Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

Chapter Six

"…Did you tell them?" A lone boy stood in front of a grave, not bothering to look up. He merely sat in silence for a moment, trying to decide whether he would acknowledge the question with an answer.

"…Kakashi-san, I know you can hear me."

"…What would you do if I did?" The young boy turned back to the burgundy haired girl behind him as he raised a brow. He watched intently as several different emotions rolled through the 9 year old.

"…I wouldn't be upset with you—if that's what you're thinking." Kakashi's eye widened at that as he turned to fully face his companion. "I wouldn't blame you if you did say anything."

"Karibi—"

"So this is her grave?" Changing the subject, the young girl stepped forward, not bothering to meet Kakashi's single gaze. She merely stared down at the name as her gaze softened.

Rin Koharu.

"Pretty name," she said softly as she knelt down and placed the flower she had been holding in her hand into the stone vase. Kakashi said nothing and merely watched her as she stood back up, closing her eyes in prayer before turning and walking away.

"…I didn't say anything." Karibi's eyes widened as she swiftly twisted around to look at Kakashi. He met her gaze with an unreadable expression as he shook his head. "I haven't told anyone."

"…Thank you."

*Two Months Before*

"The remainder of you have all passed the first part of the exam." The written portion had been somewhat difficult, but somehow, 10 teams had successfully gone on to the second part of the test.

And that had included Karibi, Hayase and Hana.

"To announce the second part of the exam will be—"

"That would be me." Everyone's gaze floated towards the voice in the corner of the examination room. The genin watched with shock and a bit of fear as a figured stepped out of the wall, a smirk dancing across the proctor's face.

"Taochi-kun, I have it from here." Said man scoffed as he watched the rather flashy woman completely separate herself from the wall, smirking devilishly at all the remaining students.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Natsuki Uchiha, and I will be your proctor for this upcoming exam." Karibi had heard rumors, but she had never actually met someone of the Uchiha clan. She had read about their abilities and about their Sharingan eye, and she had to say—she was a bit envious of their abilities.

Watching with awe, Karibi's eyes nearly shined as she watched the confident woman smirk and flip her black hair over her shoulder, letting the waves cascade down her back and to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her dark eyes glanced around the room, evaluating each of the passing genin before her gaze fell on Karibi. The young girl nearly choked under the penetrating gaze before the woman tore her eyes away, smiling cheekily to the students.

"The next part of the chunin exam will take place in the…" she trailed off, wanting to prolong the suspense for as long as she possibly could. "…The Forest of Death." The 28 year old tried not to laugh at the way a chill fell over the room, the color from the genins' faces draining.

"I will notify your team jonin on where and when you are to meet tomorrow. Be sure to be on time," she snapped as she approached Taochi's side. "Whoever shows up late is automatically disqualified." Hana and Hayase immediately glared at Karibi as she smiled weakly to her teammates; she'd have to set her alarm a few minutes earlier.

"Alright then! Congratulations to all of you!" Natsuki clapped her hands together as she and Taochi glanced at one another. "You're all dismissed!"

§

He still had nightmares about Rin. He couldn't seem to move past what had happened.

What he had done to her.

Staring down at his hand, Kakashi waited quietly for Minato, the man now returning from a meeting. The jonin looked over his shoulder as he watched the Fourth walk into the office with a masked ANBU member behind him. The blond said nothing and merely nodded before his loyal shinobi nodded, disappearing as he jumped into the air and out the window.

"Doing well, Kakashi?"

"Yes, Minato-sensei."

Kakashi watched as the man took a seat at his desk before pulling out two scrolls. He glanced from one to another before he smiled, nodding to himself and holding out the red scroll to his former student. The masked young man nodded as he opened the scroll and read through it before a curious gleam began to shine in his eyes.

"This is going to be my next mission?"

"That's right," Minato stated with a smile. "I need someone I trust to give me an unbiased report about the upcoming chunin and their progress. With the treaty between Konohagakure and Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage is going to be coming and attending as a judge for this last part of the chunin exam. I want to show him that we have nothing but strong and aspiring ninja in the leaf," the Hokage stated evenly as Kakashi's gaze softened.

