Yo yo! This is chapter number 9 of Konoha's Orange Comet as well as the start of the next Arc; the Chunin Exams! I immediately started writing this after I uploaded the last chapter as to not waste any time and have you guys waiting long for updates. So please, as always, read, review, and enjoy the fic! (Ironic, I know)

Yes, I had started the chapter right after just never finished it…sue me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Konoha's Orange Comet!

Arc: The Chunin Exams

Chapter 9: Ready…Or Not!

It took quite a lot to shock, surprise or confuse Konoha's Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. But believe him, this took the cake. Sakura, as well as Sasuke, who stood on either side of the silver haired jonin were perplexed. In front of the aforementioned trio stood both Shikamaru and Namiko, the Nara had his usual lazy expression as he tilted his head and looked off in a random direction, and Namiko had the usual shit-eating grin plastered on her face.

Sakura was the first to speak up. "Leave it to Namiko to complete a side mission during an actual mission…" She said with an accompanying facepalm. The dark-haired Uchiha next to her shook his head, turned on his heels and began making his way back to their quarters, and even though it wasn't evident on his features he was somewhat glad that his rival slash teammate slash friend was in one piece.

As for Namiko and Shikamaru, they had just finished relaying their adventures with their jonin-leader and teammates, from the explosion during their battle to the finding of the village all the way up to their time in the mountains of the Land of Frost to making their way to the Daimyo's Estate. They did however leave out little bits, such as the unique ability Namiko had activated while saving Shikamaru's life.

Once he was over his shock Kakashi let out a warm chuckle. "Well, I'm glad that my cute little genin made it back to me whole. Since you guys are okay, we'll rest here one more night before we begin making our way back to Konoha," the Copy Ninja explained. "Since we won't have any civilians slowing us down, we can ninja run all the way back to Konoha and make it in time." He finished with one of his signature eye smiles.

The last part of what he said, however, made Namiko's head tilt to the side. "In time for what, sensei?" She asked.

Kakashi simply added more effect to the eye smile and turned away from the genin and started walking away from them. "For the fun Namiko…in time for the fun."

As he walked away, Namiko, Shikamaru and Sakura could only watch each other in confusion.

Three days later – after a recommendation to the Frost Daimyo to beef up his security following the betrayal of his aide as well as the attempt on his belongings, the entire ordeal Namiko and Shikamaru had with Orochimaru's goons, as well as chiding from Namiko to the Frost Daimyo to help his citizens more, an action that Kakashi profusely apologized for, even though he agreed – Team Seven plus one found themselves staring down the giant gates of Konohagakure no Sato's north entrance.

"Right, Sasuke, Sakura you guys are dismissed. Take a few days off and Team Seven will meet again in three days in our usual spot, alright?" One 'hai sensei' and 'hn' later, Kakashi stood with Namiko and Shikamaru. "Due to the fact that you had a run in with people working for Orochimaru, we need to give Lord Hokage a detailed summary as soon as possible, so come with me." They both nodded and began making their way to the Hokage Tower with Kakashi.

They had walked towards the tower in silence, and as they reached, they climbed the steps and when they were allowed, they entered the Hokage's office to be met by Sarutobi, as well as Jiraiya of the Sannin. Kakashi had sent word earlier by his dog summons that the team sent to escort the Frost Daimyo had a run in with some extremely skilled bandits as well as some henchmen of Orochimaru.

"Ah, Kakashi. I trust your return travel went well?" The Sandaime asked as the door closed behind Shikamaru, Kakashi and Namiko.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, we all made it back in one piece. Sasuke and Sakura have both been sent home, I have brought Namiko and Shikamaru with me so they can recount to you their encounter in the Land of Frost firsthand." Kakashi explained with a slight bow as a show of respect to his Kage.

The Hokage nodded and after looking at Jiraiya who nodded as well, he turned towards the genin duo and sat back. "Very well."

And so, Namiko and Shikamaru both recounted their 'side quest' of sorts to Hiruzen and Jiraiya including the parts they were together as well as individually when they had split up. And being that everyone in the room knew about her Jinton, Namiko also informed them of what she had dubbed as the Jinton San no Dan, which the Nine Tailed Fox had claimed sped up her entire body, which had allowed her to move at the speed necessary to save Shikamaru from an unfortunate death.

