Javen jumped slightly when he heard the beeping of Kakashi's alarm go off. His head hurt somewhat, but it wasn't too bad, thankfully. Javen pushed himself up and reached over to turn off the alarm. He then turned and moved some of Kakashi's hair out of his face. The man had such a beautiful face.
"Kakashi, we have to get up." Javen tapped the man's shoulder slightly and leaned down to lay his head on Kakashi's shoulder again; Kakashi's arm moved to wrap around him.
"Kakashi, come on. You're cute while sleepy, but you would also be cute if you woke up." He pulled himself free of Kakashi's arm and looked down at the man who had barely opened his eyes. He leaned down to give the man a soft kiss as an incentive to wake up and was pleasantly surprised by the arms that wrapped around him, pulling him closer into the sleepy kiss. Kakashi hummed happily and then let Javen pull away.
"I'm getting up slowly." Kakashi chuckled, "It's not my fault you're too cute to let go of."
Javen's face went red, "What a tease." Javen moved away from the other and slowly climbed off the bed, "Can I use some of your clothes and leave my clothes here? I don't want to wear dirty clothes to the exam."
"I'd be happy to give you one of my tank tops, but my pants will definitely not fit you. You're like ten whole centimeters shorter than me, probably more."
Javen nodded thanks and moved to take off his current shirt. He noted Kakashi had gotten up and headed to the closet, "These may be a bit big on you." Kakashi handed him two separate shirts, "Feel free to use whichever fits best."
Javen grabbed both and tried on one, which looked smaller and gave a pretty okay fit, "Does this look nice?" He asked and turned to Kakashi, who had a soft blush on his cheeks.
"I think I'm biased to how you look in my shirts." Kakashi grinned and took the extra shirt to hang back up, "I should have some extra bathroom supplies if you need them. They can be yours whenever you visit."
It was Javen's turn to blush now that Kakashi implied this would be a regular occurrence.
After breakfast, they cleaned up and met up with whoever had decided to show up from team 7. When they saw Sakura, she immediately booked it to Javen and slapped him over the head, "Where were you? You made mom and dad worried sick. They thought you had decided you didn't want to live with us suddenly."
Javen bowed slightly in apology, his face going pink. He felt Kakashi's eyes on him, curious how he would respond. Javen opened his mouth to respond and then closed it again, unsure what to say.
He felt a hand on the small of his back to reassure him, "He was with me, Sakura. Sorry I kept him all night; I opened a bottle of alcohol and didn't want him walking home while drunk."
Kakashi's thumb moved to rub his back reassuringly as Sakura looked at them both.
"At least he didn't get hurt." Sakura knew there was something else but wasn't about to say anything that pushed a slightly heavy subject.
Kakashi's hand moved from Javen's back as he directed his attention toward the group, "Anyways, I'm glad that you all came." Kakashi spoke, emphasizing 'all,' "Now you can formally register for the Chunin Exam."
Sakura seemed to pick up on the emphasized word, "What do you mean?"
Javen spoke now, "Chunin Exams must be taken as a group of three. I am the only one that will be doing it alone."
Sakura stuttered as she shot back, "But Kakashi said the decision to take the exams was up to us as an individual."
Javen shrugged, "I thought it was weird that he said that too but if I know Kakashi, he had a reason," Javen turned to Kakashi, "right?"
Kakashi nodded, "If I had said it was mandatory that all three of you had to take it, I had no doubt that Sasuke and Naruto would have forcefully convinced Sakura," Kakashi looked at Sakura, "to take the exam."
Sakura paused and nodded slightly in response, telling the group that Kakashi was telling the truth.
"Would I be wrong in saying even if you didn't have the will to apply, if Sasuke had asked you, you would have attempted to take the exams half-heartedly?" Kakashi continued, and Sakura nodded yet again.
Javen knew his sister; of course, he spent much time getting to know her. He was shocked that Kakashi predicted her so well, too, though. It made Javen happy to know that Kakashi was such a capable teacher.
"Then, if it had only been Sasuke and Naruto who had come here?" His sister spoke up, and Javen knew that at some point yesterday, Sakura must not have wanted to apply but changed her mind.
Javen answered her, "They would not be allowed to take the exam. I'm sure Kakashi would not allow you to progress further."
Kakashi nodded and smiled that closed-eyed smile that made Javen's heart skip a beat, "But... you guys came here on your own will. I'm glad you came! You are a team I am proud of."
With that, Kakashi's hand moved to tap his back, ushering him forward. "You have Javen to watch your backs. Now then, go on."
