Manifest Destiny (Naruto Fanfiction)

One would have expected an exam to take place early in the morning, but in the Hidden Sand, the most grueling time of the day was at noon, and that made it the perfect time to test the endurance and perseverance of aspiring ninja. This was a double-edged sword really: the desert at noon sucked, with that damned sun beating down. But on the other hand, Ash was not a morning person, and was glad to take the exam at noon rather than six or seven in the morning. Though honestly, he wouldn't have been all that bothered either way.

Ash couldn't remember a time he had felt this downright content before. The joy from his conversation with Temari the night before had readily carried over to the next day, filling him to the brim with a satisfaction he had never truly known before. Even in the years he had spent with his adopted siblings prior to now, he had never felt this content with life as a whole. Even when he was happy during those times, the bitterness had lurked in the shadows, hindering the joy he should have experienced every day.

With those asinine thoughts now purged from his mind forever, Ash had never felt so at peace with everything. He didn't even mind that today was the day he practically surrendered his existence to the Kazekage, though he was sure that distaste would come back later, when the high from Temari's admittance to him wore off a bit.

This likely temporary immunity to displeasure, irritation, or any kind of negative emotion at all even had Ash at the door to his home, armed and ready before either of his siblings. Not that he was looking forward to the life of a shionbi in and of itself, but he was blatantly ignoring everything he hated about the idea and focusing on the positives; being a ninja alongside his siblings meant he'd always be with them, would always be around to help protect them, and would get to experience all sorts of adventures with them.

Thinking of it like that, maybe the life of servitude and irrelevance wasn't as bad as he constantly told himself it would be.

Regardless of his stance on the matter, skewed as it may be due to his currently invincible good mood, both of Ash's siblings were surprised to find the blonde ready and waiting to go before they were. It was definitely a rarity when it came to anything ninja-related other than fighting.

Kankuro drew it up to Ash just wanting to get the test over with, but Temari found even that idea to be strange. Even knowing why he would be in a good mood, she didn't think it would affect his outlook on the Genin exam. He made it obvious how he felt about being a shinobi at least once a week, after all.

"It's, uh... unusual to see you this excited, Ash. Especially about something like this."

The boy hefted the pack of ninja supplies Temari had packed for him last night, trying to tone down his blatant enthusiasm. He was actually kind of embarrassed to be this giddy in general.

"I-it's nothing like that, Sis. But this is gonna happen no matter what right? Might as well roll with it."

Temari smiled as she saw through the flimsy excuse, but decided against teasing her fellow blonde over it. Besides, she was admittedly quite happy herself to see the effects of her words on him. She had never known that he had felt the way he did about Gaara and his place in her family. And while the admittance of choosing him over her lost blood brother still stung and likely always would, Temari was still glad she had brought what was likely a permanent satisfaction to Ash's life on this matter.

As for Kankuro, he was completely lost. He had no idea what had spurred this sudden change in demeanor from his little brother. It seemed so out of place that the possibility of a doppelganger actually seemed likely. Still, he was sharp enough to see that both of his siblings were in on whatever had sparked this shift, and the fact that they were both happy was enough to placate the budding puppeteer entirely.

"Ash, eager to become a ninja... never thought I'd see the day."

While staving off a frown entirely, Ash's mood obviously soured just slightly. "Don't get the wrong idea, Kankuro. I'm still not happy with the idea and I'm not looking forward to most of what it'll include. But, you two are determined to be ninja, and there's no way I'm going to be left out. I can find a solution for all the downsides later."

Kankuro shifted the strap of his backpack, eyeing the younger boy curiously. "What does that even mean? The things you hate about being a ninja pretty much define being a ninja."

"My point exactly."

Not eager to get into this for numerous reasons, Temari decided now was a good time to interject. "OK, Kankuro, let's not question good fortune. Ask too many questions and he'll turn into a downer again."

"I'm not a downer, I'm a man who values freedom."

His sister scoffed at the term 'man,' but let it slide in favor of ushering her brothers out the door and towards the first real step of their career as ninja, regardless of how much they were looking forward to it individually.

---

The spot where the exam was going to take place ended up being a good ten miles from the village's natural walls. That was because, unlike the Academy graduation exams in some other villages, there was an actual test to take that required space. Even a village that was low on ninja was going to make sure to test them properly, even if they were almost guaranteed to pass regardless of their performance. It was the principle of the thing really.

So, surrounded by nothing but scorching sand, twelve children, the Kazekage's kids included, stood in a rough circle around a female Chunin with dark red hair that drifted just over her the edge of her headband. Her bored, brown eyes made her look like she would rather be anywhere but in the middle of a desert administering a test that was, for all intents and purposes, pointless. Ash couldn't blame her for that one.

