Out of the Ashes

Chapter 23

Caffeine Start

The day of the first exam I was up all night. I tossed and turned because every time I closed my eyes nightmares would plague me. The result of this was me making a grand breakfast with no sleep. When Sasu woke up and came into the kitchen he stepped back in shock when he saw a full table.

"What is all this for?" Sasu questioned in amazement, reaching for a piece of toast and inhaling it.

"I was up all night. Figured I could make us a good breakfast to start the exam." I admitted. Sasu shook his head at me but started picking at the various dishes. A few he looked at oddly, because lets admit I'm not the perfect cook despite my recent improvements, and pushed away from him. I pouted at that but I didn't really want to touch that plate of eggs either. Something went horribly wrong somewhere and I don't know if the eggs were bad or if my attempts to add stuff to the pan to make it tastier was misguided, but the eggs were no longer eggs. They were an abomination.

We were halfway through breakfast when the backdoor opened and Bu shot in like a bullet, "GOOD MORNING FU!" Sasu looked slightly insulted he didn't get a greeting but he was more disgruntled Bu basically kicked open our door.

Kyuketsu followed after him at a slower pace with a shocked expression. He came to me and shook my shoulder gently, "He was awake when I got there." That was not something that happened. Ever.

I appraised Bu with apprehension and found he was vibrating in place. I made an educated guess, "Bu... how much caffeine and sugar have you had?"

Bu grinned, "My mom put some caffeine pills in coffee when she saw I was awake all night. Then she made me a nice breakfast."

"He's going to crash later but for now at least he's awake." I sighed. Kyuketsu narrowed his eyes at Bu.

"That is very unhealthy. Caffeine pills and coffee? Your body is too young for that." Kyuketsu nagged. Speaking of coffee, I wondered if we had any. That sounded pretty good, although I didn't know how exactly to make it without a coffee maker.

"Kyu-Kyu," Bu said very seriously, leaning so that he was almost nose to nose with Kyuketsu, "Right now I couldn't care any less. I feel great."

"You're going to feel like shit later." Kyuketsu demurred flatly.

"Don't care~" Bu sang, plopping down at the low table to make himself a plate.

"Didn't your mom feed you?" demanded Sasu as he grabbed the last of the fruit so that Bu wouldn't steal it. Sasu was also a tomato whore so for breakfast and lunch there were usually cherry tomatoes. Sasu started inhaling those to prevent Bu from eating them.

Bu stuck his tongue out at Sasu, "A man needs to eat, baby Sasu."

I started choking on toast. Kyuketsu pat my back as tears streamed out of my eyes and Sasu, mouth wide with a cherry tomato sitting innocently in the corner of his mouth waiting for death, gaped at Bu. I managed to get the toast to go down by chugging a glass of juice. I wiped my mouth when I was done and sighed in relief.

"I haven't laughed that hard in awhile." I sighed pleasantly.

Sasu looked at me like I had betrayed him, "Please take your friends and leave."

"That's fine with me." I smiled evilly, "You do all the dishes then."

Sasu realized his mistake when Bu sprinted out the back door and Kyuketsu followed with me almost hurdling the table to get my gear.

"Wait, I take that back-" Sasu tried but I was already turning the corner to flee out the front door. Sasu must have admit defeat because I didn't hear anything else as I met up with Kyuketsu and Bu outside the house.

Bu was looking a bit calmer but he was still shaking, "Who's ready for the first exam?!"

"You?" Kyuketsu questioned, looking a bit like he regret speaking to the hyperactive boy.

"Yes, but who else?" Bu retorted. We started to walk towards the district entrance.

"I suppose I am." Kyuketsu allowed, "And the Uchiha-hime?"

"Definitely." I grinned. The first exam after all, was the easiest. The Forest of Death however was taxing my mind. The first exam didn't start until noon so we went to our training grounds to stretch and generally prepare a plan of action. Kinoe did show up and give us a pep talk before he decided to give us individual consultations. First he led Bu off and they were loud enough Kyuketsu and I heard them discussing Bu's explosives. Then Kyuketsu and Kinoe were quiet so Bu and I heard nothing. We amused ourselves with shiritori until they got back.

