Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Kole!” Kole awoke abruptly to see the instructor at the head of the class, staring at him. Kole, who had not been truly asleep, but more or less, zoned out, looked over to see the instructor. “Your next, it’s your turn to try the transformation jutsu.” Kole despaired at her comment Sometimes I swear she does this just to embarrass me… Kole slid out of his chair and stood in front of the class. Making the appropriate hand sign, he focused. A few seconds later, and… nothing. Kole’s arms dropped as he exhaled. “…damn.” He said softly, knowing that he would be unsuccessful from the start. The instructor saw his distress and said “Good attempt, go back up and rest now.” Kole walked slowly back to his seat, the rest of the students watched silently knowing that the transformation technique was just about elementary at this stage. Kole sat in his seat quietly as the instructor continued her lesson in how to “perfect” the transformation technique. “Okay, Zel, you come on up and show us a transformation jutsu!” she said energetically. His friend Erika who was seated next to him turned, and spoke softly. “Good try, Kole.” Kole rested his head on his fist, these words she spoke only stung harder. Kole just couldn’t seem to muster up any chakra, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn’t perform a single technique, no matter how many hours he spent practicing the them. Once the instructor had finished her lecture, she brought the class outside to the training field. Kole was pinned up against Rin, in one on one, raw taijutsu combat. Kole ran in and threw a few swings, but Rin effortlessly blocked them and delivered a kick to Kole’s chest, knocking him to the ground. The match ended practically before it started. Kole staggered, and then fell, quickly defeated by his opponent. When Kole came to, he found himself on the infirmary office’s bed, staring at the ceiling, a sight he has gotten used to over his years at the academy. Kole lay silent in the infirmary as he healed what would naturally be a minor bruise. The school day had come to an end, so the medic shinobi who worked there walked over to his bed. “Okay Kole, your wound has healed up nicely, Just stay away from taijutsu combat for a while.” The medic said as he sat in his chair and rolled over to his desk, quickly jotting something down on a pad of paper. “Now I know the Genin advancement test is tomorrow, and I won’t tell you that your wounds are so bad that you can’t participate, but what I’m trying to say is, don’t end up back in here again. If the going gets tough, I want you to quit, alright?” Kole solemnly nodded and walked out of the office. As he travelled the halls, he began to predict his upcoming test. This was the most important test for all academy students, the test that decided on whether or not you would make Genin rank. Kole sighed as he stepped outside into the cool evening mist. Making his way to his small apartment, Kole knew that he would not last three seconds in the field test, and he despaired. Kole was tired, his body was healing, but his mind just kept breaking, and breaking. He spent two years at the academy and tried his hardest, but kept failing. Kole could not produce any chakra to use ninjutsu, he never understood genjutsu, he was clumsy and inaccurate with weapons, and no matter how hard he tried, he was simply always the weakest in taijutsu. He knew what the instructors thought, he knew that they all saw him as a fragile kid, unsuited to be a shinobi, and Kole was beginning to think it himself. Am I doomed… to be this weak… no matter what I do… “Um, Kole?” Kole turned to face the soft voice he had heard behind him as he strolled the street. It was Erika, who gave him a little half wave. Kole turned to face her. “What is it…?” Kole said as if he was expecting abuse. Erika frowned and said, “Kole…are you ok… you’ve changed over the past year… you used to be so cheerful…?” Kole turned and looked away. “Yeah… well I guess that’s when I thought I could be a half-a** shinobi, now I realize id be lucky if I were even close to that.” Erika retaliated, raising her voice. “Don’t give up Kole, you never gave up, even when you lost!” Kole rebounded, matching her tone. “EVEN, When I lost, Erika! I’ve never WON! I… I haven’t even gotten any stronger since I’ve got here.” Erika’s tone shifted back to calmness. “If you’re so miserable…so content on how useless your efforts are… why don’t you just quit…” Kole turned to face her again. He could see it in her eyes, she was curious. She was curious as to why he continued on his path of inevitable failure. He saw it in all their eyes, the teachers, his peers, they all gave him the same look, they were all curious. Kole’s head lowered and his right hand rose and touched his crest on his jacket. “Erika…” Erika looked at him and spoke up. “You’re…you’re going to die… don’t you realize that; if they pass you, you’ll die.” Kole smiled a little. “You’re probably right…” Erika gave him a confused look. “Your right, if I somehow pass… the first high ranking mission I’m given, I’ll probably die due to my inherent lack of skill… I… I don’t really understand why I have to do this, all I know is, that I have to.” Kole turned away once again and continued walking down the road to his house. “I am Kole Solaire, The final remaining member of the Solaire clan, giving up… just wouldn’t be right.”



