Kei was to meet with her team today. Their Sensei had told them they would meet near a bridge.
His team had already completed numerous missions by now, easy ones and more difficult ones, and the three genins thought they would have another one to complete today.
Naruto arrived a few minutes after they all got there.
"Hello everyone!"
"Hello Sensei," his students greeted him back in unison.
"I have very good news for you!" he said excitedly.
"What is it?" Daisuke asked him somehow puzzled.
They all seemed to be intrigued by that statement.
Naruto got three sheets of paper out of his pouch and showed them to his students.
"What are these?" Yori wondered.
"I've recommended the three of you to become Chūnins!" Naruto explained with a big grin plastered on his face.
They were all surprised by this revelation.
"Us? So soon?" Yori said as if he were worried.
"Yes, you. I know you are ready for that."
Still, the genins didn't seem to be really confident about that.
"What you need to know is that you all have to participate in the exams. If one of you doesn't, the others won't be able to participate either. So before you decided to do anything, I want you to be aware of that," Naruto told them earnestly.
The three of them exchanged looks. They knew for sure they wouldn't let each other down. They were a team and knew what this implied for them to do or not to do.
"I'll leave you some more time to think about it. Just please make sure your return these by the end of the week," Naruto then added.
They all nodded before each of them took one form.
"Well, if you don't have any questions or anything else to ask me, let's call it a day," Naruto said.
But the day had hardly started... Kei couldn't help but think.
"So that means we won't have any new mission in the meanwhile", Kei simply said.
"That's right. But that means you will have all the time you need to prepare for the Exams, if you choose to take them. I don't want to force you into anything if you don't feel ready."
Kei nodded.
"Just don't hesitate to come and see me if you need anything from me, whether it is today or in the next few days."
They all nodded.
"Well, I'll see you later then," Naruto said with a smile before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The three of them remained standing still in their respective spots.
"So... What do you guys think about it?" Kei asked the two boys. "Do you feel ready to take these exams?"
"Well, honestly, not really..." Yori admitted. "I heard this kind of exam is really difficult..."
"Yes, I know it is. But we will help you," Kei said to him.
"Yes, together we will be stronger," Daisuke agreed. "And even if we don't pass, we'll still be able to retake them later. It won't be the end of the world if we fail the first time."
But Yori still looked unsure.
"Let's organise training sessions together. We can even ask another team to help us train," Kei suggested.
"Yes, that's not a bad idea. Anyway, I'm sure the members of the other teams will be just as anxious as you are," Daisuke told Yori.
"You should just trust yourself more," Kei said. "You have good skills."
Yori seemed to be surprised to hear her say that.
"Well, we're going to leave you time to decide what you want to do. I don't want to rush you but it's best if we start preparing quickly. The sooner the better," the female then added.
"But if you decided not to take the exams, it's fine. We won't be mad at you," Daisuke told him.
"But... I don't want to let you guys down..."
"It's okay, just think it through so you won't make the wrong decision," Kei assured him as she put one hand on his shoulder. "We should just head home for now."
Daisuke nodded.
Shortly after that, they walked away together toward their respective destinations.
"Well, I'll see you later guys," Daisuke said at some point as he had to take a different path to go to his house.
"See you," Yori and Kei said in unison before they parted ways.
The two of them resumed walking.
"Tell me, Kei, do you really know what kind of Kunoichi you wanna be?" Yori asked her.
"Yes, I wanna become like my father. It's not that I don't want to be like my mother or our Sensei, but I don't wanna become Hokage."
Yori nodded.
"But your father was the Hokage for some time in the past."
Kei waited for a few seconds before replying.
"Because he had had no other choice..."
The girl was now being submerged by thoughts that were not that pleasant...
Her mother being depressed...the death of a brother she had never known.
She could remember her mother when she had been pregnant.
"Would you rather like a little sister or a little brother?"
"Either one, as long as I have a little sibling."
"Kei!!!"
She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts with a familiar voice.
She looked up to see her best friend waving at her from afar. Kei waved back at her. Mirai ran toward them.
"Hey! How are you?" she asked them with a smile.
"Well, I'm going to leave you," Yori said.
"Huh? Why I don't mean to drive you out," Mirai said to him.
"No, I know. It's just that I have things to do."
"Oh okay. Have a good day then!"
"Thanks. You too. I'll give you my answer as soon as possible, Kei."
"No problem. Take your time. See you."
"See you."
With that, Yori walked away, leaving the two girls alone.
"So, what are you up to, today?" Mirai asked her friend with a bright smile on her lips.
"Oh nothing special."
"Really? You don't have any mission or other things to do?"
"No, I don't. Tell me, Mirai, has your Sensei given you this form as well? Our Sensei recommended us for the participation to the Chūnin Exams."
"Oh, that's great! Because our Sensei did too! He gave it to us two days ago!"
"Really?"
Mirai nodded as she was still smiling.
"So is your team going to take them?" Kei asked her.
"Yes, we all agreed on that. What about you guys?"
"Yori doesn't feel confident enough about that."
"Oh, criminy..."
"That's why we've decided to take some time to think it through, you see."
"Oh yes, right. That's the best thing you can do. I really hope you will participate, it would be too bad if you couldn't take them..."
"Yes, it would."
"I mean if my best friend isn't taking them, I'm not sure I will want to participate any more..."
"But you can't do that to your team."
"Yes, I know right..." A pause. "But I want us to become Chūnins together!"
"Yes, so do I. But I'll guess we'll just have to be patient."
"You mean pray so Yori will change his mind."
For some reason, this made Kei giggle slightly.
