Paper, Pencils, and Peanut-Butter Ice Cream
The next couple of days were uneventful, except for Ryu having the sneaking suspicion that Guy was testing her abilities during training. In fact, he seemed to be doing it to all of them as he kept pushing each of his students to their limit, except Lee who didn't seem to have one at the moment. Each day of training was longer and harder, and Ryu kept falling asleep during the end of training, resulting in a sharp reminder from Guy to her to stay awake. It was nearing four o' clock when she started to nod off again during a lesson when Guy noticed her eyelids were drooping along with her neck. TenTen saw the same look in her teacher's eye she had seen every time he gave her a quick tap, and she was about to nudge Ryu when he went for her.
"Ryu Akihara!" he shouted as he approached her. "Will you please stay awake?!"
He was going to hit her head when her hand shot up, and caught his wrist. The next thing happened so fast that the rest of the team, except for Nedgie, couldn't really tell what happened. Ryu used her wind to push Guy down and then launched herself in the air. The launch caused her teacher to be shot forward, and she landed on her feet. Guy scrambled to get back on his own, and turned on his student.
"Ryu! What kind of disrespect was that!!" he demanded. The girl didn't even flinch.
Lee thought something was different about her, and he got up in front of her. He waved a bandaged hand in front of her face then turned to his teacher.
"Guy-sensei, I think she's sleep-walking." he said. Guy came closer and looked her in the face.
"Oh." He shook the girl. "Hey! Ryu! Wake up!"
She suddenly gave a start and looked at her teacher with wide eyes.
"Did I fall asleep?" she asked. He nodded his head as TenTen spoke up.
"Yeah, and you hit Guy-sensei when he tried to wake you up." she said. Ryu looked at him, embarrassed.
"Sorry, Guy. I didn't even know I was asleep."
Guy sighed. "It's okay," he then turned to face his team. "Alright, now team. I have a very important announcement."
His students looked at him expectantly. Guy fought his temper while looking at Ryu. Why couldn't those ANBU Black Ops. learn their lessons the first time around?!
"Due to what happened a few months ago, the allied villages have decided to hold the chuunin exams again."
This brought looks from all of his students, except Ryu. She raised her hand.
"Yes, Ryu?"
"Um... What're the chuunin exams?" she asked.
"Oh! I can tell you!!" Lee said excitedly. "They're series of tests that you go through so you can get to the next level of shinobi from genin which is chuunin."
"You mean like final exams?"
"Yes,"
"You've taken them before?" she asked him.
"We all have," said TenTen. "But the final rounds were interrupted by the Sound invasion, and only one person was able to become a chuunin because of it."
"Yes, that's why the allied villages have agreed to host another exam." said Guy. "It starts the day after tomorrow, and I've decided to recommend all of you."
Ryu looked around at her teammates. All of them taking a test at once? And if it was an exam, what did they have to study? She was about to raise her hand again to ask that when Lee started to talk.
"Oh, so that's why you've been pushing us!" he said, happy at his epiphany. "I thought there might be a reason."
"How deductive of you," Nedgie mumbled. Lee, who had heard what he said, was about to turn on him when Guy interrupted.
"Okay, all the teams taking the exams will meet at the Academy like last time. And there isn't going to be any training tomorrow either so take advantage of it to get some rest." he said. He started to walk away. "Be there at seven!"
Ryu sat there, still wanting to ask her question. The others got up, and she followed suite. Lee seemed more fired up then usual.
"Woo-hoo!" he shouted as he danced in place. "I get to try and prove myself again!!"
TenTen smiled; that was one thing she was glad about when it came to this. Another round of chuunin exams meant Lee got another chance at gaining a level. This gave them all another chance to prove their worth. She thought back on all of their defeats. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ryu.
"Hey, TenTen," she said. "If these things are exams, what do we have to study?"
She looked at her, a little confused. "Study? What do you mean?"
"Well," she said, feeling silly. "Back at the university, exams were giant tests in a subject you studied."
TenTen then understood. "Oh! Yeah, well, the first exam is written, but you can't really study for it," she explained. "All the questions are from different areas of learning. The next ones aren't really exams, but more like survival tests."
Ryu looked at her, more questions bubbling in her head. "What kind of survival tests?"
"Well, you're given a scroll which is either an earth or a heaven scroll. The object is to get the other kind of scroll, depending on which one you have. You need both to get into the Temple in the center of the Forest of Death."
The girl couldn't help but smile at the title. "The Forest of Death?" she said. TenTen looked at her seriously as they walked.
"Trust me, that name fits it completely. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things you'll see in there, if you past the written exam. After the survival test, the final exam begins which is a tournament in which the shinobi who made it to the Temple fight each other until one wins."
"Define winning," Ryu asked, suddenly getting the feeling that winning had another meaning to it.
"Well..." TenTen thought about her answer. She didn't want to scare her out of taking the exams.
"Well, the proctor will explain it all if we get that far this time." she said. She then smiled. "But we were able to do it last time, so I'm sure we'll make it!"
Ryu smiled back. "Yup! I'll try to do my best!"
"Great!"
Both girls went their separate ways. Ryu walked down the street with her usual bounce, but... She felt nervous. It bit at the back of her mind, and played on her nerves. She thought back on exam time at the university.
The charged air, the sudden bursts of noise as students vented their frustration, the cramming at three a.m... An exam she couldn't study for loomed menacingly in front of her. She wished Inu was here to comfort her. He was always good at relieving stress. She sighed.
Well, if she was going to freak out about something she had no control over, she might as well do what she always did when she freaked out. She stopped at gift shop on her way home, and bought two things: an incense burner and three sticks of vanilla musk incense. When she got home, she quickly lit some of the incense and fell onto her bed. Al quickly jumped up with her and she buried her hands in his soft fur. The cat curled around her throat as she petted him.
She didn't know how, but being near him was comforting. Must be something about being warm and fuzzy, she thought. She turned over onto her back, Al following her onto her stomach. A knock at her door made her get up. She opened the door to find a messenger standing on her porch with a very big brown box in his hands.
"Package for Ryu Akihara," he grunted as he tried to shift the box's weight. Ryu quickly took the box to help him ease it onto the porch.
"Um... I'm Ryu Akihara," she said. The messenger held a scroll out to her and a pen.
"Sign here please,"
She signed her name, and the messenger nodded to her.
"Have a nice day!"
"You too! Thank you!"