After they had recounted the events to the three seasoned ninja, Jiraiya had a perplexed look on his face.

"You blew a hole in the side of a mountain?" He asked, dumbfoundedly.

Namiko nodded enthusiastically with a grin.

"Yup, and I'd do it again."

Hiruzen chuckled at her antics and then smiled. "Well, Namiko, Shikamaru, Konoha thanks you for your service of slowing down whatever operation my former student has been working on, and not to worry, your entire team will be accommodated for the increase in mission difficulty, for now, you two are dismissed."

While Shikamaru bowed in thanks to the Hokage Namiko grinned and shot him a thumbs up as the duo left the office, leaving Kakashi, Jiraiya and Hiruzen.

Jiraiya let out a sigh. "Ah that kid, every conversation with her I feel like Kushina just made an everlasting shadow clone before she passed." This statement got laughs from the two other men in the room. "However, on a serious note it seems as though Orochimaru is getting closer to his current object, I am going to take a week or two away from the village to see what he's up to."

Hiruzen nodded then turned to Kakashi. "Do you plan on entering your team in the Chunin Exams?"

This question caught the attention of Jiraiya. He was interested in whether his goddaughter would be able to show off her improvement.

"Hai, Lord Hokage I do plan on nominating them, however, I'll be leaving the final decision to them. I do believe the three of them are ready for the next step, but if they don't think they're ready themselves it'd be for nothing."

"Very well. Jiraiya, you are dismissed, and Kakashi, I am going to need your full report of the mission on my desk by 1700 hours tomorrow, understood?"

"Hai, Lord Hokage." Kakashi said then offered Hiruzen a bow as he shunshinned out of the office.

As for Jiraiya, he threw up a peace signed and darted out of the massive windows of the Hokage tower, an action that caused Hiruzen to grunt in annoyance.

Namiko and Shikamaru walked in a rather welcoming silence as the duo wandered following their exit of the Hokage Tower. They weren't necessarily heading in a particular direction, but it seemed as though they were making their way towards Namiko's apartment.

"Crazy mission, huh."

Namiko for one was surprised that it had been Shikamaru who broke their comforting silence. She didn't let that fact faze her though, as she turned to him and shrugged.

"It's like every time Team Seven steps out of the village we get the crazies." She said with a slight chuckle. An action that caused the Nara himself to laugh. He didn't know what it was but her aura, as well as her laugh was somewhat contagious to him.

"That aside, you want me to beat your ass in shogi?" He asked with a smirk.

Namiko turned to him with a look of horror on her face. "You want to do what to my ass?" She asked in a harsh whisper. As Shikamaru turned red in embarrassment, the Uzumaki burst out laughing at his reaction, the reaction she was aiming for.

"Real funny blondie." He spoke.

"Hey! Don't call me that!" She snapped back, allowing a smirk to form on his face. Kami, he knew she hated that nickname.

"But for real, shogi?" He asked.

She shook her head. "As much as I'd like to lose to you," she chuckled as the sentence left her mouth. "I think I know what Kakashi meant when he was talking about 'fun' the other day back in Frost Country, and it involved me training my ass off over the next few days."

"Oh yeah? What did he mean?"

"The Chunin Exams start in about a couple days and being as that he has the strongest genin team in the village I'm sure he's going to enter us." She explained.

"Oh, you're right." He admitted and let himself settle in thought. He knew that even if Asuma didn't want to enter them in the exams, Ino would make a fuss and he would probably end up having to be a part of it anyway, a thought that made him sigh internally. And as for her proclamation of Team Seven being the strongest in the village…he knew they were strong, that was for sure. But he also knew that Sasuke was arrogant and thought he was stronger than the rest, and as for Sakura she had been improving to say the least and lastly, Namiko. She had power, that was certain, but her power was uncontrollable for the most part.

"This is me." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked around to see that they had reached a small apartment complex that was for lack of better words, run down. He chose not to speak on it, however, and instead turned to her and offered her a smile.

"Alright then, I guess I'll kick your ass in shogi some other day."

She looked at him and frowned playfully. "Seriously Shika, what is your obsession with my butt?"

He grew a tick mark as well as red hue on his cheeks "You know very well I didn't mean anything by that."

