Third Person's POV
Naruto is walking down the streets when he noticed a ‘poorly-hidden’ rock following him. His eyes started to twitch when it doesn't stop following him around. He stopped and turned around which made the rock bump at him.
"A rectangular rock with two holes in it doesn't exist !" Naruto pointed at the supposed-to-be-rock that is following him. "It is so obvious!"
"I should've expected that from the man who I have high hopes for and is also my rival." came the muffled voice of Konohamaru.
The rock turned or exploded into a puff of smoke and transformed back to Konohamaru and his two friends, who are coughing because of too much gun powder.
The three students introduced themselves.
"I knew it was you guys." Naruto said boredly. "Why do you guys have goggles on?"
"We are copying the old you!" Konohamaru exclaimed happily.
"Oh." Naruto replied. "And what do you guys want?"
"Well Leader, do you have time to play with us?" Moegi asked hopefully and Naruto shook his head and told them he will go train.
"Eh? But you told us you'll come play with us!" Konahamaru complained just as a depressed looking Sakura arrived. She still hasn't moved on when Sasuke told her that she's weaker than Naruto. She was muttering something under her breath as she reached the four.
Konahamaru told something to Naruto which made him embarassed, rubbing his head. Sakura punched Naruto while shouting "No!"
"What did you do to her?!" Konohamaru shouted at Sakura. "You ugly! Ugly…."
Sakura cracked her knuckles, A vein popping on her head.
"Uh? Waaaaah! " Konohamaru screamed and ran for dear life, Sakura on his heels.
Sakura left, steam coming out of her and leaving Naruto and Konohamaru full of lumps on their heads.
"That ugly-wide-forehead-girl.. Is she really a girl?" Konohamaru asked Naruto loudly and of course, Sakura heard it.
Sakura started running after them, The four started running again for their lives when Konohamaru bumped to someone and made him fall to the ground from the impact.
"Thanks for the ramen, Teuchi-san." Nami bowed at him and started walking to the other direction.
"Come back again." Nami heard him say.
‘Now, where to go?’ Nami wandered aimlessly at the streets. She turned around the corner and heard familiar voices.
Nami kept walking until she saw Naruto, Sakura, Konohamaru and his group. She noticed two ninjas which were strangers to her. The one, a girl and the other, a boy. Maybe two years older than them.
The girl has blonde hair tied into four pony tails. She wears a single light purple and off-the-shoulder garment with fishnets inside. She has a big fan slinged behind her.
The guy wears a black suit covering all of him from head to toe. Excluding his face. There are paints drawn on his face.
The guy was holding his hand and looking at the direction of a random tree.
"Hey, guys. What's happening?" Nami asked and caught everyone's attention. He looked at the tree and saw Sasuke standing there and another guy hanging upside-down the tree.
He has spiky auburn hair and has black rings around his eyes.
Had I met him? He seems so familiar. Nami thought to herself.
No one answered her. The familiar boy looked at Sasuke and told him "Excuse them."
He disappeared on the tree and reappeared in front of the two stranger's. Gaara told something to them and started walking to the other direction.
"Wait up. Judging from your headbands, you guys are from the Sand Village. A treaty prevents ninjas from entering each other's countries without permissions. State your purpose. " Sakura told them seriously.
"You don't know anything?" The blonde girl asked, putting out an ID "This is a traffic Pass. As you guessed, we came from the Land of the Wind's Sand Village. We came here to take the Chuunin exam."
"Chuunin Exam?" Naruto asked. "What's that?" Konohamaru explained it to Naruto.
"Hey. you there." Sasuke jumped from the tree, facing the Sand Ninjas. "What's your name?"
"M-me?" The blonde girl asked, pointing to herself, blushing slightly.
"No. The guy with a gourd on his back." He stated.
"Gaara. Gaara of the Desert." He stated.
Nami started walking towards the three Sand Ninjas and started talking.
“Spiky auburn Hair. A guy that is taller than me. Black eye rings that made you look like a panda.” Nami stopped in front of Gaara and hugged him. They were all surprised at what Nami did and made all of them freeze. Anticipating what will happen.
Gaara tensed. He couldn’t believe what this girl is doing.
What is Nami doing?! He is dangerous! Sakura and Naruto thought on their heads.
