Disclaimer: Neither of us own Naruto, and we make no profit writing fanfiction about it.
File Title - top kek
(AN - Ajax): Zug zug.
(AN - White): More work?
Sasuke wasn't sure when full ANBU gear became more comfortable than the civilian clothes he'd grown up wearing. Some time between the second and fourth month since his recruitment into Ne, the realization hit the Uchiha like a bolt of lightning.
Without a lightweight carbon fibre vest wrapped around his chest Sasuke felt utterly unclothed. As if an enemy could come up behind him at any time and slip a knife between his ribs, leaving the last Uchiha drowning while his lungs filled with blood.
Wearing no armor, no forearm guards, and a white bandage wrapped over his bicep to cover up the blazing red ANBU seal, Sasuke felt naked. But he had little choice in the matter. He was entering the chuunin exams, and he was supposed to do so undercover as a typical Konoha genin.
Strangling the urge to tug anxiously at the collar of his skin-tight sleeveless black undershirt, Sasuke strapped his flat pointed tanto over his back and stepped out into the subterranean halls of the Den.
Sai was waiting for him dressed in that disgustingly lurid navel baring outfit he seemed to prefer. Knowing Danzo as he did after six months beneath the Councilor's command, the Uchiha wouldn't be in the least surprised if the ensemble was chosen for the sole purpose of seducing information out of seedy pedophiles.
Nodding wordlessly at the other boy, Sasuke grit down his faint frustration and followed the other Ne recruit through the winding maze of passages and sewers that made up the Den.
Sasuke disliked Sai.
Or rather, he disliked what Sai had been carefully molded into becoming. A barely human caricature that struggled with the simplest social expressions and who became honestly puzzled at the slightest release of emotion. It was disconcerting to see a boy that was practically a physical living mirror of himself bent into nothing more than a passionless tool.
It angered Sasuke, and in the darkest parts of his mind that he denied even existed, it frightened him. Danzo was not playing games. The instructors in the Academy told their students to 'kill their emotions' as a metaphor - giving up their emotional security in service to the Hi no Ishi. ROOT's Commander made it a reality.
The emotional conditioning was subtle. Sasuke would never had thought of it as more than the typical hardening if Sai hadn't been assigned to their team.'You will be blooded' had sounded harsh but beneficial.
The Uchiha hadn't protested that order. Hadn't thought it was necessary to protest, because Sasuke had joined ANBU and ANBU killed their enemies. Crow-Five had killed those guards on Gamma-Three's first mission, come to an accord with Kakashi, reported back to Danzo, and been violently sick in the privacy of his own home.
After meeting Sai however, all the encouragements and assignments had seemed much more sinister. His blooding wasn't a quick and dirty training to become stronger for the village; but the first step on a very long road of killing all the passions that made him Uchiha Sasuke.
The worst of it was Sasuke couldn't justify to himself stepping off that road. Protestations of morality paled compared to the memory of his bleeding parents in the night and the crimson violent spin of Itachi's eyes. The last Uchiha in Konoha needed to become stronger, and Danzo was making him so.
Sasuke moved faster and hit harder than he'd ever done. Ne, with the unknowing assistance of Yugao, had beat a near mastery of the tanto into his muscles. Espionage and concealment. The intricacies of fuinjutsu and genjutsu. Pure knowledge of cultures and geography. Ne agents acted alone, and to compensate, ROOT's Commander ensured they were well rounded in the shinobi disciplines.
The Academy had made Sasuke into a reluctant member of the village organization. Danzo created a soldier in service to it.
"The First Task of the Chuunin Exams begin tomorrow." Danzo began without preamble as soon as the two Ne genin stepped onto the balcony that the Councilor had been watching a gaggle of seven year old recruits spar from. "The Hokage has undoubtedly made you aware of your layered purposes in this test. I will, nevertheless, reiterate the message."
