He saw me, he saw me, he saw me! I internally screeched as I speed-walked towards the bridge were I was supposed to meet the rest of my team.

"Ren-kun!"

I cringed before giving an internal sigh. I stopped walking and turned around to see Lee-senpai. "Yes? I have to meet up with my team, so let's make this quick."

"A-ah, sorry," the boy stuttered, making me internally punch myself across the face. He quickly got his springtime of youth back and said with a salute, "I wanted to tell you about training since you've been missing it lately!"

"I'm sorry," I apologized with a bow before standing back up. "I'm sure you've heard the rumors about Kakashi-sensei recommending us for the chunin exams. I need to be there for my team, so I can't really train with you guys for a little while."

"I see! That makes perfect sense! I'll tell Gai-sensei!" Lee-senpai exclaimed before shooting off, just as full of energy as ever.

I want to kill myself for lying to him. How could I do this to him? He's been nothing but kind to me, and now I'm just being an asshole. How could Itachi-senpai even think about lying to everyone like this? It's seriously the worst, I thought as I dragged myself to the bridge where we had to meet Kakashi-sensei.

"Ren! You're late!" Sakura yelled as soon as she saw me.

Please, punch me to death, I thought as I mumbled, "Sorry..."

"Sheesh! Okay, look! Are we going to just stand around and let him get away with this?! Why is it, whenever we get called out, we end up waiting like dopes for the challenger to show?!" Sakura yelled.

"She's right! Say it, Sakura-chan!" Uzumaki-kun exclaimed as he threw his right fist into the air.

"I mean, think about how I feel. I overslept, and I didn't even get to blow-dry my hair!" My twin complained.

"Yeah! It's not right! I overslept too, and I didn't even pause to wash my face or brush my teeth!" Uzumaki-kun added in.

"Ew. Gross," Sakura mumbled, making the boy laugh nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

By that point in time, I had rested myself against the railing of the bridge and started drifting off to sleep. When I woke up, Kakashi-sensei still hadn't showed up. I gave a yawn as I stretched before asking, "What time is it?"

"About time for Kakashi-sensei to show up," Sakura snapped as she put her hands on her hips.

And so the devil himself- Wait... No, sorry. That was just Kakashi-sensei being summoned by the sass.

Kakashi-sensei finally appeared by crouching down on top of one of the over head pillars. He held his left hand up while giving a closed-eye smile. "Morning, guys. Today, I wondered a bit from the path of life..."

"You are such a liar! Would it kill you to at least pretend to be sorry?!" Sakura and Uzumaki-kun yelled as they pointed at the jônin.

I sighed as I stood up and patted my clothes off.

Kakashi-sensei hopped down and said, "In any case..." He pointed his right index finger into the air. "This may surprise you, but I've recommended all four of you for the chunin selection exam."

"Huh?!" Sakura exclaimed as I recalled my conversation with Kakashi-sensei.

If he recommended me, was he just trying to scare me into my old ways so something bad wouldn't happen during the chunin exams? Man, what a complicated way to deal with the problem... I stared at the man blankly.

"Say what?!" Sakura suddenly yelled, her hand clenched tightly into a fist.

"Good one, Kakashi-sensei. You almost had us," Uzumaki-kun added in.

Uchiha remained stoic even though it was clear he was somewhat disappointed by the thought of not being able to attend the chunin exams.

Kakashi-sensei suddenly whipped out four pieces of paper and held them towards us. "You have to fill out applications."

Uzumaki-kun suddenly lunged at the jônin and held him tightly. "I love you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Okay, just this once, I thought as I slid over to Uzumaki-kun, who was being pushed off by Kakashi-sensei.

"Get off! You're embarrassing me!" The man yelled as he finally got the blonde off of him.

I leaned in close to Uzumaki-kun before asking with a large smirk, "So you love him, huh? When's the wedding?"

"Hey! I didn't mean it like that!" Uzumaki-kun yelled as he jumped away.

"Oho?" I replied with my hand in front of my face as I will-powered past my sarcasm seal.

"You know I didn't mean it that way!" Uzumaki-kun exclaimed as he pointed at me dramatically.

