Chapter Thirteen
Genin Takedown! All Nine Rookies Face Off
In the hallowed halls of the pre-Genin Konohagakure ninja academy, outside room 301, the Genin of team seven—also called team Kakashi—stood with an array of expressions on their young faces. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, all ready for the Chunin exams, were beginning to have second thoughts.
Naruto's cerulean eyes were wide in anticipation and his mouth formed a small 'o' as he looked forwards. Sasuke was frowning, but other than that his expression was similar to Naruto. Sakura was just scowling, trying to ignore the sting of her cheek. In front of them, where they were all looking, stood their sensei, as casual as always.
"Glad you came in the end, Sakura, for your own sake and for the sake of your team. You were, after all, having the most doubts." Kakashi told them, sounding almost threatening.
"Huh?" Naruto muttered in a voice not even above that of a whisper as he looked to his scowling female team mate.
"Now you can all formally register for the Chunin exam." Kakashi informed them seriously.
"What are you talking about? Why would it matter if Sakura-chan came or not?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"You see, only groups of three are allowed to apply for and take the Chunin exams. That's the way it's always been." He said.
"But…why the hell did you say that the decision was up to the individual, then?" Sakura snarled, not in the best of moods.
"No cussing, Sakura, and calm down. What's gotten you so angry?" Her sensei chuckled, though not really joking. Sakura glared.
"Answer my fu…I mean; answer the question." Sakura grunted, coving up another swear word that was the product of her bad mood.
"I told you that because it's true." Kakashi stated. "Well, it's a half truth, at least." He looked out of the window to his side. "It is an individual decision, but one that would affect all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want the other guys pressuring you. at the same time, I didn't want you to feel obliged to participate for any feelings you have for Naruto…or Sasuke. I wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will." He added.
"F-Feelings? Ha! I-I think n-not." Sakura stuttered nervously. "They're just my fri—I…I mean, team mates!" She continued, clenching her fists tightly in nervousness. Sasuke smirked at her bumbling, but frowned when she reached up and rubbed her cheek. "W-Wait a minute. You mean that if Naruto and Sasuke had shown up but I didn't come with them-"
"Then it would have been the end of the line." Kakashi finished for her. "If you hadn't have come along, then I couldn't have let the others in."
"Why would you need a team, though?" Sakura asked herself in confusion.
"Hm, I guess they do the exams differently in Yukigakure, if you didn't know." Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, the team thing is different. You don't need your team to enter the exam since you can go in alone. Solo." She told him. "Ha, and I almost didn't show up today."
"But, it's a moot point. You're all here and for the right reasons." Kakashi continued. "Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke." He said, looking at them individually as he called their names. "I'm proud of you." He smiled. "I couldn't ask for a better team. Good luck." The man wished them, stepping aside for them to enter.
"We won't let you down, sensei, Dattebayo!" Naruto promised.
"We'll pass this thing." Sasuke stated confidently.
"And we'll do it team Kakashi style." Sakura smirked. She and Sasuke opened the doors together and the three Genin of team Kakashi walked through the doors into the lit room, ready to face their destiny. The doors shut as soon as they entered, leaving Kakashi alone in the hallway. He looked at the door in thought.
'You were doubtful, because you don't want to go through the Chunin exams with a different team, right, Sakura?' Kakashi asked himself, still looking at the door. 'Naruto and Sasuke may be close to you, but you still miss those other team mates of yours.'
[--
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura took a few steps from the door, looking around the room at the wide collection of strange looking Genin gathered in the large, four-walled place. Everyone spared them a glance, eyes narrowing at the thought of even more competition. It was intimidating, to say the least, as they looked to be some of the youngest Genin there.
"W-What's this?" Naruto stuttered, seeing all eyes going over him, Sasuke and Sakura in turn.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted, eyes narrowing at everyone who dared to stare at the Uchiha Sasuke.
"I guess that this'll be fun after all." Sakura smirked, her eyes also going over the people in the room. Her orbs landed on three particular people who had their heads covered with conical straw hat and their faces hidden in shadows. What really caught her attention was the fact that one was wearing a lot of red and white while the other two were mainly clothed in white and grey with little bits of yellow.
"Sasuke-kun! Where have you been?!" A female voice squealed over the quiet the rest of the people in the room had set. Sasuke stumbled forwards slightly when he felt a weight on his back and two cloth-covered arms wrap around his neck. Ino pressed her chin on his shoulder and held her face near his as he smiled and blushed. Sasuke just looked un-amused and slightly disturbed.
"Damn." He cursed, hoping to avoid fangirls if possible. Sakura's eyes flicked over to him and Ino and she rolled them before looking back to the red and yellow men. Her orbs narrowed and her mind was set in suspicion when she saw them gone.
"Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping that you'd show up here, Sasuke-kun." She giggled, not loosening her grip. "I've missed those brooding good looks of yours."
