Commander Kitsune

Thirteen

I watch in amusement as his face turns red, and he sputters, pulling his hand away and bringing it to his chest. My hand lingers in the air, not sure what to do. I drop it awkwardly. Then he seems to notice the scratches on my hand.

"Did I-"

"It's fine." I say, cutting him off and waving my hand dismissively. "It's almost healed anyway."

"...." Sasuke stares at me uneasily. Then I sigh, getting up. 

"We should get back before Sakura wonders where we are. Still got a few days before the second part of the exams end." 

I hold out my hand to him. He takes it, and gets up, and we shunshin back to the Forest Tower.

....................................................................................................

(Skipping to the preliminaries!)

A few days later

Twenty one people, or seven teams, managed to survive the second part of the exams. My team, Guy's team, team 10, team 9, a Sound team, Gaara's team, and the grey-haired, snake man's team, who I've learned to be Kabuto.

We stand in an arena, facing the Hokage at the front of the arena. There he stands with all the jonin senseis, and the proctors.

"Due to the amount of people still remaining-" The old man begins, "We will hold a preliminary round. Each of you will be paired, and you will fight until one forfeits or isn't able to continue. The third part of the exams will be held one month after this, giving you time to prepare. May I warn you that citizens, ninja, and different feudal lords will all be at the final part of the exams. I want to let you know that it isn't the person who wins that becomes a chunin- it's the person we find to have the most potential and would make a good chunin."

"Of course, since we have an odd number of participants, does anyone want to leave?" He asks. A hand shoots up, and I narrow my eyes. The hand belongs to Kabuto.

"I don't think I'm cut out for all this." He says innocently, shrugging. "It'll make it easier for the rest of you if I just leave. Good luck!" He turns and begins to walk away, and I send a glare at him. He merely smirks at me, pushing up his glasses with his fingers.

When Kabuto leaves, the hokage clears his throat. "Right. Now that we have an even number of people, please feel free to go upstairs to the ledge and wait for your name to be called on the board."

As the teams start to split to go to separate ledges, I stick my hands in my pockets and start walking up the stairs. I see the old man sending me a pointed look from the corner of my eye. I give him a silent nod, letting him know that everything's taken care of.

On the ledge, I meet up with Sakura and Sasuke, who've somehow made it before me. Kakashi appears behind us, a serious but proud face under his mask.

"I'm very proud of you all for making it this far. Continue to work hard, and I'm sure you can all ascend to great heights." He says, smiling. His eyes flit to Sasuke's neck momentarily, but he doesn't say anything. I'm sure the old man filled him in.

"....kit. Look at the board."

Oh? You're back. I thought healing me would've taken most out of you.

"Yeah. Just look at the board."

Repressing a sigh, I turn to look at the board in the far side of the arena. On there are two names: Sasuke Uchiha and.... Yoroi. Ah shit. He's from Kabuto's team, isn't he?

Sasuke notices his name on the board, and starts to walk toward the stairs. When he brushes passes me, I mumble a warning. "Don't use chakra."

"I know." He says, looking ahead. At the arena, Hayate stands between Sasuke and Yoroi, in the middle of another fit.