Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter Fourteen
They had scared them. That was exactly what Ibiki and Karibi had wanted; now it was time to see who was brave enough and who was skilled enough to get away with cheating.
Ibiki had been thorough enough with his explanation. He had made sure to be very clear on what his expectations were, because he was a man who didn't like repeating himself. And as he explained the rules and how the written portion was going to work, Karibi merely stood against the chalkboard behind him. Her gaze was on the genin, though her eyes lingered on Naruto.
She could tell that the blond was nervous just by taking a quick glance at him. He was paling with each rule Ibiki explained. And although she had faith in him, she couldn't help but find this entire situation a bit humorous; he was an awful test-taker to begin with, so having a timed examine was only putting more pressure on him.
When the tests had finally been handed out to the genin, she could tell by the gleam in Naruto's blue eyes that he knew he was in deep trouble. These are the kinds of questions even high level chunin and low level jonin have issues with, the woman said to herself as she glanced up at the time. In fact, if I tried answering some of these, I'm sure I would have a little trouble, too. She remembered slightly struggling when she had taken the written portion years ago.
Time had already begun, and ten minutes out of the sixty had already passed. Karibi had already spotted over ten people cheating, and she had to hold her unimpressed scoff in; it was like they weren't even trying to be discreet.
"Not satisfied, I see." Karibi looked to Ibiki as he smirked at her, his voice low and nearly inaudible.
"That's because—" The redhead shot an irritated look over to a young man with a grass symbol on his headband. "Hiroshi Tokomaru, you've now been caught cheating five times." Said genin's eyes widened when he heard Karibi's voice shatter the stiff silence. "You and your two other teammates can get up and get the hell out of my sight."
"Bu—But—"
"Now." Her voice had been demanding and stone-cold. Her eyes were gleaming, and there was an ominous glow around Karibi's figure as she glared at the failed genin. He began to shiver as he quickly began to stumble his way out of the examination room, two other girls standing to their feet and following after him. The jonin sighed as she watched them go, everyone returning their attention back to their exams.
"They're lacking skill and motivation." Ibiki chuckled at that.
"I see your experience testing the Anbu is still fresh in your memory." The 22-year-old shrugged at that.
"They may not be testing to be apart of the Black Ops, but not just any idiot is going to pass this and become a chunin," Karibi stated evenly, keeping her voice quiet. Ibiki nodded as he looked back out to the genin.
Within minutes, the proctor and his assistant began to weed out the weaker links. Chunin also began to pluck the less-than-worthy genin out—some having to even be dragged out of the testing room. The time began to dwindle away, and more and more, the room began to look emptier and emptier. The redhead glanced up to the clock before she looked to Naruto. She could see him struggling by the way he tapped his pencil against the table top and the way he bit at his bottom lip, and although in most cases she would have probably tried to drop a hint to him, she remained neutral. She wasn't going to let him pass with help; if he was going to become a chunin, it was going to be because of himself.
Taking a deep breath, Karibi stood to her feet from the chair she had been sitting in. She began to walk away as Ibiki looked over to her. She nodded to the door; she needed fresh air. The proctor nodded in return before he turned his attention back to the test-takers; he smirked when he heard Karibi call out another cheater as she walked to the door.
The kunoichi opened the door for the exiting team as she looked out for just a moment to Naruto. He caught her gaze with a terrified look on his face, but with just a small smile and a nod from his guardian, he felt a bit more assured; she had faith in him, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.
Shutting the door as she left, Karibi leaned against it and let out a held breath. Her shoulders sagged as she stared up at the ceiling for a second before she stood up and began to make her way down the corridor.
If Naruto passed or failed, she didn't want to know until the end.
§
Karibi made sure to steer away from the other jonin. Being apart of the chunin exams and seeing who passed and failed made things awkward for her. So, she wanted to play things safe and avoid contact with anyone until the first exam was officially over.
Sitting on a stone bench, the jonin sipped on a canned drink, closing her eyes as a breeze billowed past her. She smiled before she looked up to the sun and nodded to herself; she had the most faith in Naruto. But even if he failed, he would still be the same idiot she loved.
