JT: Ugh, I had to split this into two chapters because the first one was ridiculously long .
No BETA, all mistakes are my own~
"You kids ready?" Twin pairs of brown eyes turned, only to lock with eyes a shade darker than theirs'. Shikaku stood at their bedroom door, leaning against it lazily with a smirk on his scarred face. Rokariku grinned before engulfing her father in a hug. His deer skin vest was dirty, but it didn't matter as strong arms came to wrap around her.
"When did you get back old man?" Shikamaru lazily inquired after his sister had let their dad go. He didn't run to embrace Shikaku as she had, but he didn't protest the arm his father threw over his shoulder.
"Couple of minutes ago actually; I ended up stopping for a drink before I remembered that today you two would be heading off for the first part of the exams," Shikaku released his son, who could now smell the faint sake on his father's breath. It caused the Nara twins to wrinkle their noses.
Ugh. And to think this old man always beats us at Shogi. Rokariku thought, still crinkling her nose. Then what he said actually computed and she heaved a large sigh.
"Troublesome exams; they're such a drag, why do we have to do them?" She complained before strapping some more senbon into her close-toed shinobi sandals. Her baggy black shorts were secured by her kunai pouch as usual, though she had changed its positioning to in the very center of her back. Hidden in her numerous pockets were shurikan, her scythes were secured to her side, and she was mentally making sure she hadn't left anything behind.
"Your mom wants to see you before you leave Rokariku," Shikaku ignored her complaining, content to just knuckle her hair before leaving their room. He paused at the doorway though, throwing a comment over his shoulder before he left.
"Also, Rokariku, we'll be discussing your hospital stay when you get back from the exams!"
Rokariku sweat dropped and Shikamaru threw her a smirk.
What a drag. As if she didn't have enough to worry about. Her mother had already grounded her indefinitely, and Shikamaru basically refused to allow her to leave his sights whenever she was sent on some ridiculous errand. Oh no, that wasn't enough, she had to get an earful from her dad too.
Just frickin' fantastic.
She trudged to see her mom, just wanting to get it over with so she and Shikamaru could leave to meet their teams. She was pretty sure they were running late. Then again, she didn't really care.
"Need me mom?" Her mother turned quickly, her wrinkled brow disappearing and a smile lit her face. Rokariku felt her eyes growing wide, and she took a hesitant step back.
Who the hell was this woman, and what had she done with her mother?
"Roka, since you're taking the exam today there's something you need," her mother produced a long wrap made of deer skin from the pocket of her apron.
"And that would be for?" The genius questioned, her brow raised. Her mother rolled her eyes and heaved an irritated sigh.
Oh hey, she is my mom after all.
"It's to tie you're hair back so you don't die next time it comes undone from the rat's nest you usually keep it up in. It's a tradition that Nara women who choose to be Shinobi wrap their hair in this to honor their heritage. Now stand still," she grabbed Rokariku by the shoulders and turned her around.
"Owe, Mom!" Her mother was yanking the pins and tearing the bandage out of her bun. The tangled hair fell to her waist before it was harshly gripped with a brush being jerked through it.
"Be quiet," her mother admonished, still yanking harshly at her hair. Rokariku continued to grumble under her breath, wincing with every harsh tug. Soon enough the tugging went away, and her mom removed her hands.
With a quirked brow, Rokariku threw her hair over her shoulder to see the new style. It was wrapped tightly in a long tail, so it wouldn't catch on anything while she fought. Additionally, it would simply move with her head movements, so it would be quite difficult for enemies to grab hold of.
Simple and efficient.
"That looks so much better!" Rokariku sweat dropped.
What a drag.
I'm going to murder Shikamaru!
And who could blame her? Her troublesome brother had left her behind to deal with mother by herself. Now she had a headache, her new hairstyle felt weird, and she wouldn't be surprised if her team thought she decided to drop out.
At least I didn't have to listen to Dad.
The Nara sighed at that, thankful her father had already left to meet up with his old teammates before he could scold her for coming back home with a hole in her stomach. She would gladly push off that conversation for as long as possible.
Honestly, between her father and Shikamaru, it was a wonder she was even let out of the house by herself.
"Naruto! Sasuke! Wait up!" The brunette yelled, running to where she could see her teammates about to enter the academy. The two boys, plus Sakura, turned around.
"Hey Roka-chan! I knew you would come, believe it!" Naruto shouted, embracing his friend. Rokariku simply sighed and patted the boy on the back when he finally released her.
"Took you long enough Nara," Sasuke scoffed, though inwardly he was surprised the girl had been running to catch up to them.
In fact, he was pretty certain he had never seen Rokariku run.
…. Ever.
"Yeah Rokariku, you should've been on time!" Sakura shouted, standing next to her beloved dark haired ninja.
Once again brown eyes rolled.
"What a drag," she followed her troublesome teammates inside, idly looking around to examine her competition.
