24
"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara finally questions as he looks back down at Kankuro. "I. I. I. I know. I. I mean. They challenged us, they started the whole thing really. H. here's what happened." Kankuro manages to sputter out as he puts the crow back on his back. "Shut up." Gaara speaks as if the words were simply being said, completely lacking any emotion at all. However, these words cause Kankuro to visibly cringe as Gaara narrows his eyes on him. "Or I'll kill you." The redhead practically hisses in a way Kankuro holds his breath and takes a step back from him. As if his body had just about forced him to run away against his will. "Uhh. Right, I was totally out of line. I'm sorry Gaara, I was totally out of line."
From having accepted Kankuro's apology Gaara looks from Akari to Sasuke. "I'm sorry for any kind of trouble he caused." Gaara then fades into sand moments before the sand reforms on the road causing Sasuke to stand. Nearly sighing, Akari drops the rocks in her hand as Gaara looks up at her again. "Let's go." He speaks watching Akari a moment longer as if he himself was debating if she was going to attack the moment his back is to her. He then finally turns as he goes to walk away. "We didn't come here to play games." Gaara practically orders his teammates. "A. Alright sure, I get it." Kankuro utters as he too turns, waiting to follow Gaara before moving forward and starting to walk away. Sasuke and Akari leap from their trees and land on the road between them and their squad.
"Hold on!" Sakura yells running up closer but making sure to keep herself behind the two Uchiha. Her yell causes the three in front of them to stop. "What?" The girl asks looking over her shoulder at Sakura. "I can tell from your headbands that you come from the village hidden in the sand. Of course, the land of fire and the land of wind are allies but no Shinobi can enter another's village without, permission." Sakura takes another step forward as Akari slips her hands into her pockets. "So state your purpose and it better be good." With this, all three of them turn around to face them again.
"Really... Have all you guys been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on do you?" The blond snaps as she all but chuckles rather condescendingly. She then holds up her identification form and resumes in a kinder tone when she realizes Gaara had just crossed his arms due to the way she had been speaking. "We have permission. Of course, you are correct. We are hidden sand genin. Our home is the land of wind and we're here for the Chunin exams." She explains before lowering her identification form again.
"The chunin exams? What's that?" Naruto asks before picking up. "Well, I've never heard of no Chunin exams, believe it!" He practically seethes as he becomes consumed by his own confusion. The girl sounds as if she is fighting a laugh as she crosses her arms looking at Naruto. "Oh, I believe it alright, that you're totally clueless."
"Once again Naruto." Akari finally speaks for the first time since the confrontation started pulling all eyes to her. "You missed class on it as usual. The Chunin Exams or The Chunin Selection Exams are an opportunity for genin to be promoted to chunin. By completing the exams in conjunction with other nations, improves relations amongst villages and gives the opportunity for current talent to be presented to possible future clients. The chunin exams can decide your fate as a ninja for the future for if you compete poorly no one will wish for you to take on their job requests."
"Yeah boss, those are the exams that every genin have to take in order to graduate to become a full-on chunin." Konohamaru says from behind Naruto in a way that he could understand what Akari had just told them. "Oh, why didn't you just say so, I am so there!" Naruto exclaims excitedly as he pumps a fist in front of him. "Ha." Gaara chuckles briefly as he turns around and starts walking again with the other two in tow. "Hey." Sasuke speaks up as he places one hand on his hip. "You, identify yourself." He practically orders, watching the girl turn around hoping he was speaking to her as her cheeks tinge pink. "Hmm? You mean me?" She asks hopefully.
"No him, the guy with the gourd on his back." Sasuke points rather rudely as he continues watching the redhead. "Huh?" Kankuro responds as he glances from Sasuke to Gaara, seeing the redhead turn around to look at the raven-haired boy. "My name is Gaara of the desert. I'm curious about the two of you as well... Who are you?" Sasuke couldn't help but smirk as Akari turns her head away from them indifferently only to peer at them from the corner of her eye. "I am Sasuke Uchiha." He states arrogantly before he points his thumb at her. "And this, is Akari Uchiha." With Sasuke saying her name for her, Gaara looks in her direction. Finally taking in the fact that she was still watching him from the corner of her eyes.