"All right you squirts: you all know why you're here, so I'm not going to explain that. It's almost impossible to screw this test up, but I wouldn't put it past some of you to do just that. Remember that if you turn out to be a hopeless case then it's very likely that you won't graduate. Any questions so far?"

One of the Academy students with dull brown-hair and equally dull eyes jabbed a finger at Ash and his siblings. "What are those three doing here, Izumi-Sensei? They aren't even part of our class! How could they be ready to graduate at all?! That dumb looking blonde kid's barely old enough to even start classes in the first place!"

Even had Ash been in a typical mood rather than his uplifted one, he still probably wouldn't have taken offense to such a plebeian insult. Still, something about it, and the person saying it, struck a distant chord of memory. Before he could extrapolate on the vague nostalgia, the proctor retorted in Ash's place.

"First of all, these three are Lord Kazekage's children, so I'd show them some respect if I were you. Secondly, they're here to take this test because they're good enough to do it, age and class participation notwithstanding. I'm willing to bet a year's salary they could throttle you with little trouble, so it might not be a good idea to tick them off. Still, if you want to pick a fight, at least have the damn courtesy to wait until the test starts."

The boy in question crossed his arms and shut his mouth, though he glared at Ash regardless. Said target of the glare couldn't shake the feeling that the guy seemed kind of familiar, but if he was, Ash didn't remember him at all.

Seeing that the fight had been settled before it had even started, Izumi went on to describe how things would take place. "Unlike what some of you may have been thinking, this test isn't going to be as simple as showing halfway decent aptitude for a basic technique. This is going to be a full-on team competition, in a game I'm sure a lot of you have played before: capture the flag."

Many of the present children shifted at the mention of the full team based competition, mostly because those from the Academy didn't have much experience in the matter. In this regard Ash and his siblings had a distinct advantage.

"Now, a lot of you are probably wondering how a game like that could possibly serve as a test for becoming a ninja. Well, if you think about it, this is more or less a simulation of an objective retrieval mission, as well as a point defense mission. And since there are four teams of three, and you must defend your own flag as well as steal the flags of the enemy, you will all be forced to deal with the Sand's very real problem of low manpower. Any of you with half a brain are probably aware that our village has a major shortage of shinobi personnel. Therefore, most of the missions you squirts run in the future will usually involve you being outnumbered or otherwise not having the proper number of shinobi for the job. So this test, with a three against nine free for all in which you must attack and defend, is designed to get you accustomed to performing well even with a numbers disadvantage. Questions?"

There wasn't a word from any of the students, so Izumi moved on to describing the test itself. "Each team of three will receive an object that is their flag. You may plant this flag anywhere within a five mile radius of this point, but once you plant it, it stays. That's the location you'll have to defend, so choose wisely. The objective is to acquire the flags of all opposing teams and return them to your own base, while also protecting your own. It's up to you to decide how to split up your team for both attack and defense. You may use all skills, tools, and tricks you know during the test so long as you don't kill or critically injure one of your opponents. Like I said, this village needs every shinobi it can get its hands on, so keep the injuries down to things that will heal. Finally, be aware that you can and probably will graduate even if you lose. So long as you aren't literally a downright hopeless, pointless case, where a civilian could probably beat you up, you'll likely pass. Watch out for heat exhaustion, poisonous scorpions, and try not to break your neck slipping on a sand dune or something. So, is everybody good?"

There was a collective nod from the twelve test-takers, and Izumi passed each group of three a scroll. "The object that will be your flag is sealed inside these scrolls, and will unseal itself when you open the scroll. When the scroll opens, your team will also be temporarily marked with a seal, which will allow me to know if you try to cheat by moving your own flag after deployment. The purpose of this exam is to defend a stationary objective, so that's that. Finally, you can begin attacking the other teams the moment your flag has been placed, and the test will last two hours, starting right now. Get to it!"

Scrolls in hand, three of the four teams immediately moved off to find a suitable location to plant their flags. However, Ash and his siblings stayed exactly where they were, prompting a confused glance from Izumi.

"Hey, didn't you three hear me? The test is starting, what are you standing around for?"

Ash hefted his team's scroll in his hand. "Are we not allowed to set up here? The center of the circle is an option, right?"

Izumi cocked an eyebrow at the trio. "Well it's not against the rules or anything, but why would you want to set up right smack in the middle of the circle? If the enemy deploys all around you, you'll be surrounded."

