AN: We made it! First part of the chunin arc. Kind of a long chapter, just because there had to be so much in it. Yikes. Anyways, thank you so much to every who has reveiwed and favorited this, y'all are seriously awesome. I squeak in excitement every time I see that notification in my email. Anyways, this chapter isn't beta'd, but it will be soon. So don't worry about any spelling or grammar errors, they're gonna be taken care of real quick. Enjoy!
The days following the run in with Gaara were tense ones. After seeing him, Sakura had decided to go tell Sasuke what had happened after they visited Kushina's grave, as originally planned before the run in. The next day all three of them had been on edge. If Kakashi-sensei had noticed, he didn't comment on it. And if they trained extra hard during their drills, well, he didn't comment on that either.
It was two days before the first test that Naruto finally took the initiative and walked up to their sensei to address the elephant in the room.
"Kaka-sensei?" He started uncertainty, looking up at their lazy teacher. He was leaning against one of the trees on the side of the clearing reading his stupid book while they did their morning exercises. Hearing his uneasy tone, Kakashi-sensei looked up, blinking his lone eye slowly.
"Hm? Is something the matter Naruto?" he asked, lowering his book.
"Well, like, not really, but, uh, well," he fumbled around for the right thing to say before Sakura coughed loudly behind him from where she was stretching. "Right!" He cried. "Well, so we've noticed that there have been a lotta foreign ninja in the village recently," he finally managed. "And… they're all genin here for the chunin exams…"
"Yes, and?" Their sensei drawled in response, giving him an expectant, yet unimpressed look. It almost felt like he was egging him on. Naruto fumed at the thought.
"Well," Naruto huffed. "We were wondering if you had, y'know, signed us up. For it. Maybe…"
Kakashi-sensei was silent for some time, simply observing the genin. A small trickle of anxiety wormed its way into Naruto's git the longer the silence stretched out, And because his sensei's face was unreadable, he couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Wait, had he not nominated them? The sudden thought sent a jolt of panic through him, which he fought to keep down.
"Maa, well," he finally sighed, rubbing the back of his head in a tired gesture. "I was going to wait to tell you all but, since you asked." Naruto felt his jaw clench tightly from nerves as Kakashi-sensei beckoned the other two over, waiting patiently for them to get up from their stretches before joining them by the tree. Once settled in, the three looked expectantly up at him, almost holding their breath in nervousness.
"The chunin exams are coming up, that is accurate," he told them. "Lord Hokage told all jōnin sensei about it five days ago."
The tension in the air between all three genin was nearly palpable. If he didn't nominate them, then all their planning was for nothing. I would of course be stupid if he didn't, as they were far better than they were back when they were originally genin. But again, it was Kakashi-sensei, who knew what went on in his mind.
"I nominated you for the chunin exams," he stated. The effort it took all three of them to hide the relief and excitement they felt was incredible. "Should you choose to," he continued, oblivious to their internal thoughts. "Show up at the academie tomorrow with these." He handed them all slips of paper proclaiming themselves entrance tickets. It had the name and time of where they were to meet for the first exam. "If you don't want to or feel you're not ready to take the exam, you can elect not to." A moot point, really, not that he realized that. "However," he continued. "Should you chose to, I don't want you showing off or using your full skill set until I say," he said cryptically. It was an odd request for sure, and if they had been actual genin they would have broken off into an argument, shouting about how unfair that would be. But as it was... "I don't want you three to be made targets of," he finished seriously.
"But sensei," Naruto scoffed, trying to ease the tension that had grown in the air. "We're so badass though, no one can touch us."
A hard, steely look flashed across their sensei's grey eye, effectively shutting the genin up. "While you are all very talented," he admitted, an edge to his voice. "There are others with far more experience and skill than your own."
Doubtful, all three genin thought.
Their sensei, oblivious to their musings, went on. "And even so, it would be you three against everyone else. It doesn't matter how good you are, the odds would be against you. And I don't want to risk that."
