A/N: Hello everyone! I loved all of the reviews and I almost threw up a rainbow from happiness! Ahem.. Anyways!
Thanks to...
REVIEWS -
Tough chick - *bows* thank you very much for the review! And I'm glad you thought it was funny! I didn't want this to be an emo, scary story . That'd be weird. Anyway, I love you and I hope you continue to read and review!
Eternal Cat Moon - Thanks for the review! And I always thank everyone! I'd feel awful if I didn't. Whoa... Thank you for all of this! Your questions really have helped me and they're the reason I got so far in this chapter! Here, have this chapter as a present. Don't tell the other readers. It's a secret. Either way, I loved the questions, but.. I haven't really gotten that far into the story to answer all of them... . A shame I can't tell you all the answers... You'll find out eventually :) Anyways, I hope you continue to read, review, be alive, breath, go pee, walk, all that jazz :) I love you!
sushiunicorn - Awwww :) Thank you! Here's the next chapter! You can roll around in it if you like. How do you like your sushi...? ... Weird question . Anyways! Thank you for the review, and the love. I got the second one in a package in the mail. Thanks.
spiritgem94 - Thanks! Now I'll always thank my reviewers in-story! I love making things personal and not robotic. Hence the weird comments all the time.
HE IS WAYYYYY OVER THE TOP! I haven't been keeping up with the manga, but I honestly wish I was. I know he's definitely a drama queen, though. He needs to get that stick out of his butt and skip back into Konoha with a pink T-shirt on that says, "I love you!" Then I'd really love him. A lot. Anyways! Lol! Yes.. He will be ignored sometimes.. just for punishment.. Mwuahahahahaha... *cough* anyways! Kotone?
She isn't supposed to be too scary, but I'm glad she is :) ... I hope that part about the sex change and mixture thing is a compliment.. . But I'm kinda happy you said that! Hahahahaha!
Awww.. I'm glad. But.. here's a secret... she's not human. . . Shhh. It's a secret.
Hiromi DOES get really strong. But for now, she's the cutie with the crush on Neji :) I'm so glad you thought that was cute! I want your opinion on ALL my characters! It'd be my birthday present :) Despite the fact it's in September.. *cough*
Shika is in this chapter :) Let's squeal over him together.
FAVORITING -
Osanai Yume - Thank you very much for favoriting! I love you!
Psycho17 - Thanks! ... I'm already running out of things to say... umm.. Happy Hinata Day.
Izola - I WUB YU. CAL ME. ... Haha. That's humorous.
ALERTS -
J e l l o - J u m p e r - Hahahaha.. That's a funny username :) I like it. Anyways, thanks!
-:-
If I forgot you, I will give you a toy sword to smack me with. Repeatedly.
-:-
DISCLAIMER -
KNOCK KNOCK!
*sigh* Who's there?
I don't own Naruto or anything like that. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction... And I'd make Gaara have a naked scene each episode... Hehehehehe.. And Sasuke would get his own little section too.. And Shika... And Naruto.. And Sai.. And Kiba.. And Kakashi.. And Iruka..
W-wait! What about the joke? Knock knock? That thing?
And Shino.. And Shino's dad.. And Neji.. And Rock Lee..
WHAT IS GOING ON?
-:-
Enjoy this chapter! :) Read, review, and hugs!
Reviews are like videogames that have the coolest thing ever on them and everyone buys them.
Flames will be picked up, looked at, then put back down.
POV - ?
-:-
Laughter.
Angry, hysterical laughter.
It filled the wet cavern and echoed back to the one who caused it.
"Poor, poor Akivi.."
Pale fingers that are so white they appear a light blue, brush against the surface of the water.
"Poor, poor Lady Arisu.."
Long white hair was so long that it fanned out in the water.
"Poor, poor.."
Cat-like black eyes squint at the water in amusement.
"Princess Amaterasu."
Laughter ensued.
POV change - Hanako
-:-
The dark-haired beauty flopped backwards onto the chair, letting out a sigh.
"I'm so glad they all went willingly.. If they hadn't, I would've had to push them all in there."
She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head there.
"And now I don't have to deal with them for another few days.. How.." She yawned before continuing, "wonderful."
There was a chuckle from across the room and the jounin looked up with an owlish stare.
It soon transformed into a happy expression as she patted the chair beside her, "Ah, Kakashi-kun."
The silver-haired man fell back into the chair laxly, "Hey, Hanako."
The young lady stretched her arms and grinned, "How are your students?"
Kakashi closed his eyes, his expression hidden partially by his mask.
"Fine, I suppose.. I've got Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha on my team."
