Author's Note: Okay, so... how's everyone doing? You good? Yeah, I'm good too. Took me a while to crank this one out, probably because it's the longest chapter to date, filled with character interaction, a few new characters and more of that good ole' Pāka charm. The reason it's so long is... I really wanted to at least get to the second part of the exams, the Forest of Death. I forgot how much happens on the actual exam day, couple that with some flourishes and changes of my own and it makes for a really important part of the story.
But I did it, I finally got to the second part, which you're going to see in full next chapter. These last several chapters have been somewhat of a breather, a chance for everyone to interact with one another and a chance for some characters to grow through some small moments here and there. So, while there won't be any action this chapter, expect things to kick off next chapter. I've planted some quite obvious hints and mentions of just who Pīta's going to run into in the Forest of Death, he's not going to forget any of it anytime soon.
So, with that, let's just get to it already!
Disclaimer: Spider-Man and all related characters are owned by Marvel and in turn, Disney. Naruto and all related characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto, I own nothing.
Deep Breath (Sign Ups)
Silence reigned in the small bedroom of one Pīta Pāka, save for the occasional spark of electricity, exposed wiring and circuitry at his mercy as he worked on them with surgical precision. A magnifying glass lay off to the side, lying on top of scattered rough sketches of incomplete designs and schematics. He hadn't needed to use the aid just yet, instead focusing on the project with his sharp eyes.
Being a spider, Pīta's senses were considerably superior to others, save for the Inuzuka-Clan's powerful sense of smell. He couldn't see through solid walls or anything like that, but could easily spot things a good couple of miles away from him. And not just hazily, as though the image were a blur and he was struggling to make it out. But with complete clarity, down to every minor detail and far off feature.
The brunette was wearing a pair of specially insulated gloves and protective eyewear in the form of goggles, tailored to his tinkering and inventive nature. "Little to the left… there we go, almost done." Pīta murmured to himself, brow furrowed as his precise hands operated on the open casing of some sort of electronic device.
The device in question resembled a tiny, miniature in size, spider. It was red in colour, but even with the bright coat of paint, would've been hard to spot unless a person was actively looking for it. Pīta had been working on it for years, ever since he'd discovered that his spider-sense was actually present on a certain wavelength.
He'd made the discovery by messing around with his aunt's radio, reconfiguring and strengthening the signal, enabling it to reach frequencies it was not supposed to reach. He'd suffered from a particularly bad headache that day, with dizziness and nausea setting in. He'd stayed in bed, his curtains drawn to block out the sunlight, while Aunt Mei kindly brought him piping hot food. It was one of those instances in which he'd taken things a little too far, but the silver lining he'd gotten out of his crazy migraine, was the spider-tracer.
A device specifically designed for the use of tracking things, be it people, objects, whatever he fancied. It worked in a way that when attached to a chosen target, it activated, emitting a frequency that spoke and mingled with his spider-sense. The closer the target, the more intense the buzzing he'd get in the back of his skull and vice versa. Nothing revolutionary but all in all, not bad for a twelve year old.
Pīta switched off the soldering iron he'd been using, placing the tool back in its safety compartment of coiled metal. "That should just about do it, spider-tracer MK 1 is ready to go." The lad boasted, pulling his goggles off and casting them aside.
He picked up the tiny device, careful not to break the years of toil and hard work with his incalculable strength. He took a good long look at the device resembling an articulated spider, the creature of the animal kingdom that gave him his amazing powers. The young genius' proud moment was interrupted as two heartbeats entered his ears, thumping at a steady, even pace.
Pīta quickly pocketed the small invention, storing it in one of the many compartments on his red flak jacket. Quickly pulling his dark blue mask over his jaw and nose, the spider turned to the sliding glass door on the other side of his room. As expected, both Naruto and Sakura dropped in from above, most likely from the latter's apartment, landing deftly on Pīta's balcony.
Naruto waved with a grin, before quickly sliding the door open and waltzing into his bedroom. "Hey, you're up! You know what today is, right?" The blonde eagerly pestered his teammate, approaching the boy as he sat at one of the messiest desks he'd ever seen.
Sakura diligently stepped into his room too, hands held in front of her in quite a reserved manner. She'd never been in his room before, so didn't really know how to act. Looking around, it was relatively tidy, save for the workspace in front of Pīta. A workspace consisting of massive clumps of paper and the occasional scroll, an open toolbox almost brimming with tools and an empty plate.
The red and blue Shinobi arched an eyebrow and appeared quizzical, switching his desk lamp off before standing to his full height. "It's not your birthday, is it?" Pīta queried, confusing Naruto for a solid second.
The messy haired blonde shook his head, his excitement and enthusiasm replaced by surprise. "What? No, today's the day of the Chūnin Exams!" Naruto shot back, reminding his friend of the big event.
Pīta appeared relieved, wiping his forehead with a hidden smirk. "It's a good thing too; I forgot to get you a present." He mocked, moving away from the pair and towards the door of his bedroom.
Sakura had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, was there ever a time when he wasn't cracking jokes?
"You haven't been looking forward to it? It's been all we could talk about all week!" Naruto exclaimed, stunned about his teammate's lack of joy.
Pīta cocked a thumb towards the empty plate on his desk, prompting his blue eyed pal to arch an eyebrow. "I was looking forward to my aunt's pancakes, needless to say, I was not disappointed." The twelve year old jested, though was speaking nothing but truth.
His aunt's pancakes had been absolutely divine…
Naruto turned his head to glance at Sakura; she simply closed her eyes for a moment before waving off his concerns. "You should know by now that he's just teasing, Naruto." The pink haired girl reminded the lad, drawing a shrug out of him.
More often than not, he didn't know when Pīta was messing around or when he was being completely serious. "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Naruto muttered, folding his arms as the spider stuck his head around the frame of his bedroom door.
"Aunt Mei, I'm headed out! Exam time, wish me luck!" Pīta yelled out, his voice carrying downstairs and alerting his guardian.
Mei Pāka stood at the bottom of the stairs, a slightly concerned look etched into her complexion. "All right, Pīta but whatever you do, be careful." She spoke, worry lacing her motherly tone.
Pīta was about to reply when both Naruto and Sakura stuck their heads around the door frame, two heads now floating below his own. "Hi, Ms Pāka!" Naruto beamed, eyes closed and grin splitting his face.
"Good morning, Ms Pāka." Sakura greeted as well, a friendly smile lighting up her face as Pīta rolled his eyes.
Mei nodded her head at the pair, Pīta's little friends and teammates. "Hello, you two. I hope Pīta hasn't been giving you any trouble, I know how difficult he can be." She stated knowingly, earning a muffled groan out of her nephew.
Naruto was the first to answer, his blue eyes flickering away from the woman as he thought. "Now that you mention it…" he wondered, though his muse was discarded as the spider cut in.
Pīta had had just about enough of the niceties, dragging Naruto away from the door with little effort. "Okay, I think that's enough out of you. Chūnin Exams, remember?" The brunette jolted his pal's memory, earning an enthusiastic grin from the ninja.
"Right! We need to get going, it's almost nine!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, turning on his heel to dart straight out of Pīta's room.
The brown eyed Shinobi watched his comrade leap off of his balcony, before booking it himself. "Let's move, Haruno." Pīta remarked, flipping off of his balcony and out of sight.
Sakura nodded before turning back to Mei and smiling brightly, addressing a woman she'd known for most of her life. "We can handle him, Ms Pāka." Sakura assured her neighbour, her mother's friend.
Mei nodded; she knew how sensible the girl was. "Sakura, you've known Pīta since the two of you were little. He's got a good head on his shoulders, but that mouth of his… just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Same goes for Naruto, those two together; it's a recipe for disaster." She claimed, though did purely out of the worry she held for her nephew.
Sakura understood perfectly, she was the one stuck with them. "I'll do my best, Ms Pāka." She left with a friendly wave, crossing Pīta's room and stepping out onto his balcony.
The Kunoichi carefully slid his sliding glass door shut, before she turned and caught sight of her teammates waiting for her at the end of the street. The Academy loomed a few blocks ahead, the exams waiting to be tackled by the youth of Konoha. Sakura was still anxious, though she'd been training with Naruto and Pīta all week long.
With her brow furrowed, she hopped over Pīta's balcony and landed deftly on the concrete below. Pīta had been encouraging her all week, giving her a hand in Taijutsu while they continued to work on his Chakra control. Neither had gotten the hang of it yet, though Sakura actually felt a little tougher than she used to.
The girl attributed that to the numerous sparing sessions with the spider, even though he claimed to have been holding back, he hit tremendously hard. So hard in fact, that it usually only took one blow to floor her. He'd helped her up each time, cracked some kind of a joke before ordering her to charge him again.
Who knows, maybe all of those scrapes and bruises would've paid off in the long run. "You coming or not?!" Naruto called out, his hands around his mouth to propel his obscenely loud voice.
Sakura was shaken from her anxious thoughts, a determined smile on her fair complexion. She didn't answer back, instead breaking into a sprint to close the distance between herself and her impatient teammates. She'd be fine, no doubt. As long as they had her back and she had theirs, there was nothing to worry about.
It was time to face the Chūnin Exams…
The Academy was a complete nightmare, its halls were filled to the brim with aspiring Chūnin, all mashed into each other and desperately trying to get to the third floor of the building. Given the way they were pushing and shoving one another, it was almost as if they'd forgotten how to be a courteous human being and instead devolved into a massive crowd of wild animals.
Sakura was the first to react, emerald eyes widening as the trio entered the building. "Everyone's going crazy; it's like pandemonium in here." She remarked, earning a concurring nod out of Naruto as he too looked upon the scene.
The blonde ninja was having trouble processing everything, he'd never seen so many people in the same place, especially with the way they were crammed together and fighting to move ahead. "Guess the exams have everyone a little… excited," he muttered, stumbling a little as he tried to find the right word to describe the odd sight.
Pīta clicked his tongue; the scene reminded him of something. "Excited ain't the word I'd use, buddy. They're like cattle being corralled… in fact…" The boy arched an eyebrow as he side-eyed his friends, a joke right on the tip of his tongue.
Sakura immediately caught it, she knew that look all too well. "Don't," she bluntly ordered, prompting her friend to raise his hands in defence and shrug.
"What?" Pīta snapped back, a slight chuckle escaping his lips as a grin threatened to crack beneath his mask.
The pink haired Kunoichi folded her arms and glared at him, she was no idiot. "You were going to 'moo'," she accused, frowning further as Pīta struggled to hold his mirth in.
The boy retained his innocence, his chest jittering with every laugh that slipped out of his mouth. "I was not," he responded, weaving his words between the momentary breaks in laughter.
Sakura rolled her eyes; there was no point in denying it when she'd clearly caught him out. "You so were, Pīta." She pressured, causing him to throw his arms out and to the side.
Finally, he relented. "Okay, fine, I was gonna 'moo'. There's my confession, happy? Man, you just wanna suck the joy out of everything." Pīta broke; it hurt his insides trying to hide his chortling.
Sakura simply sighed, was he ever going to take anything seriously?
Naruto on the other hand, who'd been cracking up along with Pīta, turned his attention back to the hustle and bustle before them. "Speaking of joy, race you!" He yelled out, not even giving his two friends the time to accept his challenge.
Sakura placed her hand to her forehead, as if silently asking 'why her?'
Pīta cocked a thumb towards the blonde, who'd already booked it and had begun making his way through the crowd of visiting and fellow Genin alike. "Kids, huh?" He snarked, drawing a furrow of the brow out of Sakura as she pushed past him and followed after Naruto.
"Oh, like you're any better." She responded, drawing a smirk out of the spider as he towed her.
The pair of ninja managed to manoeuvre their way through the dense crowd of packed Genin, having to mutter the occasional 'excuse me', though Pīta opted for the more blunt approach and told the odd Shinobi to 'watch where they were going'. Needless to say, the kid was already receiving a few hard glares by the time he and Sakura reached the third floor of the Academy.
Brunette and pink found blonde, looking upon something with a deep frown. Before either of them enquired as to what was wrong with the lad, a dull thud drew their attention as a boy garbed in green skidded along the glossy wooden floor.
Sent into the waiting arms of a young girl, the boy grunted as the girl checked to see if he was all right. Two Genin blocked the door to what was supposedly room 301, though for some reason, Pīta's spider-sense was telling him that something was off. He glanced back towards the drama and folded his arms; he held a strong dislike for bullies but waited to see how things played out.
"So… you wanna take the Chūnin Exams? Nah, I'm just not seeing it." The first Genin, a brunette with black eyes, stated, not at all impressed with the weak ninja before him.
The second Genin, with his wild black hair and squinted eyes, agreed with a smirk. "I think giving up's a viable option for these guys," he concurred, folding his arms as he looked upon the downed pair.
Pīta's eyes narrowed, he couldn't stand punks that picked on anyone, let alone people that couldn't defend themselves. Though, he also had to wonder. If the boy with the frighteningly shiny bowl hair-cut and the girl with buns in her hair couldn't stand up to fellow Genin, then how were they supposed to manage the Chūnin Exams?
The spider threw that thought aside when the girl rose to her feet, fists balled and a frown on her lips. "Please, we don't want any trouble. Just let us pass, that's all we're asking." She pleaded, approaching the pair bravely.
