Akira frowned. It wasn't an odd time for the Chūnin Exams, but it was odd that the Hokage hadn't made an announcement and planned this last minute. Kakashi would have told them otherwise and that worried her. It had only been a few months since Team 7 had been Genin and they'd only accomplished one real mission. On average, Genin went through twelve to sixteen missions before they could be recommended to take the exams, and Akira's team had only gone through half of that. While Akira felt ready to tackle the challenge of the Chūnin Exams, and she suspected Sasuke was too, she didn't think Naruto or Sakura were up to the task. It wasn't that they didn't have the talent, but the Chūnin Exams were reputed to be an arduous task. Akira wasn't sure they had the character for it. Was this why Kakashi hadn't told them? Was he not going to recommend them for the exam?

"Well, I've never heard of any Chūnin exams, believe it," Naruto said, confused.
"I believe it, all right, that you're totally clueless," the sandy-blonde said with a scoff.
"I'd watch your tone," Akira warned. The girl glared at her.
"Hey, boss," Konohamoru said. "The Chūnin exams are the exams that every Genin needs to take in order to become a full-on Chūnin."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so? I am so there!"

Akira sighed and her gaze shifted back to the three Sand ninjas. The girl seemed nice enough, though a little rude, and Kankuro just seemed like a bully. Gaara was a different story. If Team 7 was going to be recommended for the Chūnin Exams, he was definitely going to be trouble. Akira could feel it. It was the way he talked, the way he looked at people, the way he'd snuck up on Sasuke. And that sand...

"Hey, you!" Sasuke called. He jumped from the tree and went to stand next to his sister. "Identify yourself."
"Hm, you mean me?" the sandy blonde said, turning back around. There was a faint blush on her cheeks that made Akira roll her eyes.
"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back."

Kankuro and Gaara turned back. Kankuro looked scared, as if he thought Gaara was going to take his head off, but the boy turned around calmly, a look of detachment on his face.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert," he said. "I'm curious about you too—you and that girl." Gaara's eyes flicked to Akira. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."
"I'm his sister—Akira Uchiha," she said, offering up a small smile.

Akira wondered if it had been a good idea to smile. She didn't want to seem threatening, a strategy for the exam she may be taking in the near future, but also because she thought it best not to anger him in the slightest. However, Gaara didn't show any kind of reaction. He stared at both siblings as if sizing them up.

"Hi, there! I bet you're dying to know who I am too, huh?" Naruto called, breaking the silence.
"I couldn't care less," Gaara said, not even glancing at him.

The three Hidden Sand Genin turned around and left, leaving everyone to stare at the place they were just standing. Akira chuckled to herself. He was going to be trouble, that was sure, but it may be fun.

"Hey, Konohamoru, do I seem uncool or something?"
"Well, compared to Sasuke and Akira, yeah, you're pretty lame," Konohamoru said in a matter-of-fact sort of tone.
"Ahh! You're not gonna show me up, Uchihas!"

Once again, Kakashi was late. Everyone was used to it by now, but after getting news that the Chūnin Exams were being held, Team 7 was a little less than patient. They were waiting on the same bridge they always were meant to wait at before a mission. Akira had taken off her sandals over twenty minutes ago, toes playing at the water, trying to get in as much chakra control practise as she could even as she waited. None of her teammates were paying attention, or else they'd see that the water around her feet was swishing in an oddly consistent pattern.

"Good morning everyone!" Kakashi greeted, appearing out of nowhere. Akira's concentration broke immediately and she turned to him. "Sorry, I'm late. I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."
"Again?" Akira said, deadpan, an eyebrow raised. "You really need to get your life together, Sensei."
"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura shouted.
"I know this is a bit sudden—"
"You've recommended us for the Chūnin Exams!?" Akira asked, hopeful.
"Already got the news, huh?" Kakashi said with a chuckle. He handed the teammates a few documents. "Well, it's true. I've recommended all of you for the Chūnin Exams. These are the applications."
"Applications?" Sakura said.
"You're repeating me, Sakura. While I do have to recommend you, this is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready, you can wait until next year."
"All right!" Naruto cheered as he lunged at Kakashi to trap him in a hug. "Kakashi-sensei, you rock!"
"Hey—don't slobber on my vest!" Kakashi complained, prying Naruto off of him. Akira and Sakura were desperately trying not to laugh. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy. It's at 3 PM, five days from now. Well, that's it."

