It didn't take a genius to know that both Kakashi and Genma had failed in their bets with Anko. Kakashi had held out a lot longer than Genma had but on the last few days of the bet, the newest instalment of the Icha-Icha saga was released and being the huge fan that Kakashi was, he couldn't resist the books anymore. What Anko wanted from the two men was an absolute torture. They had to spend up until the date Kakashi was to leave wearing the exact outfit Gai wore. Orange legwarmers and all. And now he was making his way to the village gates to meet with Naruto, Sasuke and Sayuri to travel to Suna for the chunin exams. The whole situation still made him unsure. He'd never heard of a blind ninja before. How would she complete the written test if there was one? How would she direct herself safely through foreign terrain? So many concerns and issues came to his mind. Maybe if she didn't get through Tsunade would make her give up being a ninja for good this time. His visible eye glanced up when he approached to see Sayuri standing by Izumo and Kotetsu's wooden station, talking to them cheerfully. Over the weeks since she had been accepted as a genin, he hadn't seen her and when he did it was brief and only in passing. Or she seemed to be leaving just as he was arriving. Even as he approached he saw her body language change.

"Sasuke and Naruto not here yet?" he asked the young woman who smiled.

"I haven't seen them around sensei." she retorted back to the man putting emphasis on 'seen' and added hostility on the title of 'sensei'. Nervously he glanced at Izumo and Kotetsu who shrugged helplessly. It was clear she was still angry at him and was definitely holding a grudge she wasn't going to let go of any time soon. Kakashi looked her over. She had black open toed knee-high boots, a thigh length black skirt with slits on either side to show her bandaged thighs, one of which had the leaf headband around it. Her top was a pale lilac that clung to her body, they sleeves were off the shoulder and were the only part of her attire that didn't cling to her body like a second skin. The flowing material fell passed her hands, hiding them from view. Her vibrant red hair was pulled back and tied into a high ponytail. He had to admit she did look good.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're here on time?" Naruto asked in shock as he and Sasuke approached. They looked to their sensei and new group member. The hostility from Sayuri was thankfully only directed at Kakashi. Naruto looked from the female to the male and final to Sasuke.

"We should get going…it is a three day trip to Suna after all…" the Uchiha said, watching as Sayuri grabbed her backpack from the ground and swung it onto her shoulder. She was ready. Kakashi looked at each of them and nodded. "Let's get going." he said, immediately the three men shot off and took to the branches outside the gates. They glanced back to see that Sayuri wasn't behind them, a shadow covered them from above and they looked to see her soar over head, she landed silently on a tree branch and touched off from it. Naruto grinned and shot off from his branch to catch up with her. The blonde and scarlet ninja had pretty much taken the lead and were soon out of sight. "Stop now you two, we're going to take a break." Kakashi called out after a few hours of travelling. By the time her and Sasuke caught up to them, Naruto was perched on a branch while Sayuri was silently doing somersaults and back flips on another. It surprised Kakashi that the woman's skirt didn't move or reveal any part underneath as she made the movements. "How long of a break are we going to take sensei?" Naruto asked. The masked ninja looked away from Sayuri who hadn't halted in her movements.

"Ten minutes I think will be best." he said looking back to Sayuri, just in time to see her shirt move up slightly as she arched her back, seeing the black panther tattoo that she had mentioned on her trip to Konoha. Slowly Sayuri twisted and settled to sit on the branch. She lay her head against the bark of the tree, one leg propped up on the branch while her other dangled down in the air. It wasn't long before they were all relaxing, the heat would make anyone drowsy and the cool shade of the trees was truly inviting. Before they knew it the ten minutes were up and had to set off again. Now that they were all getting further and further away from Konoha they knew to travel together, even though they were still in the Fire Country, there were still rogues about.

"Everything is so quiet." Naruto muttered, he'd never been on a journey this goddamn quiet before.

"Well since you three are going to act as a team for these exams you should ask Sayuri some questions to get to know her better." Kakashi suggested.

"I'm fine with that, ask away. Sensei is welcome to ask too." she added in an overly sweet tone.

"Favourite colour?" Naruto began.

"I like all colours but I've always like purples and reds."

"Any siblings?" Sasuke asked.

"A younger brother."

"What's your favourite element?"

"To use or just in general?" Sayuri asked to Kakashi's question.

"Either."

"Water."

"Is that to use or just in general?" Kakashi asked, only to be greeted with a shrug and coy smile.

"What do you like to do in your free time?" Sasuke asked.

"Sing, dance, cook, sleep…have sex" she added with a smile, throwing all three men momentarily off balance at how casually she said it. "Although I have only slept with one guy since coming here." she added thoughtfully.