Pīta felt it before he saw it, the tell-tale tingle of his spider-sense telling him that something bad was about to happen. And the entire point of his spider-sense, at least he thought so, was to either avoid or stop whatever the bad thing was. When the dark haired Genin, with his stupid spiky hair reeled back, Pīta chose to do the latter.
The girl shut her eyes and braced herself for the impact, like she wasn't even going to try and dodge it. The brunette felt a sudden rush of air, which didn't make much sense to her because she was indoors, but waited for the contact to come. When it didn't, she opened her eyes in slight confusion.
Her eyes, dark brown in colour, just like Pīta's, widened a fraction when a red and blue Shinobi was standing in front of her and holding onto the fist that had been intended for her cheek. He was tall, taller than her but standing around the same height as her teammate, the boy in green. She hadn't even noticed his presence, too focused on the two Shinobi blocking her path.
He'd noticed her though, and had decided to act whilst everyone else looked on in surprise and rising interest. "You were gonna hit her? You were gonna hit her… for what? For trying to walk through that door? Is that what you are? Hall monitors? Glorified hall monitors, my, aren't we important." The boy, masked so she couldn't make out his features, accosted.
He was holding the fist like it was nothing, like there was no effort to it and it was simply a formality. "Pīta," the girl heard from behind, and glanced over her shoulder to see a pink haired Kunoichi express concern.
Apparently, the mystery boy's name was Pīta. "I'm busy," he harshly replied, not aimed towards her but it was simply a bi-product of his irritation.
The Genin almost buckled as Pīta tightened his grip, grabbing hold of the guy's wrist in an attempt to make him let go. "Dude, you're breaking my hand! Let go, you're gonna crush it!" He yelled, scratching at the boy's arm frantically.
Pīta felt the lad's bones weaken in his grasp, almost cracking under the pressure. "Doesn't feel good when someone stronger than you decides to pick a fight, does it?" He asked rhetorically, feeling several bones about to snap as they reached they're breaking point.
He wouldn't have admitted it, but there was something satisfying about reducing a bully to a quivering mess. Though, that thought process changed when he felt a gentle hand touch his upper arm, halting him from squeezing any further. Pīta took his fierce gaze off of the Genin to find one of the bully's victims right next to him.
It was the girl, dark brunette hair and dark brown eyes just like him. "Pīta… that's your name, right? Pīta, I need you to let go, okay?" She requested, the light contact on his arm enough to tell her that it was all solid.
His eyes lost their edge, and softened once more. "I just thought—" He attempted to reply, having lost himself a little.
Admittedly, there was something primal about putting a bully in his place. "I know, and I really appreciate it. But it's not worth it; he's not worth it, okay? Just let go, I think he got the message." She pointed out, citing her attacker as he could barely keep himself upright due to the pain.
Pīta agreed, he let himself lose it a little bit. "You're the boss," he muttered, his iron-like grip loosening as the boy wrenched his arm back in sheer agony.
The Genin's pal narrowed his eyes at Pīta, but opted to check on his friend instead of pursuing the conflict further. The spider turned away from the pair, his full attention on the girl by his side. She was short, though stood taller than Sakura. He vaguely remembered both her and her friend, the one with obscenely large eyebrows. They'd been in the class above theirs back at the Academy, so Pīta had to guess that she was older than him.
"Thanks… for defending me," the girl expressed, despite it not being necessary, she was pleased that there was someone who wasn't just willing to stand around.
The thought of not acting did not occur to Pīta, it never would. "I wasn't just gonna stand by and let him hit you," he replied, his voice having lost its edge.
She nodded; it wasn't hard to see that he was the gentlemanly type. "Yeah, I… kinda got that feeling. Your name's Pīta, right?" The thirteen year old queried, earning a curt nod out of her 'rescuer'.
Pīta had completely forgotten about that sudden rush of anger, instead finding himself content as he talked to the girl. "Pīta Pāka, yeah." He introduced himself, extending a gloved hand for the taking.
The girl did just that, finding him loosely gripping her hand, possibly for her benefit. "Tenten Tanaka, guess our parents were fans of alliteration." Tenten joked, as a smile tugged at Pīta's lips, hidden beneath his dark blue mask.
He was staring, he didn't mean to stare but he knew a pretty girl when he saw one. It made him feel kind of bad, silently admiring her. Though, there was a similar look in Tenten's equally brown eyes, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. Naruto and Sakura were kind of at a loss, standing with the crowd as Tenten's green-clad friend hoisted himself to his feet, having been forgotten about.
Pīta hadn't yet withdrawn his hand, though neither had Tenten. "You know, you were really fast on your feet back there." She remarked, impressed by his complete lack of hesitance in coming to her aid.
He nodded, scoffing at the sheer thought of leaving her to fend for herself. "Pretty girl like you, I'd have to be crazy not to be." The Shinobi boldly responded, causing the colour on Tenten's cheeks to intensify and deepen.
Sakura folded her arms as she watched the scene unfold, a slight hint of jealousy dwelling within her as she frowned. She was reminded of the day Pīta called her cute, and was soured because of it. What, did he just go around calling every girl he saw pretty? She didn't know why she felt such a way, but with her brow knotted and a frown present on her lips, it was clear that she did not like it one bit.
Naruto on the other hand, was slightly impressed. "Wow… he works fast," the whisker decorated blonde commented, as if awed by Pīta's bold actions.
Sakura felt her disposition darken, her complexion growing moodier along with it. "Don't encourage him," she mumbled, green eyes fraught with envy.
Surrounding ninja had been watching the event unfold, namely one Sasuke Uchiha and his teammates, Sai Toriyama and Yakumo Kurama. The self-appointed leader of the squad stepped forward, hands firmly hidden in his hoody pockets and an unimpressed line etched into his lips. Frankly, he was getting a little tired of all of the unnecessary drama. He brushed by Sakura, and the girl froze because of it, the sudden appearance of her crush quelling any green feelings she was experiencing.
Sasuke addressed the two Genin blocking the door to room 301, one of them nursing his severely bruised hand. "If the comedian can make this idiot's knees shake, he can't be that tough. We're here for the exams, now step aside before I make you." He threatened, black eyes narrowing as if daring them to challenge him.
The first Genin, the boy who wasn't too busy holding his hand in unbridled pain, retaliated. "Let's see you back that mouth up, wimp!" He yelled, spinning on the spot to lash his leg out.
The kick was aimed squarely at Sasuke's head, but the lad kept his cool as he let his own leg fly in an attempt to block the attack. They were inches away from making contact with one another, when they were suddenly halted in their tracks by the supposed weakling garbed in green. With his unusually large eyes and black, bushy eyebrows, the kid had a thin line on his lips as he held both Sasuke and the Genin's ankle for a split second.
Everybody present gasped at the surprising show of speed, especially from the boy who had been getting the stuffing kicked out of him not moments earlier. His movement had been too fast for anyone to see with the naked eye, well… almost anyone. Due to his enhanced senses, Pīta had followed the green spandex-clad teen's actions with no difficultly. He had to admit that his speed was impressive, but it wasn't anything he couldn't do himself, as evidenced seconds prior.
The oddly looking Genin let go of both ankles, allowing Sasuke to lower his foot and the two bullies to quickly use the distraction to disappear. "I'll dispel the Genjutsu," Yakumo stepped forward and brought her hands together, closing her brown eyes as she performed a hand sign.
A short pulse emanated from her hands, the illusion proving child's play to her. Pīta's spider-sense buzzed and he noticed that the sign that had previously read 'room 301' now read 'room 201', they'd been an entire floor down the entire time, Genjutsu used to dupe them. Sasuke was too preoccupied with staring at the boy in green's arm to really notice it, speculating that he must have had a huge amount of Chakra in his arm to have stopped his kick.
As Naruto and Sakura walked forward to join Pīta once again, Tenten and another boy dressed in a khaki shirt and dark brown shorts joined their green-clad comrade. His hair was dark brunette in colour and long in length, just about reaching the small of his back before it was tied into a loose pony-tail. The most noticeable feature about him though was his light, lavender tinted eyes. It was Neji Hyūga, Hinata's older and much more abrasive cousin.
"That was completely unnecessary," Neji simply droned, frowning as his fellow teammate balled his bandage-wrapped fist and gazed Sakura's way.
Tenten sighed; the two of them were at constant odds with one another despite their comradery. "I had to, I couldn't let others show how strong they were without doing something myself." The boy defended, earning a dismissive wave from the only female member of their team.
Tenten didn't blame him, they'd originally wanted to play things low-key and come off as weak but none of them had expected someone to interfere, least of all almost break one of the Genin's hands. "Cat's out of the bag, doesn't matter now." She chimed, watching as Neji folded his shoulders in displeasure, all the while staring at Pīta.
The boy in green on the other hand, couldn't take his circular eyes off of the cherry blossom in front of him, the most enchanting girl he'd ever met. He'd been watching throughout that entire altercation, studying the way she was completely enveloped by both Sasuke Uchiha and Pīta Pāka. He'd only just been aware of her existence, but it was love at first sight. And the boy wanted to impress her, wanted Sakura to look at him the same way she looked at the other two boys.
With a light blush creeping up on his cheeks, the lad completely blew by Sasuke, much to the kid's dismay and approached Team 7. He stood around Pīta's height and despite his boyish looks, must have been older. He walked confidently, but Pīta saw before he even reached them that he was trembling slightly. Trembling about what, he wasn't sure but the spider wasn't sure he liked the way the kid was staring at Sakura.
With Naruto and Pīta standing on either side of her, the former threw a curious glance the latter's way and received a simple shrug in return. Sakura didn't notice the little back and forth, her green eyes fixated on the boy approaching her, fixated on him because she had no idea what to expect and just who he was.
Eventually, after what felt like frolicking across a fresh, flower-filled meadow, the boy reached her. "Sakura… is that your name?" He simply queried, though was standing perhaps a tad too close for her liking.
He was definitely standing way too close for Pīta's liking, and the lad folded his arms and stuck like glue to Sakura's side. If Lee noticed the little flair, he didn't show it. Instead, he focused his full attention on the pink haired angel in front of him as she dumbly nodded.
Lee felt a swell of courage explode within him, and he grinned because of it. "Mine is Rock Lee and I… I just wanted to say that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met!" His teeth were strikingly white, like shockingly white.
So white it was obscene, practically pinging with whiteness!
Sakura blushed, she hadn't expected it from a complete stranger but it was nice hearing it regardless. "Oh… um… thank you, Lee. That's very sweet of you," she shyly responded, causing Tenten to fold her arms and frown.
Pīta wasn't doing any better, now it was his turn to be jealous. "Wasn't expecting that," he muttered, suddenly finding himself in a little bit of a mood.
Lee on the other hand, felt as though he could've leaped right into space. "Really?! Oh, Sakura! It's settled then, from this point on, you will be my girlfriend!" He exclaimed, stunning Sakura and agitating Pīta.
"What?!" Sakura yelled, apparently having missed something in the little conversation they were sharing.
Lee was taken aback when Sakura backed away from him, receiving a severe case of stink eye from the ninja garbed in red and blue. "Lee, that's sweet of you and all but… we've only just met. I'm not the kind of girl that goes around dating strangers, so… no, Lee, I won't be your girlfriend." After a brief moment to catch her thoughts and calm herself down, Sakura responded quite calmly.
She didn't know him, she didn't know anything about him but he seemed like a nice guy. As such, she didn't want to hurt his feelings and decided to let him down gently. Even with the way she handled the bizarre situation, Lee still appeared disheartened.
He bowed his head as an overwhelming sense of shame hit him in waves, he wasn't doing it right. "As much as it pains me to say… you're right, Sakura. A man should not approach a woman and ask her to go out with him right out of the blue; it is most unchivalrous of him." Lee concluded, his words serving to calm both Sakura and a previously jealous Pīta down.
They both relaxed and Sakura assumed a gentle smile, encouraging Lee to raise his head once more. "I'm glad you understand, Lee. Maybe we could just be friends instead?" She held out a hand and was once again caught off-guard as the boy took it, before bowing in her direction.
"Friends it is, Sakura. I realize now that we need to spend more time with one another, in order to properly learn about each other. It will take time, possibly countless years before I'm ready to once again try and earn your love. Until that time comes, friendship is more than good enough for me." He caved, earning an uneasy smile out of Sakura and a narrow of the eyes from Pīta.
She nodded, taking her hand back before he could kiss it. "Umm… sure, that's fine… I guess." She murmured, watching as he left with a wave to reassume his side by his teammates.
Sakura turned to both Naruto and Pīta, who'd watched the entire exchange as it unfolded. "He comes off a little strong, doesn't he?" She blushed at the attention, how out of left field it had been.
It was completely unexpected, but she'd heard some of the nicest things she ever heard from Lee. Pīta didn't answer, not with words anyway. Instead, he simply nodded, his mood a little sullen all of a sudden. Naruto on the other hand, gave a grin and nodded his head.
"Did you see those eyebrows? He's super weird, but… I mean, everyone's a little weird, right?" He reasoned, glancing at Pīta as he still remained silent on the matter.
Sakura rolled her eyes, she could attest to that. "With you two for teammates, weird is my element. Come on, let's get going already." She urged, headed for the stairs that lead up to the third floor.
Naruto, with his hands behind his head, side-eyed his spider-powered pal for a moment. "You know… you're a lot of things, Pīta but I didn't peg you for the jealous type." He commented, drawing one of the blankest looks he'd ever received from his comrade.