With that, Kakashi disappeared again, leaving the four Genin to their thoughts. They all walked down the bridge together, reading the applications in silence until Naruto spoke.

"Chūnin Exams, Chūnin Exams!" he chuckled. "I'll be up against a lot of really wicked ninjas!"

Naruto's eyes then glazed over as if he was fantasizing again. Akira suspected he was thinking about beating her and Sasuke to a pulp, maybe even that Kankuro kid. If Akira had to pick who she went up against, she'd choose Kai and Sasuke. As well as being her best friend, Kai was a sort of rival to her. They always tried to one-up each other in fights and it would be nice to see who would come out a victor in an actual challenge. Akira wanted to fight Sasuke purely because of the way she was raised. Fugaku Uchiha was not a loving father, and even less towards his only daughter. When Itachi began behaving erratically, he was disinherited, and Fugaku concentrated all his time on Sasuke. Never once did Akira get any recognition for her achievements. If she could beat Sasuke, then she'd prove Fugaku wrong.

Of course, Akira also wanted to go up against Kiba. There was a constant friendly competition between these two, even more so than with Kai, and it'd be interesting to see who would come out on top. The wild card for the Chūnin Exams, however, was Gaara. Akira didn't really know why she wanted to go up against him. He seemed like a decent opponent, which was good enough reason, but if Akira really thought about it, she suspected she wanted to confront him just because of the way he held himself. He seemed dangerous and Akira was curious. Maybe it would do her some good to watch him fight.

The four teammates eventually went their separate ways and, despite the arrival of dusk, Akira was in desperate need of some training. She hadn't trained all day and her body was aching for it. Meeting the Sand Genin, trailing her feet over the water earlier, the Chūnin Exams—she wanted to punch and kick, to let the water flow around her body.

"Hey, Kira! Where're you heading?" a voice said from nearby.
"Kiba?" Akira muttered, turning her head. Sure enough, Kiba was walking towards her. "What're you doing all the way out here? You're usually training at the Academy."
"Yeah, well, Kai and Shikamaru are playing chess, and Hinata and Shino are already home."
"Oh, all right." Akira's eyebrows furrowed. "You want to train a little bit? I've been dying to kick something all day."
"You're on! And you're going to lose again," Kiba barked with laughter.
"Hey, I've got to practise my jutsu so we can go all out this time."
"Sweet! Let's go!"
"Sure! Where's Akamaru, though? Don't you need him for like ninety-nine per cent of your attacks?" Akira asked. She casually put a hand on the hilt of one of her swords.
"Oh, he's at home," Kiba said. "He hasn't been feeling well all day."

Akira sighed and pulled out the sword that her hand was resting on, spinning it in her hand so as to allow the blade to extend. She casually pointed it at Kiba's head who took a step back.

"I don't have time for this," Akira said, sighing. She pulled out the second sword and manoeuvred it the same way she did the first. "Who're you? And you better not be that 'Maru' idiot."
"What? Kira, it's me! It's Kiba!"
"Look, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you made a mistake trying to impersonate one of my closest friends. Kiba never goes anywhere with Akamaru. Besides, I'm an Uchiha—you can't fool me." Akira took an offensive stance, but her face was calm. "So, I'll ask again. Who are you and what do you want?"

'Kiba's' face split into a wicked grin and a deep, sinister laugh was heard across the training ground. Akira remained poised, face calm but clearly annoyed, as the form of her friend slowly melted into another person. Judging from the metal plate on his wide, domed hat, Akira could tell he was from the Village Hidden by Rain—a village highly reputed for its hiring of assassins. Most of the enemy's face was covered, but Akira could see hauntingly white eyes staring right at her.

"I thought the Hidden Leaf Village had powerful ninja, but looking at you I can see there are nothing but weaklings."
"What is up with people underestimating me today?" Akira muttered under her breath. "Can't I catch a break?"

As she spoke, the man began circling her. Akira took the opportunity to analyse what she could observe; he had too long staffs attached to his back, showing he may have a certain amount of talent in taijutsu. The long robes he was hiding in would facilitate making hand signs unnoticed, and while they looked cumbersome to her, Akira had a nagging feeling that he'd be able to move around with ease.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I've had enough of people underestimating me and the Leaf Village, today. Weaklings—blah, blah, blah. Powerful ninja—blah, blah, blah." Akira sighed. "If you're going to keep saying these things, I'm going to need to shut you up."
"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Akira shrugged lazily.

