Ayame and her temp team sat in the waiting room for the Chunin exams; the sheer number of those signed up for the exam shocked her. Ryuu and Nao sat together next to each other, the two were unfazed by the mass amount of Genin since they had taken the test before. Ryuu chatted cheerfully with a couple of leaf Genin while Nao half-heartedly joined in on the conversation, his gaze fixed on Ayame.
"I don't trust you." Nao's voice hissed in her ear; Ayame whipped around to glare into his dark grey eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Ayame caught the familiar auburn haired boy staring at the situation with great interest.
"I don't trust you either. Especially with you calling me a bitch all of the time." She pushed Nao back and narrowed her crimson eyes; the boy irked her, he was pretentious and gave off wishy- washy feelings towards her. Ayame spun around and walked off towards Gaara in a huff; she could tell that Nao was still watching her, but she paid it no mind. Ayame tapped on his shoulder gently, Gaara closed his eyes slowly and turned around, his eyes opening to stare face to face with Ayame.
"Ayame." He muttered and closed his eyes slowly, Ayame blushed and flicked her eyes to glance around the crowd.
"G-Gaara, I see you made it." She was at a loss of words, Ayame laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head while Gaara stared at the girl.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" She was boring him, but something about her kept him wanting to talk with her. He had to admit she was kind of cute when she got flustered, but it didn't go any farther than that. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he felt a burning stare; he glanced over to his left and his gaze connected with the boy that had been talking to Ayame earlier. Nao's dark grey eyes were fixed on the two, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of betrayal in her actions. Gaara could tell that him being near Ayame angered the boy, and it pleased him.
"Gaara..?" Ayame blushed and reached her hand out towards the red haired boy, he responded with a hostile stare that startled Ayame. She flinched as he took a step closer to her, his dark ringed eyes had an evil look in them that she didn't want to be acquainted with. "Forget it… I have to go back to my squad." She smiled sweetly before backing off; the action made her stomach twist, and something told her that she should stay near him, but she could ignore her gut instinct that sent her back to her new squad. Maybe it was the sorrow filled feeling that was masked by calmness when she left, or her own feelings that made her stomach twist; either way it hurt while she turned her back on him.
"New girl, come here." Nao motioned for her to come stand near him; Ayame noticed him and she immediately felt annoyed, Nao caught her look and narrowed his eyes angrily at the girl and pointed next to him. "Come here." His tone was fierce and his teeth shown while calling for her. Ayame inched over slowly to the shinobi, her eyes locked to his in anger.
"What do you want asshole?" She spat at him.
"Stay with your teammates bitch." He responded the same and took a fist full of her short dark hair.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Let go of me asshole!" She growled and tried to grab his wrist so he would let go.
"You're pretty cute when you're angry bitch." Nao teased the girl and poked her forehead with his free hand, while tightening his grip with the other.
"Nao, that's enough." Ryuu's large hand rested on Nao's shoulder; sighing, Nao let Ayame's hair go, but not without tossing her back into the crowd to be caught by a couple older Genin. They scowled while staring down at Ayame, who backed away slowly, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment. She trudged back over to her temp team and stood closely to Ryuu, he blushed and put an arm around the girl protectively while glaring at Nao. "Say, Ayame, how old are you?" He smiled down at the short girl and Ayame took a step back from him.
"I'm eleven…" She looked away nervously, her cheeks bright red again.
"WHAT? Eleven?!" Ryuu formed his body into a half- assed crane pose, and sucked his cheeks in like a fish. "That-" He put both of his hands above his head and positioned them like a dancer. "Is-" He kneeled down on the ground, his act was now drawing in a crowd. "So-" His hands reached out and took Ayame's hands in his, his lips were now puffed out in a kissy expression, now all of the Genin were staring at Ayame and Ryuu. "Cute!" He pecked the top of Ayame's hand and winked up at her. She stood frozen on the spot while everyone else in the room gasped, gossiped, and laughed.
