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Chuunin Exam Part I: The Written Test

Saya took her seat in the middle of the room and noticed that the proctor was Konoha's torture specialist. He was there that night...the night Kakashi-sensei saved her. She smiled softly to herself and looked around the room. All the Genins were filing in. Gaara entered with the two other sand ninja and she couldn't help but stare. Not out of fear, but curiosity. She wanted to know more about him. Not study him like some experiment, but actually talk to him. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon her and their eyes locked. His eyes showed constant pain. She flashed him a small smile and his look turned to one of confusion. Then she turned back around and stared at her desk. Gaara stared at the brown haired girl sitting in the middle of the room. Had she just smiled at him? No…she must have seen someone else. He looked behind him but no one was there. Did he know her? Yes…Ryohei…Saya Ryohei was her name. He met her back in that alleyway with that Uchiha, the pink haired girl, and that annoying boy. She hadn't spoken but he had waited to hear her name anyway. She was the only one of the group including his siblings who didn't show fear towards him. He didn't feel any fear radiating off her body whatsoever. Even the Uchiha kid had some panic and uncertainty running through his body. Not that girl though. He shook it off, taking a seat as the first part of the exam began. She could tell that Naruto was panicking. He wasn't good with written tests. She looked at the problems and sighed. These would take a while. She made a face when she realized they were almost all math questions. Math was her worst enemy so far. She was good at many things but she just flat out sucked at math. She racked her brain as much as she cared to, and soon she had figured out a way to cheat. It looked like one kid in the class was good at math. He was writing away not stopping his pen once. He was her target. She closed her eyes and pictured the boy in her head. When she opened her eyes they were brown like the boy's. She looked at her paper and saw all the answers already there. She started writing. That was one of her cooler moves. Mirror Eye Image was what she called it. It was her own technique that no one knew of. She had made it up herself, but Kakashi helped her perfect it. He was impressed with her that day. She had made him proud. The move consisted of her "sharing" the eyes of those she wanted. For example, just now, the boy who was writing away was still writing, but his pupils were white. Saya could now see everything the boy was seeing. It could work visa versa and she could give the boy her eyes to share so he could see what she was seeing. If she wanted, she could take over his eyes and make them do what she wanted. She could make every person here look like they were cheating until her group was the last group left. She wasn't like that though. Right now she didn't have to do anything but look quietly at her paper. The boy was doing all the work by just looking down and writing the answers. She finished the test when he did. She put her pencil down and her eyes went back to their green color. She would let her other teammates try it on their own. They would be angry with her for interfering. Soon the proctor stopped the test and explained the tenth question. Saya stayed seated. She was calm. If one of her teammates stood that would be okay with her. She would not be angry with them. She saw Naruto stand and had to admit she was a little surprised. She thought he would be the last to stand up. Then he said he would never give up because he would be the next Hokage one day. Saya smiled to herself. That was his dream and she believed it would come true one day. He sure was determined. Then there was a crash and Anko-sensei came crashing through the window. She announced that she was the second examiner and that they would start tomorrow at the gates of the Forest of Death. Everyone filed out of the room quietly waiting for tomorrow.

Chuunin Exam Part II: The Forest of Death

They were all waiting at the gates of the Forest of Death. It would begin shortly. Saya was sitting on a boulder cross legged when Sakura walked up to her.

"Are you scared?" she asked quietly.

Saya shook her head.

"No…not so much scared…more nervous. Forest's have bugs in them…and I HATE bugs. So you might see the girly side of me come out…"

She laughed aloud, poking fun at her own fear. This caused Sakura to laugh out loud as well. This brought attention towards them, as other Genins looked at them. Two girls laughing just before going into the Forest of Death? Something was off there. The two girls hushed their laughing and resorted to snickering quietly. Sasuke walked up to them.

"They want us to sign this paper because apparently many of us are not coming out of this forest."

Saya sighed loudly.

"It's their insurance policy?"

This caused Sasuke to smirk.

"Something to that effect."

They all signed and gave in the papers. Then they were off. It didn't take long to run into trouble. A huge blast came bounding towards them and Saya shoved Naruto out of the way of the blast.

"Sai-chan!" was the last thing she heard before darkness clouded her head.

