Chapter 14: The Chūnin Exams Begins

Kagome and Naruto got up late from getting back from their mission yesterday. So they had some breakfast before they had to meet up with Kakashi. They both of them knew they would probably make it on time. They had a few missions today. D-ranks mission to be most specific. Unfortunately, Naruto caused a little bit of trouble on each mission and so they stopped all of their missions. Kakashi soon left after Naruto got angry at Sasuke. Sakura threatened Naruto that she would end him while Kagome was trying to be the peacemaker. Then Sasuke insulted Sakura about being weak and she went into depression mode. But what they didn't expected was that a big box with rock patterns on it and two holes in front was following them. Naruto quickly turned around and the box stopped moving.

"Knock it off, Konohamaru. I know it's you. Seriously, there aren't any rocks that have two holes in it!" Naruto said with his hands on his hips. The box opened with a puff of smoke and three young kids appeared. Kagome and Naruto instantly recognized the trio: Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.

"Why are you guys following us?" Kagome asked, her brow arched.

"You promised that you would play ninja with us." Konohamaru said.

"Naruto-kun, you're a ninja playing a ninja. That's just stupid." Sakura said, deadpanned.

"Is she always like that, Kagome-chan?" Konohamaru asked.

"Hai. What she doesn't realize is that we're training you to become ninjas." Kagome said, "Right, Naruto-kun?"

"Hai." Naruto said.

"So pinkie is the dumb teammate, right boss?" Konohamaru asked, looking up at Naruto.

"Why you little!" Sakura began to say as she chased after Konohamaru, only for him to bump into someone. Konohamaru looked up at the person he ran into. It was a guy, probably older than Naruto. He wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle in front. He also wore a black hood that covered his head completely and had cat-like ears and his hitai-ate was on his forehead. He had a purple triangular face-paint design on his face, which gave him a somewhat creepy clown look. He also had a mummified figure strapped to his back. The one next to him was a kunoichi who had teal eyes and sandy blonde hair that was gathered into four consecutive ponytails. She wore a light purple-coloured, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, a scarlet sash tied around her waist, a fishnet worn over her shoulders and on her right calf and left thigh, and black ninja sandals. She wore her hitai-ate around her neck and she was carrying a giant tessan on her back. The symbol on the two's hitai-ates signified that they were from Suna, the Hidden Sand village. The Suna shinobi looked down at Konohamaru.

"That hurt you little brat." The Suna shinobi said. Unexpectedly, he picked up Konohamaru by the front part of his shirt.

"Hey, let him go!" Sakura said. Konohamaru was trying to get out his grip as he kicked his legs. But it had no effect on the shinobi in front of him.

"Stop it, Kankurō or we'll get scolded later." The Suna kunoichi said.

"I just want to have a little fun with these noisy pipsqueaks, Temari." Kankurō said. Temari sighed.

"I'm not going to be responsible for what you do to him, Kankurō." Temari said, turning away with her hands on her hips.

"Let me go!" Konohamaru yelled, trying to get out of Kankurō's tight grip.

"All that fussing makes me want to hit the brat." Kankurō said, smirking, as he raised his fist. Konohamaru quickly shut his eyes as he prepared for the upcoming pain. But he felt no pain, he opened one of his eyes and saw Kankurō's wrist being held by a metal chain that was wrapped around it. Taking advantage of his distraction, Kirara jumped onto Kankurō's face which caused the ninja to drop Konohamaru. At the last second, Naruto caught him and jumped away from the Suna shinobi. Soon enough, Kankurō felt something cold and sharp on his neck. He looked in the corner of his eye and saw a Konoha kunoichi with a katana at his neck.

"If you try to harm these kids, you'll receive a one way ticket to Hell." Kagome said in a cold voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

"It's very rude to pick on children. It makes a bad impression." A male voice said. Everyone turned towards the voice and saw a boy around Naruto's age. He had brown hair that was tied up in a high ponytail and brown eyes as well. He was wearing a grey short sleeve hoodie and black colored capris along with black ninja sandals. He also had black ninja gloves that went all the way to his elbows and had a ring loop around his middle finger along with a metal plates on top. There was a hitai-ate around his neck. It didn't have a Konoha or a Suna symbol on it: it was a Kumo one. The other thing they noticed was that he was holding onto the other end of the chain that was wrapped around Kankurō's wrist. There was also a two tailed cat on his right shoulder as well. It almost looked like Kirara, but it had different markings though. Kagome's sapphire blue eyes widened when she gazed at the boy before her. She knew who this boy was: Kohaku, Sango's little brother. For some strange reason, she was glad that she had another friend from her past to appear here in the shinobi world.

