(A/N: My art on paper is way better than my art on a computer ;0;)
When we finally arrived at the tower it was nearing night, I had set a fast and steady pace that got us to the tower quickly. We entered a red door and into a large empty room, On a board there was a large board that had a riddle written on it. I rolled my eyes as Naruto tried figuring it out, I cut the strips of cloth that tied Sasuke to my back and let him flop to the ground unceremoniously. The Uchiha groaned and rubbed his eyes as he pushed himself upright. I ran my tongue over my teeth and winced at the pain of loose teeth, I had to make a decision.
'Knock 'em out, I wanna test something....'
'What.' I blinked.
Sasuke blinked.
Naruto muttered.
I brought my hand to my mouth and tugged on my front tooth cautiously, once I realised it was too loose to stay I swiftly pulled it out. Sasuke stared at me, his eyes burning holes on the side of my head as I pulled out my teeth. Naruto turned around with a look of horror on his face, He ran over and started screaming.
"SAKURA-CHAN WHA- YOUR TEETH!" He barreled towards me and waved his arms around, I winced as I pulled out the last bottom tooth. My molars seemed to stay but my incisors were the only teeth affected.
'Hold, Hold, Hold..... Hoshigaki' I felt Kubikiribocho hum and I paused, my mind running a hundred miles a minute when the sword spoke the last word.
'Hoshigaki....? I'm a Haruno-' I furrowed my brows in thought and unsealed the executioner's blade from its scroll. The sword hummed happily as I held it in my grasp, I felt an odd pressure in my gums and then something was pushing out of my gums.
"S-Sakura why-" Sasuke's eyes widened his voice, unbelieving and shocked, I turned to him and ran my tongue over my newly grown teeth.
"I....." I started but trailed off, my eyes wandering around until I found a reflecting surface, the sword. I turned the sword and opened my mouth. Shocked was an understatement.
My teeth.
They were sharp and pointed like a certain shark man, I stared and stared and stared.
"Sakura, your teeth are like Zabuza's!" Naruto shouted pointing at me, I blinked, snapping out of my trance and I turned to him and I grinned.
"I like them, they're pretty" I murmured as I focused my attention on grabbing the scrolls and ran my tongue over my newly sharp teeth. I guided my chakra to the seal on my chest and pulled the scroll from it quickly. Why won't they stop staring? I opened the scrolls and placed them on the ground, the teeth I pulled were scattered around and I backed up from the scroll, careful not to slip on one.
"Sakura w-" Sasuke managed before a puff of smoke erupted and there he was in all his glory, the nosy Iruka.
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"Hey..... Long time no see huh?" He smirked, I sweatdropped at his dramatic entrance and narrowed my eyes.
"Iruka-Sensei? What's with the entrance? Why were you summoned?" Naruto asked with a bewildered expression on his face.
"At the end of the second exam, we Chuunin welcome the test takers back. I was just lucky that I got to be the messenger of you guys! And you made it just in time. Congratulations you've passed the test! I'd like to treat you guys to some Ichiraku ramen but-" Iruka wasn't even able to finish, a certain blonde-haired boy barrelled into the man and held onto him for dear life.
"You're the best Iruka-Sensei, Believe it!" The blonde boy grinned as Iruka struggled to get him off.
"RAMEN WOULD BE AWESOME HAHA!" The boy laughed suddenly full of energy again, and Iruka made a comment about him being hyperactive.
"I guess if we opened this scroll in the forest we would have been knocked out, yes?" I asked inquisitively, my nose scrunched in intrigue. The man nodded and explained his duty if we were to open the scroll in the forest we would've been knocked out and disqualified. I zoned out as Iruka spoke about his task for the Chunin exams.
Iruka seemed to speak forever because I ended up retreating into my mind once again. Inner was happy to see me again and we chatted about theories.
"So I wonder if you're a Hoshigaki? I mean Kubikiribocho said it and now you have shark teeth. Maybe it's a hidden lineage, Like in all of those cliche movies?" Inner tilted her head with a thoughtful look on her face. I ran my tongue over my now sharp teeth and grinned at Iruka. The poor man looked like he had a heart attack. He backed away and his eyes looked around at the ground.