As they walked to the door, Sakura stopped him and held his hand. Javen sucked in a deep breath hoping nothing bad would come out of her mouth.
"I'm okay with it, by the way;" Sakura paused for a moment and clarified, "you being gay."
Javen's heart began to beat normally again, and he let himself breathe, "Even if it's with Kakashi? He's your teacher, and I should have asked, but it was in the moment-"
Sakura shrugged, "It's probably not super smart to get involved with the guy tasked with watching your every move on missions, but Kakashi's a nice guy, and you seem happy, so I-"
Javen nodded and cut her off with a softer whisper as Naruto and Sasuke turned around to get them, "Thanks."
With the quiet 'thanks' leaving his lips, team 7 opened the doors.
As they headed through the doors, Javen kept his head down and tried to zone out, making himself look as small as possible. He didn't want to catch anyone's attention at all. Naruto wasn't helping, and neither was Javen's bright pink hair. At least he could do something about one of those.
Javen turned to Sakura, "I'll see you guys in the exam."
He separated from the group and made his way towards the door to the opposite side of the room. He knew standing out wasn't usually bad, but, in this case, having someone's eye on you was bad. If someone had their eye on you, they would do their best to take you down first. Javen wanted to avoid fights if he could, as was requested by Lord Third. However, Javen was already stressed enough to have Gaara's eye on him. That ninja seemed strong and maybe even stronger than him. It was strange to him that he was taking the chunin exam, but it could be requested by his village.
"Pinkie?" A low voice spoke, and Javen made eye contact with a familiar face.
Ibiki... Javen didn't have his mask. How did the other recognize him? Oh- wait. The pink hair.
"Are you the first proctor?"
Ibiki nodded, and Javen sighed, "It's going to have a trick then, for sure."
Ibiki shrugged, and it wasn't till Ibiki turned that Javen realized all eyes were on Ibiki, and people had started going silent. Eyes on Ibiki meant eyes on him. Javen took a step back, disappearing into the crowd again. Javen didn't know what was going on with him as of late. He was an ANBU. He should be more vigilant and notice things like people looking at him, yet he hadn't noticed. Maybe the exams would do him some good, maybe sharpen his skills.
Ibiki's voice was very, characteristically monotone as he spoke to the new shinobi, "I'm Ibiki Morino, proctor for the first test of the Chunin Exam."
Ibiki had explained his style of exam, a written examination. It would be just like him to put a bunch of competitive, already stressed teens in a room together in silence to psych them out.
It wouldn't work on Javen; he was trained for this. Prepared by Ibiki himself. The Third Hokage must have known that. As everyone moved around the room to sit in their seats, Ibiki called him forward to the front of the class. Ibiki handed him a paper.
Ibiki knew he hated being in the spotlight, but every time they talked, it seemed like Javen became a beacon.
Ibiki spoke louder than average when he explained the paper: "These are the answers to the quiz I am going to give you. You can copy your answers when the blank copies come around."
Javen parted his lips to argue, but he was not about to get in Ibiki's way of proctoring the exam. There was a reason he was chosen. Ibiki knew he would have known the answers anyways and knew any sensible genin would have been no nervous or too excited to get the sheet.
"Will I fail if I copy?" Javen looked him dead in the eyes.
"No."
It was good to check with Ibiki. Ibiki was one to use loopholes.
"Is copying considering cheating?"
"No"
Javen nodded and took the paper, "Thank you."
All eyes were on him. Great.
The pink-haired male then headed to a desk next to a shinobi he didn't know. And once everyone sat down, Ibiki started with the instructions. The one thing that Javen noticed about the instructions was that Ibiki specifically mentioned that you would lose points for cheating, not that you shouldn't cheat in the first place.
Ibiki thrived in teaching shinobi in psychologically stressful environments. An exam where you had to cheat to pass was exactly that. Javen appreciated the way Ibiki taught. The man was an exceptional shinobi, and he knew that you had to weed out shinobi that were not stealthy. Being stealthy was something fundamental.
The next few hours of the quiz were quite entertaining to watch. The stress of each person trying their best and worrying about their team. The ways everyone was cheating were quite interesting. It was stunning, especially Gaaras way of cheating. Sand. The control of sand was quite frightening; Javen wanted to see more. Part of him wondered how Gaara could do it with so much ease, and part of him thought it was dangerous enough that he should keep away.
Javen flipped his copy of the answers to copy them down, noticing that many people began to cheat off him. Javen noted that there might be many people to pass this exam stage. Was that a smart idea? Javen had a feeling that Ibiki knew what he was doing.
