Chapter Three
Once we arrived at the academy, Lee and I were so eager, we burst through the door together, with the biggest, most determined smiles on our faces. Tenten and Neji merely walked, paying no attention to us.
"Setsuki! Over here!" I heard Susumu call. I looked over in that direction, seeing both him and Daisuke standing there, beckoning me.
"Come here." I said, with no intention of moving. They both rolled their eyes and ran over.
"Who are you guys?" Susumu asked, talking to Lee in particular.
"My new friends. Susumu, Daisuke-kun, this is Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Tenten." I introduced, gesturing to each. "And Lee-san, Tenten, Neji, this is Nara Susumu and Yamanaka Daisuke."
"Nice to meet you both!" Lee exclaimed, he extended both hands towards them. Susumu and Daisuke must have misinterpreted that as a gesture for hug, because they stood there leaning away from Lee. Neji quickly grew bored and wandered away, while Tenten smiled politely.
"Well nice to meet you both, come on Lee." Tenten giggled, she grabbed Lee's arm and tried to pull him. However Lee didn't budge.
"What are you doing Tenten?" Lee asked.
"Come on!" Tenten pointed to Neji who was already at the end of the corridor.
"Oh, right! Uh, Setsuki-san, are you coming?" Lee turned to me, waiting for my answer.
"Of course! Come on guys." I replied, dragging both Susumu and Daisuke.
Room 301. "Alright, lets go in!" Lee exclaimed as he approached the odd crowd gathered around the door.
"Not so fast." There were two men standing in front of the door. He had dark navy spiky hair, and a single bandage across his nose. This man punched Lee, causing him to fall backwards onto his bottom. My eyes widened.
"Tch, you're taking the Chuunin Exams yet you can't even get past us?" The man scoffed.
"Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt." Said the other.
"Please let us through, we're supposed to go in there." Tenten pleaded, standing up from Lee's aide. The same man stepped forward and punched Tenten as well. I stood forward.
"Stop hurting my friends!" I shouted. They gave a harsh grin.
"What's a kid like you going to do about it? I think I hear ya mum calling for ya, psh." He snickered. My heart sank a little, but I wasn't about to let them get away with hurting Lee and Tenten.
I heard people murmuring. "Man that's harsh.."
"Did you say harsh? Did kid yourself, we're being nice by comparison. The exams are gonna make this look like a picnic." The man said.
"Some of you wont survive the exams, others will be wrecked for life and some of you may go crazy. For Chuunin it's always life and death." Said the other man.
"You think it's a joke? Chuunin are qualified to lead missions, the lives of your squad members are in your hands so you gotta be tough enough to take the heat." Out of the corner of my eye I see two squads come in, and I would recognise that orange suit anywhere. 'Better late then never Naruto-kun.' I peered over the heads of everyone else, seeing in the other squad following Naruto's, there were two Inuzuka clan members, and what looked like an Aburame clan member. "Delicate little girls don't belong here."
"We're just thinnin' out the heard, you're not gonna pass anyway, so go home and play with your dolls." The man kept mocking.
I noticed Sasuke come out of the crowd, followed closely by Naruto, Sakura and that other squad.
"Hey! What's goin' on?" The female Inuzuka questioned, glaring at the two Chuunins blocking the door. Everyone's attention turned to them.
"Real nice speech.. Now both of you step aside and let me through." Sasuke said. Naruto and Sakura stopped, while Sasuke kept walking. "And while you're at it, reverse the Genjutsu. We can see through your illusion anyway. We're going to the third floor."
"What does he mean? We're on the third floor." Daisuke said.
"I know." Susumu answered.
"Well well." The man groaned. "So you noticed our Genjutsu eh?"
"Go ahead," Sasuke said, turning his head to Sakura. "Tell them Sakura, I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did."
"Huh?" Sakura snapped out of her little daydream.
"You have the sharpest eyes and the best analytical skills on our squad. You must have seen this coming a mile away." Sasuke said, turning his head back to the Chuunins.
"I must have?" Sakura responded, the most blank look on her face. She smiled smugly. "Well sure, of course! Sure, I spotted it right away." She proclaimed. "This is only the second floor."
"Right!" Naruto agreed, nodding his head once. Just then the sign above two door faded and became 201 rather than 301. I folded my arms and sighed quietly, Genjutsu is my weakness.. I would never have seen that coming.
"Heh.. Well, aren't we the smart ones? So you noticed an illusion... Psh.." I noticed a change in the man's eye. I could feel the tension building, something was going to happen. "Now lets see you deal with this!" He exclaimed, he did a few flips then swung a kick Sasuke, who was also going to kick him. I stepped forward, getting ready to stop them, when suddenly Lee appeared between them, he grabbed both their ankles. To think I thought Lee was fast before...
Lee let them go, and stood there. Sasuke gave a look of disgust to Lee's arm, possibly wondering about his strength, but then again, I thought Lee probably powered his arm with chakra to strengthen it.
"Hey, what happened to the plan?" Neji hissed, he stepped forward to Lee with Tenten. I walked up to them too, listening in on the conversation. "I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level."
"I know but.." Lee replied, then looked the other way. I tried to see what he's looking at, but I couldn't quite tell.
"Never mind, it's over, forget it." Tenten sighed, shaking her head. Lee clenched a fist of determination as he faced either Sakura or Naruto, I couldn't tell which. I blinked a few times. Abruptly, Lee approached Sakura with red cheeks. I tilted my head to the side, watching them.
"My name is Rock Lee, you are Sakura, right?"
"Huh?"
Lee gives her a thumbs up and a big smile. "Please be my girlfriend, I vow to protect you with my life!" he stated, then his teeth sparkle, I smiled at Sakura to see her reaction. Her face had lost all color.
"Definitely... not." Sakura replied. I big wave of disappointment hit Lee, and his face lost all determination.
"Whyy?" Lee whined, he lowered his head in sheer disappointment.
"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura answered. Lee whimpers. Naruto rests his hands behind his head and cackles.
"Oh!" Said the male Inuzuka. I faced that squad, then realised everyone else had left. "You, with the weird blue hair, what's your name?"
"My hair is not weird!" I exclaimed, folding my arms. The two Inuzukas walked up to me, smirking. I raised an eyebrow.
"Well I see nothing wrong with blue hair." The female Inuzuka said.
"Yeah but your bright red hair is weird two." The male sneered.
"Do you wanna fight me!?" She questioned.
"Yeah! Bring it!" The male one grins, raising a fist.
"Hey, save it for later will ya?" Their teammate groans. They faced me again.
"So blue-hair, what's your name?" He asked.
"I'm Kuromizu Setsuki. And who are you two?" I replied.
"I'm Inuzuka Akakaze." Said the female, pointing to herself, then a white puppy poked it's head out of her jacket. I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. "And this is Shiro."
"Aww, she's so cute!" I exclaimed, smiling at the dog.
"Inuzuka Kazumaru, and this 'ere is Riku. And that over there is Aburame Kin." The male said, he pointed to a little black puppy sitting on his head, then pointed to the Aburame guy.
"Haha, the Aburame clan is weird." Daisuke teased. We stared at Daisuke. Kin just maintains his blank expression.
"As exceedingly fun as this is... we kinda gotta go." Susumu mentioned. We all flinched, then raced each other to the correct room this time.