She offered him a final chuckle and began making her way up the stairs to her door. Once she reached, she turned to see that Shikamaru was still there and she offered him a wave – to which he returned before walking off – before she unlocked the door and entered her apartment.

Once inside the Uzumaki let out a loud groan as she stretched and made her way to the shower. She washed off and changed into her pajamas before going to her living room and retrieving the book on Fuinjutsu Kakashi had given her. She wasn't doing anything at the moment and no time like the present to do some training, even if it was only reading. She crossed her fingers and watched as a shadow clone sprouted to life.

"Would you be a doll and practice some calligraphy? Tomorrow, I want to show Kakashi the progress and see if he's ready for me to start learning some actual Fuinjutsu, but we were on that mission for like a month so it might be a little rusty."

The shadow clone gave her a nod and headed off to get the supplies to accomplish its task.

Namiko let out a tried sigh as she opened the Fuinjutsu book and began reading the last three chapters.

The next morning, Namiko woke up with a yawn and a stretch.

She shook her head clear and got up from her bed, created a shadow clone to make the bed then headed into the shower. She emerged later wearing her ninja uniform. She proceeded to stock up her ninja pouches and headed out.

Her first stop would be to the ninja tool shop that had been working on her custom tanto blade, which should've been done by now. Then, she'd head over to Kakashi's then finally she'd train the rest of the day away.

After checking to make sure she was good in the mirror, Namiko exited her apartment, locking the door behind her and began jumping across the rooftops towards the ninja weapon shop. It didn't take her long and she was there within five minutes.

She jumped down from the nearby rooftop and entered the shop to see it was fairly busy as there were a few shinobi walking around looking at clothing and equipment. Thankfully, no one really paid her any mind as she walked in the shop. She walked up to the cash register where a fair skinned girl with her hair done in buns and wearing a Chinese style outfit was reading a magazine…on ninja tools. To each their own she figured.

"Um hi, is Higurashi-san in today?"

The girl looked up from her magazine and shook her head as she answered. "Sorry my dad's at a doctor's appointment today, but I'm sure I can be of help." The girl put the magazine down and offered Namiko a smile.

"Oh okay, well I had paid for a custom tanto blade to be made." She explained.

"Ah, a custom weapon? I can definitely help with that, what name did you use to place the order?"

"Namiko Uzumaki." She responded.

The girl nodded and headed into the backroom of the shop. She returned a little while later with the tanto, which was in a black sheath.

"It says here that you paid already, so all I need is a signature and you're all set." The girl said as she handed Namiko the blade, a piece of paper and a pen.

Namiko placed the blade down and signed the piece of paper before returning it. She then returned her attention to the tanto, picking it up and unsheathing it. And, to say the beauty of the blade impressed her would be the understatement of the century. It was borderline majestic if you asked her. The tanto's blade was slightly longer than usual, as it sported a fifteen-inch blade compared to the usual twelve-inch blade. The hilt of the blade was all black and had the Uzumaki crest on either side of the hilt.

"It's perfect!" She said with a grin. She then withdrew the Uzumaki charm that had once belonged to her mother and attached it to the end of the hilt, and with a smile on her face she re-sheathed the blade and attached it to her back via her obi.

She turned towards the girl and grinned.

"Can you tell your dad that I think it's absolutely beautiful…" Namiko trailed off not knowing the girls name.

"Tenten," the girl, now known as Tenten responded with a smile then nodded. "And of course, he always loves when customers compliment his work."

Namiko smiled once again and turned on her heels, waving goodbye to Tenten as she walked away. "See ya around Tenten."

"You too Namiko."

Kakashi let out a calm sigh as he stirred his chamomile tea. He always enjoyed his days off as they gave him time to reflect and ponder the future, especially now that he was in charge of three young genin. He had already had a shadow clone complete the report for the Hokage, so he figured he'd have some tea then possibly go for a stroll through the village he loved so much.

Or at least, that's what he thought he would be doing. He was brought out of his musings as there was a knock at his door. He let out another sigh, except this time it had a slight hint of annoyance. He quickly through on a shirt as well as his infamous mask and went to the door, looking through the peephole before a sweat drop formed. He had given his genin team the day off, yet here was Namiko decked out in full uniform.

He opened the door with one of his signature eye smiles.

"Namiko, I thought I gave you the next few days off."

