Chapter 13: Fierce Pressure

"Karin," a jubilant Naruto cheered as he rounded a corner in the village square with the after-mentioned girl in hand, "it's that time of year again!"

"I... I don't understand... what are you talking about?" the red-eyed Uzumaki breathlessly queried as they entered yet another store. Only Naruto seemed to know what they were doing, and she had not a clue, being dragged into every shop, stand and store around. It could hardly be called window shopping; it looked a lot more like breaking and entering.

Her energetic cousin hastily checked the store's menu—shaking his head as he finished skimming the servings available—before taking her hand again.

"Ramen of course, duh!" he declared as if it were the most obvious piece of information in the world.

At first he sought to identify the rare ramen stand by appearances alone, but that had clearly not worked. The new stands and vendors that recently moved in for the upcoming festival looked just like every other one in the village, much to his inconvenience. And with no signs reading anything along the lines of noodles or ramen, it was definitely going to be on the sub-menus, or something of the like.

For Naruto, there was only one definite solution to his dilemma—enter the several stands and shops at random; one of them was bound to serve the delight that was ramen.

"S-seriously?" she sputtered in disbelief. All of this hassle, just for some ramen?! We must look so ridiculous like this...

"Yeah!" he shamelessly chirped as they barged into a shop—sushi. They were on the move again.

"Man... I haven't had any in like, forever..." Naruto thought aloud, cerulean eyes actively searching for the nearest vendor in the crowded place.

Karin rolled her eyes at his exaggerated comment. "It's only been two years—"

"Too long!" came his interjection as he zipped in and out of the cluster of villagers to reach the next destination. "If only I didn't completely forget about it coming last year, it would've only been one year without it..."

"That's not surprising coming from—hey, we already went in there!"

"Whoops! Stupid ramen, why does it only come around at the beginning of summer and then disappears after two weeks?" They entered a different stand right next to the one they departed from—tea.

"Maybe you should... ask the chefs?" she offered, taking a quick breather before they could run out again.

Something appeared to click in Naruto's head as they bolted out. "Huh... why didn't I think of that sooner? You're the best!"

"Of course I—" Karin started, but she nearly tripped on the way out before she could finish agreeing with the statement.

They continued going in and out for a while, the dish still eluding him like a ghost, when he stepped into one particular shop.

"Hmm... what the hell, there's only dango and sake here—off we go then!" Naruto declared as he pulled Karin's wrist along as if it were her leash. He accidentally bumped into one of the occupied tables as they made their way out, causing the seated customer to nearly drop her plate of sweets.

"Watch it you damn brats, I'm tryin' to relax here!" the woman shouted as she shot a number of unused dango sticks at the two Uzumaki runaways. The wooden projectiles lodged themselves into the wood of the doorway, narrowly missing Naruto's face and Karin's head. They may as well have been senbon.

Taking notice to the potentially deadly objects, both departing teens jumped back a bit in surprise. "Y-yikes! Really sorry m'am!"

As they left, the shop owner who had seen the small events take place rubbed his chin in thought, eyes peering over the doorway's frame. "Wow, that's some nice aim you got there," he commented.

"Heh, thanks!" the woman answered back as she smiled at her little piece of work near the door. Nailed into the wood was Kusa's village symbol, made entirely out of dango sticks of course.

"You're going to take those down though, right?"

His customer seemed to deflate at his not-so-subtle request. "Yeah... I will."

Karin lazily swished the fried noodles around her plate before taking a few into her mouth. Sure, yakisoba was good, but it wasn't the best delicacy around either—there were far more pleasant things to eat in Kusa. Even still, it was better than ramen in her opinion.

Besides, what was up with the menu? There were only three, maybe four different selections of ramen. There was no way Naruto was going to get the kind of ramen he wanted with such a limited choice of flavors and condiments—whatever it was they put in it.

Apparently, he was not one to discriminate.

"So," Naruto drawled as he waited for his order to arrive, "you going to tell me?" Fingertips rhythmically clicked against the table's tough surface, his eyes boring into her own, searching for signs of an answer.

