/C'mon Koemi, calm down,/ The young Jonin murmurs to herself, nibbling on one of her strawberry pocky as she sat skirmishly in the crowd that lined the top of the arena, where she herself had taken and passed the Chunin exams 2 years ago herself. She was there for her friend and teammate Haru Kurama, who was one of the last battles in thie years Chunin exams. Both he and Fuyuko-her other teammate, had not passed the perliminary rounds of the Chunin exams 2 years ago and Fuyuko dived into last year's exam and much more easily passed while Haru waited and focused on training until this year, now it was his turn to become a Chunin-she knew he would pass. As she knaws away the last of her pocky stick, she hears Haru's names be called from below and she would've squealed but Fuyuko, who was sitting next to her, stuck another pocky in the Jonin's mouth to quiet her before a sound could be projected.
"Don't lose it yet Koemi," The white-haired Chunin beside her blandly states, "Save it for when he actually wins...if he does," She scoffs, brushing a long strand behind her ear.
"He will win," Koemi says, "I know he will," She turns her attention to the battle below, which and just started, nearly knawing off her own fingers as she never took her eyes off the battle. After going through a box's worth of pocky, the crowd cheers at Haru's victory, to which Koemi joins in but limits her cheering volume as much as she could, knowing herself, she'd lose control and nearly wipe out half the arena with a screech.
But after the exams, the two girls wait by the exit for their teammate, who Koemi excitedly graduates with one of the tightest hugs she'd ever given anyone.
"I can't believe it!" The Jonin almost squeals but holds back, "Now you're a real Chunin, I knew you could do it."
"Yeah, so did I," Fuyuko sarcastically cheers, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks Fuyu," Haru blandly thanks the white-haired pessmiscist, "And I'm glad you came Koemi, I knew you'd be here to cheer me on."
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many missions I had to go on to free up today," Koemi nervously says, "But I'm glad I did it all," she says before hugging the new Chunin again, "I'm really proud of you,"
Haru chuckles as he hugs back, Fuyuko looking away in disgust with a "bleh".
"Congradulations Haru!" A voice chirps out,
The three turn heads and chuckles as they see their usually abnormal sensei approach the group, doned in her strange array of teal and red clothing.
"Greetings Tomoko-sensei," Haru and Koemi greet, Fuyuko simply rolls her eyes.
"Greetings to you too," Tomoko says with an over pronounced bow, "And Haru," She approaches the boy and lays a huge kiss on the boys forehead, luckily protected by his headband. "I'm so proud of what my student has become, especially after 2 years of training with you, I just knew you could win."
"Thanks Tomoko-sensei," Haru nervously chuckles as his sensei steps away,
"And Koemi, you seem to be doing well yourself," Tomoko says, looking over Koemi. "You definately seem slimmer than when I last saw you leaving the village on your first mission as a Jonin."
"She's done more than lost a few pounds," Fuyuko points out, walking up beside Koemi finally from her spot on the wall. "Her color pallette and hair have changed pretty much...but she's still timid as fuck,"
"Her hair is much shorter...but that was her outfit when she became a Jonin, no more of those dark colors you used to wear as a Genin." Tomoko gleefully chirps,
"Well, as nice as it was to see you again," Haru interrupts, "We need to get going,"
"Yeah," Fuyuko says, draping an arm around Haru. "We're heading out tonight to celebrate kiddo's achievement tonight,"
"I'm no younger than you," Haru defends,
Fuyuko simply shrugs as Tomoko chuckles,
"Alright, I'll leave my students to celebrate, but congradulations again Haru." Tomoko says before walking away, "Make me proud with those ranks you three,"
"We will!" Koemi says,
"So, what to do for the next 5 hours," Fuyuko ponders, leaning on Haru for support as she thinks.
"When did I become a wall to you?" Haru groans,
Koemi giggles as Fuyuko hums in through, completely ignoring Haru, "Maybe Shika would be up to a round of shogi,"
"Dear god, my words fall on deaf ears with you," Haru says, pushing Fuyuko's arm off his shoulders.
