Path of Good and Evil- Naruto Fanfic Book One

Chapter Two: Becoming a Gennin

    Another two years passed. It was finally time; the graduation exam. Zemaria and her classmates were all twelve years old now. That meant it was finally time to graduate from the Academy. Once a student graduates, it meant they had become the first official rank of being a Shinobi. That rank was called a Gennin. There were three ranks one needed to achieve to being on the path of the Shinobi. They were Gennin, an entry level Ninja; Chuunin, a second level Ninja; and a Jounin, the final level Ninja.

    In a squad, Gennin followed the orders of Chuunin and Jounin leaders. Chuunin followed the orders of Jounin leaders. The next rank above Jounin was Anbu Black Ops for anyone with enough potential. Besides Anbu there was medical Ninja, the interrogation unit, and various other types of Shinobi one could become after taking the appropriate exams for them.

    Speaking of exams, everyone was getting ready for the graduation exam. One by one each student entered a specific room. Sitting at the desk up front was Iruka and another Chuunin teacher named Mizuki Touji. Mizuki didn't seem too enthused about the exam taking place. Even so, each student that entered the room performed the clone Jutsu which was the final exam Jutsu needed to perform in order to graduate.

    Naruto entered the room and like previous attempts, could barely produce two clones. They were sickly looking and couldn't even stand. Iruka failed him. Zemaria entered the room after him. She produced ten clones without even creating a single hand sign. She was definitely her father's daughter.

    "Ten clones? They're absolutely flawless! Zemaria, congratulations. You pass," Iruka proudly announced.

    Mizuki questioned her ability, "Just out of curiosity, how did you produce so many clones and not even create a hand sign?"

    Zemaria just shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I just can."

    She walked over to them and Iruka handed her a headband. The fabric was black and it had a shiny metal plate in the middle with the Leaf symbol engraved into it. Zemaria unfolded the fabric and placed the headband on her forehead and tied it tightly. She then silently left the room.

    At the end of the day, every student had graduated. Everyone that is except for Naruto. He was the only student in the entire class that hadn't passed the exam. Zemaria noticed him sitting on the swing he always sat on... alone. He looked so sad. She couldn't help but feel his pain. Having the kindness of her mother, she made her way over to him.

    "Hey," she said smiling lightly.

    He gave her a weird look, "What do you want?"

    "I noticed that you always sit on that swing by yourself. Thought you could use some company is all," her smile became a bit more inviting.

    "I heard you were the only one that produced more than three clones today," he randomly pointed out.

    "Yeah, I did," she responded.

    Naruto stood up from the swing. Glaring at her because of her success, he spun toward the tree and punched it. He was angry that she had been able to make so many clones and he couldn't even make two. Zemaria took a step back not knowing what to do. As he walked passed her, a wall created from thorny vines quickly formed in front of Zemaria as a sort of barrier to protect her.

    All the new Gennin standing outside excited about graduating now stopped talking and turned their heads in the direction of Zemaria and Naruto. What had just happened? Naruto stopped and curiously stared at the wall of vines. Zemaria reached out her hand and touched it. The thorns didn't hurt. At least, they didn't hurt to her.

    Naruto finally asked, "How did you do that?"

    She responded, "I'm not sure. I... I thought you were going to strike me like you did the tree and then this wall of vines formed."