𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝙻𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚎r. (𝙶𝚊𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚡 𝚘𝚌)

The First Test ( Chapter 9 )

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The sun rose in the horizen, the entire Suna Team embedded their foot prints in the ground as they made their way to place where they were to meet with other Genin. Though the previous day was nothing but bliss and having a rowdy time, the Suna Team were down for buisness, things needed to done, blood had to be spilled. Entering the building, they all signed their names and went up to the room where other Genin were waiting. Though all of the others were the same dark outfits, the Suna Team stood out with their weaponry, and they recieved many dirty looks from their enemy villages.

"I don't like this... I say we kill them all here and now," Kankurou grumbled.

"No.." to their surprise, Gaara stated.

From being on their team long enough, Ura had understood that Gaara was basically the leader of their team, making every decision for all of them. Temari had gained the role as the strategist, forming plans that Gaara would either accept or subtly decline it. Kankurou was the one that got things done if Gaara and Temari were not as willing, whether it was killing or running a small errand. Ura, however, did not have a major role in the team just yet, but she had a feeling they would use her to their advantage, only for her special trait only Sasuke shared, the Sharingan. Her team knew she trained long and hard enough to the point where she could sustain the Sharingan for a long period of time, making Ura of great value to the team.

"I'M GONNA BEAT EVERY ONE OF YA!!!"

The Suna Team's attention was turned towards the door at the blonde they met days earlier, and two out of the four Genin on the team had a smirk of daring him to continue. Ura was getting a little impatient from standing around for the first exam to come, and unconsciously began to toy with her hari.

"Don't bring attention to yourself, that's exactly what we don't need right now," Temari mumbled to Ura, looking around to make sure no one noticed.

Then, a man that wore something like a black trench coat walked out, he had a huge scare on his cheek, and something about him made the man look...mean. Everyone went silent as the man made himself present, then he explained who he was and what to do. Ura took her number and found her seat, she was seated right next to Gaara.

*Ok...if i'm going to be seated next to Gaara for the next two hours taking this written test, I can't be doubtful or nervous in any way. This is just a written test to prove our knowledge as a ninja...right?* Ura looked around and noticed where Kankurou and Temari were seated, far away from her and Gaara.

The man explained the rules, how they had, and then he allowed them to begin. Ura didn't know any of the answers, they were too hard, and most of them were trick questions. She snuck a look over at Gaara, he was doing some type of jutsu, then she eyed her own paper. It didn't make any sense, this was a written test, not a jutsu test, so why was everyone doing some type of jutsu... Ura finally caught on about a half-hour after the test had started.

*I get it now...he's testing us to see if we can get information without getting caught... But what can I use? There is the Sharingan, but I need to save it until a real battle comes along...oh what the hell, it's not like I can't sustain it for a few minutes just to copy Gaara's answers down,* Ura closed her eyes, then re-opened them to expose her Sharingan.

She focused the power of Sharingan on Gaara, and began to copy down his answers, word-per-word...

**Meanwhile**

Sasuke had just finished with the first 9 questions on the paper, turning it over so no one could cheat off of his, he found a certain person, who seemed to be moving at the exact speed as the person next to them. At first, he didn't understand why they moved to the point where they looked like identical movements, then, when the person brushed their hair behind their ears, he saw a glimpse of red. Ura had the Sharingan, and she wasn't in the Uchiha Clan, that was Sasuke's conclusion.

Why did she have Sharingan? How could she have possibly gotten something that belonged only to the Uchiha family? Plus, what was worst, she had empowered it to the point of sustaining it as long as he could, which took a lot of training.

A smirk of approval appeared on his face, if she could sustain it as long as he could, then maybe she's stronger than he had thought she was...

**Back to Ura**

It took awhile for her to get to the last question, the one everyone had to wait for, because Gaara saw her movements and gave her a threatening growl. So she had finished the first part of the test by using the pink haired girl's answer, which looked fairly accurate. She had a satisfied smile on her face as she put down her pencil, and began to think how Kankurou and Temari were doing. Ura knew Temari would be just fine, she was a smart kunoichi, and probably already got the answers with the help of Kankurou. When Kankurou said he had to use the bathroom, Temari and Ura knew exactly what he was doing, they both knew he had used Karasu as one of the watchers. He had extracted answers from one of the smarter Genin, took out a small camera, and had given it to Temari so she could watch carefully to get the answers.

