39. Taro

( Bonus Chapter for 175 Powerstones, Guys, we are still not in the Top 30, so Give me your Powerstones)

Chapter 17: The Great Chunin Exam Caper

Sora crouched on a rooftop, his fiery red hair hidden beneath a dark cap as he peered down at the streets below. His sharp eyes were fixed on a particular civilian - a middle-aged man with shifty eyes and a nervous demeanour. The man kept glancing around, flinching every time a ninja passed by.

"Now that's suspicious if I've ever seen it," Sora mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Wonder what he's up to? Probably stole some old lady's cat or something equally nefarious."

Just then, the man looked up and caught sight of Sora. His face instantly drained of all colour, turning so pale he resembled a ghost more than a person. He stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away.

Sora's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, definitely not a cat thief. Unless it was a really, really big cat. Like, tiger-sized." He grinned mischievously. "Oh, this is gonna be fun to investigate!"

His plotting was interrupted by the arrival of Hanabi Hyuga, who landed gracefully on the rooftop beside him. The young Hyuga heiress fixed Sora with an exasperated look.

"Alright, I'm here. What's so important that you had to drag me away from training?" she demanded.

Sora's grin widened. "Oh Hanabi, my dear rival and occasional partner in crime! You're just in time for the show!"

With a dramatic flourish, Sora bit his thumb and slammed his palm onto the rooftop. "Summoning Jutsu: Shadow Clone Spectacular!"

A massive cloud of smoke erupted, completely enveloping the rooftop. As it cleared, Hanabi found herself surrounded by dozens of Sora clones, each striking a ridiculous pose.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" one Sora announced in a booming voice.

"Boys and girls!" added another.

"Ninja and civilians!" chimed in a third.

"Cats and dogs!" shouted yet another.

"Living and... well, just living, I guess," mumbled one in the back.

"Welcome," they all chorused together, "to the greatest show in Konoha!"

The clones then launched into an elaborate, if slightly uncoordinated, dance routine. They twirled and pirouetted, occasionally bumping into each other or tripping over their own feet. One particularly enthusiastic clone attempted a backflip, only to crash into two others, creating a small domino effect.

Hanabi watched this spectacle with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Sora," she said flatly, "what in the name of the First Hokage are you doing?"

The real Sora, who had been conducting his clone orchestra with great gusto, turned to her with a beaming smile. "Building suspense, of course! You can't drop big news without a proper build-up!"

"Big news?" Hanabi's eyebrow arched sceptically. "The last time you said you had 'big news', it ended with half the Hyuga compound covered in glitter and my father threatening to use his Gentle Fist on places I'd rather not mention."

Sora waved his hand dismissively. "Pfft, that was nothing. This, my dear Hanabi, is the real deal. I, Sora the Great, have discovered the secret path to our dreams!"

"Our dreams of what? Becoming the village's most wanted pranksters?"

"No, no, no!" Sora exclaimed, dispelling his clone army with a snap of his fingers. He leaned in close, his eyes shining with excitement. "I've found a way for us to become official ninjas!"

Hanabi's eyes widened in shock. "What? But we're only six! And you barely even attend the Academy!"

"Details, details," Sora said, waving his hand again. "Since when has a little thing like 'rules' or 'common sense' ever stopped us?"

Hanabi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Okay, I'll bite. What's this brilliant plan of yours?"

Sora's grin turned positively devious. "We, my dear Hanabi, are going to crash the Chunin Exams!"

There was a moment of stunned silence, broken only by the distant sound of a cat knocking over a trash can.

"You're insane," Hanabi finally said.

"Probably," Sora agreed cheerfully. "But think about it! If we can pass the Chunin Exams, they'll have to make us official ninja. We'll skip the whole Genin thing entirely!"

"And how exactly do you plan on getting us into the exams? In case you've forgotten, we're not even Genin yet!"

Sora's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Oh, I've got that all figured out. I've already secured our false identities and perfected the transformations we'll use. We'll go in as members of the Genin Reserves - they're barely keeping track of those guys anyway."

