The Burning Snow (A Naruto FanFic)

Chapter Nine; The Exams Begin!

Woo hoo, a new chapter!! xD Now what is next with the exams? Who will win and who will perish?

What will become of Phoenix now? Read on, lovelies! Read on! Lol.

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The next week went by rather quickly with her team and all the training. Once they were done training, they headed to the room they were supposed to meet in for the exams. Heading into the building, they went up to the classroom and stood there. Phoenix frowned some, sensing something was off with this, and was proved right when Sasuke and his team came up and said it was all an illusion. Phoenix really felt off with Snow locked away and not mixed in with her own chakra. It left her feeling empty, almost. Frowning, she held onto Shikamaru, resting her head on his shoulder.

Once that was cleared up, she walked with her team to the real room and stood there, waiting for the exams to start. She sat down, along with Shikamaru as they waited for everything to begin. Naruto’s team had come in at almost the last minute and almost started a fight right in the middle of the classroom. Sighing, Phoenix shook her head and closed her eyes, wanting the exams to begin already. It was hard not to just run out of the classroom and back to her room to sleep, but she had to take this test for her teammates.

As she rested there, she felt like she was going deeper into herself, which confused her until she saw Snow. The demon smiled at her and ruffled her hair. “Hello, Phoenix.” She said, her voice light. “I know I’m locked away, or at least that’s what the others think, but if you close your eyes and just picture me as a part of you, like your other half, then I will always be there. For this test, I am sure you will need me, along with the next one and however many parts there are.” She said. Everyone thought Snow was bad and did nothing but harm, but that wasn’t true. She had a good heart, Phoenix could feel it.

Only when the instructors voice that would be proctoring the exams for this part woke her up and brought her back to the world of the living. Blinking some, she stood up with Shikamaru and held on to his hand as the instructor explained what this exam was about and the point system included with it. So, she was right. If one person failed in the team, the whole team failed. Was it just about team work, or was there more to it than just that? Not liking being separated from her team, but knowing it was part of the test, Phoenix sat next to Naruto and swung her legs back and forth since she couldn’t reach the floors fully yet.

Sitting there, she waited for the instructor to tell them when it was alright to start and when the time came, she looked down at her paper. Freezing at the questions, she glanced up at the proctor, wondering if he really expected everyone to know the answers to all these questions or not. These were rather high ranked questions, even for her. What was this test really about? She didn’t know exactly, but she was determined to find out.

Sitting there, she looked over the questions, seeing if there were any of them that she could answer on her own. Once she answered those, she sat there and thought about how she could get the answers from others, not knowing a good way to do so without getting caught. Biting her lip, she drummed her fingers on the table, wondering if she would be able to answer the remaining questions or not. Was it really about finishing the questions, or just seeing how long the team could hold out under such pressure?

Maybe it was a mix of both because with this test, it seemed as if people were pretty much forced to cheat. Still, she had to finish as much as possible so she wouldn’t get her team disqualified. Closing her eyes, she heightened her hearing to see if she could hear what marks the pencils were making to see if that would give her the answers. She only really needed three more answers, so she hoped her teammates had more than three done. She was sure they found a way to get it done, though, since most of them were together on the other side of the room.

It was funny, in her eyes, how much of an importance this test was to the instructor that it made the teams second guess themselves and end up quitting before the test was even done. Well, there were several teams that got cut for cheating, but she was glad she didn’t hear anything on her team. At least, not yet anyway. There was still about half an hour left to go after the time she decided to just leave the other questions blank. She was sure she wasn’t going to get marked off that much for having those three not answered.

After the half hour was up, the instructor told them that this part of the test was over and there was one more question to answer and that was question ten, but this was the hardest question out of them all. He asked if there were any teams not willing to answer the question and quite a few teams got up and left after it. After all the teams left, the instructor said everyone remaining passed the first part of the test. This confused her and it raised a lot of questions, but they were all answered. The next part of the test was going to be explained by the second instructor, who was early by what the first instructor said.

After the writing part, they headed out to an area in front of a fenced off area and were told this was the second part of the test and it was a battle training grounds, the forty-fourth one, called the Forest of Death. Before they could start, though, there were interviews they had to do and papers they had to fill out. The papers pretty much said that the instructors were not reliable for whatever happened in the forest and that if they died, it was on the teams, not them. Phoenix found it a little outrageous, but understandable in the least.

Sitting with Shikamaru and the others, she filled out her paper work and rested against him until it was time to go in. There were interviews going on as well, so they had to wait for those to finish as well. Even if she were to give an interview, she wasn’t going to move from where she was since she was saving up her energy for the forest. The forest really did look deadly and she had a bad feeling that something big was going to happen in the forest. Even with her Cursed Seal sealed off, she could feel it start to burn, as if the man who gave it to her was there and watching her.

