Here, we are taught that actions and strength mean everything in the Shinobi world. That has been engraved in my brain since I was a kid by a man who I admire greatly. And I full heartedly believe it.

Because our Village is strong and steady, all by our own strength. We don't rely on other villages. We protect ourselves. We don't need help, we can take care of our own people. And I admire that.

Doesn't mean I'm going to be just like that.

"I should have expected you and B would team up on me like that." I grinned cheekily up at Uncle-I mean the Raikage. He just narrowed his dark eyes on me, the frown lines popping out even more.

A lot of people are intimidated by him. He's huge and scary looking. He towers over practically everyone, abnormally buff body, and a permanent scowl on his face.

Children tend to cry when they're too close. Makes him freak out a lot, it's hilarious.

Even my teammates, who stood by me struggled to not shake in fear. But not me. He and mom have been close since childhood.

And I have no sense of danger so he doesn't scare me.

"Hey! A deal's a deal. We get to go to the Chunin Exams and kick ass!" I shouted in excitement, throwing my hands in the air.

Ren-Sensei smacked me upside the head. "Yume. You're speaking to Lord Raikage." He hissed, not at all happy with my improper behavior. I frowned a bit. It's not like I'm like this all the time. But he doesn't count.

He may be the Raikage, but he's still the same man who changed my diapers.

The Raikage huffed, crossing his arms and leaned back in his seat. "Yes, a deal is a deal, and I will honor it. However, I'm not just sending your group. For safety precautions, I've allowed two other teams to go. And then some more ninja will watch the final round." Huh? He's really allowing this many to go?

Doesn't he hate the Hidden Leaf? "You'll be allowed to go. But I expect victory. Don't disgrace the Hidden Cloud."

We all stood up straighter, chin up. "Yes Lord Raikage!" He nodded in approval and we were dismissed.

Ren-Sensei glanced at us briefly. "I'm going to inform the other teams. I'll see you three bright and early tomorrow. It's a long journey to the Land of Fire." Ugh. So much walking. But who cares?! We'll take the Chunin Exams! We agreed and parted ways.

"I thought he was going to kill us, I almost pissed my pants." Kazuki sighed, shoulders slumping as we walked through the village. Shou rolled his eyes at our teammate, but didn't make a comment.

I mean he can't say much because even he's intimidated by the Raikage.

Kazuki glanced at me, honey colored eyes sparkling with amusement. "But we got the Princess with us, so I knew he wouldn't." He grinned.

Kazuki is only a bit taller then me, with blonde, almost white, ruffled hair, honey colored eyes, mocha skin, and a scar that runs just above his right eye. Small, but noticeable.

Our village is a little . . .tough, so people like Kazuki are rare as he is the one to lighten the mood. The jokester really. While some people don't like it, most appreciate the comic relief. Myself included.

I scowled at him and punched his shoulder. "Call me that again and I will end you." I growled. Shou smirked cockily at that. "Yeah, don't upset the Princess."

Shou is a cocky bastard. With long, styled, brown hair, tall stature, bright blue eyes, and developing quicker than the rest of the kids. I went to hit him, but he used Kazuki as a shield so I ended up hitting him twice.

"Ow! Damn you Shou!" He turned quickly to our teammate who already took off in a sprint. "Shou, you dick!" Kazuki took off after him. I sighed, watching as they sprinted through the village.

Idiots. They're both idiots.

Unfortunately almost everyone in the village refers to me as Princess. Because of my bond with the Raikage and his brother.

It's no secret that they dot on me. But most people don't have the courage to call me that to my face on the account that I have a temper and tend to use violence.

Shaking my head from my thoughts, I ran towards the training area I use. My mom knew I'd be there. I spend most of my time training. Because I want to be a great ninja, just like my father. Just like the Raikage and just like-

"B!" I shouted, spotting him already there.

"Hey my girl with the curly hair! What say you and me train with flair?" Sometimes it's hard to take B seriously when his rhymes are so terrible. Sometimes I want to hit him for it.

But he's freaking fast! I can't ever land a good hit. "I don't even have curly-okay, yeah, let's train." I rolled my eyes and got into stance.

~

"I'm home!" I called as I opened the door to my house. The familiar scent of sukiyaki wafted into my nose. My face instantly brightened and I ran into the kitchen to see mom finishing up. "Sukiyaki?" I asked with a hopeful glint in my eyes.

My mother turned to me, smiling lightly. She, like most of her family, has stark white hair that reaches her mid back, deep tan skin, and warm chestnut colored eyes.

I don't look much like her. In fact, I'm the spitting image of my father. With brown hair that reaches a bit past my shoulders, gray eyes that remind me of liquified silver, and porcelain skin. I even had the same tattoo of his clan on my chest. Directly above my heart.

