As we stopped in front of the classroom we needed to finish registering in, we saw Kakashi-sensei. "Glad you came, Sakura, for your sake, and the others." We all said "huh?" "Now, you can all formally register for the Chunin Exam." Kakashi said. "Why? What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "You see, only groups of three, four in this case, are allowed to apply for, and take the exam. That's the way it's always been." "But Sensei, you said the decision to take the exam was up to the individual." Sakura said
"That's right. I did." Kakashi said. "Was that a lie?" Sakura asked. "Sort of. It is an individual decision, but it affects all of you. I didnt tell you before, because I didnt want the other three pressuring you." Kakashi said. "Hmph." Naruto and I said. "At the same time, I didnt want you feeling obligated to participate, because of any feelings you might have for Sasuke, or Naruto. I wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will."
"Wait a minute. Do you mean if the others had shown up but, I decided not to come with them-" sakura got cut off with Kakashi saying "It would've been the end of the line. If you hadn't come along, I couldn't have let the others in...But it's a moot point. You're all here, and for the right reasons. Sakura. Naruto. (Y/n). And Sasuke. I'm proud of you. I couldn't ask for a better team. Good luck." Kakashi said smiling and moving away from the door, letting us in. "We won't let you down, Sensei! Believe it!" Naruto said. We walked forward opening the door.
When we walked through the door, I stood close to Naruto. We all stood in a line just looking forward. "Wh- What's this?" Naruto asked. Oh my.. there were so many people staring at us, we had to be the youngest here. "Man. I had no idea there'd be so much competition." Sakura said. I heard footsteps running at us and then I heard "Sasuke, where have you been?" Ino. She jumped on Sasuke and I felt myself getting angry.
She giggled as she hugged his back. "Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here. I've missed those brooding good looks of yours." Ino said. Sakura and I had an angry irk mark appear. "Hey, you porker! Back off! He's mine!" Sakuta yelled. "Miss forehead. They let you in? Still got those big frown lines on your billboard brow, I see." Ino said. "Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura yelled. Ino stuck her tounge out and pulled under her eye down.
"Oh, it's you guys." A familiar voice said. I gasped as I turned around. "Shikamaru! Choji!" I yelled as I ran to them. "Hey" Shikamaru said "Hi (Y/n)" Choji said stuffing more chips in his mouth. I hugged the two of them and smiled big at them. "At least you're here, but your team, I knew this was gonna be a drag, but I didn't know it was gonna be this lame." Shikamaru said having an arm on my shoulder and the other in his pocket.
"So all three stooges are here." Naruto said. Skikamaru stepped closer saying loudly "Hey, you know what, pipsqueak? Ah, forget it. You're a waste of time." Shikamaru Naara, Shikamaru and I have been friends for a while but not as long as Sasuke and I. I relate to him with his laziness so that's how we get along. He always tells me that I'm not as troublesome as other girls. Choji handed me a chip and I thanked him as I grabbed it. Choji Akimichi, he and I became friends because I would cook him new things sometimes for him to test. He says that he loves my cooking more then anyones!
"Sorry, but Sasuke's all mine." Ino said. Ino Yamanaka. I never got along with Ino that much but she's not as bad Sakura. I still not the biggest fan of her because she's really loud. "Well, Well, what do you have here? It looks like the whole gang's back together again." Kiba said. "Oh. Hi, Naruto." Hinata said nervously. Naruto looked up at Hinata and she blushed, putting her head down a bit. Hinata Hyuga. She is really sweet and I like her a lot! I also know that she has a big crush on Naruto. Naruto is oblivious to realize it though.
Kiba Inuzuka and his dog, Akamaru. Kiba and I aren't close but I consider ourselves as friends. Wait..if those two are here..that means..that he's here. I turned my head a bit and saw..Shino. I yelped at and ran behind Naruto. Shino Aburame. I've been scared of him since we were little kids. I'm terrified of incests and since Shino is all about them, I'm terrified of him. "You guys, too, huh? Man. Everyone's here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru said. "Yep. Here we all are. The ten rookies. Hahaha. This is going to be fun, at least, for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right, Sasuke?" Kiba said.
"Kiba, careful you don't get overconfident." Sasuke said smirking. "Just wait. We're going to blow you guys away. We've been training like crazy." Kiba said. "What do you think we've been doing? Sitting around picking daisies? You dont know what training means!" Naruto yelled. Hinata gasped a little but said "Dont mind Kiba. I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it." poking her fingers together.