Hanabi pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. "Where did you even get that information? No, wait, I probably don't want to know."

"Probably not," Sora agreed. "Now, here's what you need to do. Tell your family you're going on a week-long training trip with me. We'll 'camp' outside the village, and then sneak into the exams tomorrow morning!"

Hanabi bit her lip, clearly torn. On one hand, this plan was absolutely insane and would probably end with them in more trouble than they'd ever been in before. On the other hand... it did sound kind of exciting.

"I don't know, Sora," she said hesitantly. "This seems really risky. What if we get caught?"

"Then we'll have pulled off the greatest prank in Konoha history!" Sora exclaimed. "Come on, Hanabi. Where's your sense of adventure? Your burning desire to prove yourself? Your overwhelming urge to see stuffy old ninja get their undies in a twist?"

Hanabi couldn't help but smile at that last one. "Well... I suppose it would be pretty funny to see the look on their faces..."

"That's the spirit!" Sora cheered. "Trust me, this is going to be epic. They'll be telling stories about us for years to come!"

"Or using us as cautionary tales," Hanabi muttered, but her resolve was weakening.

Sora could sense victory was near. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Just think about it, Hanabi. If we pull this off, we'll be the youngest Chunin in history. We'll have surpassed all our classmates in one fell swoop. And," he added with a wink, "you'll finally be able to shut up that cousin of yours who's always going on about fate and destiny."

That did it. The thought of proving herself superior to Neji was too tempting to resist. Hanabi's eyes hardened with determination.

"Alright," she said firmly. "I'm in. But if this goes sideways, I'm blaming everything on you."

Sora's face split into a grin so wide it threatened to break his face in half. "Deal! Now, let's go prepare for the greatest ninja exam crash in history!"

As the two young troublemakers scampered off to set their plan in motion, neither of them noticed the figure watching from the shadows. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, puffed on his pipe and chuckled softly to himself.

"Well, well," he mused. "It seems things are about to get very interesting around here. Perhaps it's time to add a little extra challenge to this year's exams..."

With a mischievous twinkle in his eye that rivalled Sora's own, the old Hokage disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind only the faint scent of tobacco and the promise of chaos to come.

---

The next morning dawned bright and early, finding Sora and Hanabi huddled in a small clearing just outside the village walls. They had spent the night "camping" there, which for Sora meant staying up late perfecting their disguises and for Hanabi, it meant wondering how she let herself get talked into this madness.

"Rise and shine, my partner in crime!" Sora chirped, far too cheerful for such an early hour. "It's time to become the ninja we were always meant to be!"

Hanabi groaned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "I'm already regretting this."

"Nonsense! Now, feast your eyes on these masterpieces of deception!" With a flourish, Sora pulled out two sets of clothes and a scroll.

Hanabi eyed the outfits sceptically. They looked like standard Genin attire, but knowing Sora, there was probably some hidden twist. "Do I even want to know where you got these?"

Sora's grin turned sheepish. "Let's just say the Genin equipment storage room really needs better locks. Now, put this on and prepare to be amazed!"

After changing into their "borrowed" outfits, Sora unrolled the scroll with a dramatic flair. "Behold! The ultimate transformation technique!"

"You do realize I'm a Hyuga, right?" Hanabi deadpanned. "I can see through most transformations."

"Ah, but this isn't just any transformation," Sora said with a wink. "This is my special Super-Duper-Ultra-Mega-Transformation Jutsu!"

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Did you just add a bunch of adjectives to make it sound more impressive?"

"...Maybe. But trust me, it works! Now, watch and learn!"

Sora formed a series of hand signs so complex and fast that Hanabi could barely follow them. With a puff of smoke, he transformed into a boy a few years older than them, with sandy brown hair and unremarkable features.

"Ta-da!" he exclaimed in a slightly deeper voice. "Meet Taro, completely average Genin extraordinaire!"