Saburo cracked his neck, sighing and stretching his arms out as they walked. It had been about a month since they'd come back from their mission to Nami no Kuni, and things had, for the most part, returned to normal. They were back to D-rank missions inside the village, pulling weeds, cleaning up litter, babysitting, and other basic chores for civilians. There were a few things that had changed though. He sometimes caught Sasuke staring intensely at Narumi, and every once in a while, that stare would morph into a frustrated scowl. This was especially common after missions, though he didn't seem to actually be angry with Narumi. Inevitably, the blonde would catch him staring at her, and glare back at him. Sasuke would instantly look away from her, and pretend the whole thing had never taken place. Saburo still wasn't sure what was up with that.
He himself had taken to calling their kunoichi teammate 'Narumi-chan'. To his own surprise, the first time he'd talked to Narumi after the battle on the bridge, the more affectionate and familiar term had slipped out without his thinking about it. Narumi had been even more startled than he was, blushing and instantly dodging away from him, muttering about helping Kakashi-sensei as she dashed off. It had felt odd at first to call Narumi of all people by the suffix, but he was slowly getting used to it. Narumi herself was bright and cheerful as ever. If anything she only seemed more determined of late.
The three of them had gotten better about working together as a team after their return to the village, and often finished their missions early in the day. As they had just done. After weeding a garden, cleaning a river and its banks of litter, and walking dogs for the civilians, they had found themselves finishing up their mission quota for the day just before noon. Saburo rolled his shoulders, allowing his muscles to relax. D-ranks might be tedious and boring as heck, but they were still manual labor, and he was sore quite often afterwards. Contentedly, the rosette basked in the warm sun and cool breeze, absently noting the call of a hawk ringing out above the village. Behind him, Kakashi stopped walking, his voice lazy and relaxed. "Well then. I'd better go submit the mission report to the Hokage. How about we call it quits for the day?" Saburo stopped walking at the same time as his teammates, glancing back at the jounin. "Sure, Sensei." Kakashi nodded once, and vanished with a puff of smoke and a quick discharge of chakra. Saburo looked back at the other two, but before he could speak, his stomach growled loudly. Narumi lit up, bouncing eagerly on her heels. "Ne, ne, how about we go get some ramen for lunch?"
Saburo rolled his eyes, and Sasuke looked away with a muttered "Dobe." Honestly, the girls ramen obsession knew no bounds. But before Saburo could answer, he was distracted by a box painted with cracks, with two eye holes poked in the front end shuffling noisily up behind Narumi. He stared at it. 'Is that supposed to be a rock?' The blonde heard the shuffling, and stopped, twisting around to peer at the thing with a long-suffering expression. There was a moments silence, then Narumi turned back towards Saburo and Sasuke, and walked a few paces towards them. As she did, the box shuffled forward after her. When she stopped, so did the box. Saburo watched, caught between amusement and confusion as the kunoichi ran back and forth down the street, followed at all times by the box, which seemed to have six small legs sprouting from underneath it. This continued for a few minutes, until Narumi suddenly whipped around, planted her feet, and set her hands on her hips, staring down at the box, which screeched to a halt in front of her almost comically. Narumi narrowed her eyes, and pointed at the thing accusingly. "Square rocks with eyes and legs don't exist!"
Saburo stared as the muffled voice of a small child came from the box. "Just what I'd expect from the woman I acknowledge as my greatest rival!" Saburo heard something sparking to life in the box, and his eyes widened. "What the-" The next thing he knew, there was a quick series of explosions, not loud enough to alarm anyone living in a shinobi village, and three clouds of smoke erupted into being in place of the box, one pink, one yellow, and one blue. Saburo stared as Narumi took a step or two backwards, making a face and waving one hand in front of her nose, as if she'd gotten a face full of a terrible odor. From within the smoke cloud, Saburo could here choking and coughing. Blinking, he exchanged a glance with Sasuke, who had raised his eyebrows in an expression of bemusement. As the smoke cloud cleared, three children came into view.
They were on their hands and knees, coughing and gasping for clean air, and looked like they were Academy children. There was one little girl with vivid orange hair, one boy with glasses, light brown hair, and heavily flushed cheeks, and one boy with spiky brown hair and a ridiculously long scarf. Each of them wore a pair of dark green goggles on their heads, and the spiky haired boy seemed to be the leader of the little group. Scowling and squinting his watering eyes against the last remnants of smoke, he chided the other boy indignantly. "Udon! You used too much gunpowder!" Narumi nodded emphatically. "Yeah, way too much." The three of them seemed to realize all at once that Narumi and her teammates were still standing over them with somewhat bemused expressions.
Leaping up and striking a group pose they grinned widely up at blonde kunoichi in front of them. "Yosh! The Konohamaru Corps has arrived!" Narumi laced her hands together at the base of her skull, apparently unsurprised by this turn of events. "I thought it was you guys under there." Then she shifted her weight as she looked down at them. "Hey, why are you all wearing goggles?" Their grins widened, and the spiky haired boy reached up to adjust his. "We copied the old you, Nee-chan! You used to wear goggles before you got your Hitae-ate, right?" Saburo blinked. Nee-chan? Narumi however, seemed to be used to the form of address.. "Aa, I see. So what did you want?" Suddenly the little group shifted, and the little girl stepped forward, her face uncertain. "Well, Leader, do you have time right now?" The spiky haired boy bounded forward to stand beside her, face bright. "Yeah, you said you'd play ninja with us!"
Sasuke snorted, and Saburo could tell he was amused at the scene in front of them. "What's the point of shinobi playing ninja?" Narumi looked back over her shoulder in surprise, the three children clutching at her capris and leaning around her legs to peer suspiciously at the two boys behind her. The spiky haired boy glared indignantly up at them, his eyes sliding back and forth between the two before settling on Sasuke. "Oi, what's your problem!" The little girl peered up at Narumi uncertainly. "Leader, who are these guys?" Narumi looked back down at her and grinned. "These are my teammates, Saburo Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha!" The spiky haired boy jumped out from behind Narumi, crossing his arms over his chest importantly. "Yosh! I'm Konohamaru, number one genius of Konoha, and these are my fellow corps members, Moegi, sexiest girl at the Academy, and Udon, smartest of all the Academy students." Saburo opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to respond. Moegi blushed, and looked up at the two of them hopefully. "Do you want to play ninja too?" Sasuke snorted and looked away, ignoring everyone. Saburo looked at the kids pleading faces, and Moegi's wide, glittering eyes. He sighed. "Sure, why not?"
Moegi cheered, and Konohamaru darted forward with a fiendish grin as he kicked Saburo's shin. Hard. "You're it, baka!" Saburo yelped in pain, hopping up and down on his unharmed leg as he tried to cradle the smarting limb to his chest. Squinting one eye closed, he glared down the street, trying to ignore Sasuke's amused huff of suppressed laughter. Konohamaru had taken off down the street, and was leading the other three. Udon was just ahead of the girls. Moegi had grabbed Narumi's hand, and dragged her off after her friends, and Narumi was obviously matching her pace to theirs. Saburo growled ominously, his vision zeroing in on the end of the blue scarf flapping in the breeze. Oh it was SO on!
