This SQ is about 3 pages... <_< but it's half done cuz Kiya's computer is busted... XP evil computerz!
~*~*~*~*~*~

Kiya and Kijo ran as fast as they could to the gates of the Academy.

“Hurry up, Kiya!” Kijo yelled to her sister behind her.

“You’re the one who overslept! And on an important day, too!” Kiya yelled back.

They ran between passerby saying “sorry” and “excuse me” whenever they can. They made it right on time, just before the bell rang. The two twins gave a sigh of relief and ran to their class. Today was the day of their final exam and, if they pass, the day they become Genin.

“Today is an important day,” Taka stated. “It is the day of your graduation exam.”

Many of the students cheered, others groaned, and a few students were just silent.

“There are three parts of this exam,” Taka said as he wrote on the board. “Written, performance, and the third is a surprise.”

More students groaned, including Kijo.

Taka picked up a clipboard off his desk. He looked at it for a quick moment and looked up. “Fifteen minutes until the written test,” he announced. “Use this time to review or prepare.”

Kijo sighed and turned to Kiya. “Got any ideas what the written part will be about?”

Kiya shrugged as she skimmed through the scroll of her notes.

Kijo looked at Kiya for a moment then brought out a pamphlet of her own notes and skimmed through it. After the first five minutes, Kijo asked, “Exchange?”

Kiya nodded as they exchanged notes notes, skimming through them for the next ten minutes.

Taka walked around the room, passing out the tests. “You have forty-five minutes to complete the test,” he said as he was in the back of the classroom. “Beginning now!”

Kijo stared at her test. It wasn’t multiple choice or fill in the blank. She had to write complete paragraphs! She groaned. ‘Great,’ she thought. ‘I need to think hard.’ Kijo began writing on her test. It wasn’t really that hard, her in her point of view, although some were critical-thinking. They were all about the different jutsus, chakra, and such. She quickly checked her answers and turned the test over, blocking it from view of any possible cheaters.

“Finish up,” announced Taka. “Five more minutes.”

Kijo glanced around seeing others write faster. She looked at Kiya, who was reviewing her work. She smirked. ‘Now we’re both done,’ she thought. Then she sighed.

“Time is up,” Taka announced. “Now it is time for your performance test, then your mystery test.”

People groaned.

Taka cleared his throat. “I will call you by your last name, alphabetically,” he continued. “The last two parts of the exam will be held in the training grounds, and another teacher will grade you.”

The groaning was louder, followed by a few whines.

It’ll be hard for us, Kijo mind-messaged her twin.

Kiya just nodded, paying careful attention to what Taka was saying.

“Now, some of you will graduate, others will not,” Taka said with a frown. “So I am expecting you all to pass.”

Kijo looked at Taka. ‘Is he crying?’ she thought as she saw his eyes water.

Taka took a deep breath and announced people’s name by their last name.

Kijo impatiently tapped her forefinger against the wood of the desk, waiting for her name to be called. Kijo glanced at Kiya, who gave her a reassuring smile.

“Kijo Karamaru,” announced Taka.

Kijo sighed, returned Kiya’s smile, and left the room. She walked down the hallway and man with a clipboard standing at the end of the hallway. “H-hello,” Kijo stuttered.

The man was older than Taka, maybe by five years. He wore a black bandana that bore the headband on his head and was dressed like every other Chuunin she has ever seen. He didn’t say anything to Kijo, much less introduce himself. All he did was grunt and walk toward the training grounds.

Kijo shrugged slightly and followed him. The training ground had a lake, a forest, a field of grass, and in the middle of it was a battle stage made of stone and mortar. Standing on the battle stage was another man, wearing his headband around his arm, and his red hair made him stand out.

The man in the bandana grunted and left her at the training grounds.
“Hello,” said the red-haired man with a grin. “My name is Jin and I’m your test proctor.”

Kijo looked at him and said, “Hello, Jin-sensei. I’m Kijo Karamaru.”

“Karamaru? I guess it would be harder for you without your partner here, huh?”
Kijo said nothing, but nodded.

“Okay, let’s begin,” Jin said. “We’ll start with something easy: the 12 hand techniques.”

Kijo sighed. ‘Taking pity on me?’ she thought as she did them.

“Good, good,” he said as he wrote something on his clipboard. “Last thing to do for your second test now is to perform a perfect Henge no Jutsu.”

“Of what?” Kijo asked.

“Anything you wish,” Jin replied. “As long as it is identifiable.”

Kijo smirked and knew exactly what, or who, she would transform to. In a puff of smoke, there was the man in the bandana. Kijo grunted similarly to the way he did it.

Jin walked around Kijo, checking her work. At first, he chuckled, and then he laughed. He laughed so hard that tears began to form. “That is such a perfect likeness of him!” he said as he was laughing.

Kijo resumed her original form in a puff of smoke, watching Jin gasp for air.

“Alright,” Jin said as he stood upright. “Now the final part: get the headband from me.” He outstretched his hand, which was holding the headband.