"Heehee, look at him! Now we can scare the crap outta people!" Inner barked out a laugh, her arms wrapping around her stomach as she laughed hysterically on the ground of the mindscape. I joined Inner and rolled on the ground laughing, I laughed with her until my stomach hurt and my cheeks were sore from smiling.
"Maybe we are Hoshigaki, If we are, we are definitely kickass! It would explain the height. I mean we are only 13 right now so I wouldn't be surprised!" I spoke to her with an inquisitive look on my face.
"Sakura, why are your teeth razor sharp... and why are there teeth scattered on the ground?" Iruka asked somewhat nervously, the man's facial expression was a mix between confused, nervous and curious.
"I guess it's just a girl thing" I shrugged nonchalantly, when the man raised an eyebrow I sighed.
"Ya know periods-"
"EHmm! U-Uh I'm not that curious" Iruka interrupted quickly, he awkwardly stopped the conversation and led us to an even larger room.
'Period powers!' Inner grinned.
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We were led into a room and placed into neat rows in front of groups of Jonin and the Hokage himself, I raised my eyebrows and pursed my lips.
"First of all, Congratulations for completing the second exam!" Anko exclaimed, Silence then fell upon the room. It was slightly awkward but my attention was pulled elsewhere as I felt someone's glare.
I snapped my head in the direction and met analytical black eyes. I grinned at the silver-haired boy flashing my sharp incisors. Surprisingly the teeth were straight and white, no ugly gaps or spaces like a real shark's teeth. The silver-haired boy flashed me a confused smile, however the slight twitch of his left eye gave him away.
I heard the muttering of the other Genin and listened into other conversations, mostly to pass the time as most of the conversations were plain and irrelevant.
"Alright, Now pay attention, Lord Hokage is going to explain the exam to you. You better listen carefully Maggots." Anko yelled through her microphone, I chuckled and shook my head. The genin immediately quieted down, waiting in anticipation for the old man to speak.
'He's old and crusty... I'm surprised he can remember what he's here for in the first place!' Inner giggled.
"First before I tell you what the third exam entails... I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen carefully, it's something you all need to understand. I'm going to tell you about the true purpose of these exams. Why do you think our country holds our exams in conjunction with our allies? To raise the ability of the Shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations.The exams are to speak ...." The old man took a drag of his pipe.
"They are a representation of a battle between allied nations. If we look at our history all the countries we are allied with were once neighbouring nations that fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other's military strength meaninglessly, they chose champions to go to battle on behalf of their countries in a mutually chosen location. That is how the Chunin selection exams originally began." A few sounds of surprise were heard from some of the genin while others murmured.
"Well okay but why do we have to go through these exams then?" Naruto asked, his voice bouncing off of the walls and reverberating slightly.
"Well these exams are also for Shinobi to carry the pride of their village on their backs and fight against other ninja for their very lives. Many leaders and people of prominence are invited to attend these exams as guests and also to seek shinobi to work for them. This exam determines the course of your ninja work from here on out, and more importantly those rulers will watch you battle and take note of the strengths of the Shinobi and their nations.
The stronger our nation, the better our possession when it comes to negotiating with neighbouring countries, so it's important to show how much military strength our village has." 'mi, mi, mi, mi, mi......' Inner snored, I snorted at her actions and rolled my eyes, this was boring as hell.
"Wait, so why do we have to risk our lives?!" Kiba yelled, taking a step forward with Akamaru in his jacket.
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"The country's strength is the village's strength, the village's strength is the Shinobi's strength and the true strength of the Shinobi is only achieved when it is pushed to its limits in a life or death battle. This exam is a chance for each village to showcase the strength of their Shinobi, and the country itself." I finally zoned out and retreated once again into my mind, I entered the mindscape and sat down on an imagined couch.
"This is soooo boringggg!" I whined.
"I know right, and all I get to do is sit and watch like a Tv! The only time I get entertainment is when we go on missions" Inner pouted as she sat on a couch across from me.
"Damn, that must be hard, can't you just go into the memory library and re-watch tv shows from my last life or something?" I scratched my cheek and observed her as she sighed and explained how I am the only one who can change the scenery.
