The REAL Genin Test

I get out of bed and rub the sleep out of my eyes. As I get ready, I look into the mirror for the first time in a long time.

I have spiky, light brown hair that is about an inch above my shoulders and dark red eyes. I'm relatively tall for a twelve-year-old, about a head taller than Isamu. I put on my dull green shirt and brown shorts to get ready for the day.

I wonder who my sensei is going to be? Meh, as long as it's not Kakashi I'll be fine.

"Bye, Mom!"

"Bye, honey. Stay safe out there."

I smile as I walk out of my house and toward the academy. I make it there and sit in my usual spot in the back left corner. Isamu, who was already sitting down next to Ayame, nudged my shoulder. "You think we'll all be on the same team?"

"Maybe. I mean, it would make sense. You and I are both middle of the class, while Ayame was almost rookie of the year." I said.

"We would be the heavy hitters, especially since we would have an Uchiha on our team to support us."

"Huh. I didn't really think about it. What do you think, Ayame?"

She glanced over at us, "It would be nice…" She muttered.

"Well, if even Ayame says so, it's gotta be true," I added.

We chatted a little longer as more graduates filtered into the room. Finally, Yamanaka-sensei got up from his chair.

"I'm going to announce the teams. Your jounin-sensei will pick you up in 5 to 10 minutes. Now, starting with team one…"

I sighed as he started naming people I don't think I ever talked to.

"Team 4 will be composed of Uchiha Ayame, Tsurugi Kaen, and Ito Isamu. Your sensei will be Fukumoto Takeshi."

Well, at least it's not Kaka- wait… Fukumoto!? My kenjutsu instructor? Oh, this is gonna be fun.

About 5 minutes later, sure enough, my kenjutsu instructor walked in the door.

"Team 4! Follow me to training ground 6. " Was all he said before abruptly walking back out.

Yep, that's him alright…

A couple minutes and a few stops to ask for directions later, we gathered up at training ground six, which was a humongous clearing with nothing in it. Besides our sensei, of course.

"Took you brats long enough. Gather 'round, it's time for introductions."

All of us looked away.

"Che. Fine, I guess I'll go first. My name is Fukumoto Takeshi and I'm an elite jounin. My likes and dislikes are none of your business, my hobby is taking missions and practicing kenjutsu, and I don't dream anymore. It's not realistic." He finished gruffly.

"Now, Uchiha. Go."

"I'm Uchiha Ayame. I like barbeque and dislike traitors. I don't have hobbies. My dream… I want to rebuild the Uchiha police force." She said, looking distinctly uncomfortable having to do that much talking.

"Hey, I'm Ito Isamu and I'm an orphan. I like my friends and training and I dislike being alone. My hobbies are trying new foods and cooking, though I kinda suck at it. My dreams for the future are to be an elite jounin and build a family!" he exclaimed.

Guess it's my turn.

"I'm Tsurugi Kaen. I like swords and fire and dislike cowards. My hobbies are training, and I hope to one day be the strongest ninja of all time." I said, my conviction leaking through.

"Heh, those are some good goals. Now let's see if you have what it takes to be genin."

"Huh?" Isamu asked, looking baffled.

Our sensei barked out a laugh, "You thought that being able to perform three of the most basic jutsu taught was enough to be a ninja? Don't make me laugh!" He spat, "I'll be the one to decide whether or not you're worthy."

Well, he is kind of a hard-ass, so I was expecting something like this.

"Your test is simple; land a hit on me in the next three hours."

"That's it?" Isamu asked.

I immediately elbowed him in the side. "Are you stupid? He's an elite jounin! You're not gonna hit him unless he holds back a whole lot."

"Oh," he said lamely.

I sighed.

"Alright, brats. Your time starts now!"

All three of us glanced at each other and nodded. We all settled down into offensive stances.

"Oh? Not gonna run away like pussies? Heh, I like the attitude. Now, come at me!"

I charged ahead with Ayame and Isamu at my sides. I jumped forward at full speed and threw a kick that he easily grabbed. He tossed me like a sack of potatoes towards Isamu, who yelped and ducked.

