“And don’t aggravate the ninjas from the other villages. You might have temper but it will only make things harder. Oh, and if you see a group from-”
“Niisan,” Kazue cut in, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Are you done yet?”
He person in question frowned thoughtfully, cocking his head as he gave the idea a bit of thought. Next to him stood Hikari, her mind focused on the time. She’d agreed to accompany them only because she’d had some free time before she needed to report for duty. Like most around him, she felt uneasy if Hisoka was left to wonder on his own. His mother and father were out on a long-term mission, which left the escorting to her. Something that, much to his annoyance, she always seemed to find room in her schedule to do.
“If I’m not?” Hisoka asked mutinously.
Noriaki had already reached the entrance to the building, his body angled slightly towards the small group as he waited for Kazue to join him. His eyes swept around the area, his mind running over the conversation he’d held with the family elders the night before.
‘It’s not official, so there’s no need for her to know just yet. The Hyuga boy is of no concern, he’s the last person who’d let her know before the time comes.’
Despite their reassurance, he couldn’t help the feeling that it would be in Kazue’s best interests if they could avoid contact with the other team for the time being. At the same time, he was aware of how strange that would seem to the others, who would want to meet up as soon as they could, so that they could visit with each other before the first test began.
“Then I’m leaving you anyways, baka,” Kazue retorted and pulled away from him, causing the arm he’d had draped over her shoulder to fall down to his side.
“Such a cold little sister,” Hisoka whined. “When did you get so mean? I remember when you used to be so shy and the only people you’d talk to were me and Noriaki. Where’d my cute little Kazue-tan go?”
She narrowed her eyes slightly in his direction, then sighed, patting his arm before walking over to join Noriaki. The boy watched her approach him, his own thoughts reflecting on Hisoka’s words.
‘That part of her hasn’t disappeared, Hisoka… she’s just better at suppressing it. ‘
“Good luck, Kazue,” Hikari called after her, grabbing Hisoka’s shirt sleeve. “I’ll make sure this idiot makes it home, so you just focus on the tests. We’ll throw a party to congratulate you when you pass them all!”
Kazue nodded, her teeth biting down on her lip. She didn’t turn around to face them, rather certain Hikari would be able to pick up on how nervous that last statement had made her. She’d said ‘when’, not ‘if’. The sentence had reminded her that in her position, she had to pass. It would reflect poorly on her clan if the future head couldn’t even pass the Chuunin exam. As if hearing her thoughts, Noriaki simply pushed open the door and offered her a calm, expectant expression.
“Don’t worry, I’m here,” he commented quietly, then raised his voice. “Come on, Jun’s probably waiting.”
________________________________
“Listen, this is our kindness.”
Both genin paused in the hall, staring at the scene that met them with similar, studious expressions. What they’d come across was surprising, enough so that neither one of them immediately believed their own eyes. Lee was sprawled on the ground, bracing one hand behind him against the floorboard, holding the other up to his face. Tenten was similarly sprawled on the floor, the culprits being two older genin standing in front of a doorway. What struck Kazue and Noriaki as so strange was the fact that Neji was crouching down next to Lee, who looked as if he had no intentions of standing back up and throwing another punch.
If the situation had been as it should have been, Lee would already be back on his feet and Neji wouldn’t have been doing nothing. As for Tenten, she would have drawn at least a single weapon, yet her hands were bare. When that was combined with the fact that the two genin had only climbed one set of stairs yet the door was marked as a third floor room, it made for a very strange scene to come upon when arriving at the exams. As they silently joined the crowd, Jun spotted them from where he stood just off to the side of the little group and quickly, and none-too-gently, shoved his way through the crowd of genin to join them.
“The chuunin exam isn’t easy.. even we have failed it three straight times. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as shinobis, those that die during the exam, we’ve seen it all.”
Jun beamed at them, tucking his hands behind his back as he came to a stop on the opposite side of Kazue from where Noriaki stood.
“You guys noticed it, right?” he asked cheerfully, quietly enough as to not interrupt the two genin lecturing Lee and the others. “Right?”
Both of his teammates regarded him with slightly confused, yet curious expressions.
“Noticed what?” Noriaki asked, speaking up for both of them. “You know what’s going on?”
Jun sighed.
“Oblivious.”
