Uchiha Hana

9. The Chunin Exams

  Hana held the slip of paper in her hands. Her application for the Chunin Exams.

  Tobirama stood in front of them, his arms crossed. "The Chunin Exams are a prestigious honor as well as being demanding. It has taken countless lives before. It is your choice whether you wish to proceed or not."

  After a long moment, Homura and Koharu stepped down, declaring that they would take the exam next year when they were better prepared. Hana and Hiruzen remained. The two exchanged a glance. "As I expected," Tobirama said flatly, "I will ask again. Do you wish to take the Exams despite the probability of death?"

  Hana nodded as did Hiruzen.

Now the day of the exam had finally arrived. Due to there being a need for three man teams in the exam, Tobirama said that he would find a suitable member. Hana had meanwhile trained rigorously with her uncle to prepare for the exams. When the day arrived, she strapped on her sandals and filled her pouch with kunai. After tying her hitai-ate securely around her forehead, she beamed at her reflection. She saw a pudgy little girl with scrunched up cheeks. Clearing her throat, she held herself tall and wiped off the smile on her face, replacing it with a frown in an effort to look more intimidating.

  In the end, Hana just ditched the idea and walked out with a neutral, emotionless expression. Her uncle wished her luck as always but frowned when he saw the smiling child looking so cold and emotionless. She only replied with a 'hnn' at every question as Madara sweatdropped.

  Hana was unable to keep up the facade longer, however, when she saw a familiar figure beside Hiruzen and Tobirama. "Hiro!" She exclaimed as she dashed to her red headed Uzumaki friend, who stumbled backwards when she engulfed him into a hug.

  "Off....get off!" He wheezed, but the Uchiha heiress was adamant.

  "Are you going to be our third teammate?!" Hana asked brightly.

   Hiro pushed her off as Hana landed back on the ground. Hiruzen watched this exchange in amusement. "Yeah, I'm going to join your team for the Chunin Exams," Hiro said tonelessly, "believe me, it wasn't my first choice."

Hana grinned as Hiro rolled his eyes.

"I wish you three the best of luck," Tobirama said, jolting them back to reality, his red eyes narrowed, "but you will need more than skill to be promoted to Chunin."

"Don't worry, Tobirama-sensei—" Hana saluted him, grinning, "we'll do great!"

Hiruzen smiled down at the little girl while Tobirama fixed her with a stare before he nodded curtly. The three of them entered the building where they would take the written exam.

To tell the truth, Hana was rather bored with it all. Despite being centered around the battlefield and the thrill of fighting, she had an adept mind that was quick to analyze situations. The test was notoriously easy for her as she breezed through the questions. To little surprise, Team Tobirama finished the quickest as well as pulling off the highest scores for the written exam.

The next test was in the Forest of Death. Numerous traps were sprung as well deadly creatures attacking from all sides. The purpose of this assessment was to fight through the other teams and display their skills. The other team didn't stand a chance. Hiruzen and Hana were both prodigies of their own generations. Hana's eyes would shift from lighthearted to cold and focused as she dispatched their opponents with ease. Along with that, they had a talented medical nin at their side. Hiro could heal their injuries at a blink of an eye, as Hiruzen began to understand why their sensei had brought the young boy into their team.