"Hey, Ino-pig. How are you?" Sakura asked somewhat politely, which shocked Ino into almost letting go of her 'precious Sasuke-kun. She did slip off of his back, but her arm was still around his shoulders.
"I'm, um, fine?" Ino replied. Sakura nodded. "And you?" She asked cautiously, remembering the kunai incident back in the academy.
"I'm…decent." Sakura offered, being very vague. She smirked. "At least I don't have to put up with having a mountain of puss and fat next to me, like Sasuke does." She continued. A vein popped in Ino's forehead.
"Grrrr! You're impossible!" She growled at the pinkette. Naruto snorted at Sakura's insult. "Well, at least I have a chance with Sasuke! All you get is Naruto, the blonde freak!" The girl yelled. Sakura glared at her when Naruto seemed to become suddenly sad.
"Listen here, porker. If you insult Naruto again, I will not hesitate to kill you. he, just like Hinata-chan, is my f…fri…friend." She struggled to say as Ino's eyes widened in shock.
"Friend?" She echoed. "But…that Hyuuga girl is your only friend. You said so yourself on many occasions."
"I changed my mind." She grit her teeth, but flinched and rubbed her cheek again when the bruise stung from the movement. Ino saw this and frowned.
"Oh, it's you guys." A lazy voice stated as Shikamaru and Choji stepped next to Ino and looked at the team seven Genin. "I knew this was gonna be troublesome, but I didn't know it was going to be this lame." He drawled as Choji continued to scoff his chips.
"So, all three stooges are here." Naruto teased, moving closer to Shikamaru and Choji.
"Hey!" Shikamaru called in his and Choji's defence. "You know what, pipsqueak?…Oh, forget it; you're a waste of my time." He sighed, frowning at the blonde instead.
'Nara Shikamaru. He's always complaining and never does a thing about it. He was the laziest kid ever to enter the academy, but I've got to admit that he is smart.' Naruto recognised immediately, turning to look at the second new comer who hadn't yet spoken.
Choji, for his part, did nothing but put chips in his mouth, then chew them and swallow them at an alarming rate. He looked up occasionally to see if Naruto was trying to come closer to steal his food, but mostly just didn't pay attention to the potential fight.
'Akimichi Choji. Aki-munchy is more like it. I think that he'd eat his won head if he could.' The blonde stated in all seriousness on his part.
"Sorry, but Sasuke-kun is all mine." Ino stated as she stuck out her tongue and used one of her manicured fingers to pull down her bottom eyelid at the fangirls who walked passed and tried to flirt with Sasuke.
'Yamanaka Ino. Now she's annoying, and not just because she's got the same stupid thing for Sasuke that almost every girl in the world has got, either.' Naruto nodded, frowning at Ino.
"Well, well, what do ya know?" Another guy's voice, this one sounding more amused than lazy, called as he and his team approached teams seven and ten. "It looks like the whole gang is back together again." He mused, his white dog—that was sitting on his head—barking in agreement.
"H-Hi, Sa-Sakura-ch-chan, Naruto-k-kun." Hinata greeted shyly as she stood behind Kiba, peeking out to see her best friends. She blushed when Sakura looked towards her and waved slightly, gesturing for the Hyuuga girl to walk over. She did so and Hinata and Sakura exchanged stories about new missions and spoke of their teams.
Naruto looked towards the boy with the dog on his head. The boy was grinning and blushing a deep red as he looked at Sakura, who just ignored him. When she did look at him, however, he gulped and waved to her shakily. Sakura then just turned back to Hinata, who had convinced Sakura to look at him in the first place, and she raised her brow and shook her head.
You want to know what they were saying? Well, it went something like this:
"Y-You know…K-Kiba l-likes you Sa-Sakura-ch-chan." Hinata stuttered to her first friend.
"Mutt-boy? His dog is cool, but he's really weird. Like I said before, all he does is blush and stutter." Sakura sighed.
"H-He o-only does that aro-around yo-you. He n-never blushes o-or st-stutters a-around m-me and Sh-Shino-k-kun." Hinata told her.
"What?" Sakura asked, unconvinced. "No way." Se shook her head.
"T-Take a l-look for y-yourself. H-He's st-staring at y-you r-right n-no-now." Hinata informed her. Sakura frowned and looked over to Kiba before looking back at Hinata.
"Does he always stare at me?" She asked with a risen brow. Hinata just nodded. "Huh. I must've missed it" The girl shrugged.
And that brings us back to this precise point in the story…la la la la la…well?! What do you want?! Go and read the rest of the story, for Kami-sama's sake! Geez…some people. They just don't know when to skip over a paragraph. Are you still here?! What do you want, an award? Wow, you've reached the end of the paragraph…whoop de do.