"It wouldn't be right to start a war between Konoha and Suna, right?" Kohaku asked.

"Tch, another brat, huh?" Kankurō clicked his tongue.

"You should know better than to harm innocent kids." Kohaku glared at Kankurō.

"Like I care." Kankurō said as he removed the mummified figure off his back, "I'll finish you off with this."

"Kankurō, you're going to use Karasu against these kids?!" Temari exclaimed.

"I hate short people. They aggreviate me too much." Kankurō said. Suddenly, a pebble hit his hand, which made him let go of the mummified figure.

"You're a long ways from home."

Everyone turned towards the voice. Kagome spotted Sasuke sitting on a tree branch while tossing another pebble up and down his hand.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed with hearts in her eyes while Naruto was annoyed at Sasuke. Temari blushed a little bit as she stared at Sasuke.

He's pretty handsome. Temari thought.

"Great, another one pops up." Kankurō muttered as he glared at Sasuke. Then Sasuke crushed the pebble that he caught in his hand.

"Get lost." Sasuke said.

"He's so cool!" Sakura and Moegi swooned with hearts in their eyes.

"So am I!" Naruto declared.

"No, you're not, Naruto." Konohamaru said.

"I could have handled that guy with no sweat!" Naruto defended.

"No, you wouldn't." Konohamaru said.

Damn it, Sasuke! Why do you always have to make me look bad?! Naruto thought, angrily.

Sasuke-kun always has to get Naruto-kun mad about something. Kagome thought with a mushroom sigh.

"That's enough, Kankurō."

Everyone jolted at the cold and emotionless voice. Kagome turned at the voice and saw a red haired boy with sea colored eyes with black rings around them. Then kanji symbol for 'love' on the left side of his forehead. He was wearing a black bodysuit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings and a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He had a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carries his sand gourd and wrapped on it, laid a hitai-ate with the symbol of Suna on it. He was standing upside down on the branch that Sasuke was sitting on.

"You're embarrassing our village. Do you know why we came to this village?" The red haired boy said.

"L-Listen Gaara, let me explain…" Kankurō trailed off nervously raising his free hand.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Gaara said, releasing killer intent. Kankurō gulped.

"I'm sorry, I'm at fault here." Kankurō said. Gaara looked up at all of them.

"I'm sorry for the trouble he has caused." Gaara said.

"It's fine." Kagome said.

This girl was able to sneak up behind Kankurō without him knowing and that Kumo shinobi has quick reflexes with that chain of his. The other Konoha shinobi was able to hit his hand so easily with a pebble. Interesting. Gaara thought. Then he disappeared into sand and materialized next to Kankurō.

"Let's go. We've done enough fooling around." Gaara said. Kohaku walked over to Kankurō and helped remove the chain around his wrist.

"Thanks." Kankurō grunted as he rubbed his wrist and went to pick up his mummified figure.

"Wait!" Sakura said. The three Suna stopped in their footsteps and turned towards Sakura.

"What is it now?" Temari asked without turning around.

"Judging by your hitai-ates, you three are from Suna and you're from Kumo, right?" Sakura pointed from the three Suna shinobi to Kohaku, "The Land of Fire and The Land of Wind have an alliance, but the Land of Lightning doesn't. Peace treaties prevent shinobi from entering other countries without permission. So state your purpose."

"They're here for the Chūnin exams, right?" Kagome asked.

"Glad that someone hasn't been living under a rock." Temari said as she and the other two turned around. Then she took out an identification card as Kohaku took out his.

"This is our traffic pass. Like your friend just said. We're here for the chūnin exams." Temari said.

"Chūnin exams?" Naruto asked, confused, "What's that?"

"You really are clueless." She mocked Naruto.

"Naruto-nii, the Chūnin exam is where you take an exam to advance from genin to chūnin." Konohamaru said.

"Really? I should take it, too!" Naruto said with excitement.

"Let's go." Gaara said and started to walk away with his team.

"Hey, you there." Sasuke shouted when he jumped off the tree branch and appeared next to Kagome.

