It was the day of the exam. They were up bright and early. Saori fixed up a feast of a breakfast for them.
"You better eat it all, you're going to need all your strength for these exams. I hear stage one is a written test, then stage two is some kind of survival perhaps. Then we're fighting the other teams. If either of you are put up against Gaara... I strongly suggest you forfeit. He may be my friend but that doesn't mean he won't try and kill you."
"Serious?" They stared in disbelief.
"Yeah. He may even try to kill me. To be honest the same goes for any ninja not from our village. As far as they're concerned, we're the enemy, and the fewer of us that make it to chunin the better."
"Yeah, you've got a point there. But Gaara, is more likely to kill us."
"And not just because of the exam. Just for his own pleasure." She closed her eyes. When she opened them again she smiled. "Anyway, the point is, we gotta do our best. I really want us to become chunin. Then we can work on becoming Jonin."
"Yeah! Whatever it takes!" Senji stood up and put his hand out.
"Whatever it takes!" Saito and Saori put their hands in too.
As they approached the exam room they noticed no one else seemed to be there.
"Wonder where everyone is. This is room 301?" Saori looked around.
"Yes. This is strange." Saito replied. Just then they heard footsteps down the corridor. It was the sand siblings.
"Well we're not the only ones now." She said, smiling.
"What do you mean?" Temari asked her.
"Well, it seems we are the only ones here, for now." She ushered Temari to take a look into the classroom to prove it was empty. "Summoning jutsu!" Saori summoned a small cat. "Neku, please check the entire building for the other ninja." The cat meowed and was on its way. "So, how have you found the leaf village these past five days?"
"Please tell me not all the ninja are like those weaklings from the other day?"
"I should warn you, Kankurō, don't underestimate them. Yeah they seem goofy and lame but when put to the test they can prove themselves worthy adversaries." Just then the cat returned and Saori shook her head. "I say that but as if to prove your point they're all on the second floor, stuck in a genjustu." She facepalmed.
"Ha! Pathetic." He laughed.
"They're on their way. Let's go in." She allowed the sand ninja to enter first then her team followed. Soon after the room was filled with ninja from all over. Yet the last groups to arrive were the other leaf village ninja, namely the rookie nine.
Kabuto introduced himself and tempted Sasuke with his information cards. He asked for information on three ninja; Gaara, Rock Lee and Saori. There was plenty information about Lee, little on Gaara but what they did know was that he did a B rank mission as a genin and has never had so much as a scratch on him. This was unsettling news to Sasuke. Meanwhile Saori was watching intently. As Kabuto pulled out her card, it set on fire.
"What the..." Sasuke and Kabuto gasped and jumped back.
"Can't have you revealing my secrets." She giggled.
"I'll be honest, there wasn't much information on you either." Kabuto adjusted his glasses
"Well then, guess I didn't have anything to worry about." The commotion had stirred all the other candidates. She turned to one of the other leaf ninja. "Hey, Chōji?"
"Yeah, what's up?" He was munching away.
"Got any snacks?" She smiled.
"Yeah, of course! I've always got snacks on me, take your pick." He held out a selection for her.
"I'll just take these, thanks so much. I appreciate it."
"No problem."
"Since when do you share your food?!" Ino was shocked.
"It's Saori, I owe her one anyway. It's the least I can do." Just then Saori took her mask down and revealed her face to everyone. Her skin was like porcelain.
"Wow, she's beautiful." One voice from the crowd said. Both Naruto and Sasuke agreed with him. Sakura became jealous that even Sasuke thought she was beautiful. But something about Saori felt off.
"A girl like you should be with the strongest ninja." A cocky guy came over, implying he wanted to date her.
"You let me know when he gets here then." She walked off. There were people snickering all around the room.
As a fight was about to break out because of Naruto's outburst, Ibiki appeared and introduced himself.
Senji was near the front, Saito at the back and Saori was in the middle, next to Gaara. Of course she would be next to him. Ibiki began to explain the rules. Saori thought over these rules carefully.
Five minutes passed and she hadn't written anything. She stretched and yawned loudly, then stood up.
"Man, my legs have gone dead."
"Jeez Saori, it's only been like five minutes." Senji replied.
"Hey, I'm not used to sitting still."
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Naruto shouted.
"There's no rule saying we're not allowed to talk." She says back in her chair. Over time one by one, teams were eliminated for cheating. Including a team from the sand village. Gaara was still focussed.
All she did was stare up at the ceiling while rocking back on her chair. She would occasionally glance at Gaara to see how he was doing. She knew he was using his third eye technique to cheat. Then to her amusement, Naruto started having some sort of internal meltdown. Kankurō asked to go to the bathroom. Saori noticed something was up with the sentinel that escorted him out. By the time he came back there were only fifteen minutes left of the exam. Now she was staring intently at Ibiki. He had a reputation for being unbreakable. He had been tortured for information by enemies, and never given it up. But the way she was staring at him, she managed to send a shiver down his spine. She could tell he was slightly unnerved.
Now it came to the final question. Ibiki explained how if one member of the team didn't answer then the whole team would fail, however if one team member got the answer wrong, that person would remain a genin for life. Naruto have a big speech about how he wasn't a quitter and that he didn't care if he was a genin for life because he would still become hokage.
"Shut up, knucklehead." Saori said. "Can I tell them now?" She asked Ibiki.
"So you figured it all out then?" He had a feeling that she had. "In five... four... three... two... one. Okay, go ahead, let's see if you really know the answers."