Anyway, as I was saying. Naruto looked towards the boy with the dog on his head. The boy was grinning and blushing a deep red as he looked at Sakura, who just ignored him. When she did look at him, however, he gulped and waved to her shakily. Sakura then just turned back to Hinata, who had convinced Sakura to look at him in the first place, and she raised her brow and shook her head.
'Inuzuka Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. Forget what I said about Ino, this guy's the most annoying of all. he thinks he's so cool, but he turns into a bumbling wreak every time Sakura-chan is around. I don't like him one bit and he BETTER STAY AWAY FROM MY SAKURA-CHAN TOO!' Naruto yelled in his own mind.
The blonde boy turned towards the third member of their team, who was by far the quietest boy he'd ever met. He was just standing, not looking at anyone or paying attention to anything around him. Aloof was one way to describe Shino, but even that was too loose a term for this shadow of a human.
'Aburame Shino. Well, he's just weird. Kind of a mystery, but that doesn't mean that he isn't annoying too. Well, at least he hasn't shown any interest in my Sakura-chan.' Naruto noted in relief. 'He and Sakura-chan have so much in common—meaning the whole mysterious thing—that it would be impossible for them not to get along.'
"You guys too, huh? Man, everyone is here for this stupid thing." The lazy genius on team ten muttered bitterly.
"Yep, here we all are. The nine rookies. Hahaha." Kiba laughed, trying to act 'cool' around the pinkette. "This is gonna be fun." He grinned. "At least, for those good enough to make the cut, right, Sasuke?" The dog-boy mocked.
"Kiba; careful that you don't get over-confident." Sasuke smirked as Ino put up her fists, ready to pummel the one who dared to insult Sasuke.
"Just wait. We're gonna blow you guys away." He taunted. "We've been training like crazy."
"Whadda ya think we've been doing?" Naruto asked. "Sitting around picking daises? You don't know what training means." He accused, pointing a finger at Kiba.
"U-Uh…d-don't mind K-Kiba, Naruto-kun. I-I'm sure th-that he didn't m-mean anything b-by it." Hinata stuttered from her place next to Sakura, who rolled her eyes.
"You're too nice, Hinata-chan. Kiba insults Naruto. It's just a fact of life, my friend." She shrugged. "Besides, their faces when one of them gets angry is priceless." The girl added with a smirk.
"Huh?" Kiba asked with a light—but steadily increasing—blush as he looked in Sakura's direction.
'Akamaru's looking plumper…juicier.' Choji thought greedily as he stepped towards Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba turned from Sakura and Hinata to the food-boy. Shino stepped in his way, obviously sensing the boy's intent against his team mate's ninken. "What'd you want?" He asked the bug-nin. Shino looked down. "What's wrong?"
Choji and Shino both looking on the floor, were a small black bug was scurrying passed. If Choji had carried on walking, he probably would have squashed it. Choji's eyes followed the squeaking bug as it carried on along its way.
"I thought that maybe you hadn't seen it." Shino stated in his deep voice that most males got over time.
"Huh?" Choji questioned, looking confused.
"Didn't want you stepping on it." Shino clarified, scaring the Akimichi clan boy slightly.
"Well, why? You saving it for lunch?" Choji asked him obliviously. Shino glared behind his glasses and Sakura frowned at Choji, but neither said a word.
"Hey, you guys." Yet another male called out. "You might wanna try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offence, but you're the eight rookies right? Fresh out of the academy?" He asked.
The nine of them looked at him and saw that he was probably only a few years older than them. He had silver hair, like Kakashi's, but it was tied in a spiky ponytail at the base of his neck. The clothing he wore was mainly purple. He wore a white, baggy t-shit with a baggy purple top over it, off-white cloth around his waist and purple ankle-length trousers. His hands were covered with the same type of gloves as Kakashi, except they went up to his elbows and he wore black ninja sandals, had a Konoha Hatei-ate around his forehead and glasses.
"There's nine of us, actually." Ino stated, having to be the 'smart one' and point out his mistake. The man looked at her and then looked over the rest of the rookie Genin, seeming to pause and smirk at Sakura.
"Yes, of course. Nine." He stated, sounding amused. "I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field-trip, ya know?" He shrugged.
"Well, who asked you? Who are you?" Enquired a very annoying Ino in her high-pitched voice that made everyone want to cringe.
"I'm Yakushi Kabuto." He stated, smirking. "But really, you should just take a look around you. you've made quite an impression." He continued to say, never dropping that smirk of his as seven of the nine Genin looked at the rest of the competition with wide eyes. Sakura, her eyes narrow, glared at Kabuto, as if trying to remember him, and Shino was just too stoic to join the others.
All of the other Genin in the place were looking at them with either murder or hatred in their eyes, causing most of the rookie nine to flinch at the hard looks. None of the opposing Genin looked friendly at all, other than a few of the younger girls smiling and batting their eyelashes at Sasuke. Three men, not from the village Konoha, were staring at them, but one seemed to be missing his pupils and his irises.
