Neji had a calm expression on his face as he stood facing Tsunade. She hadn't said anything yet, but Shizune did tell him that there would be one other shinobi joining them. Just when he was beginning to wonder if the other person would even show up, the door opened and Aoi stepped through. A grin crept onto Tsunade's face as she recognized the blue haired boy.

"Looks like you're both here, so let's get started." Both boys nodded and faced her with serious expressions. "Both of you, as you know, are chunin. After careful revision of past missions by myself and a few of the higher ups, we decided that you are strong enough to become candidates for promotion to a jonin position. As such, we have arranged for the two of you to take a small test before we move on with any further talk of such a promotion." During this, Neji's eyes had widened slightly in surprise. "This is, of course, completely optional, so do not feel like you must take this test immediately. If you do wait, however, be aware that you won't have a chance like this until we think that you are ready once more."

Neji stepped forward only slightly, before kneeling down with a fist to his heart in a salute. "Hokage-sama, I would be honored to use this chance and take the test." Smiling slightly, Tsunade wrote something on a piece of paper, then turned to Aoi for his answer.

Seeming to think for a moment, Aoi looked over at Neji, who was still kneeling in front of Tsunade, before returning his gaze to the blond haired woman. Almost like he was unsure of himself, Aoi too knelt beside Neji, answering much in the same way. Tsunade's grin widened and she rolled up a scroll, placing it to the side on her desk.

"Well then, let's get started. I assume you are both free today?" When neither responded, Tsunade nodded. "Alright then. Would you please come in now?" She raised her voice only slightly, and two people walked through the door. Neji and Aoi stood to face the newcomers. "I would like to introduce Tenzo and Michi. These two will administer your first test, so please show them the respect they deserve."

Aoi took both people in. Having already met Michi, his attention went to Tenzo. His face was plain with nothing remarkable, but he gave off an aura of strength. Looking at the older man, Aoi got a sense that they would be seeing more of each other in the future. Clapping lightly, Tsunade brought all eyes forward, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Alright, I would like Tenzo to test Aoi and Michi to test Neji. I'll see you all tomorrow." With that she gestured for the four to leave the room, and they did so. Michi immediately walked off down one direction in the hall, Tenzo taking off the opposite way. After a brief glance at Aoi, who simply nodded back, Neji followed after the blond. With no other guidance, Aoi kept pace with Tenzo as they exited the Hokage's offices and made their way to the outskirts of the village where the training grounds were.

When they got to the training grounds, Tenzo stopped and turned abruptly to face Aoi. The blue haired boy halted, and looked up at the anbu. "Now then, this is your first test. Here's the scenario, you and your team were assigned to a palace and steal it's map. Midway through the mission, you are noticed and captured. Because of this, you are now locked in the dungeon, and your teammates are with you. Free yourselves and gather the map, then return to the 'safe zone' by getting 20 meters away from the building."

Before Aoi could ask what building they would be using, Tenzo was making handsigns. When the older man was finished, wood began to grow out of the ground, and soon Aoi was surrounded by it like a prison. Three clones appeared of Tenzo and they all looked to Aoi to see what he would do. Aoi supposed that these three were his 'teammates' as they were all wearing blue bandanas.

His attention shifted from the three clones to further examine his surroundings. He unconsciously placed a stick of pocky in his mouth and Hane reached down from his shoulder to bite off the biscuit ending. Closing his eyes, Aoi made handsigns and focused his chakra. Not being born with wind nature, the jutsu was harder for him than for Murasaki and it took a few moments before Aoi reopened his eyes.

Unconscious of doing so, Aoi hummed to himself then turned to Hane. "Go and find the scroll. There is a room heavily guarded with clones around four floors up. If you find anything come find us. Don't be seen." The bird nodded, as if understanding completely. One of the Tenzo clones regarded this exchange with curiosity. Though animal nins weren't unheard of, because the Inuzuka clan and their dogs, it was unheard of so far for a bird to be a animal nin. Aoi had been training with Hane ever since spring began, secretly, for this precise reason.

"What jutsu will you three be able to use in this test?"

Each clone answered, and from the looks of it they would be holding back to a new genin level. All three knew the bunshin, kawarimi, and henge jutsu. Two would be using a beginner-level water jutsu, and the third would use an earth jutsu of the same level.

Thinking for a few moments, Aoi nodded to himself before turning to the wooden bars of the cell. Taking hold of the blade on his back and sending wind chakra into it he sliced through the bars at head height, then again at waist height. Facing the three he spoke quickly. "Guards are everywhere, so if you think you hear something, let me know with a low whistle. Follow behind me and keep quiet. With any luck we should be able to make it about halfway to where I think the scroll is held before anyone notices us."