He understood the man's reasoning, but did it have to be him?

"Once that job is done, I'll have a new mission waiting for you," Minato assured as Kakashi simply nodded before he bowed, turning and walking out of the room.

§

Karibi hadn't been able to sleep at all. She was so full of energy and so anxious, sleeping was the last thing that was on her mind.

Tip-toeing out of her room, the young Uzumaki quietly shut her door, but as she did so, the light switched on in the kitchen, making her stiffen. "If you're going to compete in the next part of the chunin exam, you're going to have to do better than that, Karibi." Said girl laughed sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, Kushina standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed and a knowing look on her face.

"I thought you were sleeping."

"And I thought you were sleeping too," Kushina shot back playfully as Karibi giggled before she approached her guardian. The woman held out a small bowl of the genin's favorite candy before they sat down at the table.

"…You seem antsy," Kushina pointed out as the young girl shrugged, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"I'm just excited."

"…I was like that too when I was your age," Kushina began with a smile. "Always trying to put on a brave face…but in the end, you're just wasting too much time trying to fool everyone into thinking you're something that you're not…rather than doing that, I should have just focused on actually becoming the person I wanted to be." Kushina met Karibi's stunned face as she smiled.

"Don't be so nervous. You've made it this far, which is really something for someone your age," Kushina stated, Karibi relaxing before she began to smile.

"…Thank you, Kushina-neechan."

"Mmhmm." Said woman smiled happily before she leaned over the table, picking out a treat from the young girl's bowl.

"Hey!"

"A ninja should always know how to share."

"I never learned that in the academy." The two laughed before sitting on the couch together, falling asleep as the sun began to rise.

§

"This next part of the exam is simple!" Natsuki marched back-and-forth in front of the line of genin as she held her hands behind her back in a strict and professional manner. "In the middle of the forest there's a scroll. One team protects it, and the other tries to steal it. You can use whatever method you need to in order to steal or stop the other team from stealing." Each of the genin listened carefully to the instruction that were given to them.

"Not only will there be the opposite team to worry about, but there will be several chunin dispatched throughout the forest who will try and take the scroll from you as well." Natsuki hummed at the nervous murmurs that echoed through the silence. "You'll each be given four hours to get or protect the scroll. Whichever team is empty-handed is the loser and will not be moving on to the next and final part of the exam."

Karibi could feel her hands clamming up but she made sure to stay focused; she had come to far to go back now. She glanced at Hayase and Hana as they looked back at, shooting her a small smile before they turned their attention back to the proctor.

"Do any of you have any questions?" As a hand rose into the air, Natsuki clapped her hands, ignoring the genin completely. "That's great! Ok! Teams will be randomly chosen to face one another!" Looking back, Natsuki narrowed her eyes, though she kept her expression the same.

"A fellow jonin will be calling out teams. When your team is called out, make sure you're ready. The Forest of Death waits for no one."

Karibi had been rather calm and collected, but the moment her amethyst eyes met a single dark eye, her composure had nearly cracked.

What was Kakashi doing there?

"The first team that will be up is Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Kurenai Yuhei." The three leaf shinobi approached Kakashi, the jonin nodding before he glanced over at Kurenai and gave her a lingering gaze. She smiled at him and nodded before Kakashi explained their role in the exam. Karibi watched curiously as the three disappeared through the gates of the forest before the young jonin called out another team. "Mikomi Rinha, Usami Kamizuru and Aiko Kamizuru." Karibi narrowed her eyes at the Iwagakure ninja but kept her composure as the three approached Kakashi. She watched them carefully, the jonin of the leaf muttering to them before they nodded, walking through the gates of the forest of death.

"The clock starts now!" Natsuki announced over a microphone as she smirked. "Remember. You have approximately four hours! Make them count."

"…Now what?" a young boy asked from a distance as the Uchiha glanced over at him. She shrugged as she began to walk away.

"Now you wait."

The first four hours had been easy to burn through. Karibi had kept herself busy with little games with Hayase and Hana to pass the time. And when the winners of that round had been called off, Karibi had thought that they would be lucky and be called next; they weren't.