"So…back in that town you…?" Naruto trailed off.

"Yes."

"WHY? Those guys were criminals, I mean did they..?"

"They never forced themselves on me. I had a relationship with Kenta for six years and before that I was with a young man who lived in the town but left before I got together with Kenta who believe it or not isn't a criminal. It was either follow Kosuke or be tortured and killed." she told them.

"But you didn't exactly follow Kosuke's orders…" Sasuke said slowly.

"Yes and I was tortured for it. I wasn't killed because Kosuke needed my abilities." The three men fell into silence at her words. "What? No more questions?" she asked brightly.

"What are your dreams for the future?" Naruto asked, remembering that question when Team 7 was first assembled.

"To someday get my revenge on the men that took my sight. But for now I'm just enjoying my freedom from Kosuke." she said happily before taking her turn to ask Naruto and Sasuke the same questions that she had been asked. Before they knew it the sun was setting and they decided to set up camp for the night. Naruto was the first to fall asleep, soon followed by Sasuke. Kakashi decided to take up the first shift for night watch. His visible eyes scanned over the bed roll that Sayuri was lying on. She really was a mystery.

The rest of the journey to the Sand was peaceful and uneventful. When they reached the village, Baki was there to greet them, Tsunade must have sent word. All of the other Leaf genin and those from the other countries had already arrived. The only reason Kakashi and the others set off late was because Naruto had been on a mission and Sayuri had wanted to get a good understanding of the village layout after the others arrived. To the others it seemed as though she wanted to arrive just before the exams started to avoid waiting around for others to arrive. She also insisted on not letting anyone know she was blind other than the Kazekage and exam proctors. Baki bowed to them and looked to Sayuri. "I will show you all to your living quarters for the duration of the exams." he told them before walking through the streets. He passed by the apartment blocks where some ninja from other countries were in, some outside and watching the four leaf ninja pass. Baki led them into the Kazekage mansion. "Are we seeing Gaara first?" Naruto asked.

"Yes and no. Gaara wanted you to stay in here since there is plenty of room and as a way of saying thank you for all that you've done for us in the past. All leaf ninja are staying here along with other teams since there isn't enough space in the town." he explained stopping at a door and opened it. "Two of you will stay here and the other two will be in the room next door. "

"I'm happy with anyone." Sayuri said letting the men decide among themselves.

"I'll share with Naruto." Sasuke said. "you two need to work on teamwork." he explained when the two older ninja frowned at the decision. Actually Kakashi needs to work on being less of a jackass. Sayuri couldn't help but think. However not wanting to seem rude or ungrateful in front of the man showing them around she smiled. "I'm perfectly fine with that" she said. Baki looked to the woman and then to Kakashi who scratched the back of his head and slowly nodded, watching as Naruto and Sasuke went into their room to leave their stuff. Silently Kakashi and Sayuri dumped their things just inside the room, not bothering to fully go inside. Casually Kakashi looked to Baki. "Is Gaara expecting us?" he asked. Baki glanced at Sayuri and finally spoke.

"Gaara and the proctors would like to speak to Sayuri alone first, if that's okay with you all." he said before turning and continuing on to the Kazekage's office. Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi waited outside the door while Sayuri entered the office with Baki. The next hour slowly passed before the door finally opened and Temari stood in front of them with a smirk, letting them enter.

"You're a proctor?" Naruto whined as he entered before seeing Kankuro grinning from his place next to Gaara. "You too?"

"Damn straight, we may be jounin but Gaara didn't want anyone else to be the head examiners but us." Temari grinned. Kakashi looked to Sayuri who was seated in front of Gaara's desk, facing the emotionless Kazekage who gave his own small smile to Naruto and the others as greeting. Sayuri rose and stood before bowing low to Gaara. "Thank you for speaking with me Kazekage, but I will leave you and my team-mates to talk in private." she explained before rising, giving him a warm smile and left the room silently.

"So what were you all talking about?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"We needed to make sure she was capable of taking the exams…this is the first time any of us have encountered a blind ninja. We also wanted to ensure that she knew that none of the proctors will go easy on her because of her injury but when we were in the middle of doing so she was the one that began to assure us. She said she would take it as a great insult if any proctor who had knowledge of her condition would give her special treatment." Kankuro explained looking to Gaara who nodded.

"She's going to be an interesting one to watch, also I've entrusted the roles of proctors to Baki, Temari and Kankuro as I know they won't speak a word of Sayuri being blind to anyone. " The young Kazekage added before looking to Kakashi. "Have you trained her along with Naruto and Sasuke?"

