.:Shibousha Kisu:.

"Ich!" A fist hit a log, suspended from a dirty and old tree branch. "Ni!" Another hit it after the first withdrew. "San!" Another.

"Ai, why are you training with that old thing again, Sakura-chan?" A quiet, cool voice called from the woods.

The slim girl in front of the log spun quickly and tossed a handful of kunai in the direction of the voice, eyes thin.

"Not bad, not bad. Almost put out an eye." The voice laughed gently, finally coming out of the woods. Striding towards the girl, she patted her cherry-pink hair with brown-gloved fingers.

"Touji-sensei!" The girl frowned up at her chocolate-eyed sensei. "Stop being so patronizing!" She complained before plopping to the ground, followed by her sensei squatting to be eye-level with the younger girl.

"Hehe. Sorry Sakura-chan! Force of habit." The tall woman smiled, sticking her tongue out at her unhappy student.

"Hmph."

"Now come on, we need to get ready to go." The older said, standing and walking back towards the woods.

"What?" Sakura blinked and whipped her head towards the other. "Go where?"

"Oh, they didn't tell you?" She paused at the edge of the woods. "I nominated all of you for the chuunin exams this year." She told the girl before melting into the woods.

Sakura sat in the clearing for a moment, before leaping to her feet with a nearly feral grace and chasing after her sensei. "Touji-sensei! Wait!"

N.A.R.U.T.O

"Ero-sennin! Tell me whether or not you found a team for me to participate in the chuunin exams with!" A blond boy nearly screamed, jumping, it seemed, a mile in the air with each word. "I wanna be a chuunin!"

"Calm down, brat. And don't call me that!" A fuzzy-white-haired man scolded, before looking over the balcony of the hotel room the two had rented and giggling at the sight of two busty women talking quietly across the street.

"Well, tell me, ero-sennin!" The boy yelped.

Sighing, the older man turned from his lechery and responded to the boy's question. "Yes, I found a team for you to take the exam with. I hope you remember the Yamanaka and...eh, I can't remember the other boy's name, Chuugi or something, from Konoha."

"Yes! Konoha-nin!" The boy danced about the room for a moment, crystal blue eyes screwed up in excitement. "Wait. Yamanaka? As in Ino Yamanaka?" He paused in his dance of joy for a moment.

"Yeah, that was his name." The absent-minded pervert answered as he stared over the balcony and giggled.

"Aw shit...Sasuke fangirl." The blond muttered, crossing his arms and frowning. "Now imma hafta answer a jigillion questions about whether I've seen Sasuke or not." Another pause. "And I think she was Sakura's friend, too..." He said this last in a a very quiet, sorrowful tone, as contrasted to the angry tone in which he spoke of Sasuke.

N.A.R.U.T.O

"...Hn." A quiet boy, pale in color, grunted as he listened to his sensei rave about revenge on Konoha and Tsunade.

"Now, Sasuke-kun, wouldn't you like to be a chuunin?" The snake-like man asked suddenly, yellow slitted eyes resting on the boy in front of him.

"Hai." He answered quietly, after a moment of thought.

"Well, the chuunin exams are being held in Hidden Mist this year, and they allow even missing-nin to join. I've got a team for you already. Now, Sasuke-kun, go get ready!"

"Hai!" The raven-haired boy stood and answered with some enthusiasm before speeding away.

N.A.R.U.T.O

"Oof!" A tiny girl hit the ground. "Senseiiii, why don't Sakura and Kinotome-nee-chan have to do this?" She whined, dirty brown hair falling across her face.

"Because they both mastered it a long time ago." The obsidian-headed woman pointed to the tops of the trees, where a pink head and a golden head danced across the treetops, kunai flying occasionally.

"It's not fair!" 7 voices chorused, each coming from a tree except for the one coming from the ground. "Kinotome-nee-chan and Sakura-san are better than us so you treat them better."

"...Hardly. I haven't made any of you duel each other. I have made them." Silence ensued for a moment before feet could be pattering about tree trunks. "Down from the trees!" The girl's tall teacher yelled. "Sakura, take your group and work on ninjutsu! Kinotome, genjutsu! Saiai, taijutsu! Work it!" She ordered in a harsh voice from her perch in a tall tree.

"Ich! Ni! San!" Could be heard from one part of the forest, where 'No Jutsu!'s echoed from another. The leggy woman smiled as she listened, reddish-black hair in her face.

"They're doing good." She spoke softly to herself. "Really good."

"OW!" Exploded from part of the forest. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she took off running through the trees. 'But then again, maybe they're all mentally lacking.'

N.A.R.U.T.O

And tada. Chapter-age. Still short, but longer. This is after about...eh, nearly three years. They're all older, and more mature. ...Well, maybe not Naruto :P Reviews are appreciated, and CRIT. IS. WANTED. BADLY. I know who is reviewing and who is not, so hop to it xD