考試 Koushi
But, soon those thoughts of embarrassment drifted away as she fell asleep on the couch, and she was wishing Kakashi was here next to her once more.
Training that morning went a little differently than usual. Yoru was still teaching Sakura, Kakashi was still teaching Sasuke, but Daichi was instructing Naruto in his clan's seals. He told Naruto of the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which is the seal placed on him to keep his tailed beast in check. Then, he gave a basic history lesson about the Uzumaki clan and Uzushiogakure.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was teaching Sasuke lightning-style and fire-style abilities. On the other side of the training grounds, Yoru was training Sakura in the healing arts once more. She was told to coat her fist in chakra and think about the wounds closing up. Slowly, her fist would be coated in green chakra, now she had to practice. First, they started with small creatures, like fish or birds. Once those were mastered, rabbits and moles.
Sadly, that was all they could get into today, along with Naruto's better use of shadow clones and Sasuke's newly learned jutsu. After they wrapped up, Naruto dragged them all to Ichiraku for ramen, while Daichi laughed about how he sounded exactly like Yoru when she was his age. They all ordered ramen while talking with Teuchi, the owner, and Ayame, his daughter. After ramen, they showed Daichi around town, just like they said. Around the end, Daichi asked where the graveyard was so he could pay his respects to Kushina. Yoru asked the kids to go home, while she and Kakashi would show Daichi to the graveyard. They stopped by the Yamanaka Flower Shop to pick flowers for the graves. Kakashi walked over to where he knew his usual arrangement would be located, and Yoru just followed. Her father wandered around the store, looking for flowers that Kushina would have liked and then going to the counter to pay for them. They were bright red, much like the identifying Uzumaki red hair.
The walk to the graveyard was somewhat solemn, even though Daichi would try to lighten the mood. Kakashi lead them to a giant slab of stone, when Yoru started to admire the workmanship put into this single stone. They walked around the other side and Yoru realized why, it was the Killed In Action memorial. She ran her fingers along the many names while her father and Kakashi laid the flowers down at the base. Uzumaki Kushina, her cousin, second host of the Kyuubi. Minato Namikaze, her cousin-in-law, Fourth Hokage. She followed Kakashi's gaze to two more names, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, those names sounded familiar, she would have to ask about them sometime.
When the remembrance was completed, Kakashi and Yoru showed Daichi to the more mature part of town, to complete his knowledge of Konoha. They visited a bar before heading home, with Kakashi parting ways, claiming once again that he had dogs to feed. Daichi chuckled at his excuse and made a joke about how he was not going to walk his woman home, which produced a blush and a smack from Yoru. They stopped at the grocery store and Ichiraku to pick up some tomatoes and instant ramen for the boys before heading home.
"So when are you two going to make it official?"
"Father, we've only gone on one date."
He stopped in his tracks, "YOU WENT ON A DATE AND DIDN'T TELL ME?!"
"Yes, I didn't want you to kill him."
"I told you I approved of him," he huffed.
The next week went by pretty quickly, training, lunch, Yoru, Naruto and Daichi getting to know each other and catching up, and then dinner. Daichi told Naruto a little more about the clan every day, even some things that he had never told Yoru (much to her annoyance). Kakashi and Sakura had come over a few times for dinner, and Sasuke had basically moved in. She even went out and bought another dresser and a new bed for him to sleep in. She talked with those two about moving to a bigger house after the chuunin, since Sasuke only ever went home to move things over.
She even talked to Kakashi and Daichi about adopting Sasuke, just like what she did with her nephew. She definitely mothered him enough to do it. It would be his graduation present, she decided. Kakashi agreed that she should do it, even going as far to say that he would help her with the process of adopting and getting a new home. Her father was proud to see her maturing into a fine young woman.
The day of the chuunin exams had finally started, and the adults were very excited for their students. The first test was proctored by Morino Ibiki, head of the Torture and Interrogation Force, and overseen by various chuunin. The goal was to gather information without getting caught, with a deductive point system on a written test. Team Seven passed because of Naruto's perseverance. The second test was proctored by Mitarashi Anko, a jounin around Kakashi and Yoru's age, and it took place in the Forest of Death. Each team was given either an Earth or Heaven scroll. Team Seven passed again, mainly due to Sakura's healing power. The jounin sensei were later informed that the team had an encounter with Orochimaru, one of the legendary sannin of Konoha. Luckily, the genin came out unscathed and then retrieved the scroll.
Shortly after the second exam, the Preliminaries were announced by stating that too many genin had passed, they would be one-on-one battles, just like the third exam would be. Sasuke would be first, paired against a genin from Konoha and had the ability to absorb chakra, but Sasuke eventually won his match. Three rounds later, Sakura was up and she was matched against her childhood friend, Yamanaka Ino, it was more of a battle of wills than physical until Sakura broke Ino's jutsu. Then it was over, they went to punch each other for a knockout, but it was only a feint from Sakura and she won. Another three rounds and Naruto was up, versus Inuzuka Kiba. Naruto won, slightly because of Kiba's sensitive nose and partially because of his mastery of clones.
The third test was a week after the second was officially over. They took a day to rest and then the rest to train. Kakashi and Daichi once again trained Sasuke and Naruto, Kakashi started to train Sasuke in the art of the Chidori and Daichi taught Naruto how to effectively use taijutsu with his clones. Yoru started to show Sakura more advanced techniques, like how to heal yourself while in combat and also how to start storing chakra. She progressed very quickly and the boys were right behind her, and soon the Third test was upon them.