I snickered at the embarrassment that coated his cheeks before tasting something metallic. I stuck my tongue out as I looked down towards said muscle. "Iz that bwood?"

"Your nose started bleeding!" Sakura exclaimed as she came rushing over, shoving the poor blonde to the ground as she did so.

I blinked once before just pulling out my I decided to stop trying to give it to Kakashi-sensei by that point handkerchief. I wiped the blood away and thought I'd be fine until Sakura punched my head.

"You idiot! Your nose is still bleeding! Put the handkerchief back!" My little twin sister yelled.

"Okay!" I chimed as I put the bloodied fabric back up to my nose.

"Why'd your nose start bleeding? You weren't hit or anything," Uchiha asked as he stared at me.

It's because I didn't shut the sarcasm up. My seal decided to punish me for it. But I'm not going to tell any of that to you, especially since you're ducky mind wouldn't able to comprehend it, I thought as I looked past him at Kakashi-sensei.

"In any case," the man said once he finished handing out the four application papers, "If any of you don't wish to compete, the exam is entirely voluntary. The choice is yours. You needn't turn in those application forms unless you want to. If you do, report to room 301 at the academy by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. That's all." And so, he disappeared swiftly.

I looked down at the paper before looking over at Uzumaki-kun and Uchiha, the latter glancing back at me suspiciously before walking off in the same direction as Uzumaki-kun.

"Hey, Ren..." Sakura mumbled, making me look at her curiously.

My eyes widened a bit at her saddened look. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think I should go," she mumbled as she lowered her head and turned away from me a bit. She rubbed her arm as tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm just... I'm so weak compared to you three, and I'd hold you all back-"

"Sakura, look at me," I demanded as I straightened up.

Her jade eyes quickly snapped over to me, especially since she wasn't used to such an authoritative tone from me.

"You may be my little sister, but you excel past me in many ways. You're people-smart and are very reliable. Who was is that Uzumaki-kun went to when he couldn't understand chakra control?" I asked before giving the answer straight away, "You. Who was it that looked after Uchiha when he fell into that false death? You. Who was it that mastered chakra control easily and without any prior practice? You. Who is it that Kakashi-sensei always asks the questions to? You. And who gives full and correct answers? You."

The tears in her eyes began to overflow at those words.

"You're a smart, highly intelligent, and beautiful young woman. You're the glue that holds this team together, and you deserve to know that. Sure, taijutsu and ninjutsu aren't your strong point, but I'll be damned if genjutsu and chakra control aren't. Surely you will one day be able to defeat even the strongest opponents should you train hard." I took in a small breath as I relaxed. I looked at Sakura with a soft smile before bringing her forehead to rest against mine. "Sakura... You will become a strong kunoichi, and I promise that I will always support you. Even if I'm away on a mission or in a coma in the hospital, my heart will always be there for you. I'm glad to have someone like you as my dear little sister."

She broke down into loud sobs as she hugged me tightly. She buried her face into the crook of my neck, wetting me with tears, not that I minded.

As I hugged her, I felt the feeling of eyes on us. I looked around before spotting a transformation of some Amegakure shinobi. I narrowed my eyes at it before realizing it was Iruka-sensei due to his chakra. 'Later,' I mouthed to the man, who thankfully seemed to catch on since he departed.

What he actually wanted was left up to my imagination as I comforted my twin.

"H-hey, Ren... Are-ren't you s-scared?" Sakura mumbled, hiccups breaking up her words as she calmed herself down.

"Of course I am, silly," I replied softly as rubbed her back gently. "I don't know what will happen in this exam, and I'm afraid that I won't be ready for it. I'm scared that I won't be able to pass, but most of all... I'm terrified that I won't be able to protect those precious to me."

Her grip on me tightened for a moment before she released me. She stepped back from my hold and quickly rubbed her eyes. "You've always been protecting me. Why not let me protect myself?"

I chuckled, making her look at me curiously. "You're my precious little twin. If I don't at least try to protect you, what kind of big brother am I?"

"I-I see..." She gave a small smile as she lifted her head up. "Thank you, for that, but..." Her green eyes looked away, and she rubbed her arm. "I really do need to think it over first, okay?"

