~Ones again I don't own this beautiful fan art posted above! Credits to the talented artist who does!~
After the painfully long wait, the other senseis and I had to endure, we got word that all-rookie teams and Guy's team made it through the first part of the exam. Sadly none of us were allowed to have contact with the genin until the end of the second part.
"Hey cheer up Shizuka," Kurenai began as she hooked her arm with mine, "they all made it through the written section. I'm sure they will do just fine on this part as well."
"It's not that I doubt them," I mumbled slowly. "I'm just worried. I'm not sure why but I just have a nasty feeling about the exam."
"You worry too much Shizuka," Asuma concluded from his spot between Kurenai and Guy. "All they have to do is get the other scroll and make it to the tower all while going up against other teams."
"Oh geez well when you put it that way..." I sarcastically trailed off.
"Do you not have faith in the team's youthfulness?" Guy questioned before expressing his total faith in his team.
"No," I answered back thoughtfully. "I believe in all of them and I know they will prevail but I just have this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I haven't been able to shake it off for a while..."
"Well, it's not like we could do much either way," Kakashi lazily stated as he read his 'Icha Icha' book. "We just have to wait until the end and hope no real trouble emerges."
"The end being a whole five days or until 13 of the teams return with the scrolls..." I solemnly added in. "That sure is a long time. It's barely been a few hours for crying out loud!"
"I wonder which team will show up first," Kurenai pondered as her hold on me tightened a little bit.
As of now, we were all heading towards the Hokage's office for further instructions while the exams are happening. While the genin teams battled it out in the 'Forest of Death' the village, as well as its villagers, were living a peaceful afternoon.
~~~~
"...so ones your teams make it to the tower they will open the scrolls and you'll be summoned to them. Is that clear?" Lord Third asked as he finished explaining the trial.
"Hai," we all confirmed as we stood in front of his desk.
"Now regarding any upcoming missions for you al-" Lord Third began but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of two ANBU shinobi kneeling before him.
"We're sorry for the interruption Lord Third," one of the ANBU wearing a 'cat' like mask began, "but it's regarding the Chunin Exams."
"What happened?" the Hokage questioned as he directed his full attention towards them.
"We found three bodies of a sound village team who were scheduled to take the exam. Yet according to the roll sheet, they are currently taking the second trial. There is suspicion that Lord Orochimaru has gotten himself involved with the exams," the other ANBU wearing a 'bird' like mask replied. "This still can't be taken as a fact but it's very likely to be true based on Anko's orders."
"O-Orochimaru..." my soft quavering voice croaked out as I slowly took a step back to stand closer to Kakashi. Not many things scared me but just the name of that man could send me shaking to my grave. Unknown to everyone, except a few like the Hokage and elders, I have had a dreadful encounter with the vile man before.
Sensing my fear everyone's attention was quickly directed towards me. Quickly the room started to get hotter from the sudden attention and the resurfacing painful memories. All of a sudden everything began spinning around me as my body got heavier and I lost my balance.
"Shizuka!" I heard as my body was caught from crashing down. Gently Kakashi brought me up and sat me on one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk.
"I'm fine," I quietly reassured everyone as they kept asking me questions. "Just light-headed... please just continue," I lied as I rested my head on my right hand while closing my eyes.
'I don't think anyone heard me say his name...good.'
Even after my reassurance Kurenai came up towards me and crouched down next to my seat. Slowly she rubbed her hand gently over my left knee for comfort.
"Why would Orochimaru show up to the Exams?" Asuma questioned worriedly. "I see no clear motive for him here!"
"We haven't been able to find motive as of to why," one of the ANBU notified. "Anko has sent in this scroll with us..."
Suddenly the sound of airbrushing was heard before an object as placed on the table. Slowly opening back up my eyes I noticed that the ANBU with the 'cat' like mask handed Lord Third picked said scroll. The Hokage tentatively looked over the scroll before unrolling it and glancing over the message. For a split second his previously calm eyes widened for a bit before settling into a frown.
"Seems like we will have to keep the Exams going," muttered Lord Third while bringing his hand up to the bridge of his nose.
"What? That's insane!" proclaimed Kurenai.
"Aren't we suppose to let out an emergency alarm when Orochimaru is involved?" asked Guy as he brought his hand up to his chin with a puzzled look expression.
"Normally yes but Orochimaru issued out a warning to Anko about disrupting the exams..." the Hokage stated as he trailed off trying to figure out the motive. "I want to you dispatch three ANBU teams to the testing site now!"
Quickly the two ANBUs disappeared in a puff of smoke and ones again it was just us in the room. Kurenai then stood up and took the spot behind my chair and placed her hands over my shoulders comfortably.
"Looks like the missions I had assigned for you all will be postponed," Lord Third stated with a tired sigh. "We will need every shinobi to be on high alert."
"Hai!"
~~~
After the meeting with the Hokage instead of keeping watch around the village walls, like everyone else, I was excused to go home. Any other day I would have protested and insisted that I was fine to carry out a task but tonight I decided that it was best just to go home. For ones there wasn't any struggling when Kakashi escorted me back to my home and bid me goodnight. I didn't feel like being around many people because I had so many things racing through my mind right now. Besides with Shikamaru being out of the house, my mother wouldn't feel comfortable if I stayed out too late. She was never one to like an empty home.
Dinner with my family was actually pretty calm as well as it normally was. Well besides that fact that it was just kinda weird not having Shikamaru seeing as I'm usually the one to be missing dinner.
"Thank you, honey," my mom hummed as she passed me the last plate that needed to be washed.
"No problem mom," I replied with a small smile as I finished off scrubbing the plate.
"Hey Shizuka," my dad began cautiously as he walked into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"
"Um yes...?" I answered back confusingly as I took in both my parent's appearance. "Why do you ask?"
"Well when I was finishing up my shift earlier today I ran into Asuma," my dad explained as he gave me a pointed look.
"Ohhh... that..." I replied back glumly as I finished up drying my hands. "It was nothing serious. Just felt light-headed that's all... I'm feeling much better now so no need to worry!"
My parents, just like my friends, don't know about Orochimaru so of course, I had to lie to them. Somethings are best left unsaid with this being no exception.
"Yes but sweetie remember it's not good to push yourself," my mom gently insisted as she brought her warm hands up to my cool cheeks. "If you're feeling overwhelmed remember to just take a step back and breathe."
"Will do," I replied smiling as I brought my hands up to hers. "Thanks, mom."
My mom and I had a very close relationship. That's not to say my dad and I don't but I just have a stronger bond with my mom even if she's not into the 'shinobi life'. Maybe it was the fact that we were both women which oddly was something both my dad and brother feared...?
"Alright kiddo go up to bed," my dad hummed as he patted my head and sent me on my way.
"Goodnight!"
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Hello, lovely readers thank you for reading yet another chapter of my book! What do you guys think? Not too much Kakashi in this chapter but in the next chapter there will be! Keep in mind I'm not gonna go into toooooo much detail about the encounter between Shizuka and Orochimaru... I know he makes some people really uncomfortable in the beginning of the series.
Please feel free to leave me any comments! Constructive criticism is very much welcomed.