Finally, Kinoe dragged me a bit further away than he did Bu and Kyuketsu.

"This is it, huh?" he murmured. We were both looking in the other's general direction but we weren't actually making eye contact.

"Yeah. What do you think is going to happen?" I asked him. Kinoe pondered the question for a few seconds.

"I think things will work out how they should. Whether that means it's Sasuke or you I wouldn't know. Hell, maybe you guys won't even make it to the second exam. What if the final question scares Pinky or Kyu-Kyu enough where they back out?" Kinoe ruffled my hair while I muttered under my breath that I would kill them if they did something stupid like that.

"Just don't get in over your head, you stubborn little brat. If you can, try to get your scrolls as quickly as possible and go to the tower. Don't go off and try to save Sasuke because if he does get the mark at least we know what to expect." Kinoe told me seriously. I scoffed at him and Kinoe smacked me upside the head gently.

Kinoe leaned down so he was eye level with me, "I'm serious. Do not go and purposely try to change things."

"Whatever happens, happens, sensei." I informed him. Kinoe rolled his eyes.

"Alright brat. Go get your teammates and head to the exam. Being early leaves a good impression on your examiners." Kinoe grinned, "Of course, Ibiki is a bit of a hardass regardless."

Kinoe walked me back to my team and wished us a final good luck. He pulled all of us into a huge bear hug that cracked all three of our backs. Then he dropped us and promptly poofed away after dropping lollipops in each of our pockets. Bu started nomming on his immediately while Kyuketsu rolled his eyes at the lollipop and pocketed it. We walked to the academy and didn't linger outside. As we climbed to the second floor I thought about something. Was I forgetting something?

Room 301 had a small crowd of students outside of it with two chunin blocking the door. I narrowed my eyes at the scene and I remembered what I had forgotten. Before Bu and Kyuketsu could move towards the door I pulled them back into the stairwell.

"That's not right." I hissed in their ears, "This is the second floor."

"Huh, now that you say it, 301 is a weird number to have on the second floor." Bu commented, nodding along in a daze. I was momentarily concerned that his caffeine was wearing off when Kyuketsu handed him his lollipop. Bu immediately started on it and we continued upwards with Kyuketsu praising my observation skills. Honestly though, I wouldn't have noticed a thing if I hadn't already known it was there. In fact, I almost forgot it was there. That did not bode well with me.

We made it to the actual 301 and took seats towards the middle. Bu immediately passed out on his desk with a thud that both me and Kyuketsu jumped at.

"Should we be concerned?" I questioned, prodding Bu's cheek with my pointer finger. He didn't even stir.

Kyuketsu observed his face and shrugged, "He'll survive."

We were one of the first teams to make it and there were the low murmur of conversation in the room. I started to doze off and I managed a light sleep until a familiar shrill voice woke me up. I was kind of disappointed because I was enjoying my nap but I was more interested in the plot that was unfolding before me.

My poor brother looked horribly disgruntled as Ino jumped on his back and laughed. Naruto took a step to the side as a vein throbbed on Sakura's forehead. I smirked and held my hands over my mouth so that no one would see my clear amusement. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the rest of the Rookie Nine reunion because someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned and whatever I was going to say immediately died as I realized Kabuto had been the one to tap my shoulder. I would like to make something known right now. Kabuto as a character is a genuinely gross asshole. He's just as bad as Orochimaru in my eyes. But looking at Kabuto as a twelve year old girl whose hormones were getting ready to ruin her life, Kabuto was kind of handsome. His silver hair was really nice and he had a nice face shape. I would probably compare him to looking like what I imagine Yuka saw Kizami as from Corpse Party. Handsome and amiable until you realized he is a complete psychopath.

Totally don't think Kabuto is hot. Psh.

"Ah... sorry, can I help you?" I murmured, "Just woke up from a nap."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up and smiled, "I saw. Sorry to bother you, but you're Uchiha Fushicho, right?"

I nodded, "That's me."

He held up a stack of cards and gestured to the Rookie Nine, "Your brother is part of that loud group. I was about to go over and give them advice but thought you might need it too."