"That's another way to put it."
Kei gave her a soft smile.
"What about we go to the hot springs since we have plenty of free time?" Mirai then suggested.
"Sure. That's a very nice suggestion."
----------
Evening, during dinner.
"My team has been recommended for the Chūnin Exams," Kei said to her parents.
"Well, I'm not even surprised," her father replied.
Mai just smiled as she already knew about the news.
"I'm sure you will do great in the exams," the man added, smiling.
"I keep my fingers crossed," she answered with a confident smile as she was making the gesture.
"You don't need to," he replied.
"Only time will tell."
Once they had finished dinner and that Kei was about to go to bed, her father came in her room to say goodnight to her while her mother was doing some chores (since she didn't have time during day time).
"Papa..."
"Yes, hun?"
"How did the Chūnin Exams happen for you and Mum?" the girl asked him curiously.
Her father looked at her in silence for a few seconds before he spoke up.
"Do you want to know something interesting?"
Kei nodded.
"Well, when your Mum first took the Exams she didn't become a Chūnin."
"What?! Really?" Kei exclaimed in utter surprise.
Kakashi nodded to confirm what he had just said.
"That's right. She had to retake the Exams a second time. But she trained with another boy whom she knew and who had failed as well, and so they became Chūnins together the second time."
"...But... Why?"
"Apparently, she didn't have all of the qualities required to become a Chūnin, at least that's what I had heard Lord Third had said."
"....."
There was a short moment of silence between the two of them.
"But what did he mean by 'the qualities required?' I thought Mum was a good Kunoichi when she was my age..."
"She was. Even if she was a bit younger than you when she took the Exams for the first time. But I think it wasn't because of that. You see, being a strong Shinobi or Kunoichi isn't enough, you have to have the expected state of mind for a Shinobi. And so I think your mother lacked a bit of that. But then she learnt to work more on it and she succeeded."
Kei just nodded in silence.
"You know, your mother and I had to fight against each other during the one on one spars."
"Really?"
Kakashi nodded again.
"And so...? Who won?"
"Me."
"I wish I could have seen that."
Her father gave her a warm smile.
"She could have won, you know. She was already really strong as a child. And now she's much stronger than she used to in the past. So I had to be cleverer than her in terms of strategy to beat her."
Kei was staring at him with a pensive expression.
"Were you already in love with Mum at that time?"
Kakashi seemed to be embarrassed by his daughter's question.
"Well... It took me quite some time before I realised I was in love with your Mum."
"Oh...."
"And she was already in love with someone else."
"Huh?" she said raising one eyebrow. "Who?"
"An old friend of mine."
Kei cocked her head slightly, wondering who else her mother would have fallen in love with. But then she deemed it wasn't that important.
"But you were the one to win her heart in the end," she said with a soft smile.
"Yes, that's a way to put it."
"Why?"
"...."
"Was it that difficult to make her fall in love with you?"
"No, it wasn't about that. Let's just say that there were special circumstances."
"Like?" Kei inquired, raising her eyebrow once again.
"Like it's time for you to go to bed," he told her with a smile.
"....Seriously? Why won't you tell me what happened?"
"You should rather focus on the oncoming Chūnin Exams instead of that. That's more important. Good night," he said before standing up from her bed and making his way to the door.
"And don't worry. If you were not to pass like your mother, it's alright. This wouldn't mean you are a failure. Just remember that you must never give up."
And with that being said, he left her room and closed the door.
Kei looked at her door before blinking blankly at it, being somewhat intrigued by her father's attitude. Anyway, she decided to shrug it off in the end, and thought again about the Chūnin Exams.
Two days later, Yori announced to his teammates that he was ready to take the exams, making them happy, not only for themselves but for him as well. As soon as he did, they began preparing for that, making a very organised schedule, aware that it was something new to them, and that they had to be prepared for the worse. Kei even prepared with Mirai, who was ecstatic that Kei would take those exams with her.
But they knew if they worked all together, they could do it.
🌸🌸🌸
Hey everybody!! :)
So...I know it's been a very long time since I last updated this sequel, and I really want to apologise for it.
It's just that...let's say that a lot of things have happened in the meantime. But honestly, I'm really glad I'm finally back to writing this fic. I just don't want to give up on it and leave it unfinished. When I start something, I like to have it done fully; besides I really like this fic. I just needed time to find the motivation again to resume writing it. So don't worry, I'll definitely finish this fic, even if it means I may be super slow at times...
Also, I've been debating over who I should ship Akira with, even I haven't been writing anything. It may not seem like it, but It's been really hard for me to make a final decision.
So...I've finally decided to ship her with Konohamaru. I don't know if you guys will like it, but I hope you will. I've really been thinking about shipping her with Sasuke, but on second guess, I think I would rather do it in a different fanfic.
Just so you know, if I chose to make Sasuke appear to help Akira save Minato, it wasn't really to create a romance in the first place, but rather to make a sort of alternative version of Naruto the Last (not in a romantic way, that is). Since Sasuke hardly appears for five seconds in the movie I thought it would be nice to have him there with Akira in this fic.
They could have definitely been a good couple though. But then I imagined what Konohamaru's and Akira's child could look like, and I think this helped a lot in choosing. I have imagined such a cute little girl with such a sweet personality, and I already love her. So I hope you will like her as much as I do! I'll try to introduce her in later chapters :)
Well, I think that's all I have to say.
I really want to thank you those who are still reading this fic after so long, thank you, so, so much, really ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️
And I'll try to update more regularly now!!
Please stay all safe and healthy! 💙