Kijo looked at him then the headband. “That’s it?” she asked.

Jin smiled and said, “That’s it.”

Kijo reached out to grab the headband, but Jin moved the headband out of her reach. ‘Knew it wasn’t gonna be that easy,’ she thought to herself as she dropped her heavy jacket, which landed with a large thump. “This is gonna be fun,” she said with a smirk.

“Try your best, then,” Jin said with a smile.

“Will do!” said Kijo as she jumped up, reaching for the headband.

Jin moved it out of her reach. “You need to do better than that,” he said.

Kijo snarled as she jumped up and attempted to kick his arm, but Jin was too quick. He grabbed her leg and dropped her on the ground.

Jin threw several blunt kunai at her.

Kijo didn’t want them to hit her and yelled in her mind that he would miss. To her amazement, the kunai all shifted slightly, missing her. Kijo thought that Jin did that purposely and charged at him.

Jin moved slightly to the side, evading Kijo. “I know you can do better,” he said.

Kijo breathed heavily. She was using too much of her energy.

Jin moved the headband to his other hand and hid it behind his back.

It’s behind him! Kijo screamed in her mind.

Jin turned around and said, “What?”

Kijo blinked for a moment, but saw an opening. She quickly grabbed the headband.

Jin faced Kijo, after feeling the weight of the headband out of his hand. “What?” he said with a confused look.

Kijo shrugged. She was as confused as he was. “Should we start over?” she asked.

Jin smiled and shook his head. “There is no need,” he said. “I’m well aware of what the Karamaru clan can do. What just happened was you’ve progressed.”

“Alright,” was the only word that left Kijo’s lips.

“I’ll just try to be more aware when your partner comes,” he said with a chuckle.

Kijo nodded as she tied the headband around her neck, like a collar or a necklace.

“Congratulations, Kijo! You are now a Genin!”

Kijo smiled. ‘I did it! I passed!’ she thought cheerfully.

“You are excused for the rest of the day,” Jin said. “But tell your parents I said ‘Hi’.”

“Okay!” Kijo replied. She bowed her head and left the training grounds. She walked past the man with the bandana, expecting him say something, but he just grunted and walked to what was once her class.

Kijo walked slowly behind him, thinking about what just happened during the fight. The kunai, Jin turning around, what he said about her progressing. It was a bit overwhelming, but intriguing, as well. She was lost in thought.

The man in the bandana grunted as he past by Kijo.

Kijo broke her train of thought, stopped, and looked up, seeing Kiya following him. “Good luck,” she said with a smile as Kiya passed by.

Just a tip before you finish the rest...space it out a lil' better, my eyes are hurting from the mass of words! :wacko:

*edits it* :huh: is that alright? :wacko:

Um, well, yes and no. You understand the concept of spacing, but you have so much dialogue that you give one or two sentences that describe something and that's it. However, I don't want to break down your writing style, so finish it up and I'll PM you some tips.

just send me the tips... <_< i'm waiting for the other half from kiya...

ok...finished my part of the sq...it's basically my point of view of Kijo's sq...yeah

~*~*~*~*~

‘Have any of the other graduation exams had three parts to it?’ Kiya thought to herself.

It was the day of the Graduation Exams at the academy. The tension was hanging thick in the air. Taka had explained the exam to the students. There would be three parts: Written, Performance, and a surprise exam.

Taka had given the students about 15 minutes to prepare for the written exam. Kiya and Kijo had both reviewed their notes. Then they exchanged notes and reviewed again.

Without a word or warning, Taka began passing out tests. Kiya noticed the other students were beginning to look nervous. So was she.

“You have 45 minutes to complete the test. Beginning now!”

Kiya skimmed over the questions. The tenth question was interesting.

“You are fighting in an old forest with an enemy ninja that is armed with Ninja Wire and a Kunai. This ninja has trapped you by tightly wrapping the Ninja Wire around your legs. You are armed with only three shuriken. Assuming the enemy ninja doesn’t have enough chakra left to perform jutsu, explain how you would escape the wire and counter attack.”

She was expecting questions like “What is chakra?” or “Describe the Bunshin no Jutsu.” There were similar questions, but they asked for more in-depth information than just “The Bunshin no Jutsu is a ninjutsu technique that creates a substance-less clone of the user.”

Half an hour passed by, and Kiya’s hand was getting sore from all the writing. Only the tenth question remained. She read it again. What would she do in that situation? The only jutsu she actually “mastered” was the Bunshin no Jutsu and the Kawarimi no Jutsu. She really doubted that mind-messaging Kijo a cry for help would count as a good answer.

‘’Bunshin and Kawarimi…Bunshin and Kawarimi…’

She could substitute herself with a nearby log with the Kawarimi no Jutsu. That would get her out of the wire, but surely the enemy ninja would attack her with the kunai afterwards. Maybe she could use the Bunshin no Jutsu after she escapes to confuse her opponent. Then she can attack with the three shuriken.

‘Yeah! I think that might work!’ Kiya scribbled down her plan as fast as she could. There was only ten minutes left.

