Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any characters related to the series
Chapter Twenty-three
Cheers filled the air as people shouted out names and clapped for the genin fighting in the arena. Eyes were glued to the two, their blurry figures much too fast for the untrained haze to track. But for the other ninja in the stands—watching ever so closely, they could see fists flying and chakra flowing.
The first battle had begun. Naruto was doing his best, but Neji's Byakugan was a dangerous asset.
"You're not cheering?" Tearing her gleaming eyes from the scene before her. Karibi looked over her shoulder before she smiled at her companion.
"Hinata! I see you came to cheer your friends on." The shier genin smiled sweetly, a light blush dusted across her pale cheeks. The jonin glanced back to the fight, watching as Naruto barely dodged Neji's jab; she was glad he had been smart enough to jump away before his chakra path had been closed.
"As an assistant proctor, are you not allowed to cheer for just one genin?" Hinata inquired curiously, her dainty voice being carried to Karibi's ears through the gentle breeze rolling through.
"Ah, well, I personally don't want to seem biased by cheering...but mostly, I just don't want him to get distracted." Karibi gazed down at the blond, watching as the reels in his mind began to turn. "The last thing I want is for him to lose focus because of the crowd." Hinata nodded, cautiously approaching the older woman's side and standing close to the railing.
This was Karibi's first time having a solid conversation with the young girl. Normally, when visiting Kurenai and her genin were around, Kiba was the one carrying the conversation. And seeing as she had once been close with his older sister, she was rather familiar with the brunet; so much so, that they were already on a first name basis before Kiba had joined team Kurenai. Shino was normally quiet around everyone—even his own teammates and sensei, so Karibi wasn't too offended by the fact that her conversations with him were mild and short. As for Hinata, the young girl merely watched her quietly, as if she were examining her every move. The redhead had always assumed it was because of her hidden feelings for Naruto and the fact she wanted to pay attention closely to the person closest to him. That, or she wanted to subtly pick up on things about Naruto. Either way, she had very limited interactions with the girl.
Until that moment.
"Do you...Do you think Naruto can win?" The older Uzumaki mulled the question over in her head before she smiled widely at the young girl. She watched as the Hyuuga's pale eyes brightened and a hopeful gleam began to shine in them.
"I have no doubt about it." Karibi smirked, her eyes stuck back on to Naruto. "He's going to win."
§
He had played the match smart; creating clones and distributing his chakra evenly within them was Naruto's way of trying to distract Neji. Karibi was impressed. She hadn't expected the genin to try and used some strategy in his match with the Hyuuga. She had merely assumed he would try and go for big attacks and use brawn. But watching him battle the older genin made her heart swell and a smile stretch across her lips.
He truly had grown.
The match roared on, Naruto's first attempts to stifle and beat Neji failing. The brunet was quick and fearless with his attacks—knowing when and where to attack. In response to that, the struggling blond created more Shadow Clones, hoping that the sheer amount of duplicates would be able to break through Neji's defense and catch him off guard. Unfortunately for Naruto and those cheering for him, things would not come so easily.
The jonin narrowed her eyes at the long-haired boy, her eyes gradually drifting to the short-haired girl behind her. A gentleness appeared in the amethyst eyes, a scared and anxious expression evident on the genin's face; having her powerful cousin matched with her struggling crush was difficult to watch.
"It'll all work out, Hinata." Said girl raised her head to meet Karibi's gaze. "They say...They say everything happens for a reason. So whether he wins or loses, as long as we support him, it'll be alright." The girl blinked before slowly smiling and nodding her head. Then, without a word, she began to shuffle back to her seat beside Kiba, the older woman watching her with a soft smile before her attention was fully placed on Naruto.
No matter what, she'd be there for him.
§
"Proctor! It's over!" Watching Naruto get knocked down to the ground was hard for Karibi. She bit her lip and glared heatedly at Neji, holding back from the instinct of protecting the blond and attacking the Hyuuga herself; she wasn't sure when or how she had become so protective of the boy. And as Neji continued with his insults—continued with pushing Naruto further down into the ground with his words, the redheaded jonin could see the flame growing bigger inside of him.
"All this destiny shit. If you really believe in that, then why aren't you walking away?" He was barely able to stand on his feet—barely able to keep his eyes open, but Naruto was fighting against every urge within his body to give up. He ignored the burn and the ache and focused on what was waiting for him ahead and his promise he'd made for Hinata's sake.