The three nodded and followed Aoi from the cell. Without hesitation the group turned to the left in a silent run. A stairwell materialized in the dimness of the hallway. Reaching out a foot, Aoi tested the wooden stairs with his weight. To his disappointment, the stairs let out a low squeak, sure to give away their presence to anyone within the vicinity of the stairs as they climbed.

Without even asking, Aoi knew that the three clones behind him wouldn't be willing to use chakra and walk on the walls to avoid it. Why would they make it easy? Multiple plans flitted across Aoi's mind, from a wire ladder to bypass the stairs to having them use the henge to change into an animal of some sort. Eventually, hands moving in a blur of motion, Aoi created three shadow clones.

A sudden stiffening in his shoulders, as well as a quick turn of his head, alerted the Tenzo clones that Aoi had sensed an approaching person. "Hurry and follow," without awaiting a response to his whispered order, Aoi ran swiftly into a room in the hall they had just come from with his clones carrying the other three. Of course, it wasn't that easy, and it seemed that the approaching person was going to enter the room they had ducked inside.

"Get on that side of the door, and stay quiet." All three Tenzos stood to the left of the door, where the hinges were. Aoi stood on the wall with chakra in his feet above the door. The door opened, but nobody walked in. Loosening the sword in its scabbard, Aoi tensed slightly in anticipation. Suddenly another Tenzo clone sprang into the room, passing the doorway quickly and launching kunai at the three to the left of the door.

Reacting instantly Aoi cut through the hinges of the door, throwing it with chakra spread through his arm. Two of the kunai thunked into the door before they hit their targets, and the third thudded into one of Aoi's clones.

There was barely time to notice that there was a red bandana on the enemies arm before water cut them in half. Water swirled around Aoi's sword as he sent chakra through the metal. With the fight over as quickly as it had started, Aoi sheathed the sword and led the way to the stairs. Using chakra he bypassed them, and made another clone once reaching the top. Turning just in time, he caught one of the Tenzo's that his two other clones had thrown. In this way, all four made it to the top of the staircase.

"Hurry."

They got through another floor and a half of the building before a group of four saw them, Aoi unable to escape their sight in the door-less hall. Two of the opponents ran off, likely for reinforcements, while the other two lifted their kunai in fighting stances. The three behind him raised their kunai as well, ready to defend themselves. Suddenly one of the teammates forced his way past Aoi and rushed the two opponents like a headstrong idiot. For some reason, Aoi thought of Naruto.

Shaking off the feeling, there was no time to stop the comrade, so Aoi ran after him, telling the other two to stay there. Moving even faster than normal, Aoi crossed the distance in an instant, quick enough to move the friendly clone out of the way of the enemy attack that would have broken his defenses. He wasn't quick enough to stop a shallow cut appearing on his own arm however.

Snaking a foot out, Aoi caught one of them behind the ankle, and the man fell with a thud. Spinning on that foot, he charged chakra into his other leg and kicked the opponent that was still standing in the side of the head. The clone smashed into the wall, his head going through before hardening into wood indicating he was defeated. When the one Aoi had knocked down began to rise, he was met with a solid fist to his face, cracking the wooden floor beneath him.

Turning, Aoi addressed the ally clone, "Don't rush into fights, you could get killed. Then I would fail, right?" A glint shone in Aoi's eyes, making the clone wonder if it was a joke or not. Hane landed on Aoi's shoulder before anything else could happen, and he looked at the bird. "Find it?" The animal bobbed its head, and Aoi nodded back.

They took off down the hallway, and instead of the heavily guarded room where Aoi initially thought the scroll might be, they were led down a flight of stairs. The room at the bottom contained containers, and a carved box of the same shape and size. Aoi had overlooked the room in his search, and knew the importance of Hane finding this room. Reaching in the box, Aoi drew out the map they had been searching for.

"Let's go." The group was halfway up the stairs when a figure with a red bandana on his arm appeared. He shouted and Aoi turned. "Change of plans, follow me." Drawing both sword, he slashed at the solid wood wall, weakening it, before landing a solid kick in the middle of the 'X' he had created.

They all jumped through the ragged hole Aoi had created, falling about 2 meters before hitting the floor of that level. The halls were maze-like, but Aoi led his group confidently until they came to a dead end wall. Aoi turned to face their pursuers as he spoke to his teammates. "You two with the water jutsu, launch them at the same time into that wall there. The force should be enough after a few times that I'll be able to break it and we can escape from here."

"What should I do?" Somehow, Aoi knew that this was the clone that had charged into the enemies before.