Temari took the scroll from Ash and unrolled it, unsealing a rather large clay figure that would likely take any of the test-takers two hands to carry. Theirs was shaped like a lizard. "We know this place pretty well. There's an oasis to the east where one of the teams will probably set up because there's water and shade. There's also a sandstone formation within a mile of that oasis that another one of the teams will set up at because it's easy to defend. Finally, there's a small cave past both of those points that the last -and smartest- team will probably set up in."

Kankuro grabbed a white sheet (not a common tool for most shinobi but very useful for Sand ninja) out of his bag and placed it over the team's flag. "So while the two teams that are basically right next to each other fight it out, we can sneak in from the side and flank them, or go around and deal with the other guys while they're distracted and then come back for them."

Finishing up the simple disguise, Ash began to spread sand over the sheet and the flag. It would look a little irregular, but the end product would be a sandy dune difficult to distinguish from the surroundings. "Besides, the open desert is the most difficult place to locate things, especially if they're well hidden. Even if the other teams thought to check the center of the field, they probably won't even remember where the center is since it looks just like everything else out here. Not to mention that they would never be able to tell that this dune we just created wasn't real unless they were right on top of it. We could almost leave it completely undefended like this, and not worry about its safety. Even if there's no guarantee the other teams will set up where we think they will, this is a much safer location than most of our other options."

Izumi was honestly a little impressed with the strategy being displayed here. It was all simple logic really, but inexperienced ninja often failed to employ something like that as frequently as they should. Then again, all three of these kids were younger than the average graduating age, so they obviously had to be more advanced than their Academy counterparts in one way or another.

"Well for your sake, I hope whoever is defending brought enough water to hold down the fort out here. But you kids seem to know what you're doing, so I'll leave you to it."

With that, Izumi flickered off of the field, leaving the Kazekage's kids alone to their test. The moment she was gone, Kankuro whipped out another white sheet for himself. "So I'm assuming that you guys want me to stay here and defend the flag, right?"

Temari nodded, glad he didn't need to be informed of the obvious decision. "Your puppet would allow you to hide while safely engaging anyone who gets too close. If anyone is going to stay on defense, it should be you. Ash and I will try to get the flags from the other teams."

Kankuro nodded reluctantly and wrapped the white sheet he had around his body, covering as much of his black outfit as he could. "Man, I'm glad that you brought this thing, Temari. I'd hate to think about sitting in the sand for too long decked out in black."

For obvious reasons, the older girl frowned. "Well when are you going to realize that black is literally the worst color for the desert? It absorbs a ton of heat and sticks out no matter where you are!"

The puppeteer scowled as he searched for a good spot to bury himself among the sand. "Yeah, yeah... I guess you have a point... but white is just so lame..."

"Well pick the lesser of two evils and stop complaining about it."

With nothing but grumbling to offer to her in response, Temari turned away from Kankuro and towards her youngest brother, who was waiting patiently for her. "Are you ready, Ash?"

The young boy adjusted one of straps from his pack, the fabric already guaranteeing more sweat along his shoulders. "As ready as I'll ever be. We're going to check out the oasis first though, right?"

"Right. It'd be stupid to just assume that the enemy planted their flag there, so we should scout out the places we thought of before actually forming a strategy. Winning this will be much harder if the other teams moved around though..."

"Then we'd better get moving. I know that the oasis is at least a mile from here, and we don't have all the time in the world."

"Unfortunately. Let's go then."

---

Because they had deployed their flag so quickly, Ash and Temari reached the oasis in question before the team that had indeed set up there was even ready to defend against an assault. The three twelve year-old kids, one girl and two guys, were huddled around their flag, which was a clay statue of a scorpion, likely discussing their strategy.

Ash lay flat on his belly alongside Temari, the two of them prone in the sand as they viewed the oasis from a distance. They took extra care to keep any of their bare skin off of the hot grains beneath them.

"So, Sis, do you think we should just take them now? I know the plan was to let them fight it out with one of the other teams, but... they're wide open. We could probably knock them out and take the flag in under a minute."

Temari raised a hand to shield her teal eyes from the sun. "Well it does look that way, but they could be faking it. They might be trying to make themselves look vulnerable just to draw someone out."

"Do you really think they're that smart? They look completely focused on talking. They could have at least sat back to back while they talked to keep an eye out. They're just amateurs, that's all. We should just knock them out now."

His sister seemed a little put off by the eagerness for battle. "I know you've got a knack for fighting and all, but you sure are ready to go at it today."

Ash did his best to sound neutral about it, not wanting to come off as too excited. "Technically these guys are the first people besides Baki I'll ever go up against that are along the lines of being ninja. I'm just curious is all."

"I'll take your word for it..."