"Stop it!" Ayame punched Ryuu square in the jaw, he howled in pain and looked at the young girl with fake tears in his eyes.
"Cmon cute Aya! Don't be so mean to me! After all, I am two years older than you!" Ryuu placed a hand on top of Ayame's head and ruffled her short hair while smiling delightfully. "You're really strong Aya, maybe you can be a Chunin this year." While Ryuu laughed, Ayame glanced over at Nao who was staring at her intently, his dark silver eyes hid some other intention, was it bloodlust? Ayame wasn't able to tell, but the look in his eyes scared her. Gasps waved through the crowd as about 10 ninja appeared in a flash of smoke, at the head was an older man whose face had scars running along it.
"Thanks for waiting…" He smirked as his eyes scanned the Genin. "I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chunin Selection Exam's first test." as his eyes combed over the crowd, Ayame could hear the nervous sounds of students gulping as the man raised his hand and pointed into the crowd. "Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"
"I apologize… This is our first time and we… Got bit carried away.." A Genin with bandages on his head stare dead eyed at the examiner, he had started a fight with one of the hidden leaf Genin and got caught by the examiner. Ayame clicked her tongue in annoyance, she knew he was lying, he wasn't very good at it, or wasn't trying to disguise his bloodlust very well.
"Here's a good opportunity to say this.." The examiner started. "There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?" There was now silence around the crowd, the air was tense as the examiner spoke. "We will now start the first test of the Chunin Exam. Instead of your current seating arrangement.." The man held up a stack of cards, the top had a number written in bold black letters. "You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams.
"WHAT?!" Naruto's voice could be heard throughout the room, Ayame glanced over in the direction to find an infuriated Naruto. "A PAPER TEST?!" He screamed again, then fell silent as Morino Ibiki handed out the number tabs. He handed Ayame a tab, she looked down at the number, two bold numbers stared at her. Sixty- two, she scanned the desks near the back and stared down at the seat labeled sixty two.
"Gaara.." Ayame smiled over at the boy sitting next to her. "I'm sorry for walking away earlier, I didn't want to bother you." Ayame blushed and her wide smile softened to a sadder one.
"Forget it." Gaara didn't bother to look over, only kept staring straight ahead at Morino Ibiki.
"Each of you will start off with 10 points, if all of the questions answered are correct, you keep your ten points. But say you miss three questions, then you will lose three points and have a total of seven points." The examiner of the first test took up chalk in his hand and wrote the first rule on the board. "Rule two, This is a team test. Whether you pass or fail will be determined by the combined core of all three of your teammates. The third rule is that during the exam, anyone caught by the testing advisors doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points deducted for each offense. Anybody who loses all ten points will be asked to leave with the rest of your team." Ayame glanced over at Gaara, he sat calmly, despite all of the pressure put on him. "The pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. All Shinobi trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud ninja." The proctor examined the crowd again and smirked at the unnerved Genin. "You have one hour to complete the test."
Ayame took her time to read over the test, carefully examining each question for a more hidden meaning.
"This test… It almost encourages cheating.." She muttered under her breath; the questions were not simple fill in the blanks, but complex math problems and decoding. "Wait.." She scanned the crowd to see a couple of people writing furiously, yet calmly on their test, smirking, Ayame pulled the knife out of her pocket and sliced along her palm. She let the blood drip out onto the floor with a sigh and flicked her index and middle finger, designating the path with her chakra. "We're supposed to cheat, but not get caught. This shit is easy." Her fingers curled in and the blood hardened and shifted into the small needles; she could feel her ninjutsu enter the other ninja's bloodstream and flow up to his hand. Her hand responded reflexively and copied the answer down on her page while shivering slightly. "Almost too easy.." Ayame breathed out after thirty minutes of reflexive writing. By then, she had noticed Gaara swirl sand in his hand, press his forefingers to his eye, and crush an eye like orb in his hand.
As the time passed, teams were dismissed for obvious cheating, Ayame watched as some were drug out screaming, and others walked up shamefully, followed by their teammates that would chew them out later.