The Naruse Clan is infamous for it's loyal and fearless shinobi. Brave, strong, never afraid of death. As such, they get an intricate tattoo of a diamond right above their heart, tribal marks and lines outlining it, and they wear clothing to reveal the tattoo.

It's their way of showing how serious they are. When they fight, it's to the death. And they do not hide their weakness. They show it. A fair battle is what dad always said.

The tattoo was given as a right of passage. You had to prove yourself worthy of such an honorable thing. I just passed recently. One of the youngest. It's a trial on both your body and mind. But I was determined.

Hey, for a fourteen year old, it's pretty impressive. The youngest one to ever pass was my father at the age of eleven.

Mom eyed me up and down before frowning. "Go wash up. Your covered in dirt." I rolled my eyes at her, causing her to smack me upside the head. "Ow! Damn woman." That just earned me another smack and I scurried out before I could make it worse.

I changed into my normal clothes and washed up a bit. As I headed for the dining room, I stopped in front of the open room with a beautiful shrine in it.

A small bowl of sukiyaki rested on the offering platter. The photo of my father smiled at me and I returned it. "I'm home dad."

I headed to the dining room and sat down in my spot, mom across from me. I stared at the large pot, stomach grumbling madly.

Training works up an appetite. "Thanks for the food~." I called before taking as much of the food as possible. Most of it being meat. "Get some vegetables too." Mom chided, not taking nearly as much.

I rolled my eyes but did so and began to chow down. "So what's all this for anyway?" I asked with a mouthful of food.

Mom scowled. "Don't talk with your mouth full." She scolded. Ugh. I continued to eat, loving all of it. Mom makes the best food.

"Well I heard from Killer B that you two managed to get A-Lord Raikage-" She corrected herself. "-to let you go take the Chunin Exams in the Leaf Village. I thought we should celebrate. I told your brothers, but they're still away out on missions." She smiled kindly.

I glanced at her bowl to see how little she had. She doesn't eat much. She's . . . sick.

Ever since dad died.

Of course she had an actual illness around the time, but once that passed she didn't get back up. She quit being a ninja, she doesn't eat much, gets light headedness, and breathing problems. The doctor says that she's sick from a broken heart.

It's not a real thing, everyone knows it. But . . . when they look at her they can't quite say it's not true.

It's also why the Raikage treats me so special. Not just because I'm his childhood friend's daughter. But my dad died saving his life.

The members of the Naruse Clan always chooses someone to follow. To serve. It's usually always the Raikage. But dad was strong. So he was always by his side.

I know that the Raikage feels guilty. His friend died saving him, and because of it, his other friend never bounced back up.

"Are you alright Yume?" Moms soft voice broke me out of my train of thoughts. I grinned. "Yeah. Just thinking about how I'm going to kick ass in the exam."

That earned my a smack to the back of my head. "Language! I don't know where you get this from." She grumbled.

You homegirl. I got it from you.

But to keep my head intact I said nothing. "Oh. I got a visit from Mrs. Takana." I winced at the surname. Uh-oh.

I looked into my moms eyes. She's smiling, but for some reason the room dropped its temperature. "Apparently her son got in a fight. He ended up getting a broken nose and three cracked ribs. Care to explain?"

I just stared at her, trying to think of the right words to say. "Yumeko." She warned.

"He had it coming!" I shouted defensively. Mom sighed, shaking her head. "Yume, we've talked about this. You need to control your anger. You can't keep on beating people up for every little rude thing they say."

I pursed my lips tightly together. You can if you win. But I didn't say that aloud. While the Raikage doesn't particularly mind, and even taught me that, mom definitely would not agree.

It's why most of the Naruse clan protested my tattoo. Naruse's don't let their anger get the best of them.

Something I have problems with.

"Promise me you'll control your temper during the exams. You can't go around picking fights with shinobi of another land. Especially since none of them are particularly fond of the Cloud."

I winced at that. Yeah. That's going to be a problem. The Cloud stays to itself, protects itself, and prospers itself. We don't need other villages. And we've done some pretty shady things to quite a few villages, Konoha included. We were on opposite sides during the Third Shinobi War and we're pretty ruthless to outsiders.

I guess that's why the Raikage is sending other shinobi's during the last round. I'm actually surprised we managed to convince him to let us go.

I mean B isn't even allowed to leave the village. We can get a lot of things out of him, but this is another level. There's no way we could have- ah!

I looked back up. No way.

"Mom, did you ask Uncle A to let us go?" I asked, so surprised that I let the 'uncle' slip up.

She looked up at me and smirked, before drinking some water.

Son of a bitch.

Way to go mom.