Finished with their tangent, the two siblings turned their attention back to the situation at hand. The oasis team still wasn't done discussing whatever they were talking about. This was either because they were unable to agree on a course of action, or because they were waiting for someone to attack them. Ash couldn't be sure either way, but he doubted it was the latter.

"Why don't I just throw some fire at them to scare them off?"

Having been present during Ash's many failures in regards to getting said flames to be potent, Temari eyed him curiously. "I thought you were having trouble with that?"

Ash refrained from mentioning that Temari was the only reason he had managed to get his ability under control. Mostly because he hadn't tested them out since last night, so he didn't actually know if the emotional stability he had reached would actually improve their potency at all. For all he knew the reason his flames were so weak was something else entirely and they still wouldn't work.

And yet, he was completely confident at the moment. Despite his lack of concrete knowledge in regards to how his own ability worked, he was certain that his newfound emotional stability was the key to using it properly.

"I... sorted it out this past week. I could do it."

Temari turned the idea over in her mind once or twice. What Ash was suggesting was against the original plan, but it would also take advantage of an obvious opportunity. The enemy was unaware and unprepared, and taking them and their flag by surprise would be easy. "Alright, Ash, if you think you can do it, I believe you. Just try not to, y'know, actually set anyone on fire or anything."

Feeling far more spirited than usual, Ash rose to his feet. "Alright, Sis. I'll distract them and you go steal the flag. It'll be no problem."

His sister nodded to him before sidling off to the far right, preparing herself to rush in and snatch the prize once Ash began his diversion. She was counting on him to do his part, even though Ash had been experiencing several problems with his flames over the past two weeks. Strangely, that fact didn't cause Ash to feel nervous. In fact, knowing that his sister was trusting him so readily was uplifting.

Still, even though Ash had no doubt in his ability to produce only his positively correlated green flames now, he didn't know how strong they would be. He was a fair distance from the oasis: would his attacks even reach that far? Could he try and do it spontaneously, instead of launching the flames from his own limbs? He had only ever done that on accident, and didn't know if there was some way to do it intentionally with any real potency. Well, at any rate, the best thing to do right now was stick to what he actually thought would work.

Ash gathered that feeling of warmth in his core, preparing to draw it out through his arm and hands once enough of it had been mustered. There was a palm tree that was pretty close to the three kids huddled around their flag that would probably make for a good target. The Kazekage's adopted child noted with satisfaction that the physical sensation was completely warm, with no trace of the chill he had often experienced during his past attempts.

Ready to see the fruits of Temari's assurance to him last night, Ash launched a condensed fireball at his target, though it didn't keep its form for long. The sphere of gorgeous green flame lost its flawless form as it traveled, until it hit the targeted tree in a random smattering of tendrils. While this was a little disappointing in itself, Ash figured that this loss of form was because he was inexperienced with projecting this power with complete control. Besides, while the attack didn't hit with the same force it would have had it kept its shape, there was still a loud bang and a small explosion of bark and sand, which was more than enough to startle the enemy team.

Keeping up the assault, Ash launched more blasts of fire in the general direction of the enemy, though he made sure to aim far enough to the left or right to avoid actually hitting anyone. Like his first attack, each ball of flame dissipated into an indistinguishable blob before it made contact, but they caused the enemy to scatter regardless. The three members of the opposing team completely abandoned their flag as they ducked behind anything that could shield them from the purposely misguided green flames that were landing all around them in small explosions of scorched earth and wood.

None of them even thought to peek out from behind their cover to watch their flag, each of them too concerned with their own safety to care about the exam. This allowed Temari to move into the oasis completely unopposed. Ash made doubly sure to give his sister a wide berth as he attacked, watching with amusement as she leisurely waltzed towards the enemy flag and scooped it up in her arms. It was obviously heavy enough to require both limbs, but Temari managed to dash back to Ash's position easily enough, and before the enemy team even dared to stick their heads out to assess the situation, the two siblings had disappeared over a sand dune, effectively hiding them from sight.

The very first thing Temari after reaching relative concealment was to smile widely at her brother. "That was amazing, I had no idea you'd gotten so good with them already! And they were so pretty!"

Ash's more boyish side wasn't altogether pleased with his pyromancy being labeled as 'pretty', but he was able to ignore that entirely since it had brought such a pleased smile to his sister's face. Besides, the emerald tendrils of light were enrapturing, in their own way. Though he had to admit, even though he hadn't used that much, he could already feel a noticeable drain on his stamina. Well, aside from the fact that he was young and therefore had less chakra reserve than adults, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised that throwing chakra around in large waves was taxing. Hopefully, and efficiency issue like that was one that he could solve with further practice in time.

At any rate, he did have to respond to his sister. "W-well, I was kinda just flinging it at them randomly Sis..."