A sudden chill rolled down Karibi's back as she slowly looked down the sidewalk to her left. She raised a brow as a shadow loomed over her, catching her off guard. "Oh, forgive me. I didn't mean to disturb you."
His voice was chilling. And the young woman had never seen him before. His long black hair was pulled up completely, his skin pale like the winter snow, but the thing that had caught her attention the most—it had been his empty and lifeless eyes. He wore dark clothes and a purple hitai-ate with the Sound symbol carved into the metal plate; she assumed he was a jonin-teacher for a genin team in the chunin exam.
"Oh, no. You're not bothering me at all," Karibi stated as she remained composed, though her heart was thumping violently against her chest. The man stood before her with a sinister smile across his lips and a mysterious glint in his eyes. He took a step closer to her, and it took every ounce of self-control for Karibi not to stand up and press a kunai to the stranger's throat.
Standing up, Karibi tossed her empty can into the trash beside her seat as she turned to leave. "I was just about to—" The woman froze when she felt a cold hand grab her wrist. She stiffened entirely when the stranger's hand squeezed tightly around her arm, nearly cutting off the circulation to her hand. Slowly, the 22-year-old looked over her shoulder, meeting the cold and dark set of eyes bearing into hers.
"The crest on the back of your shirt." Karibi's jaw clenched as she forced herself to take a deep breath, the man's hand still holding her wrist firmly.
"It's a common symbol among those of the Leaf," the woman explained shortly. "It's nothing more."
"Is that so?" The man smirked as he squeezed more, causing Karibi to wince. "There was once a young girl who wore that same crest. She was just like you," the man whispered as he began to chuckle, licking his lips with a lecherous grin across his long face.
Karibi didn't dare meet the stranger's gaze. She stared to the ground as a voice suddenly echoed in her mind. Her eyes fluttered shut as her head began to spin, darkness swallowing her whole as an eerie laugh suddenly rang out in her imagination. A set of gold hued eyes appeared behind Karibi's eyelids before she gasped and fell back into her seat. And as she tried to catch her breath, she looked up and grimaced deeply; the man with her was nowhere to be seen.
Choking, the young woman began to quiver before she forced herself to her feet and sprinted down the sidewalk. She didn't look back, too afraid she'd see the same eyes that she had forgotten about for years.
The eyes of Orochimaru.
§
They had all passed! The first part of the chunin exams was done, and that meant that the next part would begin the next day. But as Naruto walked beside Sasuke and Sakura, he couldn't seem to bring himself to care all that much; the challenges of tomorrow could wait.
"So, I hear you three made it through?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Said jonin smiled proudly from under his mask as he approached his genin. Naruto was nearly jumping for joy as Sakura grinned at her sensei, Sasuke smirking at the man.
"I'm proud of each and every one of you," the silver haired man said as he reached out and placed a hand on top of Sasuke and Naruto's head. He tussled their hair, the Uchiha wearing an annoyed look on his face while the blond merely grinned.
"Well done, Sakura." The 26-year-old turned his attention to the female of the team, reaching out and giving her head a gentle pat; the girl smiled with a light blush across her cheeks.
Kakashi had truly been relieved to hear that the three of them had passed. Ibiki was a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that they had each passed together meant that they were not only strong individually, but strong as a team. And that was what made the jonin smile so much.
"Anko has already given the remaining jonin-teachers the time and coordinates of where you will be assembling tomorrow," the silver haired man explained. "You are to meet here at nine am sharp," Kakashi stated as he handed each of the genin a slip of paper that Anko had given him.
"Alright! After this, I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage!" Naruto laughed happily as Sakura gazed at him before she smiled fondly at him. The silent one of the team stared at his teammates before he smirked and nodded.
"Well, then. Why don't we celebrate? Ramen on me, what do you say?" Kakashi chuckled as the three eagerly agreed, following after the teacher as he led the way down the street. He only stopped when he found a familiar redhead walking towards him.