"See those guys?" Kabuto asked, gesturing towards the men. "They're from the Hidden Rain Village. Very touchy. They all are. This exam makes almost everyone tense. And you don't want to rub them the wrong way right now."
"Aa." A few of the nine said in recognition of the warning.
"You can't help it. I mean, how could you know how things work? You're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back." He told them, but Sakura sensed a mild untruth in his attitude.
"Kabuto…that's your name, right?" Sakura checked.
"Cleaver girl. And here I thought you planned to get through on your looks alone." Kabuto affirmed, smirking as her eye twitched at his obvious insult on how she looked dumb.
"So, this isn't the first time you've taken this exam?" She asked him, trying to ignore his insult as best she could.
"No." Kabuto said sheepishly. "It's…my seventh." He admitted. Shikamaru just stared at him in surprise. "Well, they're held twice a year, so this will be my fourth year."
"Seven times?" Sakura smirked. "Look at you…a veteran. A real expert on how to get through and fail the exams." She added, remembering how he mocked her earlier.
"Touché. I do consider myself as somewhat of an expert, as long as no one asks how to pass." He concluded, mentally applauding her come-back.
"Cool! Then you can give us all the inside tips!" Naruto realised.
"Yeah, some expert. As Sakura-san said, he's never passed." The lazy one, also known as Shikamaru, sighed as he looked over Kabuto for any signs of a lie, as all good ninja should.
"Well, seventh time's the charm. That's what they say, huh?" Kabuto chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Not really." Sakura muttered, causing Hinata to giggle lightly.
"So then, I guess all those rumours about the exams being tough are true. Aw man, I knew this was going to be a drag. So troublesome." He stated with a sigh.
"Hang on. Don't give up hope just yet. Maybe I can help you kids out a little." Kabuto offered, reaching into the pouch on his hip. He pulled out orange-backed cards. "With my ninja info cards."
"Okay, I'll bite. What'd they do?" Sakura asked, looking suspiciously at the small deck of cards he fanned out in his hand.
"It's hard to explain." Kabuto sighed. "But, these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past four years." He told her, settling himself on the ground on his knees and placing the deck in front of him. "I've got more than two hundred of them. So you see, I haven't been completely wasting my time."
"No, just mostly." Sakura added in, smirking when he smiled at her quick wit.
"I'll have to watch my pride and ego around you, wont I, Sakura-san?" He acknowledged. "Anyway, they may not look like very much to the naked eye. In fact, they appear blank." He stated, placing one of the cards face-up in the ground and, true to his word, it was blank. "I don't want just anyone to see this stuff." Kabuto put his index finger in the middle of the card and started to shift his shoulder so that the card spun.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow and rubbing her cheek again.
"I'm using my chakra, to reveal their secrets." Kabuto told her. "Nice bruise, by the way." He added as revenge for her comments. The other ninja in the rookie nine, other than her team and Ino, looked at her cheek, noticing the bruise for the first time.
"Shut up and get on with it." Sakura told him, moving her hand from her cheek and ignoring the worried look Hinata was sending her.
"You mean like this?" Kabuto asked as a small cloud of smoke covered the card and the blank side was replaced by a coloured map and 3D bars above each country, all of it fully labelled.
"Wow…it's…a map." Sakura looked at it, severely unimpressed.
"It's not just a map, Sakura-chan." He told her, smirking when she scowled at him for the '-chan' part. "It shows the geographical distributions of all the candidates who have come to take the Chunin exams this year. It shows what villages they come from and how many there are from each village." He explained.
"Yuki…gakure." Sakura whispered as she saw a small bar over her home village, representing about three people.
"Why do you guys think they all come here to take the exam together, at the same time?" He asked rhetorically. None of them made a noise, other than Choji's constant munching. "It's to foster a friendship between nations, of course. International brotherhood and all that. And it's true enough, as far as it goes."
"But there's another reason." Sasuke cut in before Sakura and Kabuto could exchange words/insults again. He, as well as Naruto, Kiba and some of the other boys, didn't like the attention she gave him or that he acknowledged her to casually.
"Yeah." Kabuto agreed. "You see, this way they can carefully regulate the total number of shinobi that can end up in each village, there by containing the balance of power."
"Oh, yeah. Balance of power." Naruto nodded unsurely.
"Balance of power. Big deal. It's all a drag." Shikamaru said quickly and lazily as usual. Kabuto moved his hand over the card and, in another puff of smoke, it was blank again.
"If the balance isn't maintained, one nation could end up with many more shinobi than it's neighbours, and it might be tempted to attack them, so they try to maintain the statues quo." Kabuto told the Nara. "It makes sense…I suppose."
"Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates?" Sasuke asked before Kabuto and Shikamaru could start to discuss the balance of power further. "Individually?"
"They might." Kabuto stated vaguely. "You have someone special in mind?"
