destiny calls | *. naruto fanfic

14.

    The chunin exams? That sounded like a pain. The sand ninja’s answer seemed to satisfy Sakura, although it left her looking puzzled. Well. I wasn’t needed here. Time to leave. If we were included in these chunin exams then Kakashi would tell us. Probably on short notice, but he would tell us. 
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    Another. Meeting. You have got to be kidding me. This better not be for another boring mission. I made my way to the same bridge where we had met up before. I had nothing to do except wander around so there wasn’t anything I could do to kill time. Might as well be on time to spare my ears of Sakura’s yelling.

    I ignored the others as I approached and settled a decent distance away from them. Riku settled down on my lap, and I stroked her fur absentmindedly. To my surprise, I didn’t have to wait long before Kakashi showed up. I doubted that. Maybe I dozed off.

”Well good morning guys. I got a little lost on the path of life.” Of course he did. Gently, I prodded Riku off my lap and stood to join the others. Kakashi joined us on the ground, looking a little unsure. “Uh, well. This is a bit sudden but I recommend all of you for the chunin exam so...” Called it. He would tell us on short notice. “Here. These are your applications.” Kakashi handed each of us a small piece of paper and I scanned over it quickly.
”That being said the applications are not compulsory. You guys are free to decide whether you join or not.” So I didn’t have to go through the trouble of taking exams? I was fine with staying a genin. Even though I was annoyed with our stupid little missions, it was definitely less work than being a chunin. But then again... Naruto would probably kill me if I didn’t take them... he hated my lack of enthusiasm. 

    Speaking of Naruto, he had jumped on Kakashi and I stifled a laugh as he desperately tried to shove Naruto off him. Obviously he was not a hug person.

“Only people who want to take the exam sign that application and then come to the academy, room 301 at 3:00 p.m. five days from now.” Five days?! How the hell is that enough time to prepare? 

    We were dismissed and the four of us headed back into town. Everyone seemed to have their own idea on what the chunin exams would be like, while I was still hesitant about even doing it. I sighed, reading over the application for the third time. What was the worst that could happen? Death? Hopefully not. But I wouldn’t put it past them. 

    I broke off from the others. It was getting late, Eriko was probably wondering where I was. As me and Riku headed home, I saw many foreign ninja entering the village. It made me uneasy, having so many potential enemies in my village. Who knows? Anyone of these ninja could have bad intentions. Riku seemed to have the same idea and snapped at a few of them. 

“I would rather not make unnecessary enemies.” I murmured to her as I picked her up. Riku quieted, but she continued to eye the ninja closely. Sighing, I continued on my way. Hopefully I wasn’t to late for dinner.
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    The next morning I got up relatively early, much to the shock of Eriko. She literally froze when she saw me up. It was quite funny honestly. I told her I was going to practice for the upcoming exams, seeing as I only had five days. I needed as much time as possible.

    Yawning widely as I walked through the forest, I tried to think of a good place I could train without being bothered. I could go to my little clearing I guess, but I didn’t want to mess it up. And going to one of the designated training areas was bound to result in me being bothered. Guess some random spot in the woods would do. 

    I backtracked, now heading away from the village instead of towards it. Once I was a good distance away from everything, but not far enough that I would get lost, I started running through my Jutsus. Starting with the ones I used most often.