Disclaimer: Don't own it. Is that enough to qualify as a disclaimer?

Chapter 1

Things were good.

Peace and prosperity were preserved for the longest time in recent history, safety could almost be guaranteed for most of the population.

The ancient Hokage felt an well-deserved sense of accomplishment, most of this stuff were greatly influenced by his doing; brokering alliances, suppressing threats, investing in the right companies, extensive information gathering...

He was ready to start reaping some of his earnings. A little idea in the back of his head which came back to him at it's convenience - a little something he was ready to present to his fellow rulers and pseudo-rulers, the council, his teammates, and even, to his disliking, that old coot Danzo.

He was certain his delightful plans were to be implemented, his experience would help to it.

For the sake of his great village and all it's inhabitants, he would push through.

'Must not fall asleep. Have to pay attention. Must not fall asleep...'

Like a chant, this thoughts were spinning around in young Rock Lee's head. He was up all night practicing last night and only managed to cramp in two or three hours of sleep instead of his regular schedule of solid eight hours. He just barely managed to come into the Academy at time! Just a few seconds saved him from a little rebuke, which he just had to avoid. His abysmal marks allowed for no other inconveniences, be it as minuscule as coming to late.

But this extra practice lesson was definitely worth it.

Last night a bowl-headed green man with cool eyebrows paid him a visit and promised to help him pass the final exams!

Lee was desperate for any help he could get, from any source he could get. His career, and practically his whole life, depended on it.

"Your idea is a bit... unusual."

The only woman in the small room was the first to talk after a rather long and detailed explanation with possible outcomes and hypothetical scenarios by one of the other men in the room.

"Are you mad? This would overthrow the entire established system! When and why did you even come up with this? You are going senile, old man..."

After that rant the bespectacled man didn't manage to return the solemn stare of his teammate.

"You don't seem to be in a good mood, Homura. What's the matter?"

"Nothing." one of the males admitted grudgingly.

After a bit of silence, the most authoritive figure in the room started again. "I don't see a problem but the ones I already listed, and those are unremarkable and not really worthy of notice. The loss would accumulate to a maximum of one untrained, inexperienced team. If this works out, the gain would overreach that by far." He hold his gaze, refusing to let up his pressure.

Homura remained silent.

"Still, it's unusual, you must give us that. The question is still standing: why? It's all working out as it is, isn't it?"

"I see where you are coming from, dear teammate, but all good things come to an end, especially things so fragile as our politics. There are so many threatening things outside and inside our walls, I wouldn't even want to start listing them."

"Do so anyway!" The little moment of distraction was enough for the moody man to regain his bearings.

"Well then, there are always the wayward sannins, one with open hostile intents, the other with intents as murky as the ponds in Earth Country. The other villages will not be always be as easily dominated as they are now, and the Feudal Lords, adjacent to us or even far away, could always be brooding mischief without our knowledge.

For that, I would like to have a few bargaining chips, so to speak, and if this Prototype is to flourish, this method would be just that." His gaze now held, alongside his authority, a certain bit of arrogance. The Hokage continued. "Seriously, what's your problem today? Got up on the wrong side of the bed? I rarely see you so dismantled."

The tiniest bit of rage managed to seethe through his facade, but he managed to catch himself.

"I apologize, I am a bit beside myself."

Sarutobi just nodded, looked over to his other teammate, and again started to talk.

"Do I have your blessings when I present this to the council?" She nodded. "Good, will you also back me up against that ol' bastard?" Another nod.

"Very well, then. We will see each other at the next meeting, then. Could you tell me when it is? My mind isn't the youngest anymore, you know?"

"One month, two days from now. Don't you have an organizer?"

"Oh, I do, but for what do I need to use an organizer when I have the much more lovely alternative, Koharu?"

"Yeah, right.. Now go back to your desk, old man."

This was all so boring for him. Why would he ever need to disguise himself as a rock on a cliff by a waterfall? Why was it important that the edges of his transformation were shaped in certain angles? Why would he ever disguise himself as a rock?

Most of the lessons at the academy were just like these: unlikely situations, overly analyzed and repeated to make sure everybody understood. Still, he put his whole mind to it, at least for the sake of his clan and heritage; the best marks were expected from a Hyuuga, after all. It didn't change the fact that it bored him, nonetheless.

