So here's part two of my two-part update. :D Yeahp. Here you go(:

Oh! And to the reviewer "Dove" which was anon, I have an answer! You're right, that definitely is confusing, and I have fixed that. It's actually KibaxOCxGaara and SasuxOCxNeji. You've gotten tastes of the girls' interests in both. Thank you for pointing that out. Hopefully, this doesn't end up like, entirely spoiling the story, but I would much rather be clear and a bit of a spoiler than confusing and drive readers away.

Especially since no one reads this story xD

So again, thank you for your feedback, Dove! :D

Mind, Body, and Soul

By LexLogikk

Chapter Ten

Third Person Point of View

Yama looked at her team for a short moment. They were just moments from leaving their training for the last time before the Chuunin Exams began in the morning.

She couldn't say that she was worried about how they would fare in the Chuunin Exams. Each of them had grown so much in the time she'd had with them, especially the last two weeks, each of them learning two new techniques. Not to perfection, she reminded herself, as each of them could do to work on their new jutsus for many, many more hours. But, when one remembered their time line, how little hours they had to learn the new jutsus… yes, Yama was pleased with their work.

Iyasu learned something very advanced, in her opinion, modifying his No-Contact Fighting wind style jutsu into something more lethal - a No-Contact Blade. He had took the longest amount of time of Yama's three students to learn his specialization technique, but the degree of perfection was much higher than either of the sisters'. It didn't round him off as a fighter, but it made him more likely to get out of a battle alive nevertheless.

Moeru, however, did learn a technique that rounded her off quite nicely. She hadn't quite mastered it, but she'd learned how to manifest her inner flame and project it into the world as a ball of fiery fury. The flaming ball wasn't quite as large as Yama had hoped it would be by now, but Yama supposed that the distance it covered could make up for some of that. Moeru's breathing was flawless, and in the last two days, she learned how to break the grand fire ball into several smaller ones, all through her mastering of her breathing. They would work on maximizing the size of the jutsus after the Exams, but with the addition of the ranged attacks to her already heavily melee-focused fighting style, Moeru was a threat from any distance.

Emi's progress had made Yama the most proud, learning not only a new jutsu, but a completely new style of jutsu. Yama had remembered what Moeru had told her about her sister's "specialization" with chakra, and had seen it demonstrated with her already very advanced medical ninjutsus. So, Yama suggested that Emi learn how to make and use chakra strings, very much in the way that a puppet-master would.

Of course, she was no where near the skill level of a puppet-master with the jutsu, but Yama and Emi both knew from the start that puppet-style jutsu wasn't the main goal of her training. For now, they simply wanted her to be able to use it in combat against her opponent. They worked on her forming the strings quickly, attaching them with the slightest of contact, and then maintaining their strength in order to manipulate what was ensnared. First, she just worked with kunai, but when Yama showed how she could entangle her opponent directly, they began work on how to use it in real battle. Emi might not be able to have her opponent turn around and leave the battlefield, Yama thought, but she certainly can stop a limb or two from moving to give her the advantage. Maybe even yank legs out from under her opponent so that she literally has the upper hand.

Even more, she had taught her students the basics of chakra strength. They were no where near the incredible superhuman strength of the jutsu's maker, Tsunade, but that was to be expected from three Genin. Moeru didn't need it as much as the others, as she definitely had the most physical strength of the three, and Iyasu probably wouldn't think to use it in combat. Emi did seem to take a real liking to it, though, probably because it made her blows almost as powerful as her sister's.

It wasn't much, but it was something. Yama had wanted to give them every possible tool to survive the exams.

Who knows? Yama added mentally to her inner montage. Maybe the stress of a real battle would help them master their new techniques on the fly.

She looked at her three students again as they all capped their water bottles, each of them knowing that it was time for them to circle up around their sensei. "Well," Yama said. "It's not perfect."

She saw each of them get a defeated look in their eyes, glancing downward automatically before remembering that she hated it when her students did that, each looking back up almost immediately.

"It's not perfect," Yama repeated, "but it'll do. I'm confident you'll all excel tomorrow morning," she told her students with a proud smile, something that was somewhat of a rarity.

Emi was the first to smile with relief, the others quickly following after. "God, I can't wait."

"Now, you all need to go home and go straight to bed. You need to be at least thirty minutes early to the Exam, and I want you all to have at least ten hours of sleep tonight. There's no telling what you'll be doing for each exam, and as such, there's no telling how much sleep you'll be able to get over the next few weeks. So sleep up." Yama smirked. "Get going."

The three students nodded eagerly. "Yes, sensei!" they chimed before turning away, headed for town. For the first time, the three walked together, something Yama had not seen happen before.

Yama smiled. They're finally a team, she recognized. About damn time.

~#~

Each member of Team 2 was precisely half an hour early to the school, arriving at 2:30. Emi and Moeru met Iyasu out front, greeting him warmly with smiles before entering the school building.

"It's weird to be back here," Emi said as they stepped through the front door. "It's been so long since we graduated."

"It does feel a little nostalgic," Moeru agreed with a nod of her head, her eyes running over the familiar rooms as she walked past them.