Scoffing, Neji smirked before shaking his head. "You impudent, little brat! Why should I waste my breath explaining this to you?" It was easy to see the way Neji had grown up had indefinitely changed the way he thought and viewed life. And as Karibi listened to his words, the more she began to feel sympathy for him. She hadn't known any Hyuuga's personally, but she had heard many stories of the clan and the way they ran their hierarchy of power.
She wanted to be cold towards Naruto's opponent, but she couldn't bring herself to it.
Naruto's eyes drifted towards the stands, barely making out the faces that came to watch the matches. The silence was chilling, nothing but the sound of his breath and the whisper of the breeze filling the endless void. And as his gaze continued to roam the crowd, he caught sight of someone that made his determination sudden skyrocket.
Karibi.
"You think you're the only one who's ever had struggles before? Well, I've got news for you, Neji. You're not the only special one around here." Neji's gaze hardened as he watched Naruto glare intently at him as he held his side. "Did you ever think that Hinata's suffering as much as you are? It's not her fault that her father was born before yours. But you still resent her for it. You disrespect her, even though she tries so hard!" Although she wasn't there to hear all the kindness he was saying and all the support he was giving her, she didn't need to be; she knew just how thoughtful and caring Naruto was.
And she would cherish him until the end of her days.
Watching from afar, Karibi narrowed her eyes at Neji. She resisted the urge to jump down and knock him in the back of the head, her eyes dancing over towards Genma, who met her gaze and stared for a moment. She could see the doubt in his mind through just the way he looked at her, but then, he winked subtly before looking back to the match. The redhead remained baffled by his quick reaction towards her, but then, her eyes widened at the sudden surge of power and chakra the swarmed the entire stadium.
With a disbelieving laugh, Karibi threw her head back. She shook her head before looking back at the match, grinning widely.
"Thank you, Jiraiya."
§
He was faster. He was faster, and not only that, he was much stronger. There was a fire of determination inside of Naruto that he couldn't quench—not until he beat Neji and everyone else in his way of becoming Hokage.
Not until he proved them all wrong.
With the clash of their kunai and the clash of their chakra, the ground beneath the two genin crumbled apart and flew into a minor explosion. Genma quickly shielded his eyes and face with his arms, remaining right where he stood without a problem. That's some chakra that kid's got.
As the smoke from the prior attack cleared, the brunet squinted through the haze, finding two indents in the ground where the genin had been standing. He let out a quiet and low hum before he raised a brow, a hand rising from the rubble. A head was followed by the arm, shoulders rising from the debris and then a whole torso; the torso of Neji Hyuuga. A hint of disappointment flittered inside of the 29-year-old, his eyes flashing towards Naruto's direction; he didn't not rise.
Looking up briefly, the proctor smirked; Karibi was grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Sorry, but this is reality." Neji approached Naruto's motionless body, his eyes narrowed at his opponent. "Everyone is born with a destiny, and there's no escaping that. You're a failure. This match is ov—"
And then, without warning, a fist was springing up from the ground and hitting Neji in the jaw.
§
"Switch it."
"What? We can't just—"
"I'm the one who created the schedule of the fights, and I say switch it." Karibi glared at Genma as he frowned at her, glancing down at the sheet in which the schedule had been written on.
After Naruto's unpredicted win over Neji, the crowd had gone wild. They had cheered his name and had congratulated him through the shouts—he had never been so admired before by everyone in his life. But the person that had meant the most had given him a strong hug and a kiss on the top of his blond head; that had touched him the most out of everything and everyone.
Their celebratory meeting had been brief, due to Karibi's role in the exam, but she had been sure to tell him that she had never doubted him from the start. As she held him close to herself and leaned her head against his, she couldn't fight the overwhelming feeling of pride and happiness that bloomed with in; she'd never felt such a way before in her entire life. But the moment had been quickly broken when realization hit her, hard.
Sasuke was still missing for his upcoming match.
"Move on to Shikamaru and Temari."
"Karibi, you've already given Hokage-sama a cop—"
"Then I'll just say that I gave him the wrong draft. I don't give a—"
"Karibi-san." Looking over her shoulder, said woman watched as Raido approached her with a solemn look on his face. "You must have already guessed, but—"
"If this is about disqualifying Sasuke Uchiha, then I need to speak with the Hokage, myself."