“And chuunin often become captains of military teams. The failure of a mission- the death of a comrade… that is all the captain's responsibility,” one of them continued as Kazue scowled in Jun’s direction. His only response was to give them a smug smile. “Yet, kids like you think you can pass?”
“Just spit it out!” she hissed to Jun under her breath.
“We are just thinning out those that will fail. What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m not telling,” Jun taunted. “Figure it out, baka.”
Kazue started to respond when a figure stepped past the trio, someone she faintly recognized as having met before. Where, she couldn’t recall right away.
“I agree… but you will let me pass through,” the boy was saying as she studied him with slightly furrowed brows. “And also remove the surrounding created with genjutsu.”
“Ha!” Jun declared. “Sasuke-kun noticed it, too!”
“I’m going to the third floor,” Sasuke finished.
Instantly, Kazue remembered where she’d seen him before. He, along with the teammates that had been trailing behind him, had been the ones that Kakashi had been walking with before.
“Those are some of the rookies, huh?” she commented to Noriaki, who simply nodded as he silently slipped through the crowd, knowing Kazue and Jun would follow.
He only stopped when they were standing only a foot behind where Neji and Lee were. He’d doubted that Lee was actually injured, but wanted to get closer and double-check, even if that meant being close to Neji.
“So you noticed,” one of the culprits replied, an impressed smirk appearing on his lips.
Sasuke, unaffected, turned to the girl standing next to him.
“You must have noticed first right?
“Huh?”
Tuning out the conversation for now, Noriaki knelt down next to Lee. The boy offered him an immediate grin, discreetly giving a thumbs up. Noting this, Kazue placed herself closer to Tenten than Lee, studying her while keeping a bit of attention on the scene going down in front of them.
“Of course. I noticed awhile ago, because this is the second floor,” Sakura boasted.
“Yup!” Naruto added with a closed eye smile.
Instantly, the genjutsu was released. Jun grinned, stepping around his friends to get a better look at the two genin.
“Hey, are you really-”
He cut off as one of them suddenly crouched down and swept a foot out towards Sasuke.
“Not bad, but all you did was see through it!”
Sasuke reacted immediately, swinging a foot up to meet the kick. Without warning, Lee suddenly jumped between them, easily catching a foot with each hand. Next to them, Jun hadn’t moved. Instead an annoyed expression had appeared on his face.
“Come on,” he complained. “At least let me ask my question before you go attacking each other. I really wanna know!”
The other genin that had been standing in front of the door discreetly stepped up next to Jun as Lee released the two shinobi’s feet, leaving the attacker sprawled ungracefully on the ground.
“You really wouldn’t out us in front of everyone, would you, Jun-kun?” the second genin asked quietly.
Jun grinned, his annoyed expression disappearing instantly.
“So I was right!”
The disguised instructor laughed, giving a small shake of his head. Jun, a boy who most disregarded as a rather lazy, smart-mouthed, genin, happened to be one of the most skilled genjutsu users his age. He had an eye for detail and an intelligence level to match it. The man was hardly surprised that Jun had seen past not just the genjutsu, but the other jutsu the two pretend-genin had been wielding.
“Keep that a secret?” he asked.
Jun stuck out his chin, pouting, but reluctantly agreed.
“If I must. I guess showing off this early wouldn’t be good,” he grumbled.
Meanwhile, Lee’s action had surprised the majority of the genin standing in the hall who didn’t know him. Neji was regarding him with a bit of annoyance, his brows furrowed.
“What happened to the plan? you’re the one who said we shouldn't’ draw attention to ourselves.”
“Well…” Lee replied, giving a sly look to the side.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kazue groaned when she saw where was looking.
“Oh no,” Tenten sighed at the same time, shaking her head as she firmly placed her hands on her hips.
Both of them simply watched as Lee approached Sakura, a faint blush on his cheeks.
“Hi… my name is Rock Lee. So yours is Sakura…” he greeted. “Let’s go out together! I’ll protect you till I die!”
As he finished speaking, he winked and flashed his nice-guy smile, giving Sakura a thumbs up. Kazue dropped her head in her hands, mumbling into them, not caring that her hands muffled her words so that only Tenten could hear.
“How many times do I have to tell him that the only thing that smile does is creep girls out?”
“No… way…” Sakura replied instantly. “You’re lame…”
“See?” Kazue mumbled, not bothering to raise her head.
