I'll try to reply to your reviews for the previous chapter today but seeing that I only have 10 minutes before leaving for work… it's a bit impossible so in case you haven't received any reply please wait until tomorrow.

And Koneko-chan, thanks for correcting me. I don't mind at all.

Chapter 62: Chakra wave

Naruto smiled at the figure standing patiently in front of his table. "Welcome back, Mirai," he greeted. "I hope you bring good news."

Chouji and Ino's only girl smiled back at him. With her nearing the age of twenty, she seemed to look more like her mother although she inherited Chouji's hair. That was the only thing the girl had inherited from him which Ino was thankful. Still believing that boys wants slim girl, she didn't want her girl to be as plump as her husband.

The carefree girl chuckled. "I always bring good news, un- I mean, hokage-sama."

"Your team is all right then?"

Something flickered in the jounin's eyes telling Naruto that not everything was fine and he knew what was wrong. Kisho. Or to be exact, the boy's skills.

"I see."

Mirai didn't say anything to contradict or admit what the hokage was thinking. So many times she wondered why Kisho wasn't paired with any of his three close friends and every time she did so, her voice of reason told her that it was for the boys' emotional growth. Those four had stuck together and the committee who was responsible for grouping the new genins believed that they needed to mingle with others thus each boy was assigned to different team. Knowing Kisho's frightening skills and potentials, two top genins from different sections were assigned to his team. The committee had believed that they were the only ones who had the capability to coming close of matching the boy because after all, those two – Miko and Shuichi had excelled inside and outside the classroom.

When team Eight was assigned to her, Mirai had hoped fervently that things would go well. It did but not to her expectations. They get along well enough and they worked with minimum supervision. The problem was they were holding each other down… preventing each other from realizing their potential. Sometimes, Kisho let his sensitive and humble trait get the better of him and he ended up slowing down for his teammates. But there were times when he showed his true skills that made the other two suffer inferiority complex and struggled to get their skills as close as the blonde. Miko and Shuichi trained a lot to the point of collapsing. Although their training and want to get stronger wasn't bad, the reason behind it was because they were putting themselves in danger.

"Kisho-kun completed the mission all by himself leaving his two teammates bitter," she said. "Hokage-sama, I know I said this for more than five times already but this grouping doesn't help them a bit."

Naruto massaged his temples. "Mirai, the committee said this is the only way. Those two were the only ones who could manage to keep up with Kisho."

"Well, they are wrong." Her voice a bit higher. "They understand the dynamics of teamwork yet there were only few instances that they act like a team."

"That's the purpose of grouping them into cells. You know that, Mirai." Naruto's voice sounded tired.

"They're putting themselves in danger! Why can't you understand that?"

"I do. I really do and that's why you're there. To prevent them from getting hurt. Or is the task too great for a jounin like you?"

Mirai knew why she had been chosen to be the team's instructor. Her performance as an instructor was excellent and incomparable. All genins under her tutelage had turned into outstanding chuunins and jounins.

"No," she said but her voice was now resigned. Her previous anger disappearing. "But I don't understand-"

"You do. You just refused to acknowledge it."

Instead of saying anything, Mirai bowed and left to stop Miko and Shuichi who she was certain was training themselves too much. She knew her team's case was hopeless and the only thing that could stop them from hurting themselves is when they are no longer a team.

-SasuNaru is love-

This was it. This was one of the highlights of the exam; the one people were looking forward to witness. The battle between two close friends. The fight between two dangerous boys- Kazushi and Shigure.

When their match began, everybody held their breath for few seconds expecting for an immediate winner but the two genins had other plans.

"It's not gonna work," Shigure warned his friend as he cut the chakra coming towards him. If there was some weakness Kazushi's technique had against the perfect assassin, it was that Shigure could feel the Ito chakra piercing his skin thus he could easily cut them.

And if there was one thing Shigure couldn't win against Kazushi, it was speed and flexibility. The doll-looking boy may have weaker offense compared to the other but his dodging skills were excellent. He could bend his body easily like no other. It was as if his bones were jelly or he had no bones at all.

In the end, the two were dancing around each other in a well-coordinated offense and defense.

"Got ya!" Shigure said as he found an opening and plunged his arm forward. A soft clang rang over the arena as Shigure's arm clashed around his other. His eyes widened in surprise and fell on Kazushi's sly smirk. The perfect assassin wondered when did his friend managed to coil his ito chakra into his arm without him noticing.

"It's a lighter and stronger version," Kazushi explained. "The amount of chakra wrapped around your arm isn't enough to destroy it."

I developed something for the exam, he remembered his friend saying that. "Is this the one you're talking about?"

The doll-looking boy tilted his head and teasingly he said, "Maybe…"

Shigure raised his left chakra-enclosed shoe but Kazushi immediately curved his body. With a growl, the former pulled his foot and this time it made contact. He watched as blood started trickling from the long cut he made at his opponent's shoulder. In an instant, Kazushi poofed and a carved figurine of an eagle replaced him.

