Iroko POV

-------------------------------- Flashback --------------------------------------

We've known each other ever since we were six years old.

And we were the best of friends.

It all began on my first day coming to the Academy. My family and I had just settled in the Leaf, having left the Cloud Village behind in order to get a better opportunity at life. That was how my parents had put it.

"Well, champ, your first day at school!" said my Dad.

There I stood at the entrance to the school with him standing beside me. I stared at all the kids playing around on the lawn, and I remembered feeling my stomach churn.

"You nervous?" my dad asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, kinda..." It was my first time seeing other kids my age.

My dad smiled comfortingly, then kneeled down to my level. "That's okay. Everyone's nervous on their first day. Just remember to be you and don't try to impress anyone, okay? They'll all appreciate you for who you are, I promise."

My face lit up. "Yeah, okay, Dad!"

"Alright, Dad's gotta go now," he said, standing up. "I'll come pick you up when school's over."

"See ya!"

After he was gone, as soon as I took three steps forward, a ball came rolling by to my feet. I looked down at it in confusion before hearing his voice.

"Hey, pass the ball, would ya?"

I looked up and saw him. No more around the same age as me with spiky orange hair, glaring red eyes and noticeably pointed teeth. Behind him was Daito Odachi.

"Oh, sure," I kicked the ball at him with almost pinpoint accuracy. He caught it with a surprised look on his face.

"Woah, nice shot!" he said. "You play football?"

"Yeah, with my dad when he's not on missions," I replied.

"Really? That's pretty cool! You wanna play a quick game with my friends before class starts?"

I beamed happily. "Sure!!"

He held out his hand to me. "I'm Kazue, by the way, Kazue Katsumi."

And I shook it. "Iroko Nakata!"

"So you new here, Iroko?"....

And that was how our friendship started. From that day onward, we hung out with each other before classes started and even after classes ended, much to my dad's slight annoyance who was supposed to pick me up after school. But he was happy that I had made a friend.

Through Kaz, I had befriended Daito, Yohei, Ken, Tensho and Fumino and Baku to a slightly lesser degree (Sayo Atsuhiro I actively avoided and Jin actively avoided everyone else). Yuura was someone that had joined the Academy late into the Course and at a darker period of my life so I never really saw much of him. It didn't take long before I had amassed a group of 'friends' I could hang out with. But Kaz was the one I bonded with the most, perhaps for one reason:

Naruto Uzumaki.

The Hero of the Hidden Leaf and proclaimed the strongest ninja in the entire world after the Fourth Great Ninja War. He was someone the both of us looked up to, but I owe it to Kaz for telling me about him first.

"Man, he's just the coolest!!!" Kaz would exclaim in the arcades we used to go to. "I wanna be as strong as him someday!!"

"Are you talking about Naruto again?" Daito asked in a snarky manner as he nearly got a clean shot in the table football match he was playing with Yohei while Kaz and I watched.

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Kaz retorted angrily.

"Who's Naruto?" I asked in all of my naivety.

"HUUUUHHH?!" Kaz yelped. "What do you mean who's Naruto? Only the best ninja this stinkin' village has ever been able to make!!"

"He's pretty much Kazue's hero," Daito went into further detail. "He saved him and his mom from an attack on rogue ninja a while back and now he can't stop fawning over every little thing he does-- Ah, dammit!!" He cursed when Yohei scored another goal on him.

"HEY, WHY YOU GOTTA SAY LIKE THAT?!" Kaz shouted, slightly blushing.

"Is he like a hero or something?" I asked.

"Yup, and he's bound to bound to be the best!!" Kaz grinned. "That's why I wanna be like him when I'm older! I wanna be strong enough to take all my enemies no matter how much stronger they are than me!!"

I smiled upon hearing that. "Well, he sounds pretty cool to me!"

"Ah, not again!!!" Daito complained after another match loss to Yohei. "How are you so good at this?!" To which the boy just smiled.