The seriousness in his voice made Naruto hold back any retort he might have been planning. If he wasn't mistaken, Kakashi-sensei sounded… worried? Naruto frowned, that was never an emotion he'd seen or heard from the man. Yes there had been concern, obviously, but never blatant worry. It was striking to realize that.
"Can you three promise me that?" He asked them. Sakura and Naruto made eye contact for a brief moment, as if discussing what their sensei had just asked them. Then the same with Sasuke. It was fair, they decided.
Slowly, uncertainly, all three genin nodded. Their sensei let out a small sigh of relief.
"Good," he breathed. "Now, back to stretching. We have a long day ahead of us."
The academy was bustling with activity the next morning. The ground were saturated with genin teams were hanging around outside, running through stretches, chatting about strategy, and anything else average genin did. Team 7 made their way through the masses carefully, making sure not to bump into anyone or draw attention to themselves, as their sensei had asked. And yes, he that wasn't exactly what he meant, but the less people noticed them, the better. Probably.
"So what classroom was it again?" Naruto asked once they made it inside, looking down at his slip of paper.
"Dumbass, it says 301," Sasuke huffed, pointing to it.
"I knew that…" Naruto grumbled back, angrily stuffing the slip into his pocket. Next to them, Sakura just rolled her eyes, accepting that her boys would never not be at each other's throats for one reason or another. Best to just let it happen, really.
"So Sakura," Naruto spoke up, looking over to the pinkette. "You like, took the chunin exams again, didn't you? Was it different that time?"
Humming thoughtfully, Sakura thought back on it, going so far as to tap her chin. "Hm, well, it was different. Different tests that is. But the third exam was the same." She shrugged. "That part was kind of easy though. But I guess training with Lady Tsunade does that."
"I bet," Sasuke added lowly next to her. "Of course, this time around it's going to be far easier for all of us. We all trained under sannin after all."
"I always wanted to take the exam again," Naruto hummed. "After training with pervy sage that is. Never got the chance though…"
They'd made it to the stairs now, and started their journey up to the third floor.
"You don't get to be chunin just cuz you're powerful though," Sasuke pointed out, a sly smirk decorating his face. "You're still a dumbass."
"Oi!" Naruto cried. "I'm smart enough to defeat Pein! And kick Obito's ass!"
"You're just too stubborn," was the Uchiha's reply. "Too stubborn and too powerful."
Behind them, Sakura huffed out a defeated sigh. Boys, she thought.
Once they made it to the second floor, the sounds of loud arguing and frustration echoed into the hallway.
"The genjutsu," Sakura reminded them, pointing to the sign above one of the doors reading "301", despite the fact that they weren't on the third floor. Naruto vaguely remembered this. There had been two genin blocking the doorway who wouldn't let anyone through, despite it being the testing room. Except it hadn't been the testing room, it had been a test in and of itself. Only when Sakura and Sasuke had pointed it out had the illusion dropped and people realized it was the wrong classroom.
Suddenly, the sight of three certain genin caught his eye, and his heart stopped.
"Hey, hey," Naruto hissed suddenly, grabbing Sasuke's sleeve to stop him from continuing up the stairs.
"What?" he hissed back, tearing his sleeve away.
"We have to go out there."
"Why?" Sasuke growled. "If they're too stupid to see a genjutsu, they shouldn't become chunin."
"Not that," Naruto hissed back. "That." He pointed down the hall to one of the teams hanging around arguing with the two absonite genin. There was a boy in a god awful green jumpsuit, a girl in a pink qipao-style blouse, and-
"Neji," he breathed, limbs frozen and wide eyes trained on the Hyuga. Next to him, Sakura's breath caught in her throat, eyes train on the genin as well.
"Who?" Sasuke asked.
"He," His voice caught in his throat. God, how was he supposed to talk? It shouldn't be this hard! "He sacrificed himself for me in the war…" he mumbled, eyes trained on the boys back. "He was my friend."