That stopped our momentum outside of Ayame, who had activated her tomoe sharingan. She pulled out a handful of shuriken and tossed them at our examiner, who batted them out of the air with ease.

As she moved to engage him in close quarters, I used a move I'd been keeping secret.

'Flash step!'

I suddenly appeared behind Fukumoto, and his eyes widened as I threw a kick to his back just as Ayame reached him and started her own attack. He stomped the ground and released earth chakra through his foot, shaking the ground and throwing my teammate off balance. Then he blocked my kick with a forearm that barely budged.

'What? That was a full-strength kick and he blocked it like nothing!'

Unknown to me, Fukumoto was thinking along similar lines, 'You're telling me this kid is a fresh academy student?! That kick could put a regular chunin out of commission if it connected.'

He grabbed my outstretched leg and tossed me back towards Isamu, who just stood there gaping at me.

"Since when could you do that?!"

"Now is really not the time. Do something!" I yelled at him.

That seemed to kick him back into gear as he started dashing toward Fukumoto. At this point, Ayame had recovered and started making hand signs.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!

And she shot a giant fireball at him, which also made Isamu have to abandon his attack, lest he gets burned.

"Bad move, Girly!"

Out sensei then poofed into smoke and in his place, a log appeared.

"Damnit, you guys! We need to work together!" I yelled. But it was too late. Fukumoto was already behind Ayame and was about to knock her out.

'One more time!' I told myself, 'Flash step!'

And I appeared in between Ayame and the instructor. Fukumoto was not expecting that which allowed me to latch onto his arm.

"Attack now!"

They got the message. Isamu rushed back in and launched a fist at his right side and Ayame launched a kick at his left.

"Heh, nice try, brats." Uh oh.

He swung me into Ayame, causing us both to collide and crash to the ground. At the same time, he grabbed Isamu's kick and stopped him in his tracks. He then threw Isamu at me and Ayame while we were still trying to get untangled, causing us the crash onto the ground again.

"You guys thought you could be genin? How pathetic!" He shouted. "You guys should just give up, you're never going to make it." He taunted.

I growled. I knew he was trying to rile me. The problem was, it was working.

Isamu spoke up first, though, "I'll never give up! I've struggled for scraps for years before now. I can't give up after all that!"

"I still have so much to do…" Ayame whispered.

I smiled at them. "We're not gonna give up just because some old man told us to. So get ready for round 2!"

But instead of defending, he just started chuckling, which soon turned into full-blown laughter.

"Hahaha! You guys have guts! I like that, so you all… Pass!"

We stopped what we were doing.

"Seriously? Just like that?" I ask.

"Yep. I only needed to test your resolve and willingness to work as a team, which you all did splendidly."

Huh. That was anti-climactic. I'm not complaining though.

After we all gathered up, he addressed us again. "You'll meet me here at 5:00 am every morning for team training, got it? I'll beat your ass if you're late!"

"""Yes, sensei!"""

"Good. Now get out of here, I've got some training to plan." We were all dead tired, so it didn't take much convincing for us to leave.

"You guys hungry? My mom's making ramen tonight."

That got their attention.

"Hell yeah! Your mom makes the best noodles."

"..."

I'll take that as a yes.

//////// Tomorrow morning /////////

We all gathered around in training ground 6, trying to get rid of the sleepiness.

"Man, I am not used to waking up this early," Isamu whined.

I sighed. "Get over it. This is life now."

Ayame yawned.

After a couple minutes, Fukumoto showed up. "Alright, brats. It's time for some warm-ups. Run 20 laps around this clearing."

I started running, being used to training like this, while Isamu and Ayame just stared at him.

"What are you waiting for? Run! Don't make me 'encourage' you." He said with a sadistic smile.

That got their asses in gear and soon we were all running together. 15 minutes later, we finished all the laps, and Isamu and Ayame sat down on the ground.

"How, hah, are you, hah, not tired, hah, Kaen?"

I just smiled, "I'm built different."

