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Chapter Nine [EDITED]

  送別 Soubetsu 

Yoru smiled fondly at the boys, happy they were back.

Although they did not get much time together, the team was happy that everyone was back. They had gone on a few missions together and were back in sync. Naruto had mastered his rasengan, and Sasuke, his chidori. Sakura was still working on being able to heal, but she was most of the way there. She had even managed to heal a large gash Naruto had gotten from one of their missions.

The next chuunin exam slowly rolled around in those few weeks and the other genin, excluding Shikamaru (he was already promoted), decided to wait to take them. Kakashi and Yoru however, recommended their genin once again. The genin were ecstatic to hear this and asked where they would be held this year. There were going to be in Suna, to help maintain the newly found peace between the new Kages. Gaara, the jinchuuriki Yoru healed, became the new Kazekage after his father's death.

Jiraiya was sad, claiming he had wanted to leave with Naruto for a while to train him. Yoru told him he would just have to wait. They immediately departed for Suna, since the trip would take a while. Yoru had been there once on a mission with her father back when she lived in Iwa, so she knew exactly the type of clothes to wear. The genin, however, were not so lucky.

Upon arrival, Yoru requested to talk with the Kazekage, wishing to pay her respects and introduce him to Naruto. He had grown a little taller but was still a couple inches shorter than Yoru, and his hair had grown out some. He was pleased to see Yoru and invited them all to stay in his home for the time that they were participating in the chuunin exams. She was happy to find that his village and siblings had warmed up to him after he was made Kazekage. In their stay, Naruto had warmed up to Gaara after he found Yoru double checking his seals on the first day.

The same villages participated in the exams, with the exclusion of Otogakure. The tests were similar in a way, the first test was still a written, albeit they were different questions. The second exam took place in the desert, where the team had to survive for five days from traps, the sand, and with little food or water. The third exam was a team battle, one team versus another. Yoru and Kakashi were seated in the Kage area as the Hokage's personal guards and also as a friend to the Kazekage.  Team Seven passed all three exams and were given the title of chuunin by the Hokage shortly after. It lasted a little over a week, making the trip around three.

Sakura was the only one that accepted her flak jacket, although she did hit the boys upside the head when they said they did not need one because they were too strong. Jiraiya took up the chance to ask Tsunade and Yoru if he could finally take Naruto to train him. Yoru said yes, but gave him the same threat as last time, which caused Tsunade to chuckle. Jiraiya made a comment about how Yoru was just like her, which made the women laugh more. Tsunade accepted the offer and told Naruto to go say his goodbyes before leaving. Sasuke was the first.

Two days after Naruto was gone and Yoru had no clue what to do. She could not train Sakura because she became a student under Tsunade since she was the best medic nin ever, literally. Sasuke moped around the house and occasionally went to go "sit in his sunny place" as he called it. She knew he was seeing someone, but she was not gonna push it. After three days she finally had it, something to do.

"Hey Sasuke, since Sakura and Naruto are both training, wanna go train with me?"

He looked relieved, "I thought you'd never ask. Where would we go though?"

"Well, it would be nice to visit my mother and father back in Iwa at least for a while, after that we can go everywhere. It'll be easy for you to learn new jutsu with those eyes of yours anyway."