Hey all! You made it to the next chapter and thank you for reading thus far. Here is the next installment of Protect Me. I hope you enjoy it and thank you mistofan for your review, I hope this chapter makes you smile because it sure made me do so.

-Otakucraze

Chapter 4

"See what I mean Obito-kun, it isn't big at all" Ukime said as she did her pathetic attempt at the Goukakyuu no Jutsu and Obito nodded his head in concentration

"You need to collect the chakra in your lungs before you blow out, and you also need to make an o with your fingers to better direct it" Obito said with surety, since he had learned and successfully completed the jutsu a full two months before

"Okay" Ukime said before focusing and going through the hand seals with ease and practice before collecting the chakra in her lungs and letting it fly, a surprised squeak of joy escaping her lips as she saw the large fireball she had created and without truly thinking jumped up and down before attacking the Uchiha boy in a hug. "Thank you!" She said before her brain caught up with her movements and in a flash she let go of the surprised and happy boy to look down, a smile still on her face as her face flushed bright red in embarrassment. Obito scratched the back of his neck nervously before asking

"So, you hungry?"

"We ate an hour ago Obito-kun" Ukime said in confusion and Obito began to blush as he grinned sheepishly.

"Hahaha, you're right" He said "Uhh, what were your plans for tonight then?"

"I was going to train for the Chuunin Exams" Ukime said quietly, still not looking into Obito's eyes and he looked at her in shock

"The Chuunin Exams are coming up?"

"Yeah didn't your sensei tell you?" Ukime asked in confusion, sure that if she was being nominated that Obito would. Obito looked determined before flashing the girl a grin

"I am going to go find Minato-sensei now" He said before waving and dashing through the trees. Ukime shrugged at the boy's behavior and opened her book, once again practicing the seals necessary to do each of them and memorizing them before going to the next one before she felt confident to actually accomplice each of the jutsus.

Standing up, looking away from the book she went through the well practiced seals before saying "Suiton: Mizurappa (Violent Water Wave)" and watching in almost absolute glee as a strong jet of water spurted from her mouth. Letting a grin to appear on her face she went to her next jutsu "Fuuton: Reppushou (Gale Wind Palm)" she said as she outstretched her palm and watched the strong gale come from it, knocking down a few trees while it made itself known. Kakashi jumped and landed awkwardly in front of her. Ukime's eyes widened in shock. Kakashi stood slowly, feeling rather awkward as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "S-sorry" She said softly "If I had known you were there I would have aimed elsewhere" Kakashi looked away from her, still embarrassed that he got caught watching her, and by complete accident as well.

"It's alright" he said, still not looking at her. "Practicing?" He asked

"Yes, for the Chuunin Exams" She said quietly, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the situation.

"With jutsu like those you hold a good chance of becoming a Chuunin" He said, a blush forming on his cheeks as he said it, though Ukime didn't notice it because of his mask

"You really think so?" Ukime said "Because my sensei doesn't think so"

"I noticed" Kakashi said, now looking at the girl after building up enough courage. "Though with what you undoubtedly showed him of your skill anyone could think that" A small smile formed on her lips as she had to agree with him.

"I just hope I get paired to fight against Hidoi-san" She said

"Why?" Kakashi asked, slightly intrigued

"Because he does the same thing every single time he fights me, and after so many spars with him I know exactly what I need to do to counter his moves and how to beat him" Ukime said, impressing the masked boy "Gai-san is who I am worried about fighting" she said, her gaze falling to the ground. Kakashi looked at this girl of whom he would never had looked twice at, never would have even thought about talking to, if it weren't for Obito. She was silently strong and intelligent, and did not boast about it, she would rather stay silent on the sidelines forming plans and unleashing them at the proper moment than going right out and risk the failure from an inopportune moment. She was proving herself to be an excellent kunoichi that people would sorely underestimate. He smiled lightly under his mask, once again thinking that he would have never met her without the help of Obito.

"He mainly uses Taijutsu, so if you can get something else to fight him then you should be fine" Kakashi mused, thinking back at his last fight with the boy in question

"Like a Genjutsu maybe" Ukime mused to herself, surprising Kakashi once more with her intelligence. Curious about her response he asked her

"Do you know of any Raiton Justus?" Kakashi asked and Ukime thought for a moment

"I never tried one before"

"What is your chakra element?" Kakashi asked and watched Ukime shrug. He sighed a bit before saying "My chakra element is Lightning, if you want I can show you a Raiton jutsu that could prove to be useful" He suggested in his monotone voice, watching in fascination as a light shock filled her expressed itself on her face before changing to gratitude.

"I-I would be honored to learn a jutsu from you" Ukime stuttered and Kakashi smiled to himself

"These are the seals" He said as he slowly showed the girl and watched as she memorized them before doing the seals herself, not doing anything else until the seals flowed gracefully from her fingertips as well as naturally, almost second nature. Looking up to get the next step Kakashi explained what she had to do to her chakra to make the jutsu work properly.

"Good job" Kakashi said in his monotone voice and Ukime smiled at him as she completed the jutsu successfully. He had to admit he was proud of her, and by the looks of it, she was proud of herself. "Would you like to get something to eat?" He asked, a slight tinge of pink forming on his cheeks as he asked and Ukime paused a moment before the smile faded from her face and she looked down. Kakashi chewed on his lip for a moment "My treat for completing the jutsu perfectly" He said as an excuse to have her eat with him. He wanted to know more about her, she was so intriguing to him. That and the thought that of Obito's face when he saw the two eating together would be well worth every penny he would spend on the girl's meal.