Danzo affixed a solitary black eye on each of the black-haired shinobi in turn. "Protect as many shinobi of Konoha as possible, and defeat as many enemy shinobi as possible. I will add my own caveat to these orders - I expect that defeat to end in death for enemies of our village."
Danzo turned his back on his young agents, gazing out into the pit of vicious violence unfolding in front of him. "You are more than familiar with the briefings on the structure of the examination, as well as the fact that Sunagakure and Takigakure's suspected jinchuuriki will be in attendance," the grizzled veteran stated rhetorically.
"I will instead remind you both of two other caveats; firstly, you are required to actively seek to thin enemy competition and protect our own, but only to a certain extent. Your efforts for the first should be contained within the limits of reason, and for the purpose of saving our shinobi, not necessarily competing positions, for the latter."
Sai and Sasuke stood mutely at attention, waiting for clarifications to their set of orders.
"Furthermore, the jinchuuriki situation must be dealt with carefully, for both other villages' weapons and our own."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed sharply, before returning to an impassive mask with haste.
"We have limited information on the specifics of foreign jinchuuriki's abilities, but what you have witnessed firsthand from Uzumaki should give you an indication of their capabilities when provoked."
Danzo wrapped a hand firmly around his gnarled cane as he continued, "ANBU squad Gamma-3 will not actively seek out these targets during the second stage of the examinations, but I do expect you will perform a degree of intelligence-gathering on these targets."
Sai and Sasuke inclined their heads lightly, waiting for a signal for dismissal.
Danzo concluded, "Finally, I will require further observational reports on how Uzumaki Naruto conducts himself in the field after the second stage of the exam. Dismissed."
ROOT's Commander didn't spare a further glance glance as Sai and Sasuke instantly knelt in submission, releasing a chorus of "Hai, Danzo-sama," with the reflexes borne from indoctrination.
Sasuke crushed down the resentment and indignation at having to essentially murder other children, drawing from extensive practice that came with having served half a year under the thumb of Konoha's Warhawk.
Such was the life he'd chosen for the sake of power.
"Are you sure you want to do this, nee-chan?"
Hinata favoured her younger sister with a small smile, tucking another jar of salve into her backpack before giving the bag a final proprietary pat.
"I'm serious." Hanabi sighed, blowing a strand of brunette hair out of her pale eyes. "You can back out. I'll smooth things over with otou-san. He won't be pleased, but it's better than forcing you into something you're not ready for."
The older Hyuuga sibling didn't even bat an eyelash at her younger sister's assumption that she wasn't ready to take the Chuunin Exams. Hanabi meant well, though she wasn't the most tactful of Hyuuga, and it wasn't her younger sister's fault that Hinata was simply weaker than her ten year old sibling.
"I'm sure, Hanabi-chan." Hinata slung her back over her shoulders, zipping up her cream coloured jacket smoothly. "I'm ready." She stated softly, trying to cover up her anxieties. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair of me to hold back Kiba-kun or Shino-kun."
Bringing up her brow in a look of exasperated disbelief, Hanabi shook her head. "Whatever you say, nee-chan." Jerking her chin towards the door empathetically, Hanabi motioned her sister out of the room before following along at her heels.
Branch Family Hyuuga scuttled about, leaping out of the way of Hiashi's daughters as the two girls made their way to the entrance hall. Their branded kin were such a common silent sight that Hanabi couldn't help but view them as little more than part of the background at times, despite Hinata's gentle scolding.
"You're really, really sure?"
"Hai."
Hanabi's efforts to needle her older sister into making the smarter, safer choice considering Hinata's history as the weakest Hyuuga in the generation was cut off by the approach of their cousin.
"Hinata-sama. Hanabi-sama." Neji greeted, the cool, polite tone of his voice betrayed by a smirk reeking of superiority. The Branch House member curved mechanically into a rigidly bow, spine not curving an inch beyond what was strictly polite.
"Nii-san." Hinata greeted back, all soft warmth and familial camaraderie. "Will you be accompanying me to the Academy?"