That kind of freaked her out, seeing as she really did not like that man at all. The only one she liked that worked for him was Kimimaro and he was probably back at the base right now doing work for Orochimaru. She pushed the other males out of her mind, especially Kimimaro considering she was starting to have feelings for him, even though she had only known him for a brief moment. Once those thoughts were gone, she closed her eyes and just rested until it was time to get up and get the scrolls they were to collect. There were two they needed to finish the test and they would be getting one of them and had to find the other from one of the other teams.

Once they were instructed to begin, the gates were opened and her, along with her team, took off running in search of their other scroll. As they ran, the mark on Phoenix’s neck started to hurt even more and caused them to stop. “What is it, Phoenix?” Ino asked, worry in her voice. Phoenix was breathing hard from the pain, which was unlike her, seeing as nothing like this ever happened. Then, all of a sudden, she screamed out in pain, causing nearby branches to crack and almost shatter into a million pieces from the power in that scream.

After that, though, the pain slowly subsided and they were able to move ahead. Sure, it was a small scare, but it was one they would have to deal with a lot now that she had that mark on her. As they continued, they eventually stopped for the time being to eat and to get a look around for any enemies or traps. Phoenix looked around, calling out for Snow’s help as she looked around for any traps. Not seeing any, she sat down to rest, not liking how tired she got so quickly without Snow fully there. She would get her back, though, soon enough.

They had no problems for quite a while as they headed through the forest, but soon came to a fight that Ino was about to leave. Phoenix told them to stay put and she was soon gone. Circling the clearing and searching for an opening, Phoenix jumped and kicked the girl after Sakura cut her hair and sent her flying. Smirking, she disappeared just as quickly, making the others wonder where she went. Running along, silent and quick, Phoenix came up behind the thinner of the guys and kicked him to the side before charging at him and spinning around quickly, causing a whirlwind of snow before throwing him into a tree.

“Sakura may need practice, but there is more to me than meets the eyes.” Phoenix said as the other came toward her. She could hear it before it reached her, seeing as her ears were more attuned to such frequencies. She moved out of the way, wincing some as she appeared behind the last member and kicked him to the side, growling some. “And you have some nerve trying to use that on me.” She said in a cold tone. Then, when she knew the others had a handle on the others, she ran over to Lee, whom she saw on the ground when they first arrived, and checked him out.

He seemed to be ok, just knocked out from the high frequency attack. Cleaning him up, she sat there and watched after him as the others continued to fight. Then, feeling the immense power coming from Sasuke, she looked at him as he got up. He didn’t look too happy and was demanding Sakura to tell him who did that to her. When the other ninja, the tall guy, said it was him, Sasuke went after him, but not after moving his team from the sonic blast the other used. The speed of him moving made even Phoenix blink in surprise.

Sasuke was just about to rip the arms out of the guys sockets in the next moments, but was soon stopped by Sakura. Phoenix was surprised by this and there was even another team that came on in with Neji and Tenten, it looked like. They took Lee from her before she went back with her team. Seeing they had a handle on it now, they left, going on their way to try and find their other scroll. After a while of running, Phoenix had them stop by a river and make camp so they could regain their strength and eat. As the others rested, she hopped into the river and got enough fish for all of them to fill themselves up on, even going as far as to get extras for Choji since she knew he ate more than all of them.

She didn’t really mind if he ate more, just as long as he kept his strength up, that’s all that really mattered to her. After they ate, they rested and regained their strength before heading off again to find the other scroll. It took them quite a while to find it before they headed to the tower. On their way there, they had to fight off several people, but were able to make it to the tower in one piece. Upon entering the tower, they came into an empty room, which confused them for a moment.

Then, reading the inscription up on the wall, they opened their scrolls, which caused a huge cloud of smoke to appear. Once it cleared, their sensei was there and congratulated them for completing the second part of the exam. Then, they were told to wait for the other teams to arrive before they could continue on. As they waited there, they saw other teams arrive, but were disappointed for not being the first team. She assumed Gaara’s team was the first here, but that was a small guess, seeing as none of them had scratches or bandages anywhere.

Eventually, all the teams arrived at the tower, their parts completed. Glad they were now done with this part, they were told they would be starting the preliminaries right away, considering more teams finished than they thought would finish. Phoenix didn’t really mind, considering it gave her more practice on beating the crap out of that damn Sound Village team who tried to bust her ear drums and make her lose her focus. It was hard using sound moves on someone with such sensitive hearing.

Heading into the next round, she sat there and watched as everyone went up against someone, many people being sent away on stretchers. She was glad Shikamaru won his battle, but not surprised Ino and Sakura tied. She was about to jump down and attack the Sound ninja who defeated Choji, but was stopped by a ninja and she was about to turn and punch whoever it was until she saw his eyes and stopped immediately. Blinking, she turned, her turn now up. Jumping up onto the railing, she smirked and jumped down, landing lightly and up right on her feet.

