1(The Dance)

Ryu followed Kakashi down a series of long hallways, waiting to meet her fellow contestants. It was going to be hard to explain to them why she had special permission to bypass the first two sections of the exam, but she figured that Kakashi would do most of the explaining for her. She wondered what the other Genin were like; she spent most of her time with people much older than her, and much higher rank. She had argued with Hokage about becoming Chuunin, because it was a leadership position, and she didn't want to be a leader. She told him that she wasn't fit to lead, even if she was strong enough to achieve the rank, but he didn't listen. She had thought that when she got a high ranking mission that was in a direct conflict with the Chuunin exam, he would let her skip it, yet here she was, on her way to the dance to honor the Chuunin exam finalists. She sighed, wondering if this was going to be an extremely dull night.

Kakashi opened the door to the dance hall, and she scanned the room with her eyes quickly, to see what everyone was doing and what everyone was like. She noticed no one was dancing, and that everyone seemed to be divided by village. She saw one man standing alone, his headband showing he was from the village of sound, and three in another corner from the village of sand. She sighed again, realizing the finalists from leaf village were divided further, a man with sunglasses and almost no skin showing was standing in one corner, next a man with a byakugan a few feet away, another few feet away a man with his hair in a ponytail, and then two other people occupying the other corner. Suddenly, she realized that while she'd been staring at her fellow Genins, they had been staring back. All eyes seemed to be on her. She gulped, and flashed a sociable smile at them all. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"There is going to be another contestant in the main matches. This is usually not allowed under any circumstances, but she has been given special permission from the Hokage considering the situation." Kakashi winked at her and then turned and left, closing the door behind him. The stares hadn't stopped. For a moment, she considered turning around and leaving, but her inner strength pushed her to go and try to find someone to talk to. She noticed a shortish boy in an orange jumpsuit staring at her with particular intensity. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she headed his way.

"Why do you stare at me like you hate me?" She asked, "You don't even know me." The boy's face seemed to soften as he realized the way he had been staring her down.

"I…well…I don't hate you. It's just…" The blond boy paused momentarily, "We all worked so hard to get here, and you…you just waltz in like it was all for nothing!" He finished, his anger returning. Ryu's eyes widened, realizing that's what everyone in the room must be thinking.

"I'm sorry…" She said quietly. "I was on a reconnaissance mission for Konoha." She whispered, remembering that she couldn't let him know too much. The blond boy seemed to perk up, interested.

"What did you find out?" He whispered back in an excited tone. She frowned.

"I wish I could tell you…top secret." She looked at him, serious all of the sudden. "I can tell you this, watch your back." She glanced over at the sand and sound finalists. "Some of our 'allies' aren't so, well…allied. I wish I could say more." She realized that the other boy in the corner was eyeing the two of them. His headband said he was from her village, so she spoke up. "Can I help you with something?" Ryu said, looking the kid in the eye. The black-haired boy looked quickly away. "Why was he staring at us?" She asked the blond boy curiously.

"Oh, that's just Sasuke." He said dismissively. "I'm just glad you're not drooling over him, all the other girls seem to."

"Sasuke, huh?" She laughed, and then made sure her voice was loud enough for the black-haired boy to hear. "I don't get what they see in him." The blond boy grinned widely. Suddenly she realized something. "I forgot to tell you my name." She said in a surprised tone, "My name is Aara, though my friends call me Ryu for the most part."

"Nice to meet ya, Ryu." The boy replied, identifying he considered the two of them friends. "They call me Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be Hokage one day!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. Ryu couldn't help but smile.

"I could see that." She assured him. The black-haired boy, Sasuke, had gone back to watching them. "No one's dancing." She commented, looking around. "Though I suppose it's because there's only ten people, and four of them are from another village." Naruto nodded. A "tch" noise came from behind them.

"Or maybe, it's because there are eight men, and two girls." Sasuke commented sarcastically. "Nobody knows you, and nobody wants to dance with the sand village girl." Ryu spun so she was facing the kid, and looked him up and down. Getting a better look at him, she saw why the girls liked him so much, he was attractive. If he's attractive, and alone, he must have issues like nobody's business, she thought, still watching him. "Can I help you?" He mocked, smirking at her. She recovered quickly.