Launching himself down the street, the rosette chased after the group, fully intending to catch the brat. He'd nearly caught up to them after a few blocks, and they'd only lasted that long because the kids knew the streets better than he did in this part of the village. Plus, as a point of pride, he refused to use any shinobi skills to catch an Academy brat. With a triumphant crow, he whipped around the last corner, and stopped dead. Konohamaru was on the ground in front of two strange shinobi. Both of them were boys, a year or two above Saburo's own age. One had dirty blonde hair of a much duller shade than Narumi's, standing out from his head in a fiercely untamable brush, a strong face, and slanted eyes that were a deep emerald green, richer in color than Saburo's own. He wore a violet-white wrapped tunic slightly open over a short sleeved mesh shirt, tied with a thin red sash looped twice around his waist, and long dark pants with ties snugly secured just below the knees. Thick cuffs of dark leather adorned his arms, the plate of a hitae-ate attached to the cuff on his right arm, and a katana hung across his back, it's hilt protruding over one shoulder. The other was wearing a full black body suit, complete with a headpiece that completely covered his hair, had some sort of odd ears on top, and hung in a thick curtain around the back and sides of his neck. There was a circle, half yellow and half purple emblazoned on his chest, and jagged purple markings like flashes of lightening slashed and flowed across his face. A large object that eerily resembled a body was wrapped tightly from tip to tip in bandages, and strapped to his back, a shock of hair flopping limply out of the top. His Hitae-ate was attached to his headpiece, and gleamed sharply above his black eyes.
Narumi stood just in front of the two boys, and behind Konohamaru, the other two kids hovering behind her uncertainly. Saburo narrowed his eyes. Those were NOT Konoha shinobi. He moved forward to flank the two children, watching the strange shinobi warily. Narumi tilted her head, staring at the strangers, bemused. The boy in black was staring cooly down at Konohamaru. "That hurt." Leaning down, the strange shinobi grabbed the front of the smaller boys shirt, lifting him off the ground, all the way up to his own eye-level, and letting him dangle there. Narumi cried out sharply, body tensing. "Konohamaru!" The boy kicked his legs and grabbed the wrist of the older boy with both hands. The boy beside him sighed, voice bored. "Stop it. I don't want to have to sit through another lecture because of you. Besides," Here his eyes slid to Narumi, and a smirk quirked the corners of his mouth as he looked her over appreciatively. "it's not good to tease pretty girls."
Saburo's brows snapped down, and he stepped to the front of the group, laying his hand protectively on his female teammates shoulder, his voice tight. "I'm sorry. The kids were just playing around. They didn't mean any harm." His eyes narrowed as both the other boys eyes went to him. 'Who are these guys, and how the hell did they get into the village?' Narumi glared at them, blue eyes snapping fire. "Oi! Put Konohamaru down!" A sly smile spread across the face of the boy in black. "But I want to play around before some noisy people come." Saburo glared at him. "Put the kid down. Now." The other shinobi's smile widened, and his fingers flicked in an odd movement. Saburo's feet suddenly yanked out from under him, and he had to release Narumi's shoulder as he crashed hard to the ground. Narumi yelped in surprise. "Saburo-kun!" The boy in black laughed. "Hey, Aniki. Konoha's genin are weak." As he spoke, he lifted the struggling Konohamaru a bit higher, causing his two little friends to call out in alarm, tears of fright forming in their eyes. Narumi growled, and bared her teeth. She shot forward with an angry cry. "Teme!" Saburo tried to surge to feet, still unable to properly control them. "Narumi-chan!"
The foreign shinobi clearly were not expecting the kunoichi to charge them, or engage them in close combat. Their eyes widened, and Narumi's target was unable to get his guard up in time. With a savage growl, she punched him, slamming her fist squarely into his solar plexus. With a twist of her body, she threw her whole weight into the punch as it landed, and causing the larger shinobi to double over, gasping for air as the breath was driven painfully from him. In his shock, he released Konohamaru, and Narumi jumped at the chance. She wrapped an arm around the childs middle, scooped him up, and dashed back to Saburo's side. Saburo lurched upright, suddenly in control of his own body again, and instantly took up a defensive stance at Narumi's side as she set Konohamaru on his feet, and shoved the boy behind her. The blonde stranger laughed out loud, eyes flashing appreciatively. "Weak are they, Kankuro? What're you then?" The boy in black, Kankuro, growled, eyes narrowing as he took a threatening step towards them. "Why you-!" His older brother casually thumped the other boys shoulder with the back of his hand, letting it rest there and halting his movement. "Hey, hey. Cool your head a bit." Kankuro growled, and shrugged his older brothers hand away. "I'll crush the damn brats!" He took a lunging step forward, stretching out his hand as if to attack. He suddenly grunted, and stopped, snatching his outstretched hand back to cradle it against his chest.
A pebble bounced to the ground. Saburo blinked as the strange shinobi looked down at the rock, and then up into a tree on the side of the road. He followed their gaze, and sighed in relief when he saw Sasuke. The Uchiha was sitting on the branch of a tree, leaning against the trunk in a pose of utter relaxation. He bounced another pebble lightly in his hand, and his eyes were hard as he stared down at the two strangers menacing his teammates. "What do you think you're doing in another's village?" His voice was cool, and demanding. Kankuro glared up at him, a promise of danger in his dark eyes. The other strange shinobi looked up at him blankly, eyes evaluating, and he frowned slightly, though his body remained relaxed. Kankuro scoffed, voice radiating anger. "Another brat to piss me off..." Sasuke's brows lowered further yet, though his voice remained cool and even. Catching the pebble in his hand, he clenched his fist tightly around it, crushing it to powder, and opened his hand to let the dust trail away in the slight breeze. "Get lost."
Saburo grinned admiringly up at his teammate. Just like Sasuke. He glanced down in surprise as he felt small hands grip his pants tightly. Moegi was clinging tightly to his leg, her large eyes fixed unwaveringly on Sasuke with a look of starry-eyed admiration, and a faint blush was spreading across her cheeks. "So cool!" She squeaked. Saburo blinked down at her, and rested a hand reassuringly on her head. When she looked up at him, he grinned. "Don't worry, Moegi-chan. Sasuke can handle these guys." Then turned back to the scene in front of him. Sasuke always did have his fan club. Kankuro was apparently less impressed. "Oi. Come down here, brat. I hate kids like you who think they're so clever." Reaching up, he grabbed the bandage wrap that strapped his mummy-like baggage to his back, and yanked. As the bandages began to unravel from his shoulders, his elder brother started, eyebrows rising slightly. Uncrossing his arms, he stepped to his younger brothers side, eyes sharp. "Baka! You're going to use Karasu now?" Kankuro ignored him, swinging the object around in front of him, and bracing one hand on top of the mop of hair as he glared up at Sasuke. Suddenly a new voice, soft and flat came drifting down from the tree.
"Kankuro. Stop. You should listen to Teruyoshi." Saburo started, and his eyes jumped to the source of the voice. There was another foreign shinobi standing there, upside down on a branch on the opposite side of the trunk from Sasuke. He had short red hair, pale blue eyes lined in black, the kanji for love painted on his temple above one eye, and a large gourd strapped to his back. Saburo stared at him wide eyed. When had he gotten there? Beside him, Narumi shifted, and he could have sworn he heard her sniffing at the air. The new boy ignored them, addressing Kankuro. "You're a disgrace to the village." Saburo stiffened, as did the other three genin on the ground. But despite the enormity of the rebuke, Kankuro did not get angry or snap back at the younger boy. Instead, a nervous smile spread across his face. "Ga-Gaara." The red headed boy ignored him, and his pale eyes rolled slowly towards Sasuke, who was eyeing him cautiously from the other side of the trunk. Then he rolled his eyes back to Kankuro.