Hmmm, there's an abundance of sand, sound, and rain genin this year.
She stopped when Naruto did, but still didn't pay much attention to the commotion around her. Her mind had now turned to the chances of both her brother and her winning without having to face one another.
Ah, pretty good chances, but that's only if some of these genin manage to last long enough to stand as barriers between us. Man, this whole process is way too troublesome.
"Sakura, Rokariku, you two should have noticed first since your analyzing skills are the best in our squad," Sasuke's comment pulled Rokariku from her thoughts. She quirked a brow at the seemingly random comment before her eyes turned to the two chuunin currently blocking the door. Around them stood other genin, making Rokariku wonder what the holdup was.
"Oh, of course, thank you Sasuke-kun! It's obvious that this is the second floor, not the third," Sakura announced, confidence dripping from her words. Rokariku just sighed. Sheesh, she hadn't even been paying attention, but they had only gone up one flight of stairs. Of course they were on the second floor.
Man, I can't believe I have to face these dimwits. Ch, what a drag.
"Pretty good, too bad that isn't enough," and the chuunin rushed Sasuke, who was already prepared to defend himself. Rokariku cursed under her breath, but stayed in her spot. She wasn't going to intervene between the two idiots.
There was a blur and some boy in green spandex, whom had previously been on the ground, was now standing between the two. His orange warmer clad arms held the two boys mid attack, stopping them from inflicting damage on one another.
Dang he's fast, Rokariku thought to herself in dismay.
No sooner another dark haired boy came and started scolding the other. This one was a Hyuuga with dark hair bound only at the ends, and a rather severe scowl on his face.
It's like looking at a Sasuke copycat.
The female on their team seemed to be rolling her brown eyes, her brunette hair wrapped up tightly in two buns.
The bushy browed fellow ignored his two teammates, and was transfixed on Sakura. A light blush staining his cheeks, causing the emerald eyed girl to mumble under her breath.
Rokariku quirked a brow but wisely kept any comments to herself.
Geez. She's always going on about boys, but the one boy who pays attention to her and she insults him. Ugh, what a drag.
She switched her gaze to her blonde teammate, who was in a deep depression with the fast, spandex clad boy. Both were mumbling and muttering to themselves.
"No one ever cares about me!" Naruto wailed, causing Rokariku to roll her eyes. What a dork.
"That's because they know they can't beat you in a fight," the Nara's words dripped with sarcasm as she patted her teammate's back. Sarcasm, apparently, that the blonde boy clearly chose to ignore as a wide grin overtook his face and he began to shake her.
"You're totally right, Roka-chan!" Rokariku felt a bit dizzy when the blonde finally released her to join Sasuke and Sakura, but he did catch him muttering something about defeating Sasuke under his breath.
Cue another brown eye roll before Rokariku leisurely started following her teammates. They were out of her sight by now, probably deciding that they didn't want to wait for their lazy teammate.
Eh, whatever. Wasn't going to hurt her any.
When she finally caught up with them, however, it became a completely different story.
Geez, I leave them alone for ten minutes and Naruto gets knocked out, Sasuke is fighting Bushy Brows, and Sakura looks scarred. Ch, what a drag.
The brunette ignored the fight going on between the two boys in favor of kneeling next to Naruto and shaking the boy.
"Oi, quit playing dead," the blonde was unresponsive. "Ugh, you're such a pain." The Nara got down close to the boy, her lips brushing his ear.
"FREE RAMEN!"
"It's mine!" The blonde sat upright, drool already leaking from his mouth. Rokariku opened her mouth to make some sarcastic comment, but was cut off by a loud crash that sounded too close for comfort. She squeaked, though she'd deny it until she was blue in the face, and latched onto Naruto. The Jinchuuriki blushed at the feeling of the girl's developed chest against his own.
"A talking tortoise? What a drag," Rokariku mumbled after she saw that the tortoise, someone's summoning, was the one who had thrown the shurikan no planted firmly in the wall.
"Um, Roka-chan…" Naruto's bright red face filled the girl's sight when she turned her head. She quirked a brow in question, and was answered by a shaking finger pointing down to their squished together bodies. The brunette rolled her eyes and let the boy go, completely ignoring and denying that slight warmth in her own cheeks.
Both of them turned to were the green spandex clad boy was getting chastised by the talking tortoise, which immediately captured Naruto's attention. The blonde quickly jumped up and scurried over to Sasuke and Sakura, asking the two all sorts of questions.
Rokariku heaved another sigh before standing up to join her team when something peculiar caught her eye. The wrappings on the boy's bandaged hands had become slightly unraveled, showing deep scarring covering his tan skin.
He's worked hard for what he has, the Nara's brown eyes narrowed in thought. He's going to be troublesome to go up against.
She joined her team just as the tortoise announced, "Gai-sensei, you handle the rest!"
A poof of smoke shot up from the tortoise's back.
Brown eyes locked onto the smoke, wide in terror.