1 CHAPTER 1

In Konoha, it was an important day for the aspiring shinobi. In the academy students with their shining headbands sat talking to each other excitably. They had just graduated and were ready to move on to the next step in their journey, ultimately ending in their demise. Quick demise in most of the cases.

Out of a usual academy class, only 30 students graduated and on average only 5 reached their thirties. It was a cruel number for any village, more so for the one constructed with the idea of protecting these very lives.

Iruka sensei entered the classroom, his face filled with pride. He walked up to his desk and spoke in his now all too familiar voice.

"Good morning everyone, Congratulations on becoming genin. From this day onwards you are all proud shinobi of the leaf… . . ."

I tuned him out and began tinkering with my chakra. Even after all these years it still fascinated me. This tiny warmth spreading throughout my body made it possible for a singular person to pulverize continents, raze mountains and drown town.

The warmth made its way to my arms and then to my hand and then to three of my fingers, each of them having a stone at their end. The die would stick as long as I supplied enough chakra otherwise they would fall off.

I could hear Iruka moving towards explaining team formations to everyone. Konoha prided itself in producing specialized teams. Infiltration, assassination, rescue, sabotage, or assault. Konoha had specialists for them all. Combinations were perfected through years of comradeship and training.

As I got comfortable with the three dice, I took out three and did the same with my other hand. I could feel sweat covering my brows. The exercise was tough, as it required minute adjustments due to the position of the finger and the orientation of the dice.

As Iruka got around to announcing teams. I began thinking of my future. Konoha's academy system was very well designed. The system had been designed by the second, and like most of the village, it was years ahead of its competition, proven by the fact that no other village produced more graduates per year than Konoha.

And not just simple graduates, there were specializations you could apply to, kunoichi, business, sewing, Buki Jutsu, and sealing. Granted that the academy only taught the basics, this was still miles ahead of what other villages offered, at least according to the books in the library.

I was only paying minimum attention to the class, but when everyone suddenly quiet down and looked at me. I raised my eyes to see Iruka staring at me. His voice came out a bit stricter this time.

"Why aren't you standing up Shinso-Kun?" his voice raised the alarm bells in my head.

"Umm. I think I missed it sensei. Can you please repeat it?" Being polite always worked with him. He sighed and spoke once more.

"Team eight, under jounin Kurenai: Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, and Shinso Ken."

I could feel the dread build-up, my mind working in overdrive to fish out long-forgotten details. Plans were made and discarded as I got up slowly and joined my two prospective teammates at the door.

"Shinso-Kun," I heard Iruka calling my name, hopefully admitting his mistake in calling my name.

I turned around to see him holding his palm towards me,

"I think you dropped these."

I looked and found six dice, held out towards me. I took them and thrashed them inside my pockets moving outside the class.

Kakashi Hatake sat on a chair in a rundown apartment, The journey to the apartment had been eye-opening. From what he had gathered through this excursion pained a picture that made him sigh at the amount of work he had to do.

The Hokage sat opposite him staring at a file while smoking through his aged pipe.

"Are you having second thoughts about the team, Lord Third?"

Lord Third looked at him, his piercing gaze destroying the old man visage he tried to maintain.

"No, I was just thinking of another team." He handed him the file.

Kakashi read it. It was a file regarding team 8, under newly minted jounin Kurenai Yuhi. It was a search and rescue team with an Aburame, Hyuga, and a non clan kid. There was a mark on the kid's file. The wrong kind of mark.

Despite what most people thought prodigies were more common than they thought, but loyal and famous prodigy was less so. Those smart enough understood the ruthlessness of the system and planned to circumvent it. A lot of those people would go on to join special divisions or desk jobs, and that would be fine because they were not traitors, just less loyal and diligent.

Most of these shinobi were clan-less, for being a prodigy in a clan was a point of prestige and harder to hide. But the kid had drawn the short straw. Konoha was desperate, even if they were able to maintain their visage of power, it was barely holding. Three tragedies within a little more than a decade had taken their toll.

They needed a prodigy, a rising star. And the kid had drawn the short straw. The kid had been smart, his practical scores were good and at first glance, one wouldn't find anything wrong with them. What had gotten him into trouble had been file reports by a certain senior genin. Their training had found its way into a report and that had raised a flag.

"You haven't even gotten to the good part yet," The Hokage said while smiling.

He turned the page. Aha! Here was the real ringer. Advanced chakra control in the ninety-sixth percentile. The boy had also taken up sealing as a specialization class. Understandable, with his request to join the Barrier corps.

"Well, he is an interesting case. But I wouldn't worry too much. The kid seems serious enough." And that was an understatement, taking more than three specialization classes regularly for four years required a dedication few children could have.

The Hokage looked at him, smoke rising out of his pipe. "Initially, I planned to assign him to you"

He spluttered at that.

"But that would have disturbed the balance of Team seven. And I could not break the Ino-Shika-Cho. But, Kurenai is young, and her last experience with teaching was ..."

He remembered the Kurama clan debacle, it had been the gossip of the village. But, now he could understand the caution of the Hokage.

"Well, I will have someone keep an eye on him. Make sure all goes well. Plus, You do know who is leading Team ten right."

Asuma and Kurenai were probably the worst-kept secrets of the Leaf. The Hokage smiled at that, Asuma had returned from the Twelve Guardians through a special request.

Kakashi looked at the fridge and sighed again, it just seemed that his work just increased again.

Kurenai looked through the window at her three students, prospective students, and probable students. She had read their files and she was already familiar with Hinata. The Aburame kid was typical. Quiet, weird but diligent. Typical Aburame. But Shinso Ken had been a ringer, and it was proven as she looked at him. Instead of sitting idle, his hands were trying to juggle a dice using chakra, it was an innovative way of training control, something which few genin understood the importance of.

As she opened the door, she could feel their focus turning on her,

"Team eight with me."

Three of them rose from their seats and followed her out, their test had begun.