Ura had noticed Gaara had been waiting for the final answer as well, probably finished right after he had given her a non-verbal warning. In her own mind, she was wondering what the last question would be...hard? How would her teammates react if she got the final answer wrong? All of that made her even more worried, and began to fidget with the pencil in front of her.

"If you continue to quiver i'll kill you in front of everyone," she heard Gaara growl a likely-actioned threat at her, giving Ura a dangerous glare.

"Sorry..." she muttered, but didn't show any type of fear.

She had learned quick to not fear Gaara when she had saw Kankurou and Temari shake when Gaara threatened them. It was just one more motive she wanted to show Gaara that she was strong enough to face him any day. Ura came out of her own thoughts and glanced at the clock, they had 45 mintues to go until the very last question, but she was patient again, so she stretched. Calming her nerves, Ura focused on sensing the nervous chakra around her, flinging and striking everywhere. But one got her notice, one chakra level was at it's peak, she opened an eye to see the blonde, irritating boy all the way up front.

*Who is he?...why's he so nervous? Doesn't he get it? I thought he would know at least some jutsu to get some answers...maybe he's not ready... But if he passes, then he's probably either lucky, or stronger than what I had imagined,* Ura eyed the blonde, *What was his name again? Didn't he say it??...I can't really remember...oh yeah, I remember now, he's Naruto Uzumaki, and his teammates are Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha....*

Ura lightly yawned and rested her head in her hands, propping her elbows onto the table in front of her... Then a kunai swooped passed her ear to the person behind her, "Number 30, you and your teammates are out!!!"

Panic ran through her when she felt it lightly brush against her cheek, barely leaving a scar or a cut. Her eyes were wide from the surprise attack on the paper and the cheater, it took her a few moments to catch her breath. Had she been caught cheating herself? No...that can't possibly be...

"You're quievering again..." Gaara grumbled in an even more angry tone, he was about to stab her with his pencil.

"Sorry.." she muttered again, this time staring at her paper, not moving an eye away.

It seemed life forever, and Ura was doing her best to blend in with the students, to not make it look like she was cheating. She took a chance and looked up at the clock, at that moment, the man in front bellowed, "Alright, the two hours are up, and now for the final question... It is the most difficult and hardest question, and if you get it wrong, you and your teammates fail. If you don't answer it, you and your teammates fail, got it? There are only a handful of you brats left...now, you have the choice of leaving now."

It took a few moments, but people began to rise and leave, only a 70 or more remained. Ura looked around, Temari and Kankurou were unwilling to leave, they were prepared for the treacherous last question. Gaara remained, which Ura knew would be unevitable, so she wasn't surprised...but...this was her only chance to leave, any other chances were not coming from the next two tests. She pushed her chair back ever so slowly, trying not to make a huge scene about it, until she caught the corner of Gaara's eyes locked on her, daring her to make another move. Ura quickly scooted so close to the table she could hardly breathe, though she was not terrified of Gaara, she didn't want to get his wrath up more than she had already done.

The man waited until everyone that was not willing to stay left, "Well...everyone here has made their final decision, which will coarse your life to either excelling...or death."

*He sure does love to make things interesting doesn't he..?* Ura's patience was hitting a very, very bumpy road.

"You all pass, congradulations," he smiled whole-heartedly.

Ura's jaw dropped at that notion, almost everyone did, Kankurou gagged, and Temari had a sigh of relief. Everyone was seriously astonished, especially Naruto, who made a huge racket, screaming and carrying on. That all ended when Anko came and announced the second test, the survival test, that would be in a week...

Temari, Kankurou, Gaara, and Ura walked out of the building, all of them relieved in their own way. Gaara quickened his pace, but Ura followed close behind, it was her turn to watch Gaara, one she was more than willing to choose. She eyed Gaara, still admiring his strength, she wondered how it felt to be...so alone. A black cloud of guilt washed over her soul as she thought of so many things she could've said and done to make Gaara into a different person. Just talking to him could've made them into some type of friends, but it was too late now, Gaara didn't want a thing from her. Ura wanted to cry for Gaara, she wanted to yell and kill everyone that had ever hurt him, she wanted to do something to the Kazekage for sending assassins at Gaara, but most importantly, she wanted to hurt everyone in their village like they hurt Gaara.