"It was still impressive, give yourself some credit. Still, before you let that go to your head, we should probably get this thing back to Kankuro."

Eyeing the clay scorpion and wondering why it had to be so heavy, Ash buried his joy at successfully controlling his latent flames and returned his focus to the exam. He'd have time to congratulate himself for the success later.

"Fair enough. We still have to get two more, after all."

"Well, we don't have to."

The smaller blonde eyed his sister with a smirk. "But we're going to aren't we?"

"Oh yeah, we're gonna crush these guys entirely. No mercy."

With a smile, Ash started to lead the way back to their only missing sibling. He almost forgot about this competitive side of Temari sometimes.

---

The difficulty of finding their own base on the return trip was a testament to how well the siblings had chosen their flag location. Ash and Temari had managed to get back to the general area, but it took Kankuro's avian puppet to lead them back to the exact spot their flag was planted.

When the mechanical crow alighted on a dune that was just a little too pointy to be natural, Kankuro rose out of another nearby pile, looking like some kind of desert monster from hell, with streams of sand flowing off of his outstretched arm. "Looks like you guys got one, huh?"

Ash lifted the sand covered sheet that hid his team's own flag as Temari slid the captured one in next to it. "Yep. Though I kind of wish we had gone for two."

Temari flattened out the sheet as much as she could and piled some more sand back onto it, once again concealing their prizes. "If we had gone for two, we both would have had to carry one, and that would have left us wide open to pursuers. It's safer to just go for one at a time."

Kankuro threw back his hood and wiped a substantial amount of sweat from his brow. "Yeah, but things would go a lot faster if you guys went for two. Do you have any idea how hot it gets just sitting under a pile of sand for nearly an hour? Can't one of you switch with me or something?"

The resident girl of the trio folded her arms and gave the puppeteer a look of both disdain and disbelief. "There is absolutely no way I'm doing that."

Kankuro shook his head as he turned to Ash instead. "Looks like you got volunteered, pal."

The diminutive blonde didn't even have time to shoot the idea down himself before Temari did it for him. "No way, you think I can condone that? Don't be ridiculous."

"Why not?! Why can I be buried but he can't?!"

Temari smirked and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck. "Because, this brother deserves better than that. He's too cute to bury alive in a sand dune."

Kankuro simply scowled and threw his hood back on, before reluctantly sinking back down into the sand. He knew there was no point in resisting. Besides, he really was the best choice for this. "Fine, fine, just hurry it up, would you? This is literal torture."

With a good-natured smile regarding her other brother's suffering, Temari led Ash back into the desert and towards where they believed the other teams were stationed. If things continued in the current fashion, Kankuro wouldn't have to stay where he was for much longer.

---

By the time they returned to the oasis where the previous skirmish took place, the opposing team that Ash and Temari had bested was gone. Whether they were attempting to track down their own flag or conspiring to steal another was unknown, but considering how difficult it had been for Ash and Temari to locate their own base, it was unlikely that they had to worry about their prize being recaptured.

Ash had half a mind to suggest a break in the now unoccupied oasis, but he knew that there was no time to take it easy. There was just under an hour left in the test, and if they utilized that time properly, he and Temari could capture both remaining enemy flags and return them to their base before the test was over. Still, whether or not there was enough time for that depended on whether or not the remaining teams were stationed where Ash and his sister thought they were. There wouldn't be enough time to track down both enemy teams, fight them, and steal their flags if they had set up in less conspicuous places.

With that in mind, the two siblings left the oasis behind without so much as a second glance at its appealing water and shade. Instead, they both headed for the sandstone formation they knew was nearby. An easily defensible position like that was almost guaranteed to be occupied, especially by amateurs who didn't know that stealth and unpredictability was oftentimes better than any physical fortification.

This suspicion was confirmed when the sound of fighting and yelling reached the ears of the two young children as they neared the place, which was comprised of a number of sandstone slabs half buried in sand. Obviously, two or maybe even three teams were fighting over the flag that was no doubt stationed here.

Ash and Temari moved behind one of the small red protrusions that marked a buried slab of sandstone, at which point the duo's male commented on the noise. "Sounds more like street fighting than a battle between ninja."

Temari peeked over the edge of their hiding place to witness a handful of Academy students engaged in a close quarters scuffle. She described it that way because it was hardly even legitimate fighting between most of them, though she did recognize that boy that had picked on Ash earlier wielding a kunai with some semblance of proficiency.

In truth, maybe the skills being displayed were normal for kids just about to graduate. It was just Baki's high expectations and harsh teaching methods that made average skills seem dismally pathetic in the eyes of his students.

"So, Sis, can you see the flag? Is it in the open?"