"Who me?" Temari asked, blushing while pointing at herself.

"No, the one with the gourd on his back." Sasuke said, pointing at Gaara. His team turned towards him. Gaara turned around and stared at Sasuke.

Such cold eyes. Kagome thought as she gazed at Gaara. She knew that Sesshomaru had those kind of eyes before. But now, Sesshomaru's eyes had softened a little since he first encountered Rin.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara said, "I'm also interested in your names."

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke smirked.

"And the girl as well?" Gaara asked.

"M-Me?" Sakura stuttered as she pointed at herself.

"No, her." Gaara stared at Kagome.

"Kagome Higurashi." Kagome said.

"And you?" Gaara turned towards the Kumo shinobi.

"Kohaku Taijiya." Kohaku replied.

"I see." Gaara said.

"I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" Naruto smiled as he pointed at himself.

"No interested." Gaara said before he turned around with his team behind him. Everyone let out a breath of air that they didn't know that they were holding, except Sasuke.

"Thank you for your help." Kagome said, turning towards Kohaku. He smiled when Kagome looked at him. For a strange reason, her heart skipped a beat when she gazed at Kohaku's smile. Her heart had never done that before when she first met him in her previous life. Well, she was fifteen and he was eleven at the time.

"It was nothing. I'll reintroduce myself. I'm Kohaku Taijiya." Kohaku said, the two tailed cat on his shoulder mewed. "Oh, this is Isamu."

"I'm Kagome Higurashi." Kagome said. Then Kirara jumped onto her right shoulder, "And this is Kirara."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto said.

"Nice to meet you two." Kohaku said.

"You're here for the Chūnin exams, right?" Kagome asked.

"Hai, my team and I decided to come here for the exams." Kohaku smiled with his eyes closed.

"That's a cool weapon you got there, Kohaku-kun!" Konohamaru eyed Kohaku's weapon.

"Thank you, it's called the Kusarigama." Kohaku placed his hand over it.

"Cool!" Naruto and Konohamaru said.

"I've never seen a weapon like that before." Sakura said, intrigued by his weapon. Sasuke was also intrigued by the weapon. He thought the same thing as Sakura. He wondered where Kohaku got such weapon.

"It takes after the rumor of it belonging to a demon slayer." Kohaku said.

"What's a demon slayer?" Moegi asked, curious.

"A warrior who slays demons for a living." Kohaku said.

"Are they ninjas?" Udon asked, curious as well.

"No. They're kind of like samurais. But they know the strengths and weaknesses of a demon and have very good combats skills." Kohaku said, "Also, they take the bones of a demon and make them into weapons."

"That's so awesome!" Konohamaru said.

"Hey, hey, hey, can we see it in action?" Naruto asked.

"I'm afraid I can't." Kohaku said.

"Why not?" Moegi asked.

"I can't let my competitors know about my moves that I might use in the exams." Kohaku said.

"Oh, that makes sense." Naruto said, tapping his finger on his chin. Kohaku gave a small smile then it turned into a look of shock.

"I just realized something." Kohaku said.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I kind of...left my team behind before I came to help." Kohaku said with a sweat drop on the side of his head while scratching the back of his head.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, her brow arched.

"I got separated from them to be most precise." Kohaku said, nervously.

"How did you manage to do that?" Sakura asked.

"Isamu ran off and I followed him all the way here when I saw that Suna shinobi threatening one these kids." Kohaku said.

"Yeah, thanks, Kohaku-kun." Konohamaru said, "By the way, my name is Konohamaru and this is Moegi and Udon!"

"It was nothing, Konohamaru-kun and it's nice to meet you all." Kohaku said, "So you'll be participating in the exams,too?"

"Our sensei will have to recommend us first." Kagome said.

"Well, I hope to see you there." Kohaku said.

"So that makes us rivals, huh?" Kagome asked, grinning.

"Hai. I won't go easy on you." Kohaku said, grinning.

"We were just about to say the same thing to you." Naruto said, grinning.

"KOHAKU!" Shouted two angry male voices that came from them. Kohaku and Isamu stiffened at the sound of the voices.

"I'm dead." Kohaku muttered, "I'll see you all at the exam!" Then Kohaku disappeared in a flash.


The next day:

Kagome, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were waiting for their sensei at the bridge. They've been waiting...for almost three hours. Well, Kagome and Naruto came an hour later after Sasuke and Sakura arrived. It was silent until Sakura was the first to get angry and snap.

