Curse Those Onyx Eyes and That Raven-Black Hair

Chapter 15 - Chunin Exams Results

5 days passed, and it was time for the Chunin Exam's Final stage. I reported to the Hokage's office and me, him, and a Jonin walked there.

The Third Hokage sat down in the chair next to Lord Kazekage and me and the Jonin stood behind him.

I stood to the side of him because I was short...

Lord Kazekage stared at me through the corner of his eye before looking forward again.

Something's not right...

I shrugged it off and poked at the ANBU uniform I was wearing. My mask was secure on my face.

I wasn't paying attention 'till Naruto and Neji walked up to the arena and the proctor started the match.

The match was finally over.

During the match, Neji lectured Naruto, telling Naruto that failures remain failures and that this cannot change.

Naruto eventually won the battle through a combination of the demon fox's power sealed within him and sheer belief in victory.

I cheered for Naruto until the Jonin that was helping me guard the Third Hokage glared at me, but I silently clapped, still grinning.

The next match was Sasuke, right?

Well, where is he..?

The crowd murmured, and I looked at the Third Hokage who was staring down at the proctor.

"Where's Sasuke..?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"I don't know. Looks like we'll have to disqualify him," he said, and my fist clenched.

"What?! He's worked to hard for this! C'mon, Hokage, please just postpone it! I promise he'll be here," I pleaded, and he sighed.

"Fine."

"Yay!" I jumped up, clapping my hands, then cleared my throat and entwined my fingers behind my back.

The Third Hokage told them Sasuke-kun's match was postponed 'till the end, and the proctor called up Shino and Kankuro.

Kankuro chuckled. "I forfeit!" he said, and I raised an eyebrow.

Something's definitely not right, now...

Shino won the match by default and I sighed. "I like bugs.."

The proctor called Temari and Shikamaru to the arena, and I watched intensely.

Their match was finally over now.

Both Temari and Shikamaru were excellent strategists, but Shikamaru was better.

Although it appeared throughout the match that Shikamaru was using pointless attacks, he was actually five steps ahead, and managed to skilfully manipulate Temari into a position where he could attack from behind, using the tunnel which Naruto had dug during his match with Neji to stealthily extend his Shadow Imitation Technique. This took control over Temari's body, and forced her to imitate every one of Shikamaru's movements. Although Shikamaru could have won, he quit instead, saying that he was too low on chakra.

I think that the real reason he quit was because he was such a lazy ass.

Naruto jumped down from the stands to lecture him about quitting.

Anyway, Sasuke's match came around again.

Everyone waited, and the Kazekage persuaded the Third Hokage to wait another ten minutes for Sasuke.

The crowd started chanting "Uchiha! Uchiha!" and I bit my lip.

C'mon, Sasuke. C'mon! I thought to myself.