Chapter 26

"We should be on the lookout" spoke the gruff guard, Yukari turning to face him. He was a bit taller then her, with a deep tan, save for a thick scar that had always been a pink colour. Yukari tried to stop herself looking at it.

"Huh? Why?" she asked. What was this guy talking about?

"We've been informed that a spy for a possible enemy could have infiltrated the exam. We've yet to find anyone, but a badly injured ninja was found- he informed us of this before he died. The higher ups have told us to be on the lookout."

"I see. Well I have seen the applications for this year's exam. There's four teams from this village, seven other teams, and then that other team that speak to no one, have their faces covered in masks, speak in whispers and come from a land we all thought had been destroyed years ago, and have tampered ID. Also one of them kicked a puppy on their way in here."

"I know- I don't know where to even start looking either" replied the man.

"Well, let's just stay on our guard." Yukari muttered something. She wasn't concerned about the threat…she was just annoyed that she had been called in on a free week to cover for an ill instructor.

--

Tomo pulled open the doors to the reception hall, holding it open for Sakaki and Osaka who thanked her. She let go of the door and it slammed shut, leading to silence falling across the hall. Sakaki shifted uneasily as about ten pairs of eyes turned to focus on them. More then one person had a look of annoyance.

"Hi there!" said Tomo sticking up a hand and waving. Slowly some of the people turned away. One person waved back before his team members looked up at him angrily.

"Miss Sakaki! Miss Sakaki!" said Kaorin, running across to the tall girl. She restrained herself from shouting, as she didn't want to draw the stares that had just occurred. She knew Sakaki and she would just find it uncomfortable. And Kaorin was certain it was going to be an awkward meeting anyway. They always seemed to be.

"Oh…hi Kaorin" said Sakaki, Kaorin blushing slightly. She hadn't properly seen Sakaki in a long time. The tall girl had gone off on a mission for a long time, and had been away training recently.

"Hi…you can call me Kaori if you want to." Please call me Kaori.

Tomo decided to leave Sakaki to talk with Kaorin, give them some privacy. She also wanted to see who else had turned up, so she casually walked through the hall, practically staring at some of the people she hadn't seen before. She just about saw Yomi before the girl vanished into another room within the building. As she sped up to try and catch her, a boy of her age appeared by her side. He wore glasses that covered bright yellow eyes. His teeth were sharp, and he had a small sewn badge on his shirt which read "spy".

"Say" he hissed to Tomo, "Do you wish for some help? I have data which will help you learn all the details about the various competitors. I will gladly offer my servi-"

"No thanks" said Tomo, "I have someone to talk to." The boy swore under his breath as she walked away, and he took his glasses off, rubbing them with a cloth. Now what should he do?

"Did you set about our deviant plot?" asked one of his fellow ninja, not important enough to have his own name.

"Not yet, not yet" he replied, "But very soon we will. And then this village will tremble in fear at the power of the destroyed village trio."

"We didn't actually come from that old village, it's just a disguise" said anonymous. "We actually came from…I say isn't the weather great today" he started as Yukari walked behind him. Yukari didn't pay much attention to them, and instead continued walking, passing by Chihiro and Ohyama. The bespectacled boy was sitting on the floor, Chihiro standing and glancing around at the other people.

"So when is this exam going to start?" he asked, Chihiro glancing down at him. "It's getting a bit boring just sitting around here like this. Nobody has said anything yet about the start time."

"Maybe they're just giving us time to get to know the others?" suggested Chihiro. "Is that true Yukari-sensei?" she asked as the woman walked by.

"Yes…of course" said Yukari. She didn't want to admit to the truth- that they hadn't got enough copies of the exam, so they were producing more copies. She had been left to walk around with one other person to keep a look out for any cheating. Of course there were several rooms the student ninja could go to, so it was a nigh on impossible task. Luckily Yukari had decided to give up even before she had started. She'd managed to get through teaching training that way as well.

"Oh well. Hey Chihiro have you seen Goro anywhere?" asked Ohyma as Yukari walked away, the woman hoping to find liquor sometime today.

"Well…oh there he is" said Chihiro, as the muscular boy walked towards them

"Hi, just had to go out and get some fresh air" said Goro. "It was a bit stuffy in here."

