It was a warm, sunny day and the hidden ninja village of Konoha was bustling with people. This was the day of the Chuunin Exams and spectators, ninja, and prospective chuunin had come from all over. The main streets were so crowded that the street itself could barely even be seen. The only things anyone talked about were the participants and how the matches could possibly play out.
"Won't this be amazing?" A pair of young ninja shouldered their way through the large crowd outside the exams to a less populated side street. "I mean, sure, I've been to the exams before, but this time we're actually going to be in it!" The girl squealed with delight, but the boy walking with her sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. The girl rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "Oh, please. I know you're excited."
The boy looked over at her from the corner of his eyes and shrugged. "Not really, Rei." He smirked. "And you think you know me." He stopped and leaned against a wooden post.
The grin disappeared from the girl's face. "You're such a liar, Shikamaru." With another eye roll she left, leaving him to his laziness that seemed almost selfish sometimes. She could practically feel his eyes on her back as he watched her walk away. A trace of guilt tugged at her conscience, but she soon stuffed it back down. It's not like she was harsh at all. He heard stuff like that from her all the time, anyway. If he wasn't used to it by now, he never would be.
In an attempt to get that frustrating boy out of her mind, Rei searched the crowds for any familiar heads. She stood on her toes next to a building, using the wall to better balance herself. It was times like this that she wished she was just a little taller. Someone a ways to her left shouted suddenly, sparking a smile on the young ninja's face. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Naruto!" Rei cupped her hands around her mouth. "Over here!"
The knucklehead looked around, thinking he heard his name. It didn't take him long to see the pair of arms waving above the heads of the people passing by. He pushed and shoved his way through them until finally he made his way over to Rei. Naruto gave off a big cheesy grin, and she returned it perfectly, causing a slight pink tint to appear on the hardheaded genin's cheeks. He'd had a bit of a thing for her since their days in the academy. It had always been stronger than what he felt for Sakura, and ever since he and Rei and become close friends, the feelings had only increased.
"Hey, Naruto. Are you as excited as I am?" Her enthusiasm radiated from her, another reason she and Naruto were such good friends. They complemented each other rather well.
"You bet!" He flashed quick thumbs up, winning him a smile in return. "You can be sure that I'll win my match, no sweat!"
"I am, Naruto-kun," she smiled. "Come on. I want a good seat." Rei grabbed his wrist and quickly started toward the entrance to where the exams would be held. Naruto stumbled along behind her, still processing the fact that Rei was actually touching him.
Inside, the stadium was steadily filling up with people, the lower half of the stands already almost full. Though most people, especially ninja, were dressed in blacks, whites, and beiges, vibrant colors dotted the crowd. Rei hurried down the set of steps in the section she'd been told to sit in. At the bottom of the stairs and next to the rail she found the familiar faces of fellow genin that she'd been hoping to see. She let go of Naruto and hurried down the steps, taking them two at a time.
The small group of kids turned to see who the new arrival was. Shino nodded in her direction while Sakura and Ino smiled warmly. Kankuro and Temari showed small polite smirks, and Gaara merely glared just as he always did. Rei noticed that Shikamaru barely acknowledged her presence, looking at her for a second until she sent him a sideways glance. Afterward, he just continued talking to Choji about something with serious looks on both their faces. She didn't get much of a chance to think about it before Naruto burst in to the little ring of people.
While Ino was busy yelling at him, telling him to learn some manners, Rei sat on the bottom row of the stands, gripping her knees tightly, her elbows locked. "Nervous?" Looking up, she saw Sakura smiling down at her.
"Yeah, a bit," she admitted with a small smile.
Sakura sat down next to her with a heavy sigh. "I wonder if Sasuke's nervous…" She had an elbow on her knee with her hand under her chin. Rei shook her head with a grin. Sometimes she almost felt sorry for the boy. Almost. All those fan girls… She wasn't a fan girl herself, but at one time she did have a crush on Sasuke for exactly two days. That was all it took her to realize what an antisocial jerk he was.
"I doubt he is." Sakura looked at Rei with a questioning look on her face. "I mean, it's Sasuke. I doubt that somebody that arrogant would be nervous." The humor left Sakura's face as she stood, glaring at Rei. She turned on her heel and stormed off to the other side of the group of genin.