I shifted the mindscape to a large library, the library had large luxurious pillars that reached up to hold up a glass ceiling.
"Preliminaries?!" Snapped me out of my trance and pulled me out of my mind swiftly, I blinked several times and realised that there was now a sick looking man standing in front of the group of Candidates.
I watched and listened as the man explained how the preliminaries worked, I listened especially close to his coughing.
'It may be Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, We can't just let him die though.'
'Yea, Maybe we can help him with Kabuto and Baki, easy peasy?'
"If you are not in top condition or don't want to continue you should raise your hand." The man- Gekko coughed vigorously.
The seal on Sasuke's neck must have started to burn because the boy clapped his hand over his neck as he shivered ever so slightly.
"If it burns it would be better not to fight." I spoke tentatively, my focus switching back and forth between the proctor and the curse mark.
"But Kabuto!" Naruto gasped, I raised an eyebrow and turned my head. It seemed like the silver-haired boy had indeed raised his hand.
"Kabuto Yakushi.... Of the leaf village... Okay you can go on and step back" Gekko coughed, his tired eyes sweeping over the rest of the candidates.
"Kabuto wait a minute you can't just quit, what's wrong with you?!" Naruto yelled, the disappointment clear in his tone.
"I'm sorry, I'm tired and my body is too beat up. Ever since the scuffle before the first exam I lost hearing in my left ear.... And to put my life on the line and fight again without a break? I can't do it." Kabuto grumbled as he made his way towards the back of the room, I narrowed my eyes at him as he walked away. Two other candidates walked away as well, I was surprised when I noticed their Kumo headbands.
'Lying snake'
"We will now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one on one individual combat full intensity, this is not an exercise. There are only fourteen of you left, There will be seven matches total. The surviving candidates from these matches will move into the third part of the Chunin exams. As for the rules.... There are none, you'll fight until one dies or concedes defeat or is rendered psychically incapable of continuing. As a proctor I'm giving a leeway of judgement during a match." The man coughed. "I may occasionally intervene if the match seems impossible to save as many lives. Now it's time to reveal the first match" We all turned our attention to the board above the large ram sign. A panel opened up to reveal an electrical screen.
"The matches are chosen at random, before each match the names will appear on the board. Let us begin, in a moment the names of the first two opponents will appear" The man finished with a muffled cough.
We watched in anticipation as letters scrambled on the board before sorting themselves into the two candidates.
Sasuke Uchiha vs Yoroi Akado
The two walked forward for the match and I decided to turn my attention to my loveable 'Pineapple head'.
(That's right It's annoying to write all these fight scenes ;0;)
"Shikamaruuuu" I grinned widely at the boy as I ran over to him, Shikamaru's eyes widened when he noticed my teeth. I raised an eyebrow in question and he raised one back.
"Why and how are your teeth sharpened? That's traditionally a Kiri style." The boy questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Well, I think one of my parents is from a very old clan from Kiri. My teeth got all loose when I used this sword right? And then the sword spoke to me and it said "Hoshigaki" and guess what? I took out my teeth and now they've grown back sharper!" I grinned, flashing my sharp incisors. Ino had chosen to listen in on the conversation and the sight of my teeth made her reel back in shock.
"Billboard brow, what the hell happened to your teeth?" She demanded, her platinum blond hair swishing in her ponytail.
"You were listening in so you must know" I shrugged and turned back to Shikamaru, The brunette boy nodded and left it at that.
"Hey look! That guy is sucking on Sasuke!" I giggled as they turned their heads.
'Technically he is sucking on him, On his chakra that is'
The match lasted a few more minutes before Sasuke won the fight using a stolen technique.
"The victor is Sasuke Uchiha..." I rolled my eyes and watched as Kakashi led the ravenette away into the backrooms.
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The matches flew by quickly. They were somewhat similar to cannon but some of the matches were different. I was waiting for my match but I was relieved to see that the winners from cannon had passed.
"Sakura-Chan, look at the board!" Naruto rushed energetically.
'Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka'
An anya-like grin spread across my face as I met Ino's gaze, the blonde girl's eyes widened. I observed her behind the grin and watched the twitching of her fingers give her away.
'She's nervous'
'She has been waiting for this moment for a very long time'