"Gai-sensei has asked me to travel with my teammates."
"Then it'd be better if you didn't keep them waiting." Hanabi cut in rudely, staring up at her taller cousin. "Neji." the younger sister ordered, jerking her chin towards the entrance.
"Hanabi-sama." The older prodigy acknowledged, muscle twitching in his jaw as he bowed again in a departing gesture.
"I will hope for your victory, Neji nii-san." Hinata offered faintly, raising her hand to give a half wave of farewell.
"If I emerge victorious, it will be because it was fated."
Then the Hyuuga prodigy was gone.
Turning to frown slightly at her younger sister, Hinata scolded "You shouldn't be so rude to him, Hanabi-chan. Nii-san's our elder, and life's been very cruel to him."
"I don't like the way he looks at you." Hanabi muttered mutinously, folding her skinny arms over her chest. "If Neji could kill with a look, you'd be dead ten thousand times over already. It's not your fault you were born when and where you were. Such is fate."
Sighing, Hinata gave it up as a lost cause for the moment. She'd be late if she hung around to debate her headstrong younger sister.
"Good luck nee-chan." Hanabi offered after a moment of silence. Lunging at Hinata, the brown-haired girl wrapped her arms around the dark blue haired one. "Don't you go and die on me."
Green everywhere. That was the first impression that Sabaku no Gaara had taken as he strolled into Konohagakure. It disgusted him, being outside the comforting presence of sand and the howling heat of the desert.
Gaara's skull suddenly jerked to the left as he suppressed a bout of screaming in his head, "I feel him here! He's here! I want his blood! I need it NOW!" The jinchuuriki of the Ichibi gritted his teeth as he snapped his head back into place, mumbling incoherently.
Sensing his pathetic 'siblings' behind him exchange a look with that fool Baki, Gaara stretched out thin tendrils of chakra in their direction. They still had sand left on them from the dunes of Kaze no Kuni. They wouldn't stop him from proving that he had a right to exist.
Teal eyes swept over the bustling city with a pointed glare, watching people scurry about their meaningless lives. What drove them to go about, with pitiful smiles on their face, ants working with no purpose to their being?
Gaara was assured of his difference. Every time he killed, every time blood stained the sand encased in his ever-present gourd, he felt truly alive.
As the red-headed boy walked off to the right, Baki prompted the elder children of the Kazekage to get Gaara back on course with a significant look.
Temari spoke up with a hesitant voice, "Gaara. We should begin to head over to where the first part of the Exams will be. We don't want to be late…"
Gaara affixed his sister with a narrowed gaze, causing her to shrink on herself unconsciously. The jinchuuriki turned, and without a word, began stalking off in the opposite direction of where they needed to go.
Placing her palm against her face, Temari ran to Gaara's side in an effort to convince him to reverse his direction. "Gaara, please. The exams will be over in that direction." Temari pointed a ways towards the west.
Kankuro spoke up, "Gaara, don't you want to see the competition? We heard you say that you want to see what they'll be like." Kankuro swallowed. "There should be strong Shinobi for you to… test yourself against."
Gaara cocked his head to the right, suppressing the incoherent screaming of the beast locked inside of him. With an indifferent, "Hmph," Gaara began strolling towards the direction of the Konohagakure Academy building.
Breathing a collective sigh of relief, Baki and Gaara's elder siblings followed the jinchuuriki through a collection of wide streets, eventually opening into a greater marketplace.
The group stopped cold as Gaara stiffened, emitting small shock of chakra that turned more than a few heads in the busy plaza.
"I can feel them. Mother wants them," Gaara whispered violently, craning his neck to spot a tuft of blonde and black hair on the opposite side of the square.
The jinchuuriki doubled over, clutching his head with a silent scream etched across his face, eliciting a few looks of concern from passerby. Temari and Kankuro rushed to his side, but a small stream of sand swiftly prevented their hands from touching Gaara.
