After the little incident with Kakashi, Aizen kept on practising.
Most of the time, the balloon would stay still for ten seconds or so, before it rolled over.
That was a good thing. He was getting the hang of it.
_
Then the exams rolled around the corner and no, he wasn't getting the hang of it.
"I'm doomed." Was all he said as he met up with Hikaru and Hanae.
The former raised his brows, "That's nothing new."
Aizen looked at him, not even having enough strength to get annoyed, "How nice of you to care." He mumbled out, not liking how heavy his body felt. He spent too much time on trying to get the Rasengan down, that he wasted much of his chakra.
"Anytime." Hikaru grinned, but it wasn't a happy smile.
Hanae sighed from besides them, "Can you not do this so early in the morning?" She asked, not looking at them.
Hikaru scoffed, rolling his pale eyes, "Don't interfere." Was the only thing he said.
_
As they headed towards the academy, where the first exam was to be held, they ran into Asao, "Ah, I see all of you decided to take the exam." He said, leaning onto a nearby tree.
"Did you not expect that?" Aizen asked, furrowing his brows.
Asao shrugged his shoulders, "If one of you decided not to, then the other two wouldn't be able to take the exam." He admitted, straightening up.
"That's..." Hikaru trailed off, staring at the man.
"But! There's no need to worry about that now!" Asao grinned, "You have an exam to take, be on your way!" He urged them with a small smile on his face.
Not a moment later, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Well that was eventful," Hanae commented, walking ahead of Hikaru and Aizen, "Let's go."
_
They seated themselves in a room, but were soon split up. Something about them being teammates so they couldn't sit together.
In front of them was a paper with ten questions, "You have an hour to answer all of those questions." A woman said, standing before them.
She looked rather intimidating.
Aizen glanced down at the paper and found himself dying on the inside the more he read through the questions. He could maybe answer seven of those... "Cheating is prohibited and if you are caught more than five times, you are disqualified." The woman added, staring them down.
Prohibited? Then why aren't they disqualified after the first time they are caught?
Deciding not to waste time on thinking about that, Aizen took his pencil and went to work.
_
Half an hour later, he was positive he had done the seven questions right, but three remained.
Damn.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of silver-hair. Their eyes met and Aizen nodded at him, causing Kakashi to furrow his brows. Warily looking around, Aizen slowly raised his hands and showed Kakashi eight fingers, nine fingers, and ten fingers, indicating towards the last three questions.
Seemingly understanding what he meant, Kakashi looked away and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, white piece of paper. A few moments later, he scribbled something onto it, not getting caught by the examiners, and he flicked it towards Aizen.
The rolled paper soundlessly landed onto Aizen's lap.
Aizen took a deep breath and got back to work.
_
Once their time ran out, Aizen was finished.
It didn't take long for their tests to be looked over.
Thankfully, Aizen's team passed, and so did Obito's.
"Kakashi!" Aizen called out to the boy, making him turn around, "Thank you for helping me!"
The silver-haired boy nodded, before he turned back to Rin and Obito.
_
As expected, the next exam came right away.
"The next part of the exams will be held on Training Ground 44," a man walked up to them, "If you would follow after me, I will explain the second exam."
Aizen stuck close to Hikaru and Hanae as they followed after the man.
He led them to a giant... forest? One which was surrounded by a wired fence. There were various signs indicating that the inside was very dangerous, some signs even had the words 'HIGHLY LETHAL' written on them.
"This is Training Ground 44, better known as The Forest of Death." The man had stopped in front of the fence, back turned to them.
The Forest of Death...? Great... Must it have such an ominous name? "This is perfect." He mumbled out, catching Hanae's attention.
"Very much so." She replied, not looking at him.
The man in front of them cleared his throat, silencing anyone who was making noise, "I will be explaining the exam. Since there are twenty teams that passed, each team will be given one scroll. There are two scrolls, a Heaven and Earth one. Ten teams will have the Earth one and ten will have the Heaven one. None of you will know who has which scroll. You have five days to collect both scrolls and head to the tower right in the middle of the forest. But, there is one thing you must not do. Don't open the scrolls under any circumstances," the man walked to the side, "But, before the exam starts, I will need you all to sign some papers. You will be doing that because there is a high possibility some of you may die, and I don't want to be held responsible. So, you will be signing those papers if you wish to continue with the exam."
Even better! There's a chance they will die!
The papers were handed over to everyone and Aizen gripped it in his hands, "After you sign the papers, one person from each team will head over to that tent over there," the man pointed behind them where a tent was set up, "And receive a scroll."