Sasuke looked back and forth between the Hyuga and Naruto, as if trying to determine why that would be. "Do you know each other yet?" He asked carefully, eyeing him. Naruto just shook his head, not trusting his voice. An indiscernible look passed across the Uchiha's face, too quick to catch. But it might have resembled sympathy if anyone had seen it.
"Well," Sakura started uneasily, fairly shaken herself. "Come on. Let's go introduce ourselves." With that, she grabbed both of the boys hands and tugged them down the hall. Sasuke lagged behind, reluctant to be dragged anywhere, while Naruto just stumbled along, still lost in his musings.
"We're just thinning out those who're gonna fail anyway," they heard one of the genin blocking the door day. "What's wrong with that?"
"Great plan," Sakura but in, pushing through the crow, no longer holding onto their hands. "Only one problem with that."
The genin (who looked an awful lot like Izumo and Kotetsu) looked up at the newcomer and frowned. "Yeah, and what's that?" He sneered.
Sakura smirked. "It's the wrong door."
There was a silent showdown between the two genin, where Sakura held his stare with her own icy one, one that dared anyone who looked at her to try anything. As was always the case, they didn't. The genin backed down, then let out a low chuckle.
"So you noticed," he smirked. All the surrounding genin were casting team 7 looks of confusion and intrigue, trying to figure out what they had.
"Drop the genjutsu," Sasuke ordered. "We just want to get to the third floor. Where the actual classroom is."
"Hmph," the other genin sighed. "Whatever, you wont it through the exams anyway. We've already taken it three times, and we've never passed." It was supposed to be a scare tactic, but Sasuke just laughed.
"I guess you suck then."
This earned him a scowl from the two genin. They shared a look before the first one, the one that resembled Kotetsu, glowered at him and said, "You've only seen through the genjutsu, you still have to get past-" he dropped low onto one hand, swinging his leg into a kick aimed right at Sasuke. "ME!"
Two things happened at once. Sasuke stepped back away from the blow, hands still in his pockets, while at the same time, a green blur rushed in between them and caught the genin's leg in his hand, effectively halting the boy in his tracks.
The hallway went dead silent.
There stood Lee, holding onto the attacking genin's leg with one hand, nonplussed. Behind him, Sasuke stood watching the scene with vague interest. Suddenly, Lee dropped his hold on the genin and let him fall to the floor.
"Oof," the genin let out, hitting the wood hard. Lee just smirked.
"Hey, someone said, coming up behind them. It was Neji.
Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened as they watched the future jonin walk up to Lee, scowl already in place. "What happened to the plan," he chastised. "You're the one who said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."
Ignoring him, Lee brushed himself off and looked over his shoulder, as if looking around for something. His face lit up when he appeared to have found it, and he made his way confidently over to-
"Hello, what is your name?" he asked, standing directly in front of Sakura. Sakura blinked in astonishment, taken aback. All eyes in the hallway were on them, as Lee had just stopped a kick point blank like it was nothing, and was now just chatting up another genin like he'd done nothing wrong. It was a little jarring.
"I'm Sakura," she stammered out. Then, remembering herself, she asked, "What's yours?"
"I am Rock Lee!" He cried, flashing a thumbs up. "We should go out!"
Uh, what?
"Sorry, no…" she managed, shrinking back. "Sorry."
"Yeah, hands off," Naruto added, stepping up to the two.
Lee, recognising the faint hostility coming off the boy, immediately backed down, dropping into a low bow instead.
"Forgive my forwardness," he cried. "I hope you accept my deepest apologies."
"It's okay, you don't have to bow," she got out.
"Sorry about him," Tenten suddenly spoke up, stepping up to them. "He's a little weird. Just ignore him."
"...Okay,"
"I'm Tenten," she introduced. "And that sullen Hyuga over there is Neji. And this, as you can obviously guess, is Lee."
"You seem like a very strong kunoichi," he suddenly announced, straightening himself up. "If you will not go out with me, then I would love to fight you someday."
"Eh, thanks," Sakura managed awkwardly. "I hope to fight you too, I guess." Tenten just chuckled behind Lee while Neji barely rolled his eyes.