"Ribi-chan!" Said jonin stiffened at the call of her name but relaxed before she forced a smile across her lips. She watched as Naruto began to run up to her, arms open before he launched himself up to her. Karibi chuckled as she hugged the young boy tightly, the goofy grin on his face enough to keep her grounded for that moment. "We passed! We all passed!"
"Congratulations, you three." Karibi set Naruto down on his feet as she turned her attention to Sakura and Sasuke. She smiled to them, the pink haired genin smiling widely in return and Sasuke merely nodding with a pleased look on his features.
"You should come celebrate with us, right Kakashi-sensei?" The man blinked before he replaced the serious gleam in his eye with a friendly one.
"You're more than welcome to," the older jonin offered.
Something had been off about Karibi. He couldn't say exactly what, but she was shaken by something. He could tell by the way her eyes flickered around—as if she was waiting for someone to jump out and grab her. And if that wasn't enough, it was the way she was breathing and the way her smile seemed too forced.
"I've got to go meet Ibiki and Anko right now, actually," Karibi said with an apologetic smile. "But if you pass this next part of the exam, I'll treat you three to whatever you want. How about that?" Karibi offered as Naruto nodded excitedly while Sakura smiled sweetly and thanked the woman.
"Now go and enjoy this victory, ok?" Karibi chuckled as Naruto rushed past her, Sakura calling after the boy as she followed him. Sasuke let out a sigh, though there was a content look on his face as he followed after his two teammates at his own leisure.
"...What's wrong?" Kakashi didn't bother waiting long after the genin were ahead to ask. He gazed down at Karibi as she avoided his stare before she shook her head and began to walk around him.
"It's nothing. Go and—" Karibi stopped as Kakashi grabbed her hand, which caused her to turn and face him. He stared intently, unwilling to drop the question. He held on to Karibi's hand, the warmth from his grasp much different than the unwelcoming and icy touch of the stranger from before.
"...Go." Karibi squeezed Kakashi's hand reassuringly as she smiled up at him, more relaxed than she had been just seconds ago. "You know Naruto's impatient when it comes to his ramen." Kakashi frowned but said nothing else before he released Karibi's hand. She continued to smile at him before turning and heading down the street without another word; any trace of her happy expression had disappeared.
The older jonin stared after the young woman with his hands at his side. He remained unmoved for a few seconds before voices called after him. Quickly, the jonin looked back to find Naruto waving for him to catch up. With a weak smile, the masked ninja quickly began to make his way down the road, sparing one last look in Karibi's direction before he caught up to his team.
*Three Days Later*
She hadn't slept a wink that night. She hadn't returned home either—not since Naruto had gone to begin the second part of the exam. Instead, she remained wide awake through the two days, sitting beside the KIA stone and thinking. By the time the dawn began to take over from yet another night, the woman was seated against the stone, her legs pulled up to her chest.
The memories she had forced herself to push aside—the memories in which she had purposely forgotten, they all came back to her in a rush. They were in blotches and some images were hazy and hard to make out, but his voice was always so clear and crisp in her mind; it made her sick.
"How long have you been out here for?" Karibi's eyes widened as she looked up, her closest friend standing in front of her before he knelt down and sat at eye-level with her.
"Ka—Kakashi?" The masked man frowned at his friend before he carefully scooped her up into his arms. He held her close to his body, the young woman leaning against him and letting out a held breath; the warmth of his firm body pulled her back to reality, briefly. He could feel her shaking in his arms, but he didn't mention anything else before he disappeared and reappeared back in his room.
As the silver haired jonin leaned forward to set Karibi down on his bed, he paused when she gripped tightly to his vest, remaining stuck to him. He frowned but didn't say anything, deciding to lie beside the fragile woman without question. He forced himself to say nothing as Karibi hid her face in her hands, leaning against Kakashi's chest while he kept his arms around her, protecting her from whatever it was that haunted her.
"...You're safe." Karibi shut her eyes at the sound of Kakashi's sure tone. "Whatever it is...I won't let anything happen to you." That was the one promise he was going to make sure to keep.
Karibi pulled her hands from her face and relaxed, keeping her eyes shut. The tiredness in her body began to spread like a wildfire before she began to steadily breathe, whatever fears that had been consuming her now forgotten—for the time being.