"Chiru Akimichi, Maiko Kurama and Itsu Honotarou." Karibi glanced at Hayase and Hana, the pair keeping their eyes on Kakashi. "Rintarou Yotsuki, Tsubaki Kaisen and Amiki." Although they had to wait another four hours, Karibi tried to stay positive.

But then a-whole-nother four hours had passed, and she had been sure she was going to die.

"Hana Inuzuka, Hayase Nara and Karibi Uzumaki." The three lit up as they immediately hopped to their feet, rushing up to the silver haired jonin. He glanced at the first two before his eyes fell on Karibi, who smiled happily at him.

"Hey there, Kakashi!" Hayase and Hana blinked at their teammate, surprised she knew someone as renown in the ninja world as the young Hatake. He was a jonin after all, when had he the time to mingle with someone like Karibi?

"You guys know each other?" Hayase inquired curiously. Before Karibi could answer, the masked 12 year old shot a look to the young boy.

"Why don't we keep the useless questions to a minimum." The jonin ignored the fuming genin as Karibi sighed with a weak smile; she shouldn't have expected anything else from the masked boy.

"You three are in charge of guarding the scroll. It's located in the center of the forest. A chunin will lead you to it. Once you've arrived I'll send in the next team, and from their on, you're on your own."

"Right!"

"Now don't waste any time." Kakashi watched as the three made their way into the forest. His gaze lingered on Karibi as she stepped through the entryway. He stiffened as she looked back at him and then smiled before throwing a wink in his direction.

And then they were gone.

Scoffing, the jonin shook his head but stopped as he stared down at the next names. He frowned as he glanced up. "Rinko Hozuki, Asuka Hozuki and Tsuichi Hozuki." Twins and their eldest brother.

Kakashi watched as the three mist ninja approached him with smirks across their lips. He kept his composure as he examined them carefully; just by first-glance he could tell they were powerful.

"You three are to retrieve the scroll. Like Uchiha-san said, anything goes. You've got four hours."

"That should be easy enough," the youngest—Rinko—said as she began to tie her black hair up. The boy beside her, who was obviously her twin brother, merely nodded as he began to lead the way, the eldest of the three sighing with his hands behind his head.

"Lets just get this over with."

They were cocky. But Kakashi didn't doubt that they had reason to be. And that was a bit unsettling for him. After all, Minato had entrusted Karibi's safety to him months ago.

And he was still watching over her.

§

The forest was dark, with barely any sunlight coming in through the leaves. The trees with thick as well as the humidity. The grass was still slightly damp from the morning dew, toes aching from the slight coldness they felt with every step.

Karibi frowned as she hugged herself, glancing around the woods; there was something ominous about the place. She winced as she bumped into Hana's back, the older girl glancing back at her teammate with an exasperated stare. Karibi silently smiled sheepishly before the brown haired girl quietly chortled and turned back around to face the chunin leading them to the scroll.

"You are not to touch the scroll," he began. "The scroll stays exactly where it is on the pedestal. If you try and move it—we'll know." The three nodded at that.

"If we can't touch it or move it, how are we supposed to protect it?" Hayase asked as the chunin shrugged.

"Figure it out." And with that, he disappeared.

"…Damn it," Hayase snapped as he shook his head, his two other teammates joining him as they stared down at the scroll.

"I wonder who we'll be facing," Karibi said as Hana smirked.

"I can—"

"Alright!" The three stiffened as Natsuki-sensei's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Your time starts now! You've got exactly four hours. Whoever has the scroll when the timer goes off wins. Good luck!"

"How are we going to know where they're coming from?" Hayase asked quietly as he took a step closer to the scroll. Karibi shook her head as she turned to the pedestal.

"First thing's first. We have to find a way to guard the scroll without having to move or touch it."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" the male of the team inquired as Karibi glanced at Hana, who frowned.

"Well…Karibi, would you be able to create a barrier around the scroll? In case the three of us are unable to keep our eye on the scroll, at least the barrier will hold off whoever comes our way."

"Right. I think I can do that!" Kushina had taught Karibi well in fuinjutsu. Although the young girl had prior knowledge on a few jutsu, Kushina had opened a door to a whole new world for her. She was still a bit rusty on a few of the techniques, but a barrier was something she could manage.