At that time, I had only just believed what Kaz had said. I didn't actually know Naruto-sensei and how amazing he was until the attack on the Leaf Village by Pain.

That was when I saw him in action, when I saw him defeat Pain. When I saw him become a hero.

From that moment I had understood you. I understood why you looked up to him so much. And so I thought to myself:

Could I be like that, too?

That was the day I had decided to become like Naruto-sensei myself, a true ninja hero, and it all lead to that because I had met Kaz.

--------------------------- Flashback ends ------------------------------

So then... where did things go wrong?

What did I do wrong?

What did you suddenly stop hanging out with me? I thought we had gotten closer because we both now had the same dream.

Why did you retaliate like that after all we'd been through?

"BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!! PEOPLE THAT NEVER SUFFERED THE CONSEQUENCES OF GETTING STRONG AND THINK THAT THEY CAN LORD OVER ME!!! IT'S WHY I HATE THIS WORLD!! IT'S WHY I HATE MY LIFE!! IT'S WHY I HATE YOU!!!"

I stood there silently, contemplating all he had just said.

"What? Seriously? What are you even talking about? Lord over you? Kaz, I've only ever respected you!!"

He looked at me with slight confusion.

"Don't you get it?!" I went on. "You're the reason why I've chosen to come this far!! You're the one that inspired me to take the first step forward!!"

"What? No..." His anger surged forth again. "THAT'S ONLY SO YOU COULD TRAMPLE OVER ME!!! ALL YOU'RE DOING IS LYING RIGHT NOW!!!"

"I'm not!!" I retorted. "It's the truth!! Why do you think I've only been chasing after you this whole time?!"

"YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M DONE!!!" Kaz released even more flames of his Combustion Style. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT ANYMORE, JIKO!!! LET'S JUST FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!!!"

"No, wait, hear me o--"

"Combustion Style: BURNING RUSH!!!"

He whipped out the same destructive jutsu and blew it across the clearing, making sure I was to be engulfed in it.

Dammit, I won't be able to absorb the lightning-chakra twice!!

Seeing no way to dodge it but up, I spawned two shadow clones and they threw me into the air with all their might, getting destroyed by the flames right afterwards.

Still, what did he mean by people that never suffered the consequences of getting strong? I can't figure out what he meant by that part, but there's no sense in asking him now!!

I looked at his rage-ridden face.

No, I'm not done. I still haven't gotten my point across yet!

I landed on side of a tree and stuck to it using the Surface Walk jutsu. "Just listen, will you?!" I shouted down at him. "There's no need for us to fight!!"

"What part of 'I don't wanna hear it anymore' did you not get?" he barked. "This fight doesn't stop until there's only one of us left standing!!"

He propelled himself to me at incredible speed using his Combustion Style. Without any time to dodge, I blocked an incoming kick to the face followed by several more taijutsu attacks from him. I couldn't be more thankful for Sasuke-sensei's physical training than at that moment.

Realizing that punches and kicks weren't gonna cut it, he pulled out a kunai and rushed at me with it. I gasped and quickly whipped out mine in order to defend myself. The sound of metal rang across the air repeatedly. Mind you we were still on the side of that tree.

In the corner of my vision, I saw Kaz's hand spark then erupt in the explosive flame again.

"Combustion Style: Condensed Rush!!!"

Shit!!!

He released another volley of flame at me, smaller but with still the same amount of damage. Just at the moment of impact, I pulled out another kunai and, imbuing both with lightning chakra, sliced at the great demolition of fire hurled my way.

Argh!!!

I was blasted right off the tree, burns and all and landed harshly on the ground, but my attack had severely minimized the attack, leaving me conscious.

Why was that last one so small?! I wondered through the pain and lack of breath. Is he trying to conserve his chakra or is he trying to avoid hurting himself? Right, wood burns easily. I guess he must have known that.

"What's wrong?" he called out to me. "You already run out of tricks up your sleeve? Guess I should've known better."

There's no choice left, is there?