"Alright, time for the tenth question." Ibiki Morino interrupted the testers. They set their pencils down warily and stared up at the proctor. "Now.. Before we get to it, I'd like to go over the rules for this question." Gasps erupted through the room again, there was some hushed murmurs, but they ceased once Ibiki resumed speaking. "These are the rules of desperation. Firstly, you must decide whether you will take it or not."
"Choose?!" Temari interrupted the man, Ayame could sense that she was deeply upset by this new rule. "What happens if we choose not to?!" Ibiki narrowed his eyes at the blonde girl.
"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! along with your teammates." Two other Genin shouted out in anger at the proctor; Ibiki ignored them and continued with the rules. "And now… The other rule. If you chose to take it and end up answering incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the Chunin selection exam ever again."
"What kind of stupid rule is that?!" One of her previous classmates, the boy with a dog on his head yelled. "There are guys here who have taken the Chunin exam before!" The crowd was shocked into silence, nobody dared utter a word.
"You guys were unlucky." Ibiki smiled slightly. "This year it's my rules. I am giving you a way out. Those who aren't confident enough can chose not to take it… And try again next year. Now let's begin the tenth question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave." After a couple minutes of silence, a hand was raised.
"I.. I won't take it!" one called out before gathering his teammates and leaving. Another raised their hand.
"I'm sorry… Gennai.. Inoho.." The Chunin with clipboards around the room started calling out the cell numbers of those who raised their hand. Ayame glanced over at Sakura who was feebly starting to raise her hand before Naruto beat her to it.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" His hand slammed down at full force on the table before him as he screamed. "I WILL NOT RUN! I'LL TAKE IT! EVEN IF I'M A GENIN FOREVER..! I'LL WILL MYSELF TO BECOME HOKAGE ANYWAY, SO I DON'T CARE!" His voice rang throughout the room, Ayame smirked at the courage her friend had; she knew that he always had it in him to be great, maybe this was his time to shine.
"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit." Ibiki stared the fox boy straight in the eyes.
"I follow my unbending words, that is my ninja way." Ayame could tell that Naruto was scared, he needed to pass this test for the sake of Sasuke and Sakura. Though he did have guts, she had to admit that part; he was gutsy, and that's what Ayame liked about Naruto. She glanced over at Gaara, he returned her look and to her surprise, the corners of his lips curled into a very faint smile. His sudden action made Ayame's cheeks hot, she wasn't able to look at him, despite how much she wanted to.
"To the 78 who remain…" The examiner's voice shook Ayame out of her thoughts. "Congratulations on passing the first test!" Ayame stared wide- eyed at the examiner, there was no tenth question. she bit down on her thumb, blood welled up from the cut she had made. Ayame sighed as the liquid washed over her tongue, soothing her nerves. She could hear the startled yells of a few who were pissed off about the writing section.
"We passed Gaara." Ayame's voice was hushed as she turned to the boy with a relieved smile. His aquamarine eyes met her crimson ones, he nodded slightly in agreement, then turned back towards the proctor. "Hey.." Ayame tired to get the attention of Gaara again; he looked over at Ayame, she was starting to get on his nerves with her clinginess, but the fact that she kept talking to him made something stir within his chest.
"What is it?" He demanded from the girl. Ayame lips curled into a sheepish smile and her index fingers poked together nervously. Gaara narrowed his eyes at the girl, hoping that she would say something and stop acting strange.
"I just wanted to congratulate you.. I'm surprised you stayed so calm, I was shaking half of the time." Ayame giggled nervously as she spoke, her rambling made her feel like an idiot, but she hoped that Gaara would understand where she was coming from.
"This is nothing." Gaara remarked; he figured by now she was just saying things so that she was able to keep his attention. He turned his attention towards the front of the front of the room where Ibiki was still talking. He then turned back towards Ayame, she smiled softly when he turned towards the girl. "Are you scared?" His voice was cold and mocking as he asked the question. Ayame was taken aback at his sudden hostility, he was unlike the boy she had sat with last night in the park, this Gaara was strange, he was emotionless, like a shell that held a demon.