Aizen reached into his pocket and pulled out a pretty small pen. Minato always bugged him about the fact that there would come a time when a pen was suddenly needed. He's kind of glad he picked up the habit of carrying one. He quickly signed the paper and gave his pen to Hikaru and Hanae to do the same, "So? Who's getting the scroll?" Hikaru asked, leaning onto a giant rock.
"I don't know..." Aizen replied, thinking about it.
"Should I?" Hanae questioned, titling her head, "I have more pockets on my outfit than you two do... It'll be harder for it to be taken."
Well... She did have a point, "Okay, you can carry it." Aizen agreed, glancing at Hikaru.
The boy didn't look happy with that decision, but he made no move to argue about the fact, "I don't really care." Was what he said.
_
After the scroll, an Earth one, was secured in Hanae's pockets, they waited for their turn to go in.
"Aizen!" Obito called out, making the said boy turn to face him.
"Hey, Obito." Aizen greeted, raising his hand for a high-five. Their palms smacked together and Obito grinned, "What's up?" Aizen asked him, seeing that he was nervously shifting on his feet.
"Uh... Since we're, you know, friends, I hope you go easy on me when we go inside." Was what Obito said.
Honestly? Aizen expected something like that, but before he could answer, Kakashi appeared besides Obito, "Are you going to tell him what scroll we have?" The silver-haired boy questioned, tone a little harsh.
"None of that, Kakashi, calm down." Aizen tried to contain the situation.
The said boy looked at him with blank eyes, "We may be friends, but that doesn't meant that I won't try and take your scroll, if it's the one we need." Well, he was right to say that.
This was a team effort. Kakashi and him weren't on the same team.
"I know, don't worry. The same goes for me," they stared at one another, "No hard feelings if I take your scroll, all right?" Aizen tilted his head, an innocent smile on his face.
Kakashi said nothing.
"Next! Konoha, Team 7!" The man called out, snapping them out of their little staring contest.
Kakashi turned around and walked away, not waiting for Obito.
"Good luck!" Aizen exclaimed, waving at him.
"Likewise!" Obito replied, walking away as he waved.
Aizen turned back to his team, "We need to look out for those Iwa shinobi... They will be a hassle."
_
It was finally their turn to go in.
"You seem pale... Are you all right?" Hanae asked him, her light eyes staring at him.
Aizen nodded, taking a deep breath, "Everything is fine, you can do this!"
"Aren't you the one who needs to hear that?" Hikaru asked from the side, blankly looking at him.
"I was talking to myself," Aizen replied, taking another deep breath, "I don't want us to run into any Iwa shinobi, but by the looks of it, they will probably be the first ones we run into... There's a big number of them who passed."
Hikaru scoffed, shaking his head, "You're unbelievable... That's one thing you're right about. There's a fair amount of them inside already."
There was a moment of silence, before Aizen decided to speak up again, "We need to focus on getting the scroll as soon as possible. We have five days, but if we miss an opportunity, someone else might take it and beat us to the tower."
"Then let's move." Hikaru stepped forward and jumped away, Aizen and Hanae quickly following after him.
_
This must be a joke!
Aizen ran forward, almost stumbling as his foot got caught on a smaller branch. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck as he made a sharp turn, barely evading a giant fireball. He felt the heat of the flames lick against his exposed skin as it sailed right next to him.
His other two teammates were nowhere in sight and Aizen could already feel his strength seeping away. The stinging in his thigh grew worse, so he pressed his palm against it.
Crimson liquid slid right through his fingers.
"Come back here!" The boy behind him yelled, "I know you have the Earth scroll!"
Aizen made the mistake of turning around. As soon as he faced forward, his head slammed into a low branch, knocking him down and towards the ground.
This was so bad!
His back slammed into another branch as he raced towards the ground. Somehow, he managed to flip himself around just in time to stab his kunai into the tree, stopping himself from falling to certain death.
"I got you now!"
Aizen saw the boy's forehead protector glint under the sunlight. An Iwa shinobi. He allowed himself to fall down, evading yet another giant fireball. Just how much chakra did that boy have?!
He awkwardly landed onto his injured leg, before he forcibly jumped away, the boy landing down a moment later. It was to be expected he was going to get caught by him.
A hand wrapped around the back of his neck at the same time the back of his knees were hit, forcing him to the ground. He slammed chest-first, which almost knocked the breath out of him. Immediately after, hands patted over his body, searching for the scroll.
Upon coming up with nothing, the pressure on his neck increased, "Where is it?" The boy atop him demanded, making Aizen cough into the dirt as his cheek pressed into the ground.
