This chapter didn't take nearly as long as I thought.

Chapter 7: The Loyalty of Dogs

One thing I didn't take into consideration was how much upkeep there was to friendships. Maybe it was just a child thing because I remember how there would be months between the last times I talked to my friends. Then again, with cell phones and social media it wasn't hard to contact your friends. Here, in this life or age or whatever it was, I would get playdates from my friends everyday!

It wasn't that bad, but it was something I didn't plan for. Before I knew it was only a few months before my fifth birthday. Which means I only had two-three years before the massacre.

Part 1 is almost done. I still need to get in contact with the Aburame clan (not looking forward to that) since they are considered one of the four major clans of Konoha. Then it would help to get to know some of the Inuzuka (also I love dogs) and maybe even members of the Sarutobi family. Konohamaru should be born by now, and Asuma was always one of my favorite teachers. Not to mention that could be a good way to get the Hokage on my side.

What I need to work on is part 2 and 3 of my plan. Uniting the Uchiha clan and getting civilians on my side.

I have been meeting more members of my family. Shisui and Misaki are my unoffical babysiters, and I have had a few play dates with Makoto and Rin, along with baby Hanae. Then there is Izumi and her dad who are part of the weird group of civilian Uchiha (not Izumi, she is on a Genin team).

Then with Civilians so far I have just been acting like a good samaritan. Helping older people carry their stuff, getting babies or young kids to stop crying and give their parents a break, and the like. I need to do more, but I hope they will see me and think all Uchiha are like this and not that i'm the exception.

Maybe I would try bring Makoto along one of the times. Charity would do the kid good with how annoyed she is with her siblings taking all of her parents time.

Basicly, I had a lot of shit to do and the deadline is slowly creeping up on me.

"Chiyome? Can I come in?"

I looked up from my half disguised plans to the door of my bedroom.

"I don't know. Have you decided to wait a year or two before taking the Chūnin exam?" I asked, sounding way more irritated then I was really feeling.

I figured this would happen. In the story, Itachi was an ANBU captain by the time Sasuke was 7. Meaning that Itachi was only 12. He's going to be 10 in a few weeks and I have no doubt that my brother will be able to pass the exam his first try.

But I couldn't help but wonder what would change if Itachi doesn't become ANBU captain. Would Shisui be asked to kill everyone? Izumi? One of my Clan mates that I haven't met yet. Some random ninja? It would be in my best interest not to change this, but I still don't like the idea of my brother participating in a battle royal.

"Chiyome, we talked about this. Next year the Chunin exams are in Ame and Kuno." Itachi said as he opened the door.

"I know."

"My sensei thinks I am more than ready, so you think he would say that if that was not the case?"

I rolled my eyes at that. More likely his Sensei is only nominating Itachi now because he finally caved before the elders demands. Though I do have to give the man credit for taking two years to do so.

"Chiyome. I'll be fine. You will even be able to watch the last part."

"Fine."

Not like I have much choice at this point.

"Nii-chan is going to the Chūnin exam." I simply said looking over to where Itachi was with his new teammates.

No one told me exactly what happened, but apparently one of their teammates was killed during a mission, the girl on their team decided to quit being a ninja, and Itachi got two new members. I never met Itachi's new team until today, but I was surprised to see an Aburame was one of them.

"Really? Do you think we can watch?" Ino asked a little loudly.

It probably wasn't the best idea to bring a bunch of kids to the park right next to the academy were the first part of the exam will be held. But it wasn't like we weren't allowed near the foreigners, not to mention Yoshino and Ino's mom Inoe were here.

"Ka-chan said it isn't public until... the third part?" Chōji said, though he sounded uncertain at the last part.

"Otou-san said the same. D-do you think it would be okay if we watched them with you Chiyome-chan?" Hinata asked from on top of the monkey bars.

"Sure." I said without thinking.

They weren't allowed in the building until noon, so we were able to see almost all the teams that would be starting off. There was a lot. More than could fit in a college lecture room, and if I am remembering that correcting though rooms were huge.