"Not in the least." She replied, frowning. She turned back to Naruto. "Wanna dance?"

"Hai-desu!" Naruto exclaimed, flashing a smile in Sasuke's direction as if to say 'ha-ha I win'. He took her hand and they were off to the dance floor. At first, all eyes were on them as they spun and twirled. Sasuke's expression was complete surprise as he saw the grace she gave Naruto as they danced. After about a half hour had passed and no one had joined them, they headed back to their corner. The sound ninja made his way over to them.

"Ryu was it?" he said. She instantly realized he must have overheard the whole conversation.

"Hai." She said simply, not turning to face him.

"Can we go have a little chat outside then, Ryu?" the words oozed out of his mouth in mock friendliness.

"As you wish." She smiled in mock courtesy, and then followed him outside. Kakashi spotted them and started to say something, for you weren't actually allowed to leave the dance until it was over, but Ryu's voice popped into his head, speaking with telepathy. He's going to try and kill me. He's an idiot. I'll be back…he won't…please inform Hokage as to why there will be one less contestant. Kakashi nodded silently. As soon as they reached a safe distance from where anyone would see, the sound ninja turned to face her.

"I think you know a little too much, Miss "Ryu"." He smirked, drawing his weapon. "If you think that I'm going to let you interfere with our plan to attack Konoha, you're gravely mistaken." He rolled up his sleeve to reveal his the instrument on his arm, and then charged at her. She frowned, and summoned up a seal to break the weapon. The ninja stopped in his tracks as the object on his arm shattered, and then began to back away.

"That was what made you so powerful, so cocky. It won't help you now. I'm sorry, I hope you have no regrets…you won't live much longer." She stated coldly, surprising him. She used her fast hands to do a very forbidden jutsu. "Death Jutsu!" she called out, completing the seal. The sound ninja's body went rigid, and he fell to the ground, not moving. She sighed, using a powerful move like that had taken a lot out of her, but she wanted to get things done fast and clean. She headed back towards the dance hall. When she arrived she nodded to Kakashi, and he nodded in return, opening the door for her. Her eyes instinctively flashed toward the village of sand ninja, considering they were soon to be enemies. She wondered if they would try to kill her as well. She stopped in her tracks when her eyes met the intense, icy-blue spheres of a short red-haired boy. For an instant she was overwhelmed with such pain and sorrow that she thought she would sink to her knees and cry. After this moment passed, with much concentration she pried her gaze away from the boy and turned her attention to Naruto and Sasuke. Being an empath, and feeling what other people feel could be a major advantage in battle, but it had moments that made Ryu wish she didn't have the ability.

"Ryu!" Naruto exclaimed, the same goofy grin on his face. Instantly her misery was wiped away. She even had the courage to give one backwards glance to that sand ninja, who was still eying her intensely.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed in return, giving him a hug and for a moment appreciating his bountiful happiness. She guessed this was why she hadn't noticed the other boy as much before, the blond boy seemed to be a beacon of optimism.

"Where'd the sound ninja go?" Naruto inquired curiously, trying to piece what he had wanted from her together in his mind. She frowned, thought for a moment, and replied.

"Your not allowed to leave the dance…He was just using me as an excuse to get out without Kakashi bothering him." She replied, still smiling. "It means that he forfeits the matches though, being in the dance is a mandatory requirement." She found it slightly harder to lie; she still had the uncomfortable feeling of that boy's eyes boring into her back from across the room.

"Liar." Sasuke said from behind the two of them. "He worked hard like the rest of us to get here, why would he quit now?" She spun towards him again.

"Who asked you, anyways? I don't know the guy, and I don't know why he did what he did. Could you but out?" She yelled, brewing over with anger. She could feel the confident apathy oozing off of the boy, and there was nothing that made her feel worse. He didn't even care what happened to the sound ninja, she could tell, he was merely saying what he was saying to annoy her.

"It's just disgusting the way you spew things out of your mouth. If you're going to lie, at least lie a little better, don't insult his intelligence." Sasuke spat back, smirking. Ryu glared at him, but decided to change to subject and simply ignore the annoying jerk.

"Who's that boy over there, with the red hair, blue eyes…the gourd?" She asked Naruto, pointing at him.

"That's Gaara." Naruto said simply. She sighed, that wasn't exactly what she was hoping for.