Hanako hummed.
"What an odd team."
"You're one to speak. Don't you have a certain Arakawa?"
. . .
. . .
"She's different than her parents, I think. It's hard to tell with.."
. . .
"The eyes?"
The dark-haired woman sighed, "Yes.. But I suppose 'you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit', neh?"
Kakashi opened his uncovered eye and stared at his friend before closing it again.
"How are you doing? Have you been visiting the doctor?"
There was a haughty 'humph' before Hanako replied, "No. I don't need one. Just because I've got some mood swings doesn't mean I have a disorder."
There was an uncomfortable silence until Kakashi replied.
"I'll take you there if you let me."
His friend jounin had a tint of red in her cheeks.
. . .
. . .
. . .
"Okay.."
POV change - Hiromi
-:-
The three genin walked into the room in silence.
When they entered, a weight was placed on all of their shoulders.
Hiromi's knees were shaking.
"W-why are.. there so many people? Wh-why ar-are they all glaring at us?"
Maiko shoved her hands in her pockets, "Who cares! If they want to be (curse.) they can be (curse.)."
Hiromi turned red, "M-maiko-chan! Don't say that! It's rude!"
. . .
Kotone's eyes raked over the crowd of people before landing back on her own team.
"We should approach our fellow rookie genin."
"Huh?" Maiko raised a pierced a brow.
Hiromi followed her friend's eyes to a few fellow students and squeaked, "Oh, look! Everyone's here!"
The blonde grabbed her friend's hands and yanked them towards the group.
"Hi, everyone!" She smiled.
Hinata dared a small smile, "H-hi, Hiromi.."
Her teammate, Shino (she talked to him a lot, despite the fact that he never replied) sent her a respectful nod.
Kiba, though, sent her a charming smirk (NO. She did NOT think he was charming. Goodness.).
"Yo! Didn't think you'd make it, Hiromi!"
The blonde crossed her arms and sent him her own beautiful smile, "Don't you worry about me! My team and I trained really hard."
Her dark-haired friend still teased her, closing one eye and crossing his arms behind his head, "Hmm? Do you think you can become a chunin?"
Hiromi scratched the back of her head, "Uhh, I don't know about that.. But I'm here, so I guess I should do my best.."
Maiko barked out a laugh and smacked her hard on the back, "What she means, Kiba-baka, is that we're gonna kick your (curse.) and become the best chunin you've ever seen!"
Hiromi blushed, "Well, I didn't really mean tha-"
Kiba laughed loudly and was about to reply, but Akamaru barked instead.
Maiko glared at the lightly colored dog before scoffing, "I hate dogs."
Her blonde friend gasped, "Why? Akamaru is adorable and he wouldn't hurt a fly!"
Kiba sweat-dropped, "Hiromi.. He's my fighting partner.."
The girl ignored him and shook her tomboy friend softly, "Don't tell me you're a cat person! I love dogs! Oh, Maiko! Why not dogs?"
Maiko frowned, "I just don't like them. I don't like cats either. I'm more of a bird person."
. . . . .
The shaking subsided.
. . . . .
"Birds, Maiko?"
The green-haired girl turned and stuck her tongue out at Ino.
"Yeah! I like birds! Nothing's wrong with that!"
The annoying blonde doubled over laughing and Hiromi stood with a surprised, owlish expression.
"You-.. Ha-ha! A bird person? Ha-ha-ha!"
Maiko smacked Ino upside the head, "Shut up, (curse.)! I just don't like dogs or cats and I like birds! Go back to your Sasuke!"
Ino backed away, rubbing her head, "He's not even here, stupid!"
The green-haired tomboy pointed to the door, "Surprise, (curse.)."
When the light blonde skipped away, Hiromi giggled.
Maiko frowned, "Gunna laugh at my liking to birds, too?"
She shook her head, "No. I just think it's cute that you like them."
The tomboy scoffed then turned to Kotone, "What's your favorite animal?"
The pale girl turned her gaze from the people at the front of the room to her teammate.
"I have no favorite animal."
Hiromi put a finger to her chin, "I guess I understand that.. I guess I really like dogs because I was born in the year of the Dog.. Oh!"
Maiko raised a brow, "Hm?"
The blonde smiled softly, "All the rookie genin are here.. Wow."
Team 14 turned towards the front of the room and surprisingly, there was Team 7.
Hiromi stifled a giggle when she saw Ino latched onto Sasuke.
I feel kinda sorry for him..
His cold eyes connected with Kotone's and the anger in them intensified.
Hiromi frowned.
Sometimes.
