It felt like Ichigo's fearful gulp echoed throughout the room, even though it was packed to capacity with all manners of ninja- each of them sporting bloodthirsty, carnage-hungry scowls. Ichigo's fingers burned with the insane need to grasp the hilt of her sword for comfort, but she suppressed it; the action would not do well for her here in this environment of tension, and she could even find herself on the receiving end of physical reprimand. She satiated her anxieties by finding purchase on the thing closest to her, which she thought was the hem of Naruto's jumpsuit.
Except it wasn't; he scampered forward a few paces just a few seconds before her grasp could find it, leaving her groping in open air until her shaking fingertips curled into the harsh surface of woven mesh. She was so engrossed in surviving the overwhelming atmosphere that she didn't even notice her mistake, until it was very loudly pointed out to her.
"Hey, Ichigo, what the hell?" She retracted her hand as if she had been burned, whirling to stare wide-eyed at the person who had rebuked her. An embarrassed blush appeared on her cheeks as Shikamaru, tugging at the fabric she had bunched up with her tight grasp, glared at her with angled eyes and a disapproving pout.
"I-I'm sorry… I thought you were Naruto…" She held her hand and rubbed the top of it compulsively, sheepish. First of all, she was a little embarrassed she had been so afraid stepping into the room, and on top of that she just randomly grabbed the back of Shikamaru's shirt? Talk about mortifying.
"Do I look like that knucklehead?" he groused before rubbing at the back of his neck with an airy sigh. "Whatever, I guess-" He sounded as if he were going to continue speaking, but whatever words he was going to say were drowned out by the elated screeching of one Ino Yamanaka. She giggled gleefully as she launched herself at Sasuke to cling to his back, drawing him into a tight hug as she nuzzled her cheek into the side of his head.
"Hey, Sasuke; how've you been, cutie~?" she crooned while batting her thick eyelashes at him. Sasuke looked none to pleased at the woman's affections, while Sakura looked ready to commit brutal homicide. "I'm so excited, seeing you after all this time!"
"Ino, you pig! Get your dirty hooves off Sasuke right now!" Ichigo's pink-haired teammate demanded angrily, rolling up non-existent sleeves as she stalked toward the unimpressed Ino, but stopped after a second, trying to evidently be the bigger person.
"Oh, hello, Sakura. Still hoping your billboard brow will come into fashion? How cute~" the blonde responded with false sweetness. A vein bulged in Sakura's head as she renewed her advance with vigor. Laughing placatingly, Ichigo hurriedly stepped in front of Sakura, holding her back with a firm hand into her chest while waving a hand dismissively at Ino.
"Don't listen to her, Sakura; she's just trying to rile you up."
"Eh? Did you say something, Snow White? You're looking paler than usual today; are you frightened?" Ino mocked in a wheedling voice, and Ichigo felt her eye began to twitch. In the days of the Academy, she would usually just roll over and ignore the bleating insults of the other girls due to a meek nature; perhaps Kakashi-sensei was right and she had become bratty due to her recent experiences, because in the next second Naruto had to hook his arms under her armpits to keep her from launching herself at Ino and tearing every single one of those platinum blonde hairs out of her head.
"Lemme at her! By the time I'm done with you, you'll be the frightened one, Ino!" she seethed while stamping her feet loudly on the wooden floor. Ino recoiled slightly in shock, never having seen this side of Ichigo before, and out of her peripheral vision, Ichigo saw Shikamaru snort in laughter and put a hand over his mouth to keep more from spilling out.
"Well, hasn't she grown bold?" Choji said before crunching on a handful of potato chips. "I wouldn't be able to recognize her if it weren't for that hair of hers."
"You want some of this, porkchop?!" Ichigo snarled as she whirled on him, fist shaking and eyes flaring with angry fire. What is everyone's obsession with my hair?! It's a natural color! They can all buzz off! She could distinctly hear Hotaru laughing within the seal, which only fueled her ire. Oh, she couldn't wait to get her hands on the lot of them… She'd show them just how much she had changed in those short weeks!
"Hey, hey! Gonna get in fights before this thing has officially started? What a couple of hotheads~" trilled a laughing voice from the other side of her. They all turned to see Kiba, Shino, and Hinata approaching. "Why's everybody so angry? Shouldn't we be glad the gang's all here?" The way he said it belied the fact that he could righteously care less, and from the smirk on his marked face, Ichigo knew that he was only coming over to throw fuel into the fire. He quirked an eyebrow as he regarded Ichigo shrugging herself out of Naruto's grip to haughtily jut out her hip and rest a hand on it. "Who's this?"
"You don't remember, Kiba? That's Ichigo…" Hinata meekly responded from behind him, pushing her index fingers together shyly. Kiba's eyes narrowed and he stomped over to get right in her face; a blush appeared on her cheeks from his close proximity, but like hell she was going to show weakness by shying away.
"Eh? Can't be. Since when has she been so loud and obnoxious?"