"Not with me." Aizen forced out, barely any air left for him to say the words out loud.
He heard the unmistakable sound of steel clicking against steel and something cold pressed against the side of his neck, "Let's try that again... Who has the scroll? Hmm?"
Aizen closed his eyes, not willing to speak.
"I do!" A voice resounded through the forest, effectively making the boy atop Aizen jump away, hands already doing the hand-sings for the inevitable fire ball.
"Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu!" A moment later, he breathed in and fire burst out of his lips, heading straight towards...
... Hanae?! Aizen jumped to his feet, ignoring the harsh throbbing in his leg, "Hanae!" He yelled, watching as the girl stood in place.
"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" The words left her lips as she did hand-signs faster than Aizen could see.
Then, a second after the last sign, just before the giant fireball reached her, a giant dragon burst from her lips and slammed into the fireball. Aizen watched, mesmerised, as the dragon pushed through the fireball, destroying it, and headed straight towards the Iwa shinobi. The boy had no time to move away as the dragon slammed into him, throwing him to the side and knocking him out.
The only sound that he heard after that, were Hanae's harsh breaths, "Are you all right?!" She raced towards him, almost stumbling before she reached him. She knelt down, reaching into her pocket and taking out a roll of bandages, "I don't know Medical Ninjutsu, I'm sorry." She apologised as she ripped the bandage, hands shaking.
"It's okay, the wound is not that deep." Aizen replied, sitting up. He took hold of his pants and ripped the at the thigh, so that the wound was more visible. Hanae didn't wait for approval as she started wrapping the bandage around it, watching as the blood seeped into the white fabric, "Thank you for saving me." Aizen looked at her.
She slowly raised her head, snowy white locks falling into her light eyes. She raised her hand and tugged the bangs back, "You're welcome."
"That was a really amazing jutsu you did there." He said, the dragon's form flashing in his mind.
She said nothing for a few seconds, "I can't do it for a while, since it's too draining and there was no water around us... It took most of my chakra." Ah... So that's why she was stumbling as she went over to him.
"Still... That was amazing!" He praised her, a small smile tugging at his lips.
He noticed a light flush on her skin, but he might have imagined it, "Where is Hikaru?" She asked, changing the subject.
"I didn't see him since we got separated... I wonder if he's okay," Aizen leaned his head back, before his eyes widened at the sight that greeted him from above "Ah! Hikaru!" He exclaimed, watching as the said boy jumped down, also slightly stumbling.
"I'm perfectly fine... Unlike you," he looked him over, eyes stopping at his leg, "That looks nasty..." He commented, words heavy with an unidentifiable emotion.
Was he worried, perhaps?
"I'm fine, thanks to Hanae. Might you check that guy over there? See if he has a Heaven scroll." He winced as Hanae tightened the bandage around his thigh.
"Sorry..." She mumbled, sitting down in front of him.
"It's fine." Aizen assured her, watching as Hikaru crouched and started rummaging the guy's clothes.
"Ah! Bingo!" He exclaimed, a grin on his face as he raised a Heaven scroll in the air, "We hit the jackpot!"
Aizen sighed, feeling as if everything was worth getting that, "That's great..."
"Come on, let's make our way to the tower, I want to get there before nightfall." Hikaru ordered, straightening up.
Aizen pushed himself to his feet and his leg throbbed in reply, "I don't think I can run like this... The pain wasn't all that bad before, but it's getting worse now."
A small huff left Hikaru's lips as the boy pocketed the scroll he took, "I'm not slowing down, even if I have to carry you to the goal," saying that, Hikaru walked up to him and crouched in front of him, "Get on."
An incredulous expression took place on Aizen's face, "What? Carry me?" He asked, not sure if he heard him right.
"Just get on, we're wasting time!" Hikaru barked at him, causing him to quickly get on, slightly wincing as his leg shifted.
He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Hikaru's shoulders, tightly holding on. Hikaru took hold of the underside of his thighs, slightly pulling him up, "Whoa! Whoa! I'm fragile, be careful!" He hissed into Hikaru's ear.
"You?! Fragile?! You're everything but fragile!" He argued back, intentionally gripping Aizen's legs.
Aizen thrashed slightly, before he immediately regretted doing that, "You're hurting me more than when that boy stabbed me! With a kunai! Into the leg!"
Hanae sighed from besides them, quietly getting up, "Stop it with the arguing, we need to move." She walked past them.
"Hear that, fragile boy? We need to move!" Hikaru grinned, bending his knees as he took off.
Aizen had no time to say anything, before he was in the air.
Great... Just perfect!