"Huh?" Naruto asked. Hinata gasped a little, turned red then just whimpered a bit. Poor Hinata. Choji walked forward but so did Shino. "What do you want? Whats wrong?" Choji asked. They bothed looked down and I followed their eyes to a bug. I widened my eyes a bit and tightened my grip on Naruto clothes. "Thought maybe you hadn't seen it." Shino said. "Huh?" "Didnt want you stepping on it." "Why? You saving it for lunch?" Choji said. "Still scared of bugs?" Sasuke asked in a mocking tone. "Ah, just shut up" I said hiding my face in Naruto back.
"Hey, you guys. You might want to try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offense, but you're the ten rookies, right? Fresh out of the Academy? I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip." A guy with silver hair and round glasses said walking up to us. "Well, who asked you? Who are you?" Ino yelled. "I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really, look around you. You've made quite an impression." We all looked at the crowd and saw that everyone was staring at us.
We all gasped, realizing this guy was right. "See those guys? They're from the Rain Village. Very touchy. They all are. This exam makes everyone tense, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way right now." Kabuto said. "Uh-uh." Sakura agreed. "You can't help it. I mean, how could you know how things work? You're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back." He said. "Kabuto. Is that your name?" Sakura asked. "Yeah." He said.
"This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?" Sakura asked. "No, its-.. my seventh" Kabuto said. ...seventh? Well that just makes me feel so confident then... "huh?" Shikamaru asked. "Well, they're held twice a year. So this will be my fourth year." Kabuto said "Wow, a veteran. You must really be an expert by now." Sakura said. "Yeah, sort of." He said.
"Cool! You can give us all the inside tips." Naruto said. "Yeah, some expert. He's never passed." Shikamaru said. "Well, seventh time's the charm. That's what they say, huh?" Kabuto said rubbing the back of his head. This guy gives me weird vibes, like I see from his headband that he's a leaf ninja, but I've never seen him around before. "So I guess all the rumors about the exam being tough are true. Oh man, I knew this was going to be a drag." Shikamaru said.
"Hang on. Dont give up hope yet. Maybe I can help you kids out a little, with my Ninja Info Cards." Kabuto said pulling out some cards. "What the heck are those?" Sakura asked. "Its hard to explain but these cards has been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past four years. I've got more than 200 of them" Kabuto then leaned down and put the cards on the floor. "So you see, I haven't been completely wasting my time." Kabuto then grabbed a card. "They may not look like much to the naked eye. In fact, they appear blank." He grabbed a card and turned it around to see nothing.
He put the card on the floor and put his finger in it. "Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." The card then started spinning under his finger. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked. "You see, I'm using my chakra to reveal their secrets, like this, for example." All of a sudden a poof happened and the card now had a map on it. "Awesome! A map! Sakura said. "Of what?" Ino asked.
"It shows the geographical Distribution of all the candidates who have come to take the Chunin exam. What villages they come from, and how many from each village. Why do you guys think they all come here to take the exam at the same time?" Kabuto asked but no one said something. It was silent, but Chojis chewing. "Its to foster friendship between nations, of course. International brotherhood, and all that. And its true enough, as far as it goes." Kabuto said. That makes sense. "But there's another reason." Sasuke said "Yeah. You see, that important thing is that this way, they can carefully regulate the total number of Shinobi that end up in each village, thereby maintaining the balance if power." Kabuto said.
"Oh, yeah. Balance of power. Hmm" Naruto said. "Balance of power. Big deal, it's all a drag." "If the balance isn't maintained, one nation could wind up with many more Shinobi than its neighbors, and it might be tempted to attack them. So, they try to maintain the status quo. Makes sense, I suppose." Kabuto said. Sasuke stepped forward and asked "Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?"
"They might. You have someone special in mind?" Kabuto asked. "I might" "Well, I can't promise my information is complete or perfect, but I've got something on just about everyone, including you guys, of course. So which on is it? Tell me anything you know out them. A description. Where they're from, whatever. Anything at all." Kabuto said putting a card up.
"He's Gaara of the desert. And there's Rock Lee of the Leaf while your at it" Sasuke said "Man, that's no fun. You even know their names. That makes it easy. Kabuto swiped his hand over the cards and showed us two of them "Here they are." "Show 'em to me." Sasuke said impatiently.
"Okay. First up is Rock Lee." Kabuto put his finger in the card and the information poofed on it. "Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience, 11 C rank and 20 D ranks. His squad leader is Guy. In the last 12 months, his taijutsu has radically improved, but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year, he got a lot of attention as a Genin, but for some reason, he chose not to participate in the Chunin Exam. This will be his first time as a candidate, same as you guys. His teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga." I looked over at Hinata. "Huh? Hyuga?" Naruto asked.
"Now for Garra of the desert. Mission experience, eight C ranks, and- Get this. One B rank as a Genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land, originally, but there is this. He survived every mission without getting a scratch on him." What? How is that possible? "The dude's done a B rank mission as a Genin, and has never even been injured?" Shikamaru asked shocked. "What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asked. I looked over at Sasuke and saw him looking at the floor, thinking.