It wasn't hard to notice, Pīta had been on-guard during the entire exchange. Though, why he felt jealous that someone was making a move on Sakura puzzled him, it wasn't like they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Besides, they were ninja; they didn't need to worry about that kind of stuff just yet. At least, that was what Naruto thought.
"Thin ice, whiskers." Pīta bluntly replied, before strolling ahead to catch up to his female teammate.
Naruto gaped, before frowning as he jogged after him. "What? I was just sayin'…" he muttered, leaving behind the drama of the second floor as they made their way to the actual Chūnin Exams.
Unbeknownst to both Team 3 and Team 7, the two Genin bullies had been watching them from afar, at a safe distance further down the hall. While the second Genin was still holding his hand, wincing as it ached and throbbed, the first furrowed his brow.
Finally, he spoke. "Those were Kakashi and Guy's kids, right? They're a weird bunch," he evaluated, turning around to check on his friend when he received no reply.
The boy was still too concerned about his hand, as it had begun to turn purplish in colour. "How is it?" He queried, a little bit of concern peppered throughout his words.
The second Genin shook his head, trying to keep it steady as every single smidgen of movement seemed to set it off. "It's been better, maybe I shouldn't have tried to sell it so hard. That kid's got monster strength," he acknowledged, earning a slight smirk out of his friend.
"He's a spider, what'd you expect? At least the exams will be worth watching this year," he pointed out, encouraging a smile of realization out of his pal.
Simultaneously, as if on cue, both ninja raised a hand and performed a single hand sign. Two plumes of smoke revealed their true forms, standing at twice their previous height and age. They were fully grown Chūnin, named Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane and had disguised themselves as two hot-headed Genin in order to present a little pre-exam challenge to the examinees.
Suffice to say, it hadn't exactly panned out quite the way it was supposed to. "Overzealous rookie Genin? Entertainment at its finest," the second Chūnin, the man with the busted hand, remarked.
But first thing was first, he seriously needed to get his hand looked at.
It took seconds for Team 7 to make their way up one more flight of stairs, reaching the end of a long and rather narrow corridor before they halted in their tracks. Standing at the end of the brightly lit hallway, natural light filtering in by way of the few glass paned windows, was the tall and ever enigmatic form of Kakashi Hatake.
He was standing completely still, almost unnerving in a way. And for once, he wasn't masked-nose deep in that dirty book of his, instead staring at the end of the hallway with an expectant grey eye. Pīta was the first to make a sound, though it wasn't in the form of words. He clicked his tongue, a little surprised by the man's appearance. In their haste to reach the third floor, Pīta hadn't noticed the subtle presence of a fourth heartbeat, heavier and slower than their own in its pace.
"How long have you been standing there?" Sakura questioned, genuinely happy to see her mentor but a little put-off by that ability he used all too often, to appear out of thin air.
Kakashi nodded at the pink haired girl, a fond smile hidden beneath that dark mask of his. "It's nice to see you too, though I'm a little surprised you've shown, Sakura. Naruto, Pīta, I expected your submission, you two never could turn down a challenge." The silver haired ninja evaluated, prompting both lads to exchange glances and smirk.
Sakura on the other hand, appeared somewhat disheartened, a ghost of a frown gracing her young features. "Yeah… guess I changed my mind, sensei." She mumbled his way, resulting in Kakashi urging the three of them to step closer.
His team, his students, did just that and joined him by the double door he was guarding. "Apologies if my words hurt your feelings, Sakura. It's just… I noticed the hesitation, the doubt lingering on your face when I gave you the submission forms for the exams. It's perfectly natural to feel such things, especially at your age. But you seem to have overcome those doubts… how, if you don't mind my asking." Kakashi inquired, his curiosity having gotten the better of him.
The last time he'd seen his students, had any sort of contact with them, was just as he'd said. He'd presented them with the submission forms, made it perfectly clear that it wasn't mandatory to enter the exams and left it in their small but capable hands. Naturally, Naruto had been jumping for joy, the prospect of a real challenge practically making him salivate.
Pīta had been a little more resigned, though Kakashi knew full well that the spider was a brave one. Perhaps a little too headstrong just as Naruto was, but brave all the same. No, Sakura had been the one he'd been worried about. Even when arguing his case to Iruka, there'd been doubt in his mind pertaining to the young girl.
She was fragile, nowhere near as strong or as durable as Pīta, and couldn't let go of the rules like Naruto. Kakashi admitted, it was as clear as day, that in order for her to be able to keep up with her teammates, she had a hell of a long way to go. But there was a strength there, somewhere deep down in her core, just waiting to be let out.
She had to find it, will it to the surface and use it. Even deciding to tackle the exams was a step in the right direction, and Kakashi was proud of her for that. Sakura had found courage somewhere, a small but helpful boost on her quest to become a great Kunoichi, just like Lady Tsunade. Yes, he still remembered her words on that day. Just like he remembered Naruto's, just like he remembered Pīta's.
Sakura let her emerald green eyes lose contact with Kakashi's cold grey one, staring at the toes poking out of her blue sandals. "I just… someone gave me some advice that I really needed to hear, that's all." She murmured, a soft brush of pink warming her cheeks.
Kakashi arched an eyebrow but caught it all the same, a split second flicker of the eyes that anyone less observant would've missed. But he wasn't just anyone, and he'd noticed the brief glance in Pīta's direction. Kakashi chose not to acknowledge it, but understood all the same. Pīta had put that mouth of his to good use, and actually encouraged someone rather than cracked wise.
It was becoming a rather common thing; he remembered their first mission and Pīta's kind words to Naruto, right after they'd been attacked by those two Chūnin. "I see… well, all that matters now is that you're here. It's a good thing too, as now you can all formally register for the Chūnin Exams." Kakashi explained, moving on as he placed his hands firmly in his pants pockets.
Sakura's eyes suddenly shot back up towards her teacher, filled with confusion as she tilted her head slightly. "Sensei?" She asked, not quite following his words.
It was understandable; he'd purposely left quite an important piece of information out when he'd given them the submission forms. "Did any of you notice a recurring theme on your way up here? Naruto, how about you?" Kakashi urged the lad to try and answer his question, eyebrows raised expectantly.
The blonde Shinobi wasn't the smartest child he'd ever come across, but that didn't matter to Kakashi. If he'd wanted prodigy ninja, he would have campaigned to teach Sasuke Uchiha. What he received instead, was a work in progress. A ninja who, just like Sakura, had a long way to go. Even Pīta with his many amazing abilities, was not perfect and still had a lot to learn.
So things like this, a little question or brain teaser if you will, served to sharpen his students ever so slightly. Naruto didn't consider himself to be smart by any means, and Kakashi wanted to change that. If pushed, even ever so slightly, they could achieve great things. And for the moment, Kakashi wanted Naruto to answer a simple question.
The boy pondered, thinking back to when they'd entered the Academy and joined the masses of aspiring Chūnin. Sasuke had been there, along with his teammates, Sai and Yakumo. They'd met Tenten and her teammates, Lee and Neji, Hinata's older cousin.
And then… looking at his own teammates, standing there with arched eyebrows, staring at him like he was crazy, Naruto snapped his fingers. "Teams of three!" The boy yelled, blue eyes bright and grin wide as could be.
Kakashi smiled, the corners of his lips struggling to stay straight. "Correct, Naruto, you're getting sharper by the day." He commended the boy for noticing, for paying attention to his surroundings which was always a plus on the road to becoming a ninja.
A light bulb lit up over Sakura's head, as if she'd just had an epiphany of some kind. "Only three man squads can take the exams, it's so obvious." She muttered, having been totally distracted by her brief run-in with Lee, the boy that had immediately tried to hit on her.
Kakashi nodded, taking his lone eye off of Naruto, the boy standing with his hands on his waist and chest puffed out proudly. "That's the way it's always been, I doubt it'll change anytime soon." He reasoned, shrugging as Pīta nodded.
"If it ain't broke—" the comedian began, but found himself cut off by his teacher.
"Don't fix it, precisely." He calmly added, agreeing with the lad's short but extremely appropriate terminology.
At that point, Sakura had put two and two together and was understandably a little confused by her sensei. "So… you lied to us? You lied to me?" She queried, brow knotted and tone carrying the tiniest hint of betrayal.
Kakashi knew how the girl would've felt; she was a bit of a touchy one. "Lie is such a harsh word, no; I simply mislead you by withholding information. I did it for your own good, Sakura. I wanted you to weigh the possibilities yourself and not feel pressured by Naruto and Pīta," the man defended his choice.
Sakura still wasn't sure how to feel about it, as he had been right, she'd been worried sick over the exams and what they might've entailed. But still, she didn't want to be seen as the weak link of the team, the fragile one that had to be stepped around and handled with care. She wanted to be held in the same regard as her teammates, her comrades, and not to a lower standard.
A hand rested upon her shoulder and Sakura found herself gazing up at her teacher, who looked right down at her solemnly. "Sakura, what I did was not meant to upset you. I did just as any other teacher would've done; I wanted to encourage you to make the decision on your own. And for that to have happened, I needed you to let go of my hand and start walking by yourself." He stated, employing an even softer tone than he usually did.
Sakura found that his explanation and reasoning helped, she didn't want to have to constantly depend on someone else. "So… did I pass the test?" She asked her mentor, earning a quiet chuckle in response.
Kakashi's hand left her shoulder as he nodded, causing a proud smile to form on Sakura's lips. "With flying colours, as I knew you would." He answered, having put his utmost faith in his only female student.
The famed copy-ninja took a step back and looked over his three pupils, how far they'd come. "I want you all to know that… I don't do this often, well… never actually. But… I'm proud of you, all three of you. Naruto, Sakura and Pīta… couldn't ask for a better team." Kakashi affirmed, drawing smiles out of the trio of twelve year olds.
Naruto stepped forward; making Kakashi involuntarily flinch… the man wasn't that comfortable with hugs. "We haven't come this far to let you down, sensei! Believe it!" He bellowed, repeating something of a catchphrase that he'd taken a liking to.
The spider of the team nudged his arm, smirking beneath his mask as he garnered the boy's attention. "You should get that patented," Pīta suggested, earning a dumbfounded look in return from Naruto.
Sakura rolled her eyes, folding her arms as Pīta felt himself cracking up. "Here we go again, do you ever turn it off?" She pestered him, interrupting his little bout of laughter.
The lad shrugged, calming down enough to stare down at the shorter girl. "What? You don't like the jokes?" The brunette responded, once again engaging his regular argument partner.
The girl with pink hair, no matter how hard she tried, could never avoid being sucked into his little game. "There's a time and a place, Pīta." She scolded, prompting a scoff out of the kid.
This time however, Naruto came to his pal's aid. "She's right, dude. I have you pencilled in for an appointment with a whoopee cushion next Tuesday," he jested, earning a hearty laugh from the spider.
"He speaks my language," Pīta grinned, raising his hand for a fist bump.
Naruto was all too keen to oblige, having earned it in Pīta's own humble opinion. "What language is that? The native language of your home planet?" Sakura hit back, stunning Pīta for a solid second.
That sheer surprise, that she'd actually attempted to fight fire with fire for once, gave way to Pīta placing a hand on her petit shoulder. "You're learning," he mocked, laughing all the more as Sakura batted his hand away from her and frowned.
Arms folded and fuming, Sakura marched herself past Kakashi and through the doors behind him. Naruto followed soon after, himself having succumbed to a sudden bout of fits and giggles. Then lastly, Pīta towed after the pair of them, wiping a non-existent tear from his eye in the meantime.
He turned to Kakashi before he entered the great unknown, having calmed himself down enough to be able to form words. "Don't worry, coach, we'll be fine. I'll score a three pointer in your honour," the kid quipped, disappearing from view as the door shut behind him.
Even though they were gone, Kakashi was still able to hear the familiar bickering of his team beyond the door. "Hmm… a part of me hopes they never change," the Jōnin remarked, nobody but himself around to hear his musings.
Inside room 301, Team 7 left the quiet serenity of the hallway behind them and were reintroduced to the sheer number of competition, ninja teams from all four corners of the world, trying to make the jump in promotion from Genin to Chūnin. Given the fact that almost all ninja teams usually stuck to a two male/one female ratio, most of the participants were rough looking boys, glaring at the three rookie newcomers.
Naruto and Sakura gaped; there must have been over a hundred other candidates alone in the room. Pīta on the other hand, winced slightly. He didn't know whether it was just him or what, but the room smelled terrible. So many people crammed together in such a tight space, which betrayed the room's size because it was actually rather large.
"Man, you can practically smell the testosterone." He quipped, though his joke barely registered as Naruto dumbly nodded.
The boy agreed, there weren't as many kids downstairs in the lower hallways. "No kidding," he murmured.
Sakura had to swallow the lump in her throat, all in an effort to formulate words. "Is it just me… or are they intentionally staring at us?" She whispered behind a hand, the classic gesture when someone didn't want to be heard.
Pīta snorted, he didn't find them so scary. "New kids on the block, remember? They're just trying to intimidate us, Sakura. From where I'm standing, they all look like a bunch of slack-jawed cupcakes." He remarked, though was taken aback when Sakura gripped the front of his flak-jacket, bringing his masked face dangerously close to her own panicked one.
She seemed quite frantic, at least to him. "What're you doing?! Are you trying to get us killed?!" Sakura scolded; uttered in such a harsh whisper that Pīta had to squint slightly.