As Lee dropped his head in disappointment, Noriaki stepped forward to lay his hand comfortingly on his friend’s shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he informed him solemnly. “Don’t you remember what Miki-sensei told you?”
Lee brightened slightly, raising his head and giving Noriaki a firm nod.
“Girls find you slightly creepy at first,” he receited. “But don’t worry, if they get to know you they’ll always end up thinking you’re a sweet guy!”
“Don’t get depressed,” Noriaki agreed. “She’ll come around.”
Sakura’s expression practically yelled that she had no intentions of “coming around”. Kazue groaned, raising her head as she heard this.
“And where does Miki-sensei get off giving romantic advice?” she asked no one in particular. “She’s held a one-sided crush for practically ten years! As for Noriaki… he’s even worse! He wouldn’t know romance if it hit him upside the head with a bat.”
Tenten nodded her agreement, amusement flickering across her face.
“He is rather oblivious,” she commented, her attention being stolen away before she could finish her reply to Kazue.
She hadn’t caught whatever Neji had said, but he’d approached Sasuke, an intrigued expression on his face. Whatever he’d asked, however, didn’t seem to interest Sasuke, cause the other just gave a smug smirk in return.
“I don’t have to answer you.”
And with that, he turned his back to the group and calmly walked away. Tenten followed his path with her eyes, amusement forming.
“He’s cute,” she commented under her breath to Kazue.
Kazue blinked, studying the Uchiha from behind.
“He is,” she agreed slowly. “Smart, too. He’s one of Kakashi’s students, though, so I’d rather not get involved. You know how obsessive Miki-sensei is.”
Tenten nodded absently, her attention being drawn to Lee, now, as he said something to Noriaki that she couldn’t hear then eagerly started down the hall with the other boy in tow. Surprised, she studied her teammate curiously.
“Come on, Lee,” she called out. “What are you doing?”
Kazue blinked, turning her attention to the matter as well. Noriaki was leaving her alone? He never did that.
“You guys go ahead, there’s something I’d like to test,” he replied, his expression twisted into a serious one that he rarely displayed.
Noriaki nodded his agreement, pausing so that he could face Kazue, his own expression firm.
“Stay close to Jun,” he instructed. “Don’t wonder off.”
She scowled, not noticing how his eyes flickered past her to Neji, who gave a barely noticeable frown in return. If the blonde didn’t trust him to stay silent, he should just tell Lee no and stick around. Turning his back to all of them, Noriaki joined Lee as they continued their way down the hall.
“Hey, where’re they going?” Jun demanded as he fell into step with the others as they started down the hall like Lee had told them to do.
“I don’t know, probably to do something stupid,” Kazue replied sourly.
Jun gave a grim smile, casting one last glance over his shoulder at their retreating forms.
“If he tires himself out before the test, I’ll kill him,” he declared firmly.
Kazue gave him a sharp look, pursing her lips disapprovingly.
“Can you please not say such things while smiling? It’s unsettling.”
“Sorry, no can do. Smiling is my default setting.”
“Just shut up, Jun.”
______________________________________
Noriaki leaned against the balcony wall, his eyes studying Lee as he lightly dropped over the side.
“A fight, right now?” Sasuke questioned.
“Yes.”
He pointed his thumb towards his chest and Noriaki debated whether or not he should step in. Rolling his options over in his mind, he simply settled for watching as Lee introduced himself and fell his ready position.
“I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan,” he declared calmly. “Plus…”
His gaze drifted to the side as a flush lit up his cheeks. A second later he winked in Sakura’s direction. Noriaki only gave a faint frown as the girl overreacted.
“Ewwww! Those lower eyelashes are ewwww!” she cried out. “Hairstyle is lame… and those thick eyebrows…”
“Mua, you are an angel,” Lee declared, blowing her a kiss.
‘Perhaps he hit his head harder than I thought,’ Noriaki mused. ‘Those genin earlier must have done something. Someone who reacts like that is anything but an angel… she could at least pretend to be flattered by his attention…’
He conveniently ignored the fact that his cousin might have reacted the same way if Lee had flirted with her when they’d first started becoming friends. Instead, he calmly launched himself over the side of the railing when Sakura violently dodged the blown kisses.
“Hey, don’t throw weird things! I barely escaped with my life!” she complained.
“You don’t have to be that mean….” Lee mumbled, looking slightly put out.
Noriaki glanced between them.
