Kei-Kei Yuki: Another quick update!

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Drabble Fourteen

Rookie 9 and First Exam

Finally, on the right floor, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruko stood a foot outside the door, where inside were no doubt powerful opponents who they would have to compete against. Some of them they had already encountered. Walking up front, Naruko faced her team."Alright, Team 7, despite everything that has happened, from here on out, we must depend on each other. So let bygones be bygones, and go out there and kick ass and take names. What do you say?" Naruko seriously pointed her eyes at the two, who only simply spared her a second glance before walking past her.

"Tch, idiot." She heard Sasuke mutter.

"Naruko, who died and made you leader!?" called out Sakura.

"Hey, I was trying to be serious here, even though it goes against my nature to be the mature one out of the three of us!" Naruko defended herself when both Sasuke and Sakura turned to face her. One threw her a smirk, while the other was wearing a smile on her face.

"We know. Everything you said before was right. We are a team and unless we work together, we are going to fail. So don't worry, Sasuke-kun and I will definitely be there for you when you screw up and can't contain your temper. Afterall, you are our idiot," emphasized Sakura. Even though her words sounded more like an insult than anything else, Naruko understood the real meaning behind her words.

Pointing her eyes over at Sasuke, she could tell that in his eyes, he was going to try and work with them more as a team. This made her happy because even though Sasuke could be the biggest jerk on Earth, she wanted him to be able to rely on her and Sakura more. Because no matter what, Naruko would do everything in her power to protect her team and those who were precious to her.

"Alright, now this is what I'm talking about!" grinned Naruko, rushing in between them, slamming open the door. Immediately they were greeted with the hostile air that was inside the room. Ninjas from all over could be spotted within. For a minute, both Sakura and Naruko found themselves frozen in place while Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to remain cool. Of course, when they heard a girly high pitched scream call out to Sasuke, that broke the mood.

When Sasuke spotted Ino running over to him, he immediately stepped to the side and watched as her face planted against the ground. Of course, neither Naruko and Sakura could hold themselves back when they saw this, bursting out laughing and pointing at the blonde. She immediately got angry, picking herself off the floor, glaring her teal-colored eyes over at the two girls.

"Who the heck do you two think you're laughing at!? Naru-baka! Billboard-Brow!" Hearing Ino's insults, Naruko and Sakura immediately got riled up.

"What was that, Ino-Pig!?" Sakura angrily pointed at her ex-best friend.

"Maa, Ino, I didn't know you wanted me to break your nose again. Should I also break all the teeth from out of your mouth?" Naruko had a scary glint in her eyes as she began popping her knuckles, causing Ino to flashback to their days in the academy when Naruko one time broke her nose during their taijutsu spar.

"I see you guys are still troublesome." Naruko quickly calmed down when she heard a familiar voice and spotted Shikamaru and Choji standing behind Ino.

"Yo! Shikamaru, still a lazy ass, I see." Naruko walked around Ino, who seemed to be on guard when she saw Naruko advance, but once she saw she was only talking to Shikamaru and Choji, Ino turned her glaring eyes back on Sakura. Even though Ino would never admit it out loud, when it came to hand-to-hand combat, Naruko totally outranked her.

"Naruko, still loud and rash, I see," lazily commented Shikamaru.

"Long time no see, Naruko!" greeted Choji, holding his chips up to the blonde.

"Hiya Choji!" she greeted, reaching inside the bag, getting chips that she began snacking on. Joining them next was Kiba, quickly boasting that his strength was on the same level as Sasuke's.

"Dog-breath, you are way over your head if you think you're at the same level as Sasu-teme here." Naruko walked over to Inuzuka, pointing her thumb over at Sasuke, missing when an arrogant smirk appeared on the Uchiha's face when Naruko made this statement. The only one who caught this was Shikamaru, who shook his head. While Kiba began to argue with Naruko, the blonde ignored him, too busy focusing her attention on Akamaru, who seemed just as happy to see the blonde again.

Naruko even threw a greeting towards Shino, who was always easily overlooked, until she heard a soft voice call out to her. "N-Naru-chan!" Removing her attention from Akamaru, she spotted Hinata walking towards her.

"Hina-chan!" Naruko happily called out to the sweet and shy Hyuuga girl, engulfing her in a tight hug, rubbing her cheeks against Hinata's.

