Hello guys!
I'm sorry this chapter is so late! We had some technical difficulties but there are solved now and here's the chapter!
Have nothing to say exact, Thanks to Okami no Hikari for being the Beta for this chapter! As usual!
CHARGE!
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Chunnin Exam
It all began the following morning, at the beginning of our meeting. Anko-sensei told us there would be no training and instead handed a sheet of paper to each one of us.
"I'm not sure if you've already noticed, but there is a number of foreign ninja inside the village" she said as she handed the papers "There's a reason for this. Our village is hosting the exam to pass from Gennin to Chunnin rank this semester, and I've nominated you all as candidates for it"
"AAAALRIGHT!" cheered Naruto-kun jumping high into the air
"the exam is to be taken as a whole team, so talk among yourselves and decide if you're going to take it or not. Deliver the forms completely filled in at the academy, classroom 301, tomorrow morning if you choose to, don't be late" and with a hand wave and smile she disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.
The form basically just asked us some of our personal information: name, age and stuff, it was merely a bureaucratic process, nothing to be worried about.
"So, a test in groups of three huh?" Midori-sempai asked rhetorically "no doubt the exam starts from here; they mean to see if we all trust in our own abilities and those of our teammates"
"Well no problem there, right?" asked Naruto-kun "I'm the future Hokage, my skills have no comparison, and I know you girls kick ass" I could feel my cheeks turning red at his praising
"I'm glad to have earned your trust, Naruto" added Midori-sempai "likewise, I trust you guys hands down, and I'm confident in my capabilities" both of them turned to see me
"Let's do it" I said trying to sound as confident as I was feeling "I know that together we three can pass this test without too much trouble" their faces showed a warm smile
"Let's show the village and the whole world why you don't mess with team 5!" cheered Naruto-kun placing his clenched fist in front of us, as a reaction, both Midori-sempai and I put our hands above his fist, and the three of us tossed them all above our heads. Now, I had no doubts about the unity of our team.
We were all smiling.
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The following morning we all arrived early at the academy; however, a lot of people were already there, hanging outside the entrance and all along the hall of the first floor.
We three had a hard time moving through it, as not everyone present was a member of the village. There were ninja from every village I knew of, I started to wonder where did they all hide...we merely found 3 of them by mistake the other day...no wonder the rest were in hiding or something...the level here was pretty high, nearly none of them were our age, the youngest seemed to be at least around Midori-sempai's age.
We climbed up the stairs and found a large crowd standing outside a classroom, seemingly the 301.
"Let us pass!" was the common demand from the other gennin, since two guys were stopping anyone who tried to get past the threshold of the classroom. We squeezed ourselves to the front of the crowd, getting there just to see a boy landing in front of us, covered in bruises. It was Lee-san.
"The exam is pretty hard!" said one of the guys standing in front of the door "even us have failed it two times already"
"Bushy brows!" called him Naruto-kun as he helped him up "are you ok?" Lee-san stood up with difficulty, even with of Naruto-kun helping.
From the crowd appeared Tenten-chan and Neji-nii-san, the first tried to approach the two self proclaimed guards and the later just stood nearby, clearly unconcerned about both the guys in front of him and his teammates.
"Please" said Tenten-chan "we just want to take the exa-" the boy raised his hand above his forehead that showed the symbol of the leaf and prepared to strike down my friend as Midori-sempai appeared between them and stopped the hand.
"A real gentleman should never hit a girl...even less a fellow citizen..." lectured Midori-sempai, projecting once again that aura of hers that made her seem much, much older. The boy gritted his teeth as he tried to free his wrist from my teammate's firm grip.
"Stop this ruckus" a voice of command called their attention, we all turned around. Sasuke-san and his team had arrived, all the people moved out of his way as he walked towards us. Sakura-chan and Oshikuru-kun were walking alongside him, yet slightly behind. "And while you are at it" added the raven haired "dispel this whole genjutsu, it's completely lame, you noticed since the beginning, didn't you, Sakura?"
