Chapter 10

Getting dressed up was never my strong suit. I stared down my closet, realizing the sad fact that unless I wanted to wear what I wore on mine and Naruto's first date, I'd have to wear my jounin uniform to the party tonight. I sighed, sitting on my bed. "Why are you giving your closet that look?" Kurenai asked, leaning in the doorway. She's still been kind of sick, but it's calmed down some. Now she's just happy all the time.

"I have nothing to wear for a party tonight," I said. She rolled her eyes and opened my closet wider.

"I'm sure you have something," she said, digging through it. After about fifteen minutes, she turned to me with her hands on her hips. "Well, I guess you're right. You don't have anything," she said. I sighed again. Sometimes it'd just be easier to be a guy. Kurenai was happy if Dad wore clean clothes on a date, let alone actual nice clothes. "Don't fret. Let me check my closet."

I waited for her, flipping through the magazine she left in my room yesterday. It was a furniture magazine, which made me think that she wanted to redecorate. That was a constant thing of discussion, since Kurenai wanted them to start looking for an actual house, but Dad doesn't want to.

I noticed something though that was bugging me. She'd put stars next to things she liked, and then she'd do missions to earn the money for them, so Dad couldn't make an excuse about money. Well, there were normal things starred, like tables and chairs and such, but then there were things that made my stomach churn, like cradles and baby furniture. I felt the blood run from my face. I heard her coming back so I closed it quickly and put it back on my dresser. "I think I found the perfect thing!" she said happily. I smiled slightly. "Ayame, are you ok?" she asked. I nodded, making a mental note to ask Dad about that later. She smiled again, holding up a hanger with a black strapless dress on it. It had a red ribbon tied under the bust. "I could find a blue ribbon to tie instead, since I know you like blue."

I blushed, not sure if I was comfortable with wearing something like that. "Do you think Dad will be ok with me wearing that?" I asked. She nodded quickly.

"Don't worry about him. He won't mind too much," she said. Translation: 'I'll talk to him and make it so he doesn't mind'. I nodded.

"Thanks Kurenai," I said, trying to think about something else other than that magazine and the chunin exams. I was going shopping with Ino and Sakura today, in my attempt to make other friends. I guess that'd be distracting. Kurenai sat down next to me.

"You seem stressed," she said simply. I nodded, rubbing my head. "Worried about Naruto?" I continued nodding.

"It's not that I don't think he'll do well. I know he'll do well. I just don't like the look of things. I was looking at the people entered in it when I was working the mission stand. There are some scary looking people signed up," I said, thinking about that red hair sand ninja.

"Yes, but they'll do fine. Besides, you're one of the proctors. You'll be able to keep a close eye on them. That was the only way Iruka would let Naruto even take the test," she said, smiling. Iruka seemed like a nice guy. I got to know him while working the mission stand. I just don't think he has very much faith in Naruto's ability.

I got up off my bed and put my jounin jacket on. "I've got to go meet Sakura and Ino. I'll see you tonight, right?" I said, putting my sandals on.

"Right. You know, after the exams, I think you should meet my student Hinata. You two would get along," she said. I waved her off and headed to the Yamanaka flower shop, where we were meeting up.

"Hi Ayame! Ayame, this is Ino. Ino, this is Ayame," Sakura said, introducing us. I nodded and waved.

"Nice to meet you," she said back. I could tell just by the way she talked and held herself that I really wasn't going to like her, but I went along with them while they looked for dresses to wear tonight too. "I don't understand why Sasuke hasn't asked me to go with him!"

"Maybe because he's waiting to ask me," Sakura said back, looking at red dresses. I sighed, hating that all they talked about is Sasuke.

"You know, there are a lot of other boys than Sasuke," I said with a smile. They looked at me like I was crazy.

"That's why we get along so well Ayame! You're not competition," Ino said. I raised my eyebrows at her. "I mean, you lowered yourself to dating Naruto of all people!" I was chewing on my tongue. Ino and I were definitely not friends. Sakura knew not to say anything bad about Naruto in front of me, but Ino obviously didn't get that.

"I'd prefer you not talk about him like that," I said, keeping my cool. Ino rolled her eyes and went back to looking at dresses, trying to find something to charm Sasuke. I missed Naruto. We haven't had missions all week, leaving me running the mission desk, since they needed to train. I haven't seen him all week because of his training.

Once Sakura and Ino picked out their stuff, I felt a giant weight lift from my shoulders. Now I can go home. "Well, it's been fun. I'll see you guys tonight," I said happily, waving goodbye. They waved back and I went home.

"Was it that bad?" Dad asked, sitting in the living room when I came home.

"It was terrible! All they did was talk about Sasuke," I said, rolling my eyes. He put down his book, smiling.

"I figured as much," he said. I sat down next to him, wanting to talk about what I saw in the magazine.

"Hey Dad, uh, I have an awkward question," I said, watching his eyebrows rise when I said awkward. "Is Kurenai pregnant?" his eyes went wide.

"Not that I know of. Why?" he asked. Shit. If she is, she hasn't told him yet. I got up and handed him the magazine with the baby furniture starred in it. He wasn't breathing.

"Dad?" I said. He put it down and stood up. "Where are you going?"

