Silent Shinobi (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter Eleven

GUESS WHO'S BACK IN DA HOUSE. haha super sorry for being MIA :( but yknow how the haze is really bad and stuff? it's super hot even worse than usual! anyway here's the update hehe I can't wait for the next chapter ^^ take care guys and don't stay out for too long!

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Silent Shinobi (11)

Third Person's POV

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura shrieked, staring wide-eyed at Zeri. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teammate suspiciously, wondering how she knew him. Zeri ignored her teammates, suddenly reappearing in front of Gaara swiping at him with her right hand, her fingers flexing with her Tiger Claws. Sakura and Moegi scream, and Naruto yells out in shock. Even Temari loses her composure, her mouth and Kankuro's dropping open.

"Zeri!" Naruto yells, and Gaara's eyes widen slightly as he backs away, before a wall of sand covers his form. Zeri's claws swipe through the sand, leaving behind deep indents. Zeri smirked, landing softly on the ground in front of him. To everyone's surprise, Gaara didn't even retaliate: he only lowered his wall to shoot a glare towards Zeri's direction. She stared back at him defiantly, until she noticed the playful glint in his eyes before it faded.

Gaara turned to Kankuro, his eyes returning to their dull, cold gaze. "Did you forget the reason we are hear for, Kankuro?" he drawls, his voice lacking emotion as he stares at him. Kankuro audibly gulps, a nervous smile on his face. "O-of course not, Gaara! Uh, they were the ones who challenged us first!"

Zeri peeks from behind Gaara, wagging a finger at Kankuro. Liar liar, she mouths, shaking her head in mock disappointment. Kankuro widens his eyes as Gaara glances over his shoulder, and he hurries to distract him. "N-no! You see, here's what happ-"

"Shut up," the red-haired boy mutters, and Kankuro's face pales. "Or I'll kill you."

Sakura shivers slightly, knowing the red-haired boy meant what he said. Naruto gulps, his eyes wide as he watches the scene in front of him.

"I'm sorry for any trouble we caused you," Gaara says, emotionless, appearing in front of his team. "Let's go, we didn't come here to play games."

Just as they were about to leave, Sakura opens her mouth. "Hold on a sec! I can see from your headbands that you're Ninja from the Hidden Sand Village, but no Ninja can enter another's village without permission! So state your purpose for being here, and it better be good!" Zeri couldn't resist rolling her eyes.

"Have you been living under a rock or something?" Temari says incredulously, and Sasuke's expression darkens in annoyance. "Don't you have any idea what's been happening? But anyways, you're right. We are Sand Village Genin, and we're here for the Chunin Exams."

"What's the Chunin Exams?" Naruto asks dumbly, and Gaara briefly glances at Zeri, silently asking if this was her squad. Zeri shoots him a scowl, looking away. Of all the Genin in this village, I had to get stuck with the dumbest, she thinks in annoyance.

"Uh, boss? Those exams are the ones every Genin has to take if they wanna become a Chunin," Konohamoru whispers, and Naruto's blur expression clears. "Oh! Well then, I am so gonna be there!" Naruto yells excitedly, and the Sand Ninja begin to walk away.

Zeri growls as Sasuke leaps down from the branch. "Hey, you! What's your name?" He calls out, and Temari turns around with a blush. "You mean me? I'm Tema-" Sasuke cuts her off. "No, I mean the one with the gourd on his back."
Kankuro glances incredulously at Sasuke. "Didn't you hear us mention his name like, how many times?" Sasuke glared at him, waiting for Gaara to answer.

"I am Gaara of the Desert, and I am curious to know your name as well," Gaara responds monotonously. Sasuke smirks smugly, standing up straight before he replies. "Sasuke Uchiha," he drawls, and Sakura (and Temari) sigh dreamily. Gaara's eyes flicker towards Zeri, who cocks her head at him curiously.

Naruto runs towards them, a big grin on his face. "I bet you're dying to know my name too!" He calls. "I couldn't care less about who you are," Gaara responds, leaving behind a dejected Naruto. Kankuro winks at Zeri before they leave, but she ignores him.

"Hey, Konohamoru? Do I seem uncool to you?" Naruto wonders, depressed. Konohamoru places a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Compared to Zeri and Sasuke? Yeah, you're pretty lame, boss," he replies cheerfully, and Naruto and Sakura sweatdrop. Sasuke smirks, looking at Zeri, who he didn't expect to find smirking back at him. "I'm obviously the cooler one," Zeri confirms, and Sasuke raises his brow at her challengingly. "Hn, as if!" He scoffs, still smirking. Naruto, on the other hand, looks at them with his jaw open. "Sakura-chan! Zeri is actually acting normal!" Naruto whispers, and Sakura nods, too shocked to punch him for standing too close to her.




Zeri's POV

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS KAKASHI SENSEI THAT'S LATE?!" Sakura screams in outrage, her fists clenched. "He gives us a meeting time, and when we come here on time, he's the one that's late! Does he even care about our feelings?! I didn't even get to dry my hair this morning because I thought I was gonna be late!" Sakura rants.