"That's right Sasuke-kun because this is the second floor" she said.
"So you noticed?" said the boy that had stood still until now, suddenly the number on the room changed to 201.
"Damn you pretty boy..." cursed his partner and charged Sasuke-san, who prepared to retaliate, but in just a moment, Lee got between them both and stopped their attacks.
"We're all ninja of the leaf, there's no need to fight among us..." I could see how both of them were surprised by the sudden action of the green-clad boy.
As the crowd began to disperse Neji-nii-san approached Lee-san and Tenten-chan
"I thought it was you who had said that we should have a low profile, and don't attract unnecessary attention to ourselves" he said
"You know, Neji" started Tenten-chan "he's acting like this because..." but she couldn't finish, because Lee-san had already stood up and was standing in front of Sakura-chan
"Hello! My name is Rock Lee! Sakura-chan please go out with me!" Lee-san introduced himself bowing stiffly, but his approach wasn't received as he had expected.
"Ugh! No way!" she said almost running away from him "what's with that eyebrows? So thick! Ugh!" sadly Lee-san was rejected in front of us by my friend, and although he wasn't exactly my friend he was a close friend of Naruto-kun, and I felt bad about him.
"Oshikuru, Sasuke-kun, let's go" said Sakura-chan "and hey, Hinata-chan, we're not going easy on you or anything, ne? Even if we're friends, we'll pull no punches got it?" she said to me turning around and smiling with confidence. I couldn't help but to answer her smile.
"Same with us" was my answer as I also looked at Tenten-chan who nodded in acceptance.
Their team left the area as the whole crowd began to disperse, but I could see how Lee-san tailing team 7.
"Hinata, you see that? Bushybrows is going after them! Come let's see what's happening!" said Naruto-kun going after the spandex wearing boy. Of course, Midori-sempai and I followed him closely.
We finally arrived at a large room, a long staircase led to a lower floor, which we could observe from the edge of the balcony. Further beyond the gardens brought a fresh smell of grass and flowers.
Sasuke-san, Sakura-chan, and Oshikuru-kun were standing in front of Lee-san who was posing in his fighting stance.
"What do you say? Will you fight me, Uchiha Sasuke-kun?" asked the older boy, the raven haired smirked.
"You're confident if you dare to challenge me to a duel, even knowing the Uchiha name"
Oshikuru-kun took a step forward.
"Leave this one to me Sasuke, It'll give me a chance to prove the results of my training" he asked letting loose the metal wire that covered his arms.
"It is not you who I wish to fight" replied seriously Lee-san.
"If you can't defeat me, there's no way you can touch Sasuke" said nonchalantly Oshikuru-kun. It was clear that Sasuke-kun had taken the position of leader of his team quite easily.
"Fine, I'll defeat you quickly" replied Lee-san.
"This is a good opportunity to see the improvements of both, Oshikuru and Sasuke" said Naruto-kun who now had his undivided attention on the lower floor.
Oshikuru-kun charged at Lee-san. For both of them, combat was their best asset; however, I wondered how would the extra year of experience that Lee-san had affect the battle. I was able to defeat Oshikuru-kun even if barely, and Naruto-kun was stronger than me, but at the same time Lee-san was stronger than him. Besides, my fight with Oshikuru-kun had been at the academy and we all had grown a lot since then, there was no way to assure that Lee-san's battle would be easy.
Oshikuru-kun threw a punch at Lee-san but it was easily deflected, and then the fight really started. The metal wire that was around Oshikuru-kun springed and trapped Lee-san's arm who noticing this development threw his arm around, sending Oshikuru-kun flying through the wire that tied them together. The scarred boy wouldn't let go and suddenly the wire in his other arm grabbed one of Lee-san's legs.
"At this rate Bushy-Brows movements will be restrained" assured Naruto-kun without moving his eyes from the fight.
