Chapter 3

On the day of the dinner party, I made a point to show up at the Hokage mansion right on time. It would have been way too troublesome to show up early and make myself anxious or to show up late and cause a scene.

When I arrived, I was ushered into a banquet hall where people were being seated for the meal. All of the exam participants were seated at one large table together. Already seated when I arrived were the three Sand village nin, the single Sound village nin minus his usual wrappings, Shino, and Neji was holding a chair out for Tenten.

Everywhere I turned I saw fine decorations and clothes. I heard fine music playing. I smelled fine food being served. I felt like it was an unusual way to celebrate or acknowledge a bunch of kids beating the crap out of each other, but maybe I would enjoy myself. It was a perfect night to lay out and gaze at the stars, but this could be nice too. The atmosphere was inviting and lively, yet relaxing.

That is, it was relaxing until the Leaf village's number one knuckle headed ninja made his appearance.

Naruto came barging in, very late, very underdressed, and very, very loud. He was wearing slacks and a button-down shirt with some dress shoes that looked way too big for him. His white socks could be seen very well in his black shoes and black pants. His shirt was untucked, wrinkled, with several buttons undone, and when he sat down next to me, I could tell that his hair was barely brushed. He gave me his signature smile though; he was clearly more comfortable than I was. And he was way too oblivious to feel embarrassed anyway.

"Sorry I'm late, but now the real party can start!" He proceeded to try to order ramen noodles, and then complained when the servers told him that his favorite dish wasn't on the menu.

Over dinner, I noticed that the only one of the finalists with a "plus one" was Neji. He invited Tenten, who happened to look much happier to be here than her "date". Tenten did most of the chatting and Neji did most of the listening. Well, he looked like he was listening.

Naruto kept trying to brag to anyone who would listen about his new training regimen with some old guy who he kept calling a pervert. I took a troublesome amount of time trying to explain to him that that really wasn't a good idea.

"We should be gathering information, not giving it away." I said in a hushed voice. The knucklehead finally had his 'aha' moment.

Unfortunately, the bragging didn't stop. Naruto just changed his wording.

"You guys should all watch your backs. I've been going through some super secret training that'll wipe you all out of this competition!"

I had officially given up when he'd caught the attention of the Sand siblings. Well, one of them actually.

The stoic Gaara eyed him with a completely unreadable face. No surprise there. Kankuro looked as if he was at least trying to hide his incredible annoyance.

Temari made no such excuse. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Thanks for the heads up," she said from her spot at the table. "We will be sure to hold nothing back." She put on an intimidating smile.

Seeing as this was the first thing to be said in open conversation, as a response to Naruto's antics, it caught the attention of most of the exam participants.

"You should be listening to your comrade and trying to keep information like that to yourself," Temari continued. She knew that she now had the floor to speak and wasn't wasting the opportunity to get a word in. She locked eyes with me for a moment and smiled again. It was a smaller smile, but I don't think it was genuine.

"She's right, Naruto," Tenten spoke up. When she turned her attention to Temari, she began again, "I wanted to congratulate you personally. You are the only female genin to advance to the final rounds."

Now I see why Neji brought Tenten along. She played the part of ''Chatty Kathy" very well. She could casually extract information, and everyone would just think she was a regular, talkative, teenage girl.

Temari's reaction was practiced as well. If you looked hard enough, you could tell she had just gotten the same suspicion from Tenten that I was a very subtle quirk of her right eyebrow. Smart girl...

At first Temari smiled the biggest I'd seen from her yet, a genuine ear to ear. "Thank you so much. I'm pretty proud of it. I've been working towards this opportunity for... quite some time." Will she catch herself?

She stopped herself for a moment and carefully considered where to lead this conversation. "I'm honored to be the only girl but will be even more so if I can actually become a chunin after all of this." Yes, it seems she did.

"Your preliminary fight was incredible, wasn't it Neji?" Tenten continued to push a little at a time. "I've never fought a wind user before you. How did you get so skilled and strong?"

"Well," Temari took a moment to think about her response. "I suppose you could say I have had a relentless motivation; an eternal flame lit under me."

There. She's ended the conversation.

"Your brothers, perhaps?" Neji spoke up this time to keep the conversation going. They don't call him a genius for nothing. "No one likes to be compared to their relatives. Are they the reason you've worked so hard?"

Tenten giggled at Neji and he gave her a side smile from behind his glass; his attempt to be casual.

"That would be silly, Neji. How would you compare three ninja with such different talents, skills, and weapons even? That doesn't seem fair." Tenten didn't actually think this was a "silly" idea. She was just playing the part of the giggly, know-nothing girl.

"Maybe I'm wrong." Neji leaned forward to gage a reaction from the Sand nin.

"No, you're right," Kankuro spoke up this time with a laugh.

"It was probably out of that strange sibling instinct to avoid being compared to each other that we all just happened to pick different, um, specialities. Totally subconscious. Just fate, I guess," He finished.

Neji's look turned more sour than usual. "Fate..."

"Speaking of not wanting to be compared to relatives!" Naruto was as loud as ever, shooting a glare in Neji's direction. "Shino, you're Hinata's teammate. How's she doing?" His mouth was full of food, but his voice was full of concern.

Shino took his time with a response. He looked good in his suit and tie, but it was very strange to me to be able to see all of his face, even if he did still have his sunglasses on.

"The last I checked in on her, she was... okay. Earlier this week she asked Kiba, Kurenai- sensei, and me to be with her when the doctors diagnosed her officially, so we could help her... discuss future options."

"What do you mean future options!? She's going to be fine, right?" Naruto was showing his passion on the subject; he stopped eating.