Kole awoke the next morning, yawning, as he walked to his window and opened it up to catch a breath of fresh air. He folded his arms and enjoyed the scenery. The land of water was always covered in mist, especially so, in the area he lived, but there was something about the brisk morning mist that he enjoyed. Today was the day, Kole foresaw his imminent defeat, he even contemplated his chances of dying in this match, but he knew he had to give it his all. He grabbed his things, changed his clothes and made for the academy. The day was going to be a rough one, he knew it.



Tensions were high at the academy, all the students were all out on a field, some stretching, some inspecting there ninja tools. Erika walked next to Kole who was stretching out his arms. “Kole… do your best, ok…” Kole stopped stretching and turned to her. He nodded and said. “You too, Erika.” The instructor, as well as five other jonin shinobi made to the center of the group. “OK!” The instructor yelled to all the students. “In this test you will be attempting to knock out your opponents, the rules are as follows, you must act alone, groups are forbidden; you must make an effort to kill or knockout your peers, the jonin moderators will prevent any deaths they can; you must…” Kole fastened his bag and focused on a plan. If I attempt to jump straight in and fight, I’ll lose… fast, so I’ll have to attempt to hide it out until the fighting’s over. Kole scanned the group and made quick mental notes on how they performed in the academy. I’m at a disadvantage because most of these guys have tricks up their sleeves, furthermore I can assume a handful are planning the same as me, and will have to be aware of not just the fighting area, but the hiding spots as well. The instructor then cleared her throat. “On your mark, get set, GO!” Academy students flew everywhere, and Kole jumped back trying to find an optimal hiding space. As expected many dove into the trees, and bushes, but also many stayed in the center to fight. Kole hid up in a tree and began to scan the shinobi fighters as well as keeping an eye out for possible ambush. The fighting got rough. There were many attacks from behind, but Kole remained hidden. For a few minutes it seemed as if Kole was going unspotted until a shuriken hit the tree he was hiding in. Realizing he had been found, he dropped from the limb and sprung amongst the bushes, but his pursuer was catching up. Damn, if this guy catches up, I’ll be dead meat. Thinking fast Kole leapt out of the woods and into the field where some shinobi were beginning to show off powerful moves. His pursuer leapt out to follow him. Kole hurdled, jumped, and dodged clashing shinobi. He turned to see his pursuer, wearing some strange metal gauntlet fire a large shuriken attached to a chain. Kole side jumped from its path, but the shuriken turned to match his path. Alarmed Kole re-contemplated his strategy and made a run for the heat of battle. The shuriken was catching up, but Kole was still ahead, seeing an opportunity, he dove under the legs of a preoccupied shinobi and then drove to the other side of the bushes. Breathing heavily he looked to see if he had threw off his attacker, he looked to see a jonin had deflected the oncoming shuriken from the clueless ninja’s path. Then the jonin grabbed the ninja who would have been killed and the two disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The gauntlet ninja scanned around for his prey, but in his searching he had gotten hit in the face by a large student, and was now preoccupied fighting another battle. Quickly, Kole scanned his surroundings for a new spot. Finding one, he remained frozen and scanned the possible ambush points. He waited for what felt like an eternity until he heard a familiar voice. “IS THAT IT!” It was Rin, an exceptionally strong student. He heard a jonin moderator from afar, “There is still one more student.” Rin laughed and said “JUST ONE!! COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!” Kole