Ryu kneeled down to see where the package was from, and was ecstatic to see it was from Dr. Masuda. She took out a shuriken blade, and cut the box open. She let out a joyful whoop as her eyes landed on the objects that were on top of all her things.
"My chakram!!" she shouted, jubilant. She held the gleaming, round blades up to the sun, the crooked Akihara grin present on her face. "My wonderful, beautiful, flying chakram!"
She smiled as she put them down. These would have to be her secret weapon during the exams. The touch of something furry brought her down from her violence-induced high. Al was looking over her knees, trying to see into the box. As it is with cats, he was curious to know what was in the box, and why it was more important then him.
She petted him; she would have to include her furry companion for this adventure. If Nedgie didn't have another cow when she brought him with her. What was with him and animals? The thought of animals then made her think of The Forest of Death, and then the written exam. She sighed.
What was she going to do? She was practically had OCD about an exam or any kind of test thanks to her schooling at the university where such things were cause to make you wish you had a really big, red panic button. Or at least a large padded room where you could scream your guts out in anxiety and frustration. She shook her head; she had to try and calm down. It wasn't even the night before, and she already wanted to start pulling her hair out.
She sighed as she got up with the box in her hands. She dropped the box on her bed and then put some food down on the floor for Al. The cat looked at her in question, and she kneeled down to pet him.
"I'm going out for a while," she told him as she did.
She then grabbed her messenger bag off of the table, and walked out the door. She locked the door behind her. She was going to the grocery store in search of something she coveted: peanut-butter ice cream. It was only thing she knew that would undeniably calm her down for sure. But where to find it?
To Ryu, peanut-butter ice cream didn't just have to say peanut-butter ice-cream on the label. The fine print had to say 'peanut-butter ice cream', and not 'light vanilla ice-cream with peanut-butter cup chunks' for it to qualify as peanut-butter ice cream. Finding ice-cream in general had been a challenge in the Sound village, but she hoped since the Leaf village was in a more temperate climate, it would be easier to find here. When she got to the grocery store, she was happy to find an entire section of ice cream. Now she could get down to business.
As she searched among the brands and flavors, she thought she felt a shift in the air in the store. She looked around, and saw someone she hadn't before. It was a boy around her age with black hair and thin, purple braids running through it. She saw he had a ninja headband on his arm, but the symbol wasn't for the Leaf village. From the look of it, it seemed he was from the Grass village.
Well, Guy did say the chuunin exams were for all of the allied villages, she thought. But this boy didn't look too friendly. He gave off a cold air, as if he really did belong in the frozen food section. He seemed to feel her eyes on him, and he turned to look at her. Ryu had to stop herself from jumping when she saw his mismatched eyes; one brilliant green, and the other a bright blue.
He regarded her emotionlessly, and then turned away. She went back to looking at the ice cream, and, to her amazement, found two different brands that made real peanut-butter ice cream. She picked up one container from each brand, and the walked to the check-out line. She had just gotten there, when a large man roughly pushed in front of her.
"Hey!" she said, instantly angry.
The man turned around, and was revealed to be a boy. A very big, tall, strong boy! she thought, almost immediately intimidated by his size. He seemed even bigger then Guy was. He looked down at her, condescending and offended at her objection.
"You say something?" he asked gruffly. Ryu meekly shook her head.
Usually she would stand up to someone like him; if they weren't almost as tall as three of her would be. She could see if she challenged him, he could easily break one of her arms. Her eyes then saw the Grass headband peeking out from under his spiky brown hair.
"Hey, Veraj!"
She turned to see another Grass ninja coming over to where she was. He had pure white hair cut short, except for two thick strands in front his ears which were held by round bands. When he reached the large ninja in front of her, he looked reproachfully at him.
"I saw what you did!" he said accusingly. "Cutting in front of a young lady. For shame!"
She saw the other Grass ninja, or Veraj as his name seemed to be, roll his eyes as the other one turned to her in an apologetic manner. His large, black eyes met hers.
"Forgive my friend here," he said. "He has no regard for the fairer sex. I, however, appreciate your lovely kind."
Ryu was fighting a mental battle not to blush as the boy came closer. She could completely tell this guy was hitting on her, and half of her wanted to start shouting at him while the other half wanted to giggle and blush like a normal girl. She then noticed his eyes weren't looking at her face anymore. Veraj snorted behind him, breaking the boy's eloquencey.
"C'mon Reks," he said. "Can't you find anything else to do around here besides picking up chicks?"
Reks whirled on him. "Do you have to do that?!" he asked, sounding upset. "Every time I find a cute one, you have to go and ruin it for me!"
He folded his arms while jutting his chin out stubbornly.
"I am a mere art aficionado. I judge the wonderful works of the female body, that is all."
"You're a freaking perv at thirteen, that's what you are."
Ryu couldn't help but get the feeling that this argument could get ugly at any moment. And now that she thought of it, Reks' (Was that his name?) eyes had decidedly roved her body a bit as he apologized for Veraj. This did make her angry, and this Reks person wasn't as big as Veraj, more like Nedgie's size. She was about to open her mouth and give him a piece of her mind when a cool, quiet voice broke in.
"What are you two doing?"
All three turned at the voice and Ryu saw the boy she saw in the frozen food section. He regarded them all with icy eyes. The other Grass ninjas' behavior visibly changed at his arrival, almost as if they had been caught breaking a rule by a parent.
"Nothing much," Reks answered.
The boy didn't look like he believed him as his eyes decidedly narrowed. He then looked at Ryu and came closer.
"We're guests in this village," he said, emphasizing the word guests. "Sensei would expect you to act as such."
He then looked at Ryu again. "I'm sorry if my teammates bothered you," he said a bit stiffly to her. He gave a small nod, and then walked off.
"Aki," Reks said. "Where're you goin'?"
"The other line. It's shorter."
The other two followed him, Reks spinning around to wink at her, and that was it. Except that Ryu found a hatred boiling for the two idiots, she didn't have an opinion on the Grass team. Although she wondered about the one called Aki. He was the smallest of the three, yet seemed to command the respect of the other two. He could also be the strangest to look at, although Reks of the white hair was something to look at.
She paid for her food, and then started home. As she walked, an idea came to her. If the Grass village is here, she thought. I wonder if the Mist village is too... She hoped that it was because if it was, it gave her a chance to see an old friend.
