Konoha Ninja Academy. Exam Day.
The training area behind the Ninja Academy buzzed with restless energy as students poured in through the gates. Groups of young shinobi filtered onto the packed dirt. Their voices resonated through the field: excited chatter, nervous laughter, last-minute boasts.
Some of the students stood and stretched. Others checked their equipment. They re-polished their kunai and re-brushed their shuriken, just in case.
As students continued to usher in, our main group of six reunited with the rest of their class. For the tournament during the exam, four classes participated; Classroom's 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A.
The 'A' represented their grade level. Third year students were in grade 'A' while second year students were 'B,' first year were 'C.'
The '2,' meanwhile, allocated their classroom's general rank. In other words, students in Classroom 1A were expected to be, on average, greater than the students in Classroom 2A.
Normally, the classrooms would not inter-compete like this. Only during the students' final year did they compete against other classes; as for all the years prior, like the spars, it remained within the classroom.
Classroom 2A gathered together behind Takegi Sensei in the second lot. After conducting role-call, the children were instructed to sit while the four homeroom instructors convened a meeting of their own. There was a fifth adult standing with their instructors as well, likely whomever held nominal power over the Academy right underneath Hiruzen.
Across the training grounds, the four classrooms sized one another up. In Classroom 1A, there were many outstanding features: the black-spiked hair of a Nara, the crunch of snacks from an Akimichi, a Yamanaka, two Hyuga, two Uchiha, a Kurama, another Aburame and Inuzuka, even a Hatake.
Was Kakashi not the last? They all wondered in unison.
Classroom's 3A and 4A, on the other hand, had nobody of any recognizable traits.
In the next moment, the five adults dispersed and one returned with a chalkboard on wheels. Then, the guiding Sensei of Classroom 1A divided the chalkboard into the exam's tournament bracket. Moreover, he even filled in all of the names as well. For the first round, at least.
That must have been what the instructors were discussing with each other earlier–the matches.
Nozomi Yamanaka vs. Ando Kaze.
Natsuko Sarutobi vs. Masami Akimichi.
Sen Aburame vs. Shuzo Nara.
Taro Hyuga vs. Okuda Tomomori.
Cheiko Uchiha vs. Mori Fūma.
None of their matches were first, but the anticipation had already begun.
Okuda, meanwhile, screamed inwardly. "Why don't I get to fight someone from another class!?"
The matches progressed slowly. In the beginning, most of the students threw sloppy punches. Some cried when they got hit and others tried to run like it was a game of tag. By the time the first half of all of the matches were completed, it had already been two hours. Classroom 4A had been completely annihilated. Not a single student within that class won their first match.
It became increasingly clear what the disparity between children could look like, and like an ocean it was vast and great.
With Classroom 4A completely defeated by mainly 3A and some of 2A, it was finally time for the bouts between Classes 1 and 2. In fact, the only students in 2A that were competing with students of 1A were the five reincarnates plus the Clan children, minus Okuda. And Taro, since Okuda had him occupied.
"Nozomi Yamanaka!"
"Ando Kaze!" The instructor shouted.
The two boys moved towards the training area.
Nozomi Yamanaka adjusted his stance with deliberate slowness. He kept his chin lifted high and across the back of his jacket, stitched precisely, was the Yamanaka's not-so-subtle Clan crest. His hair was blonde and pale, tied loosely behind him. He rolled his neck once, then glanced at Ando.
"Try to keep up," he said, smirk sharp. "I don't like to drag things out."
The instructor's hand dropped.
"Begin!"
The Yamanaka boy surged forward, he struck first with a crisp combination–jab, low kick, backfist–each move of his felt clean and practiced. A taijutsu technique beyond the mere basics. Likely inherited from his Clan.
Ando moved. Not back.
Around.
Ando slipped past the jab by a hair's breadth, pivoted on his heels to avoid the kick, and raised his forearm just in time to catch the backfist.
Thud!
Flesh met flesh.