Waves of anger came from Shigure as he realized that it was the figurine he had carved while waiting for his fight and now it had been damaged.

"Oops?" he heard Kazushi said with no guilt or whatsoever.

"You little thief!" he growled. "Look what you have done!"

The other boy shrugged, "You're the one who destroyed it."

Wordlessly, Shigure attacked and they were back to attacking and defending.

He's moving too fast, Shigure thought. Faster than his usual speed. I could barely…

"You're really lacking in stamina, Shigure," Kazushi said in patronizing manner but that cunning smirk was there. It took a minute or so for the assassin to learn that Kazushi's wasn't moving faster than usual. It was his reaction speed that was decreasing.

"You, what did you do?"

"I like your chakra," he said. Shigure looked at him in confusion. "It makes my technique stronger."

"You…"

He nodded. The chakra he had been using wasn't his but Shigure's. The moment he had managed to coil his ito chakra, he had started sucking Shigure's and replaced his with it. And those his opponent had cut earlier in the battle never disappeared. Some of those chakra thread fragments had settled on his skin and started sucking and dispersing the other's boy chakra in the air.

His friend's apologetic smile was the last thing Shigure saw before he collapsed. Kazushi took one step towards his unconscious friend before he too collapsed. The chakra absorption and dispersion technique had used a lot of chakra.

From the balcony above, Makoto sighed while Kisho shook his head.

"Well, it's my turn now," Makoto said.

Kisho waved his hand in dismissal, "Don't forget about our deal and don't let your guard down."

His friend smirked over his shoulder, "that should be my line, Kisho." And instead of taking the stairs, he jumped over the balcony with the grace he was known for.

The green-haired Kusagakure kunoichi looked at Makoto dauntingly but the latter just gave him his friendly smile.

"Let's do our best, ne?" he said as he extended his hand only to be slapped by his opponent.

"Let's get this over and done with."

"You're so cold," the Konoha shinobi muttered as he rubbed the part of his hand that sting. At the sound of the whistle from the referee, his eyes turned to a darker shade of purple while his opponent made one hand sign, just one simple hand sign.

The Kusagakure kunoichi smirked.

Makoto gasped as he felt pain exploding at his right side. His vision blurred for a second as he realized that the pain he had sent to his opponent rebounded on him.

"What's wrong now?" his opponent sneered. "You're not as cool as before."

Makoto fell to his knees. He had applied too much chakra that although he had immediately cut it, the pain was still there. He clutched his stomach as the pain intensified and he knew that this was not the effect of his technique.

"You!"

The girl arched a fine eyebrow in arrogance. "I knew a friend who's an onmyouji. One of his techniques gave me this idea. I especially created this for you, Makoto-kun." She had deliberately purred his name. "You should be grateful."

Makoto knew the technique she used was something that was called the mirror technique in onmyouodou. But she had improved it not only to return his attack but also to intensify the pain.

The kunoichi approached him, gloating at his helplessness and his pain-filled expression. She kicked his stomach.

"What a pitiful bug," she spat. She was about to say another insult when she felt his hands gripping her wrist.

"Indeed. What a pitiful bug," Makoto agreed. But the Makoto she was now seeing was different. Her world tilted as she fell on her back and her opponent was now looking at her with a wicked smile.

"You let your guard down," he said as she felt pain creeping on her. She watched, waiting for his face to be twisted in pain but it didn't.

"Wha-" she gasped, unable to continue as pain exploded in her lower abdomen. Tears blurred her vision.

"It was an act," he said. "Sure you surprised me but that was all. I feel pain alright but it's something we can endure." The curse wasn't created to hurt him or his mother, at least not directly. It was made to make them suffer by looking at their loved ones suffering and dying in front of them or by putting the necessary distance between them and their precious persons. "The only reason I have to get you near me is for me to touch you and for the pain to worsen." He was smiling at her wickedly. "It was nice making a fool out of you." He stared at the writhing girl, making sure to vividly remember how her face contorted in pain.

A second later, the girl collapsed. As if nothing happened, he then leapt back to the balcony to join his friends.

"1 minute and 17 seconds," Kisho said. "You could have cut the dramatics."

"I couldn't resist," he replied. "I have something to draw now. You guys would look at it, right?"

The three nodded. They never really like their friend's grotesque drawings as well as what he called 'The beauty of pain' paintings and yet they couldn't decline nor couldn't pull their eyes away the instant they see the paintings which were done so vividly it was as if they were looking at the real one.

"Have fun," Shigure told Kisho as he took the stairs that would lead him to the arena.

Kisho had only smiled when his opponent smiled back at him.

"Ready?" the Mist shinobi asked him.

"I guess so," was the boy's reply that made the other laughed at his innocence.

The older shinobi leaned forward and moved while the blonde just closed his eyes and the next moment, dust rose in the air; the ground trembled; the walls around the arena cracked and the next thing everybody saw was the Mist Shinobi lying on the ground unconscious while Kisho never moved from where he was standing.

The din turned to silence even before it reached to crescendo as they regarded the scene, trying to understand how things happened.

