Lw: Well I spent a good day on Narutopedia gathering information that has slipped my mind.

Katie: Good, you don't wanna leave anything out!

Lw: True that! :D

Chunin Exams Part One!

I woke up again drenched in sweat. That's never fun…

Sitting up panting I put a hand over my chest. My heart was beating so fast. Taking deep breaths, I tried to clam myself down by looking around my room. Everything was normal, nothing out of the ordinary. I sighed. Okay, nothing to worry about. I was safe and sound.

But in my dream I wasn't… I was being chased by Orochimaru and his crazy powerful henchmen. Then just as I escaped away from his clutches, I saw another new threat. Someone new chasing after me. Madara Uchiha. I shuddered just at the thought.

I've been having these nightmares ever since Sozi and I got back from the Crystal Temple. I don't remember much of what happened after Tsubasa touched my forehead. I barely remember the vision she gave me. Sozi told me I had just passed out after the vision and she carried me half way back to Konoha. When we got to the Hokages office we said the mission a success and the threat was eliminated so we returned home early. He seemed pleased and didn't ask any further questions so I was happy.

But I don't even understand why I've been having these dreams. I mean, its not like they're predictions of the future or anything. So it just confuses me and scares me all at the same time. I sighed. Whatever…

After I got up, took a shower, ate breakfast, I headed out to the streets. Naruto and his team weren't home yet from the Land of Waves, so I was bored. I sniffled cause my nose was runny and I decided to just walk around. My feet carried me right into Kiba. Literally.

"Ohhff! Oh, sorry Kiba! I didn't see you there."

"Hey! What the- oh! Well if it isn't miss Katie." Kiba pulled a smile and wrapped an arm around my shoulder shaking me a little. "What's up, girly? You're looking a bit down." Akamaru yipped at my feet looking up at me too wagging his tail.

"Oh, I'm just distracted is all." I leaned onto his shoulder using it as a pillow for my head. Man I was tired…

"Are you tried?" He must have read my thoughts. But he removed his arm from around my shoulder and moved us off to the side so we were out of traffics way and sat down on a bench along the bridge. "You look like shit."

"Ha, thanks Kiba." You always know what to say dontcha dog boy? I rolled my eyes smirking at his blunt-ness and sniffled my nose again. Gah, I hate runny noses.

"Sorry!" he laughed a little too. "But no really. What's on your mind?"

Akamaru jumped up onto the bench and onto my lap licking my hands. I loved how concerned Kiba and Akamaru were for me. Minus the first time I met Kiba with the whole map incident, he and I had gotten pretty close after I trained with him for a little while. At first, he came off as a cocky ladies man, but he was just awkward at first, really outgoing, and competitive. He reminded me a bit of my brother in a lot of ways. Annoying and loud, yet gentle deep down inside. Somewhere…

I sighed. "Well if you must know, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately."

"Oh?" Kiba raised an eyebrow and put his arms around the backside of the bench crossing his leg so his ankle rested on his knee.

"Yeah, I've been having some pretty weird dreams. I always wake up with no blankets and I'm sweating buckets about to have a heart attack." I sniffled again petting Akamaru in my lap.

"Well are you sure your not sick?" he put a hand to my forehead. "I mean you do feel kinda warm."

"I'm not sick." I stuck my tongue out at him. "But thanks for your concern."

He chickled leaning back. "Well what are your dreams about then?"

I hugged Akamaru closer to me. "I'd rather not say." If it was any other dream but these, i'd tell him. But Kiba didn't need to know about Orochimaru or Madara yet. They were my problems, not his. I didn't want him to worry. I mean he hasn't even competed in the Chunin Exams yet!

"Well ya know what always makes me sleep better?"

"What's that?" I eyed Kiba funny.

"A cuddle buddy." He slipped his arm back around my shoulder and gave me a quick hug. He then quickly got back up off the bench putting his arms behind his head in a casual manner before I could punch him. "Eh, but anyways I have to meet up with Kurenai sensei in a few. A big meeting or something."

"Oh cool." I smiled at Kiba and got up myself. Keeping Akamaru in my hands I started to walk off in the opposite direction.

"Hey! Where do you think your going with Akamaru huh?"

I turned a little. "Oh, I thought you said I needed a cuddle buddy!" Akamaru licked my chin and barked.

Kiba made a face. "W-what! N-Not with Akama-"

"Haha! Relax Kiba." I set the puppy down on the ground and watched as he ran over to Kiba. "Have fun at your meeting!"

"Bye girly!" Kiba waved.

"A-aa-aaa-"

A finger shot out under my nose easing my sneeze. God, I hate being sick…

"Thanks Naruto. I- AAAACCCCHHHHHEEEEEWWWWW!"

"Aw, YUCK!" I had sneezed all over Naruto… opps!

"Here's some soup for you Katie." Sakura came in from my kitchen with a bowl in hand. She gently set it on the nightstand next to my bed.

"Thanks Sakura." SSNNIIFFF. "Gah… thanks guys. I feel like such a baby!"