"Of course. I'll meet you at home," I said as I stepped aside and let her go wherever.

Sakura departed while looking down at the application with a truly thoughtful look.

I bit my lip as I watched her go. This lack of self-confidence isn't good. She's going to doubt herself so much, she'll eventually be a hazard to herself and the entire team. If she feels lacking in her abilities, that will show in battle, which in turn will make her the weak point. I definitely need to keep on top of that. Well, either that or make up for her slack. But if Kakashi-sensei senses the disruption in the team, he's bound to do something stupid.

"So... You could see through it?"

"Yeah. Your chakra gave you away. I've been training lately to make myself more rounded when it comes to sensory. That, and after the years I've spent around your chakra, it's no surprise that I'd recognize you," I explained before looking back at Iruka-sensei, who was still transformed. "Are you going to test everyone?"

"The rookies, yes. Having you guys all signed up for the chunin selection exams even though you graduated not that long ago..." Iruka-sensei trailed off upon seeing my slightly annoyed look.

"If we can survive two S-Rank criminals, we can survive the chunin exams. Besides..." I looked away from him and gave a grin. "We haven't been slacking off, you know. We've done the chakra tree climbing, and I've gone a step further to walking on water. We've all progressed quite well."

"Is that so? Well, I'll test that myself." And with that, Iruka-sensei departed.

Jackass, I thought before giving a small sigh. Still... I couldn't see through the genjutsu right away. If I'm going to protect her, I need to be stronger. I clenched my hands into fists before walking off to the nearest training ground. I will get stronger!

"Oh! You showed up after all!" Lee-senpai exclaimed as I made my appearance in the training grounds filled with Tenten-san's poor training dummies.

"Fight me," I demanded as I got into a fighting position straight away.

"Eh?" The boy asked before perking up. "Yosh! Your Springtime of Youth is strong today! Let's spar!"

I waited for him to get into his own fighting position while Tenten-san decided to be the judge of the match.

As soon as she gave us the signal to start, Lee was coming at me.

I quickly dodged under his punch before blocking the kick he sent at me. I found my opening as he began to jump back. As my eyes locked onto his right kidney, he sent a hand towards my neck in the hopes that I'd back off.

The black-eyed boy was wrong, especially since I was multi-talented.

I grabbed his hand harshly before shooting my other arm forwards to punch his kidney as hard as I could.

Lee-senpai quickly backed off while holding his side. "Hah hah! You're getting better at straight jabs!"

He's not taking me seriously. Then I'll have to go all-out, I decided as I went after the boy, my hand involuntary twitching for my kunai pouch for a split-second.

Lee-senpai swung his leg forwards, causing me to jump with my own kick aimed towards his face. Since he was undoubtedly the fast of us two, he was able to stop his kick and send another towards my quickly moving leg.

Once our legs connected, a loud crack filled the air. We stared at each other silently as if asking without words if that really just happened.

"Um... That came from you guys..." Tenten-san mumbled as she looked between us worriedly.

The two of us separated and silently stared down at our right legs, the ones that clashed with each other.

"So... If my leg is broken... Can I be carried to the hospital?" I asked as I looked at Lee-senpai with concern flooding my facial expression. "I mean... It'd be faster to get there, and we have the chunin exams tomorrow..."

Lee-senpai's face paled upon remembering that fact.

"Would you two hurry up and check?!" Tenten-san demanded.

"R-right!" My senpai and I replied loudly whilst saluting. We then pulled our leg warmers down.

"You... You broke my training weights! I just got them!" I yelled at the boy clad in green.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Lee-senpai exclaimed as he quickly came over. Once he saw my training weights were seriously broken, he wilted greatly. "I-I really am sorry Ren-kun..."

"I won't have enough money to replace these until next month. Gai-sensei is going to be upset with me. He's going to not let me train with you guys for the next week! It's not fair!" I complained as to not give away the fact I had been avoiding pretty much everyone ever since my team got back from Nami no Kuni.

"Just don't tell him," Tenten-san mumbled as she looked at me like I was a moron.

"But that would mean dishonesty towards Gai-sensei!" I exclaimed, earning a nod of approval from Lee-senpai.

