Invisible- A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 43

I open my eyes to the sun shining through my curtainless window. It's a bit past dawn, and I don't have to be at the stadium for another few hours, so I take my time removing myself from the comfortable bedsheets. I pull on my normal outfit, strap a blade to each leg, and head out for breakfast, making sure to lock the door behind me.

 

Deciding that a large morning meal probably wouldn't be best today, I instead make my way to the market for some lighter foods. Picking up a few brightly colored fruits, I toss some coins to the merchant and move on over to the stadium, where people are starting to arrive.

 

Most of the spectators have yet to show up, but there are a few people sitting in the stands, most likely family members of the competitors looking for the best seats. I'm the first genin there, and take a seat close to the entrance so that I can easily meet up with the others when it's closer to starting time.

 

After about an hour of waiting, my fruits are all gone and the first team has appeared. The Sand genins. From what I can tell, they're the only full team to make it to the third round, and they're all going to be tough to beat, especially Gaara. After our previous encounter, I'm not to excited about being alone with him and his team, so I keep my distance, though the hatred radiating off of all of them is hard to ignore.

 

Not too long after their arrival, the other genin start making their way in. Sakura comes in with Shikamaru and his team, so I gravitate over to them, trying my best to get out of Gaara's line of vision.

 

"Oh! Good morning, Ayaka! Are you ready for today?"

 

"I sure hope so," I say, laughing nervously. "Otherwise there's someone who's going to pay for not training me right." The joke goes straight over Sakura's head, but I don't mind, I'm not interested in being a comedian anyway.

 

"Alright then." Her words are drawn out and uncomfortable, making it obvious to me that I messed up. She awkwardly turns from me back to Ino, who's been "encouraging" Shikamaru. I don’t mind that she isn’t all that interested in talking to me. At least she tried, and for once I tried as well. So, instead of wandering off to sit by myself, as I would normally do, I stand with the other genin and watch as they talk, listening in and occasionally smiling at their antics.

 

It isn’t until just before the exam begins that Naruto arrives, panting as if he’s just run all the way across the village, which is most likely the case. Genma Shiranui calls all of the genin into the center of the arena to explain the rules and announce the first fight, Naruto versus Neji. Everyone but the two called make their way up to find seats in the audience.

 

Naruto rushes into it, as per usual, but is easily thrown back by the older ninja. This continues for a while until Neji decides to take the offense and pins Naruto. He starts to talk and, though it's hard to hear what he's saying from my seats, I can make out a few words like failure, change, and destiny. It sounds like a standard Neji speech, but it gives Naruto something. He leaps up and manages to land a few hits on Neji, and then a few more, and then Neji is on the ground, and Naruto has won.

 

The crowd roars for their unlikely victor, and Naruto cheers right along with them. He makes his way up the many stairs back to his seat and sits down, but only after many high fives from his teammates and friends.

 

It isn’t until Genma calls out the next competitors that I realize someone is missing. "Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Sand!" The crowd hushes as the new proctor calls for the next two fighters. Gaara walks down to the arena silently, but Sasuke is nowhere to be seen.

 

“Where’s Sasuke?” Sakura asks worriedly, looking around for her crush.

 

“I’ve got no clue,” I murmur from my seat beside her, “But Kakashi’s missing as well.” Though it seems perfectly normal for our sensei to be late, I would think that he might take the chunin exams a bit more seriously. I guess not.

 

A few minutes pass and Genma speaks again. "Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Sand's match will be moved to the final spot. If Sasuke has not arrived by that time, he will forfeit. The next match will be between Ayaka Hara and Michishige Junichiro."

 

Shit. I was expecting my match to be later, that I would have more time to mentally prepare myself, but this is it. I heave a sigh and pull myself up from my seat, making my way to the staircase. It’s a few floors down, and I can see a familiar patch of red hair moving up towards me.

 

With my breath held and my eyes facing front, I move down the stairs. Gaara makes no sign that he even knows I’m there until we cross each other’s paths. He stops, his shoulder lightly pressed against mine, and my feet stop moving as well, though out of instinct or fear I’m not quite sure.

 

His low voice rumbles through my ear as he says something rather surprising. “Good luck out there, Ayaka Hara.” My mind goes blank. I can’t hear anything suspicious in his tone, and he has yet to add on a “I’d like to be the one to kill you, so don’t let this guy.” No. It seems almost genuine. Almost.

Somehow, I manage to regain my thoughts and voice, and respond with a cocky, “I don’t need luck. I’ve got skill.” Still not looking at the sand ninja, my feet begin to move once more, and I continue down the staircase, though I don’t hear his sandals clicking against the floor, only silence behind me.

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Just a quick little author's note here. I'm really sorry it took so long for this part to come out (about a year). I just stopped watching the show and ran out of inspiration. But, due to all of your requests, I finally decided to update it. I know it's not all that long, but I haven't been writing all that much and need to get back into the swing of things. Thank you all for sticking with Invisible during this super long hiatus, and I hope to start uploading regularly again. Maybe a once a week thing? I'm not sure. But yeah, thanks a lot!