Thankfully for them, nobody had heard his little overconfident outburst. "I mean… not intentionally, no." The boy reasoned, not liking the vein that was throbbing on Sakura's forehead.
Naruto decided to stay out of it; he got enough grief as it was without Pīta pulling him into things. Sakura was about to respond to the spider's unique brand of idiocy, when a high-pitched squeal caught both her and the boy at her mercy's attention.
Ino Yamanaka looked like she was about to faint, standing with her teammates, Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi. The two lads didn't look particularly interested, with Chōji eating a bag of chips as per usual and Shikamaru, well… he was never interested in anything. Ino though, was an entirely different matter altogether.
She pointed at the ridiculously close proximity of Pīta and Sakura, an eye twitching as both teammates suddenly realised what she was getting at. "First the hand-holding and now… this?! You were about to kiss each other?!" Ino yelled the question, not quite believing the scene in front of her very own ice blue eyes.
Sakura's green orbs were as wide as saucers, her cheeks heating up like a furnace. She opened her mouth to speak, but simply choked on the air instead. No words came to mind, her brain grinding to a resounding halt, failing her completely. She was speechless, a hot wave of embarrassment washing over her as eyes all over the room scrutinized her to see just what was going on.
Luckily, Pīta rarely ever got embarrassed. "You see the mask, right? The mask covering my mouth? Be pretty hard to kiss someone with this bad boy on, right, Ino?" He posited the question without missing a beat, turning things around and instantly putting the blonde on the spot.
Ino stuttered and stammered, the way he'd completely side-stepped her accusations dumbfounding her. "I—I… ugh! You always wear that stupid mask, you weirdo!" She shot back, forgetting about her pink haired rival for a moment.
Pīta had drawn her focus with expert precision; all he had to do at that point was rile her up. "Man, it's good to hear your voice, ice queen. No, wait, hang on… yep, my ears are bleeding." He knocked back the ball in their little game of verbal tennis, folding his arms as Ino scowled at him.
Shikamaru sighed as Ino balled her fists, ready to pounce on the spider at a moment's notice. "Unbelievable," he muttered, side-eyeing Chōji when the kid stopped eating for a split second.
"Really? I think it's kinda funny," the rather large brunette admitted, earning a perplexing look out of his comrade.
Shikamaru wasn't sure what the kid was getting at, whenever Ino and Pīta got into it, it was all the girl could talk about for the rest of the day. "You're kidding," he flatly stated, resulting in a shake of the head from the Akimichi boy.
Chōji made his case, finishing off his last potato chip before he balled the empty bag up and stuffed it into one of his pockets. "No, see, whenever they get into one of their little shouting matches, Ino's always so mad at Pīta that she doesn't bother with us for the rest of the day. Granted, we have to listen to what a monumental jerk he is all day, but I get to eat in peace and you get to… do whatever it is you do." He explained, as Shikamaru arched an eyebrow, mildly impressed.
Thinking about it, Chōji was right. "Never thought of it like that," he admitted, surprised since he was usually the thinker of the team.
While Ino was losing her temper with the boy in red and blue, Sasuke and his squad, Sai and Yakumo, silently made their way through the double doors to the room. "Hey, Ino, look! It's Sasuke, go nuts!" Pīta pointed out, prompting the girl to spin on her heels.
And there to greet her, was a confused Sasuke. "Sasuke! You made it!" Ino called out, her tone lighter as all anger left her system and she ran to glomp the boy.
Sasuke froze in place, unsure how to respond as Ino wrapped both her arms around the lad's neck, smiling gleefully. "What's happening?" The boy muttered, it had been quite some time since the Academy after all.
He'd almost forgotten that she used to do this kind of thing all the time, along with Sakura. Though, curiously, Sakura didn't seem all that fussed. Sasuke was almost surprised, that she'd been the one to finally take the hint and back off. Ino on the other hand, hadn't made the connection and hadn't changed one bit.
Shikamaru sighed, having to hear Ino spout her love and admiration for the boy. "Here we go…" he closed his eyes and folded his arms, attempting to block everything out in the meantime.
A new voice spoke up, though it was a voice the rookie Genin knew well. "She still hung up on him?" Rough in its tone but young, Kiba Inuzuka left the crowd of aspiring Chūnin to stand with his fellow Leaf ninja.
Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyūga followed soon after, the former his usual cryptic self and the latter meekly fidgeting with her fingers. "Is water wet?" Pīta greeted the brunette dog user, answering his inquiry in the form of another question.
Safely nestled in the hood of Kiba's coat, lying on top of his master's messy hair, was Akamaru. The pup simply gave a toothy grin, licking Kiba's fingers as the lad attempted to scratch his head. Shino, predictively, side-stepped any niceties with a simple and apt nod. Hinata on the other hand, summoned whatever courage she had to raise her head, taking her pale lavender eyes off of her feet to greet Naruto.
"Hi… Naruto…" the girl, one of the shortest in her age range, shyly spoke.
The object of her address arched an eyebrow, spying a tint of red slowly washing over the girl's pale features. "Hey, Hinata." Naruto granted the girl the same courtesy, she was always so nice and polite, and it would've been rude of him to do any less.
Kiba grinned as he looked over his peers, Team 7, Team 9 and Team 10. "You know, this just might be fun after all. For those of us good enough to make the cut at least… right, Sasuke?" The boy, who arguably had more in common with animals than he ever did with humans, jabbed.
Sasuke in the meantime, was attempting to pry an overzealous Ino off of him. "What? Did you say something?" He questioned, almost being smothered to death by the girl, all in an attempt to make Sakura jealous.
Pīta found it funny, chuckling as he elbowed Kiba's arm. "He can't hear you, there's an Ino on his face." He mocked, drawing a heavy sigh out of Kiba.
"Ino, could you just—man, can't a guy smack talk around here? Look, we've been training like crazy, okay? That's the gist of what I'm getting at," the brunette Shinobi complained, giving up after his words did nothing to deter the girl.
Naruto hopped in instead, pointing a finger in Kiba's red painted face. "You're not the only one! What do you think we've been doing all this time?! Picking daisies?!" He hit back, catching the Inuzuka boy off-guard with his tenacity.
Hinata cut in, surprising pretty much everyone present as she usually rarely said two words. "I'm sure what Kiba meant to say was… was that we've been working hard to get here, he didn't mean anything by it, N—Naruto." She piped up, practically wilting under the boy's dumbfounded gaze.
Kiba, Shino and Pīta arched an eyebrow at the small exchange. Hinata blushing as Naruto's ocean eyes found her, how long had that been going on? Before the trio of lads could comment on it, a new voice piqued up, seemingly addressing every single one of the rookies.
"You know, you guys might want to lower the volume." The voice belonged to an older male, older than most of the other ninja that were taking the exams.
He was a teenager, probably around nineteen years old if the rookies had to guess. He had ash grey hair tied into a pony-tail and onyx black eyes, protected by a pair of black rimmed circular glasses. He sported a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt and dark purple pants with a white cloth waistband. His hands were protected by dark purple fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back, and he wore a blue forehead protector.
The piece of metal on the cloth housed the symbol of the Leaf, of Konoha but it was curious. Pīta had never seen him around before, didn't recognize him from anywhere else. And judging by the way everyone else was staring at him, he figured they didn't know him either.
"I mean, no offence, but all this constant bickering is only going to get you killed. You're the rookie Genin, right?" The older kid spoke, earning the ire of Ino as she placed a hand on her yet to develop hips.
Fixing the taller lad with a glare, she put her loud mouth to good use. "What's it to you, four eyes?" The blonde insulted, not liking him one bit.
The kid in question, supposedly from their own village, pushed his glasses up his nose and smirked. "My name is Kabuto Yakushi," Kabuto corrected her, his tone doing well at masking his annoyance.
Pīta cocked an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest as his spider-sense gave off a dull buzz. "You mean, it's not Captain Obvious?" He quipped, actually sharing Ino's mentality, he didn't like him either.
Kabuto once again felt the corner of his lips twitch; they certainly were a rather… difficult bunch. "A sense of humour, good. With that kind of attitude, you'll make friends here in no time. Look around, you've already made quite the impression." He gestured, guiding youthful pre-teen eyes in the direction of fierce glares and dagger-like gazes.
Pīta clicked his tongue, for whatever reason, the guy was trying to scare them. "What if I moon them? Really give 'em something to gawk at," he jested, inciting laughs from most boys present.
Ino, Sakura and even Yakumo to a certain extent, simply glared at the clown in red and blue. Kiba, Naruto, Chōji and even Sai smiled at the joke, though Sai's seemed strange… almost forced in a manner. Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru remained silent. Hinata blushed ever deeper, attempting to block out the mental image of a boy whipping his pants down.
"Good one," Naruto commended, sharing a laugh with his teammate.
Kabuto tolerated the immature humour, once again trying his hands at intimidating the new kids on the block. "I'd advise against that, those are Rain ninja. Very dangerous and very, very touchy." He explained, narrowing his eyes at Pīta, almost daring him to open his mouth.
Pīta obliged, unable to stop himself when something came to mind. "Maybe they just need a hug," he reasoned, a silly smirk hidden beneath that mask of his.
Once again, the joke served to dispel the tension and doubt that Kabuto was trying to build among the rookies. "Typical rookie attitude… then again, it's not your fault you don't know how things work. In fact, you kinda remind me of myself a while back." Their dull haired senior recalled, earning an annoyed look from the spider.
Pīta was starting to get agitated, from the guy himself and the fact that his spider-sense wouldn't shut up about him. "Are you still here?" He posed, quite bluntly too.
Sakura gave her comrade the eye, a silent warning telling him to cut it out and stop with the attitude. "It's Kabuto, right? Are you saying that this isn't your first time taking the exams?" She queried, having to control her unruly teammate in order to gain at least a little bit of useful information.
Kabuto stammered slightly, the cool air he had previously employed giving way to a more bashful vibe. "Uh, no actually… this is my seventh." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as a wash of embarrassment coursed through him.
Shikamaru, Kiba and Pīta arched an eyebrow. Heck, even Sasuke and Shino had to double take. Naruto on the other hand, felt his mouth twitch. He wanted to laugh, desperately wanted to let it all out in one glorious moment of unhindered mirth. But the boy kept his cool, covering his mouth with both his hands, all the while receiving a serious glare from Sakura in the process.
"They're bi-annual, so this will be my fourth year trying. Doesn't sound so bad when you put it like that, huh?" Kabuto laughed at his own expense, which set a couple of the rookies at ease.
At least he was a guy who knew how to laugh at himself, the same couldn't have been said for a few among them. "So… you're kind of a veteran then, right? You must know this thing inside and out, that has to count for something." Sakura replied, showcasing much more common courtesy than that of her teammates.
Naruto tried his hand at the same politeness that Sakura had wielded so well, managing to force his lips into a solid straight line. "Maybe you can give us some pointers, since you're such an expert—heh heh… hahahahaha! I can't! I thought I could but I just can't!" The boy burst, eyes firmly shut and holding his sides as his giddiness resurfaced in full.
Kabuto blinked, as the boy had to steady himself on the arm of the pink haired girl. "I guess it is kinda funny, huh?" The ninja, easily the most experienced one there, let a smile grace his face.
Sakura set her jaw as Naruto practically ragged her arm about, all in an attempt to stay on his feet through the laughter. "If you've taken the exams seven times and still haven't had any luck, then the rumours must be true. The Chūnin Exams are no laughing matter… what a drag," Shikamaru sighed, as he hadn't quite believed what everyone had been saying about the test.
The ash grey haired lad raised a finger, articulating a point. "Actually, I might be able to lend you kids a hand… with my ninja info cards." Kabuto proceeded to fish out a stack of orange playing cards, hidden inside the white sash around his waist.
Sasuke's interest piqued, he didn't know quite what the lad was getting at or why he was even bothering with them. "Enlighten us," he shortly ordered, his face as stoic as ever.
Kabuto lowered himself to his knees, carefully laying the cards out onto the solid stone floor of the room in a neat stack. "I wish it was as simple as that, but these cards are more than just an ordinary deck. They're Chakra encoded with everything I've picked up over the last four years, everything I've learned. There're a little over two hundred of them, so it hasn't been a complete waste of time." He explained to the best of his abilities, though Sasuke didn't seem impressed.
Neither did Pīta for that matter, though he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Everyone needs a hobby… I guess," he aired his scepticism quite openly.
The most feral member of the group of Genin nodded, cocking a thumb towards his red and blue peer. "Pāka's got a point, how the heck can playing cards help in the exam?" Kiba queried, earning an agreeable bark out of his canine companion.
Kabuto didn't mind the doubt; it was understandable that others found the idea a little too out there. "They might not look like much to the naked eye, but when I use my Chakra to reveal their secrets, they're incredibly useful." He took a single card out of the dark and placed a finger on its blank surface, causing the object to spin.
To everyone's surprise, the puff of smoke revealed the card's secrets. "Hey, it's a map! A map of the world!" Naruto was the first to point out, observing the instantly recognizable sight of the many Shinobi nations.
Green pillars of differing height stood in each separate country, joined by the symbol for each country and seemingly random numbers. "A map that shows the geographical distribution of all Chūnin Exam candidates, what village they hail from and how many from each village. Why do you think they all come here to take the exams together, at the same time?" Kabuto posed, smirking a little as he pretty much had the rookies' undivided attention.
