destiny calls | *. naruto fanfic

24.

    Fireworks sounded as the excited roar of the crowd only seemed to magnify as the participants entered the arena. Quite a few of them looked nervous as they gazed up at the crowd. However there was a certain red haired shinobi who didn't seem bothered at all, whose red gaze was locked on the only other person who also showed little enthusiasm. Akari stared right back at him, currently plugging her ears to dim the crowds chatter. 

    Eriko and Machi sat to one side of her, making bets over who would win each match, Sakura sat on the other, currently talking to Ino, and Riku lay at her feet, panting happily. Both Naruto and Sasuke were missing from the line of shinobi below, and Akari couldn't help but wonder what was keeping the two. 'Last I heard Sasuke is with Kakashi so he's bound to be late, but Naruto isn't one to miss such a big event. What's keeping him?' As she pondered this, her gray eyes strayed from the clearing below to where the Hokage and Kazekage sat. They, along with a few others would be deciding who would become chunin. 

"Hey Akari," Eriko turned to the white haired girl as she pointed to the brochure some people had handed out. "Who are your other teammates? You never talk about them at home."
"That's because they're a bunch of idiots." She responded, gaze dull as she pointed to Naruto and Sasuke's pictures. 

"The heir to the Uchiha clan is on your team?" Eriko asked, dumbfounded. "How come you say he's an idiot? And what about this Naruto guy?" 

"Let's see..." Akari muttered, pretending to think over as to why they were idiots. "Sasuke is an arrogant, revenge obsessed jerk who thinks nothing of others. He has his own little group of squealing fangir-" At this, Sakura and Ino turned to face Akari with a deadly look. 

"What did you just say about Sasuke?!" They roared in unison, both looking like they were about to murder Akari.

"Now, now girls," Eriko stepped in, a small smile on her face. "Akari is entitled to her opinion just as you are yours. Let's not get so upset alright?" She said this with the sweetest face imaginable, however her tone of voice made it sound like she would murder the two of them if they tried anything else. 

"R-Right sorry miss." Sakura said as she sweat dropped, forcing Ino to sit back down with her. 

"Now then, you were saying Akari?" Eriko to, sat back down, her pleasant tone now back. 

"Uh.. well as I was saying, Sasuke has a group of fangirls that follow him everywhere.." Even Akari seemed a little nervous of Eriko, and she scooted away from the woman slightly. "And, uh, Naruto is just a plain idiot. If you ever talk to him you'll understand." Akari finished up her statement, turning her gray gaze back to the genin below. "Although it won't matter soon because they're running low on time to get here.'" The girl commented nonchalantly.

    As soon as she said this, Naruto flew through the entrance, sliding to a halt near the others. "Speak of the devil." She muttered, clearly unimpressed. And then, he started shouting something about a herd of stampeding bulls. "See what I mean?" 

"Well... he's certainly... interesting." Eriko muttered, not knowing how to respond to Naruto. 

"Your teammate is funny sissy!" Machi giggled, pointing to Naruto. 

"Yeah... something like that.." Akari shook her head, sighing. It seemed like the final exam was starting, as the Hokage was greeting everyone. 

"Welcome all, and our deepest thanks for coming here to the Village Hidden in the Leaves for this year's chunin selection. We have come to the final competition between the eight candidates who made it through the preliminaries. We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have been completed. Now, everyone enjoy." There was a pause as the proctor explained the rules to the genin, and Akari watched with narrow eyes. 'Where is Sasuke? He'd never miss out on this, even if he had to drag himself here. Does his absence mean Orochimaru got ahold of him?' Akari held the arm with the curse mark for a moment, frowning deeply. She had personally begged Kakashi not to have ANBU watching her at all times, and after she managed to lose them a few times, he had finally relented. Was it the same with Sasuke? Or did he have ANBU and Kakashi watching him?