She was a house away from her home when she saw Kiba walking around, staring, confused, at a piece of paper in his hand. Akumaru was intently sniffing the ground as if he was looking for something.
"Kiba!" she called to him. He looked up.
Akumaru gave a sharp bark, and then ran to her. He quickly started to run circles around her, still barking. Kiba ran up to her.
"Hey," he said in greeting. "I was just looking for your house."
"You were?"
"Yeah, I got the address from Lee, but all I could find was a pharmacy." Ryu had to resist laughing.
"Follow me," she said as she walked past him.
The both of them did, and a look of understanding dawned on Kiba's face when she walked up the stairs. She pointed at the address number on her door. The boy felt very silly now as Akumaru snickered at his feet.
"That explains a lot," he said, trying to recover a small bit of his ego. Ryu giggled.
She opened the door, and the two followed her inside. Al jumped down in front of Kiba from the window-sill like he had with Gaara. Both stared at one another.
"You got a cat?" he asked, nervous now for both him and Akumaru.
"Uh-huh."
Akumaru approached the feline, boldly sniffing it. Kiba bit his lip, hoping for a non-violent reaction from both of the animals. But the cat merely sniffed back, and circled the puppy once before sitting in front of it. The puppy then did something that Kiba had never seen him do before, which was he lifted his paw and tapped Al on the top of the head. Akumaru then took off, running around the apartment with the cat right behind him. The cat swatted the puppy's leg, and then the chase began again the other way around. Both teens looked at one another, wondering what exactly was with their animals.
"Tag?" Kiba suggested, thinking of the games he and Akumaru played.
She nodded. "Sounds right to me," she said. She put her bags down on the table.
"So, what brings you around?" she asked as she put the ice cream away.
He shrugged. "I hadn't seen you in a while so I was wondering how you were." He looked around.
"Guy got you a nice place," he said. He looked at her. "It's just you and the cat?"
"Uh-huh," she said. She then paused in putting away her food to look at Kiba.
"Do you want some ice cream?" she asked.
"Sure."
Ryu gestured for him to sit down as she set one of the ice cream containers on the table. She stepped around the barreling animals, and got bowls and spoons. She set these things down and then started to scoop out portions for her and him. While she did this, Kiba couldn't help but notice the air around her. She seemed kind of jittery; on edge. He wondered why. He started into his ice cream, and then asked.
"Ryu, are you okay?" he asked. She looked up at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she answered, looking a bit puzzled as to why he was asking this.
Akumaru abruptly stopped running and barked at her.
"Akumaru!" Kiba said, disapproving at what the puppy had said to her.
"What? What'd he say?" Ryu asked. The boy folded his arms, frowning.
"Nothing important,"
He tried to ignore Ryu's questioning eyes then noticed the box on her bed. He jerked his head at it.
"What's that?"
"Oh!" She sounded happy now. "Dr. Masuda sent me my things from the university."
Her eyes brightened as she thought of showing him the chakram, but then stopped herself. She wondered if Kiba knew about the chuunin exams.
"Kiba," she said. "Are you in the chuunin exams?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah. Are you?"
"Uh-huh. Did you take them last time like TenTen, Nedgie and Lee?" she asked. When he nodded his head again, Ryu suddenly felt very inadequate.
Why hadn't she known about these things? Didn't Dr. Masuda think she was strong enough to go through something like this? Kiba cocked his head to one side, feeling the anxious energy around her again. He sighed.
"Alright, what's the problem?" he asked bluntly. She looked at him.
"Huh?"
"What do you mean 'Huh'? You're upset about something, aren't you?" he said shrewdly.
Ryu suddenly felt very embarrassed. She didn't really want to tell him she was so worried about the written part of the exam. What if he laughed at her? But Kiba's interrogative face told her that he was genuinely concerned about her. She sighed.
"I'm worried about the chuunin exams," she said, folding her arms. She held her forearms with her hands, and let the worry come out onto her face finally.
"Pfft, is that all?" he asked a bit sarcastically. "Ryu, every single genin in this city is worried about the chuunin exams! You'd have to be nuts not to worry about them! Well, unless you're either Shikamaru or Gaara, then you don't have to worry."
"Why don't they have to worry?" she asked him, curious.
"Because Shikamaru is already a chuunin and Gaara is practically the strongest genin around besides maybe Naruto." he said. He then smiled at her. "And me, of course."
Ryu laughed, but not at Kiba. His smile grew as he knew he had done what he wanted to which was make Ryu feel better about herself. Mission accomplished! he thought. She smiled at him.
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Yep!"
She gave him the large grin. "Thanks," she said. "So I'm not being silly about being worried about the written part of the exam?"
He shook his head. "Not at all."
He started to eat the ice cream again before it melted completely.
"The chuunin exams," he said after he swallowed. "May be dangerous, but they pay off in the end in experience. Each time you go through them, you figure out more ways to protect yourself and when you get the hang of it, or you if you get lucky enough, you make it to chuunin."
He looked at her levelly, smiling. "There really isn't anything to be afraid of." he said reassuringly. "After all, Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie will look out for you."
Ryu somehow doubted that Nedgie would be concerned about her, but she knew she could count on TenTen and Lee. She sighed.
"Alright, if you say so," she said. She smiled at him.
Akumaru suddenly stopped running, causing Al to crash into him from behind. He yipped, picked himself up, and then barked sharply at Kiba. The brunette looked at him.
"What?"
"Ruff arf arf!"
A light dawned in his eyes as he remembered the promise he made to Kurenai. He was supposed to be at the training sight!
"Oh, yeah!"
H got up, and looked at Ryu. "Sorry, Ryu, but I've got to go," he said. She stood along with him.
"Oh, alright," she said.
She got the feeling it had to do with training so she didn't ask. He walked over to the door and opened it to leave. Ryu then thought of something as he was losing it.
"Oh! Kiba!"
He poked his head back in, an expectant look on his face. She smiled at him.
"Good luck on your exams!" she said. He smiled back.
"You too!"
He then left, Akumaru tapping Al on the head once and then following him outside. Ryu closed the door after them. Al came up behind her and rubbed her legs. She smiled as she bent down to pet him.
"It's good to have friends, isn't it?" she asked him. He looked up at her, his eyes friendly.
She picked up the ice cream bowls and put them in the sink. Well, at least it had done the trick, along with Kiba. She was completely relaxed now. Now all I'll have to do is survive tomorrow, she thought. She hoped she'd be alright tomorrow. Maybe if she started freaking out again she could pop by Gaara's house.