"Ugh! Why does he always make us wait so long when he's the one who called us up at this time?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Haruno, you should have realized by now that Kakashi-sensei had a habit of showing up late, right?" Kagome asked. Sakura then stiffened at the realization. Kagome could easily that Sakura was angry at Kakashi because she didn't have the time to do her hair.

"At least we washed up and had breakfast, Naruto-kun." Kagome said. Kirara mewed in agreement.

"Yeah." Naruto said with his arms behind his head. Then Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke on a post above the bridge.

"Sorry everyone, I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi greeted happily, raising his hand.

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in unison as they pointed at Kakashi. He jumped down from the post and appeared in front of them.

"Anyway, I'll get straight to the point. I recommended all of you for the Chūnin exams." Kakashi pulled out four slips of paper from his pockets, "So here are your recommendation forms."

"Recommendation forms?" Sakura repeated.

"Please don't repeat me, Haruno. If you don't want to fill it out, then you won't have to take the exam."

"YES!" Naruto cheered and hugged Kakashi, "I love you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Cut it out, get off me!" Kakashi pried him off and backed a little bit away from him, "Only those who wish to take the exam, fill out the applications and five day after that, bring them to the school in room 301 by 3 pm. That's all I have for you all." After that, he disappeared the same way he appeared.

"Chūnin exams! Chūnin exams! Chūnin exams!" Naruto cheered as he held his application.

"Judging by your reaction, you want to take the exam, Naruto-kun." Kagome smiled.

"Heck ya! I have unfinished business with that cat boy!" Naruto grinned. Kagome knew that he was talking about Kankurō the Suna shinobi from the other day.

"There must be a lot of strong guys, huh Kagome-chan?" Naruto asked.

Like that guy from before? Naruto thought thinking of Kankurō and turned towards Sasuke, And this guy?

"Definitely. I can't wait to see who we might be going against." Kagome said. She was hoping to see Kohaku again. After all, she and Kirara hadn't seen him since yesterday.

For Sasuke, he was thinking about Gaara and Kohaku. He had never fought against a Suna shinobi or a Kumo shinobi before. Besides, he didn't like the way that Kohaku guy was looking at Kagome.

Kagome-chan is destined to become mine. I'm the only one who can look at her that way. Sasuke thought.

I don't want to do this... Sakura stared at her recommendation form. She didn't think that she had the strength or skills to participate in the exams. Most importantly, the courage to participate.

I can't compare with Sasuke-kun, Kagome-chan, or even Naruto-kun. She looked back up at Sasuke, Kagome, and Naruto, Can I really do this?


Five Days Later:

"Where's Haruno? She's never late." Kagome asked as she, Kirara, Naruto, and Sasuke waited for her.

"Don't know." Naruto said. Then they saw her run up to them.

"Haruno, you're late." Kagome said.

"Sorry." Sakura apologized and gazed at Sasuke, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

"Morning." Sasuke responded.

Naruto, Kirara, and Kagome looked at each other. They were a little both confused on Sakura's behavior. Then the team entered the building and went to the second floor. When they got there, they saw a mob of genin in a corridor. A boy with a bowl haircut was pushed to the floor after he got punched by one of the two people who were guarding a door.

"How can you expect to pass the Chūnin exam at that level?" The one who punched the boy mocked.

"You should quit while you have the chance." The one next to him said.

"Please, just let us through." A girl with hair buns begged. Just when she was about to be punch, Kagome appeared and grabbed the boy's wrist.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't hit girls?" Kagome grinned.

"So fast!" A male genin said. Kagome released his wrist.

"Listen up! We're just trying to be kind to you! The Chūnin exams are extremely difficult." The first boy said.

"We've seen many who gave up easily on becoming a ninja or got seriously injured when they took this exam." The other added.

"A Chūnin is the commander of a squad." The first one said, "It's their duty to take responsibility for the team's missions and their deaths. And to think that these brats are trying to…"

"What's wrong on dwindling the numbers of who aren't going to pass?" The other teased.

"It's nice speech and all, but I'll pass." Sasuke smirked as he stepped forward with Naruto and Sakura behind him as he stood next to Kagome.

"Undo the genjutsu on the door. We want to get to the third floor." Kagome said.