“Perhaps it’s best to give up on that idea for now, Lee,” he suggested calmly. “You’ll only alienate her if you continue.”
Lee sighed, but nodded his agreement as his attentioned focused back on Sasuke. Within a moment the Uchiha had confirmed only that his ego was rather large, seeing as despite having witnessed Lee’d display only a short time ago with the genin, he had no doubt that he could easily take Lee down. Just when the fight was going to begin, however, Naruto stepped in and declared that he’d be the one fighting Lee. Noriaki half-heartedly considered stepping in, then changed his mind when Lee simply sent the loud mouthed kid crashing into the wall behind them.
Instead he stepped back to examine Naruto and make sure no real damage had been done. He wasn’t about to allow them to be banned from the test just because some rookie had recklessly charged into Lee’s fight. Satisfied a moment later that Naruto was fine, he left the him sprawled out on the floor and reassumed his position just on the edge of where Lee’s fight was taking place. By the time he’d returned, Lee and Sasuke had already begun fighting.
Noriaki watched the fight through narrowed eyes, carefully taking in each detail. The main reason he’d agreed to come along was simply because he was completely aware of the fact that both he and Lee could tend to go overboard. He figured if he was there, he’d be able to keep an eye on things. Well, most likely he’d be able to. He was also aware that there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t just make things worse.
His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of the wrapping around Lee’s hands coming loose. Tensing, he waited for his chance to jump in. it came when an object suddenly flew into the fray, trapping the end of Lee’s wrappings against the wall. Without hesitation, fully aware of who must have arrived, Noriaki launched himself forward and managed to position himself beneath Sasuke before the boy crashed into the ground. Sakura immediately pushed him to the side and began questioning Sasukr about whether he was alright.
Unperturbed, Noriaki pulled himself up and dusted off his pants, casting one last look at the rookie to make sure he wasn’t too horrible hurt, before looking back at where Lee was. Perhaps it would be better to go rejoin their teammates, he considered for a split-second. It was possible that he was also responsible for Lee almost going full out on Sasuke, seeing as he could have stepped in earlier but hadn’t.
“Lee! That technique is forbidden!”
Lee’s expression was like toddler who had been caught putting his hand in the cookie jar.
“But… I wasn’t planning on using the other one…” he sputtered.
Noriaki rejoined him, dismissing the thought of running. If Lee was going to get punished, he might as well take whatever it was as well.
“You fool!” Guy continued. “You think you can get away with an excuse like that? You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal his special techniques!”
“Yes,” Lee replied, studying the floor.
“Are you prepared to pay?”
Noriaki studied the turtle, wondering if Guy ever planned on revealing himself. At the same time, he wasn’t against the turtle being there instead of the irate sensei.
“Yes.”
“Then here comes Guy-sensei!”
A puff of smoke signaled Guy’s arrival. A moment later the shinobi appeared, in as strange of a pose as Noriaki had ever seen him in.
“Geeze! You guys are the epitome of adolescence!” Guy declared.
There was some commotion behind them as the three rookies reacted to the jounin’s appearance. Lee spun around angrily, holding his fist up as Noriaki drew his katana in a similarly irritated manner.
“Hey! Stop insulting Guy-sensei!” Lee declared.
Noriaki leveled the tip of his katana with where the rookies stood, his expression never changing.
“I agree. If you don’t stop, I think I might test you myself,” he commented quietly.
“Shut up!” Naruto declared, not seeming to notice. “All these freaks keep appearing! How the hell are we supposed to react?!”
“What did you-?” Lee sputtered.
Noriaki leapt forward in one, silent motion, in front of the genin before they could react. His expression hadn’t changed, but his irritation was obvious in his manner.
“It’d be wise to just stop talking,” he informed them.
He’d sheathed his katana, thinking better of using the blade as it could inflict too much damage, and had settled for holding his fists in a similar position as the one that Lee had held them in before the fight.
“Lee!” Guy called out.
“Oh! Yes…?” Lee replied, drawing Noriaki’s attention away for a split second.
The three rookies simply stared at him, shocked by how quickly he’d moved. Sasuke had tensed, but didn’t react beyond that. He doubted that with the jounin’s presence that the elder boy would actually do something. His guess was confirmed when Noriaki suddenly moved away as Guy’s fist crashed into the side of Lee’s fast, sending the boy backwards. Noriaki paused about a foot away, uncertain about whether or not he should interfere. It seemed that Guy had decided not to blame him for not getting involved earlier, but that didn’t mean he could feel comfortable simply standing there while Lee was punished.