"Oh! We should have a sleepover the night before, then make signs for Chiyo-chan's nii-chan." Ino said with a clap of her hands.

"That sound like a drag."

"No it doesn't! It sounds fun, right Chiyo-chan?"

"Ya." I said, and the idea of holding a bunch of poorly made sign for Itachi does sound funny.

Maybe I could embarrass him so much he fails.

"Hey you all should play ninja with me!" Some kid demanded, and I looked down to see a brown haired boy with red triangles on his check.

No way, was it really Kiba? I didn't even bother trying to find him! How is this fair?

"No." Shikamaru said from his sleeping position next to Hinata and me.

"WHAT? WHY NOT!" The kid yelled.

Like, really yelled. I'm pretty sure if I looked some of the team would be staring at us.

"Why don't we play latter? Nii-chan is going to take his exam soon and I want to see him go in." I said with a smile, hoping that will calm the boy down.

"Nee-chan is taking the exam too. I bet she'll finish before your Nii-chan." The boy said with crossed arms.

Really? I mean, I'm sure his sister is quite the ninja, but Itachi is on a whole nother level. There is just nothing to compare.

"I don't think they will be testing their speed to finish a written test."

"Ya, so why don't you leave dog breath." Ino said and I almost facepalmed.

"No, you don't need to leave. Don't you want to cheer your sister on? You can do that here with us, then the six of us can play ninja." I said, quite proud of how diplomatic I was acting.

Now for Ino to get the hint. With how easily the trio excepted Hinata (and Neji), I didn't think I would have to worry about this.

"Fine. But Hana is the best ninja, like, ever!" Kiba said as he climbed up the monkey bars that we have taken over.

"Where is your sister?" Chōji asked, and I looked to where Kiba pointed.

"See? She's the one with the three Ninken. She's so cool she got triplets, does your brother have a ninken?" Kiba asked obviously looking at me.

Hana was holding two puppies, one in each hand, with a third one on her head, walking with her team as she discreetly let them smell everyone there. Probably having her dog remember their sent for later. It would be useful if the second part is anything like the one from the show, but every exam is different.

"The short boy with the long black hair is Itachi. He just turned 10, but he's been a genin for a few years now." I said, showing off my brother who was about to get sniffed by Hana's dogs.

"He doesn't look like much." Kiba said and I just gave him a unamused look.

Honestly, it's like the only way the boy knows how to socialize is through competition. And he doesn't even have a dog for me to pet instead of trying to operate this landmine!

"Oh look. They're heading in." I pointed out.

"Great! Now we can play ninja. I want the boys on my team 'cause boys are stronger then girls!"

"WHAT?!" Ino yelled, and I have to agree with her.

Not even two seconds ago he was talking about how strong and cool his sister is, and now he thinks that boys are automatically stronger then girls? The game of ninja is more about strategy than strength, and I think Chakra has more to do with strength in this world then hormones.

Not to mention that Shikamaru wouldn't even play, and if he leaves then Chōji will be too worry about him being lonely to take the game seriously.

"You know what? I think this will be great teams. Come on Ino-chan and Hinata-chan, I have a plan."

There was only 10 teams left after the written exam. Now they were standing in front of the Training Grounds 44 waiting for the second part of the test. They had an hour to prepare, which some of the teams left to get survival mission equipment, but some teams were already prepared.

Itachi was aware the the second part of the chunin exams are normally a mock mission that can last up to a week and packed accordingly. Aburame-san had a storage scroll on his back that Itachi assumes is his supplies, and Suzukaze-san had a small backpack. That was a little odd since Itachi is aware that Suzukaze family owns a well known Shinobi supply store and knows as much about Fūinjutsu as Itachi does. In fact in the few missions they have been on Suzukaze-san only carried a storage scroll.

"Himuka-chan!"

Itachi turned to see a Inuzuka girl running to his teammate with three ninken yipping at her heals.

"Hana? I thought your team was going to wait another year." Suzukaze-san said with a smile.