"I wouldn't mind if we had the entire Chuunin Exam here. I kind of miss it," Iyasu said as they climbed the stairs.

Just as they exited the first stairwell, they caught sight of a group of people standing in front of the closest door, the sign above reading "301". Emi gave the sign a a look full of scrutiny before muttering to her teammates. "Isn't this the second floor?"

"Yeah," Moeru said, looking to her sister. "Why?"

"The sign says 301. And everyone is crowding around the door."

Iyasu smirked. "Then they're all inattentive, because that's obviously a genjutsu. Let's just move past them."

Emi's eyes noticed a familiar flash of dark hair out of the corner of her vision. She looked over with her full attention to find Sasuke in mid-kick, his leg stopped by a boy in an obnoxious green jumpsuit. She frowned - she was still angry with Sasuke. "Yeah. Let's just go," she said.

"Did you see that?" Moeru asked, bewildered. "The guy in green moved so fast! How did he do that?"

"Mo, come on. Sensei wanted us to turn in our applications early," Emi said, starting to push past the crowd, Iyasu following behind her. A pair of white eyes met Emi's bright green eyes, but Emi shrugged it off as she headed away, her team following her as she headed for the second stairwell. He's here, too? Grand. Sasuke and that Hyuuga boy. And whoever it was that Moeru was freaking out about. These boys are going to make the Chuunin Exam complicated. Emi shook her head with a deep sigh.

Finally, they reached the third floor. Room 301 was the only room on the third floor, and was located at the end of a short hallway. The three saw Yama standing in front of the large double doors with a smile. "I'm glad to see you were all punctual today."

"It's good to see you, too, sensei," Moeru said with a smirk.

"Now, come here for a moment," Yama instructed. "I have some things I wish to warn you about."

The three gathered round their sensei, waiting patiently for her words.

"When you go inside this room, don't be arrogant or boastful. Don't try to pull much attention to yourselves at all, if you can avoid it. It would be unwise to do so."

"Why?" Iyasu asked hesitantly.

"There are people in this room that would appreciate your silence, and you would do well to respect that," Yama told them. "I can't say much more than that. Go in, find a seat, and sit down."

"And the other thing?" Emi asked. "You said there was more than one thing you wanted to say."

"Ah, yes," Yama said, a smile coming to her face. "Be quick, be efficient, and most of all, be sneaky."

Moeru raised her eyebrows questioningly. "What does that mean?"

"I can't tell you, Moeru. You have to figure that out on your own." Yama smiled even more. "You all are going to do great. Don't feel intimidated, but don't act foolishly or cowardly, either." Yama then stood aside from the doors. "Go inside, now. You're ready."

The three looked at each other with confident smirks. "Let's do this!" Emi said excitedly, already forgetting her sensei's instructions as she pushed open the doors.

The sight that greeted the three Genin was terrifying, to say the least. The room was filled with ninja, from Konoha and elsewhere; they all seemed to be much older than the three Genin that had just entered the room, and all of them looked to be covered in scars, their expressions hardened from battle.

"Shit," Emi muttered. "We're going to die."

"Emi!" Moeru scolded. "Relax. Let's just find somewhere to sit."

Iyasu chose not to say anything, and from the look in his eyes, that was the right choice for him at the moment: the fear in his eyes would have rang out loudly in his voice. The three made their way to the edge of the room to and empty patch of the school room desks. They felt anxious as sharp eyes followed their movements hungrily from across the room.

Other Genin trickled into the room, three at a time. She soon saw the arrogant boy with the white eyes enter the room with his team, one of his teammates being the boy with the bowl cut and a dark green jumpsuit, the other being a girl with her brown hair pulled up into buns and a pink shirt. Emi frowned at his teammates but couldn't help but watch him, glancing at him more often than she would have ever admitted.

Ino's team then arrived. The other blonde girl smiled when she caught sight of Emi and Moeru, waving to her friends excitedly. Moeru shook her head at Ino with the caution in her eyes, nodding her head to the room around them. Ino glanced around before nodding and turning away.

Then Kiba's team entered the room, quiet as a mouse, slipping in and sitting down quietly. Kiba and Moeru's eyes caught on each other, and Kiba winked at her, but then they both turned around and forced themselves not to look at each other.

Sasuke's group then came in. Naruto was being loud as always, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, including Team 2. Emi's eyes finally peeled away from the Hyuuga boy to look over at Team 7. Initially, she kept her eyes on the obnoxiously loud blonde boy, but her eyes inevitably went to look at Sasuke, looking straight at her.

Sasuke wiggled a finger at her for her to come over to where he was standing; the gesture was barely noticeable, but Emi saw it and sighed. "I'll be right back," she murmured, standing up from the table. She heard the others stand and follow after her a few moments later, but chose not to turn, looking straight at Sasuke. The raven haired boy quietly removed himself from his team, walking toward the corner of the room.

Emi finally reached him. She looked at him expectantly. "What do you want, Sasuke?" she asked, her arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"You to talk to me again. It's been two weeks, Emi," he said. "You're still mad?"

Emi raised her eyebrows skeptically at him to answer his question, the way he always had done to her.

"Come on, Emi. Can't you get over that?"