"Why do you think we came all the way to Konoha?" Kankuro held out his hands placatingly, looking frightened. "Listen Gaara, these guys started it..." The red head never changed his expression, and his voice remained flat. "Shut up." Kankuro started, and swallowed hard. The pale eyes narrowed, and his voice hardened somewhat. "I'll kill you." Kankuro nodded once, securing the object back onto his back. "I get it Gaara, I was at fault. I'm sorry, really I am." Teruyoshi narrowed his eyes slightly, and stepped a bit forward, tilting his head up to look at Gaara, and crossing his arms casually over his chest. "Let him off this time Gaara, okay? He won't do it again." The red head stared blankly at the blonde for a long minute, then nodded once, and turned his head to the little group on the ground. "Excuse them, you guys." Saburo watched him with wide eyes, tensing as the other shinobi turned his attention to them, and shifting closer to Narumi. 'Who the hell is this guy, that his own teammates are afraid of him?'
The red head rested his gaze on Narumi for a moment or two, and then turned his eyes to Sasuke. The Uchiha stared back warily, and Saburo felt the tension in the air begin to increase again as black eyes locked with washed out blue. Then Gaara dissolved into ribbons of sand that cascaded down to the ground, twirling around each other gracefully as they went. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stood, and Saburo locked his eyes on the sinuous mass of sand as it descended to ground level. It reformed on the ground to reveal the crouched figure of the red headed shinobi. He straightened from his crouch and turned to Teruyoshi and Kankuro. "Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around." Teruyoshi shrugged his shoulders once, his eyes sliding closed. "Heh. Sure thing little brother." As they started to turn away, Saburo sucked in a breath, taking a couple of steps forward, and calling out to them. He was grateful that his voice remained steady. "Wait just a minute."
They stopped moving, and all three of them looked back at the rosette. Saburo straightened his spine and eyed the trio distrustfully. "Judging from your Hitae-ate, you're shinobi of Sunagakure. Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni have an alliance, but a treaty prevents shinobi from entering each other's countries without permission. State your purpose." It was Teruyoshi who answered him, one brow raising in a skeptical expression. "You don't know?" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a card and held it up. "This is a traffic pass. You guessed correctly, we're genin of Sunagakure. We're here to take the Chuunin exams." Saburo's eyes widened. So that was it. Sasuke suddenly dropped down next to him, eyes focused on Gaara's back. "Hey, you there. What's your full name?" The red head looked back towards him. "Sabaku no Gaara. And you?" Sasuke's mouth quirked up into a tight smirk. "Sasuke Uchiha." There was a moment of silence, and then Gaara turned away. Kankuro followed suit, and Teruyoshi looked back at Narumi, and winked. "See ya 'round, beautiful." With that, the three of them sprang away over the rooves.
Sasuke's smirk had soured, and Saburo gritted his teeth. He did not like that blond genin from Sunagakure. Both of them glanced back at Narumi, who was red as a beet, and glaring after the three Suna shinobi in a flustered manner. Konohamaru and the other two children were still huddled behind her legs, but Konohamaru was also glaring fervently after the three outsiders. "Hey, Narumi! Are the kids alright?" Narumi blinked, and looked back at Saburo, her blush fading. "Yeah, they're okay." Saburo and Sasuke exchanged a glance. "Sasuke, you think we should report this to Sensei?" The Uchiha grunted and looked at his feet, eyes sparking with interest. There was long silence, and then Narumi's stomach growled. With a smile, she grabbed Konohamaru and Moegi's hands. "Ne, ne, I'm starving! Let's go have some lunch!" Starting forward, she moved past the two boys, and then glanced over her shoulder at them, Udon trailing in her wake. "Well? Are you coming or not?" Saburo opened his mouth, closed it, and then shrugged and followed her. Sasuke rolled his eyes at them, snorted, and walked slowly after Saburo as they headed towards Ichiraku's.
The next morning, the three of them waited on the bridge as usual. Sasuke leaned against the railing casually, Narumi perched on it beside him, swinging her legs, and Saburo stood on her other side. Saburo was still somewhat wary of the foreign shinobi present in the village for the chuunin exams, and repeatedly scanned their surroundings, determined not to be caught off his guard. When Kakashi-sensei appeared crouched on the tori at the south end of the bridge, Saburo and Narumi both whipped their heads around to glare up at him indignantly. Kakashi lifted one hand casually in greeting. "Yo. Sorry I'm late. See, on the way here I got lost on the path of life and..." Saburo and Narumi shouted in unison. "It's a lie!" Un-phased, Kakashi leapt down to the bridge, and fixed the three of them with an even stare. "Well, I'll get to the point then." Sasuke moved forward from the railing, and Narumi hopped down from her perch to face her Sensei. Saburo cocked his head curiously. Kakashi-sensei seemed more serious than usual today. He wondered what was up.
"I've recommended all three of you for the Chuunin selection exams. So..." Here he extended three slips of official looking paper towards the three of them. "...here, take these applications." Saburo blinked, looking back and forth between his sensei and the forms in his hand. "The Chuunin exams?" Kakashi sensei inclined his head once. "Yes. However, the recommendation does not force you to take it. It's your choice to participate in the exams or not." Narumi beamed, and threw herself on Kakashi-sensei's neck with a cheer. "Yatta! You're the best Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi cleared his throat, almost losing his balance as the blonde exuberantly hugged him. "Alright, I get it." As the girl released his neck, he handed her a slip of paper.
"Only those who wish to take the exams are to sign the applications. If you do sign, you'll have to be at the Academy by three in the afternoon, five days from now. The first exam will be held in room 301." Turning he held out the other two slips to Saburo and Sasuke. Saburo eyed them uncertainly. Sasuke reached out and took his own from Sensei with an air of cool confidence. Saburo sighed and retrieved his own with considerably more hesitation. He was not so sure this was a good idea. Especially if shinobi like those Suna genin were going to be entering. Kakashi nodded to the three of them slightly. "Maa, you can take some time to think about it. Just don't wait to long." With that, he vanished in a swift discharge of chakra and smoke.
Narumi bounced off down the street, and Sasuke drew even with her, easily keeping up with her pace, despite his unhurried movement. Saburo looked up from his application form, and yelped. "Wait for me!" Quickly, he dashed forward to catch up with them, taking up a position on Narumi's left side. Narumi giggled, still holding up her application with a delighted grin. "The Chuunin exams, huh? There must be a lot of strong shinobi there." Saburo glanced over at the beaming blond, uncertain as to how exactly she could be so excited over the prospect. Sasuke huffed slightly, and Saburo turned to look at him. It wasn't as obvious with Sasuke as it was with Narumi, but the Uchiha's mouth was curled up into a challenging smirk. He too was excited. Saburo felt his stomach churn nervously. Was he the only one who was uncertain about this?
There was a hesitation in Saburo's stride, and he found himself dropping back a pace. He stopped moving for a moment, watching the other two continue walking on ahead of him. Narumi had just tucked away her application into her shuriken holster, and had laced her hands behind her head as usual. Sasuke had his hands tucked into his pockets, and he looked as confident as ever. 'I don't want to do this. I can't keep up Sasuke, not even with Narumi-chan. How can I take the Chuunin exams?' Swallowing hard, he caught up with the others once again, but he remained silent until they reached the turnoff that led to his own home, just down the street from the Yamanakas. "Jaa, till tomorrow, Sasuke. Narumi-chan." Sasuke grunted, and Narumi waved cheerfully at him. "G'bye, Saburo-kun!" Saburo shook his head, and turned down his street, his steps heavy with dread. What in the world was he going to do?