Within a second, though, Guy had predictably began crying and had knelt down to embrace his wayward pupil, who had similarly started crying.
Awkwardly, Noriaki simply stood there and watched, wondering if it would have been better if he’d just gone with Kazue earlier. When the two bowl-cuts finally calmed down, Guy had his hand on Lee’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, Lee, mistakes and youth go together.”
“You are too nice… sensei.”
“But you did start a fight and almost broke my rules,” Guy informed him. “My punishment will take place after the chuunin exam.”
“Yes!” Lee agreed, saluting him.
“Five hundred laps around the practice range!!” Guy declared.
“Yes!”
“I’ll join him,” Noriaki interjected, just as calmly as before.
Guy paused, then nodded, turning his pose in Noriaki’s direction.
“Wonderful! Admitting your mistakes is also a part of youth!”
To the side, all three rookies regarded the trio, wondering how exactly things had turned out like this.
__________________________
“You’re such an idiot,” Jun complained as they all stepped into the testing room together. “What if you’d gotten hurt? Then what would we do?”
“It might have been reckless,” Noriaki retorted. “But I can never be as much of an idiot as you, so I figured I’d be fine.”
Kazue sighed, resisting the urge to drop her head into her hand as they joined Neji and the others. It would seem that even threatening glowers from the other test-takers couldn’t stop her teammates bickering. How lovely. Perhaps this was how Miki had felt when she’d dealt with Hisoka and Hikari.
No, she decided. That was probably worse.
“Will you two stop?” she demanded finally. “You’re drawing a lot of attention!”
Jun paused, glancing around them.
“Oh! Hi! I’m Jun, I’m going to kick your guys’ asses later, so don’t mind me.”
Kazue groaned.
“Jun!”
__________________________
Outside of the testing room, Miki stood and offered Kakashi a bright smile as she braced her back against the door, copying the position he stood in with his back against the neighboring wall. As conversations carried on, on the other side, the thin door easily enabled her to hear everything going on. Especially when one rookie decided to make enemies of everyone in the room. She could only hope that Jun had been smart enough to refrain from following the idiot’s example.
“My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I won’t lose to you bastards! You got that?!”
Her lips twisted up as she watched Kakashi’s reaction, able to read the faint amusement that crossed his face as well.
“You have a loud genin,” she commented lightly. “Think he’ll be able to keep to that?”
Kakashi shrugged, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
“He is Konoha’s number one unpredictable ninja,” he replied simply. “I won’t try to guess how things will turn out.”
Miki giggled, considering the statement for a moment.
“Fine, I’ll give you that one,” she informed him cheerfully. “I won’t bet one way or the other, either, then.”
Kakashi gave a faint, closed eyed smile as he pushed away from the wall and took a step down the hall, glancing over his shoulder at her.
“Are you coming?” he asked. “Standing here until the instructors show up won’t do us any good.”
Gleefully, she pushed herself away from the door and joined him.
“You asked me to come,” she celebrated. “That’s a step forward!”
He eyed her curiously.
“You would’ve come even if I hadn’t,” he informed her.
“That’s true,” Miki agreed easily. “Doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy being asked, though!”
Kakashi simply shook his head as she habitually clasped her hands behind her back.
“Oh! By the way! I talked to Kurenai earlier, guess what she said!”
“What?”
“Since we never did go out to celebrate my birthday, we’ll go out to celebrate if all of our genin pass the first test, instead!” Miki declared.
Kakashi paused, eyeing her thoughtfully.
“Wasn’t the plan for your birthday to go to a bar?” he questioned.
She nodded happily.
“Yup! And we’re all going to make Niisan pay, since he doesn’t have anyone in the test!”
Kakashi felt slightly sorry for Hayate for a moment, considering all of this as he started walking again.
“Didn’t you say that you’d never been drinking before?”
She nodded again, just as cheerfully as before.
“Niisan wouldn’t let me! He’s finally given in and agreed, though, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
Kakashi found himself almost hoping that one of their teams failed. He couldn't help but feel that this celebratory party couldn’t end well.
A/N: Welp! I was gonna continue onto the first test, but when I ended up adding the Kakashi and Miki scene, decided just to leave the first test for the next chapter! See you there!