didn’t have time to celebrate his making it so close to the end, as he feared Rin, a master of close combat, and exceptionally skilled with ninja tools. Kole tried to stay calm and think of a new plan. Suddenly he heard. “THERE!” and a kunai flew through the bushes stabbing him straight in his left shoulder. His eyes widened at the wound as he heard Rin jumping towards him, be bolted for it, jumping to the trees and sprinting as fast as he could. He dodged a few more shurikens until another kunai jabbed him in the knee. Kole clutched his knee in pain, and then hit a branch, and fell to the ground hard. Kole breathed heavily as he got to his feet. Rin landed just a few meters away. “Hahaha… Kole, man you lasted much longer then I thought, was it nice and cozy in the rat hole you were hiding in!?!” He hurled another kunai at Kole and it struck him again in his left shoulder closer to his chest. This kid threw weapons like a demon, they came so fast, Kole wasn’t even sure he was hit, till he witnessed the unidentified object sticking out of his shoulder. Kole let out a loud exhale from the pain and tried to back up, but with his left leg also stabbed he found it difficult to move, and Kole knew that running was no longer an option. Rin shook his head and said “You guys watchin!” He yelled out in the open, most likely to the moderating jonin. A couple long seconds went by and Rin smiled and spoke. “Guess they won’t intervene until your down.” Rin reached in his pocket and pulled out a shuriken, “This is it.” He spoke proudly. “My last weapon, and you get to be the last one I take down.” And with a flick of his wrist the shuriken spun violently at Kole. In that moment Kole’s life paused. This is it… this is as far as I can go guys… clouds appeared in his mind and his mother, grandfather, and uncle appeared, they were the last family Kole ever knew before there passing’s, the look on their faces was not one of disappointment, but one of happiness. He heard his mother’s voice. “Kole… I’m so very proud of you for trying!” His uncles voice then came right after. “Haha, now that’s what I like to see Kole!” and finally his grandfather. “Just like a Solaire, never gives up!” Kole smiled at the visions and his chest felt lighter, this was a feeling of happiness, he knew he had given it his all, but Kole felt deep down that he had to keep this feeling going and then, it finally happened. It only happened for a second, but suddenly something in Kole’s chest snapped, or it more felt like it unlocked. The sensation was as if someone had just struck an oil reserve and out came bursting energy. In a second, Kole grabbed the kunai in his shoulder, tore it off his body and threw it pinpoint at the shuriken, knocking it away. Rin flinched, surprised at the quick and unexpected reaction. Kole looked up at Rin and slowly moved. He felt something hot welling up inside him. It was as if fresh blood was pouring into his veins. This is… this is chakra…? Kole lifted his hand, suddenly flashes of energy went down his arm. Something was appearing in his hand, but he couldn’t make it out. Rin backed away slowly as he witnessed Kole’s hair turning red and it swirled wildly, Kole’s eyes too, flashed brilliant red. Kole began to focus his energy on whatever was happening in his hand, and then finally it happened, a great burning sphere blazed in his hand. “I can feel it… this power...” Kole looked to the practically stunned Rin who couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation that was happening so quickly. I can do this! Suddenly his mind called out to him. “RAHHHH!” Kole yelled as he hurled the flaming sphere at Rin. Instantly, a jonin moderator flash stepped in front of Rin and with two fingers burst the fireball into tiny fireworks. Rin fell over in amazement at the speed of what had just taken place. Kole hovered back and forth, unable to tell if his attack was successful, his vision got blurry, and then, he lost consciousness.