The three of them just sort of stand there for a few moments looking at one another in silence. "Hey there! Bet you're dying to know my name right?!" Naruto suddenly asks as he points his thumb at himself. "I couldn't care less." Gaara comments simply before turning around and jumping into the trees, heading away from the area with the other two following suit at nearly the exact same moment. Akari glances at Sasuke taking in the fact he is still smirking as his onyx hues glint in the sunlight showing his excitement. "We were going to eat before training." She points out to him simply pulling his attention to her.
"That's right. We have a date." He chuckles as Naruto and Sakura shriek in shock. "What?! A date?!" They both shout in unison as Sasuke grabs ahold of Akari's arm and pulls her up onto the rooftops away from them. "I wonder how long they been dating?! Do you know Sakura?! Ah! Ouch!" Naruto's voice echoes even as the two Uchiha continue over the rooftops toward the main road in town. "The joke isn't funny." Akari states for him drawing his gaze to her from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, it is." He chuckles a bit before looking ahead of them again. Akari couldn't help but sigh thinking about how she may not survive their next D-rank mission from how this will only make Sakura four times as bad.
Sasuke leads her down onto the street and walks towards the Barbeque restaurant two buildings down from where they had landed. Upon walking into the building Sasuke puts his hands into his pockets as he makes his way to an open booth at a window. Sliding in across from him Akari watches him place his elbows on the table and fold his hands in front of his face. His eyes not necessarily looking at anything like usual when he's lost in thought. Akari folds her hands in her lap as she looks out the window waiting for the waiter.
When the waiter finally arrives Sasuke orders beef strips with an assortment of vegetables and rice. Akari couldn't say anything about the order. It was well-rounded as it should be, though she wouldn't have minded some chicken. "Gaara, of the desert huh." He mutters more to himself. Though as Akari looks to him from the corner of her eyes she can see his gaze is more focused now as he is looking at her. He grunts to his own thought quietly. "Sounds fun." Sasuke comments with a hint of a smirk that is blocked by his hands.
As the waiter drops off their food, Akari picks up one of the chopsticks and breaks them apart. Using them, she lines the grill with the meat and different vegetables. Making sure to separate them so they will cook more accurately. "Akari." He speaks up pulling her eyes away from the food and up to him. "Why did you become a ninja? You may have told me at one time but you don't seem to want to fight." He speaks rather quietly as Akari flips the meat and vegetables so they don't burn, taking the time to think about his question. "We've lost too much to be without the other." She states causing him to grunt before his gaze hazes over with his own thoughts. "As for not wanting to fight. Being prepared to fight is different than seeking a fight. I will only use the strength I need to complete a mission otherwise there is no sense in going all out and wearing myself down for no reason. For example, in the fight against Haku, I should have used my full ability. But seeing someone on the street, there is no reason."
"I only want to see how strong I have become. To see if this is all the stronger, that I can be." He mutters quietly as he lifts his head seeing Akari grab the plates on the side of the table and begins to dish out the food evenly. "That is all fine. There are times when a ninja needs to test himself. Just remember, we are twelve right now. There is no way anyone can reach their limitations at our age." She states for him as she hands him his plate. "Hn, you have an answer for everything." He grunts as he looks down at his plate, officially blocking his eyes from her gaze.
A couple of thunks hit the window just as Akari was about to take a bite of her food, officially causing her to jump. Sasuke himself grunts in startlement as they both look at the window. Sure enough, Sakura had her face squished against the glass pane as she tries to see through the tint. Sighing Akari looks away from the sight and takes a bite of her food, trying to ignore her as Sasuke attempts to focus on his meal as well. With a frown, Akira sets down her plate and scoots closer to the window. Sasuke utters a sound of question noticing her movement.
Akari brings her face so close to the window that her forehead almost touches it as she routs her chakra into her eyes successfully igniting her Sharingan. Sakura's eyes widen as Akari works her chakra through her eyes and activates one of their abilities. Catching her in a genjutsu that was basically just a visualization of her not finding the two of them and having to look at different restaurants. Akari watches as Sakura's eyes haze over before she leaves the window and walks away from them. She had kept her illusion as normal as possible so Sakura's analytical skills wouldn't pick up on it too quickly.