"Mother, she… she wants…," Gaara whispered madly, eyes widened dramatically. "She wants… Indra's legacy… the eyes, I feel them! Kurama… he, she wants, I feel them! She wants their blood! I want to prove, their blood, she…" Gaara let out a choked cough before snapping upright.
His siblings shrunk back from the murderous look in his eyes, stepping backwards to rejoin Baki's position behind the Kazekage's unstable son.
"He's worse. Something's happened, Baki-sensei. My father will want to know," Temari whispered into her teacher's ear, drawing a sharp nod from the man. Baki resolved to send out a message as soon as possible, after he got the team situated into the Examinations.
Baki briefly considered the possibility of removing Gaara from Konohagakure in the meantime, but that wasn't an option. He would need to represent Sunagakure in the exams, especially given their current political and economic conditions.
Gritting his teeth, Baki moved forwards, following the suddenly advancing jinchuuriki through the crowd, shinobi and civilians alike giving the crazed red-head a wide berth.
Gaara began to calm down, his visage returning to a more impassive state as he made his way towards the entrance to the so-called 'Academy' through a series of backstreets.
The jinchuuriki had been disappointed when he first came to Konohagakure. He had seen weak shinobi, with pitiful blood to present to Mother. But now he saw differently. He had a chance to prove himself worthy of existing. Their blood would validate his life.
Kakashi sat with his back pressed against a tree trunk, sprawled against a gnarled limb as he waited for his team with book in hand. Upon spotting a familiar trio of shinobi, he snapped his smut closed and tucked it away inside his vest.
"Yo," Kakashi greeted with a wave, turning to face his team from his perch.
Naruto sent out an exaggerated salute, while Sai inclined his head lightly and Sasuke remained impassive.
ANBU squad Gamma-3 congregated in the forest just outside the main branch of Konohagakure's Shinobi Academy, where the first stage of the examinations were to take place.
Kakashi drawled, "Well, this is it. Here's the big day. I have a couple of orders to relay, as well as a bit of advice for you all."
The son of the White Fang leapt down to the grass, landing gracefully before his subordinates. "One thing that I will stress to you all is the value of subtlety. There's no need for any of you to go about parading your skills before the third stage of the examinations. You're ANBU - quick, efficient, and silent."
Kakashi's lone black eye bore into the three young shinobi, met by Naruto and Sasuke's hard gazes, and Sai's empty smile.
"That will all change, however, when it comes to the public show of strength. Remember that we will likely have a preliminary round, with various competition structures based on how many contestants advance past the second test."
Sasuke barely kept from rolling his eyes at information that had been repeated ad nauseum for months, yet retained his composure.
Kakashi stepped forwards and put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, looking directly into the Uchiha's eyes. "Another thing that you will all need to remember is the human element of shinobi. Don't get carried away with your task to weed out enemy villages, for both suspicion's sake as well as your own."
Kakashi sighed, stepping back as he ran a hand through unruly white hair. "I've also received some new intel on the jinchuuriki in the exams. We receive missions reports and analysis on contestants shortly before they begin."
Naruto raised his eyebrows questioningly, while Sai cocked his head to the left. Sasuke's eyes narrowed sharply, suddenly very interested in what his mentor had to say.
"Takigakure is home to a 'Fū', surname unknown, believed to be the container for the Nanabi. Her abilities are mostly secret, but one piece of information is particularly significant - she appears to be capable of some form of flight."
"She can fly?" Naruto blurted out, before taking control of his awe. Naruto frowned in disappointment of his own bijuu-granted abilities before forcefully reminding himself of how he felt about his captive.
"It appears so, Naruto." Kakashi scratched the back of his neck with arm overhead. "We have fairly limited information on her and her fighting style outside of that, but it's useful to not be surprised by something so far out of the norm."
Kakashi cleared his throat before going on, "Now, for Sabaku no Gaara, we have an interesting case. He is the son of the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa."
Naruto looked consternated, before asking, "The Kazekage sealed a tailed beast inside his own son? Why would he do that?"
