Yuki's P.o.V.
I continued my scan across the room for intellects, when my eyes fell upon something they weren't expecting. Rolling around on a desk a few rows away from me, I happened upon a disembodied brown eye. I wondered who the owner of that eye was. That had to have been a secret jutsu, but I couldn't think of any village that had it. While pondering, I found him. The one who was a mystery to me as well as a possible threat to myself and my team. The one whose own team seems to be frightened of.
Sabaku no Gaara.
His crimson hair was just barely sheilding his face, but I could tell it was him from the sand gourd displayed on his back. If I looked closely, I could see the dark rings around those teal, pupil-lacking eyes of his. He seemed to be either clutching his left eye or trying to keep it shut. I looked back at the eye that was scouting the desks for answers. So that was his jutsu. I didn't know that Sunagakure had such a good infiltration jutsu.
It seemed as though, right after I finished my thought, the eye heard me and spun around in my direction. I should have looked away, but it was almost hypnotic. I couldn't stop staring. I blinked and turned my gaze back to Gaara, and what I saw shocked me even more than the eye. Gaara's head was completely turned in my direction- not too stealthily, might I add. Those eyes were staring right at me. Staring right through me. I stared right back, unable to conrtol myself.
"Oi, Suna-nin, that's one," one of the proctors called him out. I shoved my head back to my papers and merely watched him out of the corner of my eye as he slowly turned back.
I clutched my chest. What were these feelings? My face felt hot and my heartrate was very fast. A single, cold bead of sweat trickled down my cheek, only to be swatted away by me. My hands were clamy and shaky. My stomach felt like winged insects were running amuck inside my body. Maybe I have influenza. I am going to have to see a doctor about this.
I glanced at the ninja that was sitting next to me. She had purple hair and- from my perspective- gold eyes. She had a Kumogakure headband wrapped around her neck. She had a pair of katana strapped to her back and a tight-fitting red and white shirt on. I figured she was as good to copy off of as anyone.
This is what I did- I blew out very soft air in the direction of her paper. It was so soft, she wouldn't have noticed the shift in temperature. What this did was put a thin layer of frost underneath her paper. The purpose of this was so that when the Kumo-nin wrote, her pencil would also leave and imprint on the frost. How would I know what was being written? Good question. I inserted chakra in the frost so that I could- more or less- feel what it is she was writing.
"Twenty five minutes left," Ibiki said. The tension physically thickened. Had that much time already passed? I need to get to work.
I basically started mirroring what the ninja next to me was writing. I couldn't help but wonder how my team was doing. I glanced up and Ryo who was stretching ("stretching") and then at Himeko who was writing speedily, as if she needed to write whatever she was thinking right then or else she would forget entirely.
Other teams had been called out and kicked out, already, leaving fewer people than what we started with. This didn't jostle me though- it was just less competition for my team, so a greater chance of success on our part.
But that wouldn't mean a thing if we lost our cool now.
Akio's P.o.V.
Ayame and the rest of the team was taking the Chunin Exams, so I thought I'd just do some research on Ayame and her little friend.
I was on the search for Kakashi, Ayame's sensei, to see if he knew anything about her and what she is. Turns out, this guy was harder to find than the lost city of Atlantis. I searched high and low for a good hour before I began to feel a bit discouraged. I wasn't about to give up, though. However, I was going to take a break and get some grilled food. Mm. Steak.
I walked inside an eating establishment that was filled with the scent of cooked pork, chicken, beef. Before my mouth started to water savagely, I caught a glimpse of something silver. Turning to that direction, I discovered that it was none other than the man I was looking for. Hayate Kakashi.
"Yo, Kakashi," I called as I walked over to the booth he was sitting in. He looked up and met my gaze with those bored eyes of his.
"Akio," he greeted. I nodded.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Please."
I slid into the seat across from him. The lighting was high, not romanicised at all- a good thing in the situation. The place had the low stirring of people chattering nonsense. I could feel the dim heat on my skin from the burning coals in the center of the table, from which we would cook our food to our liking. I cleared my throat quietly and folded my hands on the table.
"Have you ordered?"
"No." Kakashi shook his head. I taped my thumbs together nervously. What was with this guy? Why was he so . . . cool? "What's on your mind?" I shrugged.
"I'm curious as to how you think the Exams are going right about now," I said honestly. True, that wasn't the first thing I thought of, but it was there nonetheless. Kakashi, with a heavy sigh, picked up a glass of sake and just held it for a moment.