I dropped my kunai and began making hand seals. Monkey --> Dragon --> Rat

I cleared my throat and spoke again through a hoarse voice. "Naruto-sensei.. We both look up to him, he's the reason why we're here...

"Huh?" Kaz hesitated.

Bird --> Ox --> Snake

"But I... I only found out about him through you... I started down this path .. because you opened my eyes..."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Dog --> Tiger --> Monkey

"...to the possibility of being able to reach for the top!"

Right after performing the Monkey hand seal, I lowered my left hand over the ground, and it began to manifest:

The sound of chirping birds rose and teal-coloured electricity burst out closely around my hand.

I chuckled slightly. Ha, I did it!! On my first try too!! I was hoping to save it for the Preliminaries but if it's you, Kaz, then there's no need to hold back.

"Naruto-sensei may be the greatest ninja of the whole world," I said, "but before him, to me, Kaz, you were the greatest ninja!"

Kaz stared down at me with a blank expression then his face creased in pure anger. "So you did have one more trick up your sleeve, huh? And if it's Naruto we're talking about--"

From his right hand emerged yellow flames in a spherical-shape, explosive sparks flying out of it. "--don't be retarded!!! We both know only one of us has what it takes to surpass him!!! AND IT'S ME!!!"

We'll see about that!

"JIKOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"KAZUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

We launched ourselves at each other from our spots and held our respective jutsu high over our heads as we got ready to clash.

The moment of impact was upon us--

--until a kunai wrapped around in explosive tags landed right in between us.

Eh?!

Kazue was the first to propel himself back using his jutsu while I had to fall onto the ground and then rush my Flash to dart backwards and dodge the oncoming explosion at the last second.

I was dazed and in surprise. What... the hell was that... just now?! Who threw that?

"Well, what's going on here?" said a voice with a lack of energy and dullness. "I thought the point of this test was to find Earth & Heaven Scrolls. But you two just seemed to be going at it for no reason."

As I recovered myself and stood on my feet again, I looked up and saw them standing gracefully on the branch of a tree with their shoulders slouched.

"Toothpick!!" Kaz seethed.

"B-Baku?" I blurted out.

Third-Person POV

Yuura had been saved by his own clumsiness.

Just before his face had connected with the slab of rock Tensho had hurled his way, in trying to move back he slipped from the wetness of his own Rolling Torrent jutsu and tripped over his feet falling backwards and the slab of rock sailing through air past where his head had been.

Haaah, that was far too close!! Then his heart went to his mouth when he saw an Earth Scroll in front of him on the ground.

His hand immediately went to his back pocket. It was empty.

Oh no..! It must have fallen out of my pocket when I tripped!!! He jolted his head up at Tensho - She had seen it, too. DARN IT!!!

Yuura lunged forward to grab the Scroll but he then heard again: "Four Palms!!!"

Yuura immediately darted out of the way, dodging the four huge chunks of rock. He gritted his teeth.

There's no time to form Aqua Dome or Rolling Torrent and grab the Scroll!! I can only choose one or the other!! But going after the Scroll now could get me killed!! Maybe if I can make grab for it before her next atta--

"Eight Palms!!!"

"Nope, Aqua Dome it is!!!"

Yuura formed the Aqua Dome in a faster time than before allowing him to shield off the rocks as they came in on the impact.

Two, three more rocks hit the Aqua Dome square. Yuura's eyes widened in anticipation.

The last two rocks completely shattered it, but Yuura had known that would happen and so immediately jumped for the Scroll right as the Aqua Dome broke!

He grabbed the Scroll with one hand and rolled out of Tensho field of fire.

"Yes, I got it!!" He cried as he got back on his feet-

Suddenly Tensho moved in and swiped the Scroll clean from Yuura's exposed hand.

...What? Shock filled his every system. I didn't even see her coming...!

|||

Meanwhile with Asami, her fight against Jin had proven to be underwhelming.

As soon as she had closed the distance between them (dodging her cloth attacks) she managed to pin her down with much ease.

