After delivering the snake to T&I, I hurry back to the forest of death. The genin teams have already disappeared into the forest. Anko waves me over to sit next to her, and offers me a dango stick. "Thanks, and I am very sorry that he was able to get that close to you," I tell her as I sit and nibble on the overly sweet confection.
"I am just glad that he was caught before he had a chance to slither away in the underbrush. Besides, he is definitely at a higher level than all the other candidates," she says with a worrying look. I wrap an arm around her shoulders and giver her a squeeze. Then I feel a summoning and smile at her.
"I gotta go, the kids are trying to summon me at the tower," I tell her.
"Already?" she asks in surprise.
"Of course, did you really think they would dilly dally?" I ask her in return.
"I suppose not, I will see you later," she says as I disappear in a puff of smoke.
The look on Naruto's face is worth it to me. But then I have to catch three flying bodies aimed at my head. We all fall to the floor with a laugh. "I knew you three would do an awesome job!" I tell them happily.
"Well there was no way I was going to let that sand team beat me here. After all this is my home field which gives us the advantage obviously," Naruto says with a big smile.
"Well then lets go get you checked in so you can relax until all of the other teams arrive. And remember, no fighting with anyone unless told to by a proctor of this exam!" I remind them before opeing the massive door that leads to the intirior of the tower.
I watch as Naruto reaches out and holds Hinata's hand. She sblushes and smiles at him. Nothing else really needs to be said after all. I will pull him aside later and remind him of a few things that it is important to know about us females. Though it could be fun to watch him blunder through life like most males already do.
'I can not believe you would even consider leaving our pup stranded like that!' Selena growls in my mind and I smile.
'I wouldn't, but it sure was fun making you think that I would," I tell her and watch as she huffs irritably for falling for it.
"Onee-chan! Now what are we supposed to do?" Naruto asks loudly as we get to a massive circular room.
"Easy, go pick out a room! you three will have to share, but by now I expect that you are used to that correct?" I ask them. All three of them nod their heads in unison, before disappearing down the hallway. I smile after them, before heading to the viewing area set up. On my way I pass by the sand genin, and the little red head turns and starts following me. I change route so we will be in a room away from others. I open the door and let him think he has the heads up when he slams it closed behind me.
"You want me to take the silencing charm off your sand demon?" I ask him with a knowing smile.
"Yes, I will not be able to fight without him," the kid says. I can tell though that it is more than that. I sit down crosslegged on the floor, and motion for him to join me.
"I want to try something, and you need to try and trust me for it to work. What the end goal will be is a more harmonious relationship between the two of you. I can try and make it so you can sleep at night without fear of him taking over and killing everyone. That is, if you want," I tell him. He seems to s be thinking it over, before making up his mind and sitting across from me on the floor. "Take my hands and close your eyes," I tell him. He follows my instructions closely, and I close mine as well.
'You can open them now,' I tell him in his own mind. We are both standing in front of a raging sand demon. 'This is the demon that whispers to you at night, and the one that has full control over the sand. Your mastery over the element comes from being his host. That being said you are his host which means you have a say in the type of relationship the two of you have. You do not need to be a mindless killer no matter what you were raised to believe,' I tell him.
'But how would we reach an agreement that either of us could easily break?' the kid asks in a small voice.
'Simple really, if you want I can place a few spells around here. Ones that you can actvate with a word or even a thought. Then if he steps across the line of your agreement you can use it as a type of punishment,' I explain to him. The sand demon is paying very close attention to us now, and seems to understand what is going on.
'I want to sleep without worrying that you will take over and kill someone,' the kid says looking the demon right in the eye. 'I have never in my life had a good nights sleep, that is until she silenced you,' he says. The sand demon seems to think it over and nods his head. I snap my fingers and give the demon back its voice.
'I simply want to stretch my legs on occassion against worthy opponents. Not some weaklings that you were sent to dispose of. Truly worthy opponents, should you face any,' the demon says in it's high voice.
'That is acceptable, as your host I want you tell help me with strategies, and planning during fights,' the kid says.
'Would you actually listen to me though?' the demon asks.
'Yes, I have always listened to you, even when you did your best to drive me insane,' the red head sure does have a set of balls on him to be sure.
'Then I would love to help you. Despite what you may think of me, I have grown rather fond of you over the last few years,' the demon says. He lays down so that the two are closer.
'I think we have come to an agreement,' the kid says turning to me.
'Not quite yet,' I turn to look at the massive moving pile of sand. 'I want you to stop trying to make him insane. He is just a little boy, and by all rights he deserves to have a normal childhood. No one wants to play with him because of fear of you. No one wants to be friends with him because you are so imposing in your prescence. I want you to let him have friends,' I tell it.
'But the more firends he has the less he will talk to me,' the demon says slowly.
'That is not true. You will be with him his entire life. Locked away in his very mind. How can he ever forget about you?' I ask it. It seems to think it over, before agreeing to the terms. I step forward and place a seal over the demons forehead.
'What will that do?' the boy asks.