"To strengthen the bond between nations," Sakura answered with impressive speed, she hadn't been one of the smartest students in the Academy for nothing.
Kabuto gave her a nod, before directing his black coloured eyes back down at his card. "Right you are, and it's true enough as far as it goes." He concurred, about to move on when he was cut off.
Sasuke let his drone-like tone be heard, giving his two cents on the topic. "But there's another reason, to regulate the total number of Shinobi and Kunoichi in each village, which maintains a delicate balance of power." He educated those around him, drawing the admiration of Ino as she clasped her hands together and sighed.
Naruto didn't bother suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, telegraphing it for everyone to see. "So it's a little more complicated than a simple competition, doesn't change the fact that it's all still a drag." Shikamaru sighed, the discussion taking place struggling to attract his interest.
Kiba shook his head; he hadn't forgotten how lazy the kid was from their Academy days. "Everything's a drag to you, man." He pointed out, resulting in a half-hearted shrug of the shoulders from Shikamaru.
"You know, I actually agree with shake and bake. All this talk of politics, I feel like I'm about to fall asleep at this rate." Pīta jested, much to the ire of Shikamaru as the lad shuddered at the sheer sound of the nickname.
Sasuke actually agreed with the comedian for once, he wasn't interested in the politics between nations either. "Do your cards carry information on other candidates? Individually?" He questioned, stepping away from the group and towards Kabuto.
The elder Leaf ninja admired the boy's bluntness, straight down to business. "Why, you have someone in mind?" Kabuto answered the kid's inquiry with one of his own, looking up at the younger boy.
The raven haired Uchiha didn't even miss a beat when he responded, almost catching Kabuto off-guard. "Rock Lee of the Leaf Village," Sasuke offered up the subject of his thoughts, stunning the gaggle of Genin behind him.
Namely Naruto, who appeared dumbstruck. "What?! Why do you wanna know about the kid with the bushy brows?!" The boy practically yelled, drawing Sasuke's attention for a brief moment.
The boy garbed in blue gazed over his shoulder, black eyes meeting with ocean orbs for a split second. "Why don't you mind your own business, Naruto?" Sasuke struck back, igniting a frown out of the blonde.
Unbeknownst to everyone present, except Sai and Yakumo, Rock Lee had challenged Sasuke shortly after leaving the second floor. Needless to say, Sasuke had gone into the duel overconfident and arrogant and had paid the price for it. Lee had unceremoniously thrashed the prodigy ninja, humiliating him in front of his shell-shocked teammates.
Even when Sasuke had activated his Sharingan as a last resort, it still didn't give him an advantage. Had it not been for Lee's weird sensei, Might Guy, intervening, then Sasuke might've been in much worse shape than he already was. It was barely noticeable, but there were a few minor scuffs and scrapes on his face and clothes. He wasn't happy about it, especially after Lee admitted that Sasuke wasn't even a noteworthy opponent to him. But it had also served to open Sasuke's eyes and mind, he really did have no idea what to expect when it came to the Chūnin Exams.
For a minute moment, Sasuke and Naruto scowled at one another. "Okay… any more requests?" Kabuto took it upon himself to break the awkward tension, drawing everyone's attention once again.
Pīta stuffed his hands into his pants pockets as he stepped forward, joining Sasuke in front of the ash grey haired boy. "Gaara of the Sand Village… very gloomy character, one of the palest kids I've ever met. Sai, not included." He mocked, throwing a nonchalant glance the ninja's way.
Sai merely shut his eyes and smiled, conveying simple humour. Once again, it struck the spider in the wrong way. Like it was forced, restraining something else. And truth be told, it was just downright creepy. As if a smile was somehow unnatural on the boy's face, misplaced somehow.
Pīta shrugged it off, turning to face the lad with the deck of magic cards. "Two cards with everything on 'em," Kabuto jested, pushing two blank playing cards across the cold stone floor.
"Rock Lee first," Sasuke felt the need to assert, side-eyeing Pīta for a moment.
The arachnid acrobat skewed an eyebrow at him, though shrugged soon after. "I'm in no hurry," he relented; it wasn't really that big of a deal.
Kabuto watched stark black coloured eyes leave soft brown ones, obliging with the former's request. "All right, let's see what's on the card. Kid's around a year older than you guys, nothing too special on the mission front. Twenty D ranks and eleven C ranks, pretty standard. His squad leader's Might Guy and in the past twelve months, his Taijutsu skills have radically improved, far outclassing any of his other skills. He and his teammates, Tenten Tanaka and Neji Hyūga, weren't submitted for the exams last year so he's in the same boat as you guys." He revealed to the group of youths, glancing up at the pair in front of him.
Sasuke didn't respond verbally, he simply nodded curtly to express his satisfaction. "Gaara of the Sand Village, was it? Huh… there's not much here to go on, except for his mission experience which is again, pretty standard. Eight C ranks and a B rank, nothing too special but he's definitely a notch ahead of you rookies. Wait… according to the card, he somehow survived every single mission without getting a single scratch on him." Kabuto moved onto Pīta's request, his eyes widening behind his glasses at the information provided on his card.
The group of Genin was more puzzled than stunned, with Naruto scoffing at even the idea of an untouchable Shinobi. "No way, he didn't seem so tough! I mean, he was creepy, sure but this?! I ain't buying it!" The blue and orange clad ninja refused to believe the prospect, he didn't care what Kabuto's card said.
Gaara was a weird one, but he didn't strike Naruto as some all-powerful, infallible ninja. He shared a team with a boy that moved faster than he could think, and sometimes, seemed to register an attack before it had even happened. Even then, Naruto had seen Pīta get hit before. Either the cards were wrong or Gaara had one serious trick up his sleeve, but he was sceptical to say the least.
Pīta frowned beneath his mask; he'd been hoping to learn more about the mystery kid from Suna that had insulted his clan. "Well… that's disappointing," he appeared a little more reserved than the standoffish Naruto but was just as dubious, almost suspicious in a sense.
How could someone never get hit?
Even with his abilities, his blistering speed, his unparalleled agility and his very own secret weapon, the spider-sense, he wasn't untouchable. It got Pīta thinking, intriguing him to no end and lit his mind on fire. There was more to Gaara than met the eye, much more and Pīta being Pīta, he wanted to find out just what made the kid tick.
Kabuto swept the two cards back into his deck, before laying down yet another one. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Hotsprings and Sound. They've all got a horse in this race, exceptionally skilled candidates that want to win the exams just as bad as you guys do. Though… the Hidden Sound Village is small and somewhat closed off, it doesn't exactly have the longstanding history of Konoha or any of the other established villages. Long story short, those guys over there are shrouded in mystery." He pointed out, onyx coloured eyes flickering over to three Sound ninja that blended into the dense crowd of Genin.
If narrowed eyes were anything to go by, it was clear that the trio had heard Kabuto talk about them and seemed none too pleased about it. "Convenient," Pīta muttered, ignoring the Sound ninja for a moment to focus on Kabuto.
Chocolate brown eyes focused on onyx, and every other shred and decibel of sound seemed to drown itself out as Pīta listened for the tell-tale dull thud of a heartbeat. The noise thumped as it entered his ears, slow and steady, no trip ups or quickening of pace. Usually, that meant that the person was telling nothing but the truth. But there was something off about Kabuto, something that didn't sit quite right with Pīta and he didn't think anybody else noticed it.
Kabuto once again caught the spider kid staring at him, eyes narrowed and full of suspicion. In an attempt to sway the lad's scrutinizing glare, Kabuto offered a friendly smile. Pīta recognized it instantly, it was the exact same thing Sai did. He'd close his eyes in a cheery way, before plastering on the fakest smile he'd ever seen.
There was no mistaking it, for whatever reason, Kabuto was lying. Before Pīta said anything, brought any attention to the subject, his spider-sense alerted him to something else. A few seconds later, Kabuto seemed to notice what that something else was too, his eyes leaving the little staring contest he'd entered with the red and blue Shinobi.
The three Sound ninja, two boys and one girl as was usually the case with most ninja squads, moved. They moved so fast that virtually nobody noticed them even move at all, just a blur of motion before they were upon Kabuto. Pīta stepped back, his spider-sense constantly pestering him about the immediate danger. Kabuto had to leap backwards as the mass of rookie Genin gasped, two kunai knives found themselves embedded in the solid stone floor, right where he'd been standing.
Sakura and Naruto immediately acted, just about to rush in and help Kabuto when Pīta halted them in their tracks. "Let's see what the so-called expert can do," Pīta answered the bewildered looks he was receiving with words, his arms keeping his teammates from progressing any further.
Kabuto noticed that while Sakura, Naruto and most of the rookies were watching with concern, Pīta had folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. Like he was watching some sort of show, like he was the entertainment to be judged. The late teen smirked, he didn't mind it one bit. Even as one of the Sound ninja, masked, hunching over and sporting ridiculously long sleeves, rushed him.
He took a swing at Kabuto, his arm just barely missing the ash-grey haired lad by mere inches. At first, all was well as he'd managed to successfully evade the blow. But the smirk disappeared from his face, being replaced by a frown as Kabuto's glasses split and cracked, before shattering altogether.
"Should've expected that," Kabuto murmured, before he unceremoniously dropped to the floor and began throwing up.
The rookie Genin covered their mouths, wincing and cringing as Kabuto literally covered the floor with what he'd had for breakfast. "That doesn't make any sense… he dodged the attack but it still affected him. How?" Sasuke wondered out loud, curiosity lighting up his usually still and stoic features.
Shikamaru pondered what had just happened, he'd seen everything play out as well and the attack hadn't landed. "There was more to it than that," he deduced, glancing at Pīta for a bit of support.
The kid nodded, he'd actually managed to catch everything and it all made perfect sense. "They're Sound ninja, remember? Sound, vibrations, frequencies… any of this ring a bell?" Pīta encouraged, it was fun working things out with someone else.
Shikamaru snapped his fingers once he'd figured things out, science wasn't really his forte. "A vibrational attack, affecting the victim just like motion sickness would." He concluded, being more of a strategist himself.
The Sound ninja, the one with the ability to harness sound and use it against his enemies was rather surprised two rookies had managed to figure things out so quickly. "When you're right, you're right. You just got a front row seat but there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself, want a taste too?" He offered, in a rather reserved yet disturbing tone.
Pīta stepped forward, actually smirking beneath that mask of his. "Thought you'd never ask, slouchy. I've been dying for a good scrap all week!" The spider was all too eager to comply, lowering himself a little as he loosened up into an unusual stance.
Before the Sound ninja made good on his offer, a massive plume of smoke enveloped the room and interrupted the oncoming bout. A new presence, a lot of them actually, suddenly appeared in the room. A group of Chūnin surrounded the tallest man the rookies had ever seen, a man wearing a long, black trench coat over a standardized grey uniform. The newcomer's face was marred with scars, probably mementos from previous battles and fights.
He spoke with a demanding tone, matching his looming presence and instantly caught the attention of every single ninja present. "You two! In the back! Take one more step towards each other and I'll run you out of these exams so fast, you won't know what hit you!" The man threatened, shouting so his voice would carry.
Pīta straightened out of his stance as the Sound ninja turned away from him, both of them reassuming their position at their respective teammates' side. "That goes for all of you as well; they'll be no fighting under my supervision! Am I understood?!" The man, more like a drill sergeant, bellowed.
The crowd of ninja nodded, completely silent as the tower of a man stood before them. "Good, glad we understand one another. For those of you that don't know, I'm Ibiki Morino and I'll be acting as your proctor for the first part of these exams. The first test is a written one, designed to challenge the mind. Before you start rolling your eyes and whining like a bunch of self-entitled brats, the more physical aspect of the exams comes later." Ibiki, the first proctor of the Chūnin Exams, announced.
While Sakura and Pīta weren't worried about a written exam, Naruto was. "Did—Did I hear that right? Written? There's writing involved?!" The boy questioned frantically, loud enough for the proctor to hear him very clearly.
Ibiki grinned; he knew what doubt and fear looked like. "You did indeed, boy. Try not to worry yourself to death; it's just a short series of simple questions. Show him, Kotetsu." Ibiki ordered, prompting one of the Chūnin rank ninja to step forward.
He brandished a rather large stack of paper in one hand, smiling while Naruto paled. Curiously, he resembled one of the Genin that had attempted to block their path on the second floor. Even more curious, was the fact that one of his hands was wrapped up in bandages and held in a sling. Pīta arched an eyebrow, was he and the kid who'd tried to hit Tenten one and the same?
Regardless, Ibiki motioned for all Chūnin candidates to follow him into the next room over. "Hand in your submission forms and waste no time doing it; you'll each receive a random number telling you where to sit. The Chūnin Exams start here!" He called out, leaving the large room as a mass of ninja from all over the world towed after him.
The first test had gone rather smoothly, the rookie Genin of the Leaf had managed to make it through while many others were weeded out of the exams early. The test had consisted of a series of questions, though nothing simple like Ibiki had said. The questions covered an extensive range of theory, covering things like kunai trajectory to the concept behind certain Jutsu.
Sakura and Pīta had actually been smart enough to answer each question with little to no difficulty, Sakura had been one of the top students back at the Academy when it came to theory and Pīta… well, he was like an informational sponge. Whatever he read, whatever he learned, it was all up there in that head of his.