"Protect them from any enemy attacks that might get through. They'll be focused on the wall too much to defend themselves. Not to mention, there isn't much earth here for you to use your jutsu and help." As Aoi spoke, the first opponent made their attack, launching five kunai from his hand. Aoi sliced them out of the air with his swords in a quick motion.

"Got it."

 It took a long while for the two clones to cast their jutsu, as they were making an effort to be genin. Aoi continued to fight off clone after clone, but the numbers seemed endless, and once or twice a kunai did slip past him, only to be blocked by the clone he had assigned to guard the other two. Eventually there was the creaking of wood as the two clones launched their fourth water jutsu on the wall. It seemed that it was weak enough now.

Turning toward the onrushing clones, Aoi lifted his hand to his face. He still wasn't perfect at holding more than one person under this jutsu, but it would buy time in which to give his orders. Parting his bangs, a flash of green shone from his eye, causing the motion of the enemies to stop. A green light continued to shine and the opponents continued to be frozen in their tracks as a bead of sweat appeared on Aoi's forehead.

"I can't hold this for long, so I want you two to launch the next water jutsu at these guys. Aim for the ones in front, and knock them back into their comrades." Aoi reached into the pouch on his left leg, drawing out a kunai that had a wire already secured on to it. "I'll take care of the wall now."

Like clockwork, everything happened at once. The moment Aoi's teammates launched their jutsu, he released his. Gathering chakra into his leg, he once again kicked the wall. It broke rather easily, but instead of marveling at this, Aoi launched the kunai in hand, the weapon zipped out of the building, and thudded into a thick trunk of a tree. All four of them pulled out a kunai, and using part of the handle, were able to zip-line out of the building instead of falling four or five meters.

They hit the ground running, but once they got the specified distance away, the clones stopped moving, poofing into nonexistence. Aoi halted as well, waiting for Tenzo to come to him.

"Not quite how I expected you to go about it, but good job. You protected your comrades and fulfilled the mission, so I would call that a success." The older man looked up toward where the sun hung low in the sky. It had long crested the midday point, and was starting to sink toward the western horizon. "How about a quick meal before reporting to the Hokage? What food do you like?"

Aoi nodded at the first question. "Rice," was his simple answer to the second. Tenzo shrugged, not questioning the boy's simple tastes, and led him to a tea shop for onigiri.

_+_

"He seems to have quite a bit of talent, doesn't he?" A figure turned from the mirror that had been reflecting the current events. They regarding their companions with a small smirk.

"Yes, he could be a great asset to our organization."

"Maan, does that mean I have to learn another name?" A lazy yawn came from one end of the room, where another stood scratching the back of his neck.

A fourth got a tick mark on his head. "You still don't remember mine!"

A cough came from the corner, "We should make contact with him. It's difficult to judge personality without doing so. I'll go with N the next time he has a mission."

"Why me?" N, the man who had yawned complained. Nobody answered.

_+_

So... that doesn't make much sense yet, but it will! ^.^ It will... probably a good deal later too... Anywhore, I've finally updated, so be happy? I'll try not to take as long with the next one, because I really want to get to this one part, so I can write this one thing. That will be exciting... You'll see.

On a completely different note, I have decided something! You should all stop saying 'oh dear' right now and read on. I have decided that, after passing a certain event, that has yet to be foreshadowed or talked about, I will be putting this book on a ever-so-slight hold. You know how a while back I asked if anyone would like to read about Kaori's story or others? Well I'm going to do that. There will be two... companion books? Yeah, companion books, to this story. One will center around Kaori, Kodomo, and Ryo and their team, while the other will introduce Migota and Murasaki and their sensei and third teammate. So I hope that when the time comes, you will read those. This is a while off, so no worries yet, okay? Three questions for today I guess.

1. Which of the two aforementioned books would you like to read first?

2. Would you rather have the ability to shoot milk out of your eye, or make noodle hang out of your nose after putting them in your mouth?

3. Spoiler if you haven't seen farther on in shippuden, but whatever. Are we just saying Yamato/Tenzo is dead? I mean he was captured to make those white clones, but after that... what? I hope he's alive, I mean just look at that face to the side.

Those are both really gross to see by the way. I think that is it for now... Um... OH! The song to the side is in Japanese, and you can thank, well, me for that. I've been listening to a lot recently, and so I'm gonna share it with you all. I really like the meaning of the lyrics.

So, now I'm done. Vote or comment, maybe fan? I've gotten a lot of fans in the last few months, 60+ last time I checked! ^.^ Sorry again for taking forever to upload, and thanks for the support on this story!

-Nicky~