"Oh, you know."

In a flash, Akira tossed her swords up into the air and began timing her movements. By the time the swords landed back in her hands, Akira had performed to sets of hand signs. As soon as her tachi were back into her grip, the blades became electrified with yellow lighting that buzzed and echoed in the empty training ground. It ominously lit up her face in the darkness, almost haunting.

She ran towards the Hidden Rain ninja and slashed down at him. She barely missed him, the enemy nearly not having enough time to dodge. Akira huffed. He was smart enough not to block the attack with his staffs—they would have shattered upon impact. However, when the ninja landed back on his feet, the result of Akira's second set of hand signs came to bite him in the ass. A shadow clone appeared and knocked the man off of his feet and then, soon after, half a dozen more shadow clones surrounded him, each one of them pinning the man to the ground in a different place. When he was no longer squirming, Akira approached and pointed one of her electrified swords at his throat.

"I've been nice, and I still want to be nice," Akira said calmly. "I don't want to have to kill you, either. So, you have two choices. When I lift my sword, you can either scurry off like a coward and live or you can be brave and stay to die. Choose wisely."

Akira had barely twitched her tachi away from the man's throat when he vanished from sight. She sighed and shook her head, annoyed, then released her jutsu and put away her blades. Then, as if nothing happened, Akira went on to the lake and began her training.

The day of the Chūnin Exams had arrived and most of Team 7 was waiting at the entrance to the Academy. Akira, Naruto and Sasuke were already there but so far, Sakura was nowhere to be found. For a moment, Akira wondered if she was going to show at all. Like Kakashi said, if she didn't feel ready, she shouldn't enter the exams. However, just as the thought came to mind, Sakura came into view. Naruto greeted her far too enthusiastically, but Sakura, of course, saved her energy for Sasuke who ignored her completely.

The four students walked into the Academy, staring around at all the other students that had gathered inside. There we hundreds, if not more, each of them waiting to be a part of the Chūnin Exams. As Team 7 trekked up the stairs, Akira noticed that the walls were undulating slightly at the top. Her eyebrow twitched downwards, curious. She immediately suspected Genjutsu and began to worry—the exams hadn't even started and they were already testing them.

As Akira, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke arrived at what looked like room 301, they came upon a dozen or more students waiting to get in. Akira scoffed. An impressive amount of them seemed to be fooled by the simple Genjutsu, including a boy who approached the door. However, he got kicked back by two others.

"You're taking the Chūnin exams, but you can't even get past us," one of them said.
"Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt," the other continued.
"Yeah, I think I hear your mommy calling you."
"Please let us through," a girl said. She had caught the boy who'd been kicked. Akira assumed they were teammates. "We're supposed to go in there."

She approached the bullies too, but the girl was slapped away too, landing next to her fallen partner.

"You think this is a joke? Chūnin are qualified to lead missions," one of the bullies said. "The lives of your squad members are in your hands, so you better be tough enough to take the heat. Delicate little girls don't belong here."
"Good thing I'm not so delicate," Akira said, stepping up to the two boys. "Now, this has been a really nice speech and all, but really who are you fooling?"
"Seriously, reverse that cheap Genjutsu of yours," Sasuke added. "We can see right through it. We're going to the third floor."
"What are they talking about? We're on the third floor," someone whispered.
"Well, well," one of the bullies said. "You two noticed the Genjutsu, huh?"
"Go ahead, Sakura, tell them," Akira stated. "I'm sure you saw it even before we did."
"Well, sure. This is only the second floor," Sakura said proudly. "I saw the walls undulating at the ceiling as soon as I walked in."
"Right!" Naruto agreed. Though Akira wasn't sure he'd noticed anything at all.

All of a sudden, the number 301 over the door vanished and was replaced by the number 201.

"Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, we'll be on our way to the right floor."

Akira turned to leave and one of the bullies took the opportunity to try and kick her. Sasuke pulled her out of the way and intended to block the kick, but the boy who'd been knocked down earlier sprang up faster than Akira had ever seen anyone move. He stopped both kicked with his hands and sent the bully flying to the ground. Akira raised an eyebrow at him. It took a lot of chakra to stop a kick like that.