"It's no problem!" Naruto cheered. Seriously, Naruto was adorable. As soon as they returned from their mission he asked Sozi where I was. When she told him I was sick, he rushed over with 6 cups of instant ramen for me. Sakura came over to visit and make sure Naruto didn't kill me while I was in bed.

"Plus I have some great news!" Naruto was bouncing up and down in his seat. Even Sakura looked pretty excited.

I blew my nose. "Okay! What is it? Tell me!"

"Kakashi sensei entered us in the Chunin Exams!"

I sneezed again and my eyes watered a little. "Oh my gosh! Congrats!" I looked back at by bed covered in tissues and then back at Naruto and Sakura. "Id give you both hugs, but I don't want to get you guys sick!"

Naruto and Sakura both laughed at me. Heck, I would have laughed at myself too! Messy hair, used tissues everywhere, runny nose, sloppy room. I was a disaster. Sozi popped her head into my room.

"Hey kiddies, time to head out. Katie needs some rest. You can come visit some other time, okay?"

Sakura bowed to Sozi and headed to the door, waving goodbye to me. Naruto got up and headed out with her. "Bye Katie! Get better soon! Ill miss training with you! And ill-"

"Alright, alright kiddo, she'll be here tomorrow!" Sozi ushered Naruto closer to the door.

"Okay, but bye Katie! See you-"

SLAM.

I couldn't help but laugh. I loved my friends.

I heard a sigh from the doorway. "Gee, you had to make friends with the most hyper kid in the universe didn't you?" Sozi made her way back into my room cleaning up my tissues and sitting down at the foot of my bed.

I smiled. "Hecks yeah I did!" Sniffle.

She just shook her head and smiled. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

I blew my nose again. "Okay, shoot."

"I heard you guys talk about the Chunin exams."

Oh… this is what she wanted to talk about…

"And I'm sorry but you won't be competing."

"What!"

"Katie your sick. You're in no condition to comp-"

"But ill get better! I am better! I-"

Sozi shook her head. "No."

"But- ACHEW!"

Sozi handed me a tissue. "See?"

God I hate when she's right. I felt tears well up in my eyes. "B-but what am I going to do? How will I up my rank if I cant even-"

"Shh…" Sozi scooted closer to me and gave me a hug. "I know your upset about this. But you'll have plenty of other chances to become a Chunin. Not everyone becomes a Chunin on their first try anyways."

And then the water works kicked in full gear. I couldn't stop crying! I cried cause I was sick and cause Sozi was right about everything. I cried cause I was getting left behind again. I was crying cause I wasn't strong enough. I cried even harder cause I missed my family. I needed to cry. I haven't had a good tear shedding fiasco in ages, and now was more then a perfect time.

Sozi just held me while I balled my eyes out rocking me back and forth soothing me. I don't care if crying made me a loser. I was tired, upset and sick. I had a legit reason to cry.

I finally stopped crying and we just sat there holding each other in silence. My salty tears dried on my cheeks and my breathing finally started to even out. I pulled away and wiped my nose.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Sozi leaned me down into my bed and tucked me in. I felt like such a little kid, but I was too tired to care. Crying always made me tired. "You know, you don't need these Chunin Exams to prove something. Everyone can see you've grown strong." She got off my bed and headed towards the door.

"Sozi?"

"Hmm?" she turned a little at the doorway.

"Thanks." I smiled and closed my eyes drifting off to sleep.

I was super bummed that I couldn't participate in the exams, but Sozi was right. I didn't need to show off. Even though that's what the whole thing is about… showcasing your village's strong ninja… but its whatever!

So on the day of the first exam, I had wished team 7, Kiba, and Hinata the best of luck. I warned Lee of Gaaras abilities, but he just got more excited over a strong youthful opponent. I had also pulled Sasuke aside and told him especially to be carful, but he said not to worry. I didn't intend for them to get them more excited, they didn't know what was gonna happen so they didn't have to worry! But I worried.

Soo while those guys were gallivanting off in the forest of doom and battling in pre-lims Sozi and Oriel decided to push me even harder so I wouldn't be so distracted and worried over my friends. At the moment I was proud, I had learned how to use a chakra whip and worked on my chakra lavation skills. Boo-ya!

But anyways, I wasn't sick anymore and it was that month break everyone got to get stronger. Yadda yadda yadda. Naruto was busy practicing with Jiraiya to learn the basics for his Rasengan and the toad summon technique. So I was left bored once again.

So with no where else to go, I decided to head over to the hospital and visit my favorite green bushy browed friend! I knew he had gotten hurt pretty bad with his fight against Gaara, so I'd get him chocolates as a get well present. Or sake… i'm sure he'd get better real quick with sake… tee-he!

I ended up getting him flowers cause I don't think the hospital would have allowed him to eat the chocolates if he was ill. So as I'm walking to the hospital through the court yards I see a nurse walking an old lady, a gardener tending to the flowers and Lee doing push ups.

I did a double take. Whoa Lee and push-ups?

"Lee!" I dropped the flowers I had in my hands and rushed over to Lee.

"Five hundred forty three, five hundred forty four, five hundred forty-"

"Lee! Stop it! You're only hurting yourself more!" heck, one arm was already in a sling, he didn't need to put the good arm in anther!