"I'm a little scared…" She had to admit; she'd be lying if she said she was all fine. Ayame knew at some point that she would cross paths with Gaara, being forced to fight him. "I'm not going to lie to you." She put on her best smile for him, he narrowed his eyes in annoyance; the kunoichi wasn't going to leave him be anytime soon. Thoughts popped up in his head, maybe he should just kill her, be rid of the pest. "Gaara?" Her hand moved towards his, she wanted to at least try to see if this was the same boy she had befriended the previous night. His hand retracted when he noticed her reaching out to him, Gaara glared at Ayame, she was now starting to really aggravate him, he had to remain calm however, he would kill her later when he had the chance to. The crashing of glass sent Gaara back to reality; a black- cloaked object flew into the room. Shuriken flew off and latched themselves to the ceiling to reveal a woman within the black fabric.
"YOU GUYS!" Her voice boomed around the room. "This is no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test! Mitarashi Anko! Follow me!" Her hand rose into the air to try and rally the crowd. The genin stared at her strangely, this woman was too full of energy. "78..!?" The woman turned towards Ibiki Morino. "You left 26 teams? The test was too easy this time!"
"This time.." He said. "There are a lot of outstanding ones."
"Bah, that's fine, I'll at least cut them in half in the second test. Ahh…." Anko's eyes narrowed and her whole body trembled. "I'm getting excited… I'll explain everything once we've changed locations, follow me."
Ayame was reunited with her temp squad when they reached the forest of death; Ryuu came up from Ayame and covered her eyes playfully.
"Oi, stupid. Let me go." She pressed her blood- stained knife against Ryuu's leg nonchalantly.
"Okay, Okay!" Ryuu chuckled and jumped in front of Ayame, his blue eyes looking down at her cheerfully. Cute Aya! How did you do on the test? I did horribly…." He ruffled her hair and he batted his hand away.
"Stupid. The test was easy, you just needed to know where to look." Ayame narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him. Ayame couldn't help but to smile softly up at him, he was so cheerful and nice to Ayame.
"Hey you two." Nao's cold voice interrupted the two. "Stop flirting, it makes me look bad." He put his hand in between Ayame and Ryuu while smirking. Ryuu's cheeks flushed bright red and his eyes glanced to the side.
"Aya's like a little sister to me. Why would I flirt with her… Nao..?" Ryuu emphasized his name and smiled wryly at Nao. There was intense tension between the two, jokingly, Ayame pulled her knife back out and made a cutting motion with it. Nao couldn't help but to chuckle a little at her joke, he poked the girl in her forehead and stood next to her.
"You're an idiot Ayame." Nao stared straight ahead to listen to the the examiner.
"You'll soon find out why this place is called the forest of death."
"You think that scares me?! That's nothing! I'm not afraid!" Naruto pointed straight at the examiner, his eyes were narrowed as he pointed at Anko. In a flash of dark metal, a kunai flew past Naruto, nicking his cheek. In a flash, she was gone, and not a second later, Anko reappeared behind Naruto. She placed a hand on a shoulder, and the other on his cheek.
"Kids like you are easily killed…" She giggled while running her tongue along his cheek. "Spraying that red blood I love.."
Ayame glanced up at Nao who had scoffed when the examiner threw her kunai. His black hair hid his eyes and the killer instinct beneath them.
"Nao…?" She tugged on his sleeve gently, Nao looked down at her and forced a smile, he couldn't let himself look bad in front of a rookie. "You're acting strange Nao, Stop it." She jabbed a finger into his side and glared up at Nao; he returned her glare, then just for the fun of scaring her, he decided to do something even stranger.
"HYAH!" Nao screamed in her ear and made a chopping motion that came down swiftly right on the middle of her head. Ayame's eyes went white and she fell back after his hand hit her head; as fast as she could. Ayame regained her composure and glared up at Nao again.
