The spring flower Neji FF

Chapter 34

Cheerfully, Akina jumped around her team's necks and congratulated them on the success of the first exam. She had known they would pass and had a few hours to rest. Temari had told her that the teams had to go to Sunagakure which was timed. "I'm so happy for you guys. I'm sure you'll pass the second exam easily.", the Uchiha grinned. "You really think so?" asked TenTen. Laughing, Akina nodded. When it came to speed, her team was unbeatable. Guy had had them running around Konoha for years, after all. Besides, they had to step on the gas every time they went on a mission. "Be confident TenTen.", came from Lee who was a bit jittery. "We're not giving up!" he added.

Akina accompanied her team to the meeting point and stood by Shikamaru who looked at her questioningly. "I didn't say anything." After a short exhale, the Nara declared the second exam open. However, it was only a small preliminary test for the second part which was waiting for them in Suna. "Each team must travel to Sunagakure alone. You have three days to arrive there. If you don't make it, you won't get anywhere."

Neji remembered that Akina had told them before that they could do it easily. She had given them a little hint without breaking the rules. When he looked to her, she nodded at him with a smile. "Nah come on." he said and ran off. "Neji wait!" shouted TenTen and followed him. While the three were already running, Shikamaru looked at the other participants. "Nah go, or are you going to stand here forever?" he asked, annoyed, watching everyone move away. "You tipped them off, didn't you?"

Smiling, she looked at the Nara. "I just told them they could do it easily. I never told them what it was about so I didn't break the rules." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly and he narrowed his eyes. "I guess Neji figured it out pretty quickly," the Nara admitted. "Wasn't hard, either." Akina would have preferred to talk longer with Shikamaru but she had to make her way to Sunagakure as well. Asuma, Kurenai and Guy would also go there to examine everything from the outside. Akina, however, just wanted to support her team and would wait for them.

"Neji, why are we running so fast?" asked Lee when they were already in the middle of the forest. "Didn't you realize that Akina tipped us off?", Neji asked his team who shook their heads. "Shikamaru said it was about time, didn't he?" "Yeah but what does that have to do with Akina now?" asked TenTen, jumping on the branches with them to move faster.

"She said we'd get through the next task easily," the Hyuga smiled and Lee now understood. "Sensei Guy put us through the missions to make us go faster. The exercises before training was also muscle training and speed." "Exactly Lee and Akina knew that. That's why she said we could do it easily." TenTen looked at her comrades and smiled. "Good thing you reacted so quickly Neji." she said, speeding up a bit.

The team sped up a bit and had their destination clearly in sight. While some teams took a break the three friends kept running. They were not tired yet, as they were used to running for a long time. At that moment, they were grateful to have Guy as their sensei. He was sometimes very disturbing and strict but he knew how to motivate one.

"There's the desert up ahead!" reported Neji, who used his byakugan. "Does that mean we're the first?" asked Lee. "I don't know," replied Neji. Actually, they should be the first, since they ran before the others. However, Neji didn't know if there were other genin who were faster. He only knew the teams from Konoha. Team 8 and Team 10, which started with Sakura, had to be just as good.

 "I'm about to run out of steam," gasped TenTen who could never really keep up that well. "We're almost there, hang in there," Neji said, and Lee started motivating TenTen as well. Lee's moto was never to give up. "Yeah yeah I'll hang in there." Although TenTen wanted to stop, she kept going until the end. When they reached the gates of Sunagakure and signed in, the brown haired girl sank to her knees. Never again would she run at such a fast pace!