"I'll show you loud and obnoxious, asshole!" she cried and swung at him. Kiba only just managed to dodge, her knuckles skimming the bridge of his nose, and he stared owlishly at her as Naruto once more jumped on her back to restrain her.
"Come on, Ichigo; you're making a scene, you know," he griped loudly in her ear.
"Hah, it wouldn't matter anyway," Kiba scoffed as he waved a hand dismissively, apparently regaining her composure after her surprise attack. "With the way we've trained, none of you lot'll be able to put a scratch on us. Not even Sasuke stands a chance."
"Oh, shut up! You guys won't even be able to beat me, let alone Ichigo or Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, completely violating what he had just said to her. Ichigo gushed a little at his praise but didn't have the heart to tell him that he had basically just insulted himself, too.
"Oh, great," Ino snorted with a roll of her eyes. "Ichigo had no personality so she just adopted Naruto's. Great. One of them was annoying enough; now we have to deal with two delusional losers?"
"You pig bitch, I swear, I'm going to rip your hair out-!" Ichigo barked as she turned around in Naruto's arms and tried to claw over his back to get to her. Ino yelped and jumped back to shield herself behind Shikamaru's lanky frame, which was shaking with how hard he was laughing. Naruto gasped and wrapped his arms around her middle, leaving her hanging halfway over his shoulder with her feet kicking about. "Get over here and fight me! I'll show you my power is no delusion!"
"Why are you laughing, Shikamaru? Do something!" Ino hissed as she pouted at the seething girl a few feet away. Shikamaru laughed airily as he swiped a few small tears from the corners of his eyes with his thumb, thoroughly amused by Ichigo's one-eighty in personality.
"It's kinda refreshing. She used to be a total ghost, and now you can't help but know she's here, hah?" Shikamaru sighed while sliding his hands in his pockets and settling his glittering dark eyes on her. Ichigo instantly stilled in Naruto's grasp, her pale face turning a lovely shade of pink. Shikamaru… she thought as an emotion she couldn't quite name bubbled up in her chest. I wonder, does he remember-?
"Hey. Could you guys do everyone a favor and just… shut up?" All of the Genin turned to look at the newest arrival, an older young man with silver hair and spectacles. "You all look like kids barely out of the Ninja Academy. All wet behind the ears and snotty-nosed," he scoffed as he rested a hand on his hip and stared down the bridge of his nose at them. "This isn't a school field trip, you know."
"And who are you?" Ichigo huffed as Naruto eased her back down onto the ground. Her indignance was bubbling back up with fervor with the appearance of this latest pain in her behind. The other Genin abandoned their petty squabbles all to glare pointedly at the older boy.
"Name's Kabuto. What's it to you? You upstarts really should be paying attention to what's happening around you…" At his remark, they all glanced behind them at the crowd. Immediately Ichigo realized what he was getting at; all their shouting and threatening had attracted the attention of the majority of the populace. If the tension was thick before, it was now suffocating. "Everyone's on edge waiting for the exam to begin. I figured I would give you a heads-up before someone snapped and beat the hell out of you," he shrugged. He phrased it as if he were doing them a favor, but when Ichigo looked back to him, there was something rather unsettling about his smile. It reminded her of how a snake hid in the shadows of the grass, unseen as it poised to strike its unsuspecting prey. "It's unavoidable, though," he said wanly. "You rookies think you know everything… I remember being like that."
"Huh? Are you saying this is the second time you've applied?" Sakura asked with a slightly uncomfortable expression. Kabuto pushed his glasses up his noise with a dry, mirthless laugh.
"My seventh, actually. Twice a year for four years now."
"Oh… Then you have a lot of experience! You can tell us what to expect!" Sakura beamed as she clapped her hands together. Grinning, Naruto sidled up to Kabuto, wiggling his eyebrows enticingly. He really only succeeded at looking desperate.
"Come on, Kabuto… You're the man!" Ugh, we all wanted to slap him silly earlier, but now everyone wants to suck up to him? Indeed, all the Genin were looking at him in hopeful rapture, even the more hot-blooded types like Sasuke and Kiba. Ichigo chewed on the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to kiss his boots by any means for how he had told them off, but then again, despite the rude delivery, he had warned them before it got too rowdy. She supposed it would be useful to listen to his insights. Kabuto smiled in amusement before pulling a deck of cards from within his tool pouch.
"You're all so cute; how can I refuse?" he chuckled. "I suppose the least I can do is give you clueless babies some intelligence concerning what you're in for, with these ninja skill cards I've collected." They gathered around him in a semi-circle as he crouched down to set the deck of cards down on the wooden floor. "They contain information about all sorts of data- statistics and dossiers on participants, for example." He flipped one over and Ichigo raised her eyebrows when she saw that it was completely blank. "The information can be revealed only by my chakra. Wouldn't want it falling into the wrong hands, obviously," he chuckled as he placed the tip of his index finger in the middle of the blank card and swirled it around. After a few rotations, a map with three-dimensional bar graphs surface. "This particular card details the national origins of the applicants this year. Since it's being held in the Leaf, the dominating group is Leaf Village shinobi," he said, pointing to the tallest bar.