Saburo dropped his head, and walked by the Yamanaka flower shop as quickly as possible. He had no desire to run into Inori right now. The other boy might be his best friend, but that was all the more reason Saburo wanted to hide his current weakness and indecision from him. The blonde was from a long line of shinobi, and despite his mischievous and flirtatious personality, he had the determination and strength of generations in his blood. Saburo, as a first generation shinobi, had no such resolve, and didn't want to shame himself in front of his friend. With a sigh of relief, he reached his own home, and ducked inside. Shaking his head, he slipped off his combat sandals, and lifted them in one hand, stepping easily up onto the hardwood floor beyond the entrance. "I'm home."
There was no answer. He blinked and sighed. It was still pretty early in the day, his parents were probably still busy in the store. The Harunos ran a small grocers store, a fairly prosperous business, if not startlingly successful. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the door. Sometimes he wished he had shinobi family members, like the other genin. Perhaps if he was from a shinobi bloodline he wouldn't be so conflicted about the exams. Blinking his eyes open, he headed quietly up to his room. It was surprisingly neat and clean considering that it belonged to a boy. Saburo walked straight through it to the glass doors that led to his balcony. Sliding them open, he stepped out onto the balcony, pulling his sandals back on as he did. Sitting down on the stone bench that ran the length of the balcony wall, he braced one foot on the edge of the bench, and stretched the other out in front of him, draping an arm over his raised knee, and leaning his head back quietly. "The chuunin exams, huh?"
He'd been sitting there for about fifteen minutes, when a familiar voice called out to him. "Hey, Saburo." Startled, he twisted around, and stared blankly down at the dark haired figure in the street. "Sasuke? What's up?" Sasuke shrugged. "Do you want to train together? I could use some help with my taijutsu." Saburo blinked, a pleased grin spreading across his face. "Really? You want to train with me?" Sasuke nodded. "Like I said, I could use a good sparring partner." Saburo nodded, and vaulted over the edge of the balcony, landing lightly beside his teammate. "Sure, no problem. Did you have a particular training ground in mind?" Sasuke nodded. "Training ground fourteen." Saburo grinned. "Alright then, let's get going!" As Sasuke led the way out to the very edge of the village, Saburo followed him easily, hands tucked into his pockets as he chattered brightly about this and that, temporarily forgetting his nervousness over the chuunin exams. He had better things to focus on at the moment.
When they'd gotten pretty far out, and were still walking along the river, Saburo grew still. Then he asked quietly "Sasuke, what's up with you wanting to train all of the sudden?" Sasuke stopped walking. When he spoke he didn't turn. He kept his back to Saburo, and his voice was serious. "Saburo, you shouldn't take the chuunin exams. It's too early for you." Saburo kept his gaze fixed on Sasuke's back, his tone subdued. "You think so, huh?" Sasuke's voice was sympathetic, but he still didn't face his rosy haired teammate. "The chuunin exams are filled with many skilled shinobi. If something goes wrong you could die." Now he did turn to look at Saburo, his eyes serious. "Or worse, get us killed. Do you want Narumi's death on your head?" Saburo dropped his head, eyes narrowing as he gritted his teeth. "Sasuke...I..."
Suddenly, a strange figure with the hitae-ate of Amegakure appeared on one of the thick wooden posts driven into the ground a few feet behind Sasuke. "Whoa, that's pretty cruel, Konoha-san! To say such a thing to your own teammate..." The strange man with his blank eyes and heavy cloak burst into laughter. Sasuke cut his eyes sideways and turned his head slightly to fix the newcomer with a stare. "Get lost, unless you want to die." The strange shinobi dropped his head, voice angry as he sprang into the air. "Don't act so tough." With those words, he unleashed a swift barrage of shuriken towards Sasuke. The dark haired boy widened his eyes, and spun around to meet them. Knocking them out of the air with his kunai, he darted towards his attacker with a growl. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's bad manners to interrupt someone?"
Saburo tensed, and made to run after his teammate. "Sasuke!" The strange ninja threw an umbrella at Sasuke, and the Konoha genin growled, throwing his kunai to intercept it. "Like that will work on me!" As the kunai impacted the umbrella, it transformed to a hail of kunai, heading straight for a very shocked looking Sasuke. Saburo cried out in alarm as the kunai impacted, throwing up a great cloud of dust. "Sasuke, are you alright?" When the dust settled, it revealed Sasuke's corpse, bleeding from the wounds inflicted by nearly a dozen kunai buried in his body. Saburo dashed forward with a sharp cry, sliding in-between the stranger and Sasuke to drop to one knee over his teammate.
The strangers voice sounded from behind him as the rosettes shoulders shook violently. "If you don't want to become like that, you'd better give up on the chuunin exams." Saburo finally let his self control slip. He threw back his head and laughed uproariously. The strange shinobi grunted in surprise as cool jade eyes turned to him, a smirk curling slowly across the face of the young Konoha genin. "You seriously think this will make me back out? I already knew this was a genjutsu from the start. And a pretty pitiful one at that. Really, the whole thing is so damn cowardly." The other shinobi shifted backwards, voice puzzled. "What?" Saburo straightened, ignoring the scene at his feet as he turned to face his enemy, his voice cool. "The real Sasuke would never ask anyone for help with training. And he certainly wouldn't ask me to be his sparring partner. He knows I'm weaker than he is. This sort of cheap trick won't work on me."
The other Shinobi's expression didn't change. "Cheap trick, you say?" Saburo nodded once, sharply. "Got that right. By the way, this illusion of yourself isn't much better than your fake Sasuke, so you might as well drop it. I already know you aren't really here." The foreign shinobi laughed maniacally. "Well, we'll see about that, won't we?" With a swift movement, he sent another umbrella hurtling towards Saburo, it's sharpened tip gleaming dangerously as it flashed towards him. Saburo frowned lightly, and walked smoothly forward, not even hesitating as the weapon flew towards him. As the umbrella reached him, it flickered and became transparent, passing harmlessly through his body before returning to it's apparently solid state. Saburo stopped and stared at the other shinobi. A slight smile quirked at his lips. "See? Nothing but an illusion."
The other ninja laughed. "You're Kakashi's subordinate all right. But in the chuunin exams, this will be reality. Will you really be able to accept it?" With those parting words, the illusion dispelled, fading away into the evening mist. Saburo clenched his fist and shoved one hand into his pocket. "Bring it on!" As he turned on his heel to go, he shivered inwardly. 'Now if only I were really that confident.' He sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. Then he tilted his head back to look up at the sky. "Well, might as well go turn in the form, and get some training in." With a fresh wave of determination, he set his shoulders, brushed his weapons pouch with his fingers, and headed for the Hokage tower. He would worry about the exams when they came.
Saburo closed the front door behind him, wearily kicking off his combat sandals, and scooping them up as he stepped up onto the hardwood of the hall. "I'm home." Unlike earlier, the house was filled with savory scents, the light in the kitchen was on, and his call provoked an immediate response. His mother leaned out of the kitchen, her ruddy hair caught back in a messy bun at the nape of her neck, and an apron tied securely over her clothes. "Ah, Saburo! Welcome back. I was just finishing up dinner, won't you come and eat?" Saburo nodded. "Aa, I'll be right down." His mother smiled brightly, and moved back into the kitchen, humming quietly as she checked a simmering pot. Saburo glanced in at her as he walked down the hall. Bounding up the stairs, he pulled open the door to his room, and walked in. Carefully, he pulled out a cloth and wiped down the soles of his combat sandals, removing any dirt that had collected on the soles. He had noticed that the traction was better if he took the time to clean off his sandals at the end of the day. When he was done, he set the sandals neatly in the closet, unbuckled his shuriken holster and weapons pouch, and placed both of those beside his sandals. Sliding his closet closed, he left his room, and washed his hands quickly, before padding downstairs and slipping into the kitchen.