"What?" Ignoring the confusion on the tokubetsu jonin's face, Karibi turned to Genma with a stern expression etched upon her face.
"Do it. I'll handle this, you just do this, alright?" Genma sighed, shaking his head as he watched his friend walk towards the Hokage's balcony. He glanced to the sun before he looked back at the redhead.
"You doing this for the kid or for his sensei?" Coming to an abrupt halt, Karibi's eyes widened at the sudden question. She slowly looked over her shoulder, Genma giving her a knowing look.
"...Does it matter?"
"I'm just asking."
"It's none of your business."
"Never said it was." Glaring, the younger jonin scoffed before she turned to stomp away with an indignant look upon her features.
"It's for both of them."
§
With a little assistance from the Kazekage—which had been a bit unsettling for Karibi—she had been able to convince the Hokage to postpone Sasuke's battle; if he did not come after this next battle, that would be the end for him in this exam.
Shikamaru was an interesting sort of genin. He was unlike anyone Karibi had ever met or seen before. He was lazy, unmotivated, uncaring—yet he was also extremely intelligent and knew exactly what to do and when to do it; that combination didn't make any sense.
Except for when it came to Shikamaru Nara.
"What a weird kid." Karibi smirked as she crossed her arms, watching as Temari's patience wore thin. "And what a fitting combination for a battle."
Temari seemed far more aggressive versus Shikamaru. She was spunky, and she was strong. And she seemed smart enough to figure out some of the Nara's weak points with his Shadow Possession jutsu.
Still, she was surely not as smart as the Leaf genin.
"So, who's winning and who's losing?" Looking at the man beside her, Karibi smirked before she shrugged.
"It all depends." Genma raised a brow, at that.
"On what?"
"Whether or not Shikamaru feels like winning."
§
Shikamaru's forfeit had been an uproar and also a crowd-pleaser; never had anyone seen a match such as that. He had the win in his palm, but with his depleting chakra and the lack of true motivation to go further, he had decided to be smart and forfeit before things got worse for him and before anything too serious happened.
Unknowingly, he had moved Temari in too many different ways to count.
With the match finished, it only meant one thing; Sasuke was next. But he was still nowhere to be seen. And as Karibi kept her eyes open and her senses sharp, there was no telling where the genin was or when he would be coming.
"Karibi." Looking at Genma, the woman frowned as he gaze knowingly at her. "Time's up. We can't keep waiting forever. There are other matches, and the people are starting to get fussy."
"I know that," the redhead snapped before she clenched her jaw shut and ran her tongue over the front of her teeth. Her eyes then drifted over towards Shikamaru and Naruto—the two having remained on the field after the last match. Her gaze softened as she took note of the apprehension and the fear that was rising inside of Naruto, but there was nothing she could do for him.
Sasuke was still nowhere to be seen.
"...Call it." Genma blinked, slightly caught off guard by his assistant's statement.
"You mean that?"
"I said it, didn't I?" The woman had a stone-like look on her face as she gazed at the crowd. "Call the damn match." With an apprehensive look on his face, Genma nodded; he could tell by the twisted expression his partner was wearing that she was unhappy about the decision.
"Due to the time-limit running out, I'm officially calling this match—" And then, it had happened.
In a blink of an eye, they had appeared. No one had seen it coming, and it had been impossible to predict. But there they were, standing back-to-back and with a strange aura of fearlessness around them.
There was Sasuke.
Everyone gasped, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Uchiha and the Copy Nin. Their eyes were wide and the shock could almost be felt throughout the entire arena. The air was tense as everyone waited for something—anything to happen. The breeze whistled through the seats, a chill running up almost everyone's back.
"Sorry we're late. You wouldn't believe the traffic." Kakashi smiled from under his mask, his eye wandering from Genma, Naruto and Shikamaru, and then Karibi. The woman let out a quiet sigh, her shoulders sagging as the wrinkles on her face eased away and relaxed.
"State your name." Genma smirked with his senbon still in his mouth, the dark haired boy looking up with a stoic look. His eyes gleamed with what could only be call anticipation.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Within seconds, the crowd was hollering and cheering. People began to scream the boy's name, excitement reverberating throughout the entire stadium.