"Sasuke, Sakura, and Ayame are bright," he said. "Naruto has his moments, but . . ."
"I hear he can be a bit wreckless," I entered. "And a bit of a hot head." He made a noise that was a half-grunt-half-chuckle-type sound accompanied with a short nod.
"Ayame describes him well."
"Yes, but she is very fond of him," I stated, gaining another nod from the skilled man before me. I turned to examine the atmosphere around me when I heard a loud gulp. I turned back and saw that Kakashi's glass was now half-empty and he was setting it down. I raised an eyebrow. "Were you waiting for me to turn around before you took a drink?" Kakashi looked confused.
"What?"
"What?"
"I don't know?"
"Anyway . . . " I said, changing the subject. Just as I was about to speak, a waitress came to the table. Kakashi asked for two orders of beef. I continued on after she was gone. "I actually do have to speak with you, Kakashi. About something sensetive." Kakashi's eyes had a spark of interest.
"Oh?" He asked. "What might that be?" I leaned forward and spoke softer than I had been.
"My sister. Her mark. Her little friend inside of her. I need to know everything about it." Kakashi didn't even blink.
"In all honesty, we don't even know how it happened," he said, finally. "We know it happened before she was born. We know that-"
"Hold on," I interrupted, holding a hand up. "Who is we?" Kakashi looked taken aback.
"Iruka, the Hokage, and myself," he answered. "Can I finish?" I nodded, leaning back into my seat. "Great. We know that the chakra of that wolf was greater than any average wolf. And that the use of that chakra is dependent on her emotions. Other than that, we don't know much." It felt like he was holding something back.
"Where did the jutsu come from?" I asked. Kakashi hesitated.
"We don't know."
"That's bullshit," I growled through my teeth. "You at least have an idea. What do you think, Kakashi?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.
"What do I think?" He repeated and I nodded. Kakashi looked around. I followed his gaze. He was looking at the citizens aorund him. He leaned in closer and I did as well. "Ever heard the name Orochimaru?" I shook my head. "He's a traitor to the Leaf and a pupil of the Third. His goal was to learn every type of forbidden jutsu out there. His signature is a curse mark. How the others haven't put that together? I've no idea. Maybe they don't want to believe that she was touched by his evil."
"Hold on, back up," I said, shaking my head. "My father knew no one by the name Orochamiru-"
"Orochimaru."
"That, too. How could he have don it if they had never met?"
"Orochimaru has underlings. Students. He is very powerful, persuasive, and elusive. He will do anything to get power and he is scorned against the Leaf." Kakashi leaned back. "What do I think? I think that one of his underlings abandoned him with whatever power he obtained to earn a quick buck. The one who cursed your sister is probably dead by now."
The waitress came back with our orders and Kakashi loaded up the grill, but I was too preoccupied with all this information to care about food. Who the hell was this Orochimaru character? Another question formed in my mind.
"Kakashi."
"Hm?" He asked, watching his food cook.
"How does this guy find underlings? What about him makes him so irresistable?" Kakashi paused. He looked like I wasn't going to like the answer. "Kakashi, please." He sighed.
"Usually, he marks them. And when the time is right and the marks are in their prime, they go searching for him. For more power." Oh. Hell. To. The. No.
"Are you kidding me!?" I accidentally shouted. The chatter in the room fell silent and all eyes were on me. "Uh, this steak is soo good!" I covered and jammed a piece of beef in my mouth with my thumb up. Everyone blinked and went back to what they were talking about before my outburst. I swallowed the meat in my mouth and coughed.
"Akio, listen," Kakashi said, trying to calm me down. "Iruka has working with Ayame for a long time. He's trained her in emotional control and refusal skills. She can turn Orochimaru down if he ever poses a threat. If. As in not likely." I sighed and took a shaky swig of sake. "Are you old enough to drink that?" I stared into the glass.
"Where I'm from, if you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink."
I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW CRAPPIE CHAPPIE WITH A SHITTY ENDING PLEA DON'T HATE ME. OKAY SO SCHOOL'S BEEN A LITTLE WHORE AND I'VE BEEN PREOCCUPIED WITH FEELS AND WIBBLY-WOBBLY-TIMEY-WIMEY-STUFF SO I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING. MORE CHAPTERS ARE ON THE WAY AND I AM TRULY, HONEST-TO-GOODNESS SOORY THAT I'VE BEEN A WANKER AND A TWAT AND FORGIVE ME! YOU'RE THE ONLY REAL FRIENDS I HAVE!
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-My life is a h0t mess