so I had a chance to see everyone else’s fighting style. First was Genma and the shinobi from hidden grass. As I expected, Genma easily disposed of the grass village, sending him sprawling into the wall and he barely managed to land on a pillar. The fight was rather boring except for that incident.
The next fight was the home-grown talent of Arayai against a hidden mist genin. The crowd went wild when she entered the arena, and she had a cool resolve around her. When the fight began, she quickly performed some jutsus which used what the arena was made out of to disable the mist shinobi. He tried to counter with some of his water techniques and evading, but he was easily caught and disorientated. She then created some sort of “Sand fireball” and shot it out towards her opponent, knocking him out cold.
My mouth dropped after I saw that fight was over that quickly. I had heard she was good, but I didn’t expect anything like that. She was extremely skilled at using jutsu, and was accurate in everything she did. There was no doubt that she is definitely the one to beat if you want to prove yourself. I then turned towards Kiwu who was heading out to the arena. It was his turn to fight. I wished him good luck, and he nodded towards me as he headed into the arena.
Kiwu’s opponent was Tarkajas, the strongest mist genin in this exam. Tarkajas was tall and slender; his hair was an ivory white and reached down to mid-back. He was dressed in seaweed colored gi. He didn’t look that menacing, although that look of determination could invoke fear in most people. Too bad for him, Kiwu wasn’t afraid of many things.
The fight began and Tarkajas broke out a bottle of water. The common person wondered what he was doing, but it was obvious. The arena had no water for him to manipulate, so he brought some of his own. Even with a little water he can mold it into something much greater. He poured the water on the ground and performed a water jutsu, causing the water to rise up and shoot like a rocket towards Kiwu. Kiwu smirked as he just gave it a strong punch and splashed the water throughout the arena. He then gathered strength in his hand and pounded the ground, causing it to quake with the tremendous shockwave.
Tarkajas backflipped onto one of the pillrs and threw three shuriken towards Kiwu. Kiwu just rolled to the side as he reached over to grab one of the pillars. He grabbed on tight and actually pulled off a large chunk of it with his strength. With a grunt, he hurled it towards Tarkajas. Tarkajas gasped, not expecting him to be that strong. He created a ball of water in his hand and held it affront of him. The ball began to spin faster and faster until it created a spinning disk of water. The chunk of pillar collided with the water and he was pushed back a bit, almost going over the edge of where he was standing. However, the water shield he created was doing a good enough job to hold back the chunk and he shrugged it off and into the abyss below.
Everyone was on his or her seats watching the fight. We all knew Tarkajas was skilled, but creating water out of thin air? No one expected that. Tarkajas grinned at Kiwu as he threw the water shield like a shuriken towards Kiwu. Kiwu jumped out of the way of the shuriken, but it caught him a bit on the arm and gave him a nasty wound. He grabbed his arm and the crowd could see the blood dripping down his arm. He turned towards Tarkajas and growled like a mad beast.
“Uh-oh….” I said, looking at Kiwu get angry. I saw him get like this a couple times before in the past, and it never ended pretty for the opponent.
“What is it?” I heard a voice behind me. I turned and saw it was Arayai, the sand shinobi that just went to town in her match.
“Tarkajas is going to have a hard time now.” I replied to her, keeping my eyes on the fight and not on her.
“Why? Tarkajas seems to be able to handle Kiwu quite well.” Arayai said, almost as if she was supporting Tarkajas to win.
“Just watch.” I said, grinning as I looked over at Kiwu.
Kiwu lunged towards Tarkajas, clearing the distance between them in seconds as he came at him with a devastating punch. Tarkajas ducked and it was a good thing for him, because the punch hit the wall and created a massive crater in it. Tarkajas grinned as he was preparing another water ball to hit Kiwu with, but he couldn’t pull it off in time. Kiwu unleashed a strong front kick that planted Tarkajas neatly into the wall. He then was ready to finish off the fame water ninja. He spun around as he gathered his energy into one devastating haymaker punch. Tarkajas was still stunned and in the wall, so the punch will be a coup de grace against him. When the punch connected in his stomach, you could clearly see him.
cough blood a couple feet out ahead of him as his body hunched over the hand.
With a shrug, Kiwu flipped the body back onto the center arena where he flopped unconscious and more than likely with some broken bones as well. Kiwu had finished him off with his massive strength, which required him to use his bloodlust jutsu. The fight was over, and there was only my fight left. I nodded to the jounin that arrived to escort me into the arena. I dusted myself off as my opponent entered the arena. I was finally going to get some action in this tournament.
The fight began and the konoha ninja quickly jumped into the air and performed some sort of fire jutsu, shooting a blast of fire at me. I countered by using Doton: Doroku Gaeshi (Earth Release: Earth Shore Return), the earth wall blocking the flames. I then used the Houshou technique to send part of the wall up towards him. He landed back down, avoiding the piece of earth as he threw 5 shuriken towards me. I ducked behind the part of the wall that was still standing and the shuriken got stuck in it. I jumped up from over the wall and rushed into him to fight.
He was alright in close combat, but nothing challenging. He could dodge and block, but when he tried to go on the offensive, he gave away his moves so it was easy to counter. I decided now was the time to unleash the two new techniques I had learned while training with my father. I started with ShouShitsu (Rising Knee), a strong knee strike which sent him into the air. I then spun around and followed up with ShouGekiShou (Rising Palm Attack), a palm strike which sent him spinning off onto the wall. He hit the wall and screamed as he couldn’t hold on and fell into the abyss. The crowd was in awe at what just happened, before applauding.
was the first to send someone into the abyss, and both rock genin pounded his opponents into the wall. It was going to be an interesting second round, as now only the skilled fighters were left.