"Please! Do not touch me! I must-"

I didn't listen to him as I quickly pushed Lee up off the ground and slung his good arm over my shoulder rushing him inside.

"K-Katie… please. I must finish my push ups or-"

"Lee, don't worry about your push ups. Focus on getting better." I asked a nurse where his room was and she quickly escorted me to his bed, thanking me for catching him. After she set him down and checked out his wounds, she walked away mumbling about horrible nurses and stupid ninjas. As soon as Lee was in his bed, he was fast asleep.

"Oh, Lee what am I gonna do with you?" I sat in a chair next to his bed and I looked around the room and sighed. I wish I hadn't dropped those flowers… they would have really brightened up his room. I got up and walked over to his window opening the curtains and window, letting a gentle breeze in.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Sakura with a flower in hand. She stopped and looked shocked I was here. "Oh, Katie! I didn't know you were here."

I smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, I came here to visit Lee cause I heard his fight with Gaara was pretty rough. I found this biscuit trying to do push ups in the court yard!"

Sakura looked down sadly. "He does always push himself…" She drifted off to Sakura land, which left me awkwardly standing there.

"Why don't you put those in a vase?" I offered. That seemed to snap her out of her trance.

"Of course!" As she was setting the flowers down I asked her a question.

"So why are you here? Anyone else you're visiting?"

"Yeah, Naruto is in another room. I already brought him some fruit earlier today and I wanted to come back and leave Lee something too."

I smiled. I knew he had a crush on her. "He's gonna love the flower Sakura. Your so thoughtful."

She smiled. "Thanks Katie." She stared at Lee again. "But I still have some other things to do, so ill be leaving now."

I smiled and waved. "Oh okay, see you around!" As soon as she left, I kept smiling. She was definitely a mother figure to her boys. Always making sure they were okay. No wonder she makes a great medic.

I froze, feeling uneasy all of a sudden. Something wasn't right. Something evil was in the air, I could feel it... I turned slightly towards the door and saw the outline of a body. My heart started beating fast and I gulped. I knew who that person was.

As the door opened, I got closer to Lees bed. A small figure walked into the room and closed the door silently. I wasn't scared of the boy. Even if his sand was already creeping up my toes and akles and around Lees bed in a haunting manner. I was rooted to my spot, I couldn't do a thing as Gaara looked down upon Lees sleeping figure.

Then his icy glare turned towards the flower, and then me. I met his hate filled eyes with an easy stare. It was one thing to watch his eyes in the anime and have someone tell you how empty and heartless they were, but it was another to actually see it in person. I held my breath, as everything was silent except the sound of moving sand.

"You… weren't in the exams." His sexy raspy voice almost gave me goosebumps. Almost.

I decided to humor him. "I wasn't."

"Why are you here then?" he lifted a hand and sand moved slowly up my sandals.

Should I taunt him? I should totally taunt him. "Because he's one of my friends."

He looked very unhappy with my answer. "A…friend." He started to lift his hand again, but it stopped.

"Hey you!" Naruto came out of nowhere and punched Gaara in the face, while also hitting Shikamaru in the face too. He had his Shadow possession technique on and the sand stopped moving.

"Naruto!" I smiled at him thankful for his entrance. Naruto gave me a quick look but kept his eye on Gaara. Shikamaru and Naruto started to talk to Gaara, but I zoned out. I wanted this sand off my ankles, so I focused on that. I vaguly heard Gaara talk about how he was a monster, how he was used only as a trump card for his village and how people feared him. I felt sympathy for that, but I had already heard this speech.

So focusing on the sand, I closed my eyes. Just like practice, repel the sand. I couldnt feel the sand around me anymore giving me a little room around my ankles, so I silently lifted my feet from the sand trap and stepped aside while the boys finished talking. Gaara didn't even seem to notice I was out of his sand grip.

"Let me feel alive!" Gaara hunched over and launched sand at the two of them.

"Not so fast." Gai sensei interrupted the attack, and Gaara called the sand back into his gourd. Gaara looked like he was in pain, clutching his head, eyes blood shot.

As Gaara walked out of the room saying his last words, Naruto and Shikamaru were shocked. I kinda felt like the 5th wheel here until the boys walked up to me.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded. "I should be asking you guys the same thing. Good thing Gai came along huh."

"Yeah, that Gaara kid sure doesn't mess around. I really thought that was it for us back there." He sighed. "How troublesome." Man, for such a laid back kid, he still looked pretty shaken.

We walked out of the room and kept walking down the hallways. "Eh, I wouldn't take anything he says to personally. I'm sure somewhere deep down he's a nice kid."

"Tsh…only you would say something like that Katie." Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "I'll never understand women."

I couldn't help but smile.

Lw: So, yeah. Katie got sick, can't compete, wishes everyone luck, learns new moves, and finally meets Gaara!

Katie: Yaya! Im getting stronger and stronger everyday! I cant wait till i-

Lw: No spoilers! Next chapter Sasuke and Gaara fight, and then so does Naruto and Gaara. Oh la la!