"What the hell was that for Nao?!" Tears streamed down her cheeks and her finger rested on Nao's shirt. Ryuu swept in as fast as he could and grabbed Ayame from behind, cradling her body close to his.
"Aya…" His voice was low in her ear; it brought a blush to Ayame's cheeks, and she fought hard to keep her composure. His arms suddenly dropped her on the dirt and Ryuu now jabbed his finger at Nao's headband. "What the hell was that for?! You're a total dick for hurting cute Aya!" Nao narrowed his eyes and pointed at Ayame laying on the ground face up and clearly pissed off. She leapt to her feet and glared at the both of them while cracking her knuckles.
"You two are worse than Naruto and Sasuke." She jabbed her fist into the backs of their necks, knocking both out. She stood on top of their bodies and rubbing the underside of her nose. "Super effective~!" Ayame declared while leaning down and examining the two boys. "Now get your lazy asses up, you play dead well, but you can't fool me, idiots." Ayame glanced around to see most of the Genin staring at them again. She noticed Gaara's aquamarine eyes watching the commotion from a few feet away; their eyes met when she looked over at him, but she became flustered quickly and looked down at the ground. When she looked back, Gaara had turned his back towards the instructor, his eyes were shut and arms crossed like usual, but something was off about how he reacted.
Gaara fought to keep his face from contorting in disgust at the girl. She had acted differently the previous night, she was more tolerable than how she was acting now. Yet, he couldn't help but think of the drawing of him and her underneath the kanji 'love'. She had acted cute when he washed away her drawing with his sand, but it was hard for him to entirely admit it from his viewpoint of others. Either way, he concluded, she was a hindrance to him and needed to be erased from existence. Nao narrowed his eyes when he noticed Ayame staring at the sand Genin again. He didn't like the looks of him one bit, he seemed like a cold blooded murderer, who wouldn't hesitate to kill anybody who got in his way. Once again, Gaara caught Nao staring right at him, and again felt the same feeling of hatred being projected onto him from Nao.
"Ayame," Nao grabbed the girl's sleeve and pulled her close to his body. Ayame reacted automatically, the palm of her hand swept across Nao's face in one motion, leaving a red mark on his cheek.
"Don't touch me Nao; remember this, we are only in this squad temporarily. I'm taking the place of your dead teammate, and I won't… Mark my words… Won't come to like you at any point in time during this chunin exam." Nao's hand moved to grab the collar of her shirt and pull her face up to his. His dark silver eyes stared straight into her crimson eyes; as their eyes locked, Nao could feel his blood boiling beneath the skin, he wanted to tear this girl to shreds, leave nothing of her behind.
"Don't dirty Makoto's name with your bitch mouth. I would just love…" He had to stop himself before his words crossed the line.
"You would just love to what Nao?" She smirked while he held her shirt.
"Forget it." Nao released his grip on her shirt and turned away towards the examiner, who now was halfway through explaining the rules.
"You will fight over these two scrolls, the 'heaven' and 'earth'. There are 78 people here, so 26 teams… 13 will get the 'heaven scroll' and the other half will get the 'earth scroll'. To pass the test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls. She held up both of the scrolls in her right hand and scanned over the crowd. "The second test will last exactly five days; during that time you must secure resources and a second scroll." Anko smiled brightly, then held her hand straight in front of her. "Now what will disqualify you: First, those that do not make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. There is no quitting in the middle of the exam, you will be in the forest for five days. The last and final rule; you must not look inside of the scroll until you make it to the tower."
"What happens if you do?" Naruto interrupted, his voice was low and was hard for Ayame to hear. She felt a presence next to her left ear and glanced over to see Nao's lips moving, but no sound coming out. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, and to her surprise, Nao let out a chuckle and stood back up. Ayame's eyes followed his form and he became to speak.
"You hear that bitch? Don't go dying on us."