"Still is" replied Ohyama flapping the neck of his shirt. "I hope the exam room has some windows."

"Perhaps coping with annoying- I mean adverse conditions will be part of the test" suggested Chihiro.

"I really hope not" replied Ohyama. "Oh and Goro, the last of the teams from our village turned up. Two of them are over there" he said, pointing.

Goro was suddenly much more alert, and he rose his head to look over. Could it be? Could she be here as well? He looked across- Kaorin was busy talking to Sakaki. Sakaki…tall, slender, good looking. Goro hoped she would find someone good one day. Slowly his gaze moved though…would she be there. He saw Osaka, standing quietly, gazing at Sakaki and Kaorin with a slightly glazed expression.

"Though it is strange…Osaka ending up with two hotties like Sakaki and Tomo, she seems a bit out of place" said Ohyama, who just about avoided a jab from Chihiro. In recent weeks he had been much more outgoing and prone to joking. "Isn't that right Goro? Goro?" he asked waving his hand in front of the boy.

Goro didn't notice, instead watching as Osaka's medium length hair fluttered slightly, catching the wind where the door behind her had been opened. As she turned to go and get a drink lady in red began to play in Goro's mind. Oh Osaka…

"Eh Goro? Earth to Goro?" said Ohyama. The boy looked up at Chihiro: "I think we've lost Goro to a far away place."

Chihiro didn't say a word, instead she followed Goro's gaze which seemed to be focused on…no way she couldn't believe it. She didn't say anything out loud, but she could see Goro was focusing completely on one of the girls from the Land of water who had arrived recently. She blushed slightly, knowing something she shouldn't. She failed to notice Osaka crouched behind the girl, picking up the cup of water she had dropped.

"Well this is taking its sweet time" grumbled Haru. "Been long enough for the idiot girl to spill something" he commented, watching as Osaka tried to soak up the water with her shirt. He was just complaining in general- to himself. Kaorin was busy talking to the quiet girl, and Tendo had seemingly vanished from sight. He had managed to get hold of one of the few chairs present, and was lazing back in it.

"So I guess I just wait here then" he said to himself. "What fun."

"What's fun?" asked Osaka, who had silently managed to get behind him, having walked away from the smeared puddle. Haru gave her a look of contempt.

"Sitting down. It's soooo fun" he said sarcastically. Osaka paused for a moment, looking down at the chair. Finally she smiled cheerfully.

"Yeah, sitting can be fun. I like it too. Everyone enjoys having a sit" she said, nodding in agreement with her words. "I wonder if there's a chair for me."

"Who knows? I only hope your dream can come true" muttered Haru as Osaka traipsed away from him.

She left him, walking through the large room as numerous conversations continued. As well as looking for a chair, she looked around for Tomo as well. She had only just noticed that her team member had gone missing. Of course in the time between Tomo vanishing and Osaka noticing, Tomo had had a lengthy conversation with Yomi, and received many punches to the arm.

A door creaked open and Tomo re-entered the room. Osaka stuck up a hand and waved in a disjointed manner. Tomo saw this and grinning, rushing over to Osaka. The energetic girl just about avoided running over a boy who'd been lying on the floor. Having been going so fast, she didn't even notice the near miss, and instead arrived at Osaka's side.

"Hi Osaka. Just seen Yomi and the others."

"Oh. Wow. Do they have a chair we could borrow?" asked Osaka.

"Huh? What Osaka?" asked Tomo.

"Never mind" said Osaka in a sad tone. She was about to speak again, when a different door suddenly opened. A very scarred man appeared as Yomi and her team entered the room. The group fell into silence, waiting for what he had to say.

"If any of you need to go to the toilet, go now as the exam will begin in ten minutes. Come through this door. No talking in the exam room."

Authors note:

Wow somehow I missed this with the last chapter, but this story has now been up for an entire year. And in fact this was my first azumanga daioh fanfiction. Luckily my emo "cancel the story" faze is over, and as I type this, I have just started chapter 38. Chapter 26 is one of the first chapters I started writing after my four month gap from fanfics. I'm moving away from Naruto, mainly focusing on the characters and my own storylines now. But hopefully you read this for the azumanga characters, just like I write it because I enjoy using the characters. Also the prospect of writing about ten "character vs character" chapters sounds about as much fun as the naruto dub.

R.O.TR