"Oh?" The first boy responded with an arched brow.

"So you noticed?" The other boy asked with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Sakura, how about you?" Sasuke asked, glancing at her, "You should've noticed first. Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad."

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura trailer off with surprise before smiling, "O-Of course, I noticed it right away. This is the second floor."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed.

At least she's okay. Kagome thought.

Yup. Naruto thought.

Then the illusion was gone and was back to its original form. The sign on the door turned back to its correct number, '201'.

"You're pretty good." The first boy said, "But detecting the genjutsu ain't enough…" He tried to kick Kagome as she tried to kick him as well. But they were stopped by a boy with bowl shaped haircut.

He's pretty fast. Sakura thought, He's totally different when he got hit before.

He stopped Kagome-chan's kick? Sasuke's eyes widened in shock, What's with the chakra in his arms?

"Hey, you broke your promise." A boy with long brown hair and pale eyes, "You're the one who said that you didn't want to gather any attention by doing something that will make you stand out."

"But…" The boy trailed off and looked towards Sakura and blushed, "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura-chan, right?"

"Huh?" She blinked in confusion.

He gave her a thumbs up and grinned, "Will you be my girlfriend? I will protect you until I die!"

I think someone has a crush on Haruno. Kagome thought.

I think so, too. Naruto responded back to Kagome.

"Definitely...not…" Sakura replied. Lee instantly got depressed.

"What?" Lee asked.

"You're too 'unique' for my taste." Sakura responded. Lee hung his head down with depressed lines on his head.

Poor Lee. Kagome and Naruto thought in unison while Kirara sighed. Then he gazed upon Kagome and blushed even harder.

"Who are you, beautiful?" Lee asked with pink cheeks.

"Kagome Higurashi." Kagome said.

"Please be my girlfriend! I vow to protect you with my own life!" Lee repeated the same action from before with Sakura. Sasuke's brow began to twitch. He didn't like how this guy was looking at Kagome. He made it clear to himself that he will have Kagome.

"Sorry, Lee. But I'm…" Kagome began to say.

"No, she won't." Sasuke finished. Kagome elbowed him in the ribs.

"You didn't need to answer for me, Sasuke-kun." Kagome narrowed her eyes at Sasuke before she turned towards Lee, "I'm very sorry, Lee. I can't accept your offer. But I hope that we could be friends."

Lee nodded sadly, "I understand, Kagome-chan. I didn't know that you belonged to someone else."

"What? I don't belong to anyone." Kagome said, blinked.

"But, didn't your teammate just say that you belonged to him?" Lee asked, confused.

"No, I don't belong to him. Where did you get that idea, Lee?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, then I'm sorry that I caused a misunderstanding, Kagome-chan." Lee rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay, Lee." Kagome replied with a closed eye smile.

But it wasn't a misunderstanding, Kagome-chan! Sasuke thought, You're meant to be with me!

"Hey you two there." The long brown haired boy said as he stood across from Kagome and Sasuke, "Identify yourselves."

Why is it that everyone wants to talk to you and Sasuke-kun, Kagome-chan? Naruto thought, angrily.

I have no idea, Naruto-kun. Kagome thought.

"You're suppose to identify yourself before you ask." Sasuke smirked.

"You two are rookies, right? How old are you?" The long brown haired boy asked.

"I'm not obliged to answer that." Sasuke replied.

"What?" The long brown haired boy narrowed his eyes as he got angry. The girl from before chuckled at Sasuke's reply.

He's cute. The girl thought.

"We better get going, right Haruno?" Kagome asked.

"R-Right. Come on guys." Sakura as she grabbed Sasuke's hand and Kagome grabbed Naruto's before heading towards the third floor.


Team 7 headed towards the stairs that would lead them to the third floor. They hoped that there wouldn't be any more delays to the exam.

"Hey!" Spoke too soon.

The five looked up and saw Lee standing at the balcony.

"I want to fight you right here and now!" Lee shouted.

"You want to fight me?" Sasuke asked, smirked.

"I'm Rock Lee and I wish to fight you, Sasuke Uchiha." Lee said.

"So you know who I am?" Sasuke asked, brow arched.

"Hai, will you fight me?" Lee asked. Kagome and Sakura glanced at the clock that hung on the wall nearby.

"Sasuke-kun, we only have a few minutes until the exam!" Sakura said.