Namiko shrugged and waved Kakashi's concern off. "Days off are for chumps sensei, I much rather train." She responded and Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at the level of determination she was displaying, and all things considered, it shouldn't have surprised him.

"Fair enough kiddo, what did you plan on training in today?" Kakashi asked as he crossed his arms and leaned up on the door frame.

"Well, I'm done with the beginner level Fuinjutsu book you gave me, and I feel like my calligraphy is good enough, so I wanted to work on that, also practice some Kenjutsu because the blacksmith is finally done with my tanto," she turned to show him the tanto strapped to her back. "And finally, I was wondering if you could teach me some Ninjutsu for either my Lightning Style or Wind Style…or both." She shrugged as she finished speaking.

"Ninjutsu, huh?" Kakashi asked. He was impressed with her plan for the day, and he knew that with her shadow clones she could get it done.

"Yea, I mean my arsenal's pretty good right now with my Jinton, my Taijutsu style as well as the shadow clone, henge and substitution, and I have no doubt the Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu are gonna be a big plus, but the fight in the Land of Frost made me realize that I rely too much on being up close and personal with my opponent, so I figured I'd ask for some Ninjutsu training because both Wind and Lightning Style seem like they can be utilized for long range attacking." She explained.

Kakashi was impressed by the level of deduction she displayed. He had been planning on introducing her to Ninjutsu within the coming weeks but since she was showing the initiative, he figured there was no time like the present, so he let out a sigh of defeat.

"Well, I was planning on relaxing for my days off, but I suppose we can do some training today," He started off saying. He stepped aside and gestured for her to enter his apartment, to which she did. He closed the door behind him and began making his way to his bedroom. "Give me five minutes to get changed and we'll head over to the training grounds, oh and Namiko, please don't touch anything." He offered an eye smile.

Namiko pouted. "I'm not a child Kakashi-sensei!"

"Yea, well you could've fooled me." Was his response, which caused her to face fault in a rather comical fashion.

A few minutes alter Kakashi exited his room dressed in his ninja uniform.

"Alright then, off we go."

Namiko let out a war-like scream as he slashed her tanto outward, grunting in frustration at the result. At this point, it was early in the afternoon, by the sun's position, one could guess that it was about fifteen hundred hours to be precise.

"Again." Kakashi called.

She groaned and once again slashed her blade outward, bearing no result. Another grunt of frustration from the blonde-haired Jinchuriki, only this time she chose to plop onto the floor in dramatic fashion.

"Okay, this isn't working," Kakashi said as he walked over to her. "I'm going to have to send you to the professional. Asuma."

Namiko had been trying for the past few hours to try and utilize the chakra conducting metal that was used to forge her tanto. She had been able to make some progress with incorporating her Raiton with the blade, able to shoot off a few sparks from the blade, however, her Futon was bearing absolutely no results whatsoever.

"Asuma-sensei? Where do you think I can find him?"

"You can try training ground ten, or maybe Akimichi Barbeque, he likes to take his genin team there from time to time." She nodded at his response and once again laid back down. "So, did you like the results of today's training?" He asked.

Namiko nodded. They had been training for close to six hours and she was extremely content with what she had been accomplished today, despite the fact that she had hit a brick wall with the chakra blade.

"Good, I'm off then, don't stay out here too long. Autumns almost here, the temperature's been fluctuating lately."

"Hai, sensei," she responded and Kakashi turned on his heels and began walking away. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei," she called out to him and the jonin turned around. "Are you entering us into the chunin exams?" She asked.

The silver-haired copy ninja simply gave her an eye smile and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She groaned and sat up.

"Dramatic much?" She asked no one in particular. She also at the moment figured that the Shunshin was also a jutsu she should learn. While she was positive her Jinton was faster, it seemed like less of a chakra drain.

Pushing that to the side now the Uzumaki heiress jumped up to her feet and made her way over to the stream that ran through training ground seven. She felt like after six hours of rigorous training, a cooldown in the stream was much deserved and needed. She crossed her fingers and created a few shadow clones.

"Spread out and keep watch, let me know if anyone comes this way." The clones nodded and set into action. Namiko headed Kakashi's warning about the weather but wasn't all too concerned with that, as she knew Kurama would keep her warm if it got too cold, and even then, at the moment it was pretty warm, and the sun was beaming down on Konoha.