When Akari disengages her Sharingan she looks to Sasuke who was now smirking, having set his plate down as well. His hands are back in front of his face as his shoulders jerk up and down with a laugh he was trying to keep in. Once he manages to calm himself down he picks up his water and takes a drink. As if that would cover his obvious amusement over what had just happened. "Well, that's one way to get rid of her." Even as he tries to say this with a straight face, he ends up smirking. Akari moves back to her plate and picks it up, finally taking another bite of her food that she can enjoy. "She really needs to pick up a new habit." Akari mutters after she swallows her bite.
Silence fell over them and after they finish their food, the two of them get up from the bench and make their way to the register. Sasuke hands the hostess the check the waiter had left them before he reaches into his wallet and pulls out the money in order to pay. Akari slips her hands into her pockets as she waits for him before the two of them walk out of the restaurant. "Let's train with our eyes." She states simply causing him to grunt in question just before he smirks. "About time." He comments as they walk away from the restaurant. "Let's go to a different training ground today for a change." He mutters as he slips his hands into his pockets, Akari simply gives him a nod as she keeps her place beside him.
"Why, Why, Why, it's always the same! He sets the time then we have to wait hours for him!" Akari steps onto the bridge in time to hear Naruto's usual rant. "It's not fair!" He continues to fume as he paces the bridge with his annoyance. "Tell me about it, I rushed here so fast I didn't even have time to blow dry my hair!" Sakura's exasperated tone complains shrilly causing Akari to officially sigh. To her, she was too tired for these antics this morning from having been training since before dawn.
Naruto stops his pacing as he turns toward Sakura looking as if he is about to cry. "And I didn't even have enough time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" He calls out hysterically as Akari leans against the railing of the bridge next to Sasuke who glances in her direction briefly from not having seen her at home this morning. "You uh... didn't? That's really disgusting Naruto." Sakura wrinkles her nose in distaste as she looks at him.
In a puff of smoke with a pop, Kakashi appears on top of one of the bridge's beams pulling all four sets of eyes up to him. "Hey, good morning everyone. Sorry, I'm late. I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life." He states lightly almost as if he was about to start laughing at his own excuse. "You liar!" Naruto and Sakura yell accusingly up at him at precisely the same time. Akari moves away from the railing and walks beside Sasuke as Kakashi jumps down from the beam drawing his students to him. He sighs and looks away from them a moment almost as if he was debating about just leaving. "I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the chunin exams, all four of you." He says before pulling out four pieces of paper. "These are the application forms."
"Application forms?" Sakura questions dumbfoundedly as she furrows her brows. "You're repeating me Sakura." Kakashi teases her lightly. "This is all voluntary, it's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready you can wait till next year." He explains for them pulling Akari's eyes up to him more fully. "Alright!" Naruto yells running up to Kakashi and hugging him sending the two of them into a spin. "Hey, don't slobber on my vest." Kakashi lightly snaps as he puts Naruto down and hands him his application. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign your name to the application form and come to room 301 at the academy. It's at 3 pm five days from now, that's it."
"Hahaha, chunin exams, chunin exam!" Naruto speaks excitedly as the rest of them take their applications as well. Akari looks down at her sheet, taking the time to read what it says. She knows what the exams are, as it's not only one of the things they learned in the academy but also, Itachi had to take them on his own. Most of the time there are three exam levels with the last one remaining the same, whereas the first two have differed throughout the years. There was even one that contained examinees battling for every step but that was a long time ago. Also at any point in time, if there are too many examinees left they can always hold another round, but that doesn't happen too often either.
As they are walking Naruto looks at his application form. "Chunin exams, I'll be up against some really wicked ninja!" He points out to himself as he closes his eyes momentarily before he shifts a glare to Sasuke and Akari. Sasuke glares at him in return as Akari simply looks up at the sky. Thinking about everything the chunin exams could entail. "We should spend our days off wisely. Such as going to the library to brush up on our intelligence and training to keep ourselves physically prepared." She utters out quietly pulling Sasuke's eyes to her before he grunts and closes them. "Then let's go to the library." Akari nods to him as she moves ahead of the group to make her way through the village. Sasuke's arm brushes against hers as he comes up next to her, officially leaving the other two members behind.