POV change - Maiko
-:-
The girl smiled a sideways smile at her two best friends.
Choji continued eating and Shikamaru sent a glance.
"Well? Let's go greet 'em! Gotta make sure Naruto doesn't (curse.) his pants, right?"
Her friend with the spiky ponytail frowned, "Midoriiro no atama."
The tomboy crossed her arms, "What?"
"Don't curse."
"Shut up and let's go."
She grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and pulled him towards Team 7, watching in amusement as Ino assaulted Sasuke.
"Wazzup, noobies?"
Her lazy friend stumbled behind her and blinked lazily at the team in front of him.
"What, are you guys going to take this troublesome exam, too?"
Naruto blinked back at him before smiling and pointing, "Hey, it's the idiot trio."
Maiko reached forward to punch him, but Shikamaru kept her back.
"Stop calling us that. How annoying."
His green-haired friend scoffed, "Not like you're one to talk! Your team has not only Sasuke, but also Sakura! And oh, not to mention, Naruto Uzumaki!"
Before the blonde boy could reply, a soft voice, as sweet as a fairy's, sang, "Hi, everyone!"
Hiromi approached, Kiba and his team close behind him.
Maiko's eye twitched.
He was a little too close.
He smirked and gave off his own greeting, "Yeah! Found you guys! So I see that everyone is here."
The blonde girl with him bowed respectfully to every one of the genin and Hinata Hyuuga whispered out her own greeting.
"Hello.."
Naruto looked her in the eye and Maiko rolled her own eyes when Hinata blushed furiously.
Stupid shy people.
Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed Kiba grumpily, "What? So you three made it, too? Geez."
Maiko smacked him upside the head, "Of course we're all here, idiot."
Kiba smirked, "I see, so all nine rookies this year are going to take the exam."
Hiromi giggled, "I hope we all get to do our best."
Akamaru barked in agreement and the blonde smiled softly.
"How far do you think we can get, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba asked with a competitive stare.
The Uchiha turned his gaze to the boy and his dog.
It was as cold as ice, but with a hint of the flame of fight.
"You seem to be confident, Kiba." He replied coolly.
"We trained like hell. We won't lose to you."
Hiromi crossed her arms, "Don't be so sure of yourself. We all trained hard."
Maiko raised a fist and growled, "Shut up, Kiba! Listen to your girlfriend! We all trained like hell, but Team 14 will still kick your (curse.)!"
Kiba's cheeks were tinted a light pink now, but he wasn't the only one.
Hiromi shook her head, her light bangs bouncing lightly.
"Maiko-chan.."
Naruto stepped into the conversation, "Yeah! Putting Sasuke aside, I won't lose to you!"
The green-haired tomboy pretended to gag herself and was swatted by Hiromi.
The shy Hyuuga pressed her forefingers together, stuttering, "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun didn't mean it that way.."
Her voice, though, failed her and her obnoxious crush stepped closer, "What?"
The girl turned right red and looked away, causing Kiba to send her a curious look.
Maiko rolled her odd eyes again and turned back towards her friends.
And almost burst out laughing when she saw Choji eyeing Akamaru hungrily.
She stifled her giggles by covering her mouth with her hand, but still watched, tears forming in her eyes when the large genin took a few steps closer to the lightly colored beast.
Before he could reach his target, Shino stepped in his way and Choji eyed him angrily.
"What?"
Maiko glanced at the ground and saw a bug, groaning, "Why was this class filled with weird people?"
Hiromi swatted her gently, "Don't be rude."
Kotone watched the bug for a moment before returning to staring into people's souls.
"Don't step on him" Shino said smoothly, not even flinching at the strangeness of his own words.
Choji raised a brow, "Huh?"
The boy with the sunglasses turned towards the larger and repeated, "I said don't step on him."
. . .
Maiko smirked.
Looks like a fight is coming on..
. . .
"You're going to eat it?"
The green-haired girl barked out a laugh and Hiromi covered her mouth to giggle girlishly.
Kotone stared at Choji.
. . .
"Hey, you guys."
The multiple genin turned and stared as a young man, a few years older than them, approached, pushing up his glasses.
"You should quiet down a little."
His silver hair was tied back in a girly ponytail and Maiko made a face at him.
Something... just didn't seem right.
He didn't seem normal.
. . .
Not human.
POV change - Kotone
-:-
She didn't know him, but Master did.
"So you're the nine rookies that just graduated from the academy, right?"
The pale girl stared at him emotionlessly.
His black eyes met with hers without a speck of fear.
"You're all goofing off with those kiddy faces. Geez, this isn't a field trip."