"Huh. So, you decided to show up after all!" Naruto smiled impishly at his teammate, the older genin smirking at his friend; he was surprised at the contentment he felt at seeing him. "I thought you wouldn't show because you realized in the end, you'd have to face me!" Sasuke scoffed, though the comradery was ever present with the way his eyes shined and the air around him.
"So? What about you? Did you win?"
"You know it!" The two gazed into the other's eyes, their adrenaline running and the high of the moment seeping into their pores.
They wanted to skip all the rest and fight each other.
"Don't get comfortable, loser."
Karibi couldn't stop herself from smirking, her eyes glued to Naruto and Sasuke. She could see the friendliness and the trust between them, and she had found herself thinking that she was happy that Naruto had someone in his life that he could lean on like that—someone who pushed him to do better and pushed him to be his best.
She hoped their friendship would last.
"Sorry if we kept you waiting." Looking up, the woman watched as Kakashi approached her with a hand behind his head. He rubbed the back of his hitai-ate against his head, his eye stuck on his friend. "How late are we?" he questioned sheepishly, the redhead scoffing—though she felt herself tense at the small amount of distance that the man had put between them. "It's not like Sasuke's disqualified or anything...right?" The woman scoffed once more as she shook her head, giving her friend an exasperated stare.
"He was about to be." Genma glanced from his assistant proctor to the late jonin before he spoke up.
"If it hadn't been for her, he probably would've been." Kakashi blinked before he looked back at Karibi, the redhead clearing her throat and avoiding his gaze; her cheeks were turning a tint of pink. "She had to extend the deadline twice."
"Well, then I suppose I owe you for that, hmm?" The younger jonin rolled her eyes, glaring at her comrade—though there was little bite in her expression.
"Just be lucky that I like Sasuke. Anyone else, and I might've just let them keep going." Giving Sasuke a wink, the woman watched as he blinked before a small smirk stretched across his face. He nodded to her, looking up into the stands at his upcoming opponent.
Gaara of the Sand.
"Sasuke. Don't lose." Naruto's short statement was enough to gain all of Sasuke's attention. The two gazed intently at each other before Sasuke nodded with every once of seriousness he could muster.
"Got it."
Karibi smiled softly at Naruto before she looked up at Kakashi and raised a brow. "What exactly were the two of you doing that kept you this long?" The older jonin shrugged, smiling innocently from under his mask.
"You'll just have to wait and see. Sasuke will have you impressed with this one." The woman scoffed before she shook her head, an amused type of look coming over her. She sighed before she glanced to Genma, her eyes widening as he smirked knowingly at her. Quickly, she cleared her throat before turning to Naruto.
"Time to move out. I think we've all waited long enough for this match."
"Yeah!" Naruto quickly followed after Shikamaru, who lazily made his way towards the stairs. Karibi watched them for a moment before she looked back at Sasuke and nodded.
"I'm excited to see if you actually learned anything from this so called jonin-teacher of yours." Said jonin-teacher shook his head. "Good luck, Sasuke." With that, Karibi looked to Kakashi, who nodded, the two of them disappearing in a small puff of smoke.
Popping into a dark corridor from inside the stadium, the two shinobi relaxed, the faint cry of the crowd billowing through the silence. Karibi glanced up before she chuckled, shutting her eyes and letting the stress of the last few weeks roll off her shoulders. "Finally—" The woman's eyes snapped open as she felt Kakashi suddenly push her into the wall with one hand on her shoulder while the other pulled down his mask with utter desperation. Without wasting another second, the man pressed his mouth against Karibi's, stealing her startled breath while doing so. His body pressed firmly against hers, giving her little space to wiggle free—not that she tried. She merely responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers into his soft hair.
The sound of wet kisses echoed underneath all the yelling and cheering. The 26-year-old tilted his head to the right, his nose brushing Karibi's as he did so. And as his tongue delved deeper into her mouth—tasting every bit of her—he soon realized that the hunger and desire inside of him for the woman was insatiable; this would lead to no good. So, clearing his mind of the lustful fog, he began to try and peel himself away from her body. But as he stepped away, his visible eye widened, the woman tightening her grip around his neck and hiking her legs up and around his waist. Her eyes remained shut as she leaned forward and smashed her lips back to Kakashi's, the jonin losing balance and stumbling backwards. Quickly, the man slid his hands down to Karibi's bottom, holding her up with ease as his back was pressed against the wall. He leaned back for leverage, letting Karibi have her way with his mouth as she kissed and nibbled and sucked on his tongue and lips. Her fingers rubbed into his scalp, causing a chill to run up his back before he squeezed his hands around her butt tightly, and as she let out a low and excited hum, he smiled.