"No, she's been added to the group to make up three people like the exams require. None of us have actually seen her abilities in terms of weapons, jutsu and fighting."

"Then who has been training her to prepare for these exams?" Temari asked.

"We don't know to be honest…" Sasuke answered looking to Naruto who grinned and shrugged.

"She'll be fine. Hey Gaara, you wanna give us a little insider knowledge about the exams?" he grinned slyly to the Kazekage who looked slightly shocked.

"You know if Sakura was here, she'd give you a punch for asking that." Sasuke muttered.

"I'm kidding! Because it doesn't matter what we're tested on, we're going to pass!" the whiskered man declared loudly and confidently. The statement made those in the room smile, a typical Naruto statement.

When Kakashi returned to his room later that evening he was greeted with the sight of Sayuri smoothing out a blanket on the sofa in the small living area of the open room. Kakashi frowned and looked into the bedroom trough the open door to see a double bed.

"There is no need to sleep on the sofa." he said watching as she lightly hit and fluffed the pillow.

"Oh I know, the sofa isn't where I'm sleeping. The sofa is made up in case you want to sleep here." she told him with a smile. "I didn't know if you'd insist on being a gentleman and letting me have the bed or be stubborn, argue and end up sleeping in the same bed as me so I've avoided the need of an argument. I'm not going to force you. This isn't just my room and it's best we learn to get along." she explained. Her assuming that he'd argue with her irritated him and to be honest the bed look extremely comfortable. Besides maybe he could get her to sleep on the sofa? The masked ninja watched as she breezed passed him to grab her back from the doorway.

"I'll sleep on the bed." he told her, watching as she momentarily paused before turning her head towards him.

"Fine." was her only response as she walked into the bedroom and dropped her bag on the side closest to the door. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. That was his side. "Something wrong?" he heard her ask as she reached up and let her hair down. His dark eye watched as her pale, slender fingers ran through the dark red locks.

"No, nothing's wrong." he muttered before heading into the bathroom, wanting to take a shower. As the hot water beat down on his back he sighed, thinking of the exams that were going to start tomorrow. Unconsciously his mismatched gaze looked to the door. He truly wondered if Sayuri was capable. When the water began to turn cold, he shut it off and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist and placed another over his shoulders, angling it so the lower half of his face was covered. He stepped out of the bathroom and looked to see Sayuri beginning to fall asleep on the bed, changed into a tank top and small pair of shorts. The copy ninja frowned, she was still on his side of the bed. This type of situation had never occurred before, any missions he'd gone on with females, there were usually rooms with separate beds or the girl would insist of sleeping on the sofa, and depending on who they were he would sleep on the sofa instead. Any other time he shared a bed with a woman whatever side they were on wasn't exactly a priority for him. He approached the near sleeping woman and gently slid her across to the other side of the bed before sitting down, pretending to ignore her when she yelled out "Hey!" as he moved her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" she demanded, sitting up and folding her arms across her chest. Kakashi turned his head to look at her. The glare she had was a bit unnerving but he smirked and continued to run part of the towel through his hair. "I'm getting ready for bed what are you doing?"

"I WAS about to fall asleep until a rude jackass moved me." she growled, Kakashi stopped his movements. He'd never been called a jackass before.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but since we'll be sharing this room for some time you should know that this is my side of the bed." he told her calmly, grinning at the gasp he heard from behind him. "If you don't like it you can always sleep on the sofa…or the other side of the bed. " he added. Sayuri ground her teeth together before swiftly sending a kick to his back, ready to force him off of the bed. However being a jounin and he had seen her prepare to move from the mirror in the corner of the room, he was able to turn and catch her by the ankle. "I wouldn't advise getting this worked up the night before your exams." he told her. Sayuri let out a low growl, she placed her free foot on Kakashi's chest and grabbed him by the shoulders. Arching her back and using Kakashi's weight against him, pulled him and flipped him off of the bed. Using his ninja skills, Kakashi landed on his feet and glared at Sayuri who was defiantly lying under the covers on the side of the bed he wanted a smug smirk shaping her pale pink lips. The silver haired male scowled, and grabbed the duvet, pulling it sharply to the bottom of the bed. He bent over and grabbed Sayuri by the ankle, dragging her across the bed. She let out an outraged yelp and brought her free leg up and sent it down onto Kakashi's side, knocking him to the bed. As soon as his body hit the mattress she tightened her leg's hold over him. Kakashi froze, the position they both were in wasn't exactly professional. His upper arm was now against her inner thigh and the smooth skin of her other thigh was right across his chest, her foot planted firmly on the crook of his arm. His head was resting on her hipbone…he was right between her legs. It didn't help matters that he was only covered with a towel and the whole building was unbelievably hot even at night. He grabbed her thigh and lifted it off of his body before flipping Sayuri onto her stomach. "We should settle this like adults…" Kakashi said to her, not realising that he still had a hand on her thigh as he knelt on either side of her legs.

