Sitting on top of the memorial stone Kazemi flipped through her sealing notes in boredom. Nothing was coming to her and since both Izumo and Kotetsu couldn't contact anyone with sealing knowledge that wasn't either out on mission or in the hospital she was stuck in an endless cycle of one step forward two steps back.
With a huff she swinged her legs slightly off of the memorial stone as she saw someone approaching. Kazemi wasn't really in the mood to be lectured about respect to the dead.
The person was one she didn't really recognise and with the Sound headband plastered on their left arm she can assume why. Their face was completely obscured by a mask and even the hair was covered by a hood.
"Hm? I didn't expect anyone to be here." The Sound shinobi murmured, their voice deep. "I'm--"
"Didn't ask." She replies immediately before returning to her notes.
If she could just stabilise the barrier without another person...but then it just wouldn't be as strong. Though that doesn't really matter, she just needs it to form first and all those technicalities can come later.
But that could just make the entire seal faulty and then she'd have to completely redo it. If that happened she may actually smack her head off of the memorial stone in pure anguish.
"Are you not curious as to why a Sound-nin is at Konoha's memorial stone?" He questions as she shrugs.
"That's your business dude. Now shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."
Honestly, people today don't know when to not look a gift horse in the mouth. You don't question them for their strange activities and suddenly your the weird one.
Anyway, using her notes she could try the foundation method were she makes a skeleton body for the seal and fill it in for the purpose she wants but that would make it impractical if she can't copy the skeleton body for every seal.
Wait, a copy seal could be--
"Ah, a sealing mistress." He comments as he looks at her notes.
Kazemi scowled. "I lost my train of thoughts thanks to you! Zip it Sound-nin, let a girl seal in peace!"
The shinobi huffed in amusement. "Very well, I will not continue talking."
"Good."
Now back to that copy seal. It's not that no one has tried that it's just that but because of it's nature a seal like that is hard to make. If it was possible then everyone and their mother would have a storage seal.
Still, it's not impossible and there are even some on the market from time to time. Getting a barrier seal on the market is impossible since you have to create it on the spot or it won't be a complete seal. But the cost...
Eh, Kakashi can cover it for her, it's not like he's spending the money for anything better so he may as well use it on her.
But if she did use a copy seal to make multiple copies of her seals it would only work twice before losing its effect. That's just bad investment then because the copy seal may not even get it right.
"Ugh, I give up!" She declares in frustration while snapping her notebook shut.
The man chuckles in amusement, though that might be him just clearing his throat. "Sealing takes time. Though I'm not a master myself I once knew a few people who used the art of sealing. Take your time with it and it will come to you."
Kazemi glares at the man. "So I've been told."
"Then this time you should listen." He counters expertly.
"If I haven't listened the last fifty times someone has told me that exact line then you won't be the expectation."
"No." He admits dryly. "I suppose I wouldn't be the exception." There was a pause. "But I suppose a teacher will always try to teach, even those that don't want to be taught."
"Your a terrible teacher from the five seconds you tried to teach me, I'll tell you that much." Kazemi offers as she rubs her eyes.
At that the ninja let's out a startled laugh. "Oh, I've been told, don't worry."
For a moment the ninja stood there, dragging his finger from Hatake Sakumo to Senju Nawaki.
Kazemi really really didn't want to ask about that so she grabbed her notes and left. That was a can of worms not worth opening, curiosity be dammed. She'll just tell Kakashi about this and hopes that it's nothing too serious.
-----
Sasuke peered at the chunin entrance hall with distaste. Looking towards Sakura she nods towards him as Sai remains mute. And if he knew what was good for him he'd keep it that way, he has a tendency to aggravate people. Said people more often than not where Sasuke but still.
"We need to get to room 301." Sasuke recalls as they look towards the crowd of shinobi gathered around a door.
"It's a genjutsu." Sakura comments as they watch the crowd of people try and get past.
"Hn." Sasuke replies as Sakura bumps shoulders with him.
"Well we have to get past somehow Sasuke, any ideas?" She asks him. It's more out of formalities sake if anything since a plan was already brewing in her mind.
"It appears that we won't need to do anything." Sai replied as a ninja pointed towards the two blocking the 'entrance'.
A ninja Sasuke didn't recognise puffed their chest out slightly while pointing towards the two men. "You two are mere distractions!" They declared. "This floor is covered in a genjutsu!"
Sakura chuckled slightly as Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That makes more competition for us I suppose." Sai comments as he strides to the real entrance.
"I guess it does." Sakura rolls her shoulders. "Alright, let's win this exam."