He had been asking that same question for days on end—perhaps worded a tad bit differently each time, but the same nonetheless. It was astounding that even at the last possible moment, he still wanted to know; even more so was his insistence that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"No," Karin curtly stated. That was her answer to each and every single one of his questions pertaining the matter. She still didn't know what to think of it—admiration for having such unwavering determination and resolve, or absolute idiocy in the sense that he didn't seem to understand the fundamental concept behind the word no.

"Come on, please? I promise that this will be last time I'll ask, I swear!"

Karin rolled her eyes as she fished up a few coils of noodles with her chopsticks. "You said that last time."

"That's because you still haven't told me!"

"If you could wait two weeks, then you can afford to wait a few more hours and see for yourself."

Naruto leered in defiance, pouting as he did so in a meager attempt to catch Karin's attention with his gaze alone. He was eventually rewarded with a semi-curious quirk of a brow from her direction.

"What?"

He leaned himself slightly forward over the table, guiding a single index finger towards her cheek. "Hey, would it really kill you to tell me?"

Karin quickly swatted the intrusive digit away from her face. "Would it kill you?"

"Yes!"

A victorious smirk tugged at her lips upon hearing his thoughtless answer. "Then I won't tell—I'd prefer that you stay alive, you know."

"Wait what?" Naruto's face at first scrunched up in confusion, but he quickly picked up on the apparent mistake he made after giving it another moment of thought. "No, no! I meant it would kill me if you didn't tell!"

"You walked straight into that one," she lectured, prodding his nose once with the butt-end of the chopsticks in her hand. "Idiot."

Defeated and unenthused, Naruto rested his head against the cool wood of the table. "...I know," he absently remarked.

"You should probably think before you speak sometimes."

"I know."

The ring of a bell echoed throughout the building they sat in, quickly summoning an unburdened waitress to heed its call from the back and collect. When she returned, three, steaming-hot bowls of ramen rested upon the tray she held. The woman swiftly navigated her way to the order's corresponding table, but when she appeared at theirs, she couldn't stop the look of confusion and disbelief washing over her face.

"Er... is this the right table? Three bowls of ramen—curry, pork and seafood..." The waitress looked over from Karin, who was busy with her plate, to the daydreaming Naruto, and back. A few unoccupied seats surrounded the table.

"Yeah," came Karin's reply as she finished off what was left of her food.

The woman held a rather perplexed expression as she scanned the table once more over. "Are you expecting a friend or two?"

"No, it's just the two of us. All three are his, but thank you."

Nodding dumbly, the waitress carefully set the bowls in front of Naruto. "Oh dear... er—um, enjoy the meal!" she hastily responded before hurrying off elsewhere.

It was just the two of them once again. Finished, Karin set her now-empty plate aside before turning her attention to Naruto.

The three bowls of ramen remained entirely unattended to—abandoned to their lonesome selves—having no choice but to let their contents cool off and get more soggy by the second. Her cousin had some far-away look in his eyes; he looked so unfocused, so inattentive. It seemed that he still had yet to take notice of the food before him.

"Hey," Karin started, "are you going to eat that?" She set her elbow on top of the table so that she could use her palm as a makeshift chin-rest.

"I know," Naruto mumbled.

She raised a brow at the answer. "It's getting cold."

"I know."

Karin let out an curt growl; the idiot was clearly out of it. "No, I'm serious, your ramen is already here."

"I—oh!" Descending back to reality, Naruto sprung back to life as his eyes finally absorbed the objects resting on his table. "Why didn't you say so before?"

She palmed her face with both hands at his reply, and a sigh had involuntarily expelled itself from the back of her throat.

"Oi, is there something wrong?" Naruto inquired as he started to slurp his noodles. His eyes continued to linger over the hands that concealed most of her face in curiosity.

Karin took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Nothing..." she finally replied, "and don't talk with your mouth full."

It seemed to shut him up a bit for the time being; she didn't think she could tolerate any more of that ridiculous nonsense of his.

"You know, it feels like there's something missing..." Naruto made a slightly displeased expression as he eyeballed the bowl in front of him. The steam continued to waft through the air in a lazy manner in contrast to his semi-serious demeanor.