She must have no skill in taijutsu, she thought as she searched Jin's body for Team 4's Scroll.

But she could not find anything on her.

"Where's your Scroll?" she asked Jin.

The purple-head remained silent. Asami had thought of forcing her to say something by more... undesirable means but then a gut-wrenching thought struck her.

"You really were stalling me this whole time, weren't you?" she spoke with bitterness. "Because you're not even the one with your team's Scroll."

||

"And Team 4 is secured!!" Tensho beamed, looking down at the Heaven and Earth Scrolls in her hands as she dashed away, leaving Yuura in the dust. "To think this plan of his would actually work..."

------------------------- Flashback ----------------------------------

"Wait a second! You want me to carry our Scroll and go after Team 12's?" Tensho had exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? What if they managed to take it from me? Then they get the two Scrolls they need!!"

"Shut up and let me finish," said Kazue. "They won't be expecting you to have the Scroll. The smartest thing anyone would do is to leave the members without the Scroll to go after the one on the opposing team that does while the one in our team holding the Scroll take a hike...

"But I'm not going after the stupid Scroll and even if Pipsqueak has what it takes to keep the Scroll safe there's a chance that the new kid will go after you. Even I can tell.. you wouldn't stand a chance against her."

Jin shrunk. Tensho pursed her lips in annoyance. She knew that he was right.

"So here's what's gonna happen: While you hold onto our Scroll and go after the bookworm, Pipsqueak will keep the new kid busy."

Jin vibrated with fear and anxiety.

"Wait, are you serious?" Tensho asked.

"Did I stutter?" Kazue deadpanned. "It has to be her because she can't take on the bookworm but you can. The new kid will be too caught up trying to swipe the Scroll from Pipsqueak because she'll think she has it. It would only make sense 'cos you going after their Scroll means you couldn't risk giving 'em both the Scrolls they needed."

"But I would be," Tensho finished. "Okay, fine, that makes sense, I guess. But how do we know it'll be Yuura that has their Scroll?"

Kazue smiled. "Freaking Jiko is going to come after me. Knowing that he won't risk keeping the Scroll on him 'cos he knows that s#!t would be gone in my presence. The new kid would be too obvious 'cos of how good she is so the bookworm's the only option."

He's really thought this whole thing through. "Why do you have to go fight Iroko? Can't whatever rivalry you two have going be settled after the Exams?"

"Tch, just stay out of it!" Kazue raised his voice slightly. "I'll be the one to handle Jiko and that's all you gotta know. Just keep to the plan and it won't fail, got it?"

Tensho Hmph'd away from him. She turned towards quaking Jin with a worried expression. "Well, Jin? Are you up for it?"

Kazue looked expectantly at her.

The small girl raised only her eyes at them and through a meek voice said: "I... can do it."

------------------------- Flashback ends --------------------------------------

I have to get back to Jin, Tensho urged herself, speeding through the trees at a faster pace. I really hope the new girl didn't go overboard on her! Afterwards, we'll need to regroup wi--

".... WATER BULLETS!!!"

"Huh?" Tensho looked over her shoulder to see several compact water bullets flying straight at her.

Without a second thought she activated her Byakugan and rebounded off of a branch to dodge them. With her Byakugan she could see in the far distance the shaggy-haired boy racing towards her on his Rolling Torrent jutsu with an expression of vindication on his round face.

Should've known he'd come after me right away, Tensho thought. Am I gonna have to do away with him once and for all?

She pulled out explosive tags from her pouch and planted several of them on the barks of the trees she dashed past.

As Yuura saw her do this, he gritted his teeth and made a great leap off of his Rolling Torrent and just over the explosive tags.

As they went off, the impact sent Yuura high into the air.

Tensho looked up at him in shock. He's totally lost it now!!

And she was right. At this point, it was pure adrenaline that was driving Yuura forward. He was absolutely terrified but he could not stop moving. Molding even more chakra than he normally could, he blasted a massive amount of water in order to propel him back down to the earth.