"S-sure" she said looking up to his steel gray eyes. Kakashi allowed an unseen smile to show on his face as the two walked to downtown Konoha.

"Korean Barbeque?" Kakashi asked

"I- I" she stuttered and Kakashi looked at her

"You what?" Kakashi asked, curious to her answer

"I was in the mood for udon actually, if you don't mind" Ukime stammered out and Kakashi smiled at her, of course not really allowing her to know he was smiling

"I haven't had udon in awhile" Kakashi mused to himself and allowed himself to quickly glimpse at her face to see that she was smiling silently to herself.

Ukime and her team arrived at the academy and she could instantly feel the hatred coming off Hidoi in waves. Strategically ignoring him the team headed to room 301 and waited patiently for the first exam to begin. Ukime sat down in the chair marked 32 and spent her time studying the Genin that entered the room. She studied the hitai-ate, their composure, and attempted to determine what type of jutsus they would be good at while blatantly ignoring Hidoi's complaints that she was not good enough to even be considered for Chuunin. Ukime smiled slightly when Rin and Obito entered the room and allowed herself to wave lightly at the boy who bounded over in his excitement. Obito sat down next to Ukime and gushed

"This is so exciting" Ukime smiled at his response as she kept an eye on the other opponents, making sure that she displayed nothing to them other than her alliance with Konoha, which was only what her hitai-ate declared and yelled loudly. The only thing bringing any attention to herself was Obito as he yapped loudly and happily about how he was going to make Chuunin. Ukime nodded at the appropriate time as she struggled to pay attention to both her opponent's actions and what Obito was saying.

The proctor for the first part of the exam crashed through the window, scaring everyone, his wild red hair swaying every which way, looking much like a lion's mane as his grin only showed pointed teeth. The man looked wild, as his eyes surveyed all the Genin who had variations of shock written on their faces

"CONSTANT VILIGANCE!" the man yelled in a booming voice. "Alright brats" he said, still smiling, his hair glinting like a flame "Grab a number and piece of paper and sit where directed" He said and the Genin hopefuls did as they were told. Ukime got the number 43 and went to the middle row and sat down, the paper was completely blank and she sat patiently. "The rules are simple, you answer all the questions on the test, if anyone is caught cheating three times they, as well as their team, are disqualified" He said, still grinning insanely, Ukime could feel Hidoi's glare and watched him mouth "Do not screw up" Ukime rolled her eyes "No talking, begin" he yelled and did the seal for the tiger and questions formed on the paper.

Ukime's mind reeled as information formed in her mind

What did he mean by caught cheating three times…? Are you supposed to cheat? Ukime asked herself Whatever questions I can't get I will figure out how to find, for now just focus on the questions, I should know the answers to some of them Ukime decided as she went over the questions, grinning as she realized she had read the material not too long ago as she scribbled down the answers, hoping that her team as well as Obito would pass this section

"Times up" The man roared and with the seal of the snake the test disappeared. Ukime looked around, she had been so focused that she hadn't noticed who had left and realized she was one of the final 50.

A blast occurred near the insane looking man and kunai were thrown towards the remaining Genin participants in waves. Ukime grabbed a kunai to deflect the onslaught as did some of the others, while others climbed under the table.

"42, 63, 12, 39, 16" The man said "If I called your number you fail for lacking CONSTANT VILIGANCE!" his voice shook the walls "The remaining Genin will go to training ground number 44, dismissed" he said, grinning and Ukime looked at her teammates, happy that she was still a contender, and that Obito and Rin were as well.

The remaining Genin waited outside the gated area and Ukime began studying the remaining Genin once more. Opting to sit on a tree branch as she did so, just to farther out of sight and therefore out of everyone else's radar. Ukime saw Obito and Rin come up and she smiled lightly just as the second proctor let himself be known.

"Listen up!" He yelled, this man had cuts and scars galore and he wore them proudly. Ukime had a smidgen of respect for him and hoped to one day be able to do the same with her scars. "For this test you all will be required to do this test individually, so please sign one of these permission slips and I will explain the test further." He said, his voice quivered with the authority he had and his eyes dashed around as if to see everyone, and to dignify a threat if need be. Ukime landed silently and took a permission slip and didn't bother reading it, and signed the bottom waiting for further instructions. "Go into that little hut over there and take a scroll, you will be given either the heaven or the earth scroll. Whichever one you don't have you will need to find." He said "But be aware that your other opponents are not the only thing you need to worry about" he said as a deadly grin shone through his features "This forest is called the forest of death, and this forest is the source of all your nightmares. Besides each other you will meet oversized creatures whose existence is known only by killing Genin." He watched as shivers went down the spines of some of the Genin "You have five days to find the building at the center and not die" he said and motioned for the Genin to get a scroll

"Ukime" Obito said, beckoning her over to him and she complied "When we are in the forest we should pair up and help each other, that way we can protect each other and get the remaining scrolls we need easier" he whispered and Rin nodded. Ukime smiled, Obito had read her mind, and he was right, for this test you needed to be in a team, even if you are required to go individually.