Karin offered a non-committal grunt in response, wanting to tune his voice out for a while.

"I'm serious! I can't explain it, but this ramen tastes... different."

Unable to do so, she removed her hands from her face, this time sparing half of her immediate attention to him. "Is that bad, or good?"

"Well... I wouldn't say it's bad, but I guess you could say that."

"They say that your taste buds change every seven or so years. Did you know that?" Karin took hold of the pair of chopsticks she had previously used, opting to amuse herself by twirling the tools around her fingers.

"Uhm... no," came his reply, and going by the look on his face, it didn't appear that he was one bit convinced. "But come on, it's only been two years—there's no way that ramen would all of the sudden start tasting differently like that!" he groused.

"You'd be surprised..."

Naruto crossed his arms, shooting her a pointed look of utmost dissatisfaction. "I don't believe that."

She caught the spinning apparatuses mid-loop, directing a sharp gaze of her own in return. "Look, it doesn't mean that they don't change. There's a reason why old people can't really enjoy the food they used to like."

"I'm not old. If anything, you're the old one between the two of us!"

Karin began to grind her teeth back and forth, the chopsticks in her hand snapping under the pressure in midst of her vexation. "That was just an example, idiot. The logic remains sound—don't butcher it out of context."

He was quick to recoil at the unpleasant reaction, having absolutely no intention to meet a similar end. "Okay, okay, I get it!"

She leveled a coarse glare, but otherwise said nothing. Naruto relaxed himself under the momentary ceasefire as he redirected his attention back to his meal. In midst of their argument however, the last bowl of ramen had gone nearly lukewarm and very soggy, diminishing whatever appetite he still had left in him. Perhaps it was a bad idea to run his mouth off while the food was still hot.

"So... can you—"

"No."

Naruto was the last of the five to show up, having thought that the evaluation was being held inside the academy. A quick visit to the castle's top floor and the training quarters prior—both of which were vacant—had set him on panic mode, as the last thing he wanted was another repeat from three weeks back. The dreaded idea of being late was all it took to jumpstart his memory regarding the location of the event.

They were all waiting on him when he got past the village's gateway—his fellow peers were lined up side-by-side, no doubt anxious of today's exam. Surprisingly enough, the village leader looked visibly relieved upon his last-second arrival, a reaction Naruto didn't think was possible coming from that man.

A group of four ANBU stood at the ready behind their leader, each donning their own sinister, two-piece menpō. He couldn't recognize any of them though, as they had only worn the bottom halves inside the village, never the top. Naturally, this would be the first time Naruto had ever seen the Kusa ANBU assuming their complete menpō.

They really gave off that inhuman vibe, just like the grotesque shrine guardians stationed before the stairs leading to Tenchi-jō's subterranean floors. It was quite disturbing, to put it lightly.

What didn't fit in the picture were the two men next to the village leader, both of which had set their eyes upon his being. The first man was tall, clad in black, lacquered plate armor that camouflaged the hair going past his shoulders. His pronounced cheekbones helped complete the piercing, stoic expression that settled upon his sharp facial features. If serious was the look he was aiming for, then the man got it spot on.

The other person dressed rather flamboyantly from head to toe, drawing attention away from his plain face in favor of his clothing. A variety of bright colors were splashed left and right, without a doubt amplifying the aura of regality that surrounded him to near toxic levels. He definitely made the village leader's choice of attire appear modest down to the very thread.

They had each sized Naruto up and down, but the armored individual had tersely relocated his eyes elsewhere in disinterest; the other continued to closely evaluate him.

Lining up along his peers, Naruto decided to be more vocal with his thoughts.

"Oi, who the hell are—gkk!" His choice of words gifted him a swift jab to his side, courtesy of Tayuya. "What was that for?!"

The assumed noble raised a brow as he observed, passing an inquiring look towards the aloof man. Unfortunately, those wistful eyes of the other man did not pick up on it, or if they did, he didn't feel obligated to return any form of acknowledgement. He immediately gave up, opting to communicate with the village leader instead.

