Riko got into fighting stance and so did Naruto.
"Come," Riko told him.
Naruto ran at her and did a handsign, saying, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Five full clones of Naruto came rushing at Riko.
"Wow," Riko said. "That's pretty good."
She pulled out two kunai and bent her knees slightly, so that as two of the clones rushed past her, she pushed a kunai into each other them. The clones disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Let's end this quickly," muttered the kunoichi.
"Fine," Naruto laughed.
Riko did a handsign and said, "Doton: Doryuheki!"
She spat out a steam of mud, and as it landed on the ground she pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it so that Naruto could no longer see.
As the boy looked around for Riko, she quietly used bunshin no jutsu, and sent a clone to climb onto the wall that had formed from the mud.
The smoke cleared so that Naruto could see the girl on the cliff.
"What are you doing? Running!" he exclaimed.
The clone shook her head and smirked, and the real Riko came up behind Naruto and kicked him far into the air.
When he landed, she laughed and told him it was over; there was no need to continue.
"S-Sugoi," whispered Sakura.
Gen and Kyo were smirking slightly, and Gen commented that, "That was Riko for them."
Sakura looked at her and nodded. As Riko approached the group, Naruto stood up and walked over to them, rubbing his head.
"Gomen nasai, Naruto-kun," Riko said to him.
"Yeah yeah," was Naruto's answer. He glared at the girl.
After a moment, Sakura asked where the team was staying.
"We're from Konoha," said Gen. "So we're staying at our houses."
"Oh," said Sakura. "Soka."
Gen smiled at her, and the pink-haired kunoichi smiled back. But inside, she was not so happy.
So the two teams parted ways, and Naruto started talking about how annoying they were.
"I mean seriously!" he exclaimed animatedly. "That's got to be cheating or something, and they're so show off-ish. Did you see that kid Kyo? With his fancy shuriken."
"Naruto," laughed Sakura, "you're just upset because that Riko girl beat you in that fight."
"No!" Naruto insisted. "Seriously, they're just annoying!"
"Yeah yeah," the girl said, gigging again. "Okay, Naruto. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Aa. Ja'ne," said Naruto, waving. He gazed after her as she walked into her house, thinking about how cute she was. Then he walked off to his own place.
0o0o0o
"They're pretty funny," Riko said to her team as the three walked down the road.
"Aa," agreed Kyo. "But that girl Sakura is pretty cute."
"Baka," smirked Gen. "She's in love with that Sasuke boy."
"Yeah like Riko is in love with that Suna ninja," Kyo commented.
"Urusai! Baka!" shouted Riko. Kyo just laughed.
Gen had gone silent at the mention of the suna nins, and Riko noticed this. She promptly changed the subject.
"Ano...what do you think of our competition in the Exams?" she asked.
"Not much," Kyo answered. "You beat that blond kid pretty easily."
"Maybe he just wasn't trying," Riko told him. "I never judge an enemy after one fight."
"Yes you do," Gen said.
"Well I try not to," Riko admitted. "And what about Gaara?"
She winced after she said this, realizing she was bringing the conversation back to the suna nins.
"He's very strong," Gen commented, staring straight ahead.
"Aa," Riko said, surprised. "He is."
"He just appeared out of nowhere. No one even noticed," Kyo muttered.
"Yeah. And did you see how his team was so scared of him?" said Riko. Her voice became always more excited.
Gen nodded. "He's probably horrible. Like the rest of them."
Riko sighed. Her friend was still upset. It just was not a good idea to talk about them. Period.
"Well," Gen said, "I'm going home. Ja'ne."
She turned down a road towards her house.
"Ja'ne," Riko called after her. "Ano...I'm going to go home too, I guess," she added to Kyo. "What about you?"
"I don't know. I'll do something."
Kyo couldn't go home in the middle of the day due to problems with his father that he never spoke about.
"Okay," Riko sighed. "See you later."
She left to her house as well, and Kyo retreated to a trainging ground.
0o0o0o
The next morning, Gen walked into town. She had been sent by her aunt, whom she and her sister lived with, for some food. She walked into a shop and sighed as she began to search for the food.
Sasuke was also walking into the main part of the village for food. He saw the red headed girl walk into the store and decided to go in there after her.
He considered saying something to her, but decided against it. He walked through the shop, half-avoiding her, half trying to bump into her. In the end, he met her involuntarily.
"Sasuke," she said. "Ohayou."
"Ohayou," he said back. "Why are you here?"
"For food," she told him, giving him a strange look. "Why else?"
Sasuke shrugged.
"Have you been entered in the Exams yet?" Gen asked.
He shrugged again. "Not sure. I haven't seen Kakashi yet."
"Well, you probably will be entered."
Gen was right. Later that day, Team Seven got the news: they'd been entered in the Chuunin Exams.
"Yatta!" shouted Naruto. "I will become a Chuunin!"
Kakashi left moments afterward, and Sakura looked over at Sasuke.
"Isn't it great, Sasuke-kun? You're sure to become Chuunin," she said to him, clasping her hands together. "I probably won't though."
Sasuke shrugged indifferently.
A while after that, teams Eleven and Seven met again.
"Have you been entered?" Kyo asked, mainly to Sakura.
"Aa," she said. "Today, Kakashi-sensei told us."
"Then we'll see you then," Gen stated. "It will be interesting to fight you."
Sasuke nodded, and Naruto shouted that they bet it would be.
The week passed quickly. All too soon, the teams were gathering in the testing room, and Ibiki was giving them a run-down.
"You will get a tenth question at the end of the test. No cheating. If one of you fail, you all fail."
Riko, Kyo, and Gen gulped slightly. Naruto was sweating. Sasuke was gripping his pencil tighter than usual. And Sakura was stressing about her team.
"Please," Sakura thought. At the same time, Gen thought the same thing. "Don't fail this test."
