Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto. If we did Haku would have never died.

Warning! We do read the manga, so there will be mild spoilers.


Rin's Return

Chapter Eleven

Sasuke, Yuuto, and Misaki walked into the room where the first exam was to be held. Sasuke wasn't surprised when he saw the long tables and the ninja lining the walls. He watched Ibiki, who had volunteered to be proctor again, explain the written test and the points system without interest. He didn't bother answering the questions, as he knew that they didn't matter. Instead, he swept his gaze over the room, examining his opponents.

There were masses of twelve and thirteen year olds, but he skipped over them and looked for the more experienced ninja. There were many teams from sound. Few of them looked to be below the age of fifteen. Sasuke wasn't surprised. After Sound attacked Konoha during the last chuunin exams he participated in, Orochimaru hadn't allowed any Sound ninja to take the exams. Sasuke analyzed the demeanor of the ninja and realized that most of them were nervous. He didn't think of these ninja as threats. Then he noticed the young man sitting in the back right corner.

The teenager was completely and totally calm. He was leaning back in his chair with his feet up and his arms behind his head, suggesting that he felt completely comfortable in this environment. His eyes were closed, but Sasuke knew that he wasn't asleep. He was wearing purple pants and a short sleeved cream shirt. He had bindings in seemingly random places on his body: his right ankle, his left shoulder, his left elbow, his right wrist, around his forehead. His headband was tied around his left thigh. His hair was a shocking color of pure red and was braided to his ankles.

He stood out because of his appearance, but what really made him different was the obvious killing intent that he radiated. Sasuke hadn't felt anything this strong since Gaara took the chuunin exams. As if he knew he was being watched the young man opened his eyes. He immediately looked at Sasuke and grinned a slow, malicious smile.


Misaki was freaking out. She had studied and studied with he mom over the years and yet she couldn't answer these questions! They were just too freaking hard! And what was with that weird points system anyway? Most places just kick kids out if they cheat…Wait, maybe they want us to cheat! But they don't want us to get caught because…because ninja are supposed to be able to gather information without anyone noticing! That made much more sense! Now, how should she cheat?

She had her weapons with her, a few scrolls, a pair of chopsticks for her hair, a compact, some lip gloss…That was it! She decided to play the part of the self absorbed girl who didn't care about anything other than her appearance. She dug through her pouch and came up with the compact, lip gloss, and chopsticks. First she opened the compact and positioned it so that it looked like she was looking at herself while she was really looking at the person behind her, memorizing the movement of his pencil. She used her free hand to apply the powder from the compact expertly, then moved on to the lip gloss. She finished by putting her hair up in a bun, holding it with the chopsticks.

She smiled triumphantly at herself in the mirror and started copying everything she had learned onto the paper in front of her. It wasn't until after she was done that she thought to look at the guy she had copied from. She opened her compact again, pretending to reapply her lip gloss, and stared. The guy behind her was absolutely beautiful. His face was chiseled, his cheekbones were high, and his muscles were sculpted. He hair was a deep green and perfectly tousled. She quickly put her mirror down, not wanting attract any attention herself, as she'd been staring.


Yuuto was bored. He had known all of the answers to the questions and had finished them easily. He let his eyes wander the room, not really focusing on anything, until he saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. The pink was the same color of Sakura's hair. When he looked over he saw that he did see pink hair, but it wasn't Sakura's.

The girl he saw had hair that was stick straight and reached to her lower back. She was wearing all white. A white top that went to just under her bust and zipped up, a white skirt that reached mid thigh, white wrappings on her lower arms and thighs, and white knee high ninja shoes. Her white sound headband was tied around her head in the traditional way.

He looked at her closer and listened, realizing that she was humming while she worked. How interesting, he thought. I've never seen anyone with pink hair other than Sakura. He saw her turn her head to the right, possibly to copy someone's answers, and gasped. Her eyes were the exact same color as her hair. A pretty light pink that made her seem like the most beautiful creature in the world when you saw them.

She turned back to the front and Yuuto snapped out of it. Sakura was the most beautiful person to him, not this girl that he didn't even know. He had no idea what had come over him.


Sasuke was brought back from his thoughts when Ibiki slammed his hand down on the front desk.

"Okay everyone," he said gruffly. "It's time for the tenth question."

Sasuke could see many of the first time takers fidgeting nervously, wondering what the tenth question was and why it was separated from the rest. He sat calmly in his seat, knowing that Ibiki was going to give them an ultimatum: answer the question correctly, or don't pass. He watched as half the contestants cleared out, by either their choice or their teammates. He had faith that Misaki and Yuuto were going to stay.

He was proven correct when, after most of the younger ninja were gone, Ibiki declared that everyone in the room passed. Everyone sighed in relief. There was a knock on the door and Yamato entered. Sasuke was surprised at his appearance, he had been expecting Anko. Sasuke berated himself, saying that he couldn't expect this to be like his first time.

"I'm here to take them to the second exam," Yamato said. Ibiki nodded, saying that he was done with them. "Okay everyone, follow me."


Misaki wondered where they were going. As she had only been in Konoha a few months, and had been training every waking moment, she hadn't had much time to explore. As it was, she had never gone this direction before. She saw Sasuke a little ways ahead of her and ran to catch up.

"Where are we going?" she asked when she was right beside him.

He smirked. "You'll see."

That did little to calm her nerves. "Is this any different than the first time you took the exams?" she asked. She was curious, he hadn't said much about the first time.

"Only that Yamato is the proctor for the second exam. Other than that everything is exactly the same," he said. She gasped.

"Why didn't you tell me about the tenth question? I almost peed my pants!" she said outraged.

"That's why," he said in an infuriatingly cocky voice.

"What would you have done if I had raised my hand to leave? I thought about it you know," she said.

"But you didn't," he said smugly.

"I almost did! I was this close," she held up her thumb and pointer finger so that there was about a centimeter between them, "from raising my hand. This close!"

"But you didn't," he said again, in the same voice he had used before.

"Of course not! Do you think that I would let Yuuto down like that?" And you. She added silently. Someone pushed past her, jostling her shoulder. She was about to demand an apology, but she saw the green hair of the guy who she copied off of. She gasped.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing, nothing," she said with a blush, her eyes not leaving the guy's back as he walked in front of her. She thought she heard Sasuke mumbling, but she was too caught up in her own fantasies to pay any attention.


Yuuto paid attention to Yamato as he talked about the second part of the exam. It was to be held in the Forest of Death. There were two types of scrolls: heaven and earth. Each team was to have one of the scrolls. The scrolls could not be opened. The goal was to get to the middle of the forest with both scrolls by the end of five days.

Yuuto didn't know much about the Forest of Death, but by its name he surmised that it was very dangerous. He supposed that Sasuke knew enough that he could help them through it. He wasn't worried about food as many seemed to be. He had once read a book on edible plants that he had memorized, guessing that it would come in handy. He had guessed right.

Yamato told them all to come collect a scroll and pick an entrance. Sasuke grabbed a random scroll and headed to the left. They ended up in front of entrance number thirty-seven. Yuuto looked at the kanji on the side of their scroll. It read 'heaven.' I guess we're looking for an earth scroll then.

Yamato made sure that everyone had a scroll and was in front of a gate before telling them to begin. Yuuto, Sasuke, and Misaki stepped through their gate into the unknown danger of the forest.


Chapter Eleven is complete! It was fun to write this chapter, switching between their points of view. Who are these mysterious ninja that caught the attention of Sasuke, Misaki, and Yuuto? What part will they play in the story? You're going to have to keep reading to find out! Please Review!

thebookwormandtheskater