"Don't worry, it will only take me less than five minutes to beat him." Sasuke said, arrogantly. Lee jumped down from the balcony and appeared in front of Team 7. He blushed when he gazed at Sakura.

"Oh Sakura-chan, you're an angel from Heaven." Lee said dreamily and blew a kiss at her. Sakura quickly dodged the heart that headed towards her. Then Lee repeatedly started sending more hearts towards her and Sakura kept avoiding like her life depended on it.

Didn't Haruno just reject him? Why is he still going after a girl who doesn't like him? Naruto thought.

Don't know, but I have to admit that he's pretty determined. Kagome thought as she gazed at Lee. Finally he stopped blowing out hearts, allowing Sakura to catch her breath. Somehow, this genin reminded her of certain someone. Naruto was thinking the same thing as well. Then it hit them.

"Wait a minute…bowl haircut." Kagome said. (Anime arrow pointed at his hair)

"Caterpillar eyebrows." Naruto said. (Anime arrow pointed at his eye brows)

"Orange leg warmers." Kagome said. (Anime arrow pointed at his leg warmers)

"Green spandex." Naruto said. (Anime arrow pointed at his spandex)

"You're one of Guy's students." Kagome and Naruto said at the same time.

"How did you know?!" Lee exclaimed.

"There's only one other person who would wear those pair of spandex." Kagome said.

"And has those kind of eye brows." Naruto said.

"It was obvious." Kagome and Naruto said at the same time. Kirara mew in agreement.

"Drop the chit-chat and let's fight." Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan (I forgot to write it in. So just pretend that he got it on their last mission).

"Alright then." Lee said, getting into fighting stance. Naruto wanted to fight Lee first, but Kagome managed to hold him back. Then Sasuke and Lee began to fight with Kagome, Kirara, Naruto, and Sakura on the sidelines.

"Why, Kagome-chan?" Naruto whined.

"No offense, Naruto-kun, but you wouldn't have stand a chance against him." Kagome said.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, blinked.

"Naruto-kun, if he's a student of Guy, then that means that he's a powerful taijutsu user." Kagome said, "Meaning that you would instantly lose against him."

"I see. Thanks, Kagome-chan." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head and then flapped his arms up and down at a fast pace while whining, "But I still want to fight him!"

"Another time, Naruto-kun." Kagome said. They watched Sasuke run towards him, only to get hit in the gut by Lee's foot, landing on the other side of the room.

He's quick I'll give him that. Sasuke thought as he ran towards him. His team began watching him lose to Lee. Then Lee went under Sasuke and kicked in the chin which sent him up in the air. He appeared under Sasuke as the bandages on his hands began to unravel. Suddenly, a windmill shuriken pinned his bandages to the wall. Sakura quickly ran and caught Sasuke from his fall. Kagome and Naruto ran towards the other two.

"Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sasuke grunted.

"Stop right there, Lee."

They looked to where the voice came from and saw Lee kneeling nervously in front of a life sized turtle. Kagome knew that it was a summoning turtle.

"Y-You were watching?" Lee asked nervously.

"Hey, Kagome-chan." Naruto asked.

"Yeah?" Kagome asked.

"That's a turtle, right?" Naruto asked, pointing at the summoning turtle.

"It's kind of obvious, Naruto-kun." Kagome said with a sweatdrop on the side of her head.

"Can a turtle become a teacher?" Naruto asked, still pointing at the turtle who was lecturing Lee at the moment.

"Naruto-kun, that turtle is a summoning." Kagome replied with a sweatdrop on the side of her head. Naruto looked up and placed his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Oooh, now I get it." Naruto said.

"You fool!" The turtle loudly scolded, which made Lee and the others flinch, "Did you think that excuse would work on me? You know very well for what it means for a shinobi to reveal his moves."

"Hai!" Lee quickly stood and saluted.

When Sasuke was able to finally stand on his feet, he wiped away the blood that was on his face and glared at Lee.

I lost to this weird guy? Sasuke thought, angrily.

"Are you prepared to face the consequences?" The turtle asked.

"Yes, sir." Lee replied.

"Guy-sensei, please take care of the rest." When the turtle said that, a man that almost looked like Lee appeared on the back of the turtle doing a weird pose. Kagome, Kirara, and Naruto knew who this man was: Guy Maito the so called proclaimed 'Green Beast of Konoha'.