Naruto was first this time, and up against Hyuuga Neji, much to his dismay. They hit some very emotional points, but ultimately Naruto was the winner of that match. Soon after, Sakura's match was up against Temari from Suna; her match was so soon because Shikamaru had forfeited, so Sakura took his place. Sadly, she did not win since she could not get close enough to the other genin to land a hit, but she did give it her all. Next was another sand genin versus another leaf genin, then Sasuke was up. He was up against the jinchuuriki of the One Tails, also known as Gaara of the Sand, and it was a very grueling battle.
However, the match was interrupted and it was not a pleasant one. Orochimaru had attacked the Kage stand with help from the Sand. Yoru and Kakashi quickly sprung into action, with Yoru telling Kakashi to round up the children and that she and her father would go after the running jinchuuriki. He quickly pulled out a summoning scroll and swiped blood across it, he announced his summon as Pakkun, a small dog. Pakkun lead them in the right direction of Gaara, and they made fast pace. They were soon confronted by the other sand genin and told to stay out of it. They stated that they were going to help Gaara with his Bijuu. The genin looked skeptical but followed them anyway. Once they arrived at the clearing where Gaara had stopped, Yoru and her father slowly approached the jinchuuriki, ready to perform the necessary hand seals. He quickly turned and lashed out, but Yoru had her chakra ready for this after battling Naruto. She was fast enough, but barely. Her father was not in sight, so she prepared to create another seal, although she was blocked by a wall of sand. However, it did not lash out like last time, so she sat and waited, guessing it was trying to protect him.
"You know I won't hurt you, right? I'm just trying to help."
"Liar."
"How do you know I'm lying? Do you sense malicious intent from me?" she asked as she stretched her hand to the sand. "My nephew is also a jinchuuriki, you two are very similar, I can feel it."
A small hole formed and an eye peeked through, Yoru was smiling. The hole quickly closed once again before closing around her hand. It was gentler than Yoru had expected, but she let it inspect her.
"Now will you let me help you? I promise it won't hurt, okay?" she cooed.
The walls slowly came down but wrapped protectively around his back and sides.
"I'll do it slowly so you can see, alright?" She performed the hand signs and laid her hands on his stomach, "Four Symbols Seal. I just need one more."
She performed the seal once again, leaving a gap for chakra and communication to go through, just like Naruto's. The sand swirled around them, with some of it biting into her, she did not mind though as she was still touching Gaara. She removed her hands and the sand stopped, then Gaara fell. She gently picked him up as the sand crawled up her arms and started squeezing. She carried him to her siblings and laid him down on the ground and looked to his family. She told them to take care of him before running to find her father and Pakkun. Pakkun had sensed something happening in the village and took off, taking Daichi with him.
She ran back as fast as she could, zipping through the trees. There was a giant snake attacking ninja near one of the walls. She let her chakra reach out to find Kakashi, her father, and the genin. The genin and her father were safe protecting the civilians, while Kakashi was helping battle the snake. She was drawn to the chakra of the Hokage though, as she recalled what her father had told her about the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. The user splits his soul from his body to call upon a shinigami. The Hokage's chakra seemed to be split from his body and Orochimaru was immobilized. But sadly, he had erected a barrier that was only breakable through strong seals that she was not sure she could perform.
She ran to the snake and prepared the hand seals. Armor formed around Yoru once again and she moved forward beside Kakashi for her first strike. Diamond formed around her first and she sent a chakra-powered punch right to the serpent's side. It barely moved, but it was enough to get its attention. It was now less focused on destroying the town and more focused on eliminating the threat, her.
She rotated away from the village, using quick, but powerful, jabs to keep the monster's attention on her. She had to be careful about this, she was close to her limit. She had been continuously pumping chakra into her limbs to keep her moving, along with the seals and diamond she had been using. After a couple more hits, Kakashi popped into the fray, taking her spot when needed. Luckily after a couple minutes, the snake vanished. They assumed it was one of Orochimaru's summons and headed back to see what had happened.
Orochimaru was running away from the village with Otogakure shinobi in tow, his arms were dangling limply to the sides. Yoru could not feel the Hokage through chakra. That meant he had completed the seal, although it somehow did not work.
The entire village was mourning. Mourning for the lost, and for the Hokage. The village elders immediately sprung into action: earth users, patch up the wall; ANBU protect the village outskirts; jounin, collect the dead; chuunin and genin, escort the civilians to a safe area until the village was completely safe once again. Yoru was whisked away from Kakashi with the earth users to patch up the wall, while Kakashi and her father were gathering the fallen. When the wall was properly patched up, a mass funeral was held for the deceased, with the earth users once again helping. A funeral would be held at a later date for the Hokage, once the village was cleared of debris, most likely.
The next few days were spent cleaning and reconstructing the village. Daichi had to leave after a couple days since the chuunin exams were over. He promised to visit again and made her promise to write about the adoption process. After he left, the funeral had started. It had started raining and the sky was darkened, almost as if it was reflecting everyone's mood. Naruto and Konohamaru were probably crying the loudest.
After the funeral dissipated, Yoru headed to the Hokage's office to speak with the elders about adopting Sasuke. She finally talked Naruto into going with her to get his mind off of things. He was very surprised to hear that she wanted to adopt Sasuke but he was happy about it. He could not wait for Sasuke to be his brother.