What the hell? He isn't one of us that she can hug or glomp at anytime. He's dangerous! Sasuke thought alarmed.
"H-Hey!" The black-suited guy exclaimed, surprised by what the girl did. No one does that to Gaara. Does she have a death wish?!
Nami's POV
"Gaara. Gaara of the Desert." Just as he introduced his self, I remembered him. My body automatically started walking and hugged him. It made his body tense and the others surprised.
"Nami!" My team shouted at me.
I've let go of my hug at Gaara but still gripped his shoulder.
"Don't you remember me?" I told him, my face turning serious. He just stared at me. Analyzing me. "You don't, do you?" I asked sighing. He just stared at me like I was insane.
He now has this kanji word in his left forehead. His face became more serious since the last time I saw him.
I kissed his cheeks like I did the last time. Realization dawning at his face.
"N-Nami?" He stuttered.
"That's me." I told him, making a salute.
"You guys know each other?" Naruto's voice boomed in our ears. I turned around and grinned at them excitedly.
"Yep. He's my friend." I told them.
"How d'you meet him?" He asked me, making an ‘i-don’t-believe-you’ face.
"That's a secret." I copied Guy-sensei's pose and made Naruto frown.
I looked at Gaara and smiled at him again. He shook his head, a small smile on his lips that only I saw. He looked at Sasuke, his face turning serious. "What's your name? "
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hey, what about me?" Naruto asked.
"Not interested." Gaara told him in a monotone voice.
Gaara looked at me and nodded. I smiled and waved. "Bye."
They took off. Sasuke smirked at himself, I nudged him before going to Naruto who was asking Konohamaru if he looks weak.
"Why does he always makes us wait?! He is the one who called us!" Sakura complained
"Yeah yeah!" Naruto agreed putting his hand out in the air.
"Because He's Kakashi-sensei. That's why he's late." I told them, resting my elbow to the bridge and resting my chin on my hand.
"How is he gonna compensate to a girl who woke up late and had to give up blow drying her hair?" Sakura complained again. Now that I think about it, Her hair is curly than usual.
Naruto raised his hand. "I woke up late so I couldn't wash my face or brush my teeth."
I twitched. "Eww. Naruto." I pinched his ear. "Go home and brush your teeth."
"Oww! Ow. Ow. Ow. "
Kakashi suddenly arrived. "You Guys."
Kakashi told the reason why he's late and the two shouted them "A lie!"
"I'll get to the point. I recommended all of you in the Chunnin Exam. soo.. " He gave us each a piece of paper "Here are your applications."
"Chunnin Exams?" Sakura asked.
"You guys don't have to take it by force. You can choose if you don't want to take it or not." Kakashi explained, his hands on his pocket.
"I love you Kakashi-sensei! " Naruto glomped at Kakashi-sensei which made me laugh.
"Cut it out. Get off me!" Said Kakashi. "Five days after today, Go to the school. 3 pm and go to room 301. That is all."
I opened my eyes, breathing hard. I rested my arm on my forehead, sweat falling. Bad dreams again. It was already 10:30 am. I woke up later than usual. I changed to my normal clothes and went out. There just comes a day when it hurts when I remember my Father. That he isn’t here anymore.
I found myself going on the training grounds. Maybe I'll go train today. The training ground is one of my favorite spots inside the village.
I trained myself on my other appearance. I changed on my Kekkei-Genkai form.
The eyes I had, can see everything. Every organ, nerve,cells and chakra networks inside a human's body and I can infiltrate someone's mind without them knowing it, when I focus. But I can only do it once.
A man suddenly pops out of nowhere behind me. I jumped away and landed in a crouched position, brandishing a kunai.
"Who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. His eyes were all white and he was wearing Forehead protector from the Hidden Rain.
He just laughed, darkly. "Don't take the Chuunin Exams." He demanded.
I raised my eyebrow at him. "Oh? Who are you to tell me that?"
He just attacked me with weapons which I easily avoided. I threw two kunais at him, each on his shoulder and got him pinned in the tree.
"Who are you?" I asked. Jumping infront of him. He just laughed again and disappeared into thin air. What was that?
Am I starting to imagine things?
I shook my head. Ugh. I'm not in the mood in training anymore.
I ran from my house to the academy. For all the times that I will wake up late...
Few minutes later, I saw three figures waiting outside the academy. I screeched to a stop infront of them.