Quietly he helped his mother set the table for dinner, surreptitiously leaning over a pot and taking a deep, appreciative sniff. Curry for dinner tonight. As his mother handed him plates of rice and curry for the table, his father walked in. Seichi Haruno was a broad shouldered man with messy brown hair, and pale gray eyes. He had a kind face, and was well known among the civilians in the village as a fair man whose little store was guaranteed to have fresh vegetables and fruit of some kind in every season. The man blinked, and then smiled at Saburo, ruffling his pink hair as he set down the last plate. "Welcome home, Saburo. Long day?" Saburo blinked uncertainly, then circled around the table away from his father to sit at his own place. "Mm. Sort of." As his parents sat down, they turned questioning eyes on him. He shook his head once. "Just training. Nothing to worry about." They exchanged glances, and his father smiled at him in relief. "Well, I'm sure you can handle it son." Saburo nodded, and dug into his food. After a minute, he glanced up at his parents again. "By the way, I'll be taking the Chuunin exams this year. They start next week. So I won't be able to help out with the shop for a while." His mother smiled brightly, tucking a stray strand of pale red hair behind one ear. "That's fine dear. I'm sure you'll do wonderfully, you always were good at tests." Saburo smiled once as his parents went back to their meal. Perhaps it was better they didn't understand what he was getting himself into. He'd hate to worry them.
It was the appointed day for the beginning of the Chuunin exams. Saburo took a deep breath as he rounded the last corner and the Academy came into view. Sasuke and Narumi were already waiting for him in front of the doors. Narumi spotted him as he walked up, and waved cheerily. "Saburo-kun! You're late." She eyed him suspiciously for a moment. "Kakashi-sensei's not starting to rub off on you, is he?" Saburo shifted his weight, shoving a hand into one of his pockets and scratching his cheek sheepishly with one finger. "Yeah, sorry about that, Narumi-chan. Overslept." Glancing over at Sasuke, he narrowed his eyes slightly. Even though he knew it had been an illusion, he couldn't help hearing Sasuke tell him that he was going to get the both of them killed. The accusation had rankled, especially coming from someone who'd already allowed their teammate to experience a brush with death.
When he spoke, Saburo's voice was tentative when he spoke. "Good morning, Sasuke." Sasuke glanced at him, dark eyes somewhat curious. "Morning." Narumi shot between the two of them without warning, bouncing on her heels. "C'mon c'mon, let's go!" Saburo sighed and rolled his eyes. Sasuke snorted. "Dobe." The two of them followed after her, as the blonde kunoichi threw open the door, and dashed into the building ahead of them. They climbed the stairs, and found themselves at the back of a murmuring crowd of genin, all of varying ages. There was some sort of commotion going on at the front of the crowd, and Saburo frowned. 'What the hell...?' Narumi scowled, and squirmed her way through the crowd to the front. Saburo yelped in protest, following her as best as he could, elbowing people out of his way as he went, and ignoring the irate cries that followed him. He knew Sasuke wouldn't be far behind him either.
The three of them broke out of the crowd to see a strange sight. A boy with shiny black hair styled into a bowl-cut, and bushy eyebrows over very large eyes, wearing a skintight, bright green body suit had just been knocked to the ground. He wore bandages wrapped around his forearms and hands the same way Saburo did, and striped leg-warmers over his combat sandals. He was looking slightly worse for wear, as if he'd already been knocked down a few times. Another boy knelt beside him, resting one hand on the other boys shoulder in a gesture that was both support and restraint. This boy wore long dark pink and gold chinese tunic with three quarter sleeves over dark pants, and wore his hitae-ate around his forehead. He had large brown eyes, and brown hair that was only partly pulled up, the rest allowed to hang loosely around his shoulders, two framing pieces falling over his hitae-ate. A girl stood just behind and to the side of them. She was hauntingly beautiful in a sleeveless beige kimono that fell to her calves, splits running up the sides of her legs to her hips to allow freedom of movement. A wide brown obi was wrapped snugly around her waist, and tied into a bow with long tails in the back, complimented by a darker brown hitae-ate tied around her forehead. Underneath the kimono she wore dark, form fitting pants that ended just above her knee, and one leg and arm were wrapped entirely in bandages. Her pale lavender eyes marked her as one of the Hyuuga, and her long dark hair was pulled back in the traditional style of her family. All were Konoha shinobi.
In front of them were two older boys, who had obviously been pushing the genin team around. Their voices were scornful and mocking as they leered at the three genin in front of them. One of them spoke up, apparently unimpressed by his fellow Konoha shinobi. "You're trying to take the Chuunin exam with only this level of strength?" His partner took up his thought smoothly. "Maybe you should quit now, brats." The two of them were planted firmly in front of the door marked 301. The chinese looking boy gritted his teeth, and stood up, his voice polite and reasonable. "Please let us through. We don't want any trouble." As the boy walked forward, one of his tormentors arched an eyebrow, and punched him hard across the face, sending him stumbling back to land beside his teammate. The crowd murmured reproachfully, and one of the two boys blocking the door snorted. "What was that? We're being kind to you, you know. The Chuunin exams are very difficult. People give up being shinobi after taking them. Chuunin are team leaders you know? It's their job to take responsibility for the mission, and the deaths of their subordinates. And brats like you think you can make it? There's nothing wrong with us sifting out those who aren't going to pass anyway."
Sasuke suddenly stepped forward and spoke, his voice cool. Saburo tensed a bit, glaring at the two bullies before them, as he and Narumi instinctively flanked Sasuke. "That's a sound argument. But I will be passing. As will my teammates." Ignoring the abused team beside them, Sasuke took another step forward, snorting derisively. "So why don't you undo this genjutsu field? I want to go to the third floor." The two bullies shifted, faces losing their confident smirks as the stared at him hard. "You noticed?" Sasuke smiled, not a smirk but a real, triumphant smile, as he turned his head a bit towards Saburo. "Saburo, why don't you tell them? You probably noticed before me." Saburo blinked in surprise, his eyes flickering over the scene in front of him. Then he grinned back, and turned bright eyes on the older shinobi. "Of course. This is the second floor." Narumi grinned brightly, practically radiating pride in her team as she nodded emphatically. "Mm!" The air around the sign over the door seemed to warp and twist, and revealed the true numbers labeling the room. 201.
One of the two boys regained his smirk, eyeing the three of them calculatingly. "You're pretty good. But just being able to detect it isn't enough." Suddenly he launched himself at Sasuke in a full out attack. Saburo fell into a defensive crouch as Sasuke shot forward to meet him. A green blur suddenly leapt between the two of them, and caught their ankles as they moved to kick out at each other. It was the boy in the green body suit who'd been in the process of being beaten up when they arrived. Saburo blinked in surprise. 'He's fast! And strong enough to stop Sasuke's kick with one hand! It's like he's a different person...' After a moment, the boy let out a breath, and released his two captives, allowing them to straighten back up. His teammates walked up to him, and the Hyuuga was frowning, her quiet voice displeased. "You broke the promise. Weren't you the one who wanted to stay under the radar?" The black haired boy mumbled under his breath. "But..." Saburo blinked as his eyes cut to Narumi, and his cheeks flushed red. The chinese boy sighed. "She must be why..." Narumi blinked, and looked back and forth between her teammates and the boy in green.