"While you're doing that, I'll flush out the enemy," Hana stated as Hayase raised a brow.

"How?" Hana smirked as she pulled out a kunai, pricking the tip of her index finger before she began to form hand signs. Karibi and Hayase watched in admiration as Hana planted her hand on to the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Consumed by a cloud of smoke, Hana smirked to herself as her teammates watched quietly.

"..Whoa…" There, stood three gray and white dogs.

"That's amazing!" Karibi grinned as she approached the dogs, the three sniffing her carefully before allowing her to pet them.

"This way, I'll be able to know who's coming and from where. We'll sat up a perimeter and I'll have each of my nin-dogs guard one side of it."

"You sure your dogs can handle a job like—ah!" Hayase quickly sought shelter behind Karibi as the youngest of the team laughed, the dogs growling and bearing their teeth to the boy. "N—Never mind!"

§

Just as Hana had said, she had gone with her three dogs, setting up a perimeter around the scroll. Hayase waited patiently; his expertise was more with ninjutsu and taijutsu. All the while, Karibi had created a stone barrier around the scroll. She smiled proudly down at her work as she looked over at Hayase.

"Haya-chan! Come over here!"

"What is it?" the young man asked as he leaned over Karibi's shoulder. The girl pointed to the barrier as she moved aside.

"I want to make sure this will hold."

"Right." With a swiftness that Karibi envied, Hayase gracefully created hand signs before his arm began to turn a dark shade of brown.

"Earth Style: Iron Skin!" Pulling his fist back, Hayase thrust forward as hard as he could, his eyes widening when the barrier did not yield to him. He blinked before trying once more; he had failed again.

"Nice work, Karibi," Hayase stated as he released his jutsu, his arm fading back to its normal color. The girl smiled proudly as she nodded.

"No one will be getting past that barrier—"

"Hey!" The pair turned around as they watched Hana emerge from the trees. "I've just finished up setting the perimeter." Immediately, Hayase and Karibi felt a disturbance in the air. They stared at Hana as Karibi frowned before forcing a smile across her lips.

"How is it?"

"It's perfect. We should be able to guard the scroll…is something wrong?" Hayase took a step in front of Karibi as he glared at the person in front of him.

"Who are you?"

"Wh—What?" The girl gave the two teammates a flustered stare as she took a step towards them. "What are you taking about, Hayase?"

"You heard me!" he snapped as the boy glared icily. "Who the hell are you?"

Karibi stood silently as she stared at Hana; just by the way this stranger's chakra flowed, she could tell it was not Hana. The girl still feigned confusion as she crossed her arms. "I seriously don't know—" Without warning, Hayase darted forward with a kunai at the ready. The young woman released a surprised yelp before she quickly blocked his attack with her own kunai, glaring back at him.

"What are you doing?!" she snapped as Hayase merely growled.

"You're an imposter."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, Yes you are!"

"Get a hold of yourself, you idiot!"

Karibi's frown deepened as she watched the two intently. Looking into Hana's eyes, she could see the sincerity and the honesty; she was telling the truth. But that wasn't Hana. The young girl was sure of it. But then, how could that be? She moved like Hana, sounded like Hana—if it hadn't been for the strange chakra it would have been nearly impossible to tell the difference.

But then, Karibi thought harder.

Her eyes widened as she placed her hands together, locking her hands together, she held up her index finger and middle finger. "Release!" The haziness in her mind vanished as the young girl blinked; Hayase was alone.

"Hayase!" she called before her body stiffened. She quickly span around and glared as she quickly pulled out two kunai with attached paper bombs to the end. Throwing them with accuracy, Karibi watched as the shadow lingering by the protected scroll leaped away from the explosions.

"Hayase! It's genjutsu!" she yelled; he couldn't hear her. Turning, the young genin began to run towards her teammate, but before she could reach out to him, several balls of force hit her, knocking her to the ground. Having not expected the attack, Karibi yelled out when she hit the ground, wincing.

"Water Balloon Jutsu!" The 8 year old groaned as she carefully sat up. She blinked as she glanced down at herself; she was nearly soaked.