Temari scanned the 'battleground' for the objective, but couldn't see it among the struggling bodies of the enemy. "Nope. But it's got to be around here somewhere, or they wouldn't be fighting like this."

"It might be behind one of the other rocks. But someone will probably be guarding it."

"I think we can handle them together no problem."

Ash nodded his agreement, and the two of them crept around the outskirts of the battle area to avoid being spotted. They checked behind every piece of sandstone they could find, until they found not only their goal, but a pleasant surprise to go with it. As Ash and Temari rounded a rather large protrusion of red stone, they spotted not one flag, but two. Two clay statues of both a vulture and an ant. Apparently, one of the teams fighting here had lost their flag to the other, and now, with four of the combatants a little further out in the field, only one member from each of those two opposing teams was fighting over the flags themselves.

One girl with short brown hair and gray eyes was trying to defend her team's captures from a bland looking boy with longer black hair and glasses. It was rather one-sided though, as the girl was deflecting anything that came her way with small gusts of wind. Ash thought the display of wind-nature was actually rather sad, but then again, he witnessed his sister's prowess with the element all the time, so it really wasn't a fair contest.

The wind-style girl used one of her gusts to spray sand into her opponent's eyes, which his glasses were not completely capable of blocking. Stunned by the underhanded move, the boy could do nothing as his foe took advantage of his temporary blindness and planted a solid kick in his gut. The poor sod reeled backwards and landed flat in the sand, either too pained or too dispirited to get up again.

Being the victor, the brown-haired girl threw a fist into the air and congratulated herself, feeling like she was on top of the world, right up until she heard the sound of more potential opponents behind her. The brunette turned to face these new foes with a cocky grin on her face, but it quickly disappeared when she realized that it was two on one, and that her enemies were probably not as weak as the boy she had just bested.

Still, she was going to try, so she blasted a modest gust of wind at the younger children across from her, only for Temari to negate the attack with wind of her own with almost no trouble at all. At that point, the girl just raised her arms in surrender. "Crap, just take them. If it's that easy for you to stop my attacks I might as well not even try."

Temari frowned at her opponent, a bit disappointed in her lack of will to fight, even though it made her job easier. Kunoichi were often looked down on as being weaker or less capable of fighting, so when one of them gave up so easily, it only fueled the stereotype that she obviously detested. Still, she wasn't going to argue when it was an advantage for her and her own team. Besides, the girl was right: if all she had was wind of this low caliber in her arsenal, then fighting against Temari was really just a huge waste of time.

That being the case, the girl from the opposing team didn't try to stop the Sand siblings at all when they each scooped up one of the flags that was there and began to move off. Ash even patted her on the back before leaving. "You did the right thing. Surrender is preferable to humiliation, right?"

The girl scowled at the young boy's retreating form. He was probably being completely honest, and she had indeed surrendered, but there was no need to actually say it...

Leaving the small skirmish behind, even Temari couldn't resist a huge smile at how easy that had all been. Two flags without any fight at all? That was almost too good to be true. All they had to do now was head back to Kankuro and their own base and hold down the fort until the end of the test: and that was if any of the other teams even managed to find out where they were.

---

With all of the opposing teams either distracted or otherwise engaged, Ash and Temari made it back to Kankuro and their own flag without any incident whatsoever. In fact, by the time they laid their new captures alongside the other flags and hid them under the sand once again, there was only ten minutes left in the test. At this point, it was almost guaranteed that the trio of siblings was going to win.

Kankuro obviously believed this as well, because he didn't even bother to hide himself in the sand anymore, probably because the heat was driving him nuts. To his credit though, the puppeteer had been submerged in sand for nearly two hours, baking under the intense heat. For that reason, the boy had consumed all of his own water quite readily, and both Ash and Temari had to give him their spares to re-hydrate him. Neither of them really had a problem with this, since every Sand shinobi knew the dangers of dehydration quite well. The last thing they wanted was for Kankuro to have a stroke or something.

Having gulped all of the extra water down as well, Kankuro finally sat down in the sand, more than ready for the test to be over so he could go home and shower. "Man, I think that if we captured all of the other flags, they should just end the test right there. I'm so done with all of this."

Temari, being in possession of the fans that she was, used both of them to try and mitigate the severe heat of the afternoon desert as she sat across from her oldest brother. "Yeah, but I'm kind of disappointed really. I mean, we barely had a chance to show our skills. Everyone either ran off or just gave up when they saw us. Only Ash had a chance to do anything, and even then it was just shooting fire at some trees."

Kankuro shrugged as he hoisted his by now sandy white sheet over his head to help shield him from the brutal sun. "Yeah, well, you know how the normal kids feel about us, Temari. We're already the Kazekage's kids, and on top of that there's being related to Gaara..."