The boy walked right past Sasuke, and up to Narumi, completely ignoring the blondes teammates, eyes complete intent on the kunoichi. "My name is Rock Lee. You're Narumi-san, aren't you?" Narumi blinked and took half a step back uncertainly. "Eh?" The boy beamed at her, giving her a thumbs up as his cheeks flushed a darker shade of red. "Please go out with me! I will protect you with my life!" Saburo felt his jaw drop. What in the bloody HELL? This was the second guy in two weeks to hit on his teammate. Narumi! The kami-blessed tomboy, and dobe of their class! Sasuke was apparently equally shocked. Narumi turned bright red, squeaked, and ducked behind Saburo. Lee grinned even more brightly, and Saburo could have sworn he saw the other boys teeth sparkle. "Ah! You are shy! How wonderfully youthful of you!" Narumi poked her head out around Saburo's shoulder, and glared at the other boy in embarrassment, her face still quite red. "I'm not shy! And I can protect myself, 'ttebayo!" Half retreating, she mumbled quietly. "Anyway, I can't go out with you. I have somebody else that I like." Lee looked devastated, dropping his head morosely, and moving to brace himself against the wall with one hand in a pose of utter dejection.
Saburo lifted his eyes to Sasuke, hoping for rescue. This was incredibly awkward, and yet he felt that moving away and exposing the kunoichi would be some sort of betrayal of his besieged teammate. Lee's teammates were walking up behind Sasuke, looking considerably more calm than their love-struck comrade. The Hyuuga called out to Sasuke, catching the attention of the other five genin easily. "Oi, you there." Sasuke turned towards her, eyes cool. The Hyuuga's eyes hardened slightly, and she braced a hand on her hip. "Identify yourself." Sasuke turned fully towards her, tucking his hands into his pockets. "You're supposed to identify yourself before demanding such information from others." The Hyuuga's voice took on a slightly disdainful tone. "You're a rookie, are you not? How old are you?" Sasuke stared at her. "I'm not obligated to answer that." Saburo quirked his lips into a grin. 'You tell 'em Sasuke! Don't let them push you around!' The Hyuuga glared at him, clearly angered. "What was that?" The chinese boy chuckled and shook his head. Sasuke snorted, and turned to walk back towards Saburo and Narumi, ignoring the depressed Lee.
Saburo smiled, looking back and forth between his two teammates. "Well then, Sasuke, Narumi-chan, let's get going!" Narumi looked up at him, loosing the last of her blush, and nodded eagerly. She grabbed both of their hands, and started off down the hall, grinning brightly as they headed towards the stairwell that would take them to the third floor. They could all feel the eyes boring into their backs, but neither of the others reacted, so neither did Saburo. Sasuke scowled halfheartedly at the bouncy blonde. "Don't pull." The girl laughed brightly, darting through the door that led outside and onto the staircase to the third floor, still pulling the two of them behind her. "Don't be so stiff, Sasuke-teme!" She didn't release them until they had entered the large room used for taijutsu spars. One side of it was open, lined with columns, but otherwise left open to the outside. Beyond those columns were the outside stairs that wound around the outside of the building to lead to the the third floor. The three of them padded quietly across the smooth hardwood, heading towards the fresh light of the outside.
Before they could reach the first pillar, Lee's voice called out firmly. "You there, with the sharp eyes. Wait." The three of them stopped, and turned back in surprise. Saburo blinked uncertainly. Then he looked up. Lee was standing on the second level balcony that overlooked the actual training floor, staring down at them intensely. He tilted his head back, squinting up at the other boy in confusion, and scratching his cheek with one finger in an unconscious habit. Sasuke replied to him in a bored tone. "What do you want?" Lee stared down at him, his large round eyes intense. "Will you fight me? Right here and now?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. "Here and now?" The other boy nodded once, and leapt down to the training floor. He jerked his thumb at his own chest, eyes locked on Sasuke. "My name is Rock Lee." Saburo only had to wonder for a moment why he was introducing himself for a second time. The other boy pointed at Sasuke. "You're supposed to identify yourself before asking for another's name, right? Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke's eyebrows rose slightly. "So you know my name already."
The other boy settled back into a taijutsu stance, still as intent as before. "I would like to fight you. I want to see how my own skills will measure up against a descendant of the genius ninja clan." He hesitated slightly, and then cleared his throat and continued as his eyes slid to Narumi. "Also..." Narumi stiffened slightly, eyes widening. A blush colored Lee's cheeks again. "Narumi-san...I like you." Narumi squeaked again, and Saburo snorted once. She glared at him and hissed "It's not funny!" Lee continued, apparently not noticing the reaction he was causing. "You're an angel!" With a swift gesture, he blew her a kiss. Narumi yelped and dodged the gesture, shooting behind Saburo again. Lee exclaimed in an admiring voice. "Your skills are admirable, Narumi-san! But how about this?" Several more kisses floated towards her like little hearts. Saburo paled. 'Oh HELL no!' Quickly, he shot away from his position in front of his teammate, and threw himself out of the line of fire. "I am SO not in this!" Narumi yelped, and swayed to the side, throwing herself to the floor as the signs of affection floated over her head. After they were past, she shot back and skidded behind one of the pillars, peeking cautiously out from around it.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back to the other boy. "So you're challenging me knowing that I'm an Uchiha? I'm sorry to say this, but you're ignorant. Do you really want to see what an Uchiha is capable of, bushy-brows?" An excited grin pulled the corner of Lee's mouth up as his attention focused on Sasuke and he settled back into his stance. "Please." Then his face took on a neutral expression and he met Sasuke's gaze evenly. "But let me warn you, I do not think you will win. Because right now, I am the strongest of Konoha's genin." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and Saburo cut his eyes back and forth between the two, remembering how easily the odd looking boy had stopped Sasuke's kick. Sasuke smirked. "Interesting. I'll accept the fight." Saburo blinked, and glanced up at the clock set on the wall. He sucked in a sharp breath, and turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, don't. We have less than thirty minutes to get to the exam." Sasuke didn't even look at him. "Don't worry so much. This won't take more than five minutes." Then he charged Lee.
Saburo whipped his head around to follow his teammate with his eyes, and hoped he was right. Sasuke punched at Lee's head, but the other boy vanished, leaving Sasuke's fist shooting through empty air as Lee appeared in the air behind him, whipping his body into a round house kick. Sasuke gritted his teeth, and pivoted to meet him as the other boy let out a cry. "Konoha whirlwind!" With a swift movement, the Uchiha dropped beneath the arch of his opponents leg, crouching on the floor as Lee shot by overhead. As the other boy landed, he immediately swung his legs around in a scything motion towards Sasuke, still moving at incredible speed. Sasuke was unable to dodge, and brought his arms up into a guard. However, Lee's foot shot by his guard, and connected solidly with his cheek. Saburo's eyes widened, and he took half a step forward. "Oi, Sasuke!" The Uchiha flew threw the air, and hit the ground hard, skidding to a halt on his side near the pillar Narumi was still standing beside. Lee straightened from his crouch, as the darker boy levered himself back to his feet.
