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Chapter 30: Ichiraku Ramen

A loud crash then interrupts Ibiki. Everything happens too fast for me to process. A woman is now standing in front of a banner that she put up using her kunai. It seems like she came through the window.

"Alright, you maggots, listen up! My name is Mitarashi Anko and I'll be your proctor for the second part of the Chunin exam!"

The second? Right off the bat? Ibiki then pokes his head out from behind the banner.

"Anko… You're early, again."

Oh good… She had me scared there for a bit.

"Ibiki, aren't you a little soft on them? There're way too many of them left."

She's definitely just trying to change the subject regarding her mistake.

"Or maybe we just got a very strong group this time."

Anko then chuckles.

"When I'm done with them, more than half will be gone."

More than half… That means next one is probably going to be pretty hard… I better prepare myself well.

"Alright, you're safe for now! Meet tomorrow in front of the Forest of Death. A document with the location and time will be given to you. You better rest well tonight if you don't want to die tomorrow."

I don't know if she's being serious or if she just loves to exaggerate…

We all head back to the inn we're staying at. None of us failed, which is great. Of course, that also includes Mari's team, which I wish they didn't pass, but… What can I do? I get to my squad's room with Koji and Maru. I can't help but feel like I want to get out of here and go spend some time with Gaara.

"Thanks, Kiu."

Koji gives me a pat on the shoulder.

"About what?"

"The answers, silly."

Silly…? Only Gaara ever called me that.

"I'm not silly! And you're welcome. It's only natural."

"That scared me so bad, though. You could've given me some kind of warning."

I sigh at Maru.

"How in the heck was I supposed to give you a heads up without getting caught? You should've just been smarter and accepted it without too much of a fuss like Koji did."

Koji chuckles while Maru grumbles away.

"Anyway, I'm going out, guys."

I really want to go see Gaara.

"Where are you going?"

Koji asks me. Should I tell him? I mean, why not?

"I'm going to see Gaara."

I notice that Koji slightly frowns. What's up with that?

"I'm coming with you."

"What? No, you don't have to."

"I don't have to, but I want to."

Why is he being so pushy? He's never been like this before. I mean I did want to spend some time alone with Gaara, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring Koji along.

"Sure…"

"You guys have fun. I'll be staying here. I might also go see what Hana's up to."

Maru chuckles after saying this.

"You do have the hots for her!"

"Not so loud, Kiu! You want the entire building to hear you?!"

I giggle at how flustered he is.

"Good luck with that…"

Koji scoffs.

"Hey, don't be all sour about it just because you and Mari are not on speaking terms anymore."

Oh no, I can see where this is going: another stupid fight between Koji and Maru.

"Mari was never worth my time. Hana's not any better than her."

"Don't talk like that about Hana!"

I should really get out of here without them noticing, or I'll never be able to see Gaara.

I make it slowly out of the room, quietly closing the door behind me. I can hear their voices getting louder and louder. I'm sorry, guys, but I really don't have time to break you two off. I'll just go get Otokaze-sensei and then leave to see Gaara.

After telling Otokaze-sensei about the situation between Koji and Maru, I head towards Gaara's room. I believe it was room 206. I knock on the door. Temari then opens the door.

"Kiu!"

As soon as she says my name, Gaara comes up to the door.

"Thought I'd come say hi!"

"Who are you kidding? We all know you're here for Gaara."

Kankuro's voice comes from back in the room. Gaara turns his head towards his older brother.

"Shut up, Kankuro."

He then looks back at me. Temari goes back into the room, leaving only Gaara and me. He comes out, closing the door behind him.

"Everything alright, Kiu?"

I nod at him to reassure him.

"Yeah, I just wanted to spend some time with you."

He looks at me for a bit, then smiles.

"Of course. Where do you want to go?"

"Well, there's this ramen shop I saw on our way in the village and I thought it'd be nice to try it out."

"Ramen, huh. Alright."

We both then head out of the inn, and start walking around together. We talk about the first part of the Chunin exam and what we both did to cheat during the test. It turns out Gaara used his third eye jutsu to see what the answers were from another shinobi.

"Can I see the third eye? I never really saw it before."

"Oh yeah, that's true."

Gaara then brings his index and middle finger up to his eye and opens up his other hand. In the middle of his opened hand, sand starts swirling around and forms into an eyeball.

"That's so cool!"

I look closely at the eye, and it turns towards me. It then disperses.

"Enough of that for now, I don't want my techniques to be exposed for too long."

"Alright…"

He chuckles at my pouting face. This causes me to giggle too. We then finally reach the ramen place.

"Ichiraku Ramen…"

I slowly say as I read the sign.

"Ah! You're the two from before!"

I turn my head towards the source of the energetic voice.

"Oh! Naruto, right?"

I say to him. He grins at me.

"Yup! And you are… um…"

"I'm Kiu and this is Gaara. We never actually properly introduced ourselves."

I turn to Gaara and find him putting on an expressionless face. He always does that around strangers. Especially that, this time, the stranger is part of the village we were tasked to attack.

"Kiu and Gaara. You guys are here to eat some Ichiraku Ramen?"

"Actually, yes. Is it any good?"

"Any good, you say? It's the best ramen in the world! Come on let's go in; I'm starving."

We all take a seat in the booth and Naruto orders the beef ramen.

"Ojii-san, give them your special, since it's their first time here."

"Oh, new customers? Coming right up!"

The atmosphere here is so friendly! The aroma is also amazing. I glance at Gaara and notice that he's actually got a bit of anticipation in his eyes. He must be just as hungry as us.

Our ramen bowls, finally ready are brought in front of each one of us.

"Here you go, enjoy!"

I can't help but salivate at the sight before me. The eggs, the fish cake, the vegetable, the bean sprouts, the nori, the seafood, the meat… So many things stacked on top of the noodles in a light broth. I take the first bite out of my bowl and my palate is overcome by the richness of the flavour.

"This is so good!"

"Haha, glad you like it, little lady."

The shop's owner says as he wipes off his hands on a white towel. His assistant, a girl with brown hair, giggles and gives us a warm smile. I hear intense slurping coming from my right and my left. I look to both sides and find both Naruto and Gaara wolfing down the ramen. I almost burst out laughing at the sight. There's also a strange feeling in the mix. Both of them are so different in terms of character, but, at this point in time, they look so similar. I get back to my bowl of ramen and enjoy the rest of my meal.


So did you guys like this chapter? I haven't been getting nearly as many reviews as before, so I feel like I might not be doing too well... Tell me in the reviews what you guys think of the story so far!