If what Kiba had told her was true, he'd have no trouble calming her down with his confidence. That is, if he needed any. The couple of times she'd been with him, she noticed that Gaara carried himself in a way that made him seem untouchable by anyone, even his own family. She wondered about it. Was it his personality that made him like that, or was it his psychological balance with Shukaku?
Anyway, she needed to return those books she had borrowed from the library, and she remembered where he lived.
The next day dawned bright and hot. By nine 'o clock in the morning, the cicadas were already singing that it was eighty degrees and rising. Ryu had slept with the windows wide open and had constructed the portable fan that Dr. Masuda had sent her along with her things. She wondered how he knew she would need it. She slept late, or as late as the heat and her medication would let her.
Ryu took sleeping pills to regulate her drowsiness, and tendencies to not wake up. Now that she had her clothes back, she could dress any way she wanted. She found a dark blue tank top and a short, white skirt she could wear for a day like today. She had nothing to do, but try and stay relaxed and get those books back to the library. She found a small white choker among her jewelry, most of it being from her mother, and then decided to make a commitment to put everything in the box away when she got back.
She put on her sandals, put down three bowls of water with ice in them for Al, and then walked out the door. Ryu thought she might fall over when she got outside; it was really hot! She fanned herself with a hand as she walked down the street. As she walked, and tried to remember where exactly Gaara's apartment was, she started to notice the number of people out.
There really weren't many people in the streets as there usually was. It was kind of creepy. She found the shop where she had bought her gloves, and then looked for the porch that had had the smoke pouring out of it. She spotted Konkuro with his legs hanging over the railing. Was he wearing all black?! Ryu went inside the building, finding it pleasantly cool, and walked up to the third floor. She knocked on the door to find Temari answering it who was smartly dressed all in white. She looked surprised when she saw her standing there.
"Oh, hi Ryu," she said. "Come on in."
The older sister looked the younger girl over, wondering why exactly this girl had chosen to hang out with her brother. Then again, she was going to have to get used to this. Gaara having friends wasn't all that strange. Well, maybe it was a little strange considering his past. But it was a good thing that he was starting to make more contact with more people. Temari turned back inside and raised her voice an octet.
"Gaara! Ryu's here!"
Ryu looked around the small apartment, and then saw Gaara poke his head out of his door. He looked a little surprised to see her. When he stepped out, she saw he had traded his usual long sleeves for a sleeveless black top with the Suna symbol printed on it and some khaki shorts. His sandals were the same.
"Library?" he asked. Ryu smiled.
"Yup! How'd you know?" she said. He shrugged.
"Well, the books are due today." he said. He looked at his sister. "Do you want to come?"
She shook her. "Oh, no. I'm fine here." she said.
She almost felt like she was invading if she decided to come along with the two of them. Gaara walked over to the door, the books he had checked out in his hands. Ryu waved goodbye and then followed him out. Temari looked back at Konkuro.
"Well?" she said. "What do you think?"
Konkuro shifted to look at his sister. "I think Gaara's got a girlfriend,"
Temari rolled her eyes as she sat back on the sofa to read the magazine she had bought the other day. Why had she even bothered to ask. As the two teens reached outside, Ryu found herself suddenly dizzy. She paused in her walk and Gaara saw her sway. He put his hands up behind her to catch her just in case.
"Ryu? Are you alright?" he asked quickly.
"Yeah..." she said faintly as she gained her balance back. "Yeah, I'm alright. Whoo!"
She shook her head and then smiled at him. "Pretty hot, huh?"
Gaara gave her a small smile in return. "Yes, it is."
They started to walk to the library the both of them finding things to talk about. Ryu found out that Gaara was taking the chuunin exams along with his brother and sister. She asked a few questions out of pure curiosity about his sand technique. She then saw for the first time a hint of humor in Gaara.
"Ryu, you know I can't answer that," he had answered, trying to hide the smile that was peeking out at the corner of his lips.
Ryu's eyes went wide. "You're teasing me!" she exclaimed. The red-head continued to fight the smile.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are!"
"No!"
"Yes!!"
Gaara objected one more time, and the laughter Ryu had been trying to restrain bubbled out of her throat. She laughed loudly, the kind of laugh that comes from laughing at a funny joke. Suddenly, she thought she noticed some other noise coming from Gaara. Had he...laughed? She looked at him, and caught the fade of a genuine smile on his face and the smallest hint of laughter coming from his mouth.
He looked rather shocked though. He looked at her, wide-eyed.
"I..." was all he could say. Ryu smiled at him, the crooked grin that Kiba always saw appearing on her face.
"You laughed!" she said happily.
"I did," he said, sounding very surprised. "I laughed! I really did laugh!"
"Yay!" Ryu nearly shouted, her happiness for him spilling out of her.
Gaara then found himself being hugged. He stood there, frozen, enveloped in Ryu's ready love. It was strange... He felt...warm. She then released him, still smiling.
When he didn't return some form of expression, she became worried.
"Gaara?" she asked, unsure. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Huh?" He was still trying to puzzle out the feeling that had slowly spread inside of him. He then realized his actions had made Ryu doubt her action.
"Oh, no. Ryu, it's okay." he said, trying to quell her uneasiness.
"It is?" she asked. He nodded.
"It's just..."
He didn't really know how to say it without it coming out funny. Ryu still looked at him with those eyes of hers. Her eyes could say a thousand things without her moving her lips or changing her expression. He had learned this in the short time he had known her. She was both puzzled and concerned.
Gaara took a breath.
"It's just that I've never been hugged," he said quickly. The girl's eyes went wide.
"What?" She couldn't believe it. He had never been hugged?
"Never? Ever in your entire life?"
Gaara shook his head. "Ryu, people have been afraid to touch me all my life."
As soon as he said this, he found himself in her arms again, nearly being squeezed to death. He couldn't speak he was so shocked, but could think. Ryu... She then released him, smiling.
"That should make up for it all," she said. Gaara smiled his small smile at her in gratitude.
"Thank you, Ryu."
She smiled, and they continued to walk. Gaara found himself glad he had met her. Ryu was slowly bringing him back to being human, just like everyone else he knew was. He looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention, which he was pretty certain she wasn't at the moment. It was all so strange whenever he was around her.