Saburo watched them with wide eyes. 'Sasuke guarded against that attack for sure. I saw it with my own eyes. So how...?' Turning, the rosette fixed his eyes on the odd older boy. 'He strong. Even stronger than I realized.' Sasuke glared at Lee from behind his bangs, his pupils dilated with anger. "What was that, a ninjutsu? Or a genjutsu?" Sasuke turned back to face the boy fully again, his voice slightly harder as he smirked again. "Oh well. Whatever. I'll just use this fight to get accustomed to my new abilities." Saburo blinked as Sasuke's eyes turned red, two black tomoe swirling around his pupils. He sucked in a sharp breath. He'd gotten a glimpse of this back at the bridge in Nami no Kuni, and he'd heard that it was how Sasuke had beaten Haku. So he knew that Sasuke had awakened his Kekkei Genkai. But still, this was the first time he'd seen it so clearly. Saburo felt a grin spread across his face. 'Sasuke really is cool. If he has the same Kekkei Genkai as Kakashi-sensei, he can see through bushy brows techniques! Yeah, Sasuke definitely won't lose to some strange guy like this!' Sasuke sprang towards his opponent, and Saburo watched expectantly. Only to see Sasuke fly up into the air, as Lee powered a foot up into his chin, throwing his head back as his body wrenched away from the ground.
Saburo's eyes widened in shock. How...? 'The sharingan...then that means...' Lee moved back, eyes never leaving Sasuke's form. "That's right. My moves are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu." Running forward, he didn't give Sasuke time to catch his breath. As the younger boy landed, he engaged him in a swift taijutsu battle, lashing out with arms and legs at a pace that Sasuke was obviously laboring to keep up with. Saburo stared in shock. "S-Sasuke!" Lee suddenly broke through the Uchiha's guard and slammed his elbow into Sasuke's solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him, and causing him to retreat a few steps. Lee's voice remained even as he watched the darker boy. "I use only taijutsu." Vanishing, he reappeared behind his opponent. "Sasuke-kun, you may not be able to believe it right away but..." Sasuke glared at him, cursed, and swung his body into a vicious back fist, causing the other boy to leap away. "Damn it!" Lee did not seem at all put off by this. "I hear that sharingan has the ability to see through gen-,tai-, and ninjutsu. And I see that you can definitely see through and deal with gen-, and ninjutsu. But for taijutsu, it's a little different." Sasuke began to look slightly uncertain. "What do you mean?" Lee shrugged one shoulder slightly. "Even if you can see y movement with your Sharingan, your body does not have the speed to keep up with mine. If you can't keep up with your body, keeping up with your eyes is pointless."
Sasuke glared furiously at the other boy. Lee lowered his brows, gaze intensifying further. "Did you know that among the strong shinobi, there are genius types, and hard-working types? You are a genius type with the blood of the Uchiha..." Sasuke growled and charged the other boy recklessly. Lee's voice remained cool as he finished his sentence. "I am a hard-working type that continually perfects my taijutsu." Sasuke tried to punch him, but Lee simply dodged it, and sent him flying up into the air with another kick. Behind him, Saburo heard Narumi cry out sharply. "Oi, teme!" Lee shot into the air after Sasuke, and seemed to float behind him, bandages unwrapping to swirl and float around the two of them.
Before he could take any action however, a pinwheel suddenly flew out of nowhere and pinned the edge of Lee's bandage to the wall. Saburo snapped his head around to stare in the direction the pinwheel had come from. There squatted a large red and yellow...turtle. A turtle with a hitae-ate of Konoha tied around it's neck. It opened its mouth, and much to Saburo's shock, it spoke. "Stop right there, Lee." Lee suddenly pulled away from his place behind Sasuke, somersaulting through the air to land in a respectful crouch in front of the turtle. Saburo ignored him, dashing towards sasuke, and leaping desperately at the last moment to safely catch his teammate and drag his arm over his shoulders. The added weight had them landing much harder than Saburo was used to, and he lost his balance, stumbling backwards and causing them both to crash into the wall painfully. Narumi hissed, and ran over to the two of them.
She and Saburo helped their dark teammate to his feet, and then the three of them looked back to the boy half kneeling in front of the turtle, eyes cast down. Saburo looked back to Sasuke, who was glaring ferociously at the other boys back. "Are you okay, Sasuke?" The Uchiha didn't answer, his cheek slowly discoloring as a large bruise began to blossom on his pale skin. Saburo stared at his idol, eyes wide. 'This guy...Sasuke is upset. He couldn't even fall properly just now.' Lee was apparently fixated on the turtle in front of him, and his voice wavered slightly. "You were watching?" The turtle spoke again, it's voice rough and scolding. "Lee, that move is forbidden." Lee flinched and dropped his head. "I'm sorry, I got carried away..."
Narumi's voice suddenly caught Saburo's attention. "What...is that turtle?" He looked up at his teammate, who was staring at the odd pair across the room from them. She blinked slowly, her face scrunching up in confusion. "He's getting scolded." Saburo and Sasuke both blinked, and looked away from the kunoichi, staring across the room at Lee. Sure enough, he was gesturing wildly, his voice pleading as he attempted to explain just what had been going on. Narumi's eyes widened suddenly, and she turned to Saburo. "Ano sa, ano sa, Saburo-kun! Does that mean turtles can be sensei too?" Saburo stared back at her, mouth opening and closing in shock. "I-I don't know..."
The turtle suddenly shouted loudly, causing the three members of team seven to jump. "You fool!" Lee flinched and hunched his shoulders. "Did you think that excuse would work? You should know very well what a serious matter it is for a shinobi to expose his moves like that." The boy nodded miserably. "Yes, sir." The turtle stared up at him, voice grave. "Are you prepared to face the consequences?" Lee dropped his head listlessly, and his answer was so soft that Saburo couldn't hear him. The turtle rolled it's eyes skyward. "Then, Gai-sensei, please take care of the rest." Saburo's eyes practically bugged out of his head as an older version of lee, appeared in a very strange pose on the turtles back. His throat worked but no sound came out. The only difference was that the new man had no bandage wraps, and wore a jounin vest over his body suit. "Ha, you kids really are in the springtime of your lives, aren't you?" On either side of him, he could see his teammates staring in much the same shocked manner as he was. Really, this was just too bizarre. Narumi managed to get her throat working well enough to yelp. "An even stranger looking person came out!"
The man winked at the dejected looking boy in front of him. "Hey, Lee." Saburo stared, mouth hanging open. "W-wow...the eyebrows...so bushy...I've never seen such a thing..." Suddenly Lee whipped around, glaring indignantly at the pink haired shinobi, and shouting angrily at him. "Hey! Don't make fun of Guy-sensei!" Saburo threw up his hands in exasperation. "The hell I won't! How the heck are we supposed to react with all this weird stuff coming up?" Lee screeched back at him irately, his voice climbing into a different pitch. "What did you say...?" Gai waved his hand at Lee. "Oi, Lee, stop it." The boy looked back over his shoulder at his teacher, and then turned back to him. "Yes, sir!" Suddenly Gai pulled back his hand, and punched the boy square across the face, knocking him to the ground with a shout. "You idiot!" Saburo's jaw dropped again and his eyes bugged out of his head. Sasuke was having a similar reaction, and Narumi was staring in blank shock and horror.
The man walked over to his mini-self, and knelt over him as the boy pushed himself up into a crouch. "Lee you...you..." Lee looked up at him with wide eyes. "Sensei..." Suddenly tears began streaming down both their faces. Suddenly the boy threw himself at his sensei, wrapping his arms around his shoulders in a tight hug and wailing. "Sensei!" The larger man wrapped an arm around his student. "Lee!" Saburo felt something fry in his brain. Narumi seemed beyond help, one eyebrow twitching slightly as her jaw threatened to dislocate. Sasuke was staring at the two of them with a very, very strained face. "I lost to that guy..." After a long minute, Narumi cleared her throat uncertainly. "Well...maybe that kind of situation isn't so bad..." Saburo whipped his head around to stare at her, then grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly, his expression desperate. "No Narumi-chan! Don't think like that! It's dangerous! Too dangerous! You'll be sucked in!"