Naruto on the other hand, had spent the entire duration of the exam sweating and worrying. While his sheet of paper stayed blank for its entirety, a few choice words from his exam neighbour, Hinata, had actually cheered him up somewhat. Needless to say, when it came to the final question of the exam, Naruto didn't back down.
In fact, he'd been the one to stand up to Ibiki and vow that he'd never quit, showcasing bravery that stunned most present, Genin and Chūnin alike. The final question was tailored to each individual candidate, simply asking them to either stay or leave. Once those who had decided to leave left, prompting their entire teams to have to wash out of the exams too, Ibiki revealed that the final question was just that.
Stay or go.
Those that stayed passed, much to their bewilderment. And while it had been more than Ibiki was used to, which he credited to the loudmouth in orange and blue, he felt he'd done a decent job at cutting the examinees down to size. The second proctor, Anko Mitarashi, happened to disagree as she made an abrupt entrance and seemed disheartened at the number of Genin left.
She was a weird one…
A day had since passed, a day most Chūnin candidates used to get in some last minute training. Nothing too excessive of course, they'd been told to rest well for the second test of the overall exams. Since the first had been a test of the mind, the remaining Genin had suspected that the second might've been something a little more physical.
People like Lee, Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke and Pīta were chomping at the bit for a bit of a challenge. They practically craved something physical, something really designed to push them to their limits and test every ounce of what they were capable of. So when they'd been informed to gather at the area where the second test would be carried out, they'd been expecting something intimidating.
Needless to say, the sight they'd been met with did not disappoint on that front.
A gigantic forest stood before them, solid, dense and immovable. Probably stretched for miles in every single direction, even a few miles skyward, such was the height of the trees. Covered in slowly spreading moss and twisting vines, the forest looked ancient, like it had been standing there since the beginning of time. It was so deep and dark, that sunlight struggled to pierce the thick canopy of overhead leaves and far-reaching branches.
It was surrounded by a tall, rusted chain-link fence, adding a certain amount of 'forbidden' flair to the forest. It rendered all remaining examinees speechless, just struggling to take in the sight before them. Their new proctor, the violet haired woman that dressed way too provocatively to have been teaching kids, grinned up at the death trap, as if greeting an old friend.
Anko Mitarashi turned, her long tan overcoat billowing as she did so, and took a good long look at the kids that had been left in her care. Her grin faltered, there were far too many for her liking. It seemed as if the exams got less difficult with each new generation of ninja and in all honesty, where was the fun in that?
Regardless of the number, she had a feeling that the forest would break half of them, two thirds at a push. Stuffing one hand into a pocket on her overcoat, she reasoned that she could've lived with that. After all, she had gotten the best part of the exams, avoiding the written test that had preceded her and the one on one battles that were to come.
During her test, it was survival of the fittest, the way nature had intended it. Just the thought of something so primal, something so brutally honest, made her smile with fondness. Her pupil-less brown eyes scanned the kids in front of her, their ages ranging from twelve upwards. She wasn't surprised some of them had gotten past the first test, she'd read up a bit on some of the kids.
Anko wouldn't have admitted it outright, but having witnessed Kakashi defend his students so passionately, with as much passion as he could manage anyway, it caught her interest. He really must have trusted his students' abilities, seeing as how they were rookie Genin. In fact, there was quite a lot of rookie Genin left.
Finally, somebody spoke. "What'd you say the name of this place was again?" Naruto broke the tension that had mounted, an air of fear almost palpable among the young crowd of ninja.
Anko grinned; she thought nobody was going to ask. "44th Battle Training Zone, scamp. But I prefer the less official sounding name for it, gets the point right across. We call it… the Forest of Death… pause for dramatic effect," the Tokubetsu Jōnin murmured that last part to herself, smiling coyly as if sharing a joke with someone.
The kids stared up at the so-called Forest of Death in silent awe, before muffled mutters began to circulate among them. Anko placed both of her hands on her wide, shapely hips and arched an eyebrow. They were scared, understandably so too. Though a few, those which drew Anko's attention, didn't show it.
Sasuke, Neji, Pīta, Shino, some large kid dressed in padded green armour and Guy's kid, Lee, stood with their arms folded and brows creased. They weren't scared; she knew that look anywhere and knew what it meant. They were determined, probably would've rushed head on into the forest had she given the go ahead.
Anko liked that, it was one of the things she really admired about Kakashi. She liked a little backbone with her Shinobi, a little cocksure attitude and the look that went with it, the look that meant they could've backed it up and then some.
She was about to address the Genin once more when one of those resolute kids spoke, one of Kakashi's if memory served correctly. "Little on the nose, don't you think? What, Garden of Misery was already taken?" The spider, Pīta sounded right to her, mocked.
She watched as the small joke had the desired effect, eliciting a few chuckles and giggles from the crowd of ninja. It had taken the edge off of the entire thing, the little injection of humour serving to dispel the air of fear and unease she had wanted to create. Anko clicked her tongue; there was always at least one class clown amidst the ranks.
"Red and blue, thinks he's hilarious, has a habit of sticking to things… you're Pāka, right? One of Kakashi's?" Anko hit back, tilting her head and fixing the boy with a narrow of the eyes.
She was challenging him; she'd heard that the kid had a sharp tongue, sharp as they came apparently. But she hadn't met anyone who was capable of matching wits with her; she hadn't met anyone who was her kind of crazy just yet.
Pīta gave a slow, methodical clap. "Your skills of deduction are astounding," he fired her way, a deadpan expression adorning the exposed half of his face.
Anko grinned; kid had a little sass in him. She was about to respond in kind, and probably would've kept the little back and forth going had someone not interrupted the rhythm. The little daddy's girl with the pink hair, yet another one of Kakashi's, didn't appear nearly as confident as her brunette teammate.
With her shimmering green eyes still fixed on the sprawling forest up ahead, Sakura expressed her concern. "I don't know… it looks pretty deserving of its name," she murmured, resulting in a few agreeable nods out of surrounding Genin.
Naruto folded his arms and slammed his eyes shut, frowning as he stood before the so-called Forest of Death defiantly. "Get real! We saw way scarier things out on our first mission, believe it!" He exclaimed, prompting the woman in charge to smile knowingly.
She reached into her overcoat pocket to feel the sharp edge of a kunai with her finger, grinning all the while. "Ah, the resident tough guy of the group, every squad has one." Anko stated, almost wistfully as she gazed at the boy with a half-lidded expression.
A tingle buzzed at the back of Pīta's skull, like a quick pluck on a guitar string. Completely blindsiding the crowd of children in front of her, Anko let fly an incredibly well-aimed kunai. The knife sliced straight at Naruto, its razor sharp tip headed straight for blue eyes the size of plates. He froze in place, having been tricked into a false sense of security. Excuse him for not being on constant edge around a teacher, a person who was supposed to look after their students.
Pīta plucked it right out of the air, the left over momentum causing the kunai to twirl around his finger before he grasped it firmly. "Little excessive, no?" He posed, doing nothing to surprise Anko.
She'd expected it actually, he was a spider after all, and their reflexes were second to none. "As your proctor, I'll be the one to decide that. It's my responsibility to scare all of that bravado and courage out of you, there's no room for that in the Forest of Death. Kids who try to be a hero in this place end up dead, that's the sad truth." She remarked, stunning the aspiring Chūnin into complete silence.
The violet haired woman approached Pīta, reaching out for her kunai expectedly. "This part of the exams is all about survival, kiddo. An attitude like your friend's here is liable to get not just him, but you two killed as well." Anko warned as she eyed both Pīta and Sakura, feeling the former place her knife back into her hand.
Naruto exhaled, he hadn't even realized he'd been holding his breath. "Maybe you should say it next time instead of almost killing me!" He yelled, clearly not happy at all with his brash educator.
She grinned, though wasn't even acknowledging the child, her pupil-less brown eyes locked on her kunai as she admired the craftsmanship. "Where's the fun in that?" Anko simply answered, almost willing the crowd of Genin's eyes to bulge out of their heads.
Pīta was the first to respond, as was usually the case, cocking a thumb towards her whilst he casually addressed the strangers around him. "Who thought it'd be okay for her to teach kids?" His question slipped out in the form of a joke, but he was genuinely curious.
How could someone so brash and ill-tempered receive permission to watch a bunch of kids?
Before anyone answered, not that they could've anyway, Anko let a shrill whistle escape her puckered lips, immediately catching everyone's attention. Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Hotsprings and Sound ninja zoned in on her once again, taking their saucer-like eyes off of the loudmouth in the red and blue.
Anko reached into the inseam of her overcoat, her hand disappearing for a moment as she fished for something. Naruto involuntarily flinched, enticing a snort out of Pīta. The woman let a smirk grace her devilish features; the kid wasn't so brave anymore. The Tokubetsu Jōnin revealed a rather small stack of papers to the curious eyes in front of her, brandishing them for all to see.
"Listen up, kids, because this is the important part. In my hand are standardized consent forms, I'm going to hand these out and you're going to give them a quick once over. Yeah, I know, rules are boring. But part of my job is making sure you sign these things, any questions?" Anko announced, quickly sweeping through the gaggle of Genin before her.
Most appeared inquisitive, almost reserved. They were trying to figure out what the forms were for, probably too afraid to just speak their mind and ask her. She had that effect on people, but kids were the most fun to play with, in her own humble opinion. Among the sea of students, a slightly shaking hand ascended and a few taller kids parted to let Anko see just who had raised it.
Sakura suddenly felt a little embarrassed, it had been so long since she'd left the Academy. Being placed back in an environment that called for the student/teacher dynamic once again had simply muddled her; the hand raising was a kneejerk reaction. But with all eyes on her, she almost failed to notice the ever so slight nudge on her elbow.
She felt a soft voice whisper in her ear, though the familiarity of said voice set her at ease. "Consent forms," Pīta reminded her, once again encouraging her to speak her mind.
Sakura nodded, lowering her hand and willing herself to stare at Anko and not the couple of dozen eyes on her person. "Right… what're the forms for, proctor?" The girl addressed the woman, her tone carrying an air of subdued respect that Anko wasn't used to.
Anko smiled, the girl had yet to find her courage. "To ensure that the fault does not lie with me should any of you not return from this exam, kiddo. Yay for me, not so great for you guys." She answered, providing the children with a dose of her brutal brand of honesty.
Everyone was perplexed, Pīta even more so. An adult, an elder that was supposed to provide them with an example to follow, was dodging responsibility. It was understandable, obviously. The exams were dangerous, and foreign villages sent teams of ninja knowing full well what the risk was. Heck, there were only so many Genin present because their sensei had the utmost of faith in them.
Still, he shook his head. "Man, the hits keep on coming." He murmured, running a hand through his thick brunette hair, a mannerism of his to calm his nerves.
Anko quickly snapped her fingers, eyebrows shooting up as she gazed at a dumbfounded Naruto. "Hand these out for me, will you, squirt?" She queried, though Naruto heard more of an order than a request.
The twelve year old blonde promptly approached her and against his own sense of self-preservation, diligently took the stack of forms out of the proctor's hand. "As I said before, this is all about survival. No rules, no restrictions, no limits. All out chaos, it's beautiful really." Anko fondly expressed, urging quirks of the eyebrows from most present.
Naturally, Pīta felt the need to comment. "You should really talk to someone," he suggested, raising a finger to articulate his point.
A few snickers and titters sounded from the crowd, though Anko chose to ignore the slight jab and push on. "The Forest of Death is a big place, a heck of a big place. A tower lies beyond the forty four gates that surround it, sitting right in the middle of no man's land, ten kilometres from the fence. Said ten kilometres is where things get real interesting, that's the survival part of the test. Reach the tower, stick with your team and don't get killed." She lectured, cocking a thumb over her shoulder towards the looming forest.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he took a form from Naruto, the mere sound of the word 'survival' was exhausting to him. He kept his comments to himself though, his female teammate having a mouth big enough for the both of them. Ino didn't bother thanking Naruto as she took a form out of his hands, folding her arms and keeping her attention on the crazy lady in the overcoat.
"Sounds easy enough, when do we start?" She boasted, a confidence in her tone that betrayed those around her.
Anko offered a toothy grin as she raised her hands, motioning for the girl to not get carried away with herself. "Whoa there, princess, let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's much more to the test outside of kicking the ever loving crap out of each other, though let's be honest, I wouldn't need much incentive. No, the real aim of the game is to get your hands on these babies." She explained, reaching into her seemingly endless overcoat pocket and retrieving two differently coloured scrolls.
Sasuke didn't seem impressed, his arms having been folded for the past half an hour. "Both of them?" He posed, receiving an arch of the eyebrow from both Anko and Pīta.
Incredibly and also rather weirdly, both parties responded at the exact same time. "What do you think the other one is, her/my shopping list?" Completely separate tones, though both dripping with sarcasm, mocked in seemingly perfect unison.
Anko glanced at Pīta, who simply glanced back as a swell of silence overcame them. "Jinx," they both remarked, surprising each other once again.
The surrounding Genin, visiting and local, could only look on in complete bewilderment as proctor and student stared at one another. "Let's forget that happened," Pīta suggested, earning a resolute nod out of the violet haired teacher as she moved onto other things.
Desperately moved on to other things, laughing nervously as she referred to both scrolls. "So! Both scrolls! You have to retrieve one of each scroll, a Heaven and Earth scroll. There are a lot of you this year, much more than there usually is, but half of you will want the Heaven scroll and the other half… well, you get the idea." Anko quickly explained, trying her absolute best not to acknowledge the smart aleck spider in her presence.