As his leg got trapped Lee-san moved it harshly to send a wave along the wires that smashed Oshikuru-kun against the floor with great force
"Oshikuru!" called Sakura-chan.
"It's over" announced Lee-san as he tried to remove the wires from his limbs, but they wouldn't budge.
"N-not yet" said Oshikuru-kun standing up with difficulty "One Thousand Spears of Iron!" all the remaining wire around his body launched forward against Lee-san, threatening to pierce him all around. The older fighter jumped backwards into the air trying to run away from the attack, but the wire kept moving forward and the grip on his limbs stopped him from going far enough to escape the attack. He was forced to counterattack: twisting in the air he yelled.
"Leaf's Violent Wind!" the flying kicks he performed were so powerful that stopped the incoming metal lances and also lifted Oshikuru-kun from the floor, sending him flying against a pillar. The younger boy crashed harshly, releasing a gasp and losing consciousness; the wire lost its grip.
"Will you fight me now, Sasuke-kun?"
He did.
Surprisingly the difference in power proved to be as big as it was with Oshikuru-kun, the gap in power between the two younger boys wasn't enough to make a real difference against Lee-san.
Sasuke-san wasn't even able to defend and his opponent managed to react to anything he tried in order to take on the offensive. When a kick managed to send Sasuke-san into the air and Lee used his Shadow Dance technique to follow after him airborne it was clear that the battle was over... however a paper windmill stopped Lee-san's attack and forced him back to the floor.
A shiver ran through Midori-sempai's back "He's coming...let's go before it's too late, the fight is over anyway"
We kept on moving to the third floor, thinking about what we had just seen.
"That Sasuke couldn't beat Bushy-Brows...that means that he is within my reach" said with confidence Naruto-kun, he couldn't help but to smirk "I swear that before this is over I'll settle my score with Sasuke and prove that I'm the strongest Gennin! Then no one will be able to ignore me and will acknowledge my abilities!" he clenched his fist as he looked at us in the eye, both Midori-sempai and I smiled at him.
"You'll have to beat not only Sasuke-tan" explained Midori-sempai in a light tone of voice "also Lee, Neji, and many foreign ninja to do that, not to mention that we, Hinata and I, will be taking part on the exam too!"
"I'll fight against anyone and defeat them one by one, and at the same time protect you two from any harm!"
"It's amazing how he can make you fall in love with him all over again with just a few words, isn't it?" asked Habataku. I nodded with enthusiasm.
After a short walk we arrived at a large double door with the number 301. You could feel a big menacing aura coming from inside it, or rather a mixture of auras. Midori-sempai and Naruto-kun took point while I stood a little bit behind them when they opened the doors.
We came into a large room, there were already a lot of ninja inside, nearly all of them foreign, or at least it felt like it, since every gaze that reached us was full of killing intent, blood lust, and hatred. Clearly it was best not to provoke this bunch.
"Yo! Hinata!" called a familiar voice, from among the crowd came out Kiba-kun and his little dog Akamaru. Kiba flashed a big smile as he approched, Naruto-kun quickly walked forward, cutting his approach.
"Hey Dog Mouth!" greeted Naruto-kun.
"H-hey, Naruto" quickly Kiba-kun's smile faded to a disappointed gesture. Midori-sempai giggled as she whispered into my ear.
"I'm surprised at how popular you are" her tone was playful "and how quickly you turn enemies into friends" the image of Sakura-chan came to my head "and allies into enemies" as if triggered by her words Shino-kun and Azumi came out of the crowd, following their teammate. Azumi and I exchanged a gelid glance before Naruto-kun greeted them too.
"Hey Azumi!" he said waving vigorously "Shino too"
"'Hello Naruto!" waved back cheeky Azumi, Shino merely nodded in response.
"You guys are damn noisy!" said a bored voice, we all turned around to see Ino-chan and Chouji-kun coming out of the crowd leaded by Shikamaru-kun.