Kakashi remained awake for the rest of the morning, running his fingers mindlessly through Karibi's burgundy hair. He paused every so often when the woman fidgeted in his arms but continued when she would stop and keep sleeping. And when the 22-year-old finally began to stir—four hours later—the masked jonin stopped and carefully rolled her off of his arm.
"How are you feeling?" The younger jonin sluggishly opened her eyes as she moaned, rolling over and digging her face into one of his pillow. Relieved by the more normal reaction, the young man stood up from the bed and made his way quietly out of his room, venturing into the kitchen. Not even five minutes after he had left did Karibi follow him out, a knowing look on her face. She took a seat at the table silently, the silver haired ninja setting a plate of food in front of her.
"...I'm sorry." The 26-year-old took a seat across from his guest and didn't bother replying. He merely sat quietly and waited for the woman to eat. She stared down at her plate before she slowly grabbed her chopsticks and began to chow down, stealing glances at the quiet man as she ate.
She didn't want to tell him. That was why she was sorry. She was sorry because she didn't have the strength or the urge to let him in. And Kakashi respected that, because she had never pried. She had let him warm up to her until he was ready to spill whatever dark secret was plaguing his weak mind. So, until she was ready to tell him, he would merely be there and support her—just as he always did and would.
"Continuing with your assistant proctor duties today, then?" Kakashi asked as he watched Karibi finish the last of her food. She stood up to her feet before she set the plate in the sink and began to wash it, looking over her shoulder and nodding her head.
"I'll stop by the tower in a bit. I'm only required to be present for the end of each part of the exam so I can collect data on the remaining genin," she explained as she set the clean plate on a towel. She turned and leaned against the counter while Kakashi remained seated at the table.
"And what about you, Scarecrow?"
"These days, I find myself with all this time. I'm not sure what to do with it," he stated as Karibi nodded her head before she approached the table and sat back in her seat. "Without the genin, it's quieter."
"Can't say that I disagree," the woman said before she sighed and stretched. She hopped back up to her feet before she smirked to Kakashi. "Since we're both free, how about sparring?"
§
They were evenly matched, for the most part. But if someone were forced to pick who was stronger, it was Kakashi. He was older and had more experience and strength, and Karibi knew it. And seeing as she, unfortunately, had been on a bit of a mission-hiatus, she wasn't getting nearly as much training in as she would have liked. Still, that was no excuse, because she had always admired the older jonin's skills—though she'd never tell that to his face, nowadays.
The pair had started off with just taijutsu. It was a bit of a warm up for both of them, and it only seemed fair. But it wasn't until Karibi had impatiently used a Water Style jutsu that they had broken into ninjutsu.
"Wind Style: Dust Storm Jutsu!" Taking a deep breath, Karibi blew hard, feeling her chakra flowing through her fingers and her lips as she aimed directly for Kakashi. The masked jonin quickly jumped out of the way of her attack while he created a handsign of his own. Several shadow clones appeared as they all darted towards the redhead, who smirked before she swung her left leg backwards and around, kicking one clone back while she turned her upper body with the motion of her body and reached for another Kakashi clone to her left. Planting her foot back on the ground, she twisted her body to the right and threw him into another clone before she felt a foot sweep under her, tripping her backwards.
The real Kakashi watched from a treetop, hidden by the leaves. An amused gleam shimmered in his visible eye as Karibi hit the ground but somersaulted backwards, avoiding one of his last clone's fist. He smirked slightly when the young woman made swift hand seals, slamming both of her palms on to the round. With an impressed nod, the 26-year-old watched as crystal walls sprang up from the ground and encased his clones, keeping them frozen in time.
"Found you!" The silver haired ninja quickly launched forward without looking back, a Karibi clone just barely missing him with her fist. The older jonin landed gracefully on the ground, and then he looked over his shoulder, seeing the kunoichi's fist crash through several branches with ease; she had focused a lot of chakra to her jab.
"Not bad," Kakashi stated before he turned to the real Karibi and smiled flippantly. "But you still lose."