There were so many things she wanted to do for Gaara, she wanted to make Gaara feel that his existence in the world was to not kill, but to-...

"Hey, you with the umbrellas."

Ura came out of her depressed thoughts to see Sasuke and his team behind him, Gaara had stopped walking, the people blocked his path. They weren't good enough to kill, so Gaara didn't waste a breath threatening their lives, so he just waited for them to move out of his way.

"What?" Ura gave him a look of distrust.

"Tell me, why can you use the Sharingan when you are not an Uchiha?" Sasuke glared at her.

Gaara looked at Ura, who stood besides him, he hadn't noticed her have the Sharingan technique. Ura looked away, her eyes still angled of distrust for the team in front of her. Contemplating on what to say, she decided to say the truth, "My grandfather was a strong ninja in the Sunagakure, and very famous for stealing the Sharingan after killing a lone Uchiha. He placed it in his genetic system, but his son did not have that trait because he was not a ninja. Since I have enhanced my chakra over the years, I was able to call forth the dying genetic code for the Sharingan, making it mine."

Sasuke didn't tear his eyes away from Ura, he could sense that she was right, her chakra was easily controlled like Sakura's, but Ura's chakra was much bigger because of her constant training. He only made a sly smirk, "Then I guess fighting you will be interesting... Sharingan vs. Sharingan."

"Yes...I concur," Ura nodded slightly.

Sakura moved towards Sasuke protectively, allowing Gaara to freely walk passed her, Ura quickly joined her teammate. Sasuke was about to pull Ura back, but she went into her hari bag, daring him to at least touch her skin. He had managed to barely brush his fingers against her arm, just enough to feel the soft texture. Her skin felt like soft snow or the surface of the lake in the spring, but the look she had shot him was so deadly and filled with ice. Many times he had given that same look to others, never was it given, he had made his conclusion about Ura...

Ura felt a hot rush flush to her cheeks of frustration, why was he always around? Did he have to be so freaking curious just because she had the Sharingan? Who cares about the Uchiha? He was so annoying, if she did battle him, there was no way she would go easy on him!

"You're foolish for not saying you had that power."

To her own surprise, Gaara actually said something to her that didn't involve 'kill' in it. She looked to the ground, "Baki knew..."

Meaning no one else knew except her family, now Gaara knew, and he wasn't about to have tea with the Hokage and tell him the new gossip he had heard, so she knew he wouldn't tell anyone. But that didn't matter much to Ura, all that mattered now was that her team, and herself, were safe. A caressing wind rushed passed Gaara and Ura, a small smile formed on Ura's face, she had then realized that Gaara actually spoke to her without her doing something to irritate him like she had done during the first test. Something told her she had taken a step forward to making her good enough to fight him, and to prove she was worthy for him.

Gaara had wandered to Kikyo Shrine, going all the way top just to look at the moon, Ura wasn't really tired, so she stayed up on the roof watching the moon as well. She had felt that Gaara had accepted her presense near him, and it was about time, she was getting tired of being just 'there' but not really there. The warm air in the twilight felt so calm, not as warm as she was used to in the desert, but it was just very comforting and reassuring her of happiness of yet to come...

**Temari and Kankurou**

"Well, she's enjoying her turn with Gaara," Kankurou had taken all of his paint and head gear off, "Probably shying away and leaving him alone too."

"Jealous?" Temari smirked sheepishly, trying to aggrivate her little brother.

"Hell no," Kankurou smiled with a devious look, "I don't have to have a feeling for her when she doesn't mind that i'm all over her."

"So you want to have a 'friends with benefits' thing with her? She turn you down for that offer?" Temari had a sweat drop go down her face.

Kankurou hung his head, "Yes..."

"Face it, she's out of your league, I can see that she's not going to quit for her pursuit for Gaara," Temari made some tea for Kankurou, herself, and one for Ura or Gaara, whoever wanted it first, "So don't waste your efforts on someone who's ready to be taken."

"She's really pretty, I have to admit that, and believe me, later on i'd love to be the first on to take her. But, she's out of luck because I don't have real intimate feelings for her," Kankurou stirred his tea, "That's why I don't put my signature moves on her."