"Pardon me Lord Naomasa," he began, leaning inwards to be better heard, "that boy there... he's quite the upstart, isn't he?"

The village leader—Naomasa—closed his eyes with a sigh; he had been expecting a question of that sort from the very beginning. Of course it wasn't a surprise, with oddball students like Naruto and Tayuya, why wouldn't that be brought up?

"My sincerest apologies, Lord Ryōsei... he's one of the two problem students here," he answered in a hushed tone.

The noble—Ryōsei his name—offered a nod and hum. "Mm, and who might the other be?"

On the other side of things, Naruto's selective hearing caught wind of the noble's words, completely dismissing the fact he had been a bit peeved at Tayuya moments ago. His jaw went slack in utter amazement.

"Whoa! Kusa-taicho actually has a na—ouch!" Another jab, though Tayuya shot him a heated glare along with it this time. "Stop it, that hurts!"

"No shit! Stop talking you numbskull!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. The response earned her an elbow to the side in return, and then they were back at it once again.

"Her," Naomasa replied in disappointment.

Ryōsei continued to watch their ridiculous banter, slightly amused with the odd form of entertainment. "Is that so?"

"Despite their..." the village leader paused in thought, visibly cringing every so often as Naruto and Tayuya continued to bicker, "childlike quirks, they are no less promising compared to the other three. I would much prefer that they immediately drop such behavior, but with the way things are progressing, I suppose it'll have to fade in time... when maturity finally strikes them."

"We shall see."

Naomasa nodded in agreement; there was no arguing against that logic. If the two didn't shape up in the near future... actually, he didn't even want to imagine what chaos they would procure—it was bad enough as it was already.

The man in armor had yet to utter a single word since Naruto's arrival, being the only individual without a matter of opinion. His eyes had since remained locked onto the horizon in the far distance ever since losing interest in the boy.

Ryōsei decided it an opportune moment to receive an answer. "Any thoughts, Lord Mui?"

This response, Mui did in fact acknowledge, but his expression however, remained stiff.

"No," he stated simply before setting his sights upon the horizon once again.

"...very well then."

The village leader cleared his throat, wordlessly demanding the immediate attention of everyone around him. Naruto and Tayuya in particular, swiftly went silent before the man could think of reprimanding them.

"Now that everyone is here, I would like to introduce you to our neighboring guests—Lord Ryōsei of the Kannabi Prefecture, and Lord Mui of the Hozuki Prefecture—for they will also be evaluating your performance."

The pressure was on—having the village leader himself observing was one thing, but all three of the land's leaders being included was an entirely different beast. If nobody was edgy at this point, then they were at the very least slightly unnerved.

"Today you will be showcasing one of any facet of your skills within the shinobi arts. If this scene is not workable with you for whatever reason, the ANBU unit will manipulate the environment to best match your specifications. We will start in order of arrival—Abumi Zaku, Tsuchi Kin, Uzumaki Karin, Tayuya, and then Uzumaki Naruto. Are we clear on that?"

"Understood, Kusa-taicho!" all five students declared.

"If any of you require the grass for your performance, speak up now."

He waited for a few seconds, but nobody had spoken up.

Concluding that the answer was no, Naomasa flickered a fair distance away from everyone before kneeling down. The village leader took a deep breath, composed his chakra and directed its flow down upon the grassy earth with his fingertips. It took a few moments, but soon the bulk of the earth begun to roar with life.

Several stalagmite-shaped stones emerged from below shortly before moving about, uprooting the soil and grass in their wake. They continued to spin, grind and plow everything within their own spiraling orbits and soon, the lush that had been present was now buried under the ground. With the grass all but gone, the revolving earth submerged back into the depths from whence they came, leaving a respectably large, spherical expanse of fresh dirt.

"This area will serve as your work space."

[Decided to split this here, hence why it's a bit short. Additionally, the first filler chapter has been removed, so the chapter count has remained the same as of this update. If you are a recurring reviewer, this may pose a slight inconvenience in which you are unable to review this chapter. Dropping a review for Chapter 1 or 2 should alleviate this issue, given you haven't reviewed them already.]