-----
Kazemi kept her chin high as she walked into the middle of a clan head meeting with a whole stack of paperwork stuffed into her arms. Dropping the documents right in front of the Hokage she looked the man in the eyes before grinning.
"Hey old man, were you ever gonna tell me to come to a clan meeting?" She asks him innocently as he sputters in shock. "I mean, you always tell Kakashi to come to the meetings so you'd think you'd tell me too. Ain't that right Kakashi?"
The man in question did not sigh, though she could guess that he desperately wanted to. "I think you're correct Kazemi." He eye smiles towards the Hokage while placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should've been told."
It was a hard decision, becoming a clan head. On one hand you have paperwork, responsibilities, mandatory meetings (but you can ignore those if your name happens to be Hatake Kakashi), having to get involved in politics and a whole lot of other things Kazemi would hate doing.
On the other hand however she'll get more freedom, tax reduction, political power and most importantly the Uzumaki inheritance.
Both Kazemi and Kakashi spent a good two days revising the village law for this meeting. They had to rush their presentation because they found out that this was one of the very few meetings both Shimura Danzo and Hyuga Hiashi wasn't in which automatically made this the most valuable time for a meeting since that got rid of the ones that would be most against the change.
The clan heads watch in interest, well everyone besides Shikaku who was muttering about this meeting turning out to be even more of a drag then normal.
"Well, Kazemi, you see..." The Hokage starts before trailing off. "The Uzumaki no longer have enough members to be a clan anymore. You need at least two to keep the clan."
"Ah well, that's not quite true old man." Kazemi takes out one of the documents from the stack and hands it to the man.
"According to Konoha village and clan laws there is a clause saying that if a clan had joined Konoha in the first five years of its creation then it was classified as a founding clan. Since the Uzumaki were an alliance clan and founding members it means that even if there was only one member they are still a clan. This law also applies to both the Hatake and Uchiha so it's not anything new." Kakashi states as he takes out the next file of paperwork.
Kazemi watches as Kakashi hands the document to Hiruzen before continuing. "Rule 267 of Konoha-Village relations demand that the Hokage informs the founding clans highest member of emergency meetings. I have not been informed of a single one out of the three hundred and twenty seven emergency meetings since my mothers death. Because of this I demand compensation or I'll take this to the fire daimyo and his court."
For a moment there was silence. And then Inuzuka Tsume burst out cackling. "What did I tell you Lord third! The kids smart enough to figure these things out, she's obviously her father daughter!"
"I concur. Why? Because Kazemi's intellectual prowess has always been clearly exhibited so it was only an amount of time before she figured out her birth right." Shibi murmurs as his bugs buzz their chakra around.
"Oh for Sage's sake just make the girl a clan head already Hiruzen." Koharu snaps at her teammate impatiently. "We've had younger clan heads and it's not as though we're making her manage an entire clan."
The Hokage straightens slightly at his teammates demand. Huh, so he's a wuss for all his former teammates and not just Danzo. Kazemi notes that down for future reference.
"Very well then. After the chunin exams--"
"We all know that if it's not done now it's never happening." Tsume cuts in. "Give the girl a seat and give Hatake the paperwork needed for her to take it."
There was a long suffering sigh as the Hokage rubbed his temple. "Very well, my assistant will get everything ready."
Kazemi winced slightly. His poor assistant looked to be on the verge of quitting, this will surely be the last straw for them.
Kakashi ruffles her hair. "Well, you got what you wanted kiddo. I hope you like joining council meetings that are completely unproductive."
She groans. "Don't remind me."
-----
"Hyuga."
"Uchiha."
There was a moment of silence as the two stared down each other as the air grew thick with killer intent.
"Are they always like this?" A grey haired genin asked TenTen as she nodded.
"Yeah Shin, the Hyuga and Uchiha really don't like each other because they're both doujutsu users and I guess that came out in both Sasuke and Neji." TenTen answers her newest teammates as he nods along.
"Oh sage, not again!" Kiba groaned as the two boys continued their snide remarks. "Well on the bright side at least most of the rookie nine are all here. All we need is Kazemi and the set is complete."
"Yeah, with nearly all of us here we'll be sure to smash this competition." Ino declares as Kiba grins towards her.
"You lot are awfully confident." A voice says as they all turn to look at a man whose hair was awfully similar to Kakashi's.
"I'm sorry but who are you?" Sakura questions as she eyes the man in suspicion.
"I'm Yakushi Kabuto. And you're making yourselves a big target right now." He gestures towards the crowd of genin looking as though they were about to jump them at any given moment.
Both the Konoha nine and Team Gai take a minute to realise that they were openly aggravating everyone there before wincing.