They returned their books when they got to the library, and went to their respective topic areas. Gaara stuck around Ryu so he could reach books for her that she couldn't. He found it kind of funny at her insistence on reaching for things she couldn't possibly reach at her height. It was here that he realized how small she was compared to him and other people. Though he knew one person she was bigger then, if not by little.
They both gathered their books together, and he volunteered to see her home. After all, he was used to this kind of heat and she wasn't. Ryu still couldn't believe how hot it was.
"It never got this hot in Sound?" he asked. She shook her head.
"We have three seasons in Sound," she said as she held up two fingers. "Almost-fall, winter, and spring. That's it. The closest it gets to summer is sixty-nine degrees."
She looked at him. "What's Suna like?"
He looked up as he thought. "It's... kind of like this. Hot and dry, but never humid. And there's lots of wind at night."
"Hm..." Ryu thought a moment. "It sounds different from the Sound and Leaf village. I think I'd like to see it some day."
Gaara looked at her. "Really?"
She nodded. He smiled at her. "Well, if you ever do come, you better come and visit me first."
Ryu laughed. "Of course!" she said. "It wouldn't be a trip if I didn't come and visit you!"
The both of them talked about different things as Gaara walked her back to her house. He found himself enjoying his time spent with her. Ryu was a happy person, something he liked and found a small relief compared to his serious older sister and brother who were still adjusting to his new-found attitude. He didn't really blame them, after all they had lived with a nearly-possessed kid brother for most of their lives. He wondered if his new friendship with Ryu to them could mark some improvement.
When they made it to her porch, Al jumped up onto the sill to greet them. Ryu was relieved to see he wasn't dehydrated or as exceptionally hot as she felt herself being. After all, he had been born in the Leaf village unlike her.
"Hello, Al," Gaara said to the orange tabby.
The cat rubbed itself against the screen and the boy put his fingers to it to rub the fur that poked through the holes. Ryu giggled, and turned to him.
"Thanks for walking me back," she said, smiling. He smiled back at her.
"You're welcome, Ryu," he said.
He gave Al one final rub and then started to walk down the stairs. Ryu's keys jingled as she got them out of her pocket, and started to unlock her door. Gaara had already started to walk down the street when he thought of something. He turned around.
"Ryu!" he called to her. She turned. "Are you taking the chuunin exams?"
She nodded. "Yeah! Are you?"
"Yes!" He then thought a moment. "Are you nervous?" he asked her.
Ryu paused and then looked at the ground. She looked up.
"No, not anymore really," she said. She smiled. "You and Kiba helped with that!"
She thought she saw Gaara smile once again, and he waved goodbye to her. She smiled to herself and walked into her apartment. As the red-head walked down the street, he found himself keeping the smile he had given to Ryu a moment before. He really was glad he had met her. Now, if only he could figure out all the new emotions she was pulling out of him.
Ryu woke up the next morning to find it just as hot as it was yesterday. She hadn't woken in the greatest of moods either. She may not have been nervous, but her dreams had terrorized her with what could be on the written part of the exam. She had only gotten five hours of sleep, something she didn't really react well with. So the tired dark-blonde dragged herself out of bed, took a shower, dressed herself in her normal clothes and ate a some-what energizing breakfast.
Al seemed anxious along with her as he nervously followed her around the house. As she went about putting down food for him, she wondered if she could take him with her. After all, if Kiba could bring Akumaru with him just about everywhere why couldn't she do the same with Al? Except Kiba used Akumaru in his fighting since it was part of his family's style. Well, she knew how to do stuff with animals like Al.
Maybe she could pull it off with a little practice, not to mention two tons of luck. Before she walked out the door, she tied Al's ribbon around his neck, and then walked out the door with him and her messenger bag. She had packed the usual things (pencils, paper, research material), but had included one more thing: a c.d. player. It had come with her stuff along with her c.d.s, including Orange Range, Utada Hikaru, and Flow. She had put in the Flow c.d. that morning so she would have something to listen to before and after the exam.
She walked down her street and joined the morning crowd, and kept a look-out for any other ninja walking in the same direction she was. She didn't see any, or was that the point? She made it to the academy and saw her team waiting outside for her. TenTen, Lee, and Nedgie greeted her in their usual fashion.
"Ryu-kun!" Lee nearly shouted as he jumped around. "It's here! It's here! And we're ready! Woo-hoo!"
The other three could only watch as Lee bounced around in the courtyard. TenTen sighed good-naturedly.
"Come on, Lee," she said, turning inside. "We've got to get inside and meet up with the other Leaf teams."
"Right!"
The four of them went inside and Nedgie looked down to see Al padding his way next to Ryu. He gave the cat his usual cold stare and Al reflected it back at him. He looked at Ryu.
"Why did you bring him again?" he asked bluntly. She shrugged.
"Company," she answered. If it wasn't for his usual veil of emotionless ness, she could of sworn the boy had pouted at this reply.
She looked around at the school the little kids went to to become genin. It definitely looked like a school, almost like a miniature university except with only one building. She followed her team as they knew their way around their old school. TenTen started to walk beside her.
"So, you think you'll be okay?" she asked. Ryu looked at her.
"Yeah, I think so," she said, smiling lightly. TenTen smiled back.
"Good. We wouldn't you to freak out on us,"
"No," Ryu said. She then walked quietly on.
No, we wouldn't... she thought a bit apprehensively. She looked down to see her orange companion walking by her side. This was why she had brought him with her; to keep her calm and collected. They walked through some double doors and walked into what Ryu thought looked like a cafeteria. Except it was filled to the brim with genin.
There were so many; she could believe it! And from the look of it, they were all from different villages, or so their headbands claimed. Waterfall, Stone, Thunder, Sand, Sound, and every other village she knew existed were here. She looked around, and saw that a lot of the other genin were bigger then her. Well, no one ever said being 5'1 was easy, she thought. Al came closer to her, his fur rubbing against her left calf. Lee then suddenly smiled at someone she didn't see.
"Sakura!" he cried happily.
He jumped over to a pink haired girl, smiling from ear to ear. The pink haired girl was standing with a blonde boy wearing orange. Lee chatted with the both of them for a few moments and then dragged them over to meet Ryu.
"Ryu," he said to her. "This is Sakura and Naruto."
The pink haired girl smiled her. "Hi," she said, sounding friendly. "Nice to meet you."
Ryu smiled back. "You too."