"Come on Sakura," Sasuke interrupted, turning towards the stairs. "We gotta get to the first exam."
"Oh, right!" She squeaked. "Uh, it was really nice meeting you, Lee, and you Tenten." She stopped and looked over at Neji, but before she could say anything, her words caught in her throat. She couldn't quite bring herself to greet him. The image of his corpse skewered by the Juubi fresh in her mind. It happened months ago for them, but, seeing him again… it just triggered something in her.
"It was nice meeting you all," she settled on, giving the team a small wave before being led off by her own team back towards the stairs.
They finally made it to room 301 after not even a five minute walk. And that was because there was no Lee to challenge them this time, which Naruto couldn't decide was a good thing or not…
Regardless, they made it to the right room (no Kakashi-sensei to greet them this time like he had last), and pushed open the doors.
Immediately upon entering the room, someone tackled Sasuke.
"SASUKE! You're late!" Someone shrieked. It was Ino, and she was launching herself at him. Without thinking, he judo flipped her over his shoulder, using her momentum to carry through. She smacked hard against the ground, face up towards the ceiling.
She let out a moan as she tried to get air back into her lungs.
"Don't startle me," Sasuke clipped, getting over the shock. Ino, still on the ground, just blinked up at him in both admiration and startlement.
"O-okay," was her timid response. Rolling his eyes, the Uchiha helped her up, stuffing his hands back in his pockets as soon as she was on her feet.
"I just, haven't seen you in a while," she blushed. "Guess I was just a bit too excited."
Sasuke "hn'd", but aside from that he gave no response.
"Hey Ino," Naruto greeted casually, offering a small wave. Ino gave a kind smile back.
"Oi, Ino," someone called from off to the side. Looking over, Naruto spotted chibi-Shikamaru and chibi-Choji walking towards them. As usual, Shikamaru had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was slouching so much Naruto was sure Sakura would be freaking out over spinal health. Next to him, Choji was munching on a bag of chips. Because, for some reason, he literally always had chips on him. Even though weapons pouches were for, well, weapons. Not food.
"Come on, don't make a scene," the future jonin sighed. "Hey Naruto," he added, nodding to the other genin. Naruto offered a big smile back, glad to see his friend again (even if they weren't great friends yet).
"I'm surprised you guys are taking the test too," he continued. "Most rookie genin don't."
"Haven't you been keeping up with the village gossip?" Ino asked, scandalized. The deadpan look Shikamaru have her was all the answer she needed. Huffing, Ino brushed her hair out of her face and set her hands on her hips. "Anyways," she started. "They did an A-rank mission like last month or something. They all got out fine, too. I mean seriously, are you living under a rock?"
Shikamaru just shrugged nonchalante. "I guess that's pretty cool," he sighed. "We haven't done anything like that, so I don't get why Asuma sensei nominated us."
Asuma.
The name felt like a punch to the gut. Both Naruto and Sakura's faces dropped, memories of the fallen jonin playing through their head. The funeral, the revenge mission, Kurenai…
"Yahoo! Found you!"
Speak of the devil, and it shall appear.
Trying to shake off the shock the mention of a once dead teammate brought, Sakura and Naruto turned to face the incoming team 8, Kurenai-sensei's team.
"Jeez, you guys too," Shikamaru groaned.
"Looks like we're all here," Chibi-Kiba smirked, ignoring Shikamaru. A tiny Akamaru sat on top of his head and yipped in agreement. And jeez, when was the last time he had been so tiny? "Man, all of the rookies," Kiba continued. "Guess we're all kick-ass, huh?"
"Hah, you wish," Ino scoffed across from him. "Team 10's gonna kick your asses, no doubt."
"Hmph, as if," the Inuzuka barked. "We've been training a lot, no way we'll lose to you."
While the two teams bickered back and forth, Naruto noticed Hinata almost hiding behind Shino, face beet red.
Oh shit, he thought in panic. She's still got a crush on me. But I'm seventeen!