Erhmagawd, Sakura didn't get to dry her hair! I rolled my eyes. Because that totally matters to me.

"Yeah!" Naruto agrees, pulling a face. "I didn't even get to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" He announces proudly, and Sakura scrunched her nose at him in disgust. Sasuke grumbles under his breath, irritated by the noise, and I swing my legs back and forth from my position on the wooden pole of the bridge, not bothered by how late Kakashi was yet since I just got here. Why do they even bother coming early, since they know Kakashi's gonna be late?

It suddenly became silent, and I became increasingly aware that Naruto, Sakura and even Sasuke were huddled in a corner, whispering under their breath suspiciously. I looked at them curiously. "None of my business," I shrugged, looking away and sensing that Kakashi was approaching from a few meters away.

"...go first...not me....why do I have to...woah!" I turned my head, just as Naruto was about to fall into the river, his arms flailing. On instinct, I held my hand out, my eyes flashing to a dark gold. Naruto froze in the air, his eyes squeezed shut expectantly. Sakura gasped, her eyes widening in awe as she stared at Naruto's floating figure, before she called out to Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto! Open your eyes!" Naruto opened them slowly, confusion written on his face when he realised he was just inches away from the water. "WOAH! THIS IS SO COOL! HAHAHAHA!" Naruto yelled gleefully, and slowly tried moving around in the air. Sakura sweatdropped as he began to mimic different positions in the air.

"Chicken! Bwok, bwok, bwok," Naruto clucked, sticking his butt out and shaking it while he was in the air. Sakura giggled, and Sasuke smirked slightly, although he looked incredibly stupid. I stared at Naruto incredulously, wondering what the heck he was doing. And in that moment I completely forgot that I was the one holding him up in the air.

"Bwok, bwok, bw-AWK!" Naruto screeched, half-flapping his hands with his head sticking out before he fell into the water face-first with his butt in the air. Sakura took one look at him and burst into loud laughter, holding onto her stomache as she pointed at him. "O-oh my gosh," Sakura was practically breathless from laughing. Sasuke turned away, his face indifferent but the shaking of his shoulders told an entirely different story.

Naruto stayed motionless for around 5 seconds, before he sat up, two fishes in his mouth, twitching wildly. He stared at me in shock, and I couldn't hold back my laughter any longer. His facial expression was so flabbergasted that I just lost it. And it was an accident!

After a few seconds, I calmed down, a sigh escaping from my lips as I glanced at Naruto once more. This time, there were no fish in his mouth, since it was hanging open in shock. And he wasn't the only one, Sakura's eyes were wide with surprise, and even Sasuke lost his 'I'm cool' expression, his mouth slightly ajar. I turned behind me, thinking Kakashi was standing there, but didn't see him, so I turned around to still find them staring at me.

"What?" I finally said, slightly annoyed and confused.

"You laughed." Sasuke stated, a wide smirk on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura smiled, nodding her head eagerly. "Yeah, you actually laughed Zeri! And I thought I'd never get to see you even smile," she giggled. Naruto was grinning from ear to ear as he stood up, puffing out his chest proudly. "Yeah, and it's all 'cause of me, believe it! I'm the one who made Zeri laugh!" Naruto declared, whooping and doing some silly dance.

"I didn't laugh?" I disagreed, but it sounded like a question.

"YES YOU DID!" My team shouted back triumphantly, and I shot them a glare, trying to convince myself otherwise. What was worse was that all of them had smug, knowing grins on their faces. Especially Naruto.

Feeling a chakra presence nearby, I looked up just to see Kakashi walking in our direction. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late, I got lost on the path of life....?" He trails off, noticing the wide grins on their faces. "Am I missing something here?"

"Nothing important," I grounded out, just as Naruto decided to declare, "Yeah! Zeri laughed for the first time ever!" I growled under my breath, regretting opening my mouth.

Kakashi shot me a curious and amused look, but moved on. "Hm, okay, well I recommended you all for the Chuunin Exams. Here's your application forms," he tells us, handing us each a piece of paper. I take it, holding it in front of me so I could block my face from all the annoying people surrounding me. "Oh and don't worry, it's totally up to you whether you want to participate or not."

I could feel Naruto practically launching himself at Kakashi, thanking him profusely. Sasuke's aura feels a little dark, and I wonder what he's plotting. It doesn't take a genius to know Sakura is worried about this, since I can feel her anxiety from where I'm sitting.

"Sakura, what's bothering you?" I ask her, before I can stop myself. Sakura glances at me in surprise, and I promised to slap myself later. What is wrong with me? She shoots me a small smile before she replies. "Oh, um, nothing actually! I'm fine, thanks Zeri," she winks, having clearly not forgotten about the incident earlier. I scowl at her, turning away only to see Sasuke smirking at me.

"Hn, so you actually can laugh." He teases, and I cover my ears with my hands, silently cursing. I couldn't wait till this blew over.