"I'll tell you what, from one Konoha ninja to another some information about the constants here. It's obvious that you guys are new to all this so I want to give you some help." Kabuto says while taking out a pack of ninja cards.
Team seven eyed this Kabuto person dubiously. They weren't the only ones since the rest of the rookie nine and Team Gai were wearing similar expressions.
"There is no way you have that much information on the contestants here." Ino declares while folding her arms. "The exam hasn't even started yet."
Kabuto chuckles lightly. "Try me. Name one of the contestants."
"Gaara." Sasuke immediately asks.
He hums and picks up a card before letting out another chuckle. "For missions he's got eight C-ranks and...oh wow, one B-rank as a Genin. And guess what? He's survived every mission without getting a scratch on him. There's not a lot more information on this guy so that's all I can offer on him."
There was a momentary pause as Kabuto scanned the rest of the card. "His teammates are Temari and Kankuro, who are also his siblings. All three of them are the children of the Fourth Kazekage. Temari is skilled with wind ninjutsu while Kankuro uses Suna's famous puppeteering."
Sakura looks towards Sasuke in concern. "This Gaara guy...he sounds really strong. And he's a Kage's kid, that's gotta mean something."
"Hn. All the more reason to fight him." He responds while waving off her concern.
Shikamaru straightens up slightly while clearing his throat to gain their attention. "If you got all this information then I want to know if you've got anyone else noteworthy in there. It's a drag but can anyone come to your mind who we really shouldn't mess with?"
The white haired man's mouth clicked open before the door burst open. "Sit down maggots! Pipe down and listen up!" A voice bellowed. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your protector and from this moment on...your worst enemy."
At that Shikamaru sighs and sits down. Now he has to deal with some scary proctor. Just when he was about to get some useful information too.
-----
With great pride Kazemi strides through Konoha bank while holding out her official documentation that declares her a clan head so that everyone can see and start quivering in fear and the prospect of her of all people having actual authority.
And really, Kazemi would be a much better clan head then what anyone would expect. That is to say, if she had any clan members in Konoha and her inheritance. At least she'll get the latter now though.
Clicking her tongue Kazemi walks to the front desk before placing the paper in front of the man who looked at her in complete distain.
"I'm not accepting this." He states with a sneer as he reads to bold writing of the document.
She elegantly raises an eyebrow. "You're literally a bank clerk, an everyday civilian, I couldn't care less on whether you accept this or not. Do your job or I'll report you for treason against a clan head."
The elderly man doesn't look moved at all and repeats his words. "I'm not accepting this. I'll definitely not give a monster like you this type of authority."
"Then it's too bad for you that I have already got it." Kazemi takes the paper from his desk and walks to a much younger clerks desk who looks a bit startled but much more cooperative.
"U-um, the Uzumaki inheritance by the authority of clan head Uzumaki Kazemi?" She questions before her eyes move down the paper as her eyes widen. "The Nami--"
"Ah, you can't say that out loud Miss..." Kazemi reads her name tag. "...Sute. That old fart over there stopped reading when he saw the name Uzumaki Kazemi so I'm not too worried about him. Still, it'd be nice if you kept this secret between us."
The woman swallowed audibly as she nodded her head. "I-I'll go ask my superiors about your inheritance." Sute then scampers off, looking like shes seen a ghost.
Kazemi has to wonder, is she really that scary? The answer to that is yes but no one will tell her that.
-----
Placing down his pen Sasuke smirked confidently while staring down the proctor from where he sat. He understood absolutely nothing on that test and was certainly going to fail should he not cheat.
With the way everyone else in the room was not so subtly cheating off of everyone else it seems that there is only one solution. To cheat himself.
Sakura was sitting behind him which was unfortunate because if she were in front he could've seen what she were writing. It seems that he will have to make due with Sai who seemed to know what he was doing.
Activating his Sharingan he takes a deep breath before quickly writing down what Sai was by following his hand movements. Sasuke wasn't about to get caught, that Hyuga would never let him live it down if he remained a genin forever.
One way or another, Sasuke was going to pass this exam.
-----
"No." The bank owner says immediately.
"Yes." Kazemi replies while admiring her freshly painted nails. Red suited her beautifully.
She slams her hands down onto the desk. "Absolutely not." The woman declares. "Rule 503 of the Konoha inheritance law allows the bank to take custody of a property if it has not been claimed by the family after six years."
At that Kazemi bursts out laughing. "Which only applies if the inheritor is of eighteen years of age or is already a chunin. That's also to that my legal guardian has been terribly neglectful since they have not been in Konoha since...well, probably the day of my birth. This should've given me emergency custody of my inheritance or at least another guardian being allowed to step in. From my understanding that person should've beeen Uchiha Mikoto."