Nozomi Yamanaka blinked. Then pressed harder.
Punches came faster now with strikes chained together in brutal efficiency, all with the sole intent to overwhelm. Ando blocked some, dodged others, and always managed to remain just out of reach–close enough that Nozomi Yamanaka could feel him, and it was infuriating.
"Stand still!" He snapped.
Nozomi lunged with a sweeping kick meant to knock Ando off balance.
Ando jumped over it. He landed within the Yamanaka's guard.
Ando's elbow plunged into the corner of Nozomi Yamanaka's ribs. A violent sting followed.
The Yamanaka boy hissed through the pain. He leapt back, his eyes narrowing as he re-evaluated the civilian nobody in front of him. His smirk was gone now, replaced by a thin, irritated line.
"He's fast." The Yamanaka boy thought. "His reactions are too."
The two boys circled each other.
Nozomi attacked again! He adjusted his rhythm and began to bait for mistakes. He feinted high, struck low, then reversed the motion mid-swing.
Ando kept pace. He caught Nozomi's wrist, twisted it backwards, and shoved him away. Dirt sprayed between the two as their fists broke apart.
The onlooker's, meanwhile, began to murmur. For the fight to not have ended yet, didn't that imply that the two fighters were of equal strength? Who was this other blonde kid?
In response, Nozomi's jaw tightened. His breathing grew heavier, barely noticeable, but very real. For the first time, doubt crept into his expression.
"Why can't I touch him!!?" He thought.
Another exchange commenced–faster, rougher. Ando ducked underneath a punch and countered with a knee that stopped just short of contact, as Nozomi retreated just in the nick of time.
Then, Nozomi Yamanaka's posture straightened and he exhaled slowly.
Taijutsu wasn't working.
The Yamanaka boy lifted his gaze, revealing eyes sharpened with newfound resolve.
In the next instant, his hands flashed rapidly–not into a striking stance–but into a precise string of hand seals. Too fast for most academy students to follow.
Nozomi's eyes locked onto Ando's.
Suddenly, the world shifted.
The dirt beneath Ando's feet darkened and stretched unnaturally. The training area around him blurred at the edges and smudged into colors as a faint ringing slowly filled his ears. For a split second, it felt as though his body lagged behind his thoughts.
"Genjutsu!" Ando Kaze realized it quickly.
Around him, back in reality, Nozomi Yamanaka finally relaxed his guard and breathed a sigh of relief. He walked towards the visibly stunned Ando.
The crowd gasped.
Ninjutsu was extremely rare amongst academy children. As such, it always warranted a reaction.
"You lasted longer than I expected." Nozomi Yamanaka said as he slid a kunai down his sleeve.
From the outside, Ando appeared frozen.
On the inside, Ando Kaze closed his eyes. He focused inward, on his breathing, and on the steady rhythm of chakra that flowed throughout him. Instead of facing the genjutsu directly, all he needed to do was interrupt his rhythm.
A sudden spike of chakra whiplashed throughout him.
The ringing stopped.
The images snapped back into one.
Ando saw Nozomi Yamanaka a foot away from him with a glee smirk across his face. Ando also saw the reflection of the kunai within Nozomi's palm, and it was nowhere near his neck yet.
Ando stepped forward, faster than before, and slipped behind the startled kid's back. He wrapped his arm underneath the kid's throat and drove a swift kick into the backs of his knees. Before he could recover, Ando pinned him to the ground–his own kunai an inch away from the Yamanaka's artery.
Silence flooded the training area.
Nozomi Yamanaka stared up at Ando utterly stunned–not just defeated, but outmatched. The boy's chest rose and fell rapidly as realization settled in.
"I… yield." He choked out.
The instructor's voice erupted thereafter. "Match over! Winner! Ando Kaze! Classroom 2A!"
The crowd of school children went wild–gasps, excited shouts, and disbelief washed through them. Several instructors exchanged looks in the meantime, and took special note of young Ando Kaze and his performance.