Naruto looked her up and down. She tried not to fidget as it looked like he was sizing her up or something. Sakura noticed and glared daggers at him.
"Naruto, what are you doing?!" she nearly shouted at him. "You just met her and you're already looking at her like an enemy!"
"Well," he said. "She kind of is, if you think about it."
Ryu could only look confused as Sakura started to berate him for his rudeness.
"Man, Naruto, do you always have to create a scene?" a voice said behind her.
She turned to see a boy with spiky black hair tied at the top. He didn't look very happy to be here. A chubby boy with swirl marks on his cheeks was standing behind along with a blonde girl. The blonde girl waved to Sakura.
"Hey, Sakura," she said. "Y'know beating on your teammate isn't going to help much later."
"It's helping me now!" Sakura said as she bopped Naruto on the head. Naruto didn't seem too bothered by this as he looked at the boy with spiky hair.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't you already a chuunin?"
The boy called Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, I am, but you need a team of three to do the exam." he said. He sighed again. "This is such a drag."
"Oh, come on," the blonde girl said. "It might be fun."
"Was it fun last time?"
The chubby boy looked at Ryu. This was starting to grate on her nerves. Why was everyone looking at her?!
"Hey, Lee, who's the new teammate?" he asked. Ryu looked at him flatly.
"The new teammate can speak for herself, you know," she said, a little annoyed. Shikamaru looked at her.
"Okay then, who are you?"
"RYU!!!"
I know that voice!! she thought as she spun around. A girl with light grey eyes and long brown hair was running over to her, the Mist village headband tied around her neck bouncing as she ran. Ryu smiled as large as she could.
"Sara! Oh my gosh, Sara!!"
She ran over to her and the two hugged. Sara smiled at her.
"I never thought I'd see you here!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"I know, me too!" Ryu said, so excited she was bouncing. She then realized something and gasped.
"Oh. My. God. Sara!! You can see me?!"
Sara grinned again. "Uh-huh!"
Ryu squealed she was so happy. She gave her another hug.
"Oh, I'm so happy for you!! When did that happen?" she asked. Sara rubbed her neck.
"Oh, a while ago. The Sacred Turtle restored my sight a few months after you and Dr. Masuda left," she said. She looked at her Leaf headband. "You joined the Leaf village?"
"Yeah, I came here looking for my grandparents and decided to stay." she said. Sara looked behind her.
"Is that your team?" she asked. Ryu nodded.
"Uh-huh. Where's yours?"
"Oh... Uh..."
Sara turned around to look around. Ryu gestured to her teammates to come over and meet her old friend from the Mist village. This was the blind girl she and Dr. Masuda had found in the Mist village with the spirit of the Sacred Turtle inside of her. She and the doctor had properly sealed it inside of her as the turtle's power had been slowly killing Sara by filling her lungs with fluid. She was really happy to see that the sealed had worked and the Turtle's power had even been able to give Sara back her sight.
Both teams met and Ryu saw a tall, blonde boy with shoulder-length hair and a thin yet shapely girl with black hair past her fingers standing behind Sara. The blonde boy smiled at her.
"Hello," he said friendly-like. "Are you Ryu?"
She nodded, and the boy held out his hand to her.
"Sara's told us about you," he said. "My name's Gegai."
"And I'm Saphira," the black-haired girl said.
Ryu shook hands with both of them, and her other teammates stepped forward, curious. She looked back at them.
"Sara, this is Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie," she said, gesturing to each person as she said her name.
Both teams exchanged greetings, curious about one another in their own way. Ryu had seen the look passed between TenTen and Gegai. She smiled to herself, finding it cute that TenTen had found someone of interest. Ryu looked around, searching for Gaara and his siblings. A few seconds of searching turned them up along with a few glances of the Grass team she had met the other day. She tried to avoid eye contact with them as much as possible.
She had the feeling that that Veraj person still had it out for her, and so did that Reks guy, except for a whole different reason. She tried not to think why. That Aki creeped her out too. The room was a buzz with conversations and then she saw someone stand behind a podium. It was a young woman with blonde hair and brown eyes in heels. She wasn't old, but she wasn't young either. She cleared her throat, and a jonin stepped forward.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Quiet everyone! The hokage is speaking!"
The room fell silent and everyone looked to the woman. She looked serious.
"Welcome, everyone," she said. " to the chuunin exams. You are all from different villages, different countries, but you're all here for the same thing. To gain the next level. There are three parts to this exam, and you are all here for the first which is written. You will all be assigned to a classroom and then you will go there to take the exam."
She gestured to a young man standing next to her. "Musashi will be your proctor for this part of the exam and should be treated with respect."
The young man stepped forward. "Alright, listen up!" he said. "You will all be going to room 214, got it? Proceed to that room and await further instructions!"
The buzz of people talking started again as people started to move out of the cafeteria. The Leaf teams stuck together and Ryu met up with Kiba and his team. Shino and Hinata remembered her from the first time she was there. She tried to be friendly with the quiet Hinata after getting the impression that Shino didn't talk much either, but she wasn't cooperating. It seemed the presence of Naruto made her a bit flighty.
Ryu looked around at the teams and saw a bunch of love lines among the kids. What, did this village run on couples or something? From what she could tell, both Naruto and Lee liked Sakura, and Hinata liked Naruto. If you included the Mist team, TenTen had her eyes on Gegai and, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw it, had seen Nedgie take a closer look at Saphira when he thought no one was looking. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that kind of thing, Ryu thought.
She was too busy with training and research to think about some guy, and even then, she hadn't found anyone of interest in the Leaf village. She hadn't met anyone that interested her in that way in all the places she had been. She wondered about it sometimes why she didn't really find anyone attractive. Well, she could think about this later; she had an exam to take! When her group got to the room, she looked around at the remaining seats and saw a small empty area that seemed to be forming around Gaara.
The same thing seemed to be happening with his siblings and the Sound team. Wait, she thought. the Sound team is actually here? She looked again; yes, there was a Sound ninja in the room. But only one. It was a girl, distant and pale with shiny black hair and dark eyes who seemed completely withdrawn from the world around her.
Ryu wondered why she was even here, but then again, there was only one Sound ninja among many other ninja teams. She sighed and decided to sit near Gaara, she might as well keep him company if he was going to ostracized along with his siblings. She sat a seat away from him, and smiled at him. He smiled back, and leaned over to speak with her.
