The Breaking Point (SasukeXOC)

34

A tall man with silver hair and a purple outfit spoke. He wore a Leaf headband and yet I was positive I had never seen nor caught scent of him before.

I was instantly suspicious.

"You guys are all rookies, straight out of the academy, right? Geez, you're screaming like school kids." He gave a calming smile that showed he meant no harm with his insult. "My name is Kabuto. Take a look behind you."

"What?" Sakura mumbled as we all turned to look behind us. Three very angry looking Gennin glared at us.

"Those guys are from the Hidden Sound Village and they're not exactly patient. Everyone here is pretty nervous for the exam and your yelling is grating their nerves. I wouldn't expect you guys to know any better though, after all you're only rookies." Kabuto explained.

"I knew we were being rude... how embarrassing. Now they probably all want to kill us." I pouted in dismay.

"What? Kill us? How can you say that so lightly?" Naruto gasped louder than he should have.

Leave it to Naruto to literally not have an inside voice.

"So, this is your second time, Kabuto?" Sakura asked politely.

"Nope. This is my seventh time." Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"So, you know a lot about this exam?" Sakura asked.

If he knew a lot about this exam he would've passed it already. I really feel like this guy is unreliable, and that's not just because I don't recognize his scent. Call it instinct, I guess.

"Of course I do." Kabuto boasted.

"Impressive." Naruto commended with his arms crossed in an attempt to act aloof.

"I think I'll help you cute little rookies out." Kabuto smirked. "Take a look at these Nin-Info cards."

Nin... info... ninfo? Wait, doesn't that word mean something else?

"What are those?" Sakura asked. The other rookies gathered around Kabuto curiously.

"They're cards I've infused chakra into. Each card has information about a specific ninja taking the exam and they'll only reveal the information if touched with my chakra. I have over 200 of them after all the years I've taken the exam. Is there anyone you're interested in?" Kabuto raised a challenging eyebrow. I thought quickly trying to come up with someone I might want information on, but came up blank.

"Garra of the Hidden Sand and Rock Lee of the Leaf." Sasuke demanded.

"Oh, so there are some guys you're worried about? Since you know their names, this'll be easy." Kabuto rifled through his deck of cards and pulled out two.

"I don't understand what's happening... but I'll pretend like I get it." Naruto muttered.

Kabuto began to tell Sasuke all about the two he asked while I decided not to pay attention. Instead I curiously examined Kabuto's cards. It was a strange ninjutsu, not one I was familiar with nor one I had seen around the village. I wondered if he came up with the idea himself. It was almost like some sort of ninja spy technique to keep delicate information hidden while undercover.

"Oh, do me!" Naruto yelled once Kabuto finished explaining about Garra and Lee.

Wait if Naruto was interested in these cards then does that mean I missed something good? Maybe I should pay more attention to my surroundings...

"Pst, Kiba," I whispered gaining his attention, "is this guy interesting?" Kiba gave me a weird look.

"What the heck are you asking?" he whispered back. Sasuke turned towards us and smirked at me.

"Miyu has a habit of not paying attention to important things." A light blush lit my cheeks as I gave a bashful smile. Kiba scowled at Sasuke.

"I can't believe he just interrupted our conversation like that..." Kiba angrily muttered under his breath.

"I don't think he meant anything by it." I offered trying to calm Kiba.

"Relax, Miyu," Akamaru interjected with a teasing bark, "Kiba's just mad that Sasuke knows more about you than he does."

"Don't tell her that, Akamaru!" Kiba shot a glare towards his pup. I cocked my head to the side.

"Why's that?" I voiced innocently causing Kiba to blush.

"HEY LISTEN UP! MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND I WON'T LOSE TO ANY OF YOU BASTARDS! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto's voice echoed throughout the room earning deadly glares from each and every Gennin, some even coming from our group of rookies.

"What the heck is he doing?" I asked in a whisper.

"What? Is he?" Ino stuttered out.

"He's too stupid to feel down..." Sakura grumbled angrily to herself.

"Ah, man, that felt great! So glad I got that off my chest!" Naruto exclaimed. I glanced at the rookie boys. Sasuke had a proud and challenging smirk aimed around the room. Kiba sported his usual wolfish grin.

Does no one understand that Naruto just made everyone hate us?

"Pretty big words, show off." Kiba teased with a grin.

"Man, what an idiot. He just made everyone in this room his enemy." Shikamaru sighed.

"Why you...!" Sakura growled as she held Naruto in an impressive chokehold.

"Geez, why doesn't she do that during missions? She would be super helpful if she could put the enemy in a chokehold like that..." I muttered under my breath. Sasuke, who happened to be standing beside me, coughed out a hidden chuckle. My gaze snapped to him in surprise.

Did I just make Sasuke laugh?

"I'm terribly sorry, everyone!" Sakura announced to the room, "he's quite stupid." She excused for Naruto. It was then that my instincts kicked in.

"Sasuke." His eyes darted to me for a split second to take note of my seriousness. It would seem Sasuke is starting to trust my animal instincts.

"Right." He grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt and tugged him back from the group of rookies. I grabbed Sakura and followed. The two of us dragged our teammates a few steps back from the group. Kiba was out of arms reach so I couldn't grab him in time.

One of the Sound ninja threw two kunai in front of Kabuto, who stepped back to dodge the attack. The Sound ninja advanced and threw a punch at Kabuto who easily dodged with a smirk, only to freeze with a look of pain crossing his face. A small line of blood trickled down his ear and he fell to the ground, throwing up.

Why is he attacking Kabuto when Naruto was the one who provoked them?

"Wait," Ino started in shock, "he dodged it, so why did he...?"

"That's what you get for acting like a hot shot." The Sound ninja scoffed, "write this on your cards. The three Sound ninja will definitely become Chunnin." With that he retreated to his corner of the room.

"Ah, I get it. He uses Sound ninjutsu." I told Sasuke who raised an eyebrow at me.

"He's from the Hidden Sound Village, of course he uses sound ninjutsu." Sasuke deadpanned. I pouted. I thought I was finally acting smart and noticing things.

"Shut up and listen you worthless brats!" a terrifyingly strong voice shouted over our chatter. A large man with scars on his face wearing all black was revealed behind the other Gennin contenders, a group of Chunnin gathered behind him.

"I am Ibiki Morino and I'll be your examiner for the first test in the Chunnin Selections Exam."

EEK! The exam begins? Anyone get test anxiety??? I sure as hell do! I wonder if Miyu does... :P  

Also, I want to take a little poll. How many of you avid readers are ok with curse words? I want to start planning Miyu's transition from this series to the sequel and would like to include a lot of cursing, but if you guys aren't alright with that then I'll censor it. 

Thoughts? Please post them! This is detrimental to how I plan to write the end of this book and the beginning of the next!