"And with what proof?" The old woman sneered towards her in distain. "You have no documents proving your claims."
"Oh but you see Miss Oharu, that's were you're wrong." Kazemi grins as she slides over the inheritance papers the real estate clerk gave her. "According to these papers Uchiha Mikoto was managing the Uzumaki estate until her death. The only reason she was allowed to do that was because of these papers which show that she is indeed my godmother and therefore one of my legal guardians. So there we have it Miss, my proof. Now please give me the rest of my inheritance as the Hokage demands."
At that the woman paused in consideration before huffing out a sigh. "Very well, you can have your inheritance." Her eyes then narrow. "But don't you dare believe this is the end Uzumaki Kazemi. You've made a powerful enemy today."
Kazemi raises an eyebrow towards the other woman. "For what? Asking my for what is rightfully mine? I'm so sorry, let me grovel in your wake Miss Oharu and give you all my money as compensation for having the audacity."
"Get out!" The woman snaps. "I'll get that Sute girl to give you your damn papers so just leave you little brat!"
Getting up from her seat Kazemi smiles at the bank owner. "Thank you for your cooperation Miss, I'm glad that we've come to an agreement." She pauses for a second. "Oh and while we're at it one your clerks were awfully rude to me. If I see them again, working at this wonderful bank, then I might just report you to the Hokage for harbouring someone with ill intent towards a clan head."
"You're pushing it kid." Kazemi doesn't move from where she was standing. "Fine, we'll remove the man, just leave." Oharu finally agrees through gritted teeth.
Feeing satisfied Kazemi slowly leaves while dragging her feet, just to really stick it to the old woman.
-----
Sakura gazed at the proctor, feeling increasingly more nervous as she wondered if she made the right choice.
"So you'd all stay for the tenth question, even with the possibility of never becoming anything more than a genin?"
There was silence as a few more people shuffled to leave. As the door closed behind them Sakura squished the urge to run out with them. She knew she'd pass but what about Sai? Heck, what about Sasuke?
Biting her lip Sakura decided to have more faith in him. Sai wouldn't be assigned into Team seven if he was just anyone and Sasuke was Shinobi of the year in the academy. She has to have more faith in them.
"Right, and for those of you that stayed..." Ibiki scanned his eyes across the room as the silence fuelled the anticipation they were all feeling. "You passed." He declares.
There was silence before whispers took ahold of nearly everyone in the room. Sakura sat back in disbelief as questions zoomed across her mind.
"Information, it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather information can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it. You've all showed that if such a situation should arise that you can handle it."
Ibiki then slowly raised his bandana to reveal a gruesome scars that had some genin blanching in horror.
"Things like this will always occur on missions and even at the risk of torture you must keep information close to your chests. That is why you must consider that your sources may not always be accurate. As shinobi the most valuable thing you can have is not power but information."
As he pulled his bandana back down Sakura took a second to digest his words. She's sure Kakashi-Sensei would say differently, that the most valuable thing to a shinobi would be your teammates. Iruka-Sensei would say it's the village. Her parents would say it's her. Everyone's different in this regard.
"The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could play it safe and chose to skip the question, though it meant that both you and your team mates would be failed. Or you could take the question, knowing that if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chunin. It was a lose-lose situation. But just the sort Chunin have to face everyday. You lot staying just proved the type of Chunin you'd be and those are ones that the village can rely on."
For a moment Sakura wondered if she really fit the criteria for chunin before shaking her head. That's no way to think in the literal chunin exams.
"That being said you all pas--"
There was a loud bang as a canvas fluttered, then unfurled as kunai unerringly pinned the corners to the roof and floor. The banner spelt the name 'Mitarashi Anko' in bright purple glitter that blinded genin with doujutsus, in this case Sasuke and Neji.
"Congratulations brats with passing. I'll be your wonderful and amazing proctor, Mitarashi Anko! Follow me for the second exam and...why the hell are there so many people Ibiki?" The purple haired Kunoichi asked as she scanned the room with disinterest.
The man huffed as he rolled his eyes. "It's a tough lot this year Anko. You can't exactly blame me that we've got a good lot this time around."
"Yeah, or maybe you just lost your touch." Anko then turned back towards them. "Ok brats, Ibiki obviously hasn't done the job right this year but don't worry, I'll make sure that your numbers drop down to what they should be." The woman grins as multiple genin shiver in horror.
Sasuke looked towards her with a look of determination as she nods back towards him. They wouldn't become one of those numbers, they'll make sure of it.
-----
AN: hope you enjoyed.