Kakashi was taken aback for a moment before he regained his composure. "Well, Naruto, there… there are a lot of reasons that he may have done it. I think that he did it to make a weapon for Sunagakure, or that he wished to keep the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi loyal by putting it in his son. Maybe, he felt he couldn't place the burden on someone else."
Naruto pondered this for a minute, before lapsing into silence.
Kakashi stared at the blonde, distinctly feeling a hardness in his chest. Kakashi thumped himself a few times to regain his voice before speaking. "Anyway, we've determined that this Gaara has the ability to control sand, through either the Kekkei Genkai of his father or from the influence of the Ichibi."
Naruto widened his eyes as Sasuke raised a single eyebrow, waiting for Kakashi to finish. Sai stared directly at Kakashi, carefully intaking every word
"He seems to be psychologically unstable, from all reports, and highly dangerous. I would recommend avoiding contact with him if possible throughout the Second Test, in order to save confrontation for the final round.
Sasuke asked calmly, "How exactly are villages allowed to send in jinchuuriki, or potentially undercover jounin, to the Chuunin Examinations anyway? Shouldn't that be against the conventions of the test to begin with?"
Sasuke spared a glance sideways to Naruto and shrugged, before returning his eyes to Kakashi.
The white-haired jounin leaned back against the tree on ground-level before responding, "Well, that's a complicated issue. You see, all of the villages are typically 'in the know' about foreign jinchuuriki assets, as well as most of each others' experienced forces."
Kakashi continued, "Of course there are ghosts in the system that can slip by, but typically the ill will incurred from sending someone like me to the exams would only serve to break the infrastructure of the exams."
Sai surprisingly butted in, "It is not in the interest of any of the villages to compromise any agents that they have otherwise confined to obscurity. Of course, they could be used as one-time asset for the express sake of the examinations, but such a ploy is easily discovered by the various Kage and onlookers."
Naruto decided to ask, "But wait, what about jinchuuriki. I mean, how is it really fair if I go into the exams with someone… well, normal?"
Kakashi adopted a wry smile under his mask. "Well, technically, it's not fair at all. The villages all have a vested interest in catching each other cheating, but with jinchuuriki, they can technically be registered as true genin in the system."
Kakashi stood up before finishing, "The introduction of a jinchuuriki is a one-time event, to showcase a part of that village's power. It becomes mostly overlooked because it's such a rare event - in fact, three jinchuuriki in a single Chuunin Examination is completely unheard of."
Kakashi ruffled the hair of all three members of his squad, even Danzo's puppet, incurring a baleful glare from the last Uchiha and an undignified squawk from his sensei's son.
"Listen. This is an opportunity to not only bolster the reputation of your village, but to prove yourselves capable of being true shinobi of Konohagakure. I have full confidence in your ability to carry out your mission successfully with your heads held high."
The jounin smiled through his eyes as he concluded, "All three of you have come far, and I have no doubt that you'll make me proud as you fight through the examinations. Fight for the sake of Konohagakure, and for your own progress."
Naruto's back stiffened slightly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Sasuke clenched his jaw tightly, hiding his eagerness to test himself against shinobi outside his usual realm of training. Sai merely stood there silently, eyes crinkled and smile plastered across his face.
Kakashi shook his head to the left sharply. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get over to the Academy, or you'll be late for the first test. Move out!"
The three genin took off with haste, running with a confidence and precision in their movements that didn't exist months before, besides Sai.
Kakashi stood a moment as he gazed up into the sky, as if searching for something, before stalking off quietly to observe the first stage of the examinations.
Naruto sucked in a steadying breath, tugging at the collar of the long sleeved navy blue shirt he'd scrounged up. The garish orange he'd spent so many years wearing didn't feel right anymore, but the blonde had no choice. Being in ANBU was supposed to be some great big secret, so he'd dug around in his closet for something to wear and left his tanto behind.