"Nah, Sensei thought we are ready. Well, more like she said we are ready enough that we wouldn't die to the first team we meet, but same thing really. Seems like there will be three rookie teams this time around. Man, how cool would it be if we all make it to the finals!" Inuzuka-san said with a ecstatic look before turning to Itachi.

"Hey, I know you! You're that boy who graduated super early and was in our class for like... a week." The girl said before turning around, cupping her hands to her face and yelling, "SAISU! IS THIS THE UCHIHA YOU CALLED SHISHOU ALL LAST YEAR!"

Itachi was surprised to see he did recognize one of the two boys who came running over, looking slightly winded. It was during the time Itachi keep being transferred to a higher level class, and at one point there was some older kids who tried to bully him. Izumi-san often stepped in, but that was only when Itachi was the target.

"Hana, can you be any lounder? There's foreign ninja here! You might as well yell, HEY EVERYONE! WANT TO KILLS SOME YOUNG NINJAS RIGHT OUT OF SCHOOL!"

"I don't need to do it now that you just did." Inuzuka-san said with a smug look that had Kamano-san pulling his hair out.

"Sorry about that. Um, it's nice to see you again Itachi-kun." Kamano-san said once he calmed down.

"Same to you Kamano-san. I was not aware you graduated already."

"Um, ya, I tried to graduate early last year with Izumi-chan, but I didn't pass."

Itachi gave a nod to show he understood, but an uncomfortable silence fell nevertheless. Inuzuka-san and Suzukaze-san talked like the old friend they are, with their Akimichi teammate adding the occasional comment. Kamano-san remained next to Itachi, looking like there was more he wanted to talk about, but no matter how long Itachi waited, Kamano-san didn't say anything.

Itachi other teammate also didn't talk, but that was normal. Aburame-san had a hard time saying anything since he can only talk using his intects. Small talk like this would be a waste of chakra.

"Hey, we should meet up after the exam and catch up. You can bring your team, I'll bring mine, and we can see if Izumi-chan want to join us."

"I even know a good place we could go." Suzukaze-san said right before there was a loud bell ringing.

The hour was up.

"Hey you waste of skins! Shut up and listen to what I have to say." A young man wearing a T&I outfit said in front of the gates to the Training Grounds.

"Good. I'm Morino Ibiki and I am the examiner for the second test. Now for this part of your exam each team has to transport a special packet to the center tower located in the center, exactly ten kilometers from our current location. As for rules? You have to make sure every item in the packet is in good condition, or you fail. Your team must enter the tower at the same time, or you fail. Killing other teams is allowed, as is sabotaging them. However, only the first five teams will even be allowed into the tower, meaning that half of you will fail." The man said with a smug looking smile.

Itachi thought the first part of the exam was the scare tactics, but it seems that this Examiner was giving them another round.

"Most likely though? I doubt five teams will even survive. There is a good reason why this place is called the forest of death after all.

"If you still want to try, then go sign your consent forms and get your packet."

Itachi looked to his teammates just in case, but Suzukaze-san gave him a confident smile and Aburame-san inclined his head slightly. Then they walked to the both, with Inuzuka-san team the only other team in front of them. They couldn't see what the packet was, but Itachi didn't need to see.

"WHAT THE HELL? IS THIS JUST A BENTO BOX!" Inuzuka-san yelled and Itachi heard Morino-san laugh heartedly.

"Oh did I forget to mention? You're going to deliver dinner to all of the members of I&T, so you better not be too late. Some of us get cranky when hungry."

Let me know soon if you would like me to show more of Itachi's exam. Obviously the third part will be in the next chapter, but I have half of an idea of what the second part will go like. So I could go either way.

Thank you everyone who favorite/follow this story. Special thanks to Akq16, Hisan Sadness, Luna Latanya, pendora59, and lizyeh2000 for reviewing last chapter. I now believe that fanfic is fueled by review or comments. Like whenever i'm writing I stop and think 'is this stupid?', at least with fanfic there are people who are nice enough to tell me they like what i'm written, but for my original story I don't get that. Oh well.

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a fantastic Day/night!