Nashi (A Naruto Fan-Fiction)

Nashi Chapter 22

*Nashi's POV*

I relax at the familiar flash of a familiar orange book. I mutter a few choicey words under my breath before straightening up.

“Kakashi.” I acknowledge blandly. Kakashi glances at me over his book and gauges my health.

“You don’t look like you just came out of hell.” Kakashi says flippantly, turning a page in his book. I mushroom sigh.

“Can I go now?” I brush past him impatiently. He rests a hand on my shoulder. My muscles tighten at the intrusion of personal space. Without turning around, I grab his wrist tightly.

“Don’t touch me.” I hiss. Dropping his hand roughly, I open the door and enter. There’s only a couple of teams waiting inside, all battered and tired. They look up in unison as I shut the door noisily behind me. They gape at my lone figure, a few of them twisting to look for my nonexistent teammates.

“Did the rest of your team die or something? Coz then you’ve failed.” one chuckles drily. I scowl at her.

“I’m doing the Exams solo.” I inform her before transporting myself out of the room.

~*~

Standing in the midst of the other genin who have survived the Forest of Death, I listen to the Hokage drone on about upholding traditions and whatnot. Stifling a yawn, I look around. We were all placed in a huge room with balconies on either sides. A huge statue of hands weaving a jutsu stands on one end with a screen mounted behind it.

The Hokage is interrupted as a jonin transports in.

“I am the proctor for the Third Exam, Hayate Gekko.” He greets with his back facing us. He discusses something quietly with the Hokage while coughing in between every other word.

Hayate turns towards us and spews some bullcrap about quitting. I frown as Kabuto raises his hand and drops out of the Exams. Something seems strange about that boy...

I watch shrewdly as Team 7 seems to have a fight between the team members, mainly Sakura and Sasuke which is strange. Frowning slightly, I see Sasuke grip his shoulder in pain. I can smell the reeking curse mark from here. I snort and turn back to our third proctor.

“...The battle will end if one of the participants are killed, forfeits, or is unable to continue. I will be the judge of that.” Hayate explains, pausing to cough. He turns to the giant screen.

“Each participant has been randomly matched up with another. Every match will be displayed up here.” Everyone watches the screen as it flips through the names before randomly selecting two. I smirk.

“Umi Nashi and Watanabe Miku please step forward. The rest of you will watch from the balconies.” Hayate chokes out. Kakashi nods at me before heading up the stairs.

“I wish you best of luck, Nashi-sama!” Lee punches the air. He pats me on the back, underestimating his own strength. I stumble forward before shooting a death glare at Lee through my mask.

“Good luck, Nashi!” Naruto waves energetically at me with a broad smile. “Don’t lose!” I snort, I have no intentions of losing to a mere genin. Gaara stares at us deeply from his position on the balcony. Smirking, I remember the promise I had made to him in the forest. Get ready for a good show.... Gaara. His two siblings trade uneasy glances.

I face my opponent and study her boredly. Her long blonde hair is pulled up in a high, elaborate bun. She’s wearing a short red kimono with a katana tucked into the sash. Tied over her sash is the headband for the Village in the Grass. I’m running into these annoying grass ninja everywhere I go. She smirks down at me. What was her name again? She kind of reminds me of Ino... in a bad way.