Written exams, pff... Oh, yes, it sure is vital to know at which angle he has to bend when he wants his tree illusion not to stick out when chased, and being graded for it surely required the skill of a chuunin-level teacher.

Sometimes, the proud Neji thought most of the academy were just voids to fill gaps, somehow cramping up time so Ninja were out of school later, for whatever reasons.

It's was not like his life depended on it, at least not in wartime, he read as much. Then the academy is pumping out Genin in two years of sitting through lessons and revisions. Were these skills only vital when not directly threatened, or what?

Man, he sure wished for something exciting to happen, preferably sometimes soon.

It would at least get him out of his numbing routine.

"I can't see any reason why we should allow it."

"And I can't see any reason why we shouldn't! Didn't you listen? If everything–"

"IF! Exactly! There is no evidence why it–"

"And no reason why it shouldn't!"

"We are getting no where with this. Let's list advantages and disadvantages to this proposal and have a poll afterwards, just as always." The man with the pineapple head stated that blandly, as if bored.

After a quick affirmation by the collective, a simple flipchart and a permanent marker were taken before the clan heads.

One rather wild-looking woman immediately started chatting.

"Super strong teams!"

"I'll take that as a pro." The Hokage quickly drew a simple table on the flipchart, heading one column with "pro", the other with con, and listed the Inuzuka head's point.

"Possible loss of manpower, possible loss of investments, possible loss of prestige, possible loss of village secrets, possible loss of-"

"So you mean it's just like sending out a regular ninja team?"

A bit of irritated silence, the white-eyed man retaliated. "Yes, but with a higher risk!"

"Pff," she snorted, "You don't even know that!"

"It's proven that overexposure heightens the risk of being spotted, and with that, the risk of fatality!"

"But not when it's in some kind of remote forest, it's not!" The woman grinned triumphant, the man just glared with his pupil-less eyes and malevolence.

Sarutobi simply wrote down possible loss. "Anything else?"

"Possible gain of.... whatever Hyuuga said., only reserved. Write that to pro." The pineapple man piped in again. The snickering of most of the attendants served to mark their approval.

Sarutobi simply wrote down possible gain. "Anything else?"

The Hyuuga clan head slipped his visage into passivity again, he prided himself with the ability to control his emotions, even when interacting with such pests as those... dog people.

"I concede. I will not stand in the way of your -" he was looking for a non-insulting, yet insulting, word, " progressive plans. When do you plan on applying you ideas?"

"One of this years graduating teams will be chosen."

A raised eyebrow was all the enquirer reacted with. A deliberately chose reaction, to portray his emotions in a way he wanted to.

"Alright then, we'll see what happens. Who is for this idea, raise your hands."

Most raised their hands.

"Who is against it?"

One bandaged hand was risen.

"Would you like to explain why, Danzou?"

"Certainly, Nara-san. For one, our traditional system worked for decades and generations, there is no reason to change that tradition. Disrupting with tradition caused terrible havoc in the past, the most recent example with that demon is enough of evidence for that."

This comment caused nervous shuffling in some and a cold stare by one of the oldest persons in the room.

"The lack of proof for the validity of that method is another thing, but the most important matter is, that this whole idea was devised by Sarutobi, and everything that man says cannot and should not be taken as completely valid."

The cold stare dropped another additional degrees.

"When this whole thing comes crashing down on us all, we all know who is to blame."

"Is that all?"

"That is all."

"Has anything changed in your opinions after his *cough* arguments?"

Despite from nervous shuffling by some, none spoke up.

"Alright, so one of this years graduating teams will be chosen. What's the next topic on today's list?"

The biggest man in the room stood up.

"There have been disturbances in some of our restaurants: ..."

TenTen was a true admirer of art. Her house had quite a few drawings and works of art to decorate the hallways, all noticed but disregarded by most passerbys, but she always loved beholding everything she saw in a picture. She sometimes even spent hours staring at one, sighing for it's beauty.

But then, in most occasions, reality catches up.

Training to be more than perfect in throwing weapons was taxing and required much practice and training, but it was something she was good at. It's not like she liked weapons, or anything, but she was just good at those. She would much rather be an artist-ninja, but that is kinda impossible.

Until the academy elaborated further on seals. The basic ones portrayed were cool enough, she was really fascinated by those, so she dug further into the wide-spread branch of sealing and it's various applications.

If there was a way to mix the thing she was good at and the thing she loved, she would find it.