"It's been so long since we've last seen each other! I missed you~!" Naruko began to cry dramatically, still holding Hinata, who despite her cherry red face, was blooming with happiness, which was obvious to the others.

"I m-missed you as well, Naru-chan," smiled Hinata, heart thumping fast in her chest as Naruko continued to rub their cheeks together, holding her tightly in her arms. Hinata so badly wanted to return the hug and express how much she missed the blonde as well, seeing how she even made Naruko's favorite dessert to make up for how long they have been apart.

"I still don't understand how a sweet girl like Hinata could befriend such an idiot. Obviously, she could do better than Naruko," muttered Ino, unaware that this comment didn't settle quite right with Naruko's two teammates. They didn't like it when others insulted Naruko; they also disliked it when others began dissing her. Only they were allowed to do those things to her.

"What's it got to do with you, Ino-Pig!?" Mimicking Naruko from earlier, Sakura began popping her knuckles, unaware of where this protective streak for Naruko had come from. Standing beside her, Sasuke glared at Ino, who began to sweat from the fearsomely overpowered reaction that came from the two. Not only was Ino surprised but so were some of the other rookies, except for Shikamaru.

"...Troublesome woman."

Both Sakura and Sasuke wanted to scream curses at the world when it was announced that the first test was a written one. Now even though both Sasuke and Sakura were confident in their abilities that would allow them to pass, the complete opposite could be said for Naruko. Who, once she heard this, looked as if the shinigami of death came to steal her soul. This was Naruko's worst area and they didn't think she was going to make it through.

When Sasuke glanced at Sakura, he knew her brain was enough to get her through this test, but when he looked at Naruko, he wanted to bang his head against his desk. It was obvious that she knew not a single answer to the questions, nor the true purpose of the first exam. He could literally see the frustration expressed in her deep blue eyes.

'Come on, dobe. Hang in there!' Sasuke silently began sending words of encouragement to their knuckleheaded idiot teammate. Who, right before the exam could begin, had loudly declared to everyone present in the room: "Name's Uzumaki Naruko, Konohagakure's #1 Orange Prank Mistress and future Hokage! I won't lose to any one of you lousy jerk-faces! Ya got that!?" Honestly, both he and Sakura should have foreseen Naruko doing something like that since it was in her nature to be reckless.

These were words Sasuke had to remind himself of, when the instructor for the first test tried to implant fear in their hearts, forcing them to basically give up. Leave it to Naruko to be the center of attention when her hand slammed on the table, glaring her bright blue eyes at the instructor. "Oi, don't underestimate me! If you're trying to get me to run away, then think again! Bring it on! Even if I'm stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life, never will I run away! I'm going to become Hokage one day, no matter what stands in my way! So bring it on, you asshole!" she declared out loud for all to hear, before sitting back in her seat, propping her feet up on the table, folding her arms behind her head.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, throwing a glance over at Sakura, only to see the pinkette shedding tears as if she was a proud mom, unlike her usual reaction which would have shown how much she wanted to pummel Naruko into the ground. When Sasuke looked back over at the blonde, and he saw how the Hyuuga heiress practically had nothing but awe glittering in her milky-white eyes that were directed towards Naruko. Sasuke didn't know why, but he always had bad feelings towards Hinata, which was strange since the two never even communicated with each other.

Whether Naruko meant to or not, she left an impression on all those in that room. Due to her speech, others remained seated, waiting for the final test. Seeing this, Ibuki could do nothing but smirk before announcing the final test. He was aware that no matter how much he pushed it, the result would still stay the same since Naruko's big speech washed away the others' anxieties.

"Since that's the case... For those of you still here... You passed the first exam!"

"What!?" Naruko immediately fell out of her seat, head crashing into the ground. After Ibuki was finished explaining the main purpose of the first exam, a person in a trench coat and purple hair suddenly crashed through the window, declaring,

"Alright, you brats, this is no time to celebrate! I'm the protector for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko! The next stage begins now!" The woman obviously couldn't read the atmosphere, something which Ibuki pointed out to her.

'She reminds me of Naruko,' Sasuke and Sakura couldn't help but think in sync, while Naruko thought...

'Just who the heck is this crazy and wild woman?!'

End of Drabble Fourteen