He had missed her so much—it hurt.
Finally pulling away, Karibi panted heavily, her cheeks flushed and her eyes still shut. Kakashi remained motionless against the wall as he tried to catch his breath, his eyes shut as well. And as they stood in the still of the moment, smiles spread across their faces. The young woman leaned her head forward and pressed her forehead to the crook of her friend's neck. He leaned into her touch, holding her effortlessly.
"...Welcome back," the woman whispered, inhaling the man's scent with a content smile. Kakashi nodded silently, letting Karibi's legs down and sliding his arms back around her waist. He held her close to him and remained against the wall before he sighed.
"It's good to be back."
Hi everyone!
So, as I was going about my day, I had decided to try and get an update in. And as I was updating this story, I realized really quickly that today marks the four-year anniversary of this story! It's completely shocking that I've been working on this story for this long! Granted, there was a time frame of absence (a few times, actually...) within these four years, but still! It's still exciting! I'm so happy with how far this story has come within the time it was created up until now. And I'm so happy that whoever is reading this has stuck around for this long LOL Thank you for all of the support and the kind words and for giving this story the opportunity!
So, we are now getting close to the knitty gritty of the chunin exams. I will say, it was hard for me to really decide what I wanted to include in these upcoming chapters without making the chapters too long. But I'm happy with what I've come up with. I hope you guys are too! There is going to be a lot unfolding after this, as everyone knows from the series. Adding Karibi to the mix is going to be so much fun LOL And a little bit of exciting fluff at the end with Kakashi XD I'm still contemplating on how "mature" I will be getting with the content of this story...We'll see how it goes! If whoever is reading has a preference, always feel free to let me know! Your opinion is something I take serious :)
Thanks again for reading! And to those who celebrate, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Reviews:
bored411: Just you wait...it's all going to unfold within the next few chapters! Thinking of a way to fit Karibi in was a little tedious, but hopefully the chapters pan out the way I want them to and you guys are as readers enjoy :) Thank you for the review and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this story!
WindyCitySlayer1: I'm extremely proud for keeping up with updating! It's not as consistent as I would like to be, but it's consistent in the fact that I have not just disappeared with a case of writer's block. I hope you liked this chapter! More will be coming with everything that happens in this arc of "Naruto" so hopefully you'll enjoy reading my variation of this arc with Karibi involved! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
TheQueen1615: Thank you so much for reading! And I sincerely appreciate you leaving a review for this story! I've come to really love writing Naruto and Karibi together. It's just too fun LOL At some point later on in this story, there is going to be a TON of Naruto and Karibi. So if that's what you are looking for, then please be patient with me! I'm so relieved to hear that you're liking what I have so far between them. Thank you very much for reading!
His Rose bud 125: Hello! Thank you for reading this story and giving it a shot! I appreciate the feedback about Kushina! And Minato is such an underrated character, I feel like so I don't blame you for your minor obsession ;D I agree with you, Kakashi definitely deserves to be happy! So hopefully we'll be seeing him get that happiness in this story ;) Thank you for your review!
BlueSeraphos: Hi there! Thank you for reading this story and for taking the time out of your day to leave a review! I'm so happy to hear that you are liking this story so far, honestly. And it's a relief to hear that you enjoy the way the characters are being portrayed and written and their interactions with Karibi. I'm trying to keep everyone as in-character as possible, and I'm hoping that shows! I always figured with the way Karibi's life has been, that although she's trying her best, it doesn't always look like it LOL I think after everything she's been through, it's fair to say that she's going to make mistakes and not everything is going to be perfect, so it's nice to know that message is being shown as you read. And I feel as though Kakashi is just one of those characters that, depending on how someone writes their story, can be difficult to get across emotionally. And with his history with Karibi but also trying to stay as true to the actual character as possible, I was hoping to find a happy medium of emotionally spent but not hopeless, so I'm also glad to see that you are happy with his portrayal here in my story! I hope you'll continue to read and continue to enjoy and I will continue to work hard! Thanks so much for your time!