The months went by and nothing out of the ordinary happened, the days were filled with a lot of training, sparring and revision for the soon-to-be rookies of Konoha. Only a few more weeks and one other year of the academy would come to a close, some of the students becoming genins, most going back to a few revisions, some quitting being ninja altogether in the hopelessness.

Just like it was last year. Just like it will be next year. There will only be one change this year, and to prepare for that, a few people have gathered in the Hokage's office.

"I understand you know of the upcoming situation?"

"Yes, Master Hokage." The two men in front sitting in front of the Hokage spoke in choir.

"Good, who do you reckon to be the best youngsters for it?"

The man with shoulder-long grey hair began to speak. "I am the main teacher of this years rookies, Iruka helped sometimes with sparring. For one, I'm positive Hyuuga Neji is most fitting for a position on the team. He is extraordinarily smart, has more than good chakra control and a decent reserve. He is unbeaten in hand-to-hand combat, has mastered the techniques required to pass the exam to more than admirable way and his bloodline enables him to spy to some extent. Just like expected from a Hyuuga."

"Even more than that, I have to admit. Sometimes, I find myself surprised by Neji, since I not normally handle so advanced students."

"You have the Uchiha, don't you?" Both traded a look.

"Yeah, but that's different. He usually only does one thing, and that is show of his one trick to beat his underclassed opponents. I'm pretty sure he does more, but I can't really work with that."

"What do you mean, you can't work with that? He is the Uchiha!"

"Yeah, yeah, right. But how am I supposed to teach-"

"Gentlemen, you digress. I don't have all the time in the world."

"We apologize, Master Hokage." Discipline showed clearly through.

"I gather you favor Neji. The other two?"

"Rock Lee." Iruka stated blandly.

"What?! That no talent prick? He is good for nothing!"

"Haven't you seen his progess, lately? He is determined, you must give him that. When motivated by someone like Neji, he will push himself to achieve great things."

"Do you even hear what you're saying? He is a failure, he won't even manage to pass the exams properly!"

"That maybe, but he will exceed in other areas, mostly Taijutsu and most written tests. He is really putting effort into it."

"Alright." The authorative voice silenced any objections Mizuki might have. "The last one?"

"I'm not very sure about that, Master Hokage." Mizuki started again, clearly irritated by his colleague. "The only one left who is outstanding is that TenTen-girl. She can hit targets underhanded, twenty meters away, without even looking, with a unbalanced training kunai.." The Hokage raised his eyebrow. "Well, at least sometimes. Of course, she has seen the target beforehand. And she didn't always hit perfectly... sometimes not at all, but still. Recently, she also took up a keen interest in seals and sealing, it was a bit bewildering, to be honest. I couldn't really help her with that, I am no sealmaster."

The old man looked to the co-teacher.

"Neither am I, sir."

The look persisted.

"Oh, yes, TenTen is outstanding. I recommend her too!" He pressed out a bit sheepishly-

"Well then. I will check further into these suggestions. I already have a teacher in mind for this. What are your thoughts on The Green Beast, Maito Guy?"

Mizuki coughed, he didn't manage to drink his water properly. "THAT GUY? He is retarded."

"Well, I don't know him that well." Iruka threw in defensively, immediately clearing off of that statement.

"I will not have you talking like that about our jounin like that, chuunin."

"I- I apologize, Master Hokage, I spoke wrongly."

"Guy will be notified, you will pay an acceptable fine, you will not repeat that mistake in my company again."

"Yes, Master Hokage. I apologize. I will do as you ask"

"Good, what are your thoughts, Iruka?" Mizuki was still a bit downtrodden and analyzed his shoe laces deeply.

"Guy sure is determined and willing to teach. He is more than capable to defend his students. But, with all due respect, he is a bit... weird."

"That is of no matter. Do you concede?"

"Yes, Master Hokage. Guy might be a good choice."

The old man with the hat nodded. "Mizuki, this will have consequences. You are dismissed."

Both got up and went out the room.

The exams came closer rapidly and passed just as fast. Nothing really exciting happened, everything was predicted correctly by the higher-ups.

The teams were chosen, but one was destined to be special.

AN: That's it for the first chapter and my clumsy attempts at writing. What do you think? Hit that "Review"-button until either of you becomes sore.

Some dialogue parts and the entire TenTen-scene feel a bit clunky, I think.

See you next time