"Why? So that you get away with standing me up and not even bothering to make up for it?"

"Haven't you already made your point?" Sasuke asked. "Look, I'm sorry."

"And by the wa- what?" Emi asked, her eyes blinking surprisedly. "You're what?"

"You're going to make me say it again?" he asked indignantly.

"You're sorry?" she asked, amazed. "Sasuke Uchiha is apologizing?" Emi giggled.

Sasuke sighed. "Yes, Sasuke Uchiha is apologizing." He watched impatiently as Emi giggled more. "Can you just accept it already?" he asked.

"Aww, Sasuke Uchiha is apologizing and begging."

"Emi…"

Emi smiled brightly, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Apology accepted," she murmured as she pulled away.

Sasuke nodded. "Good." He flashed her one of his micro smiles, Emi returning the smile one hundred fold.

Moeru looked over at her sister with a warm feeling of happiness in her chest. "It's about time," she muttered to Kiba, whom she had gone over to sit by when Emi had went to talk to Sasuke.

Kiba grinned, following Moeru's eyes. "They finally made up? After what? Three weeks?"

"Two, but yeah. It's been a while." Moeru smiled. "Promise we won't wait that long to settle an argument?"

"We never argue," Kiba said. "How much do we really have to worry about that?"

Moeru shrugged. "Still. Just promise."

Kiba smirked his wolfish smirk. "Promise."

"Good," Moeru said with a laugh. Akamaru climbed off his perch on Kiba's head into Moeru's lap, signaling the girl to pet him with a small bark. Moeru happily complied, an amused laugh leaving her throat as she played good-naturedly with the dog, unaware of the sea-foam green eyes looking at her.

"What're you looking at, Gaara?" Temari asked.

"Nothing," he said, turning away.

Temari gave Kankurou a curious look, both of them trying to follow where Gaara's eyes had been. Suddenly, however, a bang at the front of the room captured the attention of every student in the room, stealing their worries of Gaara's gazing away.

Standing tall at the front of the room was a man with a horrendously scarred face and a black bandanna over the top of his bald head, the Konoha insignia shining on the metal band of the forehead protector sewn into the bandanna. He smiled at the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said. "I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner of the First test of the Chuunin Exams." He grinned at the room. "There are a few rules to be said. First, you are not permitted to fight each other during the Exams unless giver permission by the examiners. Second, even if permission is given, you are not allowed to kill your opponents." Ibiki's eyes darkened. "The pigs who go against these rules will be failed immediately. Understood?"

The room met his question with silence.

"It is time to begin the first exam of the Chuunin Selection Exam. Turn in your applications and take one of these number tags," he said, holding up the tag reading "1". "Sit where the tag tells you to. We will pass out the paper for the written exam when everyone is seated."

Moeru looked over at Emi, and then at Iyasu. "Written exam?" she asked hesitantly. All of her teammates, in fact, the entire room had the same look of distress on their faces.

Slowly, a line began to form at the front of the room. Everyone turned in their applications and were handed a number tag. When Moeru got to the front of the line, turning in her application, she saw that the number tags were not in order. They're separating us from our teams? Just what kind of test is this? she thought, watching Emi and Iyasu as they took their numbers with dismay.

Finally, everyone was seated, and Moeru saw to her distaste that Emi and Iyasu were on the other side of the room from her, as was everyone else she knew. She was surrounded entirely by either Konoha Genin from age groups several older than her own or Genin from foreign countries. Looking across the room at her blonde sister, she saw that Emi was not much better off, aside from a boy from Konoha sitting on her right that looked to only be a year or two older than Moeru, around the same age as Emi. Iyasu was seated next to Shino, but that was probably the only familiar face around him.

Moeru frowned. There was something fishy about this test.

Ibiki spoke up then. "Now that we are all seated, there are some rules that pertain to the first exam specifically. I will not accept questions, so listen carefully." He turned to the board and began writing on it. "First rule: you will be given ten points to start. The written exam consists of ten questions, each of which is worth one point. It is a deduction based test. If you answer a question incorrectly, you lose one point. If you answer three questions incorrectly, you lose three points."

Emi nodded. That makes sense.

"Second rule: the pass/fail decision will be made by your team's total points." The room let out a collective gasp of disapproval, which Ibiki met with a sharp, "Shut up! There is a reason for it." He waited for just a moment before continuing. "Third rule: if an examiner determines that you cheated during the test, or did anything similar to cheating, each action will lose you two points." Another gasp filled the room. "In other words, there will be people who are forced to leave the room without their tests being graded." Ibiki grinned. "You are trying to become Chuunin. To do so, you must act like first-rate ninja."

Moeru nodded. I can do that.

"Oh, and if anyone on your team gets a zero, the entire will fail."

Emi heard Sakura burst out angrily. "What?" she spat, unable to contain herself. Emi looked in front of her to her right where Naruto sat; it seemed that he knew as well as the rest of the room that he was the cause of the rosette's outburst.

"The last question will be given 45 minutes after the test begins," Ibiki said. "You have one hour for the exam." On the wall, the clock struck 3:30. "Begin!" Ibiki announced authoritatively.