"You guys are in the springtime of your life, aren't you?" Guy asked. All four genins' jaws dropped and their eyes bulged out at the sight of the man.

"Another weird guy came out!" Sakura pointed out, obvious creeped out by the man's pose.

"Yo, Lee." Guy said as he showed a thumb up and grinned, making his teeth sparkled.

"Guy's appearance will always weird me out." Kagome muttered.

"I agree with you as well, Kagome-chan." Naruto muttered.

"Don't make fun of Guy-sensei!" Lee shouted as he pointed at Team 7.

"Sorry, but Guy will always weird someone out." Kagome said.

"What did you say?!" Lee exclaimed.

"That's enough, Lee." Guy said and Lee immediately obeyed him.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted.

"You idiot!" Guy said before he punched Lee in the cheek and made him land a few feet in front of them. Team 7 were surprised that Lee's sensei would unexpectedly punch him. Guy bented down on one knee as the teacher and student stared at each other.

"Lee, you...you…" Guy began to cry.

"S-Sensei." Lee began to cry as well.

"Lee!"

"Sensei! I...I…"

"It's alright, Lee. You don't have to say anymore." Guy said. Then the scene changed to a sunset where they were on a cliff and waves were crashing against it.

"Sensei!" Lee cried as he ran and hugged Guy.

"Lee!"

Kagome, Kirara, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were repulsed at the scene before them. They couldn't help but be disturbed at this awkwardness between Lee and Guy.

I lost...to this guy? Sasuke thought, his left brow twitching. He was having a hard time believing that this green spandex weirdo was able to wipe the floor with him. The strangeness was added when they noticed that even the summoning turtle had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"This is youth, right?" Guy asked.

"Sensei!" Lee cried. Then Guy released Lee from his arms and they both stood up.

"It's alright, Lee." Guy placed his hand on Lee's shoulder, "It's normal to make mistakes when you're young."

"Y-You're too kind, sensei!" Lee said as he tried to wipe away his tears. Guy pointed outside.

"Now run 500 laps around the training ground and into the sunset!"

"Hai!" Lee saluted before he and Guy started to leave.

"Hey, we're still talking here!" Naruto shouted with a irk mark on the back of his head.

"What are you going to do about the Chūnin Exams?" Sakura asked, "There isn't any time left."

"Huh? Oh...right." Guy cleared his throat and looked at Lee, "Lee, I'll punish you for fighting and breaking our promise after the exam, okay?"

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted.

"Do 500 laps!" Guy said as he made a weird pose.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted again.

The four genin and two tailed cat watched the scene with sweatdrops on the back of their heads.

"They're stupid…" Sakura muttered.

"Weird is a better word, Haruno." Kagome said. Then Guy turned towards them. Team 7 flinched when they noticed him staring at them.

These are Kakashi's...Guy thought.

"He's looking at us!" Kagome whispered, freaked out by his stare.

"You're Kakashi's students, right?" Guy asked, "Is he doing well?"

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Not only that, but people call us eternal rivals!" Guy said with his clenched fist in front of him.

Only to Guy's point of view. Kagome and Naruto thought in unison with sweatdrops on the back of their heads.

"That sounds so fake!" Sakura exclaimed.

"How rude!" Lee exclaimed, "Guy-sensei really is…"

"It's okay. Don't say it outloud." Guy replied, "Show it in your attitude."

Sasuke was eying on Guy. But when he blinked, he disappeared.

"We had over a hundred matches! 50 wins and 49 losses!" Guy proclaimed with his puffed up chest when he appeared behind them.

"When did he…" Sakura trailed off.

"But didn't you lose in most of the rock-paper-scissor games, Guy?" Kagome asked. Guy comically stiffened at the realization.

"Hey, did you ever figure out who dyed your spandex pink?" Naruto asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Guy said, determinedly with his fist in front of him, "But someday I will find that person and I will bring him to justice!"

"Pink spandex?" Lee blinked, curious of what they meant by 'pink spandex'.

"Oh, you didn't know, Lee? A few years ago, someone dyed Guy's spandex pink and he had to wear that exact pair for a couple of weeks." Kagome said.

"It was embarrassing...my pride was ruined that day...oh the humiliation..." Guy said as a cloud of gloom hung over him while his head slumped down with depression lines. Kagome and Naruto had a sweat drop on the back of their heads. They didn't know that Guy took the prank so serious. It was a harmless prank. Guy had a big amount of pride for whatever he did. Well, that's what they think.