Sakura's green eyes flickered over to Pīta, the lad simply shrugged in return, rubbing his ear with his pinkie finger. Kiba exchanged looks with Shino, both of whom gazed at their meek teammate, Hinata. Chōji worriedly glanced at Ino, who turned her attention towards Shikamaru, though he didn't seem to care as his eyes struggled to stay half-lidded.
Both Sai and Yakumo shared an apprehensive look, while Sasuke refrained, seemingly in deep thought as he took a form from Naruto. Though his charcoal black eyes quickly found ocean blue, both pairs narrowing as they locked for a split second. A test of survival, yet another opportunity for Naruto to try and best one of the number one rookies. Though with Sasuke, things were always a little more personal.
While they'd barely crossed paths ever since being assigned to their chosen squads, Naruto loathed the time they had shared as Academy students. As far back as he'd remember, Sasuke had always been the one to look down on him with eyes that conveyed the very idea of 'superiority'. The pair of them had gotten into it over anything and everything, and admittedly, Naruto sometimes went out of his way to poke the bear.
Just everything about Sasuke riled him up, the way everyone practically worshipped the ground he walked on. In all fairness, some of the bitter feelings he held for the lad did stem out of jealousy, but Naruto felt he was entitled to bare him ill will. Naruto had been alone for most of his time in the Academy and while he did find friendship eventually, it still bugged him.
The blonde had watched Sasuke for years, watched the boy be offered with so much. Girls threw themselves at his feet, sensei wouldn't stop gushing about the 'prodigy ninja' and to cap it all off, Sasuke didn't care one bit. Naruto couldn't remember the last time the lad had shown an ounce of emotion, not one bit of it.
No happiness, no love, no gratitude.
But he'd seen plenty of annoyance, irritation, bitterness and hate.
He understood what Sasuke had lost, what Sasuke had witnessed at such a young age. Naruto couldn't have imagined how hard it must have been, how utterly soul crushing to have everything you've ever known taken away from you in one fell swoop. He'd lost his parents before he'd gotten the chance to get to know them, to form some kind of connection with them, just like Pīta had.
But it didn't give Sasuke the right, did it? To project all of that inner turmoil and conflict onto everyone else, like they didn't even matter? Naruto wasn't sure; he was much too young to ever grasp something so tragic and complex. And while his days of loneliness had long since passed, welcoming companionship and comradery with open arms and a grin on his face, Sasuke continued to put everyone at arm's length.
So when the two locked eyes, both narrowing a fraction and halting everything around them, like a frozen moment in time, Naruto relented. Sasuke watched him move on, continuing the menial task he'd been given of handing out consent forms and felt only one thing.
Confusion.
Naruto was a hard-headed, brash and idiotic child who had always pushed him to the edge, always attempted to coax some form of an argument or fight out of him. All in the name of a severely misguided pursuit of proving who was stronger, who deserved the admiration and praise of their peers and who didn't.
Yet, just then, Sasuke had seen only one thing in the boy's ocean blue eyes.
Sympathy.
It did nothing to change the way Sasuke saw the world, in stark shades of black and white with little colour or room for exceptions. It did nothing to change the way Sasuke felt, nothing to sway his ultimate goal. Naruto's sympathy did nothing to alter his way of coping, pushing everyone away and isolating himself.
Just like any other day, Sasuke felt only one thing.
Indifference.
Sakura appeared thoughtful for a moment, pink eyebrows knotted together as she pondered the Tokubetsu Jōnin's words. "Wait a minute… only half the teams will be able to finish this part of the exam," she pointed out, shocking those around her that hadn't put two and two together quite yet.
All eyes, pre-teen and teenager alike, were centred back on Anko as she nodded. "Therein lies the challenge, squirt. But here's the real kicker, you have no more than five days to finish!" She grinned, eyes firmly shut as a stunned silence swept through the crowd once more.
Well, expect Chōji, who had a very important concern to voice. "Time out! Five days?! Five days in—in—in that place?! What're we supposed to do for food?!" He exclaimed, rather frantically too, much to the ire of his teammates.
Pīta on the other hand, found it rather funny but painfully predictable. "That is the golden question," he concurred, smirking as he raised a finger and side-eyed Chōji.
The Akimichi boy glared back at the arachnid, though had come to expect such a barb from him. "Food should be the least of your worries, kid. It's more likely you'll be on the menu for the countless man-eating beasts, roaming free in the forest." Kabuto, the elder kid that had tried and failed to pass the exam a whopping six times, cut in as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.
Anko appeared wide eyed, throwing her arms out in apparent outrage. "Kid! You totally ruined the surprise!" She cried, though a tell-tale smirk lit up her features, all in good fun.
Pīta arched an eyebrow; the woman was a strange one indeed. "Again, please seek professional help." He bluntly suggested, receiving a chastising elbow to the arm from Sakura, for quite possibly the thousandth time.
Ino shut her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, rather annoyed with all of the murmurs and complaints pertaining to the time limit. "I don't know what everyone's whining about, it's called survival for a reason, right?" She pointed out, drawing agreeable nods from a certain few.
Neji didn't appear worried; he was one of the select minority that appeared calm and determined. "The conditions will be most trying… Sakura's right, though I doubt even half will pass." He guessed, unintentionally insulting most surrounding ninja.
His teammate, a boy that contrasted him like night and day, concurred. "The more time that passes, the window to retrieve a scroll gets smaller and smaller. Exhaustion will surely set in if we aren't careful, we'll have less time to rest and recover. A most fitting challenge indeed!" Rock Lee beamed, pearly whites sparkling and almost blinding those around him.
Pīta clicked his tongue, his eyebrows shooting up for a fleeting second. "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills," he mumbled into his mask, staring right at the impossibly white grin of the kid in green spandex.
Sasuke spoke up, his dull and droning tone betraying his anticipation for the coming test. "We'll be right in the thick of it, danger on all sides and in a completely foreign territory… we'll have to keep our eyes peeled constantly." The raven haired Uchiha boy mulled, as if trying to convince himself that it won't be a walk in the park.
Shikamaru's hand slowly raised into the air, though stopped at about shoulder height, preferring not to stretch all the way. "What if one of us wants to quit mid-exam? I'm… I'm asking for a friend," he muttered that last part, drawing unconvinced looks from the kids that knew him a little too well.
Anko had to double take, she wasn't sure she'd heard the boy right. In the few years she'd proctored the second part of the Chūnin Exams for the Leaf, she'd never ever heard such a question. In fact, the query had caught her off-guard in such a manner, that it almost left her speechless. She, the woman that almost everyone in the village was weary of, had to collect her thoughts before answering.
"For the sake of myself and everyone present… though really, just me… I'm gonna pretend those words didn't come out of your mouth." She answered, moving right on at a brisk pace.
Shikamaru sighed; his eyes firmly shut and fatigue already beginning to set in. "What a drag," he muttered, resulting in a slightly embarrassed glare from Ino as Chōji whipped out a bag of chips from nowhere and began scoffing them down.
Anko momentarily blinked, the kid must have been Shikamaru, the boy that Iruka had accused of being too lazy for his own good. And while at the time, she'd admired Asuma for standing up for his student as any sensei would've done, she was starting to see where Iruka was coming from. She only hoped that the boy found his drive and found it soon; the Forest of Death was an unforgiving place. Not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for slackers.
"Look, here's the bottom line. With any exam, there're ways that you can be disqualified. I hope the idiots among you are listening, because this is for you. If a full team, meaning all three members, doesn't deliver both scrolls to the tower within the five day period, you're disqualified." Anko explained, having the flock of Genin's rapt attention as she laid down some ground rules.
The violet haired vixen paused for a moment, letting her warning sink in before she carried on. "If a member of your team finds themselves incapacitated and cannot finish the test, you're disqualified. And when I say incapacitated, I mean dead or dying. But mostly dead, don't be a bunch of wusses." She flashed a grin, her rough attitude shining through her duty of care as proctor.
Finally, she addressed a final rule. "Last but certainly not least, this is probably the most important one. If you open, if you even think about opening any of the scrolls before you reach the tower, you are so—" Anko was about to finish, had a student not cut her off.
Sensing a rather blatantly obvious pattern, Pīta deadpanned. "Disqualified?" He asked, though knew the answer before it slipped through Anko's lips.
The woman nodded, hands resting on her voluptuous curves as her pupil-less brown eyes met chocolate ones. "We have a winner," she humorously responded, drawing a roll of said chocolate eyes out of the spider.
Naruto had finished his task of handing out the consent forms, holding the last one in his own hands as he listened to her rules. "What if—like, a scroll just happens to fall open and you read it? What happens then?" The orange and blue clad boy queried, earning a short snort out of Anko.
She was really beginning to like this group; they were certainly good for a few laughs. "Kid, the chances of that happening are about as slim as you managing to beat this test." She insulted the boy, prompting Naruto to fold his arms and glare at the woman.
Pīta was kind of impressed; he hadn't seen such a blow to the ego coming. "Apply cold water to burned area," it hadn't even been directed at him and he'd still felt it.
She stepped forward and ruffled the lad's messy blonde hair, much to his annoyance. "Lighten up, will ya? I'm just messing with you, Uzumaki." Anko knew him by name; she knew all of Kakashi's kids by name.
The jinchūriki let his hardened expression soften; he could take a joke after all, he'd been on the receiving end of tons of Pīta's. "Thanks for handing out the forms, sidekick." He flushed in embarrassment as she smiled down at him, and he simply nodded silently in return.
Anko turned away from the whisker-decorated child and once again addressed the children at large, still retaining her smile. "Speaking of forms, after signing them, head over to the booth on my right and exchange them for your scrolls. Then pick a gate, wait in front of it and we'll take it from there." She advised, watching every candidate hang onto her every word.
Anko let a grin split her face, she didn't mind ordering kids about. Maybe she'd get to teach her own squad of rookies one day, she wasn't sure. Regardless, it was time to get serious. She hated serious, but it was necessary all the same.
As a final word of warning, Anko slipped in a bit of advice while she had their attention. "Try not to die, okay? Because that would suck, big time." She expressed, a slight hint of concern woven within her words as her eyes scanned each and every student.
Particularly those of the Leaf, kids she'd watched grow up. Anko wasn't a particularly caring person, sometimes she was downright cruel. And unlike other, more normal human beings, kids weren't a soft spot for her. But when it came to her fellow ninja, and the rookie Genin of the Leaf qualified as such, she let herself care.
They were the future; they were the next generation that would succeed people like her and Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai. They needed to survive, they needed to live on and thrive. Because even if they didn't make it to Chūnin, they still had to survive what the Forest of Death had to offer. And she'd seen kids die, not a lot but the few that had decided to ignore her warnings, her rules.
Anko found herself blinking for a moment, as a youthful voice slipped into her ear and pulled her out of her thoughts. "Proctor Anko… are you okay?" Sakura posed, confusion present in her tone as the previously full of life woman had simply zoned out.
She shook her head and grinned, nodding at the girl that had asked. "Don't worry about me, worry about yourselves. Come on; let's get this thing started already." Anko urged, clapping her hands and ordering each and every student to break off and study their forms.
The large gathering of Genin had broken up, scattering around the vast meadow of green grass, taking a moment of careful consideration as each and every one of them scanned the consent forms in their hands. Team 7 had split up, opting to ponder their choice individually. Naruto had drifted away from the open field of grass and towards the edge, nearing the dense treeline. Sakura had decided to walk and think, clearing her ever anxious mind and eyeing the piece of paper in her hands carefully.
Pīta on the other hand, was perched on top of a large dusty and dull boulder. He wasn't really that worried about the second part of the exams, he knew there would've been a ton of risk involved from the start. Instead, he wanted to survey the competition. Who he and his team were up against, what made them tick and most importantly, whether or not they were scared.
The boy focused on tuning everything out, his hearing sharpening and heightening to the point that he could no longer hear the whistling breeze of the wind pass him by. Instead, new sounds entered his ears. Sounds that told him everything he wanted to know, sounds that fed him information, vital information that gave him a rough idea of things headed into the forest.
Behind him, sat at the base of the boulder below him, was Sasuke Uchiha. Pīta listened carefully, reading the boy's steady heartbeat, thumping away without so much as a hiccup. It was to be expected; even he knew that Sasuke wasn't the type to scare easily. Pīta's focus shifted, honing in on a group of Sand ninja some distance away. Chocolate coloured eyes narrowed slightly, as the lad's gaze landed upon Gaara and his siblings, Kankurō and Temari.
Pīta watched as Gaara wasted no time, signing the consent form in his hands without any form of hesitation or apprehension. His brother and sister were less certain but signed them shortly after, their heartbeats fluttering slightly. But Pīta didn't put that down to fear or intimidation, more so anticipation.
The brunette turned his attention to more familiar ninja, honing in on Shikamaru, Chōji, Ino and… Sakura?
Pīta arched an eyebrow, the two girls apparently in some kind of an argument. "What else is new," he murmured to himself, expecting that sort of behaviour from the pair.
Instead, he moved on to more important matters and listened intently. Shikamaru wasn't scared, which wasn't surprising really. It took a hell of a lot of effort for that kid to feel anything other than fatigue, disappointment and irritation. Pīta picked up a rapid heartbeat, and quickly found Chōji. The boy nodded, his former classmate was simply worried over the prospect of not eating properly for five days.