It's all on me!!! he thought as he performed the hand seals Ram --> Rat --> Dog --> Dragon. If I can't retrieve our Scroll right now, then it would all have been for nothing!!! Iroko, Asami, I WON'T FAIL YOU!!!

Here he comes! Tensho geared up for another release of her Gentle Fist.

With the Ox --> Hare --> Bird --> Tiger hand seals formed right after he shouted: "Water Style: GREAT GUNSHOT!!!"

"Eight Trigrams: THIRTY-TWO PALMS!!!" Tensho responded.

FWOOOOOM!!!

Then the unexpected happened.

A giant white snake erupted through the thick of the trees, with several other genin either in its mouth or had burst onto the scene as unconscious flying bodies.

What is up with this forest...? Tensho silently questioned before the whole perimeter around them was caught up in massive destruction.

|

As soon as Asami had had the revelation she did, she immediately disregarded Jin and ran off in order to find Yuura.

Of course. Kazue is certainly smarter than he lets on. I should have reassessed the situation and questioned twice the nature of the whole thing. Yuura...

She suddenly stopped in her tracks upon viewing an awful sight:

Several felled trees, a straight barren road carved out from the ground and tens upon tens of bodies littered around it.

She dropped to the ground and went to inspect the area. The huge barren road, as far as she could observe, looked circular in appearance with a strange curve where the eroding of the ground stopped.

The only conclusion she could come to was that some giant beast had caused this.

Then something further up down the path of destruction caught her eye. A blond head of hair.

She ran towards it.

It was most definitely Yuura, she concluded upon a closer look. He lay on the ground, covered in dirt, his eyes closed and his body still as a stone. Immediately she checked for a heartbeat and she found she could hear one. She gave a sigh.

"TENSHO!! TENSHO!!" Jin's voice cried from behind her.

She turned her head over her shoulder and saw Jin beside Tensho's own unconscious body. There were tears about to pour from her eyes.

"She's fine," Asami spoke to her. "I can feel her chakra signature."

"Are... are you sure?" Jin sniffed. Asami nodded.

Afterwards she noticed by her feet a Scroll. Picking it up, the kanji on it read 'Heaven'.

She looked down at the blond boy. Was he able to grab their Scroll? She stuffed the Scroll into her pouch that next second. With some struggle, Asami then put Yuura's right arm over her shoulder and lifted him up onto his feet.

This will be a pain... she thought with annoyance. And Iroko is still away, most likely with Kazue. I would like to know what caused this but I have to get us somewhere safe first--

"Um... um..."

Once again, Jin's piping voice penetrated her mind. She looked over at her and was surprised to see her holding out a Scroll to her. The kanji on it read 'Earth'.

"Here..." she managed. "It's yours..."

"Why?" Asami questioned.

Jin went back and forth with her words, dropping her eyes to the ground. "Um... well, um... you see... I found another Earth on one of the, um, other genin and um.. well, since Tensho still had our Heaven, I.. I... thought I'd give your Earth Scroll back."

Asami looked down at Jin's other hand and saw that she was indeed holding another Earth Scroll and beside Tensho was also a Heaven Scroll.

So the Heaven I have now doesn't belong to them. She could not yet tell if this was another genjutsu or if some Transformation jutsu was at play here.

"We... we have...," Jin squeaked, "no reason to fight anymore. So please!" She now bowed her head down, still holding the Scroll before Asami.

Asami looked hard at her. She took the Scroll from her hand without saying another word.

Suddenly, Yuura's eyes fluttered open. "Wha...? Huh? Asami?"

"Hm? Oh, good, you're awake." She then proceeded to let go of him and he fell down on his face.

"Ow..." He got back up groggily. "What happened just then? The last thing I remember was about to face off with Tensho and then..."

He trailed off when his focus came back and he saw Tensho on the ground with Jin standing before her ... not to mention, Asami holding two Scrolls of her own, one Heaven and one Earth.

Then he looked behind him and beheld the destruction caused by the giant snake from earlier.

"What- what did just happen?"