So, with that in mind, she stripped down to her undergarments which was a black sports bra and black panties. No boy shorts today, which was the main reason she sent some clones to keep watch. She rather not have anyone sneak up on her and catch her half naked.

Once she had folded her clothes and out them far enough away so that they wouldn't get wet, the Jinchuriki stepped into the stream, sighing a sigh of content as she did so.

Time passed and maybe after an hour or so of relaxing in the water, a shadow clone dispersed itself, sending a mental picture to Namiko. The Uzumaki, who had been resting her eyes yawned as she sat up and looked towards hers hand and seeing that it was starting to wrinkle and look 'pruney', she figured it was time to come out.

She stepped out of the stream, walked over to her ninja gear, and unsealed a backpack from a scroll, and then withdrew a towel from the aforementioned backpack as well as a new set of underwear, which was identical to the set she was currently wearing, just orange instead of black. Within a few minutes she had changed and had resealed everything.

She placed her hand in the shadow clone seal and dispersed the clones that were in existence before conjuring up the chakra to create one more.

"Check training ground ten and let me know if you find Asuma-sensei." The clone nodded and began making its way towards training ground ten. Namiko decided she'd check Akimichi Barbeque herself, being as that she was starting to get hungry.

Namiko activated her Jinton, and in less than a minute she stood outside Akimichi Barbeque.

She took a look at the established as well as the surrounding area and let out a sigh as she walked in with her fingers crossed hoping that firstly, she wouldn't be kicked out the restaurant and secondly to hoping the target of her search was here.

As she entered, she looked around for bit then her eyes suddenly lit up as off the corner she saw Asuma, as well as Team Ten, including Shikamaru. She grinned and made her way over to the table with a smile. As she came into their field of view all four heads turned to her, and her fellow blonde of the Yamanaka clan spoke first.

"Namiko? Wow, you look different!" Ino exclaimed as she used a napkin to wipe her face.

The Uzumaki offered Ino a soft smile. "Thanks, Ino. I went through a bit of a change after the academy. I figured it was time to grow up." She said with a smile. "Hey Shika, hey Choji." The boys waved to her before she turned to their sensei. "Hi Asuma-sensei."

"What's up Namiko? What can we do you for?" He asked as he took a puff of his cigarette.

Namiko smiled at him as she asked her question. "Well, I picked up Kenjutsu," she began as she pointed to the Tanto strapped to her waist. "However, I'm having trouble channeling my wind chakra through the chakra conducting metal they used for the blade, Kakashi-sensei was wondering if you could give me some pointers being as this was your area of expertise I guess." She explained.

Asuma reached into his ninja pouch as he took another pull of the cigarette and withdrew two odd looking blades. "Of course kid. It takes some practice as most things do but it's actually similar to leaf cutting exercise. Think of the wind as a sharp force grinding against each other, except in a more linear motion as the purpose is to have it protrude from the blade." As he explained the jonin sensei channeled his chakra through his blades and the genin watched as the wind charka became visible and extended from the blade.

Team Ten had obviously seen this before but being as it was Namiko's first time she was in absolute awe.

"Wow…" Was all she could mutter. But once she was out of her stupor she grinned. "Thanks, Asuma-sensei, I'll definitely put that wisdom to practice!"

"Anytime kid."

Namiko then turned to her fellow genin and threw up a peace sign. "Deuces guys!" She waved as she ran off.

Asuma chuckled and laid his head back as he took another drag from his faithful cancer stick.

"Well guys, I'm off as well." Everyone turned as Shikamaru made his way out of his seat and threw his hands in his pockets as he strolled off. The rest of Team Ten watched as he headed off into the same direction Namiko had gone, before they turned to each other, then back at the fading Shikamaru in the distance.

Ino was the one to break the silence.

"Huh…the lazy bum and the hyperactive knucklehead…who would of though?"

He had searched the direct vicinity of the village but find out where she had run off too so when all else failed, he made his way to her apartment. He took a breath and knocked on the door. He had the pitter patter of footsteps before the door opened slightly and a blonde head peeked through.

"Shika?" She asked, perplexed by the Nara heir's presence.

"Hey Namiko, you doing anything?"