It felt like just a few moments had gone by when Kole finally came to. He opened his eyes, they were still blurry and so he shut them again. The area around him didn’t feel like a grassy field, it felt like a hard mattress, and it smelled like old people. Suddenly he heard voices, the first sounded like his instructor, and the second he could not identify. “But what I don’t understand is, why did he have such a tough time before, if the curse mark didn’t carry between generations?” The second voice sounded a little uptight. “Curse marks do not carry over generations, my dear, how did you ever become an instructor.” Kole then heard a slap and then a crashing down of someone. “Ugah… heh, well.” The second voice stuttered. “Here… here’s the thing, this boy, he, he’s a Solaire, a very, very gifted and cursed individual. You see, Solaire members are different then average shinobi, and their techniques use chakra entirely differently, so you see, it’s not that he doesn’t have chakra, it’s just that he has been taught ways that are entirely unable for him to perform.” His instructor then spoke again. “Really? Well… I know his parents are no longer around, but surely there must be someone out there that can help teach him how to,” the second voice intervened. “IT is no coincidence the boy has learned nothing, his family is dead, his distant relatives are dead, and all traces of their existence wiped out, if this boy plans on utilizing his abilities, he will have to do it himself, from scratch, there is nothing or no one who can teach him how to use his powers.” His instructor remained silent. The second voice spoke up again. “Look, I’m not saying he can’t be a shinobi, and that he can’t learn anything from them, I’m just saying his strength is going to ultimately rely on his own perseverance. Being on a squad with other shinobi or having an instructor can only help his motivation, they’ll just have to learn and accept his style.” His instructor spoke softly. “I see…” Kole pondered the second voices words. This surprisingly came as no shock to him, the only thing he felt, was severe relief that he could actually use chakra. How and why, was really not a problem for him, and he had knew from the start Solaire’s were different. Kole, satisfied, opened his eyes and yawned, seeing that the first voice was indeed his instructor and the second an ugly hunchbacked man in a white robe. “Kole!” His instructor shouted forcefully. Kole batted his eyes and pretended that he was just waking up. “What are you still doing in bed! You have work to do!” Kole stumbled and rapidly got out of bed, inferring that he had failed the test and would need to work harder to pass in the next test. “Yes instructor!” Kole said quickly. His instructor laughed a little and said. “I’m not your instructor anymore, honey.” Then pulling out of her pocket, she held a shiny, new, mist shinobi headband. She then handed it to Kole. “You earned this, make sure you wear it with pride!” Kole looked at the headband shocked to see it. “I…I….I passed?” he said confused. “Your stealth was top notch, professional, and deceiving, and when the going got rough, you summoned power beyond your previous capabilities, these are the kinds of shinobi the Village Hidden in the Mist needs.” Kole slowly took the headband and then raised his head to see his instructor smiling. “Thank you…Thank you very much for everything.” Kole said graciously. His instructor waved her finger at him. “Now now, I got nothing more I can teach you, but I have one final mission for you, I want you to find your own ninja way, your own style, and stay true to who you are, ok?” Kole smiled and nodded. “Yeah… I think the path before me is getting clearer.” Then fastening his new headband to the strap of his bag he turned and waved. “It’s time to take my first step.”

[157 Lines]

As the first student’s name got called out, the buzz that was in the classroom went back to the same volume as before, if not a bit louder. Now, there were even more questions being asked around pertaining to what jutsus they were going to be asked to do. “I hope they let me do the wall climbing technique.” “Not that again! You know the odds of that happening?” “Hey! I bet ya that they are actually lying about the jutsu actually getting changed up. I bet ya they just all give us the same jutsu to learn as they usually do!” The whole time, Yamada continued to sit in his little corner of the room, seemingly seething, while being lost in though. “Huh, everybody just goes right back into the speculation. Though, I am a tad intrigued by how they are going about this year’s exam. It does seem to be a tad different to the usual way they go about testing us. It makes me wonder if they do have some sort of special trick up their sleeves in order to make this work.”

Suddenly, a girl walked up to Yamada, wanting to ask him a question. “Um… Yamada…. I was just wondering… um…. Why have you never passed any of the exams before? You seem like someone who knows how to do a lot of different jutsus, yet you don’t ever pass. How come?” At this moment, the group of kids fell silent. They hadn’t seen anybody actually sum up the courage to say something to Yamada before. You see, because of his attitude, a lot of the kids tend to not trust him too much.

Yamada stared at the girl for a little bit and gave a calm, yet seemingly cold sounding, answer. “I’ve never passed because I’ve never cared. You heard our instructor, I apparently have the potential, yet I don’t use it. None of the exams that have been given to me have piqued my interest, or even be anywhere close to what I enjoy doing. I feel like I shouldn’t have to know all the basic jutsu everyone else knows. I should find the jutsu I enjoy, and use that all the time. Not the basic crap. Sure, being able to walk on water, or walk on a building may be interesting to you. But, what damn well excites me is being able to manipulate something to my will. What better to use this manipulation than water? Unless they give me a test pertaining to something such as that, I might never pass, for I might never care. Does this satisfy your answer?” The girl gives him a quick nod as she runs off to go back to her friends, as all the rest of the students started their conversations back up again. Just then, one of the instructors walks in and says out the next name. “Yamada Taro!! You’re up!”

