Hey there again! Thanks a lot to Azura Soul Reaver (Sorry, forgot to reply!), Riss737 and Jestie Uchiha for your lovely reviews, you made me so happy!

Now enjoy chapter 6!

Sins and Sunshine

Chapter 6: Exams? (2)

Next day, practical part of the finals. The weather was nice, my physical condition was in good shape, perfect for whatever we might have to do. Now nothing can go wrong? If only. Unfortunately I totally forgot to reset my alarm clocks when I went to bed. And that means…

Running through the hallway hoping I would still make it in time. Too fast to spot I ran past the classroom then quickly turned around and pushed the door open. Out of breath I scanned the class and noticed that the teacher was still not there.

"I made it." I said under my breath.

"Yes, you did, Minari. Now could you please move to the side so I can enter?"

I quickly turned around and saw Iruka-sensei standing behind me, smiling like usual. I skipped to the free seat next to Sasuke, ignoring the snickering of the girls. Hey, I was in time so I couldn't care less about a few fangirls without a life.

"The test will take place in this room." Iruka-sensei explained and pointed to a door behind him. Strange, why did I never notice this door before…

"The final test will be on the Clone Jutsu." After that Naruto cursed, seems like he'll have a hard time with that…

Then the sensei called the first student and proceeded with him into the room.

"Ha, Full House!" Kiba called out triumphantly.

"Damn!" Naruto cursed and chucked his cards on the desk.

"Yeah, won!" Kiba proclaimed and reached out to grab the snack-jackpot.

"Nuh-uh, not so fast." I said grinning and revealed my Straight Flush.

To kill the time Naruto, Kiba, Choji and I decided to play poker (With snacks instead of money of course. We're still kids!). The outcome was, that Choji and I won most of the time, Kiba here and then and Naruto lost every single round. Poor boy, no luck today!

"Stupid game." Naruto pouted and Kiba taunted him. Meanwhile I stowed my booty in my bag and Choji ate his.

Then the door to the testing room opened and Shino came out.

"How was it? Did you pass?" we asked him and for an answer he held out a headband with the konoha-sign on it. We congratulated him, then Iruka-sensei stick his head out of the side room.

"Takanaki Minari." Seemed like it was my turn now. My friends wished me luck as I proceeded to the test.

"So, Minari-chan" Mizuki, the second examiner said "Please make a few clones."

"How many?"

"As many as you like."

"Okay." Forging my chakra I did the hand seals for the clone-technic and ta-da~ there stood 6 perfect copies of me.

"Well done." Iruka-sensei said smiling.

"Your written test turned out well and your collaboration in classes is promising."

"Does that mean I passed?"

"Yes it does and we look forward to your progress."

"Yay!" I cheered and hugged both examiners before taking a headband and storming out of the room to tell my friends.

"Congratulations, Minari-chan!" Naruto yelled happily tackling me to the ground. Now the blond was the only one left from our clique who still had to pass.

"No problem." he proclaimed grinning "If you all pass, how could I possibly fail?"

"Are you sure? It's the 'Bunshin-no-jutsu' after all." Kiba pointed out.

"Even if it's the 'ruling the world-no-jutsu' I'll still pass this, believe it!" the blond answered clenching his fist and flames burning in his eyes.

"Kyaaaaah, Sasuke-kun! You're the best!" the fangirls yelled as Sasuke walked in, a headband in his hand. Within seconds he was surrounded by shrieking girls that were holding up signs with lines like "We *heart* Sasuke" on it.

"Seems like the Uchiha passed as well." Kiba remarked glaring at the blackhaired boy and his harem.

"Of course he did. What did you expect from the top student?" Shikamaru replied annoyed from the noise.

Sasuke desperately tried to get rid of the love-crazed girls, who looked like they would eat him alive at any moment. Someone should help him, I thought. After all, who wants to get ripped to pieces by his fans?

Then a little crazy idea came to my mind. I slipped out of the room hoping the fangirls were dumb enough to fall for this and Sasuke being bright enough to see through it. Crossing my fingers I did the seals for the henge-no-jutsu and transformed into Iruka-sensei. Taking a deep breath I opened the door to the classroom again.

"Sasuke-kun, would you come with me for a moment, please?" I shot a glance at the girls. "Alone."

I went out of class again and hoped that Sasuke understood. And really he followed me to the hallway and closed the door behind him. He had a relieved expression on his face – as far as possible for an Uchiha, of course.

"What is it, Minari?" he pronounced my name in a slightly amused tone. I released the transformation and looked at him with a huge grin on my face.

"I knew you'd look through this."

"Wasn't that hard." He replied with a small smile (Omigod! He smiled! THE Uchiha Sasuke actually smiled!)

"So what's up?"

"Not much. Just wanted to save you before the girls would've eaten you alive."

"But that won't hold them up for too long." he said with a frown.

"That's why I need your help." Grinning I explained my plan to him. Yay, playing-pranks-on-fangirls-time!

I went back into the classroom and inconspicuously walked to the window.

"Oh my! Look at that." I called out loud enough for everyone – especially the fangirls – to hear.

"What is Sasuke-kun doing there?" Thereby I pointed out the window at a hill with a tree, with Sasuke standing under it.

I barely finished my sentence as screaming girls charged at the window and then out of the room to hunt down the Sasuke out there.

A few seconds after the pack of hyenas disappeared came Sasuke into the room and earned confused looks from the others.

"Why is Sasuke here? Just a moment ago he was on that hill 4 miles away…" Kiba asked puzzled.

"Clone." I stated.

"Hn." Sasuke confirmed.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka-sensei shouted out of his little chamber.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." We comforted the now visibly nervous boy.

"Just wait, I'll pass this time, believe it!" he said and entered the testing room.

After the test…

"Poor Naruto, I feel sorry for him. Failing again…" I offered my commiserations. The blond was sitting on a swing, sulking.

"H-He's looking miserable…" Hinata stated looking sadly at him.

"He'll snap out of it soon enough." Kiba tried to soothe her. "It's not the first time he's failing."

"You may be right, but he really wanted to graduate with us together." I said thoughtfully.

When I looked back at Naruto I saw Mizuki standing behind him and saying something. Naruto's eyes instantly lightened up. Seems like Mizuki-sensei found a way to cheer him up, huh? Happy, that Naruto wasn't depressed anymore, we all then went to celebrate our graduation.

3 am…

*Bang bang*

Groaning I crawled out of bed and to the apartment door. Whoever dares to wake me in the middle of night seems to have a death wish!

Still half asleep I opened the door to see who wouldn't allow me to sleep and found – oh wonder – a hyperactive Naruto who beamed a smile at me.

"Minari-chan, I did it! I passed! Now I can graduate with you together, after all!"

"Uh-huh."

"And you know how I did it? First there was Mizuki-sensei who-"

WAMM

"Ouch, my nose!"

Phew, finally done. Wow, Naruto finally passed after failing oh so many times before and still being same age as the others… I still don't quite get it…

I thought about starting and another series either for ½ Prince or for Naruto again, but as things are now I don't really get to write anything… Oh well, at least I keep updating this story… I better go to bed now or I'll fall asleep on the keyboard…

Preview for next chapter:

"I'll miss our time at the academy."

"Hn."

"I wonder how the team arrangements will be."

"Hn."

"I heard our new senseis are going to be Jonins. The training will certainly be hard."

"Hn."

"…"

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