The White Flash

Reunion

"What of the harvest?"

            "Yes," the silver haired genin nodded, "more than I expected. Those two you sent after her brought to light a lot of useful data. I filled in their entire data from this second exam." He held up two ninja cards, "you need these, right?"

            "So, how was it?"

            "Sure enough, it appears your curiosity has paid off, Orochimaru-sama."

            Orochimaru took the cards, gazing at the two shinobi; one a boy of onyx hair whose eyes he has wanted for a long time, the other a girl of white hair who holds a mysterious power within her body that only needed to be brought to the surface and studied. It had slipped through his fingers before, he had a mind to ensure he didn't make the same mistake. "I want to ask your opinion. As Otogakure's spy..."

            "That's not necessary, is it?" Kabuto chuckled, "you will be the one to decide it all, so..."

            Orochimaru pushed off the wall, smoke rising from his feet, "I like that cleverness of yours. Good work."

----

            "So, what are we supposed to do now?" Hiro questioned. In the dawn of the fifth day, they were escorted to a separate room to complete the second exam. It was large and vacant, with only an inscription above the door. "What's that?"

            "If Heaven does not exist, enrich your knowledge and prepare for the chance. If Earth does not exist, run the fields in search of an advantage. Open the series of Heaven and Earth, and the perilous way shall be redressed. This is namely the secret of the "one that guides..."." Kohei's wooden hand rubbed the back of his neck, "there's something missing at the end."

            "I think that has something to do with Chunin," Ayumi offered, a hand moving to her hip. "Papa always said that Chunin is where we'd start to lead our own platoons on missions, but the talk about heaven and earth... is it just the scrolls?"

            "I think they want us to open them now." Ayumi nodded her agreement, reaching beneath her shirt to a strap she had tied the scrolls with. She pulled the knot loose, letting the scrolls tumble towards the ground. "DIBS!" Kohei launched himself at the scrolls, catching them before they could hit the ground. He pressed the scrolls to his cheeks, "these were down my Darling's shirt!"

            "Give them here!" Ayumi kicked his shoulder, wrestling the scrolls from his grasp she tossed one to Hiro. "For fucks sake." Holding the heaven scroll in her hands, she watched her teammate's movements. In one swift motion they pulled the scrolls open. Huh? The writing that was in the scroll was precisely placed to create a circle, the kanji for 'man' within the center. "A summoning, Hiro-kun throw it!" Ayumi threw the scroll towards the other side of the room at the same moment as Hiro. Smoke rose from the overlapping scrolls, a silhouette standing in the midst.

            "Oh ho ho, so the great Kakashi-san's daughter survives the cut." It was a man with spiky black hair, his dark eyes beady shadows within the smoke; he wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with a flak jacket and had a strip of bandage running over the bridge of his nose. Hagane Kotetsu, a village Chunin that's been sent on few missions with her father; she has seen him a handful of times, but the times she actually spoke to the man could be counted on one hand.

            "Huh? What's happening?" Hiro shook his head, "Yu-chan, do you know him?"

            "Chunin Hagane Kotetsu-san," she labelled. "What are you doing here? What was that summoning for?"