"Well you did start it, I had that side first so the only logical thing would be for you to act your age and sleep on the side closest to the window. " Sayuri panted out, slightly breathless from being suddenly flipped.

"I said 'we should', you know your behaviour isn't very ladylike." he muttered to her. He was taken by surprise when she reached back, grabbed him behind his knees and knocked him onto his back. Roughly, Sayuri got up and pinned Kakashi down, straddling his waist. "Living with criminals and rogues for ten years can do that to you. Now why don't you be a good boy and let the lady sleep where she wants?" she suggested with a smirk.

"As long as it isn't in my spot then the lady can sleep do as she pleases." Kakashi retorted back to her.

Neither Kakashi or Sayuri got a lot of sleep that night, when they had thought the issue was settled, they'd awake to find that the other had somehow managed to switch sides and so the arguing continued. Kakashi yawned as he walked with the three to the examination building with the others. After getting them to the door he disappeared in a puff of smoke to the waiting room where the other jounin would be. Kakashi sat himself with the other leaf ninja and sat back, prepared to spend the next couple of hours sleeping. "Boy you look like hell." a familiar voice chuckled, slowly Kakashi lifted his head to look at Genma sleepily.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to watch the exams. I know I should wait for the final exam because everyone knows what that'll be but I've built up some time off and thought a little time in Suna would be great. Plus…" he trailed off seriously as he looked to Kakashi. "…I missed you far too much to be apart for over a month! I just couldn't bear it my darling!" Genma confessed dramatically, grinning as Kakashi lay his head down on the table, too tired to even shut Genma up.

"Jeez, Naruto's snoring didn't get worse did they?" he asked.

"No, that damn woman kept me up all night…"

"Sayuri! Oh man you've got to tell me the whole story!" Genma gasped enthusiastically.

"Not in that way." Kakashi growled before thinking 'if it had been that way I'd be glad of the lack of sleep.' Sudden thoughts began to start in his mind but he quickly stopped himself. He needed to get a woman while he was here, he wasn't even attracted to Sayuri, sure she was good looking but she irritated him to no end.

"Oh and in what way did she keep you up all night?" Genma asked in disappointment, what he'd been thinking was a lot more fun than what really happened.

"It doesn't matter, just let me sleep." the masked ninja groaned making Genma laugh.

"Sayuri are you sure you're okay to do this? You look…" Naruto began, the dark circles under her eyes were clear signs of a bad night's sleep.

"I'll be fine…" she muttered, clearly irritated.

"Oh look leaf ninja…the girl seems too out of it to actually do the test." a cloud ninja muttered to his team mates when the three walked in. "They look a little…iffy to me. I bet you they won't even pass the first test." the second of the group muttered. Naruto glared.

"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH US PAL?" he roared, gaining the attention of all those in the room. Swiftly Sayuri lay her hand on the blonde's shoulder, letting out a large yawn.

"Forget them Naruto. They aren't a balanced team, if any exams are centred around group dynamic or working efficiently as a team, they'll fail." she informed him with another yawn. The three cloud ninja glared at the young woman.

"If you're going to insult us, why don't you do it to our faces. Or are you all talk? Besides if anyone is an unbalanced team it's you three." the male sneered at Sayuri who yawned and leaned against the wall, not bothering to turn her head towards him.

"I don't look at you because you're a complete waste of my time, if I even turned my head in your direction you'd take it as an ego boost. " she muttered. Sasuke and Naruto looked to the three cloud ninja. It reminded them of their chunin exams those years ago when they started something no thanks to Naruto's outburst when they entered the room. The cloud ninja looked Sayuri up and down before sneering at her again. "Listen babe, why don't you do yourself a favour and quit now. It's clear you're too pretty not to mention weak to be a ninja…although maybe you're just doing this for your friends. Either way, if you go up against me you will fail this exam." Sighing Sayuri pushed off the wall and lay her hand on the male's cheek, she leaned in forward until her lips were at his ear.

"Listen 'babe' make another comment like that to me again and you will regret it. Because I know your weakness…and if you go up against me you are going to be the one to fail." she said in a low sweet voice.

"Okay everyone! Your first exam is about to start." Baki's voice called from the front f the room, silencing all of the genin. They all, except for a yawning Sayuri looked to see a large bulk of paper in his hands. Sasuke and Naruto looked to Sayuri with concern. It was going to be a written exam!