"I need to go talk to Kurenai. Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this," he said kindly, pulling up his mask, throwing his headband on, and disappearing in a poof. I got up and walked to work. I had to work the mission table again with Iruka Sensei.

"Hello Ayame," Iruka Sensei said kindly. I waved and sat down next to him. "It's been a pretty slow day, but your company is appreciated."

I pulled out a book, and just read. No one came for my entire shift. Iruka was able to grade the big stack of papers he brought with him. Once we both finished the things we brought, we stared at the door, waiting for someone, anyone to come. "Ayame, um, I think I'm obligated to tell you something," Iruka started. I looked at him while he looked around to see if anyone was here. "Well, you see, twelve years ago we had a demon fox attack our village, and in order to save the village, our fourth hokage sealed it inside of a baby," he started. I knew where this was going.

"He already told me Iruka," I said flatly. His eyes grew wide.

"He wasn't supposed to tell you! I'm not even supposed to tell you," he said, freaking out. I didn't know it was such a big secret.

"Oh, well, don't worry. I haven't told anyone," I said, with a smile. He took a deep breath.

"Ok, well, keep it that way. We don't need there being any problems. I just wanted to make sure you knew that before you and him became… too serious," he said, thinking of proper word choice. I nodded.

"Thanks Iruka."

"No, thank you. You've really gotten under Naruto's skin. He's grown so much with you around. It's amazing," he said, making me blush. The alarm went off that said it was time to change shifts.

"Well, Iruka, I'll see you later," I said. I really didn't want to be here anymore. I didn't wait for a response from him. I just got out of there as fast as I could without running.

I walked over to the practice field, to see if Naruto was there. I didn't see him, but I did see Lee, kicking a tree. I quietly snuck away, not wanting to deal with his blurbs about youth that he got from Guy Sensei. I walked home, knowing Naruto was probably at his house, which I wasn't allowed to go to. I paused at the door, frozen by yelling coming from inside. Dad and Kurenai are in an argument.

I turned around and decided it'd be better to go somewhere else, until they were done fighting at least. I walked around Konaha, hoping to run into someone, anyone to hang out with for an hour. "Ayame!" Sakura called. I guess she'll do. I turned around and smiled.

"Hi Sakura," I said. She looked tired from studying all week. She looped her arm in mine and led me to the ramen bar. I knew the look on her face. She wanted someone to gossip with. I ordered us some tea, getting ready to hear her gossip.

"So how about Ino asked Sasuke to go with her to the party as a date and he turned her down! He isn't even coming because he wants to get some extra studying in," she said, rubbing her eyes.

"Poor thing is probably heart broken," I said, not at all surprised Sasuke turned her down. Ino annoyed me, and that takes a lot. I can't imagine Sasuke being able to stand being in the same room with her, let alone go on a date with her.

"I guess, but that means one thing! I may have a shot!" she said, sipping her tea. I smiled, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't ever go out with her either, but I wouldn't say anything. "So how are things with you and Naruto?"

"Fine, I just haven't seen him since he's been training so much," I said, hoping he's been sleeping. He won't do well if he hasn't been sleeping. Sakura nodded, then started talking about her dress for the party, at which point I chose to zone out.

"Well, I have to go home and get ready! See you tonight!" Sakura said, leaving me to pay for the tea, which I did. I took my sweet time walking home, hoping that the fighting would be over when I got there. I didn't hear yelling from outside the door, which was a good sign. I crept in quietly.

It was definitely a major fight. Dad's shoes are gone, which means he probably went to go ask for an extra mission. Kurenai was probably in their room. Well, I knew two sensei that wouldn't be there tonight. I took a quick shower, and got ready. Naruto said he'd be here to pick me up at seven, so I sat down and waited.

I stared up at the clock. Nine fifty two. No Naruto. I sighed, got up and changed back into normal clothes. I had to make sure he was alright so I went to his house and knocked on the door. There was no answer so I sneaked around to the window and peeked inside. He was fast asleep in bed. "I guess you're forgiven, this time," I whispered with a smile.

Since I was a proctor for the exam, I had to show up earlier than everyone else and have a briefing. The test was set up pretty simply. The first part, once you're past registration and such, was a written exam. The second part was a tournament, and the third part would have all of them separated into new teams and sent on a fake mission of some sort, depending on the squad. Each mission was slightly different, but the main premise was that they had to get a certain thing or rescue a certain person, which would involve a major battle. I was one of the proctors in the third part, meaning I'd have to follow a team around and make sure no one got killed. Sounds easy enough.

Once I left the office where we were briefed, I went and hunted down my team. They weren't too hard to find, standing outside the building, filling out paper work. "Hi you three," I said, making everyone but Sasuke jump. Naruto had a guilty smile on his face.

"Sorry, I fell asleep last night and totally forgot," he said.

"It's ok. I figured as much," I said back. Sakura punched him on the head.

"YOU FORGOT A DATE! NARUTO!" she yelled. One good thing about this squad, even if I was mad at him, they'd take care of the yelling for me.

"Don't worry Sakura. It's ok. I didn't stay up waiting too long," I said. "Well, I better leave you three to go take your exam. Good luck," I said, disappearing. It sounded like Naruto tried to say something, but I missed it when I disappeared. I'm sure it wasn't too important.