"I'll talk to him, and I promise your punishment won't be that bad," the black-haired boy with a bowl cut assured me before hugging me close.

He smells nice today, I thought as I returned his hug before pausing. Hey! We agreed to leave the precious boy alone! I'm not good enough for him, and I know it!

"Oh, right. Ren, is it actually true that your team is competing in the chunin exams?" Neji asked.

"No way! It probably has something to do with the rivalry among the jônin," Tenten-san commented as she began to flip around a kunai.

"Hey! I'm at least somewhat competent. And besides, my team has the Uchiha Duckass and Uzumaki-kun. My sister is also there, but if you target her, we're going to have fucking problem," I said, my eyes glaring between the three at the last sentence.

"Oh, right! The Uchihas have a legendary kekkei genkai - the sharingan!" Lee-senpai exclaimed as he jumped back and got himself all pumped up again.

"Yeah, he awakened it," I said with a small shrug.

Neji snorted. "Well, I doubt he knows how to use it well."

"I'm sorry that not everyone can be a prestigious well-known clan member like yourself," I said sarcastically while glaring at the Hyuuga.

The boy glared back at me with his piercing, pupilless, lavender-colored eyes.

The tension between us rose dramatically before Lee-senpai stepped in. "So your sensei is Kakashi, right?"

"Hm?" I asked as I immediately forgot about the dude that had a bigger stick shoved up his ass than Uchiha. "Oh, yeah."

"The Kakashi? That's interesting..." Neji commented.

"Well, either way..." Tenten-san stopped messing around with her kunai and threw it at the dummy that was hanging right above Neji. Her kunai hit the centre of the target, just as it always had.

"It all has a very sad sound to it," Neji finished.

"Okay, so he hasn't been as hands-on as with your team sensei. He kinda let's us do whatever, and so we're not really as well-rounded as we should be. I get that. However, rubbing it in when I am still here is a very douchebag move," I said as I narrowed my eyes at Team Gai, my hands on my hips.

"S-sorry," Lee-senpai apologized, looking quite embarrassed.

"Why'd you even show up anyways? I thought you told Lee that you had to train with your team," Neji said accusingly.

"Training was cancelled since Kakashi-sensei wanted everyone to really think over if they were ready for the chunin exams," I lied smoothly while waving the boy off.

"Do you think you're ready?" Tenten-san asked as she took out another kunai to mess with.

I looked up at the sky through the cover of the leaves. "I really don't know. I have the feeling something very bad is going to happen during the exams - something that will change many people, and not in the good way." I closed my eyes for a moment as I tried to pinpoint my fears, only for the spectrum to be too wide to be able to distinguish anything properly. With a deep sigh, I opened my eyes before looking back at Team Gai. "I have the feeling I'm not going to be around for much longer."

Lee-senpai frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "It's just a feeling. I'm not willing to bet on it, so let's not bother with it for now."

"If you're not willing to bet on it, doesn't that make it worse?" Tenten-san asked as she threw the kunai she was holding, allowing it to hit another dummy with pinpoint accuracy.

"I don't like betting on things that I'm not sure about. I'd hate to make a bet, and then lose my money because I ended up wrong. I'm very stingy that way," I explained, earning a small hum.

"Speaking of which, Gai-sensei just beat Kakashi earlier today. Our sensei is winning," Lee-senpai bragged.

"I bet Kakashi-sensei will win the next two times," I immediately replied as I reached for my wallet.

"Darn it!" Lee-senpai exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air before pausing. "Wait... Only the next two times? That means Gai-sensei could pull through afterwards..." He took out his small book as well as his pencil. He began to jot a few things down while mumbling to himself, earning deadpanned looks from his teammates.

"In any case, I need to check in on my sister. I'll see you guys tomorrow," I said as I finally got onto my feet. I took off my broken training weights and decided that I'd just have to change it out for one that weighed a bit less. I put my leg warmer back on and headed out whilst waving.

Of course, while I was walking back, I happened across Sakura.

She was looking rather annoyed as she came from the direction of the memorial stone.

"Sakura!" I called out to my sister, who looked back at me with very piercing eyes.

"What is it?" She grumbled.

"What happened to you?" I mumbled, not really understanding why she was acting so moody towards me.