The mention of her absent blood-brother caused Temari to scowl. She hadn't expected the lost redhead to come up again this soon after she had admitted her preference for her current baby brother. She was still pained by the admittance both to him and herself, and being reminded that the entire village had despised Gaara when he was still around didn't do anything to make her feel less awful about emotionally rejecting him herself.

"They all conveniently forget that they were the ones who shunned him all the time. He was probably a nice kid at some point."

Ash said nothing on the matter, having never seen Gaara at all back when he was still a loner on the streets. On top of that, even though he had once disliked talking about him or hearing his siblings do the same, he was now bothered more by the fact that Temari probably didn't want to talk about him much anymore. Not after what she had admitted the previous night.

Even at his age, Ash was able to identify how objectively terrible it was for Temari to say such a thing. To say that, if she could turn back time and choose what happened that night, she would still have Gaara betrayed by his own and fleeing into the desert for a life of pain and loneliness. All so she could relive the time she had experienced with the adopted brother that had come into her life soon after.

And yet, the alternative was equally awful. If she had gone the other way and said that she would have preferred for Gaara to have been able to lead a happy life with her in the village, she'd have been condemning Ash to a painful and likely brief existence as a pathetic urchin with no family whatsoever.

In that light, there was no right answer; while the subject at hand was love, either choice was still abhorrent in its own way. It was a decision such as this that proved love to be twisted just as much as it was pure. Was there no limit to the pain one would wish on others if it was for the sake of their own love?

Ash may have delved deeper into such a convoluted idea, if only his thoughts weren't interrupted by the sound of soles crunching grains of sand under their weight. It was obvious what the source of said disturbance was.

"Someone's coming."

Thanks to his warning, both Temari and Kankuro managed to ready their weapons as three forms leaped over a small hill of sand: probably whichever team had emerged victorious from the skirmish earlier. Not surprisingly, it was that boy who seemed to have an issue with Ash in particular, as well as the girl with the modest wind-style skills and another boy who had his face completely wrapped in cloth. Contrary to what they should have done, this trio did not attack immediately. Instead, the annoying boy who was probably the leader jabbed a finger at Ash and his siblings to begin some completely unnecessary tirade.

"What, did you three really think you could just wait out the rest of the test like this with all four flags? You trying to make us look like idiots or something?!"

Ash leisurely got to his feet and dusted off some sand. He wasn't sure why this kid was so loudly angry all the time, but it honestly just struck the blonde as pathetic. "I'd say you're doing a fine job of that by yourself. You don't need our help."

Naturally, Ash's cavalier degradation didn't improve the brunette's mood. "You little sun-haired twerp! Do you have any idea who you're messing with!?"

Ash scratched the back of his head in thought, completely unperturbed by the boy's attitude and outright amused by his terrible attempt at an insult. "Actually, now that I think about it, I think I do. Aren't you that moron from a few years ago, with the inferiority complex about blondes? Wow, I seriously thought you were going to grow out of that."

The boy grit his teeth even further, cementing the notion that he was indeed the person Ash was thinking of. Honestly that made that incident over the stupid ball two years ago even more hilarious, because it meant he had been an Academy student even then, yet had still been frightened off by Temari's mere presence.

The wind-style girl next to this guy took a step forward. "Forget it, Shinji. Let's just fight them already. We can probably take them together."

"Yeah... yeah, we can take these freaks! You pampered snobs are no match for real ninja like us!"

Ash buried at least three scathing comebacks he could have made, because honestly it wasn't worth the breath. At the very least though, he was kind of looking forward to stomping this simpleton. He definitely wasn't holding the same petty grudge this kid was, but his attitude somehow made his face very grating. It was practically begging to be punched.

"Time's up, squirts! The exam is over!"

The six children in question all raised their gazes to the sudden entrance of the proctor, Izumi. She had chosen to stand atop the fake hill Ash and his siblings had created, where all four flags were hidden.

"Sorry, but that's time. Your chance to duke it out has passed. Good news is, you all passed, though for vastly different reasons..."

Shinji jabbed a finger at Ash again, an action he seemed to greatly favor for some reason. "How could they graduate?! They hardly did anything during this whole test! I didn't even see them out there in the field!"

Izumi sighed, wondering, not for the first time, if it was a good idea to pass nearly everyone every year. "That's precisely why they pass, Shinji. They acquired all three objectives effortlessly, only being spotted by one person, but then avoiding a fight besides. Accomplishing a mission without being seen and without ever putting yourself in danger is the whole purpose of a ninja. Besides, as far as tactics go, they crushed all of the other teams. Even though the majority of their plans were simple, they were effective, and employed flawlessly. The only reason you even found their base was because one of you managed to see them escape from the sandstone area. If it wasn't for that it would have taken you hours to find them."