"H-hello, Naruto," she mumbled, noticing him staring.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What do I do?
Luckily, he was saved by another voice, a familiar voice, interrupting.
"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet." Turning around, Naruto had to fight hard to keep his fists unclenched as he locked eyes with none other than Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's lackey and spy. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes narrow threateningly, finger twitching as if itching to start a jutsu. Sakura was the same.
"You guys are rookies just out of the academy right?" The traitor continued, ignorant of their hostility. "Screaming like school girls… Jeez… This isn't a picnic."
The other two genin teams looked more subdued now that someone older and more experienced was telling them off. Meanwhile, team 7 was just trying their best not to deck the guy. It was proving to be rather hard.
Are you sure you don't want me to give you some juice? Kurama suddenly spoke up. Frowning, Naruto shoved the idea down, as tempting as it was.
I know he's strong, but we can't just take him out here and now, he shot back.
Pity, the fox mumbled. It's been a bit dull around here. Naruto just rolled his eyes and focused back in on the conversation taking place. Kabuto was pointing out that they were drawing unwanted attention to themselves.
"- quiet down before he cause a scene," he finished.
"If we cause a scene you'll be drawn in," Sasuke pointed out dryly, almost glaring daggers at him. "Which'll make you a target too. And I don't think you want that."
Kabuto narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha. "Hm, so I guess the Uchiha are smart," he hummed.
"What I am or am not is none of your business," Sasuke growled back, arms now crossed over his chest.
"Hm, touchy," he smirked. Sasuke only narrowed his eyes further. Kabuto eventually got the hint and backed off. "Right, well," he said. "Good luck on the exams." And with that, he backtracked to his team, throwing them one last glance over his shoulder at them, glasses gleaming bright white.
Once he was out of hearing range, Ino turned to Sasuke with a quizzical look. "What was that about?" She asked. "You didn't have to be so cold to him."
"Hn," was all he responded with. Both genin teams stared at him with apprehension, uneasiness radiating off of them. They knew he was distant from their time in school, but this was… cold.
"We're just stressed," Sakura tried, seeing their unease. They didn't seem convinced, but they accepted it anyway.
"Whatever," Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."
Naruto tried to hide his grimace, but he had a feeling he was failing.
"Shit," Sasuke suddenly hissed, turning away and hiding his face from whoever he'd spotted. Both Naruto and Sakura raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Sasuke to hide from someone...
"What?" Sakura deadpanned. Not saying a word, Sasuke gestured behind him to an area a few yards away, where a genin team from Kusa was milling about.
"Eh? What's the deal?" Naruto asked, squinting at them. "They're just genin."
"No, he hissed. "Her." He gestured again and this time Naruto spotted familiar bright red hair and glasses. It was-
"Karin, you do as we say or else, you got it?" One of the genin on her team growled. He was glowering at her like she was scum on his sandals. Not a look any shinobi should give their teammate. Naruto had only ever seen the other Uzumaki as a bitter teenager, so seeing her so meek and small was startling. Chibi-Karin just nodded mutely to her teammate, movements subdued and withdrawn.
"That's not very nice of them," Sakura muttered under her breath, frowning deeply. Naruto echoed the same sentiment.
"Don't step out of line," the other Kusa genin ordered. "You know the only reason your here is to help us. Don't get smart about it." Again, Karin nodded her small, timid nod, head down and arms folded protective tight across her chest. She looked… scared.
Before he knew what he was doing, Naruto was racing over.
"Naruto!" Sakura hissed while Sasuke tried to grab him. But he wasn't paying attention. Then, he was standing in front of the genin.
"Hey," he said, not knowing what he was going to say. Well, he had an idea. But it was probably crazy.
"Buzz off," the first Kusa shinobi said, arms crossed. The second boy copied the first, angry pout glaring him down.
