Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, plot, or dialogue. I only
own my OC, Azuki. (:

Chapter Three:

X x x X

A couple of weeks passed after our first day of training and wound up doing a D-rank mission that was supposed to be an A-rank. We had to guide this bridge builder to his home in the land of waves and wound up battling many foes and weirdoes. Either way, it was a huge mess I would have rather not dealt with. But, it's over now, so whatever. I am definitely a lot stronger than I thought I was… because for one, I didn't die! So, that's always good news, right?

Anyway, after training with team 7, Naruto and I have gotten better at performing jutsu and mastering them. Of course, Naruto wanted to perfect his sexy jutsu, so he would turn into a naked girl a lot. I couldn't help but giggle, though. I didn't mind the sexy jutsu, it was too entertaining, although everybody else seemed to find it annoying or humiliating.

But, this morning that we met up for training was different, because Kakashi-sensei brought us our release forms for the "chunin exams" that he explained to us about. We had to sign our names stating that if we were hurt or something during battle then Konoha was not responsible or something like that…

"Do you seriously think you can enter the chunin exams with your lack of skill?" Sakura spat, making me narrow my eyes at her from looking down at the paper. "You're so uncapable of becoming a kunoichi! You should've just backed out at the academy, you and your brother both!" She continued, but I tried my best to ignore her.

"Sakura, you have no room to talk. If anything, you're worse than Naruto, so just butt out," Sasuke muttered, making me look over at him in slight shock. Was he… standing up for me? I smiled a smile of gratitude to him and Sakura noticed.

"Don't be all googly-eyes at Sasuke! He's mine!" She fussed, making me roll my eyes. "Whatever you say, Sakura…" I mumbled as I stretched my arms behind my head nonchalantly. Naruto frowned, "Sakura… why are you so attracted to him? He's nothing but a stick in the mud that doesn't care about anybody but himself!" Naruto whined, making me roll my eyes… again.

"Okay, you guys, settle down. Return these release forms back to the academy in room 304. Okay? You must turn them in by noon, so don't procrastinate!" Kakashi-sensei said and then poofed away through a transportation jutsu.

I sweatdropped, "Uhh… is that it for the day?"

Naruto grinned and rested his arms behind his head, "I guess so. Come on, Azuki, let's go get some ramen!" Naruto chanted happily.

I couldn't help but smile, "Okay…" we began to walk off before Sakura followed us with an angry chagrin, "Hey, you two! We have training to do for the exams, so get your behinds back here!" She hissed as he grabbed the back of Naruto's collar and drug him back to her.

I narrowed my eyes at her menacingly, "Let my brother go. You have no right to put your hands on him," I hissed, not liking her physically dragging my brother around. "And what are you going to do about it, whiskers?" Sakura giggled at her own insult, making the heat in me rise.

I wasn't usually one to result to violence on the first try, but this was pissing me off. Sakura was pissing me off. Who does she think she is? She's doing all of this to show off for Sasuke, it's obvious, but he doesn't even seem to pay attention to her. Can't she realize that being a bully only makes her look like an idiot? No? Well, I guess I'll have to point it out to her.

"Okay, pinkie. You really wanna know what I'm gonna do if you continue to harass my brother?" I asked, cracking my knuckles angrily. No one touches Naruto. No one.

"Oh, please. If you think you're going to hit me, then-", and that's when she was cut off by my first to her mouth. I was so angry and tired of her bullshit that I couldn't take it anymore and took the initiative to punch her in the face.

She deserved it, anyway.

It seems that everybody, even Naruto, was surprised by my sudden physical outburst. I didn't care, though. I was fed up. I could only take enough from the pink-haired banshee. Sakura fell back to the ground with a thud and landed on her behind.

She cupped her mouth in shock and narrowed her eyes, "You bitch!" She yelled before standing up and coming after me, only to be knocked to the ground again by my foot, along with the breath being knocked out as well.

"Sorry, Sakura, but I'm tired of putting up with the bullshit you throw at my brother and I every day. It's getting old and annoying, so quit wasting your time showing off for Sasuke, because it makes you look like an idiot. Grow the fuck up," I muttered before grabbing my brother's hand and walking away, I looked back at Sasuke and saw him smirk at me while Sakura lay on the ground trying to catch her breath and crying.

Sasuke just walked in the opposite direction of us as we headed towards the ramen shop. "Damn, Azuki! Why did you hurt Sakura?" Naruto whined, oblivious that Sakura was being a bitch. "She deserved it, now hopefully we won't hear any more out of her for a while," I mumbled before entering Ichiraku.

Naruto and I chowed down upon our miso ramen noodles and had about three rounds. After eating lunch and paying for it, we took a stroll around town, only to be glared at by other villagers whom passed by.

I rolled my eyes and ignored them as we headed into a store that sold weapons. They had all kinds of cool looking kunai and swords. Thankfully, the store clerk didn't kick us out like all the others. He just glared at us and kept a close eye on us as we browsed around his shop.

X x x X

Once we turned in our release forms to room 304 in the academy, all we had to do was wait to enter the testing area. All kinds of other genin were waiting outside along with us. Some were older; some were the same age as us. Most of them were our classmates at the academy.

However, a couple of them weren't very friendly towards my brother and me. They were a couple of older boys and they made me want to cry… dealing with Sakura was one thing, but these boys were more experienced and came from clans that had powerful kekkai genkais, like the Byakugan. Neji was the one that was putting us down, saying how amateur we were and how powerless we looked.

So many people doubted my brother and I that it hurt to the core.

However, along with my brother, I always promised myself that I would prove them wrong one day and make them go back on their word. Because power isn't everything; but it's a very important necessity to obtain and an even greater responsibility. And I will prove that point to everyone I meet one day, no matter what!

Finally, we were allowed to enter the testing area with Ibiki as our supervisor and instructor. This test was a written test that was a test meant for "cheating." How would I use my special abilities to cheat? I had no idea, but I would figure something out. I glanced around at other people's papers and used my keen sense of hearing to listen to people quietly whisper answers to themselves' after copying them off of another person.

Soon, I had my test finished with the answers that I believed were the best. Although, Naruto struggled a little bit, but I hinted things to him without anybody else knowing so he could get to the next course of the chunin exams. I'm sorry, but I'm not about to let my brother fail.

Once we were finished testing with Ibiki, we moved to test under the instructor, Anko. She was a spitfire, I tell you that much. She told it how it was and didn't hesitate to let us know that we could be killed during this exam. But, that just made my determination fire up even more with a smirk on my face.

Sasuke walked up beside me and casually tucked his hands in his pockets, "You nervous, Uzumaki?" He teased in his emotionless way. I smirked up at him, "No. You nervous, Uchiha?" He smirked at my comeback, "Nah. If anything, I'm raging with ecstasy," He replied, making me chuckle.

"Well, then, you and I are equally excited to enter the forest of death, then, huh?" I suggested, making him nod a yes in approval. After Anko explained the forest of death to us, we were allowed a small break to prepare and warm up for our mission.

However, as I stretched my muscles, I couldn't help but notice a girl with black hair smirking at me. She was tall, her hair was in a ponytail with braids hanging off each side of her face, and she wore a purple dress. She was on the team with the sand shinobi. I didn't see her earlier when we had ran into Gaara of the Sand and his siblings.

I couldn't help but smirk back at her, though. There was just something about her that intrigued me, and I would definitely find out soon later. For now, I shall get prepare myself for this forest of death.