My twin gave a deep sigh. "This weirdo cast a genjutsu on me and tried getting me to think that Sasuke-kun asked me to walk with him. Of course, I knew it was just a bluff, especially since he would never ask me something like that, or show any concern for me, or..." She gave another sigh, but that time it was filled with frustration. "I think it was a test, but it still irks me that I had to confess that Sasuke-kun would never give me the time of day."

"If it makes you feel any better, I just thought I broke my leg," I said, hoping to cheer her up. Instead, I got a punch across the face.

"How would that make me feel any better?!" Sakura yelled as her jade eyes filled with wrath directed at me.

"It turns out, I just broke my new training weights!" I chirped as I held said training weights up.

She gave me an odd look before trying to take the weights. She quickly dropped them and allowed them to make a tiny crater in the ground. "Th-there's no way those are actually yours, right?"

I gave a chuckle. "Hey, you've been punching those weights around for a long time. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Sakura looked down at her hands in shock as if not believing in her abilities.

I hopped back to my feet and picked up the training weights with ease. "In any case, these are broken, so I need to get them replaced. It's too bad Okaa-san and Otou-san still limit our allowance even though we're technically ninja now."

"Yeah, that's right. I could be buying the new shampoo that came out, but they're holding back money!" Sakura yelled, making me internally facepalm.

"Um... I hate to be the one that has to ask..." I said as I got ready for the beating of a lifetime. "Uh, so... Shouldn't shinobi necessities come before beauty products, especially when we're going to take the chunin exams soon?"

She gave me an incredibly irked look before pausing. She looked down at her feet as thoughts swam around her mind.

I stood there awkwardly, internally praying that I didn't break her somehow.

"Hey... What Sasuke-kun said the other day... Do you think he was right?" Sakura mumbled as her eyes stayed directed towards the ground.

"No. He's a duck full of shit," I replied, earning a fist to the face.

"Stop talking about Sasuke-kun like that!" She demanded before calming down. She then shrunk down a bit as she played with a section of her hair. "When he said that my skills are worse than Naruto's... Is it true?"

"Excuse me, but who mastered chakra control before the other boys?" I asked as I put my hands on my hips. "Who's smarter than both of those losers?"

"But what about my actual skills?" She pressed as she looked deep into my eyes.

We have to go over this again just because the Duckass decided he was going to be particularly angsty and emo that day! Kami-sama, what I wouldn't give to shove him off the Hokage monument and make it look like suicide! I internally screeched before calming Sado down. "First off, Uchiha only said that because he's an asshole, and he was on his man period that day." I ignored the dirty look she gave me. "Second, name one type of jutsu Uzumaki-kun can actually perform better than you save for the kage bunshin jutsu, which is technically a forbidden technique?"

Sakura blinked for a few seconds before recalling that she was significantly better than Uzumaki-kun when it came to most jutsus. "But... What about taijutsu?"

"Sakura, please. He's literally been fighting for the chance to live his entire life. Have you not seen the shit the villagers give him?" I sassed, only to feel my seal start to get seriously worked up. I decided to reach into my shirt and took that seal off. I shoved it into my kunai pouch and ignored the weird look my sister gave me. "Of course he's good at taijutsu. And before you compare yourself to Uchiha, his clan is literally known for being fighting monsters. We come from a civilian household, not one that has had shinobi history for literal generations. Let's keep the expectations realistic, okay?"

"I mean... How long has his clan been around?" Sakura asked.

"They were one of the two clans that actually formed Konohagakure. They're fucking old, okay?" I replied, earning a shocked look. I gave her a nod before brushing those facts aside. "Besides, your genjutsu skills are also better than Uzumaki-kun's. If he got caught in a genjutsu, his ass would be grass."

"But what about me compared to you?" My twin pressed, making me pause.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

"You have better skills than me in everything but genjutsu, which you nearly failed at," she pointed out.

I took in a deep breath before sighing. I was ready to give her the I'm-actually-a-worthless-piece-of-garbage-and-here-are-all-of-my-flaws talk. "Let me remind you that boys often sparred while you girls went flower arranging and all that other jazz. I had you teach me all about that stuff, but never once did I offer you lessons on the taijutsu we learned. In that way, of course I'd be more physically fit than you from the beginning.