"Hello Ino-chan" I said waving to my friend.
"Hinata-chan!" she said running to me and as she embraced me in a hug, she asked into my ear "Sooooo? I can see you all friendly with Naruto again...or was it since that day? You are lovey-dovey yet?" her voice thirsted for gossip.
"Etto..." I could almost see me sweat cold "...no" I said letting my head hung down
"Say what?" she released one of her screeches on my ear; a buzzing sound remained even after she had quieted.
"Ino, keep quiet" scolded her Shikamaru-kun
At that moment the doors opened again and Neji-ni-san, Tenten-chan, and Lee-san came into the room. All the girls, Ino-chan, Tenten-chan, Midori-sempai, and I, exchanged a welcoming glance before they retired on their own.
We kept on chatting a few minutes, talking about the missions each team had completed, and our expectations of this exam; suddenly the doors opened once again.
The cheeks of several girls turned pink and Ino-chan moved forward as Sasuke-san's figure appeared holding both doors. After him came Sakura-chan and Oshikuru-kun. The ruckus started right away: Sakura-chan and Ino-chan began a fight over Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun challenged Sasuke-san to try and find out who was better even when his rival didn't paid much attention to his words, Oshikuru-kun demanded a rematch from Lee-san the moment he went to say hello to Naruto-kun. In one word, it was noisy.
"Jeez, you guys are rookies straight from the academy right?" an older boy came out of the crowd, the headband of Konoha was clear on his forehead, he was dressed in simple dark blue clothes, his hair was silver and a pair of eyeglasses rested on his nose "damn noisy, screaming like little girls" Ino-chan and Sakura-chan sent kunais with their eyes to him. (Editor's note: I would've sent real ones… hate this guy's guts)
"Who do you think you are?" asked him Ino-chan annoyed.
"My name is Kab-" he was midway into his introduction when Midori-chan stood up in front of him.
"Yakushi Kabuto" she said, a tone of hatred in her voice "I know you well, go away, these gennin are under my protection" she said.
"Hey, hey, there's no need to get so aggressive" he tried to defend himself.
"I said go away" her tone of voice resounded with that intonation that made her sound older "I won't say it again" the shine in her eyes gave them a dangerous edge "I won't let you, nor anyone else lay a hand on them, none of them, you hear me? Now, walk away before I kill you" I could feel that she was not bluffing, she meant it.
"Ok" he said seriously "I'll walk away now"
At that moment three new figures came out rushing from the mass of ninjas, along with an overwhelming feeling of blood lust. Not all of us managed to react in time. Only Shikamaru-kun, Sasuke-san, Ino-chan, Azumi-chan, Midori-sempai, Shino-kun, Kabuto and myself managed to move as they came out.
The one in front of the group seemed like a mummy and was wearing a weird arm guard of sorts; his forehead had the symbol of a musical note.
He charged at Kabuto and Midori-sempai and threw a punch at them, but both of them managed to dodge the attack...or so we thought
The eyeglasses of Kabuto got smashed and a second later he threw up. Midori-sempai had a better reaction, but still lost her footing and slid back, landing on her butt. It was the first time she had received the effects of an attack, at least in front of us.
"Make sure to remember this, tree huggers, the ninja of the 'Sound' will definitely become Chunnin" said the ninja that looked like a mummy, his voice was dry and terrifying, he was full of self confidence.
"STOP IT AT ONCE, YOU MAGGOTS!" a deep, mature voice came from the end of the room, a group of frightening adults had arrived, and clearly they were the proctors. I tried to look around and see if any of them had some kind of normal friendly face, my efforts were in vain.
"This doesn't looks well" I cursed. The Chunnin exam was about to begin.
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That's all for now! What do you think? You liked it? Tell me in a review! You didn't? Complain via Review! =D I'll be waiting to know from you!
I'm already working on the next chapter so I hope to update again shortly!
Bye bye!