Shinji clenched his fists in anger. "But they didn't do any fighting at all! How can you know if they're any good as ninja if they didn't even fight?!"

"Fighting is not the most important part of being a ninja, Shinji, especially here in the Hidden Sand where we like to avoid losing any of our shinobi if at all possible. What we value the most out here in the desert is tenacity, and these three displayed that more than any of the other teams. Besides, why are you complaining? You and your team still graduate. Your field skills were good enough to pass you."

Having nothing to say in return, Shinji fell silent, opting to glare to at those who had bested him. He seemed to do that a lot too.

Izumi continued on, ignoring the strange and seemingly unwarranted tension. "Alright, I have to go find out where the other two teams are and tell them that this gig is over. You all head back to the village, and drink some water while you're at it! It's hot as hell out here..."

Temari made sure to speak up before the Chunin proctor flickered away. "Hold on, what about our headbands?"

"Honestly, I don't know about you three. But I'm guessing whoever is in charge for you will present them."

With that, the woman flickered away, and Ash turned his back on everything that had transpired here. He was eager to get home and take a nap or something, since just existing in the desert was exhausting in and of itself. For a moment, he thought that Shinji was going to say something to him: but in the end, the boy wised up and kept his mouth shut, saying nothing at all as the Sand siblings left the field victorious, if only through cunning and wit.

---

As Izumi had predicted, the three children of the Kazekage received their headbands from Baki upon returning home. Naturally, this elicited different reactions from all of the children when it transpired. Temari had, naturally, been ecstatic, squeezing both Ash and Kankuro hard enough to hurt their spines. Kankuro had been a little too proud of himself for passing such an easy test, but Ash had to admit that he had probably had the hardest job out there, so he deserved a little praise.

As for Ash, he had been devoid of any real joy, having retreated to his room and his bed soon after receiving the mark. His favorable mood from the night prior had faded by the early evening, allowing him to evaluate his entrance into the shinobi life as clearly as he usually did.

This one small rectangle of metal, stitched to black cloth, identified him as a ninja. This identification did many things for him, and against him. It acted as his pass to the pleasures of the village, as he was now considered an adult in the eyes of the law, even though he was only nine. Not that his sister would ever allow him to drink or visit the darker streets of the village, but technically, and legally, he could.

It also put a huge target on him for any enemies of the Sand village. This headband would be the only excuse an enemy ninja needed to kill him, no matter how old he was. That was a lot to take in, especially for a child like him.

But it also gave him more respect. Even Genin, the lowest ranking ninja there were, had a lot of respect around the village. After all, in a place that was suffering low income and borderline poverty, it was hard to dislike the ones who made most of the money that went into the village coffers.

But more than anything else, Ash felt like this headband enslaved him. His life basically belonged to the Sand village now, even though he hadn't been born there. He had to obey the Kazekage's every order now. And he could never leave the village's service of his own free will, because he would be labeled a rogue ninja and hunted to the ends of the earth.

In short, he was now a slave that had no say in the course of his life, until he was discarded at the end of it when his usefulness was over.

Perhaps that was an overly negative way of viewing the situation, but for the most part it was true. He really did have little to no agency now, and the lack of independence truly embittered the young blonde. He detested the idea of being subservient to anyone, and he certainly didn't like that his life was now the quintessential property of the Kazekage.

But he had always known this was coming. It had been part of the deal for being a part of this family anyway. He never really had a choice in the matter, at least if he wanted to continue enjoying the Kazekage's good graces.

Of course, acknowledging that fact only made Ash even more irritable.

Still, he supposed there were some upsides. He would at least stay close to his siblings like this, and be able to aid them in dangerous situations that could cost them their lives. Those were some very big pros to an otherwise shitty situation.

If he viewed the scenario in such a light, Ash was sure that he could at least tolerate being a ninja. Eventually, at least.

For now, he was still irritated about the idea of his whole future being dictated by some old guy in long robes and a funny hat, so Ash placed his newly acquired headband onto his dresser and dug around under his bed for a certain object he hoped would take his mind off of things. Withdrawing the small orange book he had stolen earlier that year, the uninformed blonde read the title with curiosity.

Make-out Paradise, huh? I'm torn on whether that sounds nice or terrifying, but I guess there's only one way to find out.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for all thoughts of ninja and service to flee Ash's mind in favor of more interesting things. And needless to say, a certain author had earned himself a formidable foe in the form of the sister that would one day discover his crimes.