Once Javen wrote down the answers, he kept his paper face up before resting his head down. He might as well sleep while he could. He still had a hangover from the night before. He began to wonder if he could stay with Kakashi again. It was probably too soon to sleep at his house again. Javen might have to stay home again. In fact, he knew that as much as he wanted to jump into things with Kakashi, he should go home and prepare his sister for the rest of the exams. There was a reason he rejoined the Leaf's society again. He rejoined to help his sister, and he couldn't just back away from that responsibility.
Javen's eyes closed as he rested his head. He wondered what the other sections of the exam were. Besides the final one-on-one fights that he would not be participating in. Javen was slightly worried about his sister's team, but he knew that if they failed, then they failed. However, they could always retake it, and Javen would help prepare them better for the next time.
When the last question was going to be given out, there was a little more than half the students left, and Javen woke up to Ibiki's voice.
"It has been 45 minutes, so I'll start. All right, here's the tenth question!" Ibiki's voice seemed to stress everyone out, and Javen was paying attention himself. This question wasn't on the answer sheet.
"Before I start, I'm going to add some rules for the tenth question."
As Ibiki was about to continue, one of the sand ninjas from before, Kankuro, walked in.
Ibiki grinned and paused, teaching to turn to Kankuro, "Looks that playing with dolls seemed to work out well.
And with one look at the chunin behind Kankuro, Javen noticed that he was just a puppet. Then he looked back at Ibiki, who seemed proud of himself for letting Kankuro know he had been caught and allowed to stay.
"These are the rules. First, you guys will have to choose whether or not you will take this 10th question."
Javen knew where this was headed now. He knew Ibiki too well. Ibiki is the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force and was all too good at making anyone's mind rattle with paranoia and confusion.
The blonde sand shinobi spoke up, confused, as were many others in that room, "What happens if you choose not to take the 10th question?"
Ibiki stood stoic, "If you chose not to take the question, then your score will be zero. In other words, you fail. And, of course, the same goes for the two others in your group."
By the end of that, Ibiki looked way too excited. But then, as everyone began to shout at him, he spoke again, "And one more rule... If you choose to take it and cannot answer it correctly, you will have to relinquish your right to take the Chunin Exam forever."
As people snapped at Ibiki right and left, Javen shook his head hopelessly. He hoped his sister's team wouldn't leave. Javen knew Ibiki was just spouting bullshit. When Ibiki gave them the option to leave, Javen observed. Hands raised slowly, and people apologized to their team. Once again, the number of people left seemed to be cut in half. Javen watched as his sister's hand slowly raised, and Javen sighed in despair.
When she dropped it, however, Javen looked at the rest of Team 7 and noticed that Naruto's hand began to lift.
The one thing that Javen didn't expect was the blonde to slam down his hand, "Don't underestimate me! I won't run! I'll take it even if I'm stuck being a genin forever! I'll become Hokage no matter what it takes. I'm not scared!"
Naruto was a loudmouth, no matter what. However, disrespecting Ibiki proudly takes some guts, and Javen felt pride after watching Naruto speak.
After Naruto sat back down, no one raised their hands. Javen was impressed, and by Ibiki's expression, he was too.
"Well, seventy-eight left, huh? Much more than I expected." Ibiki walked to stop in front of Javen's desk, "I like your determination! For those of you who are still here, you have passed the first exam!"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakura stood up, her hands on the desk, "I don't understand why you're telling us we passed all of a sudden."
"Care to explain it, Javen Haruno? There's a reason I gave you a cheat sheet. I know you wouldn't fall for this."
Javen glared as gasps from other leaf ninjas sounded across the room. As far as everyone else was concerned, there was no other Haruno.
"Ibiki. I would appreciate it if you stopped putting me in the spotlight."
Too late.
"But since you asked me so nicely," Javen continued, "It was a test to gather everyone's ability to gather information and help their teammates gather information. Ibiki knows how to make people snap under pressure, and he was using that to force you all, or the majority of you at least, to cheat." Javen sighed, "That way, he could pick out the shinobi that were shit at cheating."
Ibiki sighed, "I wanted to clarify," Ibiki undid his headband to reveal the scars covering his head, "that it is crucial to be able to get information and how you sometimes have to risk your life for it."
"What about the tenth question, then?" His sister turned to him.
Ibiki couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. Ibiki was a pretty happy person most of the time, so it was nice seeing his true personality show, "There wasn't any such thing as the tenth question. I just needed to ensure you all wanted to stay no matter what."