"You said you had information on each applicant?" Sasuke said. Of course that would be the information he was interested in.
"It's far from complete, but I do have some information on every applicant… Including all of you," he smirked as he pushed up his glasses again. "Do you have names?"
"Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee from the Leaf Village." Kabuto looked down and procured two cards from within the deck.
"First up is Rock Lee," Kabuto said, flipping the card around so they could see. "He's a year older than the lot of you. His mentor is Might Guy. 20 D-rank and 11 C-rank missions. His taijutsu and physical skills have grown exceptionally in the last year, but he has no other talents worth mentioning." Ichigo thought back to the fight earlier, with Lee's hands scarred and bruised. He doesn't have any talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he slaves to make his taijutsu the best it can be to make up for it… Weird guy, but you have to admit the effort is admirable, she thought with a slight frown. She glanced back down as Kabuto moved on to the second card. "Next is Gaara of the Sand. Eight C-rank missions and one B-rank, which is impressive given his age. Since he's from way out in the desert, my information on him is lacking… Although I do have one juicy tidbit. Supposedly, he has come back from every mission completely unscathed- not a single scratch." The Genin grew silent, staring down at the emotionless face on the card.
Not a single scratch- and he's done a B-rank mission? What a monster… A shiver traveled up her spine recalling the lifelessness of his eyes, the only movement the flickers of bloodlust pooling in the deeps… I don't like him one bit.
"All the villages have sent outstanding junior-level Genin here to compete. I don't know much about the Hidden Sound since its new and small, but every other competing village is well-respected and home to very powerful shinobi," Kabuto remarked as he replaced the deck of cards back into his pouch and straightened up.
"Suddenly I am feeling very outclassed," Hinata whispered with a nervous look.
"Everyone here? They're like Lee and Gaara," Kabuto smirked. "Elite, hand-picked shinobi, the best of the best." If that's so… Kakashi all but threw us weak little lambs into a pit of lions! Ichigo thought, unnerved as she glanced out of her peripheral vision at the crowd. Kabuto was right; a majority of them looked much older and much tougher. She wouldn't be shocked if the ten of them really were the only ones in the room fresh out of the Academy. She balled up her fists as her hands began to shake, eyes now fixing on her boots. The tips of them were scuffed and the tough material was littered with scratches- small evidence of her rigorous training. She thought of her classmates, commenting on how much of a ghost she was, hiding in the background while others took the glory. Meek, weak little Ichigo, with a cursed name and no power to change her fate.
No more… she thought as she bit down on her lips. I'm not going to be a meek little lamb anymore! I'm already changing; they've said it themselves. My confidence is growing because I am too!
"Who cares?" She whispered, a smirk slowly spreading across her face as her eyes widened into blazing pools of silver flame. "So what if they all have some years on me? That'll make pounding them into dust all the more satisfying!" she growled as her head snapped up to stare defiantly into the crowd. The other Genin were looking at her in varying degrees of shock.
Oh? Are you getting fired up, Ichigo?
"That's right!" she yelled suddenly. "I came here to fight and I came here to win! There won't be any seconds tries for me. I've come too far now to be intimidated!"
"Atta girl, Ichigo!" Naruto cackled and stomped next to her, putting a hand on his hip and pointing out into the crowd. "Listen up! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm gonna be Hokage one day and so that means none of you are gonna beat me! Got it?!"
"Yeah! You tell 'em, Naruto!" Ichigo crowed approvingly beside him, too energized by his confidence to realize he had basically stolen her thunder. She pumped her fist in the air, her grin almost predatory as she watched their glares deepen with more malice. Let them glare all they wanted; Ichigo was going to show them all, be they foreign ninja or her own Academy classmates. She was no ghost; she was a foxfire, bright and hot and brilliant.
"What is their problem?!" Ino shrieked from behind them. Apparently, Naruto had been shaking with what Sakura thought was fear (it was obviously anticipation) and tried to comfort him, because her hand was still hovering out. She scowled as it dropped limply to her side, and Ichigo gave her an apologetic smile that was one-hundred-percent fabricated. How could she apologize? Her bones and blood were humming with energy. She was ready to go!
"Idiots. You were right, Ino. He has rubbed off on her. Now they're both too stupid to know they've got problems."
"Come on, Sakura, you know I have a few more functional brain cells than Naruto," Ichigo smiled as she scampered over to her. She yelped as Sakura bonked her on the crown of her head.
"Well them, use 'em! This is not what I envisioned when you said 'girl power'!" the girl barked, but despite herself, light had returned to her green eyes. Indeed, the rest of the Genin also looked invigorated and ready to face the challenge, a far cry from the frightened livestock they seemed to be a few minutes ago.
Fist clenched, Ichigo grinned wolfishly at her teammates.
"I mean it, guys," she breathed in raw anticipation. "We're going to show 'em who we are. Chunin Exams, here we come!"
