Run Away
By: Naruto's Mask
NM-chan: -huddled up in the Corner of Gloom™-
Bob: Er...for those of you wondering why she's depressed, let me explain. All right, this girl was happy and bouncy this morning that she FINALLY finished a chapter, goes on the computer and sees that she's got a few extra reviews from before, and, with a happy smile, decideds to check them.
What does she find? A review not only putting down her work, but also calling Kyo a 'Mark-Steve', which is basically a male form of a Mary-Sue, for those who can't tell. Now, she took pride and worked hard to try and make him seem completely original and make him seem like a Naruto character. With reviews telling her that they hate OCs in general, but love her OCs, she was pretty giddy. So, this review totally crumpled her confidence and she doesn't want to talk at the moment (even though, technically, she is talking to you, but don't point that out).
She loved Kyo and sees him as her best work, her baby (as creepy as that sounds). So, him being called a Mark-Steve is making her rethink everything she's ever written and is now going through ALL her OCs and trying to see if any of them fit the Mary-Sue/Mark-Steve description. Many have told her they don't, but she doesn't listen to anyone.
Anyways, if she doesn't update for a while, it's because she's still in the Corner of Gloom™
It was common for things to be relatively silent in the beginning of the Chunin Exams. After all, every team was your enemy in the first two parts of the exams, both of which were commonly pass-fail-as-a-team events. The third part was usually based on the individual, but they had a month before then to worry about that. Anyways, back on subject. With everyone being tense and anxious about the exams, there was usually no talking, no conflicts. It was just silence. Unbelievably tense silence. To many, the beginning of the exam was a test itself, to show who were weak-minded enough to fall under the pressure of the atmosphere.
This year's exam was pretty…interesting, per say. Not because the team taught by a 'demon' was participating, no. Everyone expected this team to be full of glowering, bloodthirsty, murderers. Why? Well, of course, because their sensei is a demon of course! However, this was not the case, as one, who confronted the team, figured out.
This was what was currently happening to a 'brave' shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Grass. He decided to confront the 'Demon Team' and tell them to take a hike before they call the exorcists on them. A rather weak threat, but it brought up a few snickers from the crowd. Things became tense again when the three from Yamigakure stood up from their seat, and everyone expected them to kill the Grass shinobi on the spot.
This didn't happen, however.
"Why…why is everybody calling us demons? We just got here yesterday, and everyone hates us already! Why…please tell me." The Grass boy took a step back as he looked into watery, blue eyes.
He jerked back in surprise as the red haired girl in front of him started giving him the 'kicked puppy' look, a look you wouldn't expect on a shinobi, and one that no one was expecting from this trio of 'monsters'.
"B-because you are! The lot of you! You're all bloodthirsty demons." He said, regaining his confidence, but he flinched back when the girl's lip quivered. Then, quite abruptly, she began to wail loudly.
"M-Maya, come on, don't cry!" Her green-haired teammate said, rushing to her, but then he tripped and fell on his face.
"Maya! Kisshu! Aw, man, the last thing we need is for you two to be hurt! We're going to fail, I know it!" The third cried, suddenly panicking. Everyone sweatdropped at the scene before them. One thought ran through their heads.
How the hell did these three become shinobi!?!
Ah, the beauty of amateurs, no? It seems that their 'human' senseis never taught them the art of deception. The more you know about your enemies, and the less they know about you, the better your mission will be. And that's what this exam was to this team, a mission, and one that they will do anything to complete. So what if they lost most of their dignity along the way? They can get it back later after they kick the crap out of everyone that called their sensei a demon.
They had thought this up the other day on their way back from training. As mad as they were getting at the people for glaring and whispering about their sensei (they could tell from the way they were looking at him), the three knew that the blond man would be upset with them should they do something violent. They decided they weren't going to do anything…yet…
Yuki was the one who first suggested they act differently than they usually do to lure their opponents in the wrong direction. They picked out a few of the worst quality a ninja could have and tried to pick one they could easily do. Kisshu picked clumsiness, because he could deal with falling on his face every ten steps. He pointed out that Maya could play the role of a sensitive little girl to perfection since she was good at using the puppy-dog eyes. She didn't like the idea of crying every time someone says something bad, but decided that it was either that, or overconfident jerk. She was confident, but the last thing she was going to do was act like she was some big-headed snob who doesn't care about anyone but themselves. Yuki originally though he would be good at playing the meek/weak one since he was already a bit shy to begin with and he wasn't that strong. That made Maya smack him across the head for calling himself weak and Kisshu picked out loud/panicky for him. Yuki knew this was going to haunt him for the rest of his life, but his teammates were terribly persuasive.
So there they were, Maya crying her eyes out, Kisshu rubbing his abused nose, and Yuki, himself, nearly tearing out his hair while yelling 'there is no way we're going to pass this test!!!' And the only thing everyone in the room could do was stare…
And stare…
And stare…
This was going to be one interesting exam.
"225, 226, 227, here we go! 228!" Sakura smiled in triumph as they finally got to the room. Sasuke was behind her, quiet as usual, but she wouldn't let his obviously sour attitude ruin hers.
It's awfully quiet. I hope he's in there. She thought before bringing her hand to knock on the door. At first…nothing, but after she knocked a second time, there was a rustling of sheets and she could hear footsteps coming to the door.
"Hey there Naru-" She stopped when she realized the male in front of her was not Naruto. In fact, she remembered him to be the man that not only stood against one of the villagers, but also kissed Naruto on the street. The very memory made her blush slightly.
"Good afternoon. You must be two of Naru-chan's friends, am I right?" He asked with a gentle smile. Sasuke felt a small spark of anger at the nickname, one that sounded toomuch like a pet name between lovers.
