IMPORTANT NOTE: If the scene jumps from one to another (especially in Parts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, and 20) this is because is not showing my page breaks. I will work on figuring this out, so please bear with me!! Thank you!
Also, I tried to stay as true to the anime as possible (as I have yet to read the manga TT), and I tried to omit the major Japanese language (I got feedback a while back saying it's hard to keep up for American/English readers to have "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" all the time, so I just put it in English), but I kept the more traditional aspects (ex: Konoha instead of Hidden Leaf Village (in some cases), Uzumaki Naruto instead of Naruto Uzumaki, and so on). Please feel free to leave me feedback. Thanks!
Part One: Hidden Rock Trio
Shink, shink, shink!
"Damn it!"
Shink!
"Stop moving!"
Shink, shink, shink!
"I can't help it, you're bad at aiming."
Shink, shink, shink!
"Damn it, Neji! Stop moving!"
"He already said you couldn't aim!" shouted Sakura.
"Whatever happened to teamwork?!" Naruto replied, throwing more kunai at Neji, and missing again.
"Are you three done yet?" asked Kankurou.
Sakura, who had been sitting near Gaara and Kankurou, looked over at them. "They wanted to train…"
"Well, they aren't getting very far," replied Kankurou. "Naruto keeps missing, and Neji's just being an ass, as usual."
Neji landed across the clearing from them, his eyes narrowed.
"Hey, whatever happened to Temari?" asked Sakura, trying to change the subject.
Kankurou shrugged. "Went home…"
Gaara glanced into the forest, all eyes following his.
"What is it, Gaara?" asked Kankurou.
"Someone's coming."
"Who?" Naruto asked.
Gaara shrugged.
Suddenly three ninja dropped from the trees. They looked around, their eyes settling on the group of five.
"Hey, look! People!"
"Shut up, idiot!"
The third didn't say anything, but merely followed the other two over to the group of five, remaining distant at the same time.
"Hey, we must be lost or something; can you guys tell us where the Hidden Leaf Village is?" one of the boys asked.
The other crossed his arms and muttered, "Didn't you ever think that they might try to kill us?"
"Never even crossed my mind, dim-nut," replied the other sarcastically.
"Why're you looking for Konoha?" asked Naruto.
"We're on our way there for the exams."
"What exams?" questioned Sakura.
The two boys, now obviously twins, glanced at each other. "Umm…the Chuunin exams…"
"Yeah, they come twice a year—didn't you know?"
"Who are you guys?" Neji asked.
"I'm Yakara Oriki," said one, flashing a huge grin.
"Yakara Ariki," replied the other, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you guys would be?"
Gaara glanced back at the girl and said calmly, "It's rude to ask names before giving your own."
She glanced at him. "I never asked."
Ariki laughed softly and said, "This is Takura Tara. She's with us—our third."
"C'mon, now tell us your names," said Oriki with a grin. "Fair's fair, after all."
"Uzumaki Naruto!" shouted the blonde. "Remember that name, because I kicked ass at last year's exams!" He grinned.
"Shut up," replied Ariki. He glanced over at Neji. "We already know only one person passed, and it sure as hell wasn't you. You're the Hyuuga, aren't you?"
Neji frowned, but nodded once.
"Haruno Sakura," Sakura introduced herself before the twin could guess her name.
"And you? You're…?" Oriki asked, turning his eyes onto the last two.
"Kankurou."
"No last name?"
"None that you need to know."
"We don't even need to ask you," said Ariki looking at Gaara. "You're Gaara of the Desert. No doubt about that—the Sand Village murderer who went soft." He sniggered.
Gaara narrowed his eyes.
"Well, you know all of us," said Sakura, looking at the foreign bands around their arms, and in the girl's case, around the belt on her hip. "Where are you from? You must have traveled far—I don't recognize your headbands."
Ariki and Oriki grinned. "We're from the Hidden Rock Village."