"Hey, what happened to the plan?" another boy said. He came out of the crowd with the girl who'd been slapped earlier. Akira deduced that they were most likely all teammates. "You're the one who said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see our skill level."
"I know but—"
"Nevermind, it's done now."

Akira looked at the three suspected teammates more closely. The boy who had stopped the kick was very odd-looking. He had a black bowl-cut and thick eyebrows with quite horrible lower lashes on his round eyes. He wore a forest green tracksuit and orange leg-warmers (which somehow seemed familiar), with his bandanna around his waist. The bandages around his hands and arms suggested he delved deep into taijutsu. The other boy was a little taller and more well-dressed, wearing a simple beige jacket and brown shorts. His forehead protector had two buckles that framed his face, instead of his long brown hair which was loosely gathered together near its ends. When Akira saw his pale purple eyes, she was instantly reminded of Hinata, and she wondered if they were related. The girl was wearing ankle-length pants and a pink, high-collared shirt. Her brown hair was gathered up in two buns at the top of her head, and her forehead protector was set above her brown eyes. Nothing that she wore gave away her technique, but if the well-dressed boy was related to Hinata, she could guess his techniques.

Just then, the boy in the green tracksuit stepped forward and stood in front of Sakura.

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?" he said in an overly dramatic voice.
"Huh?" Sakura hummed, a little dumbfounded.
"Please be my girlfriend. I vow to protect you with my life!"

Akira rose an eyebrow at this Rock Lee and then looked at her brother. The look on his face was priceless—a mixture of confusion and disgust. Akira would take a picture if she could. Sakura blinked a few times.

"Definitely—not."
"W-Why?"
"Because you're a weirdo," she said, deadpan.

Lee sighed, defeated, and Naruto laughed. Akira couldn't control herself and she snorted, a smile threatening to show. Sasuke just looked like he wanted to get away.

"Hey, you two," the well-dressed boy said. "Who are you?"

Naruto growled, angry that the Uchiha were getting all the attention again.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking for someone else's," Sasuke said sharply.
"You two are rookies, aren't you? How old are you anyway?"
"Sorry, but that's, unfortunately, none of your business," Akira said calmly.
"What's that?" the boy said, irritated.
"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke retorted.
"Okay, that's all for now," Sakura said nervously.

She grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by the hand and dragged them off. Sasuke grabbed Akira's wrist and pulled her with him. They all went on their way, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice behind them as they entered a small dojo.

"Hey, you. The ones with the attitude. Hold on."

All four of them turned around and looked up. Rock Lee was on a balcony, staring down at them. He jumped down, landing quietly on the wooden floor, and took a few steps forward. Sakura almost looked scared of him. That was quite understandable. Who goes around asking strangers to be their girlfriends?

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, clearly annoyed.
"I want to fight, right here and right now," Lee said.
"You want to fight me, right here and now, huh?"
"Yes. You and the other girl."
"Why?" Akira asked, genuinely confused.
"My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for a challenger to give his name first, right—Sasuke and Akira Uchiha."
"So you know us," Akira said.
"I challenge you!" Lee said, getting into a fighting stance. "Everyone is always talking about the Uchiha clan and how great they are. I want to see if it is true. I figure you will be a good test for me. And also..." he looked at Sakura and blushed, making the pink-haired girl want to vomit.
"You've heard of the Uchiha clan, yet you're challenging us?" Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow. "You must be even more psycho than you look if that's possible."
"Now, now, Sasuke, be nice," Akira said. "We're rookie Genin, after all."

She looked at Lee and crossed her arms. Sasuke wasn't going to refuse to fight him, that was certain. He was arrogant and determined to show off. However, Akira wasn't so easily swayed. It was like Kankuro all over again. There was no way she was going to reveal her techniques so easily.

"I don't accept your challenge, Rock Lee. Fighting just to prove a point isn't something I engage in," Akira lied. "But it is nice to see that you value me as a worthy opponent."
"Very well. I respect your decision," Rock Lee said. He turned to Sasuke who spoke immediately.
"You want to know more about my clan? Then I'll have to teach you the hard way," Sasuke said.