"You calling me a rookie?" I asked with a smirk I didn't really need Kabuto's cards and I was sure he had some ulterior motive to talking to me, "These are my first exams but I'm no rookie."

"I didn't mean to offend you-" Kabuto began but I shook my head, "Go give the rookies advice. They are being rather obnoxiously loud."

"They really are." whined Bu without lifting his face off the desk, "I was trying to sleep."

"Oh, back from the dead are we?" Kyuketsu remarked, poking Bu's cheek. Bu sputtered and sat up, slapping the offending digit away from him.

Kabuto took this as his cue to leave and I watched him go. I put my head down and sighed in relief. That was a rather jarring experience. How dare someone I hate so much have such a pleasant face to look at?

"To think the Uchiha-hime does recognize the opposite sex." Kyuketsu commented. I sputtered and Bu wheeled backwards in shock.

I shifted so that I could glare at Kyuketsu, "You can go fuck yourself, Kyu-Kyu."

Kyuketsu glared at me while Bu put a hand to his heart, "False alarm?"

"Definitely." I assured him while Kyuketsu shook his head at him. Ibiki made his presence known as I smacked Kyuketsu upside the head so hard a few of the genin around us looked shocked.

Now, I know everyone knows the start to the Chunin Exams. So I'm not going to bore you with the usual play-by-play. Ibiki is scary looking, yes, and his face is just as you would expect it to be.

Next order of business.

The exams started and I was placed in the last row next to generic looking people. The exam was passed out and when we all flipped it over I skimmed the questions to see if there were any that were worth me expending energy on answering.

The questions weren't that difficult, to be honest. Math was easy considering I was a Samsara and I actually enjoyed code cracking so that only took a few minutes. The really difficult ones were the latter half of the questions. Five, six, seven, eight and nine were considerably challenging. In fact, I couldn't answer them at all. They had strange math I had never seen before, meaning it was something these kids would have never seen in their lives. Eight was a question on something involving the body or medical Jutsu. Nine asked a philosophical question about the bonds between teammates.

I activated my sharingan and stared into the distance to see what everyone else was writing down. Sakura was completely done as far as I could see but she was biting her nails and fidgeting, likely nervous about Naruto. Sasu meanwhile was actually trying to project a genjutsu onto Naruto but Naruto either wasn't feeling it or Sasu hasn't worked genjutsu enough to be able to help in this situation.

I copied answers from someone who looked like a chunin plant and looked around to see what Bu and Kyuketsu we doing. Bu and Sakura were beacons in the room with their hair colors so I found Bu pretty easily. Bu was definitely feeling nervous, his chakra was bouncing around and he looked a bit sweaty. However he had some answers on his paper and that was good enough for me. Bu didn't have any good ways to cheat so he might finish the test without cheating.

I had to search for Kyuketsu's chakra but I was so familiar with it that I located him easily. I had to wait before I could see him because he was further away and people were blocking me. Eventually people moved until I got a look at Kyuketsu's test. It was filled out completely and in detail with not a single answer incomplete. What was worse, or better depending on how you're judging him, was that these answers were not the ones you got by cheating. That meant Kyuketsu somehow knew the answers to every question.

I looked down at my own paper. I answered the math ones with formulas from my first life and I erased them because they were still in English. As I skimmed Kyuketsu's paper he definitely had some formulas written down but they were in Japanese and I honestly had no idea what they were. I decided I didn't really care too much though, Kyuketsu could be smart on his own, and I put my head back down for a nice nap.

The tenth question woke me up from my nap and as I skimmed the room I found it much emptier than when I had gone to sleep. I ignored Ibiki's ramblings and watched to see how Kyuketsu and Bu took the news. Bu looked frazzled and Kyuketsu looked confident. Of course Kyuketsu was apparently some kind of computer if you looked at his test and Bu was... Bu. Bu was pretty smart if you ignored his oddness. Meanwhile I knew what the tenth question really was.