"He's from the village of sand…so I'm assuming that there's sand in the gourd?" She pressed, hoping for a little more information on his attacks. She had a sinking feeling she would be fighting him later.

"Yea. He uses it to attack people, he barely ever moves when he's fighting unless you knock him back. That's usually impossible anyways; the sand protects him from attacks. And even if you do get past it! The creepy bastard has a layer of sand on his body that protects him anyways!" Naruto ranted, not looking the kid in the eye. Ryu took mental note of what Naruto said; it would probably be useful later. "Is there any reason he's glaring at you?" Naruto asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever seen the guy so angry, did you stab him or something?" Ryu focused in on the boy, and realized that he was staring at her, and just her, with intent to kill. She sighed; it was going to be a long night. "Ryu?" Naruto pressed, and she realized that she had been thinking too much and ignored his question.

"Who knows? I guess it doesn't matter, anyways." She said, not wanting to have a huge discussion about the possible death threat. She didn't want other people involved, it would be on her if this kid decided to help her out and that creepy sand boy killed him.

"Alright guys, everyone out! The dance is over." Kakashi said with a smile on his face. "I'm sure you're all bummed to leave." He commented sarcastically, knowing what torture it had been for most of the ninjas, who couldn't dance anyways. She glanced over at Naruto, and realized that he actually did look upset at the prospect of leaving. Maybe I lead him on a little, she realized, frowning. Ah well, I hope he doesn't take things too seriously, I didn't do anything more than talk to him…and dance with him. But other than that…her thoughts continued, and she started to feel worse and worse. She did want to be friends with him, maybe that's all that she had conveyed. She could hope.

"Naruto!" She shouted over at him as she was walking out. "I'll see you tomorrow maybe?" She asked, a thought occurring to her that maybe they could train together…not that she needed it. He seemed to brighten up a little.

"Sure! Where are you staying?" He shouted back. The black-haired boy was standing there with Naruto. She assumed they must be on the same team. She described the Inn across town, and his eyes light up. She wondered quietly what he was thinking.

"We'll walk you home if you'd like!" He informed her, pointing to Sasuke and himself. Sasuke groaned. "It seems a little late to be walking that far on your own." He added, hopeful.

"Yea, it's dangerous I mean, it's not like you're a ninja or something." Sasuke commented sarcastically.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. "I…I didn't mean you weren't strong." Naruto added in an apologetic tone. Ryu wasn't even paying attention; her eyes were on the redhead, Gaara. None of the sand ninja had made an effort to leave the dance hall. They were waiting for her.

"Huh? Oh sure." She replied, not sure what had been said to her. Naruto grinned.

"You'll let us walk you home then?" Naruto exclaimed, more of a statement than a question. She sighed; she really didn't want to get anyone else involved.

"Hai." She replied, still watching Gaara. Then suddenly she spun around and smiled at Naruto and even Sasuke. "Shall we?" Naruto nodded and they walked out of the dance hall together, Sasuke following behind them with an annoyed look on his face. Ryu waved to Kakashi before leaving, and he waved back.

"Wow, you know Kakashi?" Naruto asked in awe. Ryu smiled and turned back to him. She felt a mother dealing with an excited child. She glanced back at Sasuke, I even have the disgruntled good-for-nothing husband, she thought.

"Yea, we've done a few missions together." Ryu said calmly. Naruto grinned at her, and Sasuke seemed to be paying a little more attention than usual, at least.

A few minutes passed, and they were about halfway to her house. Nothing had happened yet, to her surprise, it seemed as long as she was with Naruto and Sasuke, the sand ninja merely followed, never showing themselves. She sighed, thinking that it was going to happen eventually, and she didn't want to mess up her room again, so she didn't want to wait until the end. Taking a deep breath, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"You don't have to walk me any further. I'm going to stay here for a bit…I have a date with destiny, you could say." Ryu told them, smiling. Naruto frowned and seemed to want to stay, stubbornly, but he was forced to go as Sasuke was already walking away from them.

"Are you sure?" He asked, walking towards Sasuke but looking back at her.

"Hai." She replied, giving him an assuring look. "I'll see you tomorrow morning!" She added, smiling. He nodded and turned his head away slowly, then ran to catch up with Sasuke.