"Well, I'm gonna go check up on Shika, catch ya two later." Fuyuko says, walking away.
"Cya Fuyuko," Koemi says before turning to Haru, "I suppose you'll be heading home-you're dad would love to hear about this,"
"Yeah," Haru chuckles nervously, "I just hope my cousins aren't there, they'll annoy the entire time about how the whole thing went, and I'd rather not remember most of it."
"Alright," Koemi says before walking off,
"But where are you heading?" Haru asks,
"I'll probably go check up on Hinata or somebody, I haven't really talked to anyone since I got back yesterday." Koemi says before disappearing around a corner,
Koemi soon finds herself approaching the Hyuga house and peeking into the training area, finding Hinata standing to the side as she watched Neji train with her father. She quietly and quickly approaches Hinata,
"Hi Hinata," The Jonin greets,
"Oh, hi Koemi," Hinata greets, "How was your last mission?"
"Pretty good," Koemi giggles, "But how've you been? I haven't talked to you in a few days,"
"I'm fine, just focusing on my training a bit more," Hinata explains,
"Well, that's good," Koemi says, glancing at Neji training. "Neji seems to be getting better,"
"He's been training real hard since your Chunin exam," Hinata says,
"Wow...that's real commitment there," Koemi sighs, "I wish I could find something like that in a guy,"
Her thoughts fade off to those of her current crush-the one she's had for 2 years now that has barely faded:
Koemi, Haru and Fuyuko make their way to the 2nd part of the Chunin exams, following everyone else to a huge area with a forest surrounded by a large fence.
"Damn, that place is huge!" Fuyuko exclaims,
"I wonder how big it is exactly?" Haru ponders,
"I don't really wanna find out," Koemi timidly squeaks,
Fuyuko devilishly glances at Koemi, slinking around Haru to get behind and between the two then proceed to hiss in Koemi's ear, causing her to jump and bump into someone, sending them both crashing to the ground. Once she recovers from her shock, she realizes she's laying on top of someone.
"I'm so sorry!" She apologizes, quickly squirming off of the person to the side. She looks to see who the person was and meets a pair of midnight black orbs surrounded by lines of purple that matched the shade of her eyes almost. A blush crawls across her cheeks as the person climbs to his feet, "I'm r-really sorry sir," She stutters, looking at the ground in embarassment.
There's a heavy moment of silence until the heart melting words strike her eardrums, along with a warm chuckle.
"It's alright,"
Koemi looks up, seeing a hand being offered before her, she timidly takes it and is helped to her feet. "Thank you," She timidly speaks before looking up, meeting with dark eyes again-she then noticed the symbol on his headband plate. /He's from the Sand Village...strange, he seems awful kind,/ Before she can speak another word, her team is called up to retrieve a scroll and proceeds to be dragged off by Fuyuko, only able to give a timid wave before disappearing into the dense crowd of Genin. She only ever found out his name later during the preliminaries of the final part...Kankuro.
She sighs dreamily but is snapped from her dream by giggling then gives a light glancing glare to Hinata, "What's so funny?" She asks,
"You zoned out," Hinata explains,
"Again?" Koemi asks, her cheeks tinting light magenta.
Hinata nods, causing the blush to darken and the Jonin to look away. "You were thinking about him again, weren't you?" Hinata asks,
"Can you blame me?" Koemi asks, "He's just...I can't even describe it-you should understand, you're the same way with Naruto."
"You go me there," Hinata says, "But your's lives rather far away, making any relationship impossible."
"We'd find a way arond that," Koemi defends, "It would just take some planning,"
"And many letters," Hinata adds,
"True," Koemi agrees, "But he's smart like that, we'd be able to figure it out...at least if we both put our heads together."
"Well, if you two do end up getting together, I really hope you find a way around that." Hinata wishes,
"Right...same with you and your timidity for Naruto," Koemi says, "Now I better get going, I'm gonna see how my garden's faired with my time away."
"Alright, see you around Koemi," Hinata says,
"Same with you," Koemi responds as she walks away,