Ibiki waited to see if there were any more questions. Still, before he could conclude, he noticed a black mass flying towards the window from the outside. A person flew into the room and threw two kunai, each with the top corner of a sheet tied to it. The kunai stuck into the ceiling and hung up the sheet which read 'Second Exam Proctor: Anko Mitarashi.'
Javen's face fell. Anko Mitarashi was a woman he had known as a kid, and Javen hated her.
"You guys!" Anko started as she stood in front of the class, her eyes scanning the room, watching the kids celebrating from passing the first part, "This isn't the time to be celebrating!"
Javen hated her for many reasons. She was loud. She was annoying and awful. She never knew when to shut up and was sadistic for no reason. When her eyes landed on Javen, he knew his brief moment of peace was over. Her smile widened, and the exam didn't seem to matter to her anymore. She walked towards him, and Javen grabbed a kunai from his pouch. As he got to him, she moved to place a hand on his head, but that kunai from earlier moved to press against her throat.
"Do not touch me." Javen looked her dead in the eyes.
The spotlight on him had returned, and he was aware of all the eyes on him. He could tell even his sister and her team were surprised.
"Aww, Javen, you little kitty." Her hand went to pet his head despite the kunai against her throat. She moved to pet around where his ears would have been, and he felt a blush rise to his cheeks out of pure embarrassment.
"Get your hand off of me right the fuck now." Javen pulled his head back and looked at her with a frown.
"Sorry! I hadn't seen you in a long time!" She laughed and withdrew her hand, moving back to step back in front of the class.
"As I was saying," She spoke to the class now, "This portion of the exam will take place in the Forest of Death or, as most of you know it, the Forty-Fourth Training Ground."
Javen's eyes widened, and he moved a hand to rub his face, a thing he occasionally did when he got concerned, "When are we doing the second portion?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, asking for just one day to rest.
"Early tomorrow. You will need a good night's sleep for this exam. Wash up as well because you won't be able to for a while." She grinned at him, "Though I'm sure you just lick yourself clean, kitty."
Javen was quick to throw a kunai at her head. It just barely missed. Then he got up and left the room; he had passed this section anyways.
He walked home, leaving the team behind. He just needed to breathe after the moment with Anko. He knew he had a short fuse when it came to her. No one else rubbed him the wrong way just as easily as she did, and he typically had a lot of restraint, but he just couldn't bring himself to like her or tolerate her. After he had changed into a loose tank top and shorts and threw Kakashi's shirt in the wash, he felt a little more collected. That, however, didn't stop him from walking to the family room, where he suspected Sakura was, to complain. He had subconsciously licked his teeth and let his ears and tail out; he had gotten used to relaxing in this state while working on his chakra control.
"God, I hate her. She aggravates me so much." He spoke as he rounded the corner, his head down in frustration, "She's such a bitch. Kitten this and Kitten that. She should-"
As he looked up, he realized that there was more than just Sakura in the room. The rest of Team 7, including Kakashi, sat on the floor, looking up at him. His ears moved to sit flat on his head in embarrassment.
"Sorry. I thought just Sakura was home." He tried to regain his composure and smiled, "Would you mind if I joined?"
They didn't seem to mind much, so when Kakashi patted the spot on the floor next to him, Javen moved to join the group.
"Who were you talking about?" Kakashi looked at him with a wide eye, clearly lost.
"Anko, our second exam proctor, and Javen had a weird fight after the exam today," Sasuke spoke up, answering the question for Javen.
Kakashi nodded, "I know you two have history; even I have heard about it." The white-haired man let out a small laugh, "Since you know her the best, I figure you could probably give us an idea of what the second exam might be?"
Javen paused to think for a brief moment and then spoke, "Well, she may want to put everyone through long-term exercise." Javen gritted his teeth, "Plus, she's a bitch. She fucking teased me, saying that I would just lick myself clean. I'm not a cat. But-", Javen took a deep breath to calm himself as Kakashi ran a hand through his pink hair, "I think she will have us in ground forty-four for up to a week, at most. I think she would go longer if they would allow her."
Kakashi nodded and pulled Javen closer as they started discussing probably shinobi they would have an issue with. Javen melted into the little touches, and head scratches that Kakashi kept giving him absentmindedly. After long, Javen had nearly fallen asleep when he heard the words, "That's that. Everyone is dismissed."
Kakashi had shaken him slightly, and Javen moved to get up to let Kakashi get up so that he could leave. After they stood, Kakashi stopped and took one of Javen's hands in his, "I'll be rooting for you tomorrow."