Sai - the lucky bastard - was the only one that got to carry his tanto into the Chuunin Exams. Apparently they couldn't all wear the same stuff. Not that Naruto disagreed in principle - he wasn't Sasuke's freakish twin like Sai was. But damn, he'd wanted to wear the clothes and weapons he'd gotten used to in the past half year.
Rolling the sleeves of his shirt up past his elbows, the Uzumaki gave Iruka's hitai-ate a final pat as he tightened it around his left bicep. After so many months in ANBU mask, wearing the forehead protector on his face felt weird.
Sasuke felt the same, if the way Naruto's teammate had wrapped his around his black clad right thigh was any sort of clue.
"You ready bastard?"
"More than you'll ever be dobe."
Sticking his tongue out at Sasuke, Naruto dug an elbow into Sai's side before dropping out of the tree that they'd used as a vantage point to scout out the Academy. Foreign shinobi dominated the yard, slowly filtering into the building.
The other genin members of Gamma-3 hit the grass behind him, and with a final shrug the Uzumaki shoved his hands into his pockets and joined the line. Once upon a time he'd have shoved his way to the front, but Naruto liked to think he'd gotten a little more patient than that.
Kakashi had already submitted their applications to the exam - not that they had the choice to refuse - so the only thing to do was shuffle into the building with everyone else.
It was when they got to the second floor that they ran into the first sign of trouble.
"Come on, let us through!"
"Yeah! Get out of the way assholes!"
A crowd of genin pushed at two older genin, trying to shove past and get into a room with the number 301 hanging over the door. "301?" Naruto blinked in confusion. That sure as hell didn't seem right. They'd only gone up one flight of stairs.
"It's a genjutsu, dickless." Sai cut in smoothly, turning to smile his odd little smirk over his shoulder at the blonde.
"Idiots." Sasuke snorted, Sharingan flickering on briefly before his eyes went coal dark again. "If they can't notice such a simple genjutsu, they have no business being chuunin. They'd just end up dead in the exams."
"Keep moving through then." Naruto sighed, placing a hand on each of his teammates' backs and shoving them forward. Ignoring the glare Sasuke gave him, the blonde stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "We don't have all day."
Once upon a time Naruto would have been simmering with indignation that a couple of jerks would go around tricking the genin and delaying them so they couldn't make it to the exams on time. But now, the Uzumaki wondered if it really was all that bad. If they couldn't see through the genjutsu, they probably weren't skilled enough for the tests. And better the genin end up disappointed for a year than dead.
Shoving down a stab of pity when a genin in a green leotard was shoved to the floor, Naruto followed his teammates past the crowd of genin and up the next flight of stairs.
"Remember our mission parameters." Sai reminded the other two as they came to a stop before room 301.
Snorting, Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Then with a final step, the Uzumaki stepped into the exam room.
Noise slammed into Gamma-3 like a tidal wave. Chatter bounced off every wall as the room was jam packed with shinobi both foreign and local. Hitai-ate shone under the fluorescent lights like glass on the beach, dully reflecting the artificial overhead lamps.
"Well this sounds… fun." Sasuke muttered under his breath as he followed Naruto and Sai in hugging the wall. Best to get out of the middle of the room and at least get their backs to a wall.
"Oi losers!" A somewhat familiar tone barked out over the constant hum of voices, and Kiba shoved his way past a pair of older Konoha genin. Ignoring the foul look their seniors gave him, the Inuzuka grinned and punched Naruto in the arm.
"Who's the lunatic that thought it would be a good idea to throw you to the wolves?"
"Lay off dog breath." Naruto growled, returning the punch with a grin that showed slightly too much teeth. "Who's the lunatic that thought it would be a good idea to make us have to put up with your stink?"
Akamaru huffed from his perch on the shaggy boy's head, making Kiba give a sulking pout. "It's not funny you traitor!"
"Bah." Kiba waved Naruto off, turning to greet Sasuke with an offhand "Hey Uchiha." Before settling on Sai. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"My name is Sai, Dog Breath-san. Would you like to be friends?"