"Uhhh…" the blonde trailed off as her head swiveled to look inside her apartment. "Eh not really, just some reading and writing." She said with a semi embarrassed blush.

"Oh cool…um, can I come in?"

She looked at him for a second before her eyes squinted in what he assumed was thought. Not too long after she smiled to him and opened the door fully, stepping to the side so he could enter. Shikamaru walked into her apartment and saw that she was literal about what she was doing. They were books, scrolls and paper littered around her living room floor.

"Ya know, I never really took you for much of a reader…" Shikamaru said as he made his way to the couch in her living room, stepping around papers and scrolls.

"Yea well, it never really mattered to me before this point. Reading is a major part of Fuinjutsu. The simplest error can have huge consequences when it comes to Fuinjutsu, and I'd rather not meet the Shinigami."

At the mention of the Shinigami, Shikamaru looked at her with a quite puzzling look on his face.

"Don't ask." Was her only response and that wasn't something he needed to be told twice. "What brings you to my humble abode though?" She inquired as she took a seat on the floor across from him.

"Oh nothing, just bored to be honest," he said earning a titled head look from the blonde kunoichi. "Was wondering if you'd wanna play Shogi or do something." He shrugged.

Namiko proceeded to lean back on her palms as she answered. "Shogi sounds like fun; I mean I have yet to beat you but I'm always up for a challenge…but what else did you have in mind? "What's 'do something'?"

The Nara heir shrugged again. "No idea."

Namiko chuckled at Shikamaru and proceeded to offer him a shrug of her own. "I'm down for whatever to be honest, I only planned on studying some Fuinjutsu for the rest of the night. I wasn't going to put Asuma-sensei's pointers to test until tomorrow."

"Cool," Shikamaru said as he reached into his ninja pouch strapped to his leg and withdrew a foldable Shogi board and some pieces. "Shogi it is then." He said with a smirk. As he said this though, the blonde's stomach began too growl.

"Orrr…" Namiko trailed off with a grin on her face. "I'm kind of hungry." Shikamaru deadpanned at her for stating the obvious. "How about we go get something to eat then we can play some shogi?" She offered. Shikamaru sighed.

"I just ate…"

She shrugged at him and rolled her eyes. "Well…you can either eat some more or sit and watch me, either way I'm heading to Ichiraku ramen."

Another sigh escaped the lips of the Nara heir. "Fine." He admitted defeat.

After locking up her apartment, Namiko and Shikamaru headed over towards Ichiraku ramen where the blonde would go on to consume five bowls of ramen before they left. And after leaving the ramen stand, the two genin simply walked around Konoha, making small talk about training, the upcoming chunin exams and quite frankly whatever came to mind.

All was well and quiet…until.

"Hey, put me down you jerk!"

As they passed an alley, Namiko and Shikamaru turned to see…well it was an interesting sight to say the least. There was some guy dressed in a black onesie with…makeup(?) on his face and a headband from another village and he was grabbing…KONOHAMARU…?

In an instant Namiko withdrew a kunai and dashed over to the man giving him a swift kick to his torso causing him to let go of Konohamaru before she placed the kunai against his neck. There had been a woman in the ally way as well, she saw the appearance of Namiko and reached for what seemed to be a giant fan on her back, but she was suddenly stuck in place. A few feet away Shikamaru had his hands in his clan's famous seal, signifying he had captured the woman in his shadow technique.

"Namiko nee-san!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

She offered him a smile before glaring at the man at which she held at kunai-point. Before she could say anything though, the woman who also sported the foreign hitai-ate spoke.

"Okay, let's just calm down for a second there blondie…you too pineapple" she said to Namiko then Shikamaru. "It wouldn't look too good on your village's part if you attack two shinobi from a foreign village, a foreign ally village no less…that could spark some kind of international incident between Konoha and Suna." She explained. Ah, so that's where the headbands were from was the thought that crossed Namiko's mind.

Namiko then turned her glare to the woman. "Oh yea? And you don't think two foreign shinobi, from an ally nation no less, roughing up the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage doesn't constitute as an international incident?" Was her retort.

At the mention of the child he had grabbed being the grandson of the Hokage, the makeup man paled.

"Kankuro! You idiot!" The woman chided.