Yuuzuki looked at Hisayuki who was still gaping.

"You saw something good?" he asked teasingly.

The Hyuuga heir closed his mouth and frowned at his friend. "That was so damned cool," he said. He had seen it- that wave of light blue chakra rising ominously behind Kisho like a humongous wave before crashing against the Mist shinobi, overloading his system. He had seen how the older shinobi struggled like a drowning man before he lost his consciousness. Poor guy.

"That's one of his basic techniques- chakra wave," Yuuzuki explained. He came up with that technique on his own after learning how to harness his chakra from Jiraiya. But the wave his brother used was just thirty-five percent. He knew because he had seen the appropriate damages at various degrees the technique could inflict.

"Akemi had left a long-lasting impression with his jounin exam battle while Kisho made a record of the shortest fight. Twelve seconds. Damn," Hisayuki said and shook his head in disbelief and amusement. "Too bad Miki couldn't participate the exam. I wonder how she would perform."

During the last few years of Godaime's term, she had propose to have a different exam for all genins who were serious in becoming medic-nins for the reason that the current chuunin exam didn't test the genins' medical skills. Ever since the foundation of Konoha, ninjas only took the proper medical training after passing the chuunin exam and then take practitioners licensure exam which determines their skill level. Tsunade wished to change this believing that the genins undergoing the medical training earlier would improve the whole unit. After a week-long debate with the council, the proposal was approved. It was called Chuunin exam medicnin version but it was more known as the exam from hell because of the mental stress it caused and of its difficulty that could even reduced the most prepared examinee to a mass of tears. And unlike the original chuunin exam, this was held behind closed doors with the audience composed of just the judges and committee members and the participants were just from Konoha. Of course, when the other Shinobi villages noticed the stark improvement of Konoha's medical battalion, they followed the village's footsteps.

"You must be jealous that your siblings are going to exceed your skills." Hisayuki teased.

At this Yuuzuki chuckled. "I'll do my best to be jealous then throw tantrum before sulking," he replied in a serious tone but his eyes twinkled in merriment. But really he couldn't bring himself to be jealous because he wasn't competing against his siblings but against himself. Sure, sibling rivalry was still present because that was natural but it wasn't enough to cause jealousy or long-lasting grudge. Like him, his siblings were more focused on getting as stronger as they could be.

"I hope he passes," he commented seriously. The fight had been so short that the judges hadn't enough time to even start accessing his capabilities.

His friend nodded in agreement.

-SasuNaru is love-

After the exam, the committee members gathered in a conference room to decide who qualified for chuunin. One by one, the judges scratch the names of examinees who failed after thorough discussion.

"Uchiha, Kisho," the chairperson mentioned.

Silence filled the room as the committee members couldn't give any feedback immediately.

"Well... ah..." came one member. "He fought for twelve seconds so he's good."

"I don't know about that. Technically, he showed no skills required for chuunins," another one pointed out.

"Is that because he fought for twelve seconds only?" she inquired. "If anything, it meant he's powerful."

"Power isn't everything for chuunin."

The chairperson tapped the table to get the members' attention.

"It would be unfair for Uchiha-kun to scratch him off from the list because of his fight duration. It is also unfair for others to just let him be chuunin," he started. "I am proposing for us to look at his file and mission reports so we could assess his skills."

The rest nodded in agreement.

"I will ask the hokage for the files first thing in the morning. For the mean time let's get some rest. It's almost two in the morning. Thanks for your hard work."

"Thank you for your hard work," the rest replied before they started leaving the room.

-SasuNaru is love-

A very tired Naruto stealthily entered the master's bedroom so as not to wake his husband up. After the exam, he went straight to his office and had worked overtime to cope up with some of his paperwork. He didn't know it was almost three until he heard a dog howling. Hurriedly, he cleaned his desk and went home. He never knew he was exhausted until he saw their bed. For brief seconds, he was torn between taking a shower or going to bed before his mind made a decision for him. He stripped to his boxers and put on some shirt before he slipped under their blanket.

Seeking warmth, he spooned against Sasuke who stirred to consciousness.

"You're home," he muttered as he turned around to face his wife.

"Just arrived." Naruto pressed closer. "Is Kisho expecting to pass the exam?"

"He looks like he doesn't give a damn about it. Why?"

"All kages were informed that the results will be delayed."

Sasuke knew Naruto knew the reason but he didn't ask because he wasn't in the position to know.

"Sorry for waking you up."

"I couldn't sleep well without you here."

"I know. Me too. That's why I decided to come here instead of sleeping in the hokage sleeping quarters." The blonde smiled, "Good night, Sasuke."

"Hn."

-SasuNaru is love-

Two days later, the result was announced. Kazushi, Shigure, Makoto and Kisho qualified. But unlike his friends, Kisho was on a three-month probation. Whether he would remain as a chuunin or not depended on his performance during that period.

Despite the results, the boys continued spending their time at their own pace. To them chuunin was just a status and it would never measure their true potential and skills

TBC

This is a bit rushed. Sorry. Not much SasuNaru action but look forward to it.