Lee and Gai stood up, tears still streaming down their faces, and Gai laid a hand on Lee's shoulder. "It's okay Lee. It's normal to make mistakes while you're young." Lee looked up at him with an adoring gaze. "Sensei is so kind!" Turning, Gai pointed towards the open ground beyond the pillars separating the training hall from the outside. "Now, run one hundred laps at the training ground into the sunset!" Lee tensed, a look of determination coming over his face. "Yes, Sensei!" Saburo stuttered as the two of them scrubbed away their tears and started outside. "O-oi! Hang on a second! We weren't finished talking!" Narumi nodded emphatically, her blue eyes wide. "What are you going to do about the Chuunin exams? There isn't any time left to be running one hundred laps!" Gai stopped, and turned back, resting a hand on his head sheepishly. "Wha-? Oh, yeah..." Coughing into a fist, he braced his hands on his hips, and looked seriously down at his student. "Lee, I'm going to punish you for fighting and for breaking a promise after the Exams, okay?" Lee saluted seriously. "Yes, sir!" The man struck yet another odd pose, and his voice climbed a into a higher range. "Do five hundred laps!"
Lee replied sharply, without breaking his salute. "Yes, Sensei!"
Team seven stared at them blankly for a long moment. Then Saburo muttered disbelievingly under his breath. "They're idiots..." Suddenly, Gai looked up at the three of them. Saburo jerked, recoiling slightly. "He's looking our way!" Suddenly the jounin called out to them in a fairly normal voice. "You three, is Kakashi doing well?" Sasuke was the one to answer, his voice returning to its normal tone. "You know Kakashi-sensei?" The man chuckled, lifting one hand to his chin. "I don't just know him, people call us eternal rivals." Saburo and Narumi replied in unison, both with incredulous expressions on their faces. "That sounds so fake!" The man smiled slightly, and suddenly vanished, re-appearing behind the three of them before Saburo even registered that he was gone. "The record stands at fifty wins and forty-nine losses." Saburo tensed, and the three of them whirled to face him, eyes wide. Saburo stared up at the man in shock. "W-when did he...?" The man grinned down at them, one eye sliding closed. "Let me just tell you that I'm stronger than Kakashi." Saburo stared up at the man, brows lowering. From behind them, Lee called out enthusiastically. "How's that? Gai-sensei is amazing, isn't he?" The jounin gave them the thumbs up, and his eyes turned to Sasuke. "Lee caused you trouble, but please forgive him." Turning to Saburo and Narumi, he smiled a bit more softly. "Lee and the three of you should hurry and get to the classroom." Lee was re-wrapping his hand when Saburo glanced back, and he was surprised to find Narumi staring intently at him.
Gai called out in a cheerful tone to his student. "Do your best, Lee! Farewell!" Lee nodded his head once. "Yes, sir!" With a puff of smoke, both Gai and the turtle flashed away. Lee finished wrapping his hand, and turned to the three of them. "Sasuke-kun." Saburo turned back to Lee at the same time as Sasuke, all three of them focusing their attention on him. "Let me say this before I go. To be honest, I came here to test my skills. But I lied before. The strongest of the Konoha genin is on my team. I entered the exams to defeat her. And you are one of my targets as well." Sasuke glared at the other boy, and Lee inclined his head once. "Prepare yourself for the exams!" With that, he launched himself up onto the balcony, and leapt lightly away. Saburo relaxed a bit, and looked uncertainly towards his dark teammate. Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, glaring after Lee. Then he looked away.
Saburo watched him quietly. "Sasuke..." Narumi laced her hands behind her head, watching Sasuke out of the corner of her eyes. "You lost pretty bad there, Sasuke-teme." Saburo turned to her, voice scolding. "Narumi!" Sasuke glared at her, gritting his teeth. "Next time, next time I'll slaughter him!" The blond watched him for a minute, then looked down, her expression uncharacteristically serious. "You saw his hands, right?" Saburo stared at her, puzzled. "That bushy brows, he must have trained a lot, every day. He trains more than you. That's all there is to it." Saburo stared uncertainly between Sasuke's frustrated anger, and Narumi's cool acceptance. This was almost a complete role reversal.
Suddenly, Sasuke turned away and chuckled. "this is getting interesting...the chuunin exams, that is." Narumi grinned. "Yeah!" Saburo nodded, a relieved smile spreading across his face. "Yes." Sasuke started forward, his voice cheerful. "Let's go, Narumi. Saburo." Narumi whooped, punching the air in excitement. "Alright!" Saburo shook his head quietly, and followed his teammates out onto the stairs that would lead them to the third floor, and the chuunin exams. It was time they got moving.
A/N: Hi guys. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was mainly character introduction, and set up for the actual exams, but I tried to make sure it wasn't too slow paced.
First off, I'd like to thank Legionary Prime, and 10-iz4 for their reviews. It was lovely to hear from both of you. In answer to Legionary Prime's question, I didn't include the name of the bridge, because in the anime, Tazuna decided the name as they were leaving, without telling them about it. But I had decided what it would be. While Sasuke did do more this time around than he did in Cannon, it was more because Haku decided he needed a swift kick in the rear than anything else. Tazuna ends up naming the bridge after Narumi, though it's called "The Great Uzumaki Bridge" after her last name. The reason being, Narumi was the one to pull Inari and through him the entire village, out of their depression, and give them back their hope and courage. Plus, even though she took a lot of wounds, when the mercenaries showed up, she was raring to fight them, and completely disregarded her own physical condition in her desire to protect her team, and the bridge. Tazuna admires that kind of indomitable spirit.
As for this chapter. Since there seemed to be several people concerned with the romance aspect, I've decided to start adding in a few crushes here and there. Keep in mind though, these are only crushes, and most of them will probably be grown out of. For example, Narumi technically has a crush on Saburo, but as I'm sure you've noticed, she hardly ever thinks about it anymore, as she's much more focused on getting stronger. Saburo himself is not romantically attracted to Narumi in any way. His protectiveness is due to two things. First, she's his teammate, and even though she's stronger than him, Kakashi pound protective instinct into all his students. Second, she's a girl, and Saburo is at heart, a very kind and gallant boy, who was brought up to respect women. This applies not only to young pretty kunoichi, but to all women he encounters. You can see this in his interaction with Moegi. Sasuke and Narumi still have a pretty intense rivalry, and Sasuke does not particularly care that she is a girl. If he ever does stop to think in depth about the fact that they're of different genders, it's more with a sense of relief that she isn't one of his fangirls. And she is one of the few girls who never shows even a slight romantic or physical attraction to Sasuke.
Also, since Sakura is now Saburo, I switched Rock Lee's crush to being directed at Narumi. The reason Narumi reacts the way she does, both to him, and to Teruyoshi, is for the same reason she blushed with Haku. No guy has ever really expressed interest in her that way before, and she doesn't know how to deal with it. She does try to let him down easily in her own way though, saying she likes someone else. She's thinking of Saburo when she says that, but it was more of a last minute thing that occurred to her rather than a declaration of affection for him. At this point, she and Saburo really have more of a brother-sister relationship, and they like it that way. Narumi does respect Lee a lot though, having to train very hard herself to keep up with Sasuke. However, at this point, her romantic affections are largely unattached. In fact, I think she'd be pretty confused as to what was going on if she actually did fall in love at this point.
Please read and review! I look forward to hearing from you guys.