"I might." Sasuke told him, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, I can't promise that my information is complete or perfect, but I've got something on just about everyone." Kabuto told him as he put the other card back and sorted his pile. "Including you guys, of course." He added with yet another smirk. "So, which one is it? tell me anything you know about them—a description, where they're from, whatever—anything at all." He stated, holding up another card.
"He's Sabaku no Gaara, and there's Rock Lee of the leaf village, while you're at it." Sasuke told him.
"Man, that's no fun. You even know their names. That makes it easy." The silverette complained as he placed the card back and moved his hand over his pile quickly. Choji burped and carried on munching, but everyone else was silent.
"Well?" Sasuke asked impatiently. Kabuto stopped his hand and was holding two cards.
"Here they are." He stated.
"I'm not interested. See ya later. I have things to do…people to search for." Sakura waved—muttering the last part—as she walked off, looking around and glaring at anyone who snorted at the colour of her hair as she passed them. Sasuke waited until she was out of hearing distance before turning to Kabuto.
"Can you also pull out one on Haruno Sakura?" He asked. Kabuto smirked, still holding the two cards.
"I had a feeling you were going to ask that. It's a bit sad, really, that she's your team mate and you still need me to tell you about her." The man mused as she repeated the process and was now holding out three cards.
"Show them to me." Sasuke ordered. Naruto looked from the card to Sasuke and nodded, crossing his arms.
'I haven't got a clue what's going on here, but I'll act like I do. Anyway, this could mean that Sasuke and me know more about Sakura-chan.' He realised, nodded and leaning in towards the cards.
[--
Sakura took steps through the crowds of Genin, causing many to look at the lonely pinkette. She was right to think that there would be a lot of competition, but this was just ridiculous. However, the girl had set herself her own mission, of sort. It was to find those men with the conical straw hats and see if they were who she thought they were.
She stopped and looked to her left, seeing Rock Lee and his team looking around them to see the competition. She nodded when the girl looked in her direction, getting a polite nod and a smile back, but they both looked away after that. Looking to her right, she found the Sand Genin, Kankuro, Temari and Gaara. This time, it was Kankuro to saw her, and he winked and grinned. Sakura just rolled her eyes and looked away.
'There.' She thought as she caught sighed of a blur of red and white out of the corner of her eye. She went in the direction it had gone and caught up with it, only to see nothing there. "Damn it! I was so close!" She cursed, punching the wall and storming away, only to walk in on Shikamaru asking about ehr. 'What are those bakas doing? Wait, are they…they're using the cards to find out about me!' She realised.
"Sakura-chan…she got prettier, if that's at all possible." One of the men stated as he jumped down from the ceiling and unmasked his chakra.
"Yeah." His look-alike agreed.
"That's my sister you're talking about, bakas…but you're right." The third nodded. "Let's go, Taiyoo, Tsuki."
"Right behind you, Juhi." The twins said as they saluted him mockingly.
[--
"Okay, first up is Rock Lee." Kabuto stated as he put one card on the ground and put his index finger in the middle of the card and started to shift his shoulder so that the card spun. There was another puff of smoke and all of Lee's details were on the card. He had a picture, which rotated to show his front, left, back and right, above the hips. Also, there were charts to show his skills, a list of team mates, how many missions he'd completed and more.
"Hm." Sasuke hummed, looking in further to see the cards.
"Looks like he's a year older than you guys." Kabuto observed. "Mission experience includes 11 C-ranks and 20 D-ranks. His squad leader is Maito Gai and over the last twelve months his taijutsu has radically improved, but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year he got a lot of attention as a Genin, but for some reason…he chose not to participate in the Chunin exams. This'll be his first time as a candidate, same as you guys. His team mates are Tenten and Hyuuga Neji."
Behind Shikamaru, only listening to what Kabuto was saying because she was polite and not bold enough to declare that she was leaving like her friend did, Hinata's eyes widened at the mention of Hyuuga Neji in the same was as the brunette's did when Sakura mentioned Hinata.
"Huh? Hyuuga?" Naruto asked, looking over at Hinata, who saw his look and shrugged. She then looked at the ground guiltily as soon as Naruto looked away from her.
"Okay, now for Sabaku no Gaara." Kabuto stated, putting the card on the ground and doing the same as he did to Lee's. "Mission experience includes eight C-ranks and, get this, one B-rank as a Genin. His D-rank missions are unknown, though. Hmm, there's no more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land originally, but there is this; he survived every mission without a scratch on him." Kabuto said as he pushed up his glasses.
"That dude's done a B-rank as a Genin and has never even been injured once?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.
"What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asked. Sasuke remained silent as Kabuto pulled another card from the deck, placed it on top of Gaara's and tapped it once. Another map appeared on the card.