"I saw you with some of the Mist ninja," he said quietly. "Do you know any of them?"
She nodded. "Yup. I know Sara from the Sacred Turtle assignment. She's the medium for it, and I haven't seen her in a while." she said. She smiled. "I was so happy to see her! She's really cool; you have to meet her."
"I'll try," he said.
Musashi then walked into the room and the remaining genin scrambled into empty seats. Ten other jonin filed into the room behind him, and the young man looked serious.
"I'm going to explain exactly is going to be happening with this test," he said, authority in his voice even though he looked so young. "There are going to be ten questions on this exam. Nine of them will be on the exam handed out and I will give you the tenth at some point in the hour."
He then gestured to the other ten ninja sitting to the side of the room.
"These ten jonin are going to be watching every move you make. And if they catch you cheating three times, you're out of the exam, and so is your team."
Ryu thought this was kind of silly. Who would be stupid enough to try and cheat on something like this? You would also be taking your team down with you if you got caught enough. Musashi changed the way he was standing.
"Also, there's one more thing you need to know," he said. "Every person on your team has to pass or none of you passes."
Ryu blinked a few times after he said this. Everyone had to pass? She thought she was going to pass out; no, she was going to pass out. She couldn't take this kind of pressure! She felt light headed. Her feet and fingers started to tingle. Oh, the whole world seemed to start spinning.
Then the exam was put in front of her. She blinked once more to clear her head and rummaged inside her bag. She found a pencil, and felt her hand being rubbed against. She looked down to see Al looking up at her with an encouraging face. She gave him a grateful pat and went back to the test. She took a breath to settle her churning mind and looked up at Musashi.
"And...begin!"
There was a flurry of noise as papers were turned over and pencils hit the desk and then all was quiet. Ryu looked to the paper to se which questions she could do first. The first question was a pattern question concerning scrolls which she solved easily. She had always been good with reasoning. The next one concerned math along with reason which she solved after some thought and some trial-and-error calculations.
She looked at the third question finding that it had elements of the last two combined with chemistry. Wait a second, she thought. There's a pattern here! She looked at the next six questions and saw that she was right. All the questions were built on top of another so if you couldn't solve the last one, you couldn't solve the next. That's actually pretty clever, but it's bad news for the students, she thought.
The addition of chemistry in the next problem already spelled trouble for her. The element in the question after that she could solve but not without the chemistry from the problem she was on, she couldn't solve it. She was in trouble. She couldn't help but look around, this being what she did when she was taking a test when she was nervous. A glimmer in the air above her made her pause for a second.
She discreetly looked up and saw a mirror between the rafters. She kept her jaw from dropping open when she saw some wire that was attached to it lead to TenTen. She then saw Lee change his headband. She then noticed Akumaru sitting on top of Kiba's head, like he always was, but he was looking around the room. A quick look to the other side of the room, and she saw the Sound girl with her eyes closed but with her pencil moving.
What the hek was going on here?! She looked back at her paper so it wouldn't look like she was doing anything when she noticed sand gathering on her paper. The sand slowly formed words which turned into a shifting Do you need help? Ryu then understood. The point of this whole exam was to test their spying skills.
After all, that was part of the whole shinobi agenda. She sighed, something commonly done during tests. Gaara was patiently waiting for some kind of response from her, and felt a stirring near his ear. He thought he heard whispering and softly heard Ryu's voice say, "No,"
He nodded; at least he knew that she knew what this was all about. That being understood, Ryu now sat in her seat, trying to figure out a plan as she stared at her paper. She felt paws on her lap and looked down at Al. She petted him and then had an idea. But she would need to figure out who to cheat off first before she did anything.
It would need to be someone who either wouldn't notice, or wouldn't mind her cheating off of them. She thought of that boy, Shikamaru, but then tossed the idea away. She had the feeling that she shouldn't bother him so she started to think of other people. Temari perhaps? She had the advantage of being older and more experienced.
But would she mind? Ryu didn't think so; Temari knew who she was. She then decided to use the Sound girl after Temari. Her pencil hadn't stopped moving since the exam had started so she was a good bet. So, with plan in mind, she laid her head down and sighed, trailing her hand near Al.
She lazily petted his back and after a moment, stopped. Al then left her side as he made his way through the sea of feet underneath the desks. He walked over to wear Temari was sitting, writing busily as she knew how to solve most of the problems. She was on question six when she felt something furry brush against her leg. She resisted the urge to jump and looked down to see an orange tabby cat rubbing against her.
The cat wound it's way between her legs, purring the entire time, and then looked up at her. It had purple eyes. Temari thought this was strange; she had never heard of a cat with purple eyes. Then again, she was in the chuunin exams so she should be used to seeing strange things by now. That's when she realized that this cat might be an instrument to cheat off of her.
That was when she suddenly felt like she dropped something. Temari was about to shoo the cat away from her when it left of it's own accord. That had been strange. She scratched her head, shaking the feeling of losing something and continued with her exam. Al returned to the motionless Ryu and rubbed against her.
Her fingers twitched and she then lifted her head up off of the desk. She stretched and then picked her pencil up off of the desk and started to write. Well, that had been easy enough. She wrote down the answers that Temari already had written down and then yawned. This was tiring, even if she was just sitting here.
There was a lot of stress in the air as the hour was drawing to a close in about ten minutes. All she needed was the answers to the next three questions on the paper and then wait for the proctor to give the final question. She put her head back on the desk and the same thing that happened before happened again. Al wandered over to where the Sound girl sat, now holding her chin in her hands since she was done with her test and was patiently waiting for the tenth question. The girl nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt the cat rubbing against her.
She looked down at the friendly face and petted the cat with a gentle hand. That was funny... Why did she suddenly feel like she was being drained of something? She finished petting the orange cat and then let him leave. He went back over to Ryu, who straightened up and went back to writing. She was just finishing up the ninth question when Musashi cleared his throat.
"Alright, who's ready for the last question?"
Most of the groups' hands went up, and he nodded.
"Okay, the last question is simply this," he said. "Yes or no. That's it; just answer yes or no."
Ryu thought she might fall over. Yes or no? What kind of question was that? How in the world could you answer either yes or no if you didn't know what the question was? This was lunacy!!
She looked around at the shinobi, some of them looking as confused as she did. But some raised their hands and said yes or no. She noticed most of the Leaf teams were saying yes along with the Sand team. The Sound girl raised her hand after a moment of hesitation and said yes. A few other shinobi answered no.