Rei smirked at the girl's attitude. She loved the fact that she could always say something to get Sakura to go away and leave her alone for the next several minutes. It wasn't that she didn't like Sakura. In fact, the two were rather good friends. Rei just didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. A couple times now, she'd seen Shikamaru and Choji glancing over at her during their conversation. More than that, Shikamaru's expression wasn't his normal tired and indifferent appearance. For once, it actually looked like he cared about something. Likewise, Choji didn't have any food in front of him, and was listening to Shikamaru with a somewhat somber look.
"Hmm…" Rei sat up straight, hiding her hands between her legs. She pretended to be looking at the genin in front of her while she quickly and discretely did a few hand signs. As she closed her eyes and lowered her head, her hearing increased sharply. Suddenly, she could hear the thunderous sound of the hundreds of conversations buzzing throughout the stadium. Rei winced slightly. The few times she'd done this jutsu before, it was never in a place this crowded. She struggled to bring her range of hearing down until she could only hear the voices of the people she knew to be within the same area of the stands as her. The noise became much more bearable, and she was able to relax again and straighten her back. Rei began to sort through bits and pieces of conversations until she got to a voice she recognized all too well.
"…else could I do? I can't just walk up to her and say it."
Shikamaru. To hold the jutsu and keep herself focused, Rei breathed as if she was meditating.
"Well, why not? The worst thing she could say is 'sorry, no.'"
"Yeah, and then we'll feel awkward around each other for the rest of time."
"But at least you'd still be friends," the voice that could have only been Choji sighed. "She doesn't seem like the kind to avoid someone because there might be an awkward silence or two."
There was a pause between them during which the other voices mumbled along in the background.
"Why am I even talking to you about this? It's not like you've ever had a girlfriend."
Rei tensed. She'd guessed they were talking about Shikamaru liking some girl, but part of her didn't want to believe it. She didn't know why. It wasn't like she liked him or anything.
"Maybe not, but I have liked girls before. And I never said I was an expert. And you have no room to talk. You're the one who came to me."
"But…no, Choji. You don't get it. Having a girl tell you 'we can still be friends' is like your dog dying and your mom saying you can still keep it."
Rei had to admit it was a pretty good analogy. Even though he was such a bum, Shikamaru was still known for being clever.
"And don't give me any of that 'you'll forever wonder what could have been' stuff. You're not old enough to know."
"I wasn't going to."
There was a crinkling noise like that of a candy wrapper or a bag of chips. It sounded like Choji was starting to get tired of the conversation. A small breeze hit Rei's face as someone passed by, followed by the smell of chocolate. So maybe Choji still had a bit left in him since it wasn't him eating the candy bar.
"So should I tell her or not?"
By now, Rei was pretty much certain Shikamaru was debating over whether or not to tell the girl he liked that he did indeed like her. It seemed alright to her, but for some reason she was feeling increasingly jealous. Was it because she just never really got along with girls as well as guys and if Shikamaru got a girlfriend it would mean having to hang out with a squeaky, annoying, prepubescent girl who actually acted like a squeaky, annoying, prepubescent girl? Oh, the horror… But he wouldn't be into someone like that. Surely not…probably…hopefully…
"I don't know. Would you actually do it?"
"Nah. I'd probably just chicken out."
"You could get someone else to find out if she likes you or not."
"Hmm. That's not a bad idea," Shikamaru said with a small chuckle. "Hey, Choji –"
"Not me. I'm not a messenger."
Rei heard a grunt from her friend. "Fine. Hey, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure." He must have been asking someone else because Choji's voice was lower than that.
Shikamaru hushed his voice. "Can you ask someone if she likes me?"
The other person giggled, but not in a way that made it clear if the voice belonged to a girl or boy. "Who?"
A sudden deafening roar made Rei jump, eyes open wide. She quickly released the jutsu, making her hearing return to normal. All around the stadium, people were on their feet, cheering and shouting. Rei turned her head to try to see who Shikamaru recruited. Even if she didn't catch the lucky lady's name, she could watch that other person to see who they go to talk to. Unfortunately, she was too late. The two boys were back to acting like their usual selves, Shikamaru suddenly half-asleep and Choji buried in a bag of chips.
"Whoa, Rei . . . " Naruto went to where she was sitting alone in the stands surrounded by people standing and cheering in anticipation. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Why –" She realized she was holding her head and squinting from the roaring noise still ringing through her head. "Oh, I'm fine." She let go of her head and pushed herself up out of her seat. "I just got a bit of a headache," she said with a reassuring smile. Regretfully, she wasn't lying, but the splitting pain in her temples was already starting to fade away.