When she woke up, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were no where in sight. She was alone. She also had the Scroll of Heaven. They still needed the Earth Scroll. Now she was separated from them. She didn't realize how far the blast had thrown her until she looked up and realized the tower wasn't that far away. Holy crap! That blast flung me so freaking far from the others. I'm lucky I'm not dead! She was scratched up and her clothes were torn up some but no serious damage. She got up and looked around. Should I go try to find the others? Should I stay here and wait for them? Maybe I could try to look for the Earth Scroll by myself. She chuckled to herself quietly. Yeah, and get killed in the process!She walked in the direction of the tower. She had the Heaven Scroll so she would just start walking towards the tower just in case they did get an Earth Scroll she would be there waiting. It wasn't long before Grass ninja spotted her.

"Hey there Leaf ninja. Are you lost?"

Saya stopped walking and looked up at them.

"No…I'm walking to the tower. That's the destination."

The Grass ninja glared at her. There were three of them and one of her but she remained calm.

"Are you getting smart with us?"

They drew their kunai and got in their fighting stances. Saya held up her hands.

"How was what I said getting smart with you? I really am walking to the tower. I wasn't lying to you," she said calmly and a little confused that they were now angry with her because of her honesty.

This just made them angrier. She drew a kunai and prepared herself but the hits never came. Sand was all she saw. A lot of sand surrounded her and threw her to the side roughly. She fell with a thud and looked up to see the three sand ninja in front of her. The sand had thrown her behind them. She sat up and looked at the Grass ninja. The one who looked like the leader stepped forward. He started to speak but Gaara wasn't interested. The Grass ninja leader opened up these umbrellas and needles shot out of them coming towards Gaara. Sand quickly covered up his body in a shield like wall. Gaara walked towards one of the umbrellas and pulled it up over his head. Then his sand grabbed the leader of the Grass ninja and constricted him until the sand crushed his body. Saya heard a sickening pop and blood showered down on them all. Saya's eyes widened as drops of blood hit her face. The other two Grass ninja dropped their Earth Scroll and started to run away, but Gaara's sand was too quick for them and killed them instantaneously as well. Saya stared at Gaara who didn't move from his spot. The sand picked up the Earth Scroll and Saya stood. The Earth Scroll fell into Gaara's hand and Saya stared at it. She already had the Scroll of Heaven. She needed the Earth Scroll. Gaara finally looked up at her. She locked eyes with him. Temari and Kankuro walked past them and began to leave.

"Come on Gaara, let's go."

Gaara didn't move.

"You need an Earth Scroll Ryohei Saya."

He saw her surprised look but that was all he saw. Still, he did not see the fear in her that showed in everyone else when they came across him.

"Hai, I do need an Earth Scroll…but it would be rude to ask you for yours after you did all that work to obtain it."

It was his turn to be surprised.

"I don't need an Earth Scroll…I already have one."

Saya looked at him trying to see where he was going with this.

"Oh, so then you don't need that one? Why did you bother killing those Grass ninja if you already had both scrolls?"

Gaara looked at her questioningly. She didn't flinch when I had killed the ninja. Now she is talking with me like she would talk with anyone else. Does she not know what I am? Why isn't she scared of me? Saya decided to be bold and speak up again.

"May I have the extra Earth Scroll? If it is not of any use to you…I'd be happy to take it off your hands…" she said flashing a smile that was totally directed towards him and no one else.

His eyes widened for a brief moment but then he regained his composure. He held out the Earth Scroll, much to the dismay of his two other partners and, of course, the three Genin in the bushes witnessing all this. Hinata, Shino, and Kiba with Akamaru stood still behind the bushes still trying to take in the whole scene. They were scared for Saya but she seemed calm so they just watched.

"If you want the Earth Scroll then take it from me."

Now everyone was scared. His two partners turned back around to watch the scene before them.

"C-come on Gaara just give her the s-scroll and let's get going," Kankuro stuttered.

Gaara glared at him.

"Shut up. If she wants the scroll then she will take it from me."

Saya thought he was playing with her at first. She didn't like those types of games. Sasuke would play those games and she always threatened him with pain if he did it again. It would be no different if Gaara did it. She walked forward not hesitating once with her strides and reached for the scroll grabbing it softly. Gaara didn't let go, but instead stared at her as if trying to pick her apart and study her. She did not pull the scroll from him but waited for him to let go. When he didn't, she figured she would break the ice with a little humor.