"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound, Snow." Kabuto counted off as labels appeared on the card to show each. "From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptionally skilled candidates this time around. Of course, the Hidden Sound Village—Otogakure—is small. It sprang up recently and no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." He stated as he looked towards the ninja who were perched in the tree around the time team seven met Gaara.
"Huh." Shikamaru grunted, going back to his lazy-mode.
"Well, you guys get the point." Kabuto said, placing all of his cards back into the pile. "The competition's going to be intense this year."
"S-So it w-would s-seem." Hinata agreed. "I-It's almost e-enough to m-make you l-lose your c-confidence."
"It's a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino scolded. "But…do you really think it's going to be tougher this time?" She added shakily.
"Oh yeah." Kabuto confirmed. "In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with nearly as much potential as this bunch. Yep, we sure have our work cut out for us." He sighed.
"What about Sakura-san?" Shikamaru called, seeing him putting away hi cards. Kabuto sighed and pulled her card, putting his index finger in the middle of it and started to shift his shoulder so that the card spun again.
"Fine, here you go." Kabuto told them. "Haruno Sakura, age twelve. Her mission record includes one hundred and three D-rank, some in Konoha and some elsewhere, unknown C-rank, unknown B-rank, unknown A-rank and…no way! S-rank is listed! That can only mean that she's done at least one, but it's not got the number listed here either." He stated in amazement.
"But, S-rank are only given to ANBU or extremely talented Jounin at least!" Shikamaru stated in the same way as Kabuto.
"Apparently, she did the most of the missions above C-rank before she even came to Konoha in the first place." Kabuto told them.
"But, she came when she was ten!" Ino yelled in disbelief.
"Are you trying to say that Sakura was a fully fledged ninja of ANBU ability before her tenth birthday?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Either that or Yukigakure is slipping and giving even the easiest of missions a high rank. She used to be quite high up in the diplomatic structure of her old village, so they might have given her easy D-ranked missions and said they were S-ranked so that she didn't complain but was still safe." Kabuto shrugged.
"H-How high u-up?" Hinata asked shyly.
"Somewhere close to…I would say…princess." Kabuto said calmly.
"I knew it!" Naruto cheered. "She really is Sakura-hime!"
"Right." Kabuto drawled, shaking his head. "She was the second born child of the Haruno clan leader. That clan is the most powerful in Yukigakure and one of the top four in the world." He added.
"Four?" Shikamaru echoed.
"Uchiha, Hyuuga, Haruno and Hoshi, but not in that order." He told them with a shrug.
"What about her skills?" Ino asked.
"Hmm, not listed. All I can tell you is that she of unknown ability in genjutsu, ninjutsu and other fighting skills, but is only of an average level when it comes to taijutsu." Kabuto shrugged, looking at the many black question marks dotted over Sakura's information card.
"Anything else?" Choji asked, still munching.
"Yeah, because I do so love it when nosy people try to find out about my past without my permission." Sakura's voice growled darkly from behind them. They all turned, some in fear and others—aka Shino—turned to her stoically.
"Sakura-hime!" Naruto called. A vein popped in Sakura's forehead as she punched the blonde hard and sent him flying into, but not through, a wall.
"I may be repeating myself here but; I AM NOT A PRINCESS!" She screamed, stating the same thing from back when team seven first got the mission to protect Tazuna.
[--
Outside the door, still standing lost in his thoughts, Kakashi listened to the goings on inside the room. He remembered all of the harsh words when he and the other senseis put forwards all of their teams for the Chunin exams so easily after only a few month of training.
[--
"I can't go along with this!" Iruka yelled. "They may be under your care now, Kakashi, but I know these kids. They were my students and I trained them. I don't know what you're trying to prove-"
"You know, he may be right, Kakashi." Gai interrupted before Iruka could go off on a full rant. "You're putting a lot of pressure on them. Why so impatient? I held my team back for a year so they could hone their skills and mature. Let them enjoy their youth a little longer."
"Ahahaha. Your concern is touching. You sure it's not just because you're sure that your guys don't stand a chance against my guys?" Kakashi mocked as Gai froze, then growled.
"All right, all right, that's enough." The Hokage cut into their verbal fight before it could turn physical. "The matter of the rookie's participation is closed. Now, as for the other Genin, I'm ready to consider your recommendations."
"I know what I'm doing." Kakashi confirmed. "You'll see."
[--
'I wish I was as sure as I sounded.' Kakashi prayed as he broke from his memories. 'I wonder how they're doing. Even the cockiest of them must be a little scared.'
[--
Naruto was shaking, standing in front of Sakura. She herself was watching him with concern. They had already gotten over the 'princess' thing, with a lot of pain on Naruto's part, and he was contemplating the examinations more than anything now. Ino looked over to Naruto, seeing him and Sakura whisper things between each other as he continued to shake.
'Okay, so we're just rookies and most of these guys are older and more experienced than we are.' Ino counted in her head. 'No big deal. It's okay to be a little scared. I-I can handle it. but, it'd be a whole lot easier if I didn't have to watch Naruto falling apart. I mean, nothing usually gets to him.' She gulped.