Tuning out Kiba's babble, Sasuke folded his arms over his chest and leant back against the wall. Thoroughly bored, the Last Uchiha watched as Aburame and Hyuuga appeared in the wake of their teammate.
"Hello Naruto-kun." The Hyuuga greeted in her little chirp of a voice, barely audible above the chatter. Red spots burned on her pale cheeks, and with a barely veiled snort of disgust Sasuke turned away to continue scanning the crowd. Even here people were acting like lovesick children. Was the rest of his graduating class going to prove equally pathetic?
There were a few interesting foreign shinobi in the crowd. A tanned green-haired girl sporting a Takigakure Hitai-ate stood out, hefting a sizeable red-wrapped cylindrical object on her back. Some sort of weapon? A giant sealing scroll? Sasuke gazed at her intently, taking a few guesses as to her identity.
A red-haired genin from Suna stared right at him with an expression of pure bloodlust before the crowd closed in front of him once more. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, inferring that the shinobi could be none other than Sabaku no Gaara. Interesting.
Continuing with his observations, the Uchiha spotted a silver-haired shinobi with round spectacles gazing intently beside him. Seeing Sai to his right, the Uchiha connected the mysterious Konoha shinobi's gaze to his Ne teammate. The genin grimaced before walking away into the rolling crowd mostly unnoticed, leaving Sasuke with a frown on his face.
"Looks like the gang's all together then." Shikamaru's voice drawled from right next to him, prompting Sasuke to whip about so hard his neck cracked. He'd let his guard down, and if the slowly raising eyebrow the Nara gave him was any indication, the Uchiha's surprise hadn't gone unnoticed.
Slouching, Shikamaru dropped his hands into his pockets, leaned against the wall, and sighed. "Just thought I might as well give you a heads up. Ino is pissed at you and Naruto. She took Sakura's death really hard, and she hasn't been able to find you at all since it happened. Choji's over warning Naruto."
"Shouldn't you feel the same?" Came automatically from Sasuke's throat, the Uchiha observing the pineapple haired genin with dark eyes.
"No." Thinning his lips, Shikamaru craned his neck to stare up at the ceiling with dull orbs. "I'll be honest. We're not friends. But it wouldn't be fair to blame you for what happened. Not that I was friends with Sakura either, but you get the point. Sometimes shit just happens. It's part of shinobi life."
Sasuke grunted in response, which was as much a thanks as the Uchiha would give for the typical platitudes and an update on a blonde harpy he didn't give a damn about. Seeking out Ino's face in a spark of morbid curiosity, Sasuke felt a trickle of dark amusement at the anger in her expression.
There used to be a time that Sasuke would have felt more gratification to elicit that kind of reaction instead of some misguided adoration directed his way. Sakura shouldn't have needed to die for that to happen.
Sasuke sighed, amusement draining away as abruptly as it came. Sakura. Burying the memories of his first female teammate with the same utter ruthlessness and practice he applied to the memories of his own mother, the Uchiha went back to scanning his surroundings.
Needlessly, as it happened, since a moment later smoke exploded at the front of the room.
"Alright! Quiet down you brats!" The white wisps cleared to reveal the imposing form of a giant of a man, thick scars distorting his leathery face. "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be the proctor for the First Task of this year's Chuunin Exams! So find your seats in the room ahead, sit down, and shut up!"
(AN - Ajax): Something I'll get out of the way is the presence of Kabuto. You likely picked up on the fact that he appeared in the crowd, but he was deterred by Sai's presence. Kabuto was an incredibly high-profile ROOT traitor, one of the few in existence, so naturally he would be wary of approaching someone who could possibly recognize him.
(AN - White): 5200 words here. Very nice. Very uniform. If we're gonna make it to a thousand chapters, this post means we're 1% of the way there. Also, you may have noticed that we aged-up Hanabi to ten years old for the purpose of this fic.
(AN - Ajax): Jesus save me.