Konoha's New Yellow Flash

Surviving the Cut: The Rookie Ten Together Again!

Smoke came from both and I recognized the signs and words on them. A summoning jutsu. We watched as the smoke slowly stopped and there stood . . . "Iruka?" I asked unsure.

"Hey. Long time no see huh?" holy crap it is. I haven't seen him since he attacked us to see if we were worthy of the exam. "Looks like you've gone through a lot in this test." He said. I sweat dropped. No duh. We're all worn out and filthy.

But why is he here? And Naruto asked him. "At the end of the second exam, we chunin are supposed to welcome the test takers back. And well, there was just the good luck that I was the one to give the important task of being the messenger for you guys."

"The messenger?" Sakura asked. Messenger? What could they possible tell us? He took out a watch from his pocket and whistled. "Whew. And you made it just in time too. And now . . ." Now what? What is with everyone and leaving the suspense?!

It's ticking me off! "Congratulations, you passed the second exam." I blinked. That's it? That's really it? Why those lousy son of a-

"To celebrate your passing, I would like to treat you all too some Ichiraku Ramen but I-"

"Ramen!" Naruto and I cheered! Yes, we do love our ramen. We then hugged Iruka, still cheering. Iruka was trying to get us off and we let go.

I looked up at him, smiling widely. "Ramen! It'll be so good since we've only eaten plats and bugs! Those are so gross! And Sakura sucks at preparing beetles!" I said. Naruto started inputting how nasty the food is and Iruka smiled down at us as we animatedly explained the nasty things we ate.

"Alright. I can see that you two are as hyperactive as ever." We grinned up at him and Sasuke hmphed. We looked at him. "Now I see. If we had looked at the scrolls in the middle of the exam, what would you have done to us Iruka-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

I looked at Iruka curiously. Iruka picked up the scrolls. "As usual Sasuke, you're as sharp as a tack. You've figured out the secret. Part of this exam was to tell how you would see a difficult mission all the way through. Simply put; you knew that opening the scrolls was against the rules of your mission and if you had tried to open one . . ."

"You would knock us out." I concluded for him. He smiled and nodded. "Good job Miyu, I see you haven't lost your touch." Sasuke looked at us and smirked. Before he spoke I placed my hand over his mouth and put a finger to my lips in the silent sign.

He is not embarrassing us like this. Naruto was praying his thanks to Kabuto while Sakura wiped her forehead. What? It was a moment of weakness!

Sakura asked about the writing and while they were talking I looked at it closely. "Heaven stands for the mind and Earth for the body. If our weakness lies in our intellect then we have to work hard in learning. If our weakness lies in our physical capabilities then we need to work on our physical condition a lot, every day. If we have both, then we can do any mission. And that blank spot . . . we're supposed to fill that in ourselves. Right?" I asked.

Everyone was looking at me. Iruka smiled. "I expect no less from you Miyu. You're right. This exam was to see how you would be as chunin, and I got to say, you all did exceptionally well." He complimented.

"Well that's all I was supposed to say to you." He said. Naruto saluted him. "Got it." He said. We waited for Iruka to leave but he looked like he was debating something.

Finally he spoke. "One more thing. The third exam . . . don't push it too far. Especially you Naruto, I worry-"

"Iruka-sensei when I go this student I'm no longer a student. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I mean this headband is a symbol that I've become a ninja right."

I wrapped my arm around Naruto's neck. My hair escaped its pigtails earlier today so it hung down. "That's right Iruka, we'll make you proud." I said. Naruto and I then gave him thumbs up. "Believe it." Naruto finished.

We were led to a large empty room with a balcony around. At the end was a statue of two hands making a hand signs. In front of it are the sensei's and in front of them is gramps. To the sides were the proctors and other chunin. And we were in front of them. My count is thirty one candidates.

"First of all congratulations to you all for finishing the second exam." Anko said, loudly, may I add. The adults were looking at us with strange expressions.

Again, long, suspense. What is with them?! A little talking was done by teams and a couple sensei's but not direct talking towards everyone.

Well then. I sweat at Lee's sensei and Kakashi. Oh boy. I glanced over to Lee to see him practically lit on fire. Is Guy his dad or something?

I shook my head and looked forward. I noticed mummy man and his friends staring at Sasuke and me. I smirked and stuck out my tongue, making spiky hair pissed.

I chuckled and Sasuke elbowed me, silently telling me to behave. I sniffed the air and tensed before looking at the sound ninja sensei. He smells like . . . Orochimaru. He caught me looking and smirked before licking his lips.

I clenched my fists and stopped shaking. Bring it snake boy. I'll take you on any time and beat you. I am not afraid. I'm not afraid of him, or the other teams. This is our time to shine. This is our time to show them that we are strong shinobi.

Bring it on. I'll take them all on! For Naruto, for Sasuke, and for Sakura. We'll pass.

I smirked. Well look at me. Rooting for our passing. I didn't even want to become a ninja and here I am, cheering for us to pass. Those four fools, changing my way. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi. Look what you four did to me.

Morons. But you're my morons.

"Hey look. All of the leaf rookies are here." Sakura whispered to our group. Naruto turned back to us. "Whoa everyone's here. Old man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, and even bushy brows. It looks like absolutely no one got left out this time."

"Ahg, I don't have a good feeling about this." Sasuke said. I elbowed him and smiled. "Cheer up. We're here and we're together. You need to learn to live in the moment from time to time."

He looked at me and smirked before nodding and looking forward again. "Alright now pay attention! Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you. And you better listen carefully you maggots." Anko said.

 Held my fist up to my chest height as my temple throbbed. "If she calls us maggots one more time I'll-"

Sasuke quickly grabbed my fist in his hands, immediately relaxing it and we held hands. Alright, I'll calm down. She should count herself lucky. The midget.

He took a step forward, hands behind his back. "First before I tell you what the third exam is entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely now it's something all of you need to understand. I'm going to tell you the true purpose of these exams."

True purpose? "Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?" he asked. Are we supposed to answer? "Miyu?" Ghek. People looked my way and my eye twitched in annoyance. Why that dirty old man!

He smirked. I bet this is payback for stealing his hat for Naruto. I sighed. "To increase friendship between allies is the obvious, but representations of battles between allied nations." I muttered. He smiled. "That is correct."

Of course it is you stupid old geezer! Then he gave us a history lesson. He talked about pride and all that crap. I rolled my eyes. Whatever. I was never into the whole ninja serving their country, just Naruto and now my team.

He was about to explain the third exam when some dude interrupted. That's when I started paying closer attention.

"It's nice to meet you all." The man spoke to us. He then coughed a bit. "There's something I would like all of you to do before the third exam."

I raised an eyebrow. The dude coughed in the middle of it. Then he looked at us with a weird look.