"Simple, this was a test of gathering information. In a normal exam you'd be disqualified for cheating after one attempt. You gave us three chances. That was the first clue. The second was that these questions are too difficult for your average genin. It was literally forcing us to cheat. And how would we cheat if none of us knew the answers? You planted jonin in the room, posed as genin. They knew all the answers and we were meant to copy off them."
"Exactly right, you were. Except you didn't write a single thing. Therefore you..."
"Oh didn't I?" She had a sideways smile. "Check your pocket." He gasped. Everyone began muttering to themselves. He slowly reached into his pocket and sure enough her test paper was folded up in there.
"But how...?" He was stunned. "That's impossible!"
"Clearly not, because I've done it. And I answered every question correctly without copying the answers."
"But when?"
"When Kankurō got up to go to the bathroom. You were distracted enough and I seized the opportunity. So thanks, Kankurō." Kankurō scowled at her. "And if you're wondering, yes, Saito and Senji have the correct answers too. I gave it to them. It was easy using a mind link jutsu."
Then a few jonin entered, accompanied by Sharuka. One of them whispered to Ibiki.
"Is this for real? You can't be serious!"
"Yeah, it's true." Sharuka nodded.
"Saori. I've just been informed that despite being eleven years old and a genin, you've completed zero D rank missions, ten C rank missions, fourteen B rank... seven A rank..." Ibiki paused as gasps and chatter filled the room. "And three S rank missions!"
"Yeah. That's right."
"How is it you're only taking the exams now then?"
"We were going to take part in the last one but one of those S rank missions came up and it was a very important client who asked for us specifically. Anyway. Now that that's over with, we're going to go do some training. See you all in the next round!" She smiled and waved goodbye to everyone.
"Did you see the look on his face!" Senji laughed. "It was priceless. You rule, Saori!"
"Indeed, I'm glad you're on our team. The other teams must be jealous."
"I'd say they'll be more afraid. What I pulled off was far beyond genin level. We need to keep our guards up 24/7 from now on, I may have put targets on our backs." Senji looked at her confused. "They're going to see us as a dangerous threat. They'll want to get rid of us, one way or another. I would be surprised if some of them even came after us at home. So be prepared. In fact, I think it's best you both stay at mine tonight, and we take turns sleeping in shifts. If we're tired in the morning, I have a special tea that will energise us. I always have it after a sleepless night."
"Okay. Soooooo, like a sleepover?" Senji seemed excited by the notion.
"Sure. If you want." She shrugged. "Well, you know what that means!"
"Snacks!" He shouted and jumped for joy. Senji had a sweet tooth. They went shopping and bought all sorts of sweets, chocolates, cakes and crisps. When they got there, Saori set up two beds in the living room for them.
"So what should we do first? Truth or dare? Scary stories?"
"Sure, and she could do your makeup, paint your nails and braid your hair!" Saito teased.
"Hey I'm just trying to have a good time!"
"Yeah, girls just wanna have fu-un." He teased some more.
"So, that was Gaara that we've heard so much about. He doesn't talk much does he?" Senji enquired. He was in his pyjamas and hugging his pillow.
"Onto the gossip portion of the evening. To answer your assumption, he doesn't talk much to other people, but he talks a fair bit to me."
"Are you and him an item then?" Saito asked.
"No, of course not!" She was clearly flustered by the thought. He gave was turning red. "We're just good friends, that's all. We go way back." They knew something was going on.
"Yeah, good friends that kiss." Senji narrowed his eyes at her. He then grabbed her by the shoulders. "What was that whole date thing about then? You clearly have feelings for him, why not just tell him?"
"It's complicated. But at least for now, I can't." Dissatisfied with her answer, Senji hit her with a pillow. This a pillow fight ensued. "If you want a real horror story, I have one." They all got comfortable. "Okay. Six years ago, there was a young girl. She had nothing, only the clothes on her back. Her home had been destroyed, there was no one left. So she travelled, trying to find a new home. But, she was worried people would be afraid of her, because of the monster she had inside her. Then she had a great idea. She made her own little village, using a powerful jutsu. She made friends to play with, and a mother and father to look after her, as well as two brothers. Eventually people found this village, they thought that since the village had sprung up from nowhere, that the people living there must be really rich to have pulled that off. The moment these strangers set foot in her village they knew something was off. All the adults in the village were made up of the mother and father, all the children were the two brothers. They broke her jutsu and captured her. They tortured her, forced her to fight. They were then at war with another clan, and they tried to use her against them, but she refused. She ran and hid amongst a pile of the dead, waiting for it all to be over. The stench of rotting flesh and stale blood made her vomit. She held her breath and covered her nose as she looked around. Lifeless eyes stared right through her from every direction. The look of pain and anguish on their faces. Suddenly, one survivor found her and was about to kill her, when..." Saito and Senji leaned in. "The man's blood splattered all over her and he fell to the ground. And a voice said to her; 'Despicable, trying to kill a child for no reason. Come, this is no place for you.' And so she went with her saviour." She looked down to her feet.
"So then what happened?" Senji asked. He was dying to know.
"Senji, do you have the emotional range of a wooden spoon? Show some compassion." Saito scolded him.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it. I'm sorry, I know I don't tell you guys about my past, but I think it's time I did. Just can we leave it at that for tonight?"
"Of course. It's late now anyway. I'll take first watch." Saito assured her. They took their turns taking shifts. Contrary to Saori's guess, no one was trying to kill them that night. Meanwhile Gaara had instead killed a ninja from another village who incidentally was going to attempt to kill him.