Bu looked at Kyuketsu and I when everyone was panicking and I gave him a thumbs up. Kyuketsu never turned around to look at me or Bu and I rolled my eyes about that. Stubborn asshole. Naruto did his thing and the first exam was over as quickly as it started. Anko burst into the room and announced herself as the second proctor. A few of the remaining genin looked put off by her clothing while a few older ones looked positively gleeful about it. I myself was confused on how she could move around like she was without an obvious chest binder. Was chakra the secret? We may never know. Her mesh iron shirt was over a thin body suit so it didn't look like she had a binder on but I could have been wrong.

We were let go after Anko led us to the Forest of Death and told us we would be meeting here early tomorrow for her exam. Bu, Kyuketsu and I went to celebrate at a restaurant.

"I was so worried." Bu confessed as he slurped up his miso soup, "But then I saw Fu give me a thumbs up and everything was fine."

"She wasn't an asshole for once? Huh." Kyuketsu, very blandly, commented. He was quietly having his miso soup.

I had already finished my soup because I really liked miso soup, "I can be nice."

Both of them looked at me, "You? Nice?"

I wilted, "You guys were in unison for that."

"You're usually pretty... aloof." Bu muttered, trying to find a word to describe me without being insulting.

Kyuketsu snorted, "Aloof? Maybe. More so surly."

"I am not that bad." I insisted, "I tried to help Sakura the other day."

"Oh? How did that go?" Kyuketsu questioned, "I recall her calling you mean."

I decided it would be best to make a tactical surrender and I dropped my head to the table. Bu pat my head reassuringly, "Don't worry Fu. You aren't always an asshole. Just most of the time."

I didn't pick my head up until the sushi arrived.

.

That night Sasu and I made sure the other had all the materials they would need for the forest of death.

"If you need help during the exam-" Sasu began and I scoffed. He blushed when he realized exactly who he was talking to.

"Me? Need help? Sasu, if anyone needs help it's your team. You and Naruto together can hardly touch Bu. My team will be perfectly fine." I informed him. Sasu nodded in agreement.

"We do need help." he sighed. He pushed his glasses up in irritation. I giggled because he looked like such a nerd doing that. Usually Sasu forgot he had his glasses so he wasn't much of a glasses-kun type. But sometimes he did the typical irritated glasses thing.

"Yeah. Stupid thought. Doesn't mean I can't worry though, sis." Sasu replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. I grinned back at him. We had a nice dinner with lots of tomato for Sasu and some other stuff for me. I didn't really have much of a favorite food because my taste buds were still crap. I just learned to inhale food quickly and ignore the tastes as best as possible. Sasu hated it when I overspiced things which I usually did for my own good.

Anyway, we took a long bath afterwards because we were going to be in that forest for a potential five days. Sasu and I had a light discussion on what we thought would happen in the forest. Sasu was sure that Sakura would have a panic attack from all the gross things.

"She needs time." I told him after feeling kind of bad for the girl that his opinion of her was that low.

Sasu rolled his eyes, "She acts like a civilian."

"She may act like a civilian but she won't always be that way. In fact, I bet she's going to be pretty strong some day." I said sagely, nodding my head when Sasu looked at me skeptically. I hope you know I intentionally worded it to be strong instead of something like powerful. I want Sasu to gape in aw the day Sakura smashes open the ground with her fists. Also, sibling bets. Best thing ever when you know the future.

Sasu laughed, "Sure I'll take that bet. Loser has to... what should the loser do?"

"Let's just call it owe the winner until we find a winner. Give the girl a few years. Not everyone is like us you know. Sakura has both parents who love her very much and support her fully. We have a dead clan and an estranged brother." I explained carefully.

Sasu sunk into the water a bit, "You say estranged like he didn't murder everyone."

"I think it's physically impossible that he murdered everyone." I retorted, "He's a murderer, yes, but you and I are going to be murderers someday too."

"That's a way to put it. But one day, Shicho, I am going to find that man. And I'm going to force him to tell me everything." Sasu promised, "And I'll tell you what I learn."

I scoffed, "As if I wouldn't be right there next to you."

Sasu smiled.

.