Ryu felt very inadequate at this point. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just make up her mind? There were so many doubts in her mind as to what the question could be and what the meaning of her answer could be if she answered either yes or no. What if the question was something like, "Do you want to be a shinobi?" or "Are you sure you want to continue?"
She kept biting her lip and nervously looked around until she felt dizzy. She had to make up her mind before she ran out of time. Lee, TenTen, and Nedgie had already all said yes, and none of them had made any moves as to what this meant. She sighed and decided to take a leap of faith. She raised her hand, but before she could get a word out, Naruto jumped out of seat.
"YES!!"
This sudden burst of noise sent the room in a small uproar as a few other shinobi jumped and said yes. Others were so blown out of their orbit of thinking they shouted no. Ryu had been so surprised she hadn't said a word. Musashi sighed.
"Okay, which ones said no?"
The shinobi that had raised their hands and he made a few marks. He then asked the same thing of the shinobi who had said yes. Ryu then raised her hand again. He looked at her.
"Have you decided?" he asked. She slowly nodded her head. "What is it then?"
She bit her lip, and tried to keep her heart from exploding.
"Y-yes," she said quietly. He seemed to hear her and nodded his head.
The other shinobi in the room finally finished the test and gave their answers. Musashi then smiled at all of them.
"All of you are done, yes?" he asked. All of them nodded. "Great. Now, those who answered no to the tenth question, don't pass."
Bursts of sighs and groans were spread across the room. TenTen looked back at Ryu and smiled. Musashi cleared some papers off of his desk.
"Those who said yes go on to the next part of the exam," he said. He looked at the room. "Congratulations. The reason for the tenth question is simple: a shinobi must always be sure of himself. If he lets his doubts do the thinking for him, they will be the death of him sooner or later. Now..."
Musashi's small speech was interrupted by a crashing at one of the windows. Ryu jumped out of her seat, ready to run when she saw that the person who had come from through the window was a ninja. She sat back down as she let a breath out in relief. The woman ninja looked back at Musashi who sighed.
"Anko, it's the same thing with every exam. Do you have to do that?" he said, sounding a little annoyed, but more tired then irritated.
Anko shrugged. "I might as well give 'em a good scare," she said. She looked around the room imperiously. "So, how many are left?"
Musashi looked to his papers. "Forty-four out of one hundred and sixty-seven."
Anko looked at him. "That many, huh? Well, I guess you did a bit better then Ibiki did. Then again..."
She looked at Naruto. "I bet the orange blabber-mouth wasn't so loud this time."
"Hey! Who are you callin' a blabber-mouth?!"
Anko ignored this remark and looked around the room. Ryu wished she would stop looking at all of them like she was. She was scaring the crap out of her with just the way she held herself.
"Alright, you little maggots!" she said with authority in her voice. "Those of you who passed better be ready for tomorrow! Come to the northern gate of the Forest of Death and bring your gear tomorrow morning! Now, get out of here!!"
The shinobi dispersed through out the room, some complaining and some talking excitedly. Ryu looked at Gaara.
"So, do you feel better now?" he asked. Ryu looked at him incredulously.
"What kind of sick, twisted exam is this?!" she nearly cried. "I got all wired up for nothing!"
He shrugged. "That's what happens when you're a ninja," he said. "You run into sick, twisted things. You should know that with your past history."
Ryu's eyes went wide and Gaara noticed a complete change in her.
"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, sounding a bit alarmed. Gaara looked at her a bit shrewdly.
"With your spirit assignments." he said a bit slowly. "Right? I'm sure you ran into lots of spirits who had a sick sense of humor."
She blinked and then seemed to remember herself. "Oh, yeah," she said a bit distantly. She smiled at him.
"Sorry, for some reason I thought you were talking about something else," she said, sounding a bit confused. She shrugged. "It must of been my imagination."
She started to walk away and she was quickly pounced upon by her excited team.
"Ryu-kun!!" Lee nearly shouted. "You did it! You made it to the next part of the exam!!"
He nearly started to bounce off of the walls. "Woo-hoo! The power of youth has prevailed once again!"
TenTen laughed at his actions then looked at Ryu. "See, it wasn't that horrible, was it?" she said. She smiled at her.
"No, not really," she said. She then sighed. "But now we have the Forest of Death tomorrow morning. What am I gonna do now?"
"You mean what are we going to do?" TenTen corrected her. "The Forest of Death is a group survival test. If you stick with us, you'll be just fine."
They left the room talking, mostly the others informing Ryu of what she would have to bring along with her ninja gear. As she walked home, she watched as the other ninja teams dispersed, Sara leaving with a wave and a smile as her team went back to the hotel they were staying at.
"When the exams are over I'll visit you!!" she promised as her sensei dragged her away from her long-time friend.
Ryu had laughed and said yes. She looked around as she walked, seeing if there was a pet store around. She finally found one and went inside, telling Al to wait outside for her. She came back with a tin and opened it. She took out a fish treat for Al, who immediately started to paw her knees to get it. She knelt down and gave it to him.
"This is for helping me earlier," she said to him. "I hope you didn't mind."
Al did something between a purr and a meow so she guessed her didn't mind. When they got home, she collapsed onto her bed, exhausted after the day she had had. It had been years since she had used that jutsu, was it two maybe since the last time? She sighed as she petted Al.
As she learned about demons and their spirit kin, Ryu had learned how to deal with her human spirit. She learned how to break off tiny splinters of herself and put them into animals. This was a kind of technique used by demon hunters so they could send an animal in their stead to check out a piece of dangerous terrain or territory. But it was also useful as a spying tool. As she had inhabited Al, by getting in contact with the target she could grab hold off small pieces of their spirit as well.
It was mainly an information gathering technique, but it could be used as a deadly weapon. By breaking off enough of a person's spirit, you could either kill them or drive them mad. Ryu had learned early on what to do and what not to do when it came to spirits and their control. She was just glad that it hadn't backfired on her considering she hadn't used it in two years. The rest of the day went smoothly and normally, except with her getting ready for the next day's test.
TenTen had told her to pack enough food for three days and some medical equipment. As she went about putting stuff in her bag, she wondered about her chakram. Should she bring them? They could be an effective device against attacks. She decided she should and then packed the dangerous rings in with her stuff.
She sighed as she looked at the stuffed bag. This was going to be a long three days.