Kabuto grabbed another card and put it down. He put his finger on it and spun it, it poofed and a map appeared. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound. From the looks of it, they've all sent expectionally skilled candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the hidden Sound Village is small. It sprang up recently. No one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." Kabuto put his card back in the deck.
Kabuto looked back up at us. "Well, you get the point. The competition's going to be intense this year." Kabuto said. "So it would seem. It's almost enough to make you lose your confidence." Hinata said. "Its a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino yelled. "Do you really think it's going to be tougher this time?" Sakura asked. "Oh, yeah. In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch." Naruto growled a bit. "Yep. We've got our work cut out for us." Kabuto said.
Naruto was shivering a bit beside me and I dont know why. We're just rookies and most of the people here are older and way more experienced then we are. That's quite scary to think a out. Just calm down..breath. okay. We can do this. "Hey. Don't worry, Naruto. We'll be fine." Sakura said. Oh she must think that Naruto is nervous about this. Pfft yeah..no. Naruto isnt shivering for that reason. Sakura gasped a bit when Naruto randomly screamed and turned around. He violently pointed at everyone yelling "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat everyone of you. Believe it!"
Yep, I knew he wasnt shaking with fear. I smirked and sighed. We're screwed. "Hey, what's that idiot of your brother trying to do, get us killed?!" Ino yelled at me. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big fat trap shut!" Ino yelled at Sakura. "Whose boyfriend?" Sakura yelled back. "Oh, I forgot. You can't get one!" Ino yelled back. "What'd you say?" She yelled back. "Yeah! I feel a lot better now." Naruto yelled putting his hands behind his head. Sasuke, Kabuto, and I smiled a bit.
All of a sudden something felt off, like a felt sick or something. I looked around and saw everyone staring. "Uh, can you say that again a little louder? Didn't quite catch it." Kiba said. "You moron. Are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts, or what?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto just laughed but was cut off when Sakura put him in a choke hold and yelled "Naruto, you jackass! Why'd you have to go and say something like that?!" Sakura mumbled out while Naruto screamed.
"You obnoxious little-" Sakura stopped talking when she realized everyone was basically glaring at us. "Oh, hi, everyone. Heheh. Dont mind him. Sometimes he says these spazzy things. He doesn't really mean them. They just kinda come out. He's got this condition, you know. Kind of a psychological thing. He really should be on medication." Sakura said in a nice frantic voice. "Now see what you've done, Naruto? You've hurt everybody's feelings. They think you dont respect them. But that isn't true, is it Naruto?" Sakura yelled banging on Narutos head with her angry voice again.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw something zoom by everyone. I kept my head straight, not showing them that I can see them. I zoned out and ignored Sakuras voice because I was focused on the people running at us. I looked at Kabuto for a second and saw that he to saw them and knew they were coming. The guy finally got to us and jumped a little behind but above Kabuto. Kabuto turned around and saw the guy. The guy pulled out two kunais and the guy threw the kunais at Kabuto but luckily Kabuto slid away in time.
The guy that was attacking him has to be from the sound village considering the symbol on his headband. The guy swung his fist towards Kabutos face. Kabuto luckily backed up a little just in time. The sound guy is incredibly fast, almost as quick as me. Kabuto smirked a bit because he dodged the guys punched but his glasses randomly cracked.
"Oh, I get it. So it was that kind of attack." Kabuto said taking off his glasses. "Hang on, I saw it all. He dodged the attack. How did that happen?" Sasuke asked stepping forward. "It must have come closer than it looked. Look at him acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy." Shikamaru said. All of a sudden Kabuto gasped and fell to his knees. He was breathing heavy until he threw up.
"What? Did he just?" Naruto asked confused. "Kabuto, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly. "What is it?" Sakura asked. Everyone looked shocked, worried, or confused. "Heh." The sound guy said. Naruto and I ran over to Kabuto. "Hey, Kabuto" Naruto said "Are you okay?" I asked putting my hand on his back. "Yeah. I'm fine." Kabuto said. "Are you sure?" Naruto asked.
"Not such a tough guy, after all, I guess. Maybe that why he's on his seventh try." The guy that attacked him said. "Write this on your little card, punk. The Genin from the Sound Village will be Chunin when this is over. Guaranteed." The other Sound guy said. Naruto and I growled while Sakura grunted.
A big poof appeared and a grown man's voice said "Alright, you baby face degenerates. Pipe down and listen up." A man with scars on his face and more then 10 other men appeared. "Its time to begin. I'm Ibiki Marino. Your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy."
Word count- 3028