"Naruto, what's up? You're making me dizzy with your constant shaking and all." Sakura told him. She saw that his fists were clenched and managed to move in just enough tome before he flung his fists in the air with a war cry. This caught the attention of everyone in the room.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna beat every one of you." He called out.
[--
"Dattebayo!" Kakashi heard as he leaned on the door. he began to chuckle at the brave declaration he just heard his more hyper student make.
[--
"Hey! What's that idiot trying to do, get up killed?!" Ino screeched in Sakura's ear. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big, fat mouth shut!" She cried at the pinkette.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Sakura yelled back. Whoa, déjà vu much?
"Oh, I forgot! You can't get one!" She screamed.
"What did you say?!" Sakura returned with just as much anger in her voice. They stared at each other, sending electric glares into the other's eyes.
"You heard me!" Ino growled.
"Well, at least I don't throw myself at emo guys!" Sakura mocked.
"Sasuke-kun is not emo!" Ino defended.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Boar!"
"Forehead!"
"Pig!"
"Billboard brow!"
"Baboon!"
"Freak!"
"You ugly blonde!"
"You freaky pink haired weirdo!"
"You're not even smart enough to think of a name, pig!"
"Shut up, Sasuke-hater!"
"You shut up, fangirl!"
"Make me, hag!"
"I will, Sasuke-stalker!"
"Grrrr." They growled in union, still glaring electricity.
Well, Sakura was still Sakura and, as previously stated in the third chapter of this tale, the pinkette, although cold and silent most of the time, loved to rile up the blonde. Hehe.
"Yeah! I feel a lot better now!" Naruto stated, placing his hands behind his head as Sasuke could only smirk at the blonde's outburst. Kabuto stared in amazement that one person could make such a big mistake, but his expression too became a smirk.
[--
"That's the same kid as before, isn't it?" Kankuro asked as he stood with Gaara and Temari in the crowd. His eyes remained on Sakura, but he knew Naruto's voice anywhere.
"He yips just like a little dog." Temari mused with a smirked to match the brunette's.
[--
"What a jerk." Tenten muttered, looking directly at Naruto.
"Well, he sure hasn't lost any of his spunk." Neji added.
"He has passion." Lee agreed. Neji turned to him.
"I guess you really didn't intimidate him as much as you thought, huh, Lee?" He mocked calmly.
"I suppose not." Lee admitted. Neji, Tenten and Lee all watched as Sakura turned from her verbal battle with a red-in-the-face Ino and looked over the crowd of Genin. Her eyes seemed to pause on a team from Sand—where one of the boys on the team winked at her—a team from Snow and them. Lee blushed again, but she looked away.
"She has keen eyes to be able to find us all the way back here." Tenten observed.
[--
"You heard what four-eyes said about Otogakure?" One of the male sound-nin asked his team, sounding insulted. "He called us little. A mystery." He mused.
"I heard." The man with most of his face covered stated.
"I say that we teach this guy some manners." The only girl told them.
"Yeah." The man agreed. "Time we cleared up some of the mystery for him. Update his information. Let him know that…if you insult the Sound shinobi, you better be ready for the consequences." He told them darkly.
[--
"I think we should reveal ourselves to Sakura-chan sometime either between the first and second tests or during the second, if possible. If we can't get to her then, we'll just have to wait for the opportunity to arise. I know that you two don't like waiting to talk to her." Juhi said to Taiyoo and Tsuki, who could only nod.
"Cool." Tsuki agreed.
"One shouldn't wait too long, for then the true chance could slip." Taiyoo riddled.
"Dude, speak normally for once." Tsuki said to his twin brother.
"To dumb it down for you; don't wait too long or we wont get a chance to tell her at all, baka!" Taiyoo yelled quietly as he could.
"Grrrrr." The twins growled at each other as Juhi could only roll his eyes and pull his hat down to further conceal his appearance.
[--
The rookie nine stood in an almost circle around Naruto, who was quite content after yelling about how he would kick everyone's ass. Kabuto stood up from where he was putting away his cards and Kiba, who was next to Choji, tried to cover his laugh with his hand.
"Uh, can you say that a little louder?" Kiba mocked. "I didn't quite catch it."
"You moron." Shikamaru sighed. "Are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts or what?"
"Hahahahahahaha!" Naruto laughed. Sakura came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. When Naruto turned around, she punched him right in the face and sent him back, almost to where the Genin mob started.
"BAKA! WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?! YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAT THEM ALL!" She roared.
"What's this? Are you two breaking up?" Ino mocked.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Sakura yelled at her.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
[--
"You ready?" One sound-nin asked.