"Morning Guys." I greeted them after I finished panting, wiping the sweat off my face. "Sorry I'm late."
We entered the building, the signs said it was the third floor but it was only the second floor. It was an illusion but I kept myself quiet. There was a crowd when we got there.
I just saw Lee being hit, he tumbled to the ground, Tenten catching him. Tenten was the second to walk to them and got hit too. She was pushed backwards and before she tumbled to the ground too, I appeared behind her and caught her.
"Hey. Why're you hitting a girl? And a friend of mine too." I sent them a death glare. They flinched a little.
"We're just being kind to you." The boy with a spiky hair said. "The Chuunin exam is extremely difficult."
"We have seen those who gave up on becoming a ninja or become seriously injured taking this exam." The other guy added. "The Chuunin is the commander of a squad." and blablabla.
My teammates went in front, listening too.
"What's wrong in sifting out those who is not going to pass?" The guy asked.
"That's quite an argument. But I will pass. And undo this field you've created using an illusion technique. I want to go to the third floor." Sasuke told them.
I knew it. This two looks familiar to me. It's Kotetsu and Izumo, the guys who guard the gates. I know them, because everytime I go to missions with my father, I talk to them sometimes.
"Oh? You noticed?" Izumo asked
"Sakura. You noticed it, right?" Sasuke looked to Sakura from his shoulder. "Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad."
"Sasuke.. Thank you.." She whispered to herself, her self-confidence boosting up. "Of course i've noticed it already. This is only the second floor." With that, the room number warped back to "201"
I grinned at them, Kotetsu and Izumo looked at me and I mouthed their names. Their eyes grew wide.
Kotetsu and Sasuke started to fight but Lee intevened with his speed, which surprised the two of them.
The truth is, I wasn't surprised of it. After I met them, I hanged out with them sometimes and trained with them so I know what Lee's speed is.
"Hey, you broke your promise." Neji-nii and Tenten walked to Lee. "You were the one who told us to not gather attention by doing something that stands out."
"Goodmorning guys." I waved at them and they gave me a nod.
"You know the weird guy and them too?" Naruto whispered to me.
"Ugh. Who's the weird guy? Yeah. I know them. What about the 'too' ? " I asked.
"The weird guy with thick brows. Yeah. Too. Remember that Gaara guy? You know him, right?" Naruto explained while making some gestures in the air.
"Lee isn't weird. He's just unique in his own way." I grinned at Naruto who sweat dropped.
I went over to Tenten because each of them started their own conversations. Lee with Sakura and Neji with Sasuke.
"Hey Tenten." I greeted again and smiled.
"Hey." She greeted back.
"So you guys are taking the exam too?" I asked her.
She nodded. "Yeah. We heard about you guys joining the exam too. There are 10 of you rookies, right?"
"Ugh. You mean, it's not only us who are taking the exam?" I asked him, my eyes wide.
"I think so." She shrugged.
"Oh this could be excit--Hey!" I was cut off by Sakura pulling me from Tenten.
"C'mon Nami. You can get reacquanted later." Sakura told me, pulling Naruto and Sasuke too.
"Okay, okay." I looked at Tenten and the others who were staring at us. "Bye guys." I smiled at them.
A few more steps. Few more and we'll get to the room. Until Lee followed us and called Sasuke. Lee wanted to fight Sasuke. Sigh.
"Guys, I need to go to the bathroom. If you are finished and I'm still not here, wait for me in front of room 301. 'kay? Bye." I told them, not waiting for their answers, after Sakura avoided Lee's flying kisses like her life depended on it.
I pushed-open the door, covered my mouth and coughed. My throat was killing me. I feel pain all over my body whenever I cough. Breathing started to get hard again so I pulled out an improvised oxygen mask with my free hand that was not covering my mouth.
I've put aside the mask and faced the sink.
I stood frozen on what I saw on my hand. Blood.
I realized my illness is taking a toll on my body. That explains why I frequently have problems on breathing and sometimes having chest pains.
I quickly washed my mouth and my hand in the sink to prevent anyone from seeing this. My friends knowing this is in the last thing on my list. I wore the oxygen mask for a few minutes, catching my breath. When I felt okay, I returned the mask to my weapon pouch.
I decided to go straight to room 301. I've taken a while in the restroom so they are probably finished fighting.