"Jeez Temari, how was I supposed to know the brat was the Hokage's grandkid?!" He then turned to Namiko. "Listen, this is just some kind of misunderstanding, I can assure you it won't happen again."

Slowly, Namiko moved the kunai way from the man's neck and Shikamaru simultaneously released his jutsu. "It better not."

"It won't."

Namiko, Shikamaru and Konohamaru froze in their tracks. Further down the alley on a tree, a red head shinobi stood with some kind of gourd on his back.

"Kankuro, Temari. You embarrass me." Was all he said as he jumped away.

"What the…?" Namiko trailed off. She shook it off then turned to the two people now known to be Temari and Kankuro. "I'm assuming you guys are here for the chunin exams?" Her answer came in the form of a nod from Temari. "Okay, as long as you're in Konoha, try not to do anything that'll constitute an international incident. Come on Konohamaru." With that, Namiko, Shikamaru and Konohamaru walked out of the alley.

Once they were out of the alley Namiko smacked Konohamaru upside the head. "You baka! What did you do?"

"Ouch!" He exclaimed. "I didn't do anything; I was playing ninja with my friends, and I just bumped into him. It was an accident." He defended himself.

The blonde haired genin glared at him. "…and I may have asked him why he was a guy wearing makeup…" He whispered causing Namiko to facepalm with a sigh.

"Anyhow, just try to be careful. Now get out of here brat." She said with a smile. Konohamaru grinned at her and ran off. Once he was gone, she shook her head. "That kid man."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Kind of reminds you of yourself, no?" He asked earning a glare from the Uzumaki.

"Whatever…" She rolled her eyes at him for the second time that day, an action he actually found kind of cute. "Jokes aside, that red head kid gave me the creeps, I didn't even hear, see or sense him appear…he was just there." She said.

"Yea I know, they're in the chunin exams too, so we'll have to keep an eye out for them."

Namiko nodded in agreement. "For sure."

A couple days later Namiko, Sasuke and Sakura waited on the bridge near training ground seven than served as Team Seven's unofficial meeting spot. Once all three genin had gotten there this morning Namiko had shared her thoughts that she assumed Kakashi was planning on entering them into the Chunin exams that were supposed to start tomorrow.

The Uzumaki had noticed that while Sasuke seemed up for the challenge, Sakura had seemed slightly nervous and once Namiko had caught onto that she assured the Haruno that they'd be fine, and they were by far the strongest genin team in Konoha so the exams would be a breeze for them.

"You know what's funny…" Namiko began, earning the attention of her teammates. "We know he's always going to be late…yet we still show up on time."

The three of them all looked at each other before sighing.

And as if on cue, Kakashi 'poofed' into existence.

"Hello my cute little genin soldiers." He said with his signature eye smile.

The three genin just looked at him indifferently. Kakashi smiled and just withdrew three forms from what seemed out of thin air.

"These…" he waved the papers around. "…are the entrance forms for the chunin exams. Personally, I am proud of the progress all three of you have made in the six or so months since this team has been formed and I believe you three are ready for the next challenge in your ninja careers, so just fill these forms out and be at the ninja academy by ten in the morning." He passed the forms out to the genin.

"I knew it!" Namiko exclaimed.

Kakashi chuckled as he crossed his arms. "I would like to advise you that if any of you feel as though you're not ready, entry isn't mandatory, ja ne!" And just like he had come, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Has he forgotten he has the strongest genin in the village?" Namiko asked her teammate, quite rhetorically. "Anyways, I'm sure I'll see you guys at the academy tomorrow, get some rest!" Namiko waved as she ran off to Kami knows where.

Sasuke shook his head and began walking away before he was stopped by Sakura's voice.

"What about you Sasuke? Do you think we're ready?" She asked.

Sasuke turned his head ever so slightly.

"Of course." Were his only words as he continued walking away.

Sakura stood in silence for a little while longer before she looked at the paper and then to the sky.

"I hope so."

Okay…I know, I know…it's been a VERY LONG TIME…please don't be mad. I don't really have an excuse except for life happens and I kind of just didn't have the energy to write anymore but hopefully that'll change. I missed writing and it helps me keep my mind of the everyday BS that life brings. So yea, it was shorter than my regular chapters but it's just to help me get back into my groove.

Thanks for being fans, and thanks for being patient with me.

Alll the best.