"Anyway, let's just say that I'm stronger than Kakashi." Guy boasted.

What? Sasuke thought with disbelief, His speed is definitely better than Kakashi. Is he even human?... stronger than Kakashi? Damn it...he's not bluffing.

"You see?" Lee said, "Guy-sensei is amazing, right?"

"Lee has caused you trouble, so please forgive him for the sake of my face." The green spandex man said. Team 7 sweatdropped.

He's so weird...Team 7 thought.

"This is a refreshing face, that is. Lee and you five should head towards the exam room now." Guy threw a kunai at the windmill shuriken, making it fall off the wall.

"Do your best, Lee! Farewell!" Guy said.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted once more. Then the teacher and turtle disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sasuke-kun." Lee said, "Let me say this before I go. To be honest, I wanted to test my skills."

"What?" Sasuke asked, surprised.

"I lied a while ago. The strongest of Konoha's genin is on my team. I entered this exam to fight against him. And you're one of my targets, as well. Prepare yourself for the exam!" Lee said before he jumped and left.

Sasuke clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe that Lee was able to defeat him. It almost seem that Lee was underestimating him. He had never felt so humiliated. Especially in front of Kagome. She probably thought that he was weak.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura trailed off when she saw Sasuke's head lowered, his bangs covering his eyes.

"It looks like the Uchiha clan ain't so great after all." Naruto mocked with his hands behind his head.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura scolded.

"Shut up." Sasuke muttered darkly, "Next time, I'll slaughter him for sure."

"And you lost real badly, too." Kagome added with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What's with you two?!" Sakura exclaimed angrily. Sasuke was confused on why Kagome was agreeing with Naruto. So he glared at Naruto.

"You saw his hands didn't you?" Naruto asked, "That fuzzy brow guy must've trained a lot, everyday…probably more than you. That's all there is to it."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and looked away. He felt so embarrassed on what had just happened earlier. He couldn't believe that he had lost to a taijutsu user. But now, he had another opponent that he wanted to defeat. He wanted to show Kagome that he was the strongest rookie and that she belonged to him and no other guy can have her.

"The Chūnin Exams are getting interesting, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed, grinning along with Kagome and Sakura.

"Let's go, everyone!" Kagome cheered and Kirara mewed as they followed her to the third floor.


When they reached the third floor, they spotted Kakashi in the corridor near the assigned room for the exam and stopped a couple feet. He closed his orange covered novel when he noticed them.

"I see, so Haruno came as well." Kakashi said, "Now you can officially register for the exams."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I'll tell you the truth, this exam can only be taken in teams of three, or in this case, four." Kakashi explained.

"But didn't you say that we can decide if we want to take the exam or not?" Kagome questioned.

"Yeah, I did." Kakashi replied.

"You lied?" Sakura asked.

"Hai." Kakashi said before he looked away, "If I had said that, Kagome, Naruto, and Sasuke would force Haruno to take the exam. Even if she didn't want to take the exam, if Sasuke asked her, she would try to take it anyway."

"What would have happen if Sasuke-kun, Kagome-chan, and Naruto-chan had come here?" Sakura asked.

"I would have stopped them from taking the exam and entering these doors." Kakashi looked towards them, "But the four of you came here of your own free will. Sasuke, Sakura, Kagome, Naruto, and of course you too, Kirara, I'm proud of you all. I couldn't have ask for a better team."

Kakashi moved to the side, allowing his team to move towards the door. Team 7 smiled and nodded their heads.

"Let's go!" Naruto cheered and they entered the room.


He who takes no chances wins nothing.

- Danish Proverb


A/N:

If you're wondering why Naruto is a little bit OC is because Kagome has him wrapped around her finger. The reason why he scored a little higher (Chapter 2) on the tests was because she threatened him with ramen. Like: "If you don't get a good grade on the test, no ramen for a month." She made sure that Teuchi wouldn't give him any. Also the reason why Naruto isn't so olging about Sakura is because Kagome was able to tell Naruto that Sakura wasn't meant for him. Also, for Sasuke's Sharingan, I forgot to write it in Chapter 7 since I was mostly focusing on Kagome defending Sasuke in Haku's mirrors. So just pretend that he got back then.