Rathina Ren Yuki's genin exam

Rathina at in the back of the class, eyes narrowed in contemplation. She didn't worry, like many others, if she were going to pass the academy exams for Kumogakure, the Village Hidden by Clouds. She would. Like her mother had said, some people were born gifted. Others were due to mediocrity for the rest of their days. It was harsh, but the truth often was. Her eyes discreetly roamed the others around her, wondering if she'd be paired with teammates worthwhile, ones that would by no means slow her down.

Her eyes lingered on some members of the Yotsuki clan and she held back a scoff. Anyone but those imbeciles. She inwardly mocked them, but her features remained smooth and unreadable. Oh gosh, they were ever so loyal and hard-working. As we well know, loyalty meant everything.... even if the enemy could easily penetrate your unwilling mind for information. Who wouldn't want one of the great Yotsuki clan members on their team? They were oh so amazing. Give her a break. The Yotsuki clan were particulary vulnerable to genjutsu.... and that was a weakness that Rathina just couldn't afford. In fact, what did loyalty truly mean in the world of ninja?

Flashback:

"Daddy," a five year old Rathina asked quietly, patiently waiting for him to talk to her.

She grinned goofily at him, delighted when he did. "I want to sit on your lap," she said with all the hautiness of a five-year old. She shrieked in joy as he scooped th little bundle of red hair and small limbs that was Rathina.

She leaned her head against his chest, just wanting to hear his heart beat... for just little while longer. Her lips tugged in a scowl and she fisted his shirt, childishly wishing her daddy never left her and that he didn't have to return to those big dumb meeting that made him to tired to play ninja with her.

"Daddy, why do you have to meet with those big men?" Rathina asked, blinking those strange bright red eyes at him, her cute little nose scrunching up in distaste. "I don't like them," Rathina's small lips tisted into a childish pout as she finally voiced what her mom never let her tell her father, "They're scary."

"I would trust them with my life," He answered patiently, a gentle smile flitting his face, ruffling up her hair and making her complain loudly, "Mommy dosen't like it when you do that."

"Rathina," her father said authoritively, making her turn to him. "You'll fine that sometimes... you're comrades are the only ones you can trust. You will have to trust them, if you and your teammates wish to all live."

End flashback:



Rathina's hands tightened briefly on the desk, before she loosened her hold. 'But you were wrong father,' Rathina thought bitterly, her pretty face outwardly impassive except for the slight tightening of her eyes, 'You chose to trust your comrades, your village, ... and they killed you, stood by and watched you burn to ashes.' Ironic, wasn't it? The members of the Land of Water hiring ninjas with powerful fire jutsus to kill one of their own. Again, Rathina asked herself, what did loyalty truly mean in the world of ninja?


She served Kumogakure for three reasons and three reasons only: Her father would have wished it, Baa-chan lived here, and... well reason three was too obvious to list. Rathina was still, as she waited to be called on.

Tenka, the academy teacher, stood up at the first of the class. He lacked his usal cold attitude and this time was more relaxed. He had been dealing with many different students taking the genin exam and this was yet another class. The difference was that the village had a new leader, someone they could rely on. With his mood imporved by the revelation of having a new Raikage, he was a little nicer on the students. He still planned on having them prove they could perform at least two of the basic academy jutsu before letting them graduate to genin, but he wouldn't be quite as cold and uncaring as he normally would have been.

Calling each student up one at a time to test out the first jutsu that he'd require them to know, he watched as many of them seemed to fail. It was a little unnerving that so few students could pass the first part of the test and that the ones who had done it, their quality seemed to be lacking. Maybe he'd end up having to tell the entire class to continue learning what he had taught them. He reached the last student, hoping that she would be the one to prove that this academy class had someone worthy of becoming a true shinobi of Kumogakure no Sato. "Rathina, please come to the front of the class and perform the Clone Jutsu." he calmly stated, although after seeing the lack of quality and failures of the day he was beginning to lose faith.

"Clone Jutsu," Rathina Yuki said quietly, but confidently. When Rathina performed the technique, the hand seals she used were: Tiger → Boar → Ox → Dog. Blue chakra forned around her in a swirling fashion. Instead of three effective replications, there were four. A small smirk tugged at her lips as she observed every clone. They were perfect, but it was too be expected. "You are the pride of this village," her mom had told her once, "I expect nothing less from a member of the Yuki Clan." Rathina looked expectantly at her exam proctor.

He looked on as Rathina performed the clone jutsu to complete perfection. In fact, he noted that Rathina had gone above the regular standards set by the academy when testing the jutsu, as she had made 4 perfect replicas. He was impressed at this level of skill shown and as such nodded his head in approval. "You've passed the first part of the test." he told her, informing her of the success she was probably already aware of.

"Next you'll have to use the transformation jutsu to turn yourself into a copy of me." he said, calling forth students one at a time to the front of the class in the same order as last time. To his amazement, no one was able to perform the jutsu completely, and basically everyone was continuing to fail. He still had hope for Rathina being able to complete the jutsu, but it would be shocking if she was the only one to graduate and become a genin. "Alright Rathina, you're the last one. Everyone else has failed so try and do better." he said, hoping he wouldn't have to fail the entire class.

"Transform," Rathina said, getting into position and performing the handseals: Dog → Boar → Ram. White puffy clouds appeared, clouding everyone's image of Rathina. As the smoke formed a circle and slowly faded away, there stood, not Rathina, but Tenka. The Tenka-looking Rathina looked at him once more, holding herself stifly, awaiting further orders.

He looked on and was sort of proud that he had at least taught one student how to do things correctly. He could see no mistake in Rathina's transformation, noting that it looked exactly like he did. He looked at her, still impressed that although she was the only one out of the class that had managed to show any real sign of skill, she would have easily been at the top of some of his previous classes that he had taught. Going through the current class, he he looked over the names and announced who had passed the exam and who had failed. "Rathina, you have passed the exam." he said, handing her a shiny new Kumogakure no Sato headband. "You're a genin and officially a shinobi of Kumogakure. Congratulations." he said with a smile.

[You're Approved as Genin now.]

"Arigato," Rathina Yuki said politely, putting on her Kumogakure no Sato headband. Just one step, Rathina thought smugly, one step closer her goals.