Pīta couldn't read Ino or Sakura for that matter, the both of them too worked up with each other. Instead, he found Kiba and Shino discussing things on the other side of his little perch. Kiba was naturally excited, always anxious for action, eliciting a smirk out of Pīta. Shino on the other hand, was as steady as a rock. Just like his demeanour and attitude, his heartbeat gave nothing away.
The spider attempted to find his other teammate, which wasn't too hard considering how brightly dressed Naruto always was. Pīta caught sight of the blonde conversing with Hinata at the edge of the field, and he quirked an eyebrow because of it. He didn't need enhanced vision to make out the bright red colour on Hinata's cheeks, but apparently, Naruto seemed all too oblivious to it.
Pīta listened as Naruto moved on, leaving Hinata to her own thoughts. Her small and tender heart was thumping against her chest, almost too rapid to discern individual heartbeats. Like one long continuous chorus, increasingly picking up the pace. Eventually, the girl calmed down and her pale cheeks lost its warm and rosy tint.
Pīta clicked his tongue; he knew full well that the girl was a shy one but it only just occurred to him that she worsened whenever she was around Naruto. "Huh… at least one girl's immune to the Uchiha charm," he remarked, honestly surprised that someone wasn't falling head over heels for Sasuke.
Pīta's line of sight left the lone Hyūga girl, attracted by short but bright red hair and a pair of narrow brown glasses. Judging from the girl's headband, he deduced that she was from Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass. The village was located at the North West corner of the Land of Fire, just outside of its borders. Pīta didn't know much about the place, just that it was one of Konoha's allies, hence the participation of its Genin in the Chūnin Exams.
The girl in question was dressed in a dark purple short sleeved shirt that had a brown collar, light brown pants and sandals of the same colour. But what drew Pīta's attention were her eyes, he'd never seen such eyes. Fierce and crimson in their colour, instantly reminding him of Kakashi's Sharingan.
Curiously, her heartrate resembled Hinata's, fast and frantic in its beating. He noticed that she was looking his way, and for a moment he was confused. Was she looking at him? He had no clue who she was, why was she looking at him? It took Pīta a few seconds to follow her line of sight directly beneath him, to a boy garbed in blue and staring at his consent forms.
Pīta nodded; of course she was looking at Sasuke. "Case in point," he mumbled, chuckling to himself lightly as he turned away, not managing to catch the fact that Sasuke seemed to be staring right back at her.
The small moment of levity was interrupted as Pīta's spider-sense vibrated at the base of his skull, demanding that he turn the opposite way. Pīta's chocolate orbs landed on a group of ninja, standing at the edge of the field, intentionally hugging the treeline. All three of them were dressed in dark greens, with two mixing things up with a dash of yellow and a hint of purple. They wore headbands representing the Sand Village, Pīta's earlier encounter with Gaara solidifying the hourglass symbol firmly in his mind.
They seemed older than Pīta, maybe around fifteen, sixteen if he had to guess. The one that stood out the most was the tallest, the biggest member of the team. All of that green seemed to have been divided up into some kind of lightweight armour, providing a little added protection to an already scary looking kid.
He wore a mask covering his nose and jaw, just like Pīta but wore a dome shaped helmet that he did not. The elder boy stood at his full height, arms folded and curiously, seemed to be staring right Pīta's way. There was no mistaking it a second time, the kid's cold brown eyes were locked with Pīta's warm ones. His spider-sense intensified, as the look burned with hatred. For what reason, Pīta had no clue.
The pre-teen Shinobi listened intently, hearing the heartbeat of the foreign ninja. It was the slowest heartbeat Pīta had ever heard, and quite possibly, the loudest. Pīta's eyes left the form of the Sand ninja, as he turned around and hastily signed his own consent form. All the while, his spider-sense continued to buzz and warn him of nearby impending danger.
The crowd of Genin were forced to converge once more, having to hand in their consent forms in exchange for a scroll. Which scroll, Heaven or Earth, it was completely randomized. Team 7 were one of the first teams to enter the small, curtained-off booth. Pīta retrieved both forms from Sakura and Naruto, giving them to one of the many Chūnin behind the booth.
Pīta gave the scroll he received a once over, it was white in colour and possessed the kanji for Heaven. He pocketed it, placing it in one of the many compartments on his red flak jacket. Sakura didn't mind that he'd been the one to take it; she trusted that Pīta would've been able to keep it safe. Naruto on the other hand, was a different story.
"Hey, why do you get to hold onto it?" The boy questioned, earning a predictable shrug out of his comedic teammate.
Pīta wasn't sure what the big deal was, it wasn't like he was keeping the scroll for himself. "Sticky fingers," he answered, without missing a beat.
Naruto stuttered slightly before pausing; he had to admit that it was a good point. "I… okay, that seems fair." He conceded, rubbing the back of his neck as the team left the booth.
Eventually, every single team had entered the booth with consent forms and exited the booth without them, either a Heaven or an Earth scroll hidden between each team's three members. Anko looked the kids over, nodding as they all seemed prepared for the next phase of the Chūnin Exams. Well, most seemed prepared. She saw that a few kids were sweating, some were even shaking but that could've been anything from excitement and enthusiasm to fear and sheer terror.
In her own humble opinion, she much preferred the latter. "Now that we've got all the boring and formal stuff out of the way, let's get to the real reason we're all here. This is it, kids. In a moment, I'm going to tell you to move around the fence surrounding the forest and pick a gate. Doesn't matter which gate, could be your lucky number, could be your age, I don't give a damn." Anko roughly stated, her voice loud, clear and concise.
With her hands stuffed into her overcoat pockets, she continued as she held each and every child's unwavering attention. "And that is when you and I part ways, you'll be on your own from then on. The Forest of Death is not a place for the faint of heart; it is not a place to be taken lightly. The only people you will be able to rely on in that death-trap is your teammates but above all else, yourself. You're going to see things in there that will scar you, that will make you question the path you've chosen and regret the day you vowed to train in the art of ninja." She boldly claimed, further increasing the sense of palpable dread she could feel among the children.
Their faces paled, their bodies tensed and Anko smiled because of it. "Get ready to leave your childhoods behind, kids. Over the course of the next five days, you're either going to succeed or die trying. Whichever happens, I just want you all to know… it's been a real hoot." The smile split into a grin, and she could've sworn a few of the aspiring Chūnin were going to faint at any given moment.
The woman nodded, apparently pleased with everything and ready to finally get to the main event. "Each team has a scroll, right? One scroll to each team, Heaven or Earth? Okay, so stop standing there wetting your pants and get moving. Pick a gate, go, go, go!" She urged them frantically, scaring the hell out of the younger batch of candidates and disturbing the older ones.
It didn't take long for each and every team to have spread out and chosen a gate, not when more than half of them were running in fear of their lives. Team 8 stood at Gate 16, Team 10 had picked Gate 27 and Team 7 had found themselves at Gate 12. Kabuto's team was standing in front of Gate 38, the Sand siblings were patiently waiting before Gate 6 and Team 3 had found Gate 41.
It didn't take long for the Chūnin assigned to each gate to unlock them, padlocks and rusted chains falling deftly to the dirt ground. "Playtime's over, maggots! The second phase of the Chūnin Exams has officially begun!" Anko yelled out, as loud as her lungs would allow so her voice would carry.
The gates swung open, all in quick succession around the massive, sprawling forest. And just like Anko had said, playtime was indeed over. The candidates bolted, sprinting into the forest as fast as they could manage, all in an attempt to get ahead of the competition and gain some kind of advantage in the exams.
Team 7 on the other hand, took things slow and steady, partly due to the fact that Sakura seemed a little apprehensive. "Can we really do this? Do we really stand a chance of winning?" She voiced her concern, prompting Naruto and Pīta to spin on their heels and face her.
Naruto was the first to answer, throwing out a thumbs up as he grinned widely. "You bet, Sakura! As long as Pīta and I are here, nothing can go wrong!" He boldly claimed, drawing a half-hearted smile out of the girl.
A hand found its way to her shoulder, a gloved hand with rough fingertips that she'd become somewhat familiar with. "He's right, you know. As long as we stick together, we can do this. We can prove that Kakashi-Sensei was right to trust us, Sakura." Pīta appealed, looking down at the girl with a determined gaze.
Just like Naruto, Sakura recognized the fire in his eyes. A fire that wouldn't even consider losing as an option, a fire that wanted to strive to be the best it could be and a fire that she was slowly growing to admire. Whenever Pīta was sure of something, it made Sakura sure. She didn't know why, couldn't explain it if she tried but it was almost infectious.
Like a wildfire of courage and heart, spreading to her and lifting her off the ground. "If you think we can do this, then… okay, let's win this thing." Sakura responded, that shaky smile morphing into something a lot more certain.
Naruto pumped his fist into the air, an excitement filling his chest. "For Kakashi-Sensei!" He cheered, inciting nods out of his fellow teammates.
"For us," Pīta added, absolutely resolute with his words.
The trio broke into a sprint, holding a tight formation with Pīta taking point up ahead, Naruto bringing up the rear and Sakura safely housed between them. They weren't going to walk away from the exams empty handed; it simply wasn't an option, not for them. Whatever obstacles or hurdles they faced, Team 7 was going to tackle them head on and become all the stronger for it.
Sakura took a deep breath in an attempt to filter through the fear and set herself at ease as she ran, the Forest of Death wasn't such a scary place.
Not with her teammates by her side anyway…
Author's Note: How long was that chapter, right? Believe it or not, I had quite a bit more that I decided to cut, to save for the next chapter. I didn't want to overload you guys with something like thirty thousand words, this chapter itself stands at twenty one thousand, which is way over my usual limit. Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind this chapter, I know there's no action but the character stuff and interaction is very important to the story, the action will come later and I'll try my absolute best to make it glorious.
On another Spidey related note, who saw the latest Captain America: Civil War trailer? Oh my God, wasn't Spidey awesome?! The suit! The suit! It's so Ditko/Romita Sr.! Classic sixties Spider-Man with some modern flourishes thrown in! I can't get enough of it! The utility belt! The web-shooters! The big fat red spider on his back! I'm literally going to die, guys!
Also, Daredevil Season two in three days and Batman V Superman on the 25th! What a time to be a comic book fan! What a time to be alive! Hold me!
Guest Reviews:
Great Saiyaman54: That's the plan on the Kraven front, Rock Lee and Pīta will have a very interesting relationship eventually. You're right that Spider-Man doesn't kill, but this isn't your regular Spider-Man, this is a kid that's grown up in a world where ninja kill their enemies and it's the responsible thing to do in the grand scheme of things. He and Anko are a lot alike, so expect some beats from them in the future.
Guest1: I love Karin, and she will be in the story. Her and Pīta will eventually interact, but Karin only has eyes for Sasuke. As for the Spider-Verse thing, when the story really gets going and heads into Shippuden, you're going to see a lot more mystical aspects of the Spider-Man mythos come into play. I've thought about some kind of special one-off chapter with the Inheritors and another alternate universe Spider-Man but nothing's set in stone at the moment.
justaguest: I understand your concerns and where you're coming from, but I've given the story a lot of thought. You'd actually be surprised how easy mixing certain aspects of Spider-Man mythos with the Narutoverse is, so I'm not worried on that front. As for the Naruto/Sasuke dynamic, it is very important to the story and like you said, probably the main driving point. Things won't change on that front, the Naruto/Sasuke relationship started early on in their Academy years and regardless of Pīta being on Team 7, it's still there. I am going to be focusing on that, and it does serve as a major point in this story.
Aztec 13: It's nice in concept but at the moment, things are primarily Spider-Man. Down the line, who knows? But I think only some of the more ninja/mystically inclined heroes will have a chance at fitting in. People like Iron Fist, Daredevil, Electra, Shang-Chi.
atom king: Night Thrasher, I think I've only ever seen him once with Spider-Man. It would be cool to see a team-up, but if it serves no point in the story, it's probably not going to happen, I'm sorry to say.
coldblue: As always, I'll answer as many questions as I can.
1) Anyone can become a Chūnin at the end of the exams, there's nothing to say they can't. Shikamaru will become a Chūnin, he did well to deserve it. But I always felt that a few others deserved the prestige too, and you'll see who I mean when it comes to that.
2) I have thought of a Summoning Contract and bottom line, it's going to be spiders.
3) That hasn't been revealed yet but for some reason, Pīta seems to be having trouble with his Chakra control. You'll see why in future chapters but at an estimate, I'd say he has a very large amount of untapped Chakra, he just struggles controlling it.
4) Absolutely. In the same way Peter and Mary-Jane had May, who received spider-powers from her father, Pīta can marry outside of his clan and conceive while still keeping the bloodline strong.
5) The Chūnin Exams is a little too early for Pīta to suddenly manifest an interest in poisons, but something happens during the Forest of Death that catches his curiosity. I won't reveal what, but he will eventually go asking Kurenai for some pointers.
6) I'd say sparring with Pīta has made them a little more hardy, they won't go down as easily as they would in canon but nothing too out there. The prelim fights between Naruto/Kiba and Sakura/Ino might go a little differently, to the point where the outcomes might change. Not for Naruto obviously, but for Sakura and Ino. Believe me, I don't like the 'farting thing' either.
Thanks for the questions and suggestions!