"Nami-chaaan! What took you so long?!" Naruto shouted at me, waving his arms wildly in the air.
"Sorry, I got flashed inside the toilet." I bowed and received a frown from all of them. Kakashi-sensei narrowed his eyes and pointed at my lower lip. I wiped it and saw a stain of blood which my teammates failed to notice. I smiled at him innocently and whistled.
"By the way, that Guy-sensei, that I think was that Lee's Sensei told us to tell you "Good Luck." " Naruto beamed.
"Okay, Thanks Naruto!"
"So I was saying, Sakura, Nami, Naruto and Sasuke. Well done, guys. I'm proud that the four of you are my team. Now, go." Kakashi-sensei stepped aside and we entered the room.
"Wow." Naruto muttered.
"W-what is this?" Sakura stuttered.
The room was full of ninjas who will take the exam too. They were all staring at us. I think we are the last ones to arrive. I hate being stared at so I started fidgeting.
I looked at Sasuke, who was now irritated because of Ino on his back. Whoa. I didn't even notice her. Sakura and Ino started insulting each other.
"You guys going to take this troublesome exam too?" A lazy voice suddenly asked. It was Shikamaru with Chouji eating, as usual.
I walked to them and hugged them.
"Hadn't seen you guys in a while." I muttered to them, getting chips from Chouji, who didn't mind.
"Yeah. Going to missions are such a drag." Shikamaru complained.
"I know. Hey Nami, let's have a barbecue eating contest after this exam." Chouji munched, looking at Nami, his eyes shining.
"Of course!" I agreed and wiggled my eyebrows excitedly at him.
"Yeah! Found you all." A voice came from the crowd. Kiba with Akamaru, Shino and Hinata came to us.
"Hey Guys!" I waved at them. I held out my hand for Akamaru and he jumped.
"How're you Akamaru? I missed you!" I said, petting him.
"Arf! Arf!" He replied, licking my face.
"Hey!" A voice called us, we all looked at the owner of a voice. "You guys should keep quiet. "
He has circular glass and a gray hair. We all just stared at him.
"So you're the ten rookies that just graduated from the academy, right? You're all fooling around with those cute faces... Geez. This isn't a field trip." He told us.
I instinctively bared my teeth at him. I don't know why, but it's a good thing no one saw it. I'm at the farthest back.
"Who are you to tell us that?" Ino snorted.
"I am Yakushi Kabuto. Look around you.." He said. As he said that, I appeared in front of him and pulled his collar towards me. Glaring at him. Kabuto?
I felt someone pull me from him and grip my hands. I looked beside me. Naruto and Sasuke are holding each of my hand.
“Nami. Calm Down. What’s wrong?” Sakura asked me. I just shrugged and the boys had let go of me. I walked to the back again and just stayed there. Kabuto. Orochimaru’s henchmen is named Kabuto. I reacted on my instinct when I heard his name.
They looked around and everybody was looking at us, or should I say, glaring. But my attention was on Kabuto. I don't feel like trusting him. Ever.
"Everyone is tense for the incoming exam so they have short tempers. I warned you so you won't get picked on."
Kabuto said that it was his seventh time taking the exam.
Sakura and Naruto started complimenting him.
"But he hasn't passed it." Shikamaru and I chorused. We looked at each other and smirked.
Kabuto rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. That's true."
"Is the Chuunin exam that difficult? This is going to be so troublesome." Shikamaru complained again.
I rested my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Shikamaru. You’re lazy but you can do it." I told him. He just sighed.
Kabuto took out some cards that contains informations about every ninjas who are taking the exam. Sasuke asked about Gaara, Lee and Neji's informations.
I looked at Naruto who was shaking. Is he nervous too? I started walking to him when he pointed to the other ninjas and shouted "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm not going to lose to any of you. Got that?!"
I just sighed. Great. Naruto just made everyone his enemy and maybe we are the Number 1 target now. Kiba started mocking Kabuto when the Sound Ninja attacked Kabuto which he dodged but didn't.
I saw how he attacked Kabuto because of the sound waves.
I fought Sound Ninja in the past so I kind of know how they attack. It's common sense that they attack with sound and vibrations.
Kabuto's eyeglasses cracked and he threw up.
"Quiet down you punks!" with that, the exam proctor arrived.
--end