Kotone continued to stare at him, and he stared back.
. . .
Ino Yamanaka's annoyingly high voice broke the silence, "Who are you to tell us that?"
The silver-haired man turned his gaze away from Kotone and to the light haired girl, "I am Yakushi Kabuto. Look around you..."
The snow-white girl didn't turn.
She already knew all the others were staring at them.
She had already performed an analysis of the entire room.
"The ones behind you are from the Hidden Village of Rain. They have a short temper. Everyone is tense since it's right before the exam. I warned you so that you won't get picked on." Kabuto explained.
Kotone didn't break her soul-razing glaze from the man's black eyes.
. . .
. . .
The silver-haired man sighed, "I guess it can't be helped though, since you are just rookies who don't know much. It makes me remember the old me. "
The pale girl felt her team's eyes on her.
They knew she was filled with information.
"Well-" Maiko began, but she stopped.
Silence engulfed them again until Sakura decided to speak up.
"Kabuto-san, was it?"
"Yes."
"Is this your second time taking the exam?"
The man pushed his glasses up, "Well, no. It's my seventh."
. . .
"This exam only takes place twice every year and this is my fourth year."
Sakura spoke again, Kotone suddenly finding her voice similar to Ino's, "That means you know a lot about this exam, right?"
The silver-haired genin nodded.
"So you must be an expert on it, Kabuto-san!" Naruto said positively.
Shikamaru grumbled, "But he's failed each time."
The awkward man scratched the back of his head, "Y-yeah.. I guess that's true."
The genin with the spiky dark ponytail groaned, "Is the Chunin Exam that hard? This is getting even more troublesome.."
Maiko smacked him upside the head, "You'll be fine."
Kabuto smiled, "Maybe I should give my naïve underclassmen some advice, then," he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, "with these."
Kotone stared them down.
They were bright orange with green trimming and a random kanji in the middle.
Sakura raised a pink brow, "Cards?"
The man with the glasses nodded, "Really, it's just a card that has information burned on it using my chakra."
He knelt down on the ground and placed his brightly colored cards in front of him.
"For the past four years, I've been collecting information. There's around two hundred cards."
He flipped the top card over to reveal a side of nothing, poking the center with his middle finger.
"It looks blank, but in order to get the information from it.."
He stopped speaking and twirled the card in a repeated circle.
. . .
Maiko coughed, "What the heck are you doing?"
Kabuto glanced at her, seemingly irritated, but answered anyway, "It's made so that you can't see anything without my chakra. Like this."
He formed a hand seal near his face and suddenly, the card was engulfed in smoke.
When it reappeared, Kotone recognized it as a map, with a few holographic bars rising from each country.
Hiromi gasped, "Wow! What is that?"
Kotone blinked, "A map of our lands. According to my analysis, the bars are representing the total number of participants from each country."
The silver-haired man with glasses stared before grinning slightly, "That's right. Tell me, why do you think we do the Chunin Exam together?"
Kotone replied quickly and without breaking eye contact with him, "To deepen our relationships with the other countries. Without these ties there would be more wars and battles and hostility. According to my information, they say the variety of participants will amplify the level of all other participants."
Her fellow genin stared at her blankly.
She was.. a genius?
No. Much too lifeless.
She'd be proud if she was a genius..
What was she?
Sasuke stared curiously, yet angrily into her eyes, "That is what they say?"
Kabuto nodded, "Yes.. The real purpose is to confirm the level of the other ninja and balance out the power..."
. . .
Kotone peered at Maiko and Hiromi.
The tomboy was standing with a bored, impatient expression.
The blonde stared, enchanted, at Kabuto.
She looked back at the silver-haired nerd.
. . .
Everything the man with the glasses said, she already knew.
She was a highly intelligent being.
Kotone didn't need to rehear all of it, but she wasn't going to complai-
"Are there any cards that have specific information on certain ninja?" Sasuke asked, taking a step towards Kabuto.
The man smirked knowingly, "Yes.. Is there someone that interests you?"
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and Kotone stared at the cards, "Yeah."
Kabuto straightened his deck before replying, "The information of this year's participants aren't perfect, but I've got it."
Kotone stared deeply into his eyes.
What if he had information on her?
What if her Master betrayed her?
Was.. he here?
. . .
He smiled creepily, "There's some information on you as well."
Kotone did not look away.
He continued, "Just tell me whatever you know about the person."
Sasuke cleared his throat.
"Gaara from the Hidden Village of Sand."
What if he knew too much?
"Rock Lee from Konoha."
That knowing smirk.. What if it was for her?