"The same goes for you, I still haven't seen your combat skills, so who knows how pathetic you really are?" She smiled sweetly and clenched her fists. Nao groaned, he had wanted to piss her off, but her smart reply had pissed him off instead. He took a step back and noticed now Ryuu's eyes on him. Ryuu felt a burning sensation run through his arms, almost as if his being wanted to hurt his teammate. He sighed to contain himself, Nao had been extremely distant since Makoto died; he was what kept the group going in harsh times.
"Makoto!" Nao leaned over his teammate's bleeding body; there small cuts in his chest, and senbon needles in lethal pressure points. "Makoto answer me!" The boy screamed and his teammate opened his eyes slowly.
"...N-Nao…." He choked out, his chest rising and falling painfully with each breath. "...I'm glad you're okay…." Ryuu watched helplessly as Nao leaned over his friend's body, unable to do anything.
"Stop talking Makoto! Please! I can save you!" Chakra shown around his hand as he brought it down to Makoto's chest. "Just wait a little longer Makoto, you'll be fine." Nao sobbed.
"Don't waste your time….. I'm not worth saving…" He pushed away Nao's hand weakly and smiled up at him. "...I'm sorry Nao… I-I-" Makoto let out a pained cough and blood shot from his mouth. "I guess you win this bet… huh Nao..?" He chuckled before his hand relaxed in the dirt. Nao beat his fist on the dirt and glared over at Ryuu.
""Don't just sit there idiot! Help me save Makoto!" Nao's silver eyes stared around wildly, then refocused back onto Makoto. "Open your eyes!" He screamed while grabbing onto his shoulders. Tatsuo grabbed Nao around his waist and pulled him away from his deceased teammate. The dark haired boy flailed madly in his sensei's arms, kicking and screaming, and trying to get back to his friend.
"It's no use Nao; he's gone. There was nothing you could do." His sensei said as he set the boy down. Ryuu walked over and kneeled next to Makoto, his hands searching for a pulse. Nao ran back towards Makoto; he brought his fist out and threw it violently at Ryuu, hitting him square in the jaw.
"This is your fault Ryuu! It should have been you that died!" Nao Screamed as Ryuu placed his hand on his cheek to ebb away the pain. Nao kneeled over Makoto's body as sobs shook him.
"A final word of advice, don't die." The examiner warned before stepping away; Ryuu turned and walked off to grab three forms, then returned swiftly to his team.
"Here cute Aya, and here Nao." He held out the slip to him with a smile on his face, and Nao took the slip with a forced smile. They only took two minutes to fill out the form and turn them in; they stood in line for a scroll, and finally one of the ninja called them up. Nao was given the Heaven scroll, and he took it with a smirk on his face. "Let's go find a gate." Ryuu smiled when they left the booth; he reached out to grab Ayame's hand, then to grab Nao's.
"Don't touch me Ryuu." He took his hand back from the red haired Genin with a dark look on his face. The look that he gave Ryuu made Ayame shudder, he looked as if he would really kill his own teammate.
"Nao, don't be so short tempered." She placed a finger on his headband and smiled sweetly up at him. He stumbled backwards, shocked at her sudden gesture, and how similar it was to what Makoto would say and do when Nao got upset with Ryuu. Though, this was a girl that was two years younger than him.
"Yeah.." His cheeks flushed red while puffing his cheeks out at Ayame indignantly. "You're a real pain Ayame." He huffed and turned away from her. They had taken their place at the gate, and waited for the signal to start the second exam.
Well we learned a little more of Ryuu and Nao's backstory! I really like these two characters, for me they're really likeable, and pretty interesting. At first, I was just going to make them basic stand-ins, but I'm stuck on having Ayame leave Team Kakashi and join Team Tatsuo, or have her stay in Team Kakashi, but still keep Team Tatsuo around after the Chunin arc. But so far, I'm really liking this 'fic, and I'm trying hard not to procrastinate, or drop it all together. I've decided that this will go into Shippuden, and will also follow most of the original Naruto. I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing this! :)
~ParadiseSong