"She has permanent heart damage that may never be reversed. Her physical limits have always been low, but now they are even lower. It is going to take a long time and lots of physical therapy for her to be okay again. She may never be a ninja again. The heart is a muscle and like any muscle in the body, you have to build up it's strength. I have faith that she will be fine... eventually. She's stronger than she looks and she has an endless determination to make herself stronger; a fire lit under her, if I may borrow some words."

Shino's news left everyone speechless for a moment and Neji hiding behind his glass again.

"Hinata's injuries can't be nearly as serious as Lee's. How is he doing, Neji, Tenten?" Shino tried to clear the air a little bit, but only seemed to make the mood darker by bringing up another near fatality.

"I have faith that Lee will be fine too. All he's ever wanted was to be a great ninja, you know?" Tenten spoke up finally, when Neji did not. She smiled wistfully at the thought of her friend and teammate.

"I'm just worried that he won't let himself rest and heal properly, before getting out there and trying something risky. He should be having surgery if he ever wants to be a ninja again, but there isn't anyone in this village that can handle what he needs done. His career might be over before it really started." Tenten left it short, but not so sweet. She seemed genuinely sad and stared down at her plate for a moment.

"As if he could ever make a career out of taijutsu alone."

"Don't say that, Neji. He's your teammate!" Tenten was quickly heated by Neji's poor attitude. She looked at him with disgust all over her face.

"What's your point? That's the reason he lost his match." Neji's poker face remained intact, even through Tenten's retaliation.

"My point? Lee never goes around tearing down your stupid dreams! He idolizes you, and treats you with the utmost respect! All you have is horrible things to say about him, when he isn't even here to defend himself. Uhg. You know what, you may be a genius, but your attitude lately just... uhg." She excused herself from the table and retreated to the entrance hall, probably for the restrooms. I've found that is where women go to hide. Troublesome...

Neji sighed and turned to see her go. "Tenten," he called after her at least.

He sighed again and nearly rolled his eyes. He put a lot of effort into resisting the urge, I could tell. He excused himself also and walked briskly in the direction Tenten had gone. "Ten, wait."

I couldn't help but chuckle at the awkward silence they left in their wake. "That right there is the reason I didn't bring a date. Girls are troublesome."

"Tell me about it," laughed Kankuro.

"She's totally right though, but I hope they know they're missing dessert," Temari added in as she eyed the chocolate cake currently being set in front of her. Her eyes sparkle...

"My mom wanted me to invite my teammate, Ino. Not for me though, she wanted a chance to dance with Sasuke."

"I tried asking Sakura and she said she was waiting on Sasuke to ask her too," Naruto chimed in, with a big frown on his face.

I thumbed in the direction of an empty seat at our table and laughed again. "Good thing we didn't, or we would be stuck with that troublesome pair with no Sasuke to distract them for us."

Kankuro laughed lightly again. "Speaking of Sasuke, where is he? With the way he fights, he doesn't seem like the type to miss a party."

I looked at Naruto for that answer and everyone else did the same. "I have no idea. I've been off training, and so has he. Sensei decided not to train us together."

"Man, I'd really like to swap training styles with him, though. He's good. Plain and simple. Whatever he's doing, it's working for him, you know?" Kankuro's eyes were on Naruto, hoping he would spill some beans.

"I know that feeling. I'm always being shown up by that jerk! I'm on his team and I don't know what motivates that guy; he's great at everything." It was highly unlikely, but maybe Naruto had gotten smart and decided not to go into any detail.

The more likely story; he was too clueless to realize Kankuro was trying to trick him and that caused him not to fall for it in the first place.

Dessert was the quickest and most delicious part of the meal. Temari had a bite of each of her brother's desserts. They seemed to have a routine and ordered something different from her. For Kankuro, a fancy pudding, which he gladly shared. Gaara, who didn't express any interest in any of his food, didn't express any disinterest in allowing his sister to have a bite of his sorbe. She smiled to herself, closing her eyes, and relishing each bite. She seemed happier than ever before to taste desserts...

I'm not sure why I noticed that about her.

After everyone had finished their delicacies, we were shown to a ballroom with a great view of the city lights and night sky.

On my way out, I made a mental note that the Sound ninja barely touched his food and hadn't said a single thing all through dinner, but had a very careful eye on just about everyone at the table. That guy gives me the creeps.

I was joined on the balcony by Naruto. He was trying to be sneaky, talking in a hushed voice, "So, what information have you gathered? Do you wanna swap notes or something?"

"Well, I haven't had a whole lot of luck, thanks to you." I stated bluntly.

"As far as I'm concerned, every single person we will be facing, knows exactly what they're doing. Just do yourself a favor and don't give away too much about yourself. Pretend it's a big surprise or something."

"Gotchya!" Naruto certainly has his heart in the right place. I admire that about him as a person. He wants to try, he just has no idea where to start… Which in turn makes him a pain in the ass, but oh well.

"But if I don't make conversation with people, this party isn't going to be any fun. It's boring enough already." He came to this conclusion rather quickly, all things considered, but he had a point. I was beginning to feel bored also. The soft music was nice at first, but after a great meal, it was quickly putting me to sleep. I wouldn't mind sleeping, but I knew that it wasn't appropriate to do so.

"You can talk about non-ninja related things. Go talk to someone who is from a land that you've never visited before. Talk about the weather, the food, the culture, stuff that you are interested in. Are you interested in any of those things? About any of the countries represented here? That can be valuable information in and of itself."

"Not really." At least he's honest.

"Ok then, go introduce yourself to someone that you wouldn't usually talk to, nicely and see where it goes. If you get tired of talking to them, by all means, excuse yourself, politely."

I tried to stress politeness, knowing that Naruto can get loud and wound up quite often. Too often…

He nodded vigorously and seemed to understand, before walking away. I have absolutely no idea what is going on in his head…

But now I need to follow my own advice…