"And Kotone Kimiko from Konoha."
Maiko and Hiromi blinked before glancing at each other then there teammate, who stared blankly into nothing.
Kabuto sighed, "Oh well.. That's not fun. You even know their names. This won't even take that much time."
. . .
He sliced his hand across the air.
. . .
Kotone stared at the cards, in the back of her mind imagining them disappearing into thin air and the pathetic man hobbling away with his ridiculous glasses.
The thought (no, the emotion) caused her to feel a malevolent pain in all of her limbs.
She covered her mouth and spat out some blood before calmly looking back at the silver-haired man.
. . .
He had drawn three cards.
. . .
One for Gaara.
. . .
"Here we go."
. . .
One for Rock Lee.
. . .
"Show me."
. . .
And one for Kotone.
. . .
The silence was filled with the sound of Choji eating relentlessly at his chips (was there no end to them?).
"First.."
Kotone stiffened, not realizing it.
"Rock Lee."
Kabuto spun the card again until a chart and a picture of a genin appeared on it.
The information about Rock Lee that Kotone already knew was crammed back into her head as the man spoke, but she swallowed up every bit, trying to savor the passing time.
He laid down another card and the pale girl froze once again.
"Next.."
. . .
. . .
"Gaara of the Desert."
He repeated the cycle, but this time, it was ripe, fresh information about the genin she had not yet consumed.
"Mission experience.. eight C-ranks and.. wow! He did a B-rank mission as a genin!"
More.
"He is a foreign ninja.. and it's his first time taking the exam so I don't have much info on him."
MORE!
"But.. It seems that he has returned from all of his mission unharmed."
Kotone felt her teammate's stares on her back.
She never got injured during missions.
Not even training.
A few people tossed in comments, but Kotone was lost in another world.
She was next. She knew it.
Whatever this man knew didn't matter as long as she kept quiet.
"Who is he..?"
Kotone watched as Kabuto placed another card down and almost fell to the ground when she saw that it was a map and not her own picture.
She now felt Sasuke's glare on her.
. . .
You got lucky.
"Yes, my Lord."
No one heard the muttered reply except for one.
Don't let it happen again.
A snap occurred in her arm and she only blinked.
. . .
Her arm was broken.
. . .
Again.
. . .
"Yes, my Lord."
POV change - Maiko
-:-
This guy had been talking FOREVER.
She didn't even care about all this crap! She just wanted to find a seat and take whatever test they were taking.
Maiko leaned backwards on her heels and eyed the crowd of older genin.
What a bunch of old coots.
When she saw him place all his ugly cards back in a perfect little deck, she perked up.
"You finished chattering?"
Shikamaru nudged her with his elbow.
Kabuto poked his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose and smiled, "Well, yes, I am."
Maiko stretched, "Good! I just want to find a seat and take whatever test thing this is so I can kick some butt!"
Hiromi sighed, "Maiko-chan.. Did you not hear? All these places are strong! And.. well.."
The tomboy waved a hand around nonchalantly, "Who cares? We can still kick (curse.), right? Then let's do it!"
The blonde sighed, "But.. All these people .. are the top elites!"
Maiko smirked, "Then let's be better."
Her friend's soul slipped out of her body comically.
"It's ... not that easy.."
She supposed everyone was nervous except for her and Shikamaru.
Even Naruto had hidden his face and his shoulders were shaking.
"Yo, Naruto! Don't tell me you're scared!"
The bright blonde suddenly spun around with a battle cry and pointed towards the ugly crowd of other genin.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm not going to lose to any of you!"
Maiko stared into the crowd with a smirk.
"Huh.. That sounds like you're saying you can beat me, Naruto.."
The blonde crossed his arms behind his head, "Heck yeah!"
The tomboy snarled, "I'll be the first to punch your lights out if there's a free-for-all, Naruto! So when you're lookin' up at me from the hospital bed, I can't promise I won't spit in your face!"
Hiromi swatted her, "Maiko-chan! That isn't kind!"
"Who care-"
The genin stopped when she saw a tuft of red in the crowd.
. . .
It was Gaara.
. . .
And his evil, teal eyes were boring right into Kotone's skull.
. . .
. . .
And she was staring right back.
A/N: Yes. I do not curse in my stories. It's just not necessary. And I'm being watched .
Please tell me any complaints, compliments, and suggestions. I love feedback and opinions!
Also, I'm really sorry this was so short. I was just tired. And I still need to brainstorm and sit in my chair and sip coffee. That's how I get ideas. I drink really sweet coffee in my Snuggie.
*cough*
Anyway~! Bye!