"Look, kid. I just want to make this quick. There is no reason that this has to drag on for four hours." Karibi blinked as she looked up and watched as a black haired genin appeared from the trees. She stared in awe for a moment, the sun just glinting off of his mist forehead protector and nearly blinding her.

"I won't let you take it!" Karibi snapped as she quickly stood to her feet, jumping back and landing just before the scroll. She glanced around her enemy as she frowned; Hayase was still under the genjutsu.

"You can't beat me, kid."

"And how can you be so sure?" Karibi snapped in return.

"Because." Without another word, the tall boy appeared in front of her, his fist pulled back. Karibi's eyes caught on quickly to his movements as she raised her left arm in order to swat his fist away with her forearm. She smirked as she made contact with his arm, but her eyes widened.

In that moment, time seemed to slow. Karibi watched in astonishment as the boy's arm suddenly melded into water, her arm going straight through his.

In seconds, the boy's arm solidified, his fist colliding with her cheek. Karibi cried out as she stumbled back, falling to the ground; she hadn't been expecting that. She panted as she carefully sat up, raising her hand to her cheek. Wincing, she pulled her hand away from her face; that was going to swell.

"That's how I know."


An inside look at the chunin exams :) I'm not 100% sure how exactly the chunin exams work. I looked it up and did my research though, so I hope that my portrayal of the exams isn't terrible. And the beginning scene of this chapter will be explained, for those of you who read this and got confused. I will be returning to that scene, and it will all make sense in the future! There's also Hana and Hayase, who will be included more and more in this story since they are apart of Karibi's team! And although there hasn't been much of him, Kakashi will become a more present character as this story moves forward, so that is something to look forward to!

Thank you for reading this story so far. I truly do appreciate everyone taking the time out of their day to give this a shot :D I hope that it has met everyone's expectations, and if not, I will work harder! I appreciate everyone reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! And I can only hope that my effort shows through the story itself, because I truly have been working my butt off! Thanks, again!

NOTICE: I just actually spoke with a reader, and I have discovered an error in my story! Karibi's teammate, Hana, I initially thought she was 24 when Naruto first starts due to a false source, but I've just now discovered and found that she's actually 18 years old. That was my mistake, 100% so I'm truly sorry about that! I hope that readers will continue to read even though I've made that mistake. For this story only Hana will be 12 years old during the chunin exams. Sorry again! Such a silly mistake on my part, but that is the only error so please continue on and I hope you enjoy this chapter and story still! I'll be working even harder now!

Reviews:

GlaresThatKill: I'm really glad to hear that you're ready for the chunin exams! The next few chapters will be centered around that, and readers are going to get a closer look at just what Karibi is actually capable of as a ninja! And just like you thought, yes, this portion of the story is going to be about Karibi's past. The story is split into parts, or more like it's going to be split into parts. So this first part is just the beginning where the history of Karibi and such is explained! And yes, there is definitely going to be more Kakashi/Karibi stuff going on in the future :) So there's that to look forward to! Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope that you enjoy the next chapter! Thank you!

anime zzz: This chapter is sort of like the beginning of seeing more of Karibi's character. More points about her past are going to be explained for readers and then there's also going to be more Kakashi and Karibi moments, so just bear with me until we get there! I'm relieved that you like seeing Minato and Kushina! I know they're not in the anime all that much, but I've done my best to write them in-character and I've done my best to not sully their name XD Hopefully it shows!

forever - a i n e: Welcome to the Naruto fandom then, forever - a i n e! I hope you're enjoying it LOL So glad you stopped by here and read this story! I'm glad that you are giving this a shot. I've put lots of thought and lots of work into this story and I'm going to continue to work hard on it! Thank you for the really kind words about this story :) I'll hopefully be updating soon again, but I'm not sure quite when that will be. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and any other chapters to come! Thank you, again!

helenGet: I'm very glad you think this is good so far. Like I said, there's a lot more to come with this story, so hopefully you'll keep enjoying and keep reading! I'll do my best to update quickly and to create entertaining work! Thank you for reviewing and reading and following! :) I really am glad to hear you like this!