"Let's do it." His male team mate nodded, looking directly at the now smirking Sakura. They moved quickly passed teams of Genin. Kabuto noticed them and Kankuro began to take the thing off of his back, but Gaara stopped him by holding out his arm. He looked at the redhead in question, but said nothing and simply replaced the thing on his back.
The sound-nin with the fur on his back pulled up one of his sleeves, revealing a large metal device that covered his entire forearm. Kabuto didn't stop looking for them as he felt their movements due to the shifts in the air. Sakura paused in her yelling at Naruto when something—meaning someone—sprang passed her and grabbed her butt. She glowed red and looked behind her, only to find an empty space.
Kabuto turned and saw the alleged 'butt-grabber', who was in the air holding two kunai in his hand. He pulled back his arm and threw them in Kabuto's direction, but they missed when Kabuto jumped back just before impact. Sakura turned to look at the one who threw them, scowling when he winked at her. However, the kunai turned out to be a distraction and the one with long sleeves appeared in front of Kabuto, aiming his arm to punch the spectacled man.
'They're from the village hidden in the sound.' Kabuto realised when the man's Hatei-ate glinted. The punch came in, but Kabuto moved out of the way with speed too good for a seven-time failure, a smirk plastered on his face.
'Man, he's fast!' Naruto realised.
'He's almost as quick as me.' Sasuke smirked, seeing another challenge in the exams worthy of 'Sasuke the great'.
'That guy grabbed my butt!' Sakura screeched.
'CHA! HE'S DEAD!' Inner agreed, flailing her fists in the air. Kabuto's smirk remained until his glasses shattered, the broken pieces of glass falling to the ground.
"Oh, I get it." Kabuto stated, not worried about his glasses. "So it was that kind of attack." He realised. The man removed his glasses as Sasuke marched forwards, his fists and teeth clenched.
"Hand on, I saw it all." He frowned.
"Didn't see Mr Hands, though, did you?" Sakura muttered, still slightly pink and glaring at the boy with spiked hair who grabbed her buttocks before he attacked.
"He dodged the attack. How did that happen?" Sasuke continued, not hearing Sakura.
"It must've come closer than it looked. Che, look at him, acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy." Shikamaru snorted as he snarled in Kabuto's direction. Kabuto looked up and gasped as a sharp pain filled his whole body. His vision blurred more than it should and he fell on his knees, sweating as he threw up.
"What? Did he just…?" Naruto asked, not really sure what to say.
"K-Kabuto-s-san…wh-what's wr-wrong?" Hinata asked him in her usual concern for everyone. Everyone in the room watched as Kabuto threw up from the supposedly non-contact attack. The three sound Genin smirked as they stood in front of him, but Naruto and Sakura ran to him and kneeled by his left and right respectively to make sure he was okay.
"Yo, Mr Pride-and-Ego…you alright?" Sakura asked, helping him up.
"Yeah…I'm fine." Kabuto muttered weakly.
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked to be certain.
"Not such a tough-guy after all, I guess." The one who hit him without hitting him mused sadistically. "Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try for the exams."
"Write this on your little card, punk; the Sound Genin will be Sound Chunin when this is over, guaranteed." The butt-grabber promised, smirking at Sakura when she glared at him. Kabuto, supported by Naruto and Sakura, looked up at them and wiped the remaining up-chuck from his mouth.
Naruto growled as he looked up at them, as if sizing them up and wondering his chances of survival. But, we all know that our little container is really thinking something along the lines of; these guys are dead! I can beat them! I'm gonna be Hokage some day! Dattebayo!
'I don't get it.' Sasuke admitted to himself. 'He saw their attack in time to evade it. What made him fall apart?'
"Hey, Lee. What was going on with that attack?" Neji asked his green-clad team mate. Lee frowned, thinking of a way to explain it.
"There was more to it than just speed." Lee recognised. "Some kind of trick." He noted.
A large cloud of smoke appeared in the front of the room—the rookie ninja and the fight being situated at the back—and a booming voice called out through the masses of white and grey. He—for it was either a man or a very manly woman—sounded controlling and threatening.
"All right, you baby-faced degenerates." The man yelled. "Sit down and listen up." His voice ordered, still hidden in the smoke.
The white and grey smoke effect cleared and it revealed a broad man wearing his Hatei-ate as a bandana with the metal on his forehead and around twenty other men and women in grey uniforms similar to the ones worn by the two men who posed as Genin. The man himself was clad fully in black, from his boots and trousers to his jumper and trench coat. His whole appearance just screamed leader, and the two scars on his face only seemed to make him scarier.
"Huh?" Most Genin whispered, but everyone remained silent for the most part.
"It's time to begin. I'm Morino Ibiki, your proctor…and, from this moment on…your worst enemy." The man threatened.
'Oh no, Morino Ibiki, I think that a certain butt-grabbing moron has a different enemy to worry about.' Sakura stated in her mind, glaring at the spiked head of her newest target. 'A very scary enemy, indeed.'