'It will make the seal more stable. You will still be in full contact with each other, but it will take more dire circumstances for you to draw him out fully. So if you find yourself losing to a worthy opponent you can call him out, but you get mad at your siblings you cant,' I explain it in an easy manner. They both agree, and I pull out of the boys mind.
"Thank you for this. I have miised hearing his words. I am aware of the effect they have on me, but I still missed them," He stands up and turns to leave.
"Talk to Naruto. He has a tailed beast in him as well, and I feel like outside of these exams the two of you could very well be great friends," I tell him.
"Thank you, I shall consider it," he slips out the door and heads off in search for his siblings and jounin. I finish my trek to the observation room, and smile when I see Kakashi is there now. Just sitting and waiting. Since this leg of the exams lasts for five days not many people are here yet. He stands up when I come in, and he steers me out of the room before anyone else has achance to see me.
"Is something the matter?" I ask him curiously. He says nothing and just walks. Then it clicks in my mind when he leads me into an empty bedroom and closes the door. I smile, and when his lips touch my in a feverish rush I surrender to them willingly.
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"Onee-chan did you get hurt?" Naruto's voice draws my attention to him.
"No, why do you ask?" I respond with a frown.
"You have a bunch of red marks on your neck," he says with worry.
"Oh, I got those while training," I lie easily. There is no way I am ready to have that talk with him yet. He only knows about kissing, and that is all he needs to know.
"Yeah, but uncle Teddy has had those marks before as well and he doesn't do any training," he points out, so I sigh.
"Naruto, sometimes when a man and woman have very strong feelings ," He cuts me off mid sentence by covering my mouth with his hands.
"Never mind, I would rather not know. I am sorry for asking without thinking," he says quickly, before scurrying off to find his team mates. I laugh to myself, as I hurry on with my hunt for Haku. I wanted to congradulate him on making it to the tower, but he seems to be avoiding me. And doing a smashing job of it as well. Maybe I taught him too well?I smile and turn around quickly just as he walks around the corner.
"Did I manage to fool your nose long enough?" he asks.
"Yes, you did very good," I assure him. He smiles happily before hurrying over for the hug he knows is waiting for him. After all I am a very big hugger. I wrap him in my arms, and just breathe in the scent of my second pup. He smells a little anxious but also very happy.
"Are you mad at me for taking too long to get here?" he whispers.
"Not at all, I understand that the others on your team were not ready for this test. I imagine you were busy looking out for them right?" I suggest.
"Yes, I was worried they would get hurt, and so made sure they stayed safe," he admits and I squeeze a little tighter.
"Then you did exactly what a member of a team is supposed to do. You need to look out for your friends and team mates. And they are supposed to look out for you as well," I tell him.
"Right well I am gonna go chase down Naruto," he says with a wide grin. I watch as he hurries off. Though I do get the impression it may not be Naruto he is actually looking for but his blonde team mate instead.
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"Now that all of the teams have made it to the tower, we may proceed to the next stage of the chunin exams!" the hokage says with a wise smile. "However since there are so many of you, we will have to cut the numbers by half at least," he says. Now his smile is more feral and less wise.
"May I?" Genma asks stepping forward slightly.
"By all means," The two switch places and Genma coughs softly into his hand.
"In order to cut the numbers down a bit we will hold a tournament right here and now. Only those that win here will have a chance to present your skills to the lords and daimyos in a month," Genma explains. A different shinobi moves from the side and is holding a box. "Everyone reach inside and take a piece of paper out. There are numbers on it, and you will fight in the order shown on those little pieces of paper," Genma says followed by yet another cough. Each Genin holds up their number and a shiinobi behind the sceens puts the information into a computer so that the order of the fights can be displayed on the big screen behind Genma.
Sasuke Uchiha VS Zaku Abumi
Ino Yamanaka VS Sakura Haruno
Gaara of the sand VS Neji Hyuga
Haku Lupin VS Kin Tsuchi
Shino Aburame VS Sai
Tenten Momochi VS Shikamaru Nara
Temari VS Hinata Hyuga
Naruto Uzumaki-Lupin VS Rock Lee
Choji Akamichi VS Dosu Kinuta
Kiba Inuzuka VS Konkuro
Well that sure looks like a fun line up. I head up to the viewing balcony with the rest of the group minus Sasuke and Zaku. Naruto starts to cheer for Sasuke immediately and Sasuke smiles at Naruto proudly. For a few years me and Itachi actually thought the two might become a couple, but both boys gravitated towards females instead. Not there is anything wrong with that of course. To each their own I like to say.
Sasuke and Zaku stand across from each other, and while Zaku is crouched and in the ready position, Sasuke is standing with his hands in his pockets, just waiting for the signal to be given. "Are the two of you prepared?" Genam asks with a sniffle of his runny nose. The two fighters give an affirmitive nod. "Then let me tell you the rules. You fight until one of you concedes or are unable to continue. I will step in at any point if it appears a death may occure. We want to avoid death at this point in time after all," Genma says with a chuckle that devolves into coughs.
"I am ready," Sasuke says without taking his eyes off of his opponent.
"Yeah, lets get this started," Zaku says with a vile looking sneer that makes me want to slap him across the face.
"Very well, begin," Genma steps back as Zaku rushes forwards.