“Huh? What? The Mizukage told them to get me special treatment? What the hell is going on? Oh well, I finally got the test that I wanted to receive, I guess I better make the most of it,” thought Yamada tensely. After a little pause to regain composure, he got in position. “Yes, I’m ready for the test to begin.” “The first thing we want you to form is the image of a shuriken.” Calmly, Yamada started focusing his chakra into the water near him. With his eyes closed, he formed the image of a shuriken almost perfectly in his head. This image was then projected to the chakra holding the water to make the exact same image. “Good. Next, we want you to form a duck.” Yamada released the water with a splash, and started the same process again. Calmly, he thought up the image of a duck, and put it onto the water almost perfectly. “Wonderful. Next, we want you to create the form of a flower.” Yamada once again went through all the simple and quick steps to manipulate the water the way he wanted to.

The instructor gave a nice smile after the last water manipulation. “Perfect, you did every single one of these to perfection. You really are talented when it comes to the water element. Now then, we will transfer you over to the room where we have all the ones who pass the test sit and wait for their headbands. Once again, congratulations Yamada.” Then, Yamada was led out of the room to the next room to sit around and wait for a while. Yamada sat and sat, as one after another students filed into the room. From the looks of things, about half of the students managed to pass the exam. Each of them had conversations about which jutsu they had to perform. “Hey, I had to do the water walking technique, what did you have to do?” “I did the wall climbing one, my favorite!” “I did the clone jutsu!” “I wonder what Yamada had to do, since he obviously managed to pass.” Finally, the last student to pass walked in, along with the instructors.

“Congratulations to all of you. Each and every one of you in this room have shown enough aptitude to become Genin of the Hidden Mist village! Pat yourselves on the back, for this will be a long journey for most of you. Now, we will give you the headbands that will show you are an official shinobi of this village. Then tomorrow, we will let you know of what team you will be assigned under and who you are teamed up with. First, Yamada Taro.” Yamada got up and went to the instructor. “Out of everyone here, you have been here the longest. It is with pride that I give you your headband to become a Genin!” There was a slight applause from the crowd of students as Yamada grabbed his headband and tied it around his neck. “I understand you don’t want to be around here much longer, so you are free to go out of the academy now if you want to. Once again. Congratulations.” Yamada walked out of the academy with a slight grin on his face. He had finally attained the status of Genin, and he can finally start down the road to strength. Though, there are many unanswered questions, such as why the mizukage stepped in. But, Yamada decided those could be decided and figured out later. For now, he needs to enjoy the moment.

Notwen pursued the four shadow figures for about ten minutes, pausing every so often to keep them from becoming alert to his presence. Judging by the trajectory of their travel they were headed straight for the wealthy civilian district, which meant that they were also headed to where Nagamichi was going. By now the genin swordsman should be nearly home, but trying to establish a mental link with him with those strangers around was too much of a gamble so the Uchiha decided to trust the fates and hope that his student would be far from the area.

Once the shadowy men had entered the civilian district they made a sharp right, almost throwing Notwen off the chase. He half expected to get ambushed by one or two of them, but no attack came. They were headed to an area occupied by the Hyuuga clan of the Hidden Cloud. The dark-skinned Uchiha put on more speed as he saw the figures disappear behind the tall wall of a manor. The sounds of a struggle reached his ears just as he arrived at the base of the wall. Using his chakra control skill, Notwen ran up the wall and vaulted over just as the sounds of fighting stopped. He ran across the elegant yard to where there was a hole in a screen door.
"Is everyone here alright!?" he called as he arrived at the scene and witnessed the men apprehended. There were two boys, one younger than the other. And who else, but the head of the clan was standing there above the subdued assailants. "I'm sorry, sir. I tried to capture them but they were too fast for me."