"You know…in order for this little exchange to work…you have to let go of the scroll," she said sarcastically, smiling and making her eyes sparkle.

Gaara's eyes widened and he let go of the scroll. Saya put it away in her pouch and smiled again.

"Arigato, Gaara-kun…"

These words made time stop. Had she just referred to Gaara as a friend? He couldn't hide his shock. His partners were shaking in fear and the Genin in the bushes froze up.

"What…what did you just say?" he asked focusing his stern eyes on her.

She looked at him confused.

"I-I said thank you."

Gaara remained stoic.

"No, what did you call me?"

Saya smiled unsurely.

"I called you Gaara-kun…what…I cannot refer to you as a friend? You did save me… and you gave me something I needed. Is that not what a friend does for another?"

Gaara didn't answer her, but turned around and began to walk away. His two partners stared at Saya and then followed, leaving Saya utterly confused. Sometime later her teammates showed up looking depressed. They did not have the Earth Scroll and that meant they failed. Saya smiled brightly and ran up to them with both scrolls. They almost tackled her to the ground. She definitely missed a lot. Sasuke was acting all weird and Sakura now had short hair! Naruto was the same as always. They entered the tower proudly and the third part of the exam began!

Chuunin Exam Part III: The Preliminaries/the Tournament

Now the tournament began. They all fought in the Preliminaries and now the real thing was happening. It took one month to prepare and now everyone was ready. Sasuke and Kakashi were still out training and no where to be found. Everyone was sitting and waiting. Lee was in the hospital last time she checked on him. Gaara had really messed him up in the preliminaries. She hadn't run into Gaara lately. Now there they were all standing, ready for the matches. The fights were going by quickly and Saya noticed the Kazekage sitting by the Hokage high up in the stands. Gaara would be fighting Sasuke and Saya didn't like it. She looked up as Sasuke arrived with Kakashi, grabbing the attention of the crowd. When the fight started Saya felt that something was wrong. She couldn't pinpoint it but she knew something bad was going to happen. Sasuke had just broken through Gaara's armor and now Gaara was screaming in pain. She had never heard him scream like that. It frightened her. Everything happened so fast after that. There were explosions and Gaara was being taken away and Sasuke was chasing after him and the Hokage was being held hostage by the Kazekage and everyone was falling asleep and a giant three headed snake was crashing through Konoha. Before she got her bearings, she jumped up after Sasuke. She would be backup if need be. All she knew was that she would not let Gaara or Sasuke die. It didn't take long for her to catch up to Sasuke, who by then was already fighting a half transformed Gaara. Saya's eyes widened. Gaara had the Shukaku within him? Maybe I shouldn't interfere… she thought, but soon realized she would have to, because Sasuke was down and Gaara was about to kill him. She jumped from branch to branch and grabbed Sasuke bringing him to another branch. Gaara looked at her. She realized he wasn't himself and she, just like everyone else, was his prey. She jumped out of the way of another smashing branch. This was going to be tough.

"Gaara, why are you doing this?!" she yelled.

"Don't give in to it! Fight it, don't let it control you!"

He seemed to go into his own world, probably reflecting on a memory or something. It bought her time to get Sasuke out of the way. Sasuke tried to speak, but instead coughed and shook. She saw the cursed seal on his neck and looked down at him.

"You really are a pain in the ass, you know that!" she yelled half seriously.

Gaara went to attack again but this time Naruto blocked the tail. Gaara was now full Shukaku and Naruto was scared. Saya stood by Sasuke and Sakura, who was pinned against a tree by a mound of sand, while Naruto fought Gaara. It was a long fight and Saya saw the end soon. Just as she predicted both boys fell from their beasts and fell to the ground. She ran to them both to see if they were okay. She saw Naruto worming his way towards Gaara and Gaara looked pretty scared. She stepped in between them and knelt down near Naruto.

"It's okay Naruto…they're both safe."

Naruto, after hearing this, let his head fall as he passed out. Saya looked at Gaara who still lay on the floor looking at her and Naruto. His eyes were wide and he looked afraid. She regarded him politely and smiled softly. His eyes widened more and he spoke only two words.

"I-I'm sorry…" Saya was surprised but she smiled tiredly at him.

"Don't worry about it."

Then his siblings came and took him away. She thought that was the last she would see of Gaara. Man, was she wrong!

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