~*~*~*~*~

The second part of the exam was the Performance. The mystery test was right after. Taka had started listing off students that are to go be tested. Kiya tapped her foot nervously. The names were being called alphabetically and the wait was driving her crazy! And Kijo tapping her finger on the desk impatiently wasn’t helping her much.

Kiya noticed Kijo glance at her, and she replied by smiling. Kijo would be called first.

“Kijo Karamaru!”

Kijo smiled back at Kiya and left the room.

Minutes passed by. The constant muttering of nervous students talking nervously amongst each other was annoying Kiya.

Taka suddenly looked up. “Kiya Karamaru! You’re next!”

Kiya took a deep breath walked slowly to the hallway. A man with a black bandana greeted her with a grunt. The man said nothing and led her down the hallway.
‘Nice introduction…’ Kiya thought bitterly.

As they were walking down the hallway, Kijo happened to approach them. She was done with her test, and was wearing the leaf headband around her neck. She passed. Kiya smiled, happy that Kijo was able to pass.

“Good luck,” Kijo said as she passed by. Kiya smiled back.

~*~*~*~*~

The proctor of the second part of the exam was a man named Jin. He had red hair, which set him apart greatly from the grassy training ground with a stone and mortar battlefield.

“You are Kiya Karamaru, correct?” he asked.
Kiya nodded. “Yes.”
“Of course, I just tested your sister, but one must make sure, no?” he winked playfully.
Kiya smiled. She didn’t feel that nervous anymore.

“Alright, first off, please perform the 12 hand signs, Kiya.”

Kiya blinked at the easy request and performed them perfectly.

“Good, good. Now, please perform the Henge no Jutsu. Transform into anyone you choose, just not Kijo,” he joked.

Kiya laughed slightly, thought for a moment, and transformed into Taka. Jin examined her transformation carefully.
“Nice, nice,” he said. “Now for the third part of your exam,” he brought out a leaf headband. “Take this from me.”

Kiya blinked again. That was it? She reached for the headband but Jin held it above his head and out of her reach. He laughed slightly.
“Kijo did the exact same thing…”

Kiya ignored the comment and made a clone of her. Jin looked between the two Kiyas, and threw a blunt kunai at the real Kiya. Thinking fast, Kiya quickly replaced herself with her clone and the clone disappeared with a puff of smoke. Kiya jumped after the kunai, hoping to use it as a weapon, but it sped away from herself.

Kiya wished that the kunai would fall to the ground with all her might, and to her surprise, it did. Right at her feet. She quickly picked it up and raced towards Jin. He didn’t move, but Kiya could tell he was ready for her. She threw the kunai at him.

‘Please hit!’

Jin moved to the side to dodge the kunai, but to his surprise, the kunai changed its course and slightly grazed his chuunin jacket. He was surprised. She had just mastered the D-rank Kizuna Futatsu no Reikon.

Kiya used his surprise as an opportunity to attack. She ran up to him and reached for the headband. Jin noticed in time and moved it out of her reach again.

“There are other ways of taking things you know.”

Kiya moved away from him slightly. What was he talking about?

“Well then,” she said sarcastically, “May I please have the headband?”
“Yes, you may.”

Silence.

“…What?” Did she miss something?
“Yes, you may have the headband.”
“But…I-“
“-Didn’t take it from me? I did say there are other ways of taking things.” Jin looked down to the headband in his hand. “In my dictionary, to take is “to obtain possession of”, not just “to steal”. You see Kiya, I had not specifically told you to steal the headband from me. I just asked you to take it.”

Kiya blinked. Was he serious?

“I have passed students who managed to steal the headband from me, but I also pass students who politely ask. You see, one of my mottos is “Think outside of the box”. Sometimes, that is what a shinobi must do. And you did, unintentionally, but you did.”

Kiya smiled slightly. She understood.
“So…did I pass the test?”
Jin put a finger to his temple and pretended to think. “Well, you did do excellently on your written and performance exam. You managed to get the headband. So…” Jin smiled and placed the headband gently into her hand. “Congratulations Kiya. You, and your sister, are now genin.”

All right....finally done...and faster then when I put SQs on hold....

I'm going to do this backwards, so Kiya get graded first...

Kiya: Nice solid three pages. little crazed from the paragraph strucure, but not that bad. Didn't find any spelling errors. Reward for you (alone): Genin Rank, 50 SP, and acceptance to Team Zenshougun!

Kijo: a semi-solid four pages. pretty good for a Grad SQ. Normally, this would get yu a headband (as equipment, mind you) but you also wanted something else, so...sorry. Also seems to be lacking some crunch, so.... Rewards for you (alone): Genin Rank, 50 SP, 10 LP, and acceptance to Team Zenshougun!

Now, I'm going to grant both of you your D-Ranked Kizuna no Futatsu Reikon, as alone, niether one of you would get it, but together, you would.

EDIT: I could move Kijo's profile...but Kiya needs to post hers in the Zenshougun fourm...