"What—" The ground beneath the redhead began to shake slightly before her amethyst eyes widened. Faltering, the woman looked over her shoulder and watched as the real Kakashi sprang out from the ground, tackling her and breaking her barrier jutsu. With a yelp, Karibi face-planted into the dirt, wincing as her arms were pulled behind her back, Kakashi seated comfortably on her back and keeping enough of his weight on her to refrain her from escaping.
"Looks like I win." Karibi growled but relaxed after a moment, accepting her defeat as graciously as she possibly could.
Helping the young woman to her feet, Kakashi smiled and watched as she began to dust herself off. "I can admit that I'm a bit rusty," Karibi stated bitterly before her friend chuckled.
"You had me on the ropes for a while."
"I know." The kunoichi smirked before another presence suddenly caught her attention. Reflexively, Kakashi turned and took a small step in front of Karibi, who raised a brow and remained close to her friend's side. When the dust cleared the two relaxed, an Anbu standing before them with his face hidden behind a bird mask.
"Uzumaki-san."
"What is it?" The redhead stepped forward with a curious look on her face before the Black Ops member spoke.
"Anko-san has requested for your presence right away." That had caught Karibi off guard; that couldn't be good.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a delicate matter." Kakashi had been quick to catch on; it was a private ordeal.
"I'll be there right away."
"Right." The Anbu jumped off in a flash, leaving Kakashi and Karibi on their own. The redhead frowned before she looked to Kakashi, who nodded his head with an understanding gleam in his eye. She smiled back to him before she jumped off, leaving the man to his own devices. He stared after the kunoichi before he looked up to the sky and let out a tired breath. A cool breeze blew past him, caressing his face softly.
The storm was coming.
§
"How could this have happened? How could he have gotten past without us knowing?"
"Hell if I know." Anko winced as she reached up and pressed her hand against the curse mark on the back of her shoulder. She tried to relieve the pain with pressure but couldn't seem to ignore the burning sensation that coursed through her body. "That bastard...after all of this time."
"Have you tried contacting Sandaime?" Karibi asked as she stood before the proctor of the second exam. She paced from wall to wall in the tower security room, a deeply trouble look on her face.
"He's been busy preparing for the Kazekage's arrival. I won't be able to get a hold of him until the last day of this exam." Karibi cursed quietly under her breath.
Her suspicions hadn't been far off.
"We can't continue the exams, not like this," Karibi stated firmly as Anko grimaced from the sharp pain.
"We can't cancel the entire thing either," the usually brash woman said thoughtfully as the redhead paused before shaking her head.
"...What the hell are we going to do?"
Here we are! Moving through the exam now, and things with Orochimaru are going to be coming to their high point soon enough. I'm excited because this part of the story is going to be where Karibi sort of branches out to other characters, so it'll be interesting to see how she interacts with them and how the story unfolds! Hopefully you all will enjoy that :) I will also say that more moments with Naruto and Karibi as well as Sasuke and Karibi are going to be on the way. Not in the immediate future, but scenes are coming, so be prepared for that!
I would like to give a thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story! Your support is truly appreciated and it is one of the things that encourages me to write this story! Writing is, and will always be, a tool for me to release some tension and frustration and sadness in my life that I'm going through, but I'm happy that I get to share my writing and that those who decide to read this and give this story a chance like it enough to continue on with it! It's reassuring and comforting, so truly, thanks to whoever reads this!
Reviews:
lizy2000: LOL Kabuto is a sneaky one. She'll have more run-ins with him, so it'll be interesting to see just how she's going to take it. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
kirika o7: Yes! Having a reunion with Orochimaru will be interesting for Karibi. I definitely think she's still recovering even after all this time from what he's done to her, and although readers have seen a little bit of what she went through from her past, in my mind, that was only just a little excerpt of what she went through. Everyone knows Orochimaru is a scum bag and pretty much the worst, so who really knows what she went through :( It'll be an interesting part of the story, that's for sure! And her meetings with all the other characters is going to be fun! I'm truly excited to get to that part of "Naruto"! I'm unsure of how far I want to take the writing with Kakashi and Karibi's intimate moments. I've been going back and forth with whether I want to, at some point, add in more "M" rated material in the future or not. If you have an opinion please feel free to let me know! Thank you so much for reading and writing a review! It means a lot and I hope you will continue to like this story!