"Yes! I'm sorry, but did we get the wrong room?" Sakura asked, ignoring the irritated aura behind her. She vaguely recalled that it slipped both Ino's and her own mind about the kiss in front of the inn, thus, they failed to fill their friends in on that little detail.
"Oh, no, he's in here. Come on in, I need to wake him up." He said. The pair came in, obviously confused since Naruto had told them he was busy and would be working. They then came upon two desks, one with the drawers and one that was just a table. The table had two large stacks of paper, one smaller than the other. When Sakura looked at it, the smaller pile had writing on it while the larger one was paperwork that hadn't been written on.
Is this what Naruto's been doing? It doesn't look nearly as much as what Tsunade-sama does, but that still looks like a lot of work. She thought.
"Naruto, wakey, wakey. Time to get up." The redhead that she knew as Kyo said in a sing-song voice.
"Nnn, you're starting to sound like a girl, Kyo." Was the reply coming from a lump on the bed. "What time is it?"
"1:05." Suddenly, the lump shot up and the blond was out of bed instantly.
"They're going to be here any minute! Kyo, why didn't you wake me up?" The last part was said in a whine, causing the redhead to grin.
"You were just so cute sleeping, I couldn't wake you."
"What, were you watching me sleep the entire time?"
"Not the entire time." That sentence obviously stated he did watch Naruto sleeping, just not the whole two hours.
"Hey there, Naruto!" Sakura said a bit louder than usual. She giggled at the shocked expression on his face. He was probably too busy panicking to notice the two extra chakra signatures in the room.
"Sakura! Sasuke! I didn't notice you there!" He said rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous grin at being caught off guard.
"Don't tell me you're still a dobe after three years." Sasuke muttered, feeling this was a good time to finally say something. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but the sentence just slipped off his tongue. He could see the blond bristle in anger, but it was followed by a smirk.
"Jeeze, after all this time, that the first thing you say to me?" He asked. The Uchiha paused, sensing a small hint of hurt in that sentence. Sakura had also heard it, which was why she sent him a disapproving look. That made Sasuke wonder just how the name really affected his old teammate.
"Sorry." He muttered. It was quiet. It was out of character. But he had said it. The Uchiha Sasuke apologized. At first, Naruto blinked in surprise, but he recovered quickly and grinned.
"Don't worry about it, teme." He shot back with a familiar title of his own, but they could tell there was no longer a bite behind the word. "Do you two mind waiting for a few minutes. Since somebody made me go to sleep and didn't wake me up. Not that I'm pointing fingers." He said casually crossing his arms, a finger pointing to the man still on the bed.
"I said this before and I'll say this again, you've been working yourself to the bone. And I'm not the only one who's noticed. Tatsuya-sama is becoming hesitant to give you any more paperwork, even if it means keeping the paperwork you're the only one qualified to take." He informed the blond who sighed in resignation. Between Kyo and Tatsuya, there was no way he was going to win this one.
"Okay, fine. I'll try and cut down a little on the work. Now, I'll be out in a second." He said and went into the bathroom, leaving two tense Konoha nins in a very uncomfortable atmosphere. It wasn't that they didn't trust the man they were left with, it was just awkward. They didn't really know this man, so they had no idea what to say.
"So, would you like something to drink?" Kyo offered, breaking the silence.
"That would be nice, thank you." Sakura said politely. He nodded and got up, taking some juice (lack of ideas on NM's part) and pouring it into two cups. Sakura accepted the one he handed to her, but Sasuke still seemed irritated, so he didn't really notice when one was offered to him. Hell, he didn't even notice Kyo asked them if they wanted drinks period.
Sakura flinched, just feeling the atmosphere become tenser with the Uchiha's attitude. "Atsusa-san, could I ask you something?" she said, hoping to break the silence and find out a bit about her old friend as well.
"Of course." She smiled and thought a bit before wording her question.
"How…how is he? Naruto, I mean. He's a part of your village, correct? Is he happy there?" she asked. Sasuke became interested in the conversation, and he willed himself to calm as he listened to the answer. He saw a gentle smile spread across the red-haired male's face, as if he was recalling a cheerful memory.
"I would assume so, he does seem so happy. Well, even from the beginning, he was smiling, but, at first, the smiles seemed fake. It was understandable that he would be uncomfortable when he first joined the village, but, when I compare the smiles of his first days there, to the smiles I see now, he does seem so happy." His smile widened and held back a laugh. "Some call him an angel, it's because of him that we're becoming stronger. He's worked so hard, for the peace of mind for everyone. Yami is the sanctuary for many who were forced to leave their village for one reason or another. Even so, it was difficult for us to just get on our feet. He gave a lot of advise to Tatsuya-sama, and every single one of them helped us up."
He seemed to be talking to himself more now than to the two in the room. His eyes had a far off look in them and he has a peaceful smile on his face. Sakura wanted to ask, she wanted to ask him to elaborate more, but the bathroom door opening interrupted them.
"All right, I'm done. Sorry for making you wait." Naruto said closing the door. Kyo snapped out of his daze and got up, taking the dirty cups with him.
"Atsusa-san? Would you like to join us?" Sakura asked.
"No thank you, I still have a bit of things to do before the third part of the chunin exams. But, Naru-chan, you need to be careful, okay?" It didn't take a genius to know that Kyo was talking about the village and Naruto nodded.
"Of course. I'll see you tonight, okay?" There was a nod and Naruto left with his two ex-teammates. "So, shall we?" He teased. Sakura giggled and Sasuke snorted as they left down the hall.
Bob: Bob is still here, and I am currently trying (keyword: trying) to get her out of the Corner of Gloom™ with a crowbar. Not exactly working out too well. Oh well, see you next time, if she ever updates.