"You always say that!" He complained.

"You do."

Guh, not you too, Ayame.

"Looks like you guys are warm enough. It's time for the real heavy lifting." Sensei smirked.

This is going to be a long day…

//////// 2 hours later ////////

We were all covered in sweat, lying on the ground.

"Ha! That's all you got? Well, I guess that's enough for today. Now get up. It's time to get some gear."

I perked up at that. "I can finally get a real sword?"

"Yep, today's the day."

I jumped up. "What are we waiting for? Come on!" I yelled at Isamu and Ayame. They both just groaned.

A couple minutes later, we were all up and walking around a shinobi store.

Ayame and Isamu bought some more kunai and shuriken, but I had my eye on a katana and some adjustable weights.

I walked up to the cashier. "How much for all of this?"

"Hmm, the adjustable limb weights are 3,000 ryo a piece, but since you're buying four, I'll sell them to you for 11,000 Ryo. The katana, on the other hand, is going to be 20,000 Ryo. I can't go any lower on that so take it or leave it."

10 minutes later, I walked out with an empty wallet.

"I really hope these missions pay well; buying gear is expensive. At least the cashier was nice enough to throw in the sheath for free." I said.

"You'll find out later," said Fukumoto, "For now, just focus on training. We'll take a mission tomorrow."

"Haah, fine."

We walked back to the training ground. When we got there, Fukumoto started fumbling around in one of his pockets, "C'mon, where is it… Ah! Got it." He pulled out some… Pieces of paper?

"This is chakra paper," he said as he handed us each a piece.

"Just pour some chakra into it and it will show your primary affinity."

Ah, I've been waiting so long for this.

At the same time, we all poured chakra into our respective papers.

Ayame's burned up, Isamu's turned to dust, and mine exploded into flames, making me drop the burning pieces on the ground.

"Hoh! That's one strong fire affinity you've got there. Even stronger than the Uchiha's." He said.

"Now that you know your affinities, I'll get you some low-ranked jutsu to practice with tomorrow. Once you've mastered a couple of C and D-rank jutsu for your affinity, I'll show you the next step in nature manipulation."

We were all pretty excited about this.

"Alright, that's enough for the first day. Remember to meet me back here tomorrow at the same time."

And then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Hehe, I've got a stronger fire affinity than you, Ayame. How does it feel?" I teased.

She huffed and started stomping away.

"Hey, it was just a joke!"

"..."

"We're going to the same house for dinner anyway, ignoring me will just make things awkward."

She kept walking.

"Fine, be that way. I'll just talk to Isamu." I said, but Isamu just smiled at me.

"Isamu? Buddy?"

"..."

//////////

Once we got to dinner they stopped ignoring me, so thankfully I avoided a super awkward dinner.

Eventually, they went their separate ways and it was just me and my mom, washing dishes. After a couple minutes of chatting, I went up to my bed and checked my status.

[Taijutsu

Skills: [Flash Step, lvl 15], [Academy Taijutsu, lvl 5 (max)].

Progress: 32%]

[Kenjutsu

Skills: [Tanto-wielding, lvl 15 (max)] [Katana-wielding, lvl 19]

Progress: 33%]

[Fire Release

Skills: [Shikai, lvl 1 (Locked: fire release too low)]

Progress: 1%]

[Chakra

Skills: [Leaf-sticking, lvl 5 (max)] [Tree-walking, lvl 10 (max)] [Water-walking, lvl 15 (max)]

[Clone jutsu, lvl 15 (max)] [Transformation jutsu, lvl 15 (max)] [Substitution jutsu, lvl 20 (max)]

Progress: 52%]

Heh, I finally have some progress in fire release, even if it is only 1%. Tomorrow's gonna be a good day.

//////// A/N /////////

Hello again everyone. I've been trying to have some more character interactions, which is something I've never done before. So let me know if any of the conversations come out as weird or uninteresting. Also, the exchange rate I'm using is 100 Ryo = 1 USD. Other than that, leave a review! There are going to be D-ranks missions next chapter and maybe a short time skip.