A Little More Than This (Discontinued)

Chapter 24

It had been three days since Mei, Dorai and Junsuke had arrived at the tower and been prepped for the following exam. They had wondered about, mingled with other finishing teams and gotten to know one another very well.

They all knew each other's favourite things, speech patterns, least favourite things, dreams, greatest fears and fighting styles. They had bonded quite closely and had introduced each other to their own individual friends.

Mei found it fun to watch the entrance for the new comers and spent a lot of time listening to Dorai's funny stories. Junsuke, on the other hand, kept a close eye on the sand team, who he had lent that their names were Gaara, Temari and Kankurō.

As much as he'd like to trust them he couldn't find himself to do so. He kept circling back to them and would try to listen in to their conversations but he couldn't get anything from them. And after a few days he shrugged it off, spending more time with his friends and teammates than before.

"Yo, Mei! The kid with a spiky black ponytail keeps eying you" Dorai whispered, gesturing to him. Mei looked around to see Shikamaru staring over at them. "Oh~ that's just Shikamaru. He's is good friend of mine!" Mei giggled.

"Are you sure?? He seems pretty interested" Dorai asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Mei stuck her tongue out and flipped him the bird before turning towards Shikamaru and gesturing for him to come over.

He nervously walked over with Chōji following close behind. Mei smiled at him warmly as he and Chōji sat in their little circle.

"Yo. What are you talking about?" He asked, near smoothly. "Stuff. How are you doing?" Mei replied. "Fine" Shikamaru replied, raising an eyebrow. "Any ideas about the next Exam?" Mei asked, turning her full attention to him. "Ahhh~ dunno actually. Maybe one-on-one battles?" Shikamaru asked, scratching his head.

"200 Ryo says your right" the Tangerine bargained. "You're on" Shikamaru responded, holding out his hand. Mei shook it and checked the time.

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"We have reason to believe that The Leaf is to be attacked during the finale exam of this Chūnin Exams" Pein sighed as Itachi and Kisame straightened up. The Leaf Village had been a sour subject ever since the ANBU nin had destroyed their base and killed Mei.

"So what?" Kisame spat. "Well, our target is there. I want you to enter the village after the attack and check to make sure he isn't dead. If possible kidnap him and another to hold for ransom as we retrieve the 9 tails" Pein said, trying to keep Kisame from exploding. Both ninja nodded and left the room as Pein spun around in his chair.

He was reminded strongly of the time he caught Mei doing the same thing 7 years previously. This caused him to stop. He couldn't bare it, the memories came flooding into his head as his gaze found Mei's recently fixed grave. He stood up and grabbed the curtains and pulled them close, leaving the room dark. He collapsed on the floor, a few meters from his chair, which he had sent flying when he closed the curtains.

His breathing became uneven as he tried to clam down. He took short breaths as his body started involuntarily shaking and shuddering. Pein tried hard to even out his breathing as the tiniest crack in the thick curtains showed the thing he was trying to block out.

Her grave, sparkling in the sun from it's last wash.

Pein's breathing levelled out and his body slumped still. He was relieved until he felt something roll down his cheek. It landed in his hand and he stared at it as though the drop was alien. He felt his body slip from his crouched position to one where he lay in his side. His uneven, fast paced breathing returned to him as he chocked back a sob.

He was breaking down and he knew it. He tried with all his might to calm down and get back to normal but his mind decided to torture him a while longer. Her tinkling, bell-like laughter rolled around his head and this caused him to roll into his gut and bite his hand to stop himself from completely falling apart.

'Why!?!? Why did you leave us!?!'

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Mei felt releaved as she saw Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura emerge into the arena and line up with everyone else. She turned to face the front as she took in her surroundings. She hardly listened to the speech the Hokage gave out but smirked when she saw Shikamaru jab 200 Ryo at her grumpily.

She quickly stashed the money in her Kunai pouch and watched as a sickly looking male stepped forward and introduced himself as the third proctor.

He quickly explained that there was going to be a preliminary exam as there were too many people for the real exam.

"We need to, at least, half this group otherwise the people who come to watch will get bored and may leave before they see what they actually want" Hayate Gekkō informed. Murmurs rippled through the small group as Hayate cleared his throat.

"So... if anyone doesn't feel 100% you are allowed to withdraw from the exams and try again next year" he continued, having a small coughing fit in the middle. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kabuto start to raise his hand but she shot him a look.

Don't you dare.

Kabuto smirked and lowered his hand. He smiled back up to his team's sensei as he relaxed.

"Alright if no one wants to quit we'll start the preliminary exam" Hayate said, giving off a small cough. He turned to a giant screen as it lit up rolling unreadable names before slowing to a stop on two.

Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akadō.

Mei shot Sasuke a look and saw him flinch as a pain shot through her own arm.

'He's not gonna make it at this rate'