I slept kind of alright the night before the second exam. Fushicho hadn't bothered me for awhile which was odd. She usually liked pissing me off in my dreams but ever since Yasobu she mostly kept to herself. I woke up that morning feeling pretty damn good and ready for some fighting. I made a normal breakfast for Sasu and I and by the time Bu and Kyuketsu walked in Sasu and I were washing dishes.

Kyuketsu nodded in approval, "On time today."

"No food?" Bu was disappointed.

"Your mother fed you this morning, didn't she?" barked Sasu, "Stop coming to our house for more!"

I rolled my eyes, "Leave Bu alone. He appreciates my cooking."

"Actually," Kyuketsu spoke up with a glimmer in his eyes, "Onna-san put him on a strict, specific diet for the chunin exams. He is being fed well, but his only source of sweets is if she deems him worthy of sugar to give him energy."

Bu looked like a deer caught in headlights when I turned to look at him. I glared, "No food for you since you're not on my side."

Bu stammered, "I mean, your food is good it's just-"

"No food for you." Sasu repeated, grinning evilly, "You heard her."

Kyuketsu snickered when Bu pouted at us. We all left together until Sasu split away from us to go to Naruto's and make sure he was awake and ready for the second exam. Kinoe wasn't actually supposed to see us in between exams so we weren't confronted by that particular weirdo. We were confronted by Bu's mother though.

Onna landed in front of us and quickly forced scrolls into each of our hands saying they had nice bentos for five days for each of us and she leaned in and snuck a second scroll into my bag, hissing, "Lady supplies."

"I don't need those!" I insisted, also quietly. Onna just laughed, winked at me, and left in a shunshin. Kyuketsu and I shared bewildered looks while Bu looked completely used to his mother doing things like that. I wasn't sure how you got used to a hurricane coming out of nowhere but whatever. Onna was a nice person, just very odd. Every shinobi had something weird going on, or so many people believed, but some were more obvious. Kakashi and his mask or Gai and Lee for example.

Shinobi were special regardless if they acted that way.

Bu wanted to buy a second breakfast on the way to the exam but Kyuketsu and I dragged him down the street. There was no way we were waiting for his slow gluttonous ass to choose what he wanted to eat. We arrived at the grounds and a few good lucks passed between the teams that knew each other. Everyone collected their scrolls and when it was our turn to collect our scrolls we did so quietly.

The woman handing out the scrolls and writing things down seemed to be very bored. Yet she still appraised us carefully and looked over all our paperwork. No wonder it took so long to get scrolls. For me I signed all the paperwork myself as I was marked as an adult and fully treated as one. Kyuketsu and Bu, while they technically were adults on paper, still needed their guardians to sign for them. Onna signed for Bu and Kyuketsu took his paperwork to the Aburame clan head prior to the exams.

That paperwork started a short argument where Sasu and I bickered on who was technically older and who should sign as clan head. We both signed our own paperwork after the argument but Sasu and I still were ready to argue over who was older, even if the difference was by minutes. I actually think Sasu is older because I vaguely recall him being pushed out first, but I was mentally older and ready to fight for it until there was actual proof I was younger. There's also the argument that I was regarded as an adult far before Sasu and I had an apprenticeship under Kakashi.

Anyway, the woman finished looking over our paperwork and handed over a heaven scroll. We decided that I was going to hold onto it so I sealed it into the scroll with Onna's lady products (Had she planned on me using the scroll for this?). I even took care to label it as feminine hygiene so that if anyone did try and search me for the scroll they would hopefully be a teenage boy who would want nothing to do with that scroll.

I gave Sasu a hug before my team and I separated to go to our gate. A proctor stood off to the side of it looking ready for a nap. Bu, Kyuketsu and I talked among ourselves until there was a buzzing sound and we watched the gates push inwards.

We sprang forward with not even an ounce of planning.

AN:

What do you think is going to happen in the Forest of Death? Next chapter is finished and LONG. And exciting.

Fun Fact- If Kyuketsu was a Sim in Sims 3 his traits would be: Eco-Friendly, Perfectionist, Loner, Gatherer, and Neurotic. Kyuketsu may not seem very Neurotic at first, but his obsession with health is based off his worries in that area. He's also the kind of person to be incredibly paranoid and anxious over simple things that worry only him and no one else.

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