ajwehri: Honestly, I relate to how you feel about inserting Karibi. I thought a long time about what the best way to fit her in the exam was without making it forced or unbelievable. But now that we're going through it, I think that she's fitting in just fine, and I'm happy to hear that you think so too! If there's anything that does end up seeming forced or that doesn't fit with her during this period, feel free to let me know, please! Like I've always said, feedback is always welcome and I truly listen! Thank you so much for your encouragement and for reading! I truly appreciate it!
Know Pein: Hello! First, thank you for reading this story thus far, and I'm genuinely so happy to hear that you like Karibi is a character. I feel like writing a likeable OC is always a bit challenging. Now, with Naruto, I will explain just how I wanted his relationship with Karibi to be and his personality, because you were actually right when I said that I wanted to try and keep him close to canon! When I first started this story, I had already decided that I didn't want to change too much about his character just because it's Naruto and there is no better version of Naruto than the version of who he is and becomes in the show. So, I didn't want to tamper too much into that, so I tried to write his relationship with Karibi in a way that would still keep him the way he is. Keeping that distance between them in the beginning and having Karibi struggle to really accept her relationship with Naruto, etc., that I feel like kept Naruto from straying too far from his character in the actual series. She'd leave him for long periods of time, go through spurts of anger towards him but also still show him affection and care causing him to still be a troublemaker so that he could keep her attention. And I also think, personally, that if anything, he's a bit more kiddish around Karibi just because she makes him feel like an actual kid his age rather than a loner that no one wants to interact with. She wanted him to feel his age and act his age and be the kid that he's supposed to be. That's my reasoning behind that! I understand if that bothers you and I can try and work on that for future chapters, but that is the main reasoning behind why I kept his character nearly the same, and I just thought you deserved an explanation! Sorry for rambling, and thank you for reading and for your input! It is something I truly appreciate and will look into for the future! Thank you!
WindyCitySlayer1: I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed that chapter! I hope you like this chapter, as well, and future chapters to come :) Thank you!
Rina Dragonfly: Who wouldn't find that entertaining? ;D I think a little bit of Ibiki rubbed off on Karibi while she worked with him for this LOL Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate you taking the time out to review, as well! Thank you!
bored411: I'm so happy to hear that you liked the last chapter! Writing fluff between Karibi and Kakashi is always just so much fun, so I'm happy to hear that you enjoy it too :D I'm also relieved to hear that you liked my personal reasoning for Kakashi's mask. In no way am I saying that it is the real reason, but it was just something I thought of randomly while I was reading the new book about Kakashi I bought LOL So thank you! Yes, I think from here on out, Karibi's going to slowly unravel herself towards Naruto and he's going to finally see the "real" Karibi. It'd be impossible for her to keep all of her skeletons in the closet, so this is the starting point for all of that. As for Orochimaru...her feelings towards him are rather...delicate I would say. It'll definitely be interesting to see how she reacts when he finally reveals himself and unleashes himself on to Konoha! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
Atiama Amisl: I can't spoil how Karibi and Kakashi are going to end up! You'll have to wait and see just what happens between the ;D As for Orochimaru...in the end, he'll get what's coming to him LOL But all will be revealed in time! Thank you so much for reading up until now, and I hope that you will continue to read and continue to enjoy this story! :)
LilyVampire: Fluff is always so great, isn't it? XD I'm glad to hear that you liked my reasoning for Kakashi's mask. Not to say that that is the actual reason why he wears it, but I just thought of it and wondered what the possible reasons could be, and it seemed like a very Kakashi reason to wear it LOL Exams are here! And more is to come with all of the Orochimaru drama and the final exams and the upcoming Konoha battle! Who knows what's going to happen...just have to wait and see, I suppose ;) Thank you for reading! I appreciate you taking the time to do so, and I hope you will continue to read!