"Oh. Well, I hope it goes away before your match," he whispered with a bit of concern showing on his face. Rei was a little surprised. She didn't think Naruto knew how to whisper.
"Rei! Get over here!" Kiba was turned away from the rail near one of the walls that divided the sections of the stands and waved for her to join him.
Naruto looked panicked. "Kiba, don't yell!" he screamed right next to Rei, making her flinch. "She has a headache!"
"It's . . . fine, Naruto," Rei said as calmly as she could. She weaved through the people who crowded the rail to get a good view.
Kiba pulled her through a couple of people until she could reach the rail herself. "Hey, stranger." Akamaru barked his greeting. "Have you seen Sasuke yet?" he asked, looking over her head at the swarm of people behind her. "I wanna see what happens when there's a no-show."
Rei sighed at his heartlessness. "I haven't. Neither has Sakura, and if she hasn't seen him, he's definitely not here yet."
"True," he smirked. "I'll just listen for squeals of excitement, then."
That comment made her laugh. Kiba always seemed to know how to do it. They'd been neighbors since Rei's parents moved to Konoha from a small village after their daughter started to show promise as a ninja at the age of three. She didn't belong to a noble bloodline. Her parents simply wanted to have a kunoichi daughter to be proud of, and in turn, Rei wanted to be a kunoichi they could be proud of. Her motivation and potential got her placed a year ahead in the academy so that she was in Kiba's class, which made both of them happy.
"Rei," he said, noticing she was off in her own world. "Naruto's match is starting."
"Oh, good." She turned from where she had been staring blankly at the wall and starting shouting for her friend, hoping he'd kick major butt. She didn't really know Neji, but he seemed like a prick.
Right from the start, the punches were flying, mostly from Naruto. Once or twice, the fighting paused. Rei could see that the two were talking, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. The battle went on pretty ordinarily for a while until Rei had to bite her lip. Neji was doing a series of hand signs, and from the looks of it and Naruto's face, it wasn't good news. A few people in the crowd gasped when Naruto was pummeled by Neji's attack. Rei, having been one of the gaspers, looked over at Hinata. Her eyes were big, meaning Neji's attack must have been truly bad news for Naruto. There was another pause in the combat when Rei looked back down, but she only saw Neji. Then, suddenly, Naruto burst out of the ground, landing a solid punch on his opponent. Rei screamed, knowing that at this rate, she wasn't going to have any voice tomorrow. Naruto was declared the winner, and she couldn't have been happier with the outcome.
It was only when she stopped jumping up and down that Rei noticed how much her hands were shaking in nervous anticipation. Kiba noticed, too. "Is that because you're nervous or because you've been jumping around since the match started?"
"I'm pretty sure it's because I'm nervous," she grinned, "but I suppose it could be both." To stop the shaking, she gripped the rail in front of her tightly, but she just started bouncing on her toes. "Kiba, I'll be back in a bit." She left as he nodded, his eyes still fixed on the arena floor, waiting for the next match to start.
Getting up the steps between the rows of benches wasn't too difficult since most people were either sitting or crowded together down at the rail. However, since there wasn't a match going on at the moment, people were getting up and moving around. At the top of the stairs, Rei looked around, taken aback at the amount of people milling around. She shook her head and began carefully picking her way through people until she got to the other side, following the wall until she got to the girl's bathroom. The line stretched so far back that it almost extended out the open doorway. With a heavy sigh, Rei took her place and felt the kunai hanging on her hip to give her hands something to do so that they wouldn't shake too much.
After several minutes and hearing several roars from the crowd watching the match that started while she was away, Rei started washing her hands at the only available sink. She was mad that she was missing a battle, but blaming everyone else for needing to use the bathroom at the same time made her feel a little better. As she left, TenTen walked in. Rei glanced over to her with a small grin since the two were only acquaintances, but TenTen stared a little longer. When they passed each other, Rei looked over her shoulder, feeling a little uneasy because of her.
By the time she was back at Kiba's side, the match was over and the crowd was cheering. "Who was just fighting?" she asked, unable to see the faces of the genin clear on the other side of the arena floor. She didn't recognize the names when he replied, making her happy she hadn't missed anything. "Who's next?" This time, she knew the names, but she didn't really know either person that well. "And then it's me, isn't it?"
Kiba looked over at her with a smile and nodded. "Yep. You'll do fine." He reached over and ruffled her hair.