"Next is the fact that I've been training with a team of genin for the past year with practically no one else knowing. I mainly did it for my masochist tendencies, especially since both the teacher and the favorite pupil are taijutsu experts.

"Also, you know that seals are very complicated and something that I've been working with for several years. Those alone should indicate very rapid progress when it comes to ninjutsu. Since I threw myself into the world of seals, I had to become good through trial and error.

"And to tell you what, I still suck at making proper seals. The seals I just recently made have been backfiring on me, making me bleed and get massive headaches. As an extension, my control of ninjutsu will also be iffy should my seals be extremely iffy.

"Then, I'd like to add in the fact that I typically freeze up in battle. At the bridge, you at least tried to help Uchiha. I was so caught up in my own little world that I dropped the ball big time in the teamwork department. The main time I stepped in was because Momochi was an fucking asshole that tried cutting through his travel buddy's literal fucking body, and that's not cool!" I paused for a split-second as I recalled that then was not the time to rant to Sakura about how much of a asshole Momochi was and how he deserved nothing but the flames of hell.

"Anyways, I also do suck at genjutsu. I should actually try to fix that before working on sensory stuff, but my priorities are always really fucked up, so..." I trailed off with a shrug.

"Basically, you're saying that you just have a headstart on me, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," I replied with a nod of my head. "You're at the level you should be, but I'm above said level because I'm an asshole that's always been a nerd."

"Should I be a nerd too then?" She mumbled nervously.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura... Sakura," I said as I grabbed her shoulders and made her look me dead in the eyes. "You be whatever you want to be. If you want to be a member of Konoha's Seduction Unit, fine by me. If you want to become a genjutsu expert, good for you. If you want to become the best medical ninja in this entire world, great! It's all up to you, okay? I'm not going to decide anything for you because it's your life."

"You're not making this easy," she deadpanned.

"Thank you," I replied even though I knew it was an insult.

"Okay, but do I have enough skills to be a chunin?" My little sister questioned.

"I'm kinda sure you could beat Iruka-sensei in a fight, so probably," I answered despite having the gut feeling she wasn't going to actually pass the chunin exams.

She looked me deep in the eyes for a moment before relenting. "If you really think so."

I took my hands from her shoulders and whirled around. "Great! Now let's head home! I literally skipped breakfast and lunch today because of Kakashi-sensei and his dickheadedness."

"That's not a word," she mumbled as she followed after me.

"Are you telling me that I'm wrong in my description of Kakashi-sensei?" I asked as I glanced over my shoulder at her.

"No," she replied immediately.

"That's right! Hatake Kakashi is a porn-reading asshole, and everyone fucking knows it!" I declared as I marched through the streets of Konoha with my sis in tow.

Nearby, a man with a senbon in his mouth began snickering as he motioned for the other few shinobi near him to be quiet. Needless to say, that man ended up bursting out laughing the loudest.

Weirdo, I thought as I glanced over at him and the other few shinobi around him.

"Do you think Kakashi-sensei will always be late?" Sakura asked.

"Yep!" I replied even though I had the inkling he'd probably be on time if it was something really important.

"Why were we stuck with a teacher like him?" She grumbled, making me shrug.

"Well, we won't have to worry about him during the chunin exams," I chirped, making her hum.

"Let's just get home and eat dinner," she mumbled, dejection clear in her voice.

Well, it's a fifty-fifty chance that she'll actually show up to the exams at this point in time. I'll let her get up and get ready at her own pace. If she decides not to show, it'll be fine. It's her own choice after all, I thought as I took the lead.

We soon got home and ate dinner before heading off to our own rooms.

As I laid down on my bed, I couldn't help but worry about the future, especially in regards to my odd gut feeling. I'm not going to be around for much longer. Where will I go, and why? Ah, this is bad, but I don't want to freak anyone out. Perhaps I will leave to search for answers regarding Itachi-senpai, but it's also very unlikely at this point in time. Well, whatever. I need my sleep for tomorrow. I closed my eyes before mumbling softly, "Goodnight, Sakura. I love you."