"I'm not talking to you," Naruto dismissed. "I'm talkin' to her." He turned to Karin. The girl blinked in surprise, shrinking away from the sudden attention. Without thinking, Naruto barged on. "So like, this might sound weird, but I saw your red hair across the room and the only people I know with hair like that are Uzumaki, y'know. And like, I'm an Uzumaki,'cept I don't got red hair like my mom did, and if you're an Uzumaki too that means we're family and I've never had family before, so are you an Uzumaki? Although if you are I don't know what you're doin' in Kusa, 'cause Konoha and Uzushio were allies an' everything y'know. " It was said all in one breath, words practically overlapping. It left poor Karin blinking in shock at all the information that just spilled from his mouth.
"...I-"
"Hey, we said buzz off! Quit botherin' us," one of the Kusa genin said, trying to shove him away. "She's not interested in your stupid rambling, ya weirdo."
"I can speak for myself, Soya* (crude)," she squeaked, eyes suddenly hard. Apparently this was new behavior for her, is both the apparent named Soya and his partner stared at her, blinking in disbelief.
"What did you say?" Soya growled lowly. Karin gulped nervously, backing away slightly until she was partially hidden behind Naruto.
"I didn't mean anything by it," she whimpered, eyes focused on the ground.
Naruto, having had enough of these two assholes, spoke up. "You don't really act like a team, y'know," he growled, leveling the two boys with a cold stare.
"She's just here to make sure we become chunin," Soya shot back. "It's the only thing she's good for." The anger bubbling in Naruto belly burned hotter, threatening to seep into his chakra.
Now's not the time Kurama, he thought to the fox, curling his fists to hide the claws threatening to grow.
"I bet she's better than any 'a you," he growled. He'd seen her in action, he knew she was.
"Oh yeah," Soya challenged, stepping into his space. His fists were curled at his sides in a supposedly threatening manner, not that he was all that intimidating. "What's it matter to you?"
"Wait!" Karin suddenly cried, tugging on Naruto's arm. "Please don't fight," she begged. Her red eyes were wide in fright as they flicked back and forth between the two boys as they squared off.
"Naruto, back off," a new voice joined in. Glancing behind him, he saw Sakura and Sasuke were standing there with a scowls on their faces, bodies tense as if ready to spring into action. Either helping him cream this bastard or stopping him from doing so himself, he couldn't tell.
"Remember what Kaka-sensei said," Sakura reminded him in a hushed tone.
Right, he remembered, thinking back to that speech the other day. Don't show off or make a target of yourself. He let a frustrated huff.
"Yeah, I know," he grumbled, stepping away. Soya and his partner looked smug about it, which just further irritated him.
"Come on, let's go Karin," Soya said, walking away as an announcement was made about seating arrangements. Instead of immediately following him though, Karin hung back.
"Um, Naruto, you said it was?" She asked, looking over at him. He nodded. "Are you really an Uzumaki?"
He nodded. "Through and through!"
The girl gulped nervously in response, eyes flitting down to the floor for a moment before back up to him. "I am an Uzumaki," she admitted in a small voice. "So was my mom." The look of grief that flashed across her face combined with the use of past tense told Naruto everything he needed to know about her mother. She was gone. He grimaced at the realization.
"I guess that means we're family?" She tried. Shaking off his frown, he nodded and gave her a big smile.
"I guess so."
Before they could say anything else, there impromptu family reunion was interrupted by a proctor calling all genin to their seats, as the exam was about to begin. Karin started and was about to turn around before Naruto caught her arm.
"Hey," he whispered holding onto her arm to stop her from leaving. "Find me after the exam. Family's gotta stick together, y'know."
A faint smile lit up her face. It didn't quite reach her red eyes, but a small blush colored her cheeks, showing her appreciation.
"Yeah, sure thing," she whispered back. He smiled back at her before letting go of her arm and letting her hurry of to find her seat. He looked for where Hinata was sitting instead of at the seating chart, as he remembered sitting next to her the first time around. Once settling himself in his seat, Ibiki Morino, the first exam proctor, got up in front of the assembled genin.
The first exam had begun.
AN: Check out my AO3 version for this chapters art! Thanks for reading!
