Six months passed in a blur of hard training and various C and D-rank missions, though none as eventful as our first C-rank. It was late December when we set out for Kumogakure, and we all brought a set of cold weather gear. In my case, I bought a set of shinobi grade pants and Uncle Shikaku gifted me an almost replica of my normal green hoodie, just with a fur lined hood and much warmer.

Kakashi met us at the gate. He threw something at me that I caught in reflex, "Good luck, kid," he nodded at me.

I look down at the objects in my hand and see a pair of arm guards that look familiar. I quirk an eyebrow at Kakashi, "Are these ANBU?"

He coughs, "Modeled after my ANBU arm guards, but not from the ANBU storeroom."

I smile at him, "Thanks, Kakashi." I roll up the arms on my jacket, then strap the arm guards over my mesh sleeves.

He gives me a notorious eye smile, "No problem. Also, those are ceramic, so they shouldn't mess up any of your lightning jutsus."

I gape at him, last time I heard ceramic armor was crazy expensive. He gives a lazy wave and shunshins away.

Hana nudges me in the ribs, "I'm kinda jealous," she teases, "that you have a cool Jonin friend who buys you stuff."

My face turns red, "Shut up," I mutter.

She laughs uproariously, and Itachi looks over at us in concern. I think he thinks we're going insane or something.

Our week long journey through leaf is uneventful, and the Kumo border guards wave us through the checkpoint. I'm extremely grateful that I brought pants and a warmer jacket, because damn, mountains are cold in the winter. Also, I'm going to travel back in time and beat up whoever thought sandals were appropriate shoes for shinobi. My toes are fucking cold!

We get to Kumogakure with three days before the first stage of the exams. "You three are sharing a room," Ryu-Sensei glares at us, "I'll be damned before I room with any of you."

Itachi looks vaguely offended, "I see that look, Itachi, and you may be quieter than the girls but you're just as bad," Ryu-Sensei walks to the door, "I'm going to sleep for the rest of the day, but you can go explore as long as you don't cause trouble."

Itachi, Hana, and I exchange looks as I question, "Are we really that exhausting?"

Hana snorts, "Well considering I dared you to jump off a cliff, you actually did it, and Itachi has been making smart ass comments completely straight faced the entire trip, I'd say yes, we are."

I grimace, "Fair enough. But the cliff thing wasn't even that bad. It was a small cliff, and I didn't even get hurt."

Hana nods in agreement, "Yeah, Itachi's comments were much worse."

Itachi makes a noise that sounds like a cross between a strangled cough and a squeak. "Excuse you, I was just commenting about how ugly the Kumo Chunin vests are."

"So," I say, changing the subject, "exploring?"

"Please," one of the Haimaru brothers says.

Hana laughs, "I guess we're exploring, then!"

We go to the market, ignoring the hostile looks our Konoha hitai-ite got us. The Haimaru brothers sniffing everything, we slowly made our way through the stalls.

Suddenly Hana squeals in excitement and drags Itachi and I towards a clothing stall. "Look, Yoruka," she said, holding up a red scarf remarkably similar to the ones I got her ninkin, "I can match the Haimaru brothers!"

"Yeah, boss!" One of them says excitedly.

The stall owner walks over to us, "The scarf will be 1,000 Ryo if you're interested in buying it, Shinobi," he says.

Hana nods in agreement, and hands over the money.

After Hana dons her scarf, I spot an art supply booth. I gasp in realization. I'm in Kumogakure, I can get more graphite pencils!

"Hey, I'm going to go to that booth," I inform my teammates. They nod distractedly as they examine crystal figurines.

I meander towards the stall, observing the people around me as I go. When I finally arrive there, I grin victoriously. They do have graphite pencils.

"You an artist?" A deep voice says next to me. I start, I didn't even realize anyone was there.

"Nah," I reply, "I just like drawing, and I ran out of my graphite pencils a while ago, so." I look up from the pencils and gesture towards them. I finally look up at the speaker.

I pale as I recognize Cee. No wonder I didn't hear anyone approach, he's a Jonin. He grins sharply at me, "You're that kid who redirected my lightning jutsu. An A-rank jutsu too. That's pretty impressive for a Genin, but I suppose that's why you're here."

I laugh nervously, "Yeah..." I grab a set of high grade pencils.

"Well, I'll be seeing you," he waves as he walks away.

The shop keeper looks just as awestruck as me, "The pencils will be 20,000 Ryo," he says faintly.

"Right..." I hand him the money.

The morning of the first stage of the Chunin Exams dawns bright and early. I grumble furiously as I jerk my hair into its usual ponytail. Hana looks at me warily, "I forgot how much you hate mornings," she trails off as she puts her own hair into a ponytail in a much more sedated pace.

Itachi snorts as he pulls his own hair into a low ponytail. I look on in wonder. "What?" He questions.

"I just realized..." I whisper, "we all wear our hair in ponytails. We have to get Ryu-Sensei to wear one too, so we'll match."

Itachi looks at me incredulously as Hana laughs hysterically. "I forgot how random you are in the morning, too," she gasps out.

I don't actually manage to Ryu-Sensei to wear one to my eternal disappointment. "You know, I don't know what you were expecting, Yoruka," Hana says, "Ryu-Sensei loves his long, voluptuous locks too much to ever tie it up."

Itachi scoffs derisively, "I have nice hair too, but I still tie it up."

Hana nuds sympathetically, "We all have nice hair, Itachi."

We walk into the first stage building, and I notice something alarming. I'm the shortest.

"Alright Genin," the epitome of a stereotypical Kumo nin starts, "each team is going to go into a seperate room. There they will have to figure out if their team has been infiltrated, figure out who it is, and solve the puzzle waiting in the room, all before 20 minutes run out."

My team goes to the room, the lights go dark for what feels like five minutes, and then a voice calls out "Your time begins now!"

Hana starts, "We're all ourselves," she states as she points to her nose. Her ninkin nod in agreement.

I eye her suspiciously, "Hey Hana, who's my special Jonin friend who buys me things?"

She laughs, "Hatake Kakashi."

I smile, "Well, let's solve this puzzle then!"

Itachi sighs, "It's a riddle," he's holding a piece of paper, "What has no top, nor bottom, no sides, nor hinges, but inside lays a golden treasure?' I fucking suck at riddles so I'll be no help.''

I start laughing hysterically, "It's-it's an egg," I wheeze.

The doors open, and standing there is the stereotypical Kumo nin, "That's a new record," he sighs, "I guess you pass. Go to the room we met in and wait for further instructions." He walks away dejectedly.