She was up against an opponent she knew nothing about, but she was ready, seeing as she secretly had Snow there to back her up. Snow started to surround her as she circled the other. Smirking, she dodged just about every move with ease and grace, making it look as if she were dancing. Her outfit changed into a long, flowing white dress that made her look like a goddess almost. She did have cuts on her, but she ignored them as she let the snow around her grow and fill the fighting grounds. Charging at her opponent, she did a back flip, sending them flying into a nearby wall after hitting them under the chin.

Laughing and feeling herself again, she spun around and created a twister made of snow and placed several cuts over the others body before landing behind him and hitting key pressure points, knocking him out. The snow then dissipated and she was standing there in her usual attire, everything about her normal and not one scratch on her, all healing from the snow. The crowd cheered for her, making her look up and smile broadly at them all, giving a wave before walking off the grounds as the paramedics came for the ninja she just knocked out.

After everyone was done fighting, they were told that the finals were not going to be for another month, so that way they all had time to prepare themselves for them and regain their strength. Phoenix was happy she made it through, even though two of her team mates were out of the fights. Seeing Shikamaru, she laughed and ran to him, jumping into his arms as she held him close. “You made it!” She exclaimed, getting them both laughing.

Heading back home, she jumped into the shower before going into her room and locking the door. It was just past dinner, so she already fed Guy since Lee was resting up from his injuries. Phoenix was worried about him and hoped he would be ok for the preliminaries. Sitting there in her bed, her window open, she began to sing softly, a gentle, cool breeze blowing into her window. Soon, though, a familiar scent filled the air and she knew who it was before he appeared from the shadows.

Looking over at Kimimaro, she smiled softly as she continued to sing. They sat there in a comfortable silence as she sang her song, which soon faded off into the night. “What are you doing here?” She asked lightly as she brushed her hair out so she could braid it.

“Just came to see how you were doing.” He said, making her look at him and raise an eye brow.

“Are you sure Orochimaru didn’t send you?” She asked, getting a laugh out of him.

“Yes, I’m sure.” He said, moving to sit on her bed. Smiling, Phoenix braided her hair before tossing the braid behind her head and moving over to sit by Kimimaro.

“That’s good, because I would have kicked your ass if that was the reason.” She said, getting another laugh out of him. Grinning, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed some, looking out at the night sky. “You would have been the only reason for me to stay with Orochimaru if I actually chose to stay.” She said after a few moments. Kimimaro looked at her at that and raised an eye brow, blinking some.

“May I ask why?” He wondered and she shook her head in response.

“You are just a nice guy, Kimimaro, and I like you a lot.” She replied, looking up at him. Blinking, Kimimaro looked at her and smiled some, wrapping an arm around her.

“I like you, too, Phoenix.” He said, making her smile. Resting her head on his shoulder, they stared out at the stars until she fell asleep in his arms. She faintly felt herself being moved while she was asleep and covered up before that familiar scent was gone. Curling up in bed, she slept until the morning came. Yawning, she woke up and sat up, stretching to wake herself up fully.

Looking out her window, which was still open, she saw a white tulip laying there, making her smile softly as she picked it up, placing it in a vase for a single flower on her bed side table. The tulip was beautiful and was very fragrant, giving her room a lovely smell. Smiling more, she went down stairs in a white sun dress, her hair pulled back with a white bow, she cooked breakfast for Guy before eating something herself and heading off to see Lee. Sitting down by his bed with a plate in her hands, she smiled when he woke up.

“You always wake up at the smell of my cooking, Lee.” She said, laughing as he blushed lightly. Handing him the plate, she smiled more. “Here, I brought you some homemade food since I thought you might enjoy some until you are healed up all the way.” Lee smiled at took the food, nodding some.

“Thank you, Phoenix.” He said, getting a smile in return. Ruffling his hair, Phoenix stood up and kissed his forehead.

“Rest up, Lee. You’ll need your strength.” She said, smiling again before she walked out into the town. Walking around, she ended up on top of Hokage Mountain, looking over the city. Closing her eyes, she began to sing, her voice filling the air as she sang in a different language, one that came easy to her and made everyone look up toward the mountain. Soon, it started to snow lightly in the village, even though it wasn’t the time of the year for such weather, nor was it cold enough. After a while, Shikamaru walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her. She hadn’t realized it, but she had started to cry. Why, she didn’t know, but she was.

Looking at Shikamaru, she smiled and turned around, holding him close, sniffing some as the snow slowly started to stop. Closing her eyes, she held him tight, wondering if this was real and if they both were meant for each other. She didn’t like the thought or feeling of it, but she needed to know what was real and what wasn’t. After these exams, she would have to figure it out before it’s too late for one of them. Doubting herself was something she thought would never happen, but she guessed it would have happened sooner or later.

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Oh no, what will happen now??? :o Read on to find out!! ^^

Five votes until the next chapter will be put up!! :P

Much more to come and more surprises await, so let me know what you think of this so far. <3