Say Something (A Naruto Fanfic)

Ch. 28 The Start of the First Exam Pt. 1

I do not own the song above. Nightcore Sing Me to Sleep.

Previously

"The exams begin one week from today. Good luck, you two," Lord Fourth said. I nodded and shun-shinned back to my room in the ANBU. This was going to be one long week.

Present

It had been a week since Lord Fourth had assigned Kakashi and myself onto the same team and it was the day the Jonin exams were starting. Phase One was being held in a few hours. Kakashi and I had decided to meet up to discuss our strategy for the exams.

We both arrived about the same time and almost immediately started planning our course of action and what we would say if we got separated during the first exam. We had gotten on better terms with each other but there was still some sensitivity and a bit of caution in the air.

I also still called him 'boy' because we hadn't done formal introductions. He hadn't really used his Sharingan while we were training so he wasn't any better at it than when I had last seen him. It would be a huge advantage if he was willing to train with it.

I sighed. There wasn't anything that could be done now. We finished discussing the final details of our strategy for the first part of the Jonin exams. I stood up and made a hand sign. I shun-shinned to the Forest of Death. I heard a low poof as Kakashi shun-shinned next to me.

We were still about an hour early for the first exam but there were already quite a few candidates present. I sighed again. This was going to be more troublesome than I had first thought. There were already close to a hundred people gathered in the near vicinity.

I didn't want to think how many were gathered in other areas around the forty fourth training ground. The only plus side to having this many candidates present was the high percentage of people with scrolls. This would make it easier for Kakashi and myself to pass the exam.

Time Skip ~ One Hour Later

Lord Fourth came with a guard just about an hour after we had arrived. People were still on edge considering the Hokage and his guard were here. I figured it had something to do with the first stage of the exams. Since it had to do with the Forest of Death and gaining two scrolls, it was likely that we would have to sign a consent form to move on.

Lord Fourth would probably explain the rules to everyone once we had all gathered. It might take a while considering how many candidates there seem to be. I breathed a sigh. There were still a great many that didn't know Lord Fourth was here and from the looks of it, he was on edge like the rest of us.

I started to get closer to the Hokage but Kakashi grabbed my arm. I looked back at him. He gave a slight shake of his head as if to tell me not to go toward the Hokage. I gave him a minute nod to show that I understood what he had left unsaid. This caused him to let go of my arm.

I wanted to try and put Lord Hokage's mind at ease but that would paint a target on my back as someone the Hokage trusted. It would put Kakashi in danger as well. I started to rack my mind for something to do to ease everyone's nerves before the test began. The idea came to me like a ton of bricks fell on my head. I could sing. (AN: Song Above!)

Wait a second, let me catch my breath

Remind me how it feels to hear your voice

Your lips are movin', I can't hear a thing

Livin' life as if we had a choice

Anywhere, anytime

I would do anything for you

Anything for you

Yesterday got away

Melodies stuck inside your head

A song in every breath

Sing me to sleep now

Sing me to sleep

Won't you sing me to sleep now?

Sing me to sleep

Remember me now, time cannot erase

I can hear your whispers in my mind

I've become what you cannot embrace

Our memory will be my lullaby

Sing me to sleep now

Sing me to sleep

Won't you sing me to sleep now?

Sing me to sleep

A-anytime

I would do

Time away

Yesterday-day

A-anytime

I would do

Time away

Yesterday-day

I finished singing and looked around. The other candidates seemed to have calmed down as did Lord Hokage. There were also quite a few more in the area than before I had started singing. I could see a few of the other ninja looking around to try and pinpoint who had been singing.

I smirked. They wouldn't figure out it was me. It would've been obvious if I didn't have my mouth mask on. It was hard to tell if someone was talking unless you were used to them speaking with a mask on. I was grateful that I had it on. I didn't want to be any more of a target than I already was.

I turned my attention to Kakashi for a moment. He had a knowing look in his eye and a smirk adorned his lips. He knew it was me. I smirked at him in return before turning back around to face Lord Fourth. He started to explain what the first test consisted of and had the candidates pass around slips of paper.

Lord Fourth said we had to read them over and sign them if we wanted to participate in the exam. Both you and your teammate had to sign the paper. Each pair only got one slip of paper. It took everyone about another hour to get a form, read over it, and decide whether or not they wanted to participate.

The vast majority of people decided to participate. While we had been preoccupied in choosing whether or not we wanted to participate, Lord Fourth's guard had set up a small wooden structure with a curtain at the front. We were asked to go in pair by pair and receive our scroll.

Smart. I think. It's better if we don't know who has which scroll so it's harder on us to become Jonin. The less information we had, the harder it would be to complete this test. Lord Fourth also said we had three days to complete this test. I smirked.

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Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I do not own the song used in this chapter!

There's a sort of cliffhanger at the end too? Why Rin is smirking will be revealed in the next chapter.

Anw... I hope you have a good day/night and I'll see you in the next chapter!