"Yeah right, you're just lonely," Temari snided as she put away her fan.

"It's not like you have anyone to call your own," Kankurou commented angrily, "Gaara scared the last one off when you brought him home for some 'fun'."

"No, he was calling Gaara a freak, and when he tried to escape, I beat the living crap out of him, then allowed him to leave. Gaara may want to kill us both, but I don't allow anyone to act in such a way to my family in front of me," Temari stated.

"Then I guess we weren't around that much when Gaara got it the worst," Kankurou looked downward, he had felt bad that he couldn't stand up for his little brother in time.

Temari joined Kankurou's depressive state, both wished they could've done something to atleast show Gaara that his siblings loved him. But there was nothing they could say or do to help him now, and looking back at the past wasn't going to helpe either, so they both looked back at their tea. Baki entered at the moment they got back to the present, "Ura is with Gaara right now, am I accurate?"

"Yes," both sand siblings said in unicine.

"When she returns sometime tonight, tell her I wish to speak to her alone," Baki informed the siblings as he grabbed the sake cantine, that was filled to the brim with his sake, off of the table.

"Is she in trouble?" Kankurou asked as he turned to his sensei, "She didn't drink that sake again did she?"

"I would expect that task to be done by you, Kankurou, not Ura," Baki snapped, which gave Kankurou a pouty look, then Baki added, "To your question though, I want to speak to Ura about her Sharingan, I plan on making her use that to her own advantage."

"She has the Sharingan?" Temari gasped, "But that's not possible!"

Baki explained how Ura had it, then added as well, "That's the real reason she's on this team, if she hadn't of had it that trait, I would've made her stay with her family. Though her test scores were extremely high, and her battling performance is impressive, I wouldn't have wasted my time on her."

"She's strong without the Sharingan," Kankurou commented, which was recieved by a punch in the back of the head by Baki.

"Ura would be weak and fragile without the Sharingan to copy movements that she copied from watching others!"

"Who else knows how to use the umbrella with hari?" Temari didn't know any of the other shinobi that knew how to use Ura's weaponry.

"I taught her the movements, and I told her to train for days and nights so she could make them more powerful. That's why she's on our team, because of only her Sharingan, without it, none of you would know her," Baki concluded as he left the living room.

Kankurou rubbed the back of his head, "You know...one of these days i'm going to get a concussion, and when I die, i'm gonna haunt all of you that enjoy abusing my head."

"Who cares about your head, we just heard how weak Ura really is!" Temari snapped, "Do you know how depressed she would be if she ever found out?"

"No..." Kankurou answered, "Honestly, I don't think she would care that much, she's still on the team isn't she?"

"Yeah, but Ura thinks it's because of her scores and performances, not because of the Sharingan. She would feel like all of her efforts were worthless and a lot of her pride and confidence would diminsh," Temari threw her empty tea cup at Kankurou, "She's your friend, you should care about how she would react!!!"

Kankurou barely dodged the cup that was thrown at him, then he then said, "I do care!! Seriously I do!"

"Then why are you so worried about screwing her brains out rather than her confidence in herself!?" Temari was obviously pissed off at him.

"I do care about her confidence! If I found out someone told her that she's worthless and that the only reason she was on this team was because of the Sharingan I would kick their sorry loving ass into the rock hard ground of Konoha!" Kankurou yelled, which Temari had accepted as a good answer.

"Good...as long as we're on the same picture here, i'll lay off of you," Temari regained her posture.

"So no more stuff thrown at me?" Kankurou asked as he gained his own confidence to sit up.

"Maybe, i'll think about it," Temari shrugged.

Then, Ura walked in with a blissful smile on her, obvious that she hadn't heard a thing they were arguing about her while she was away. She swayed to the couch, then layed on her back, flopping down with a loud 'thump', "I think i'm gonna actually like being here..."

"Did Gaara rape you?" Kankurou questioned her, that was his last chance before Temari threw the last chair at him.

"No..." Ura answered, though that would go down as her naughty little pleasure she would dream about later, "I just love this place, it feels so enchanted..."

"Really? I think it's a bit cold here," Temari joined in the conversation, giving Kankurou a threatening look.

"I've fallen in love all over again...with Konoha," Ura sighed in relief.