Chapter 19: Chūnin Exam Entrance

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kagome were, once again, waiting for Kakashi to show up. However this time, Kakashi told them to arrive very early in the morning. But he was late, as usual so far. Sakura obviously wanted to get to their meeting place on time. The funny thing was that Saukra's hair was out of place while Kagome and Sasuke looked like they were clean and refreshed.

"Ugh! Why does he always make us wait so long when he's the one who called us up at this time?! I didn't get the time to do my hair!" Sakura exclaimed angrily.

"How long does it take to do your hair exactly, Sakura?" Kagome asked, brow arched.

"An hour, why?" Sakura questioned, confused.

"It takes about less than 10 minutes for me." Kagome commented.

"That's because you have shoulder length hair!" Sakura retorted.

"So?" Kagome asked, shrugged.

Before Sakura could say anything else, Kakashi finally appeared in a puff of smoke on a post above the bridge.

"Sorry everyone, I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi greeted happily, raising his hand.

"LIAR!" Sakura yelled as she pointed at Kakashi. He jumped down from the post and appeared in front of them.

"Anyway, I'll get straight to the point. I recommended all of you for the Chūnin exams." Kakashi pulled out three slips of paper from his pockets, "So here are your recommendation forms."

"Recommendation forms?" Sakura repeated.

"Please don't repeat me, Sakura. If you don't want to fill it out, then you won't have to take the exam." Kakashi stated, "Only those who wish to take the exam, fill out the applications and five day after that, bring them to the school in room 301 by 3 pm. That's all I have for you all." After that, he disappeared the same way he appeared.

"The Chūnin exams…" Kagome trailed off as she stared at her recommendation form.

She remembered the group of Suna shinobi from the other day. She wanted a proper fight against the puppet user. She was definitely more curious about that Gaara guy. Somehow, he reminded her of Sesshomaru when he was a heartless being. However Sesshomaru changed after meeting and bonded with Rin. But Gaara was very different from Sesshomaru. When she saw his eyes, there was coldness and hatred in them. There was something else she sensed; a tailed beast.

'So he's a jinchūriki.' Kagome thought.

She also noticed the symbol on his head. It seemed to be a unique one too. Gaara looked like an uncaring person, but he has the symbol of love on his forehead which made her ponder.

Sasuke was very interested about the Chūnin exam. He was excited about the powerful opponents who might be there. He remembered those Suna shinobi from the other day. He wanted to fight the red head called "Gaara". The way he used the sand was very intriguing. But he mostly wanted to show Kagome that he had gotten stronger since their first B-rank mission. Although he was disappointed that he didn't join Kagome when she went with Shikamaru and those kids to lunch. He didn't want to be near another fangirl, especially Ino Yamanaka. That blonde annoyed him to no end. Sakura was practically the same. The only difference is that Sakura doesn't know when to lower the volume of her voice whenever she talks. So he had to let Shikamaru spend time with her. Truth be told, he'd always had a crush on Kagome, but she never seemed to notice at all. He had a feeling that she only viewed him as a friend and he was trying to show her that he wanted to be more than a friend.

'I don't want to do this…' Sakura stared at her recommendation form. She didn't think that she had the strength or skills to participate in the exams. Most importantly, the courage to participate. 'I can't compare with Sasuke or even Kagome.' She looked back up at Sasuke and Kagome, 'Can I really do this?'

"Well, I gotta get going." Kagome said as she turned around and began to leave.

"Wait, Kagome!" Sasuke called out.

"Yeah?" Kagome asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Do you want to start training?" Sasuke asked.

"Sorry, maybe later. I got some things to do today." Kagome stated.

"Oh, well, see you later then." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, later!" Kagome said before running off.

Sasuke stared at her longingly as her figure got farther and farther away from him. What was it going to take for Kagome to realize that he had feelings towards her?

Kagome was walking down the street, thinking about the Chūnin exam. She had a feeling that this exam would be more difficult than the one at the academy. Probably more dangerous. But Kagome had a good feeling that she and her team will do well.

"Kagome!"

Kagome turned at the voice and looked over her shoulder to see Konohamaru and his friends running up to her.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked, turning to the boy as he and the other two stood in front of her.

"Remember, you promised to play ninja with us." Konohamaru reminded her.

"Oh, right." Kagome realized and smiled at the three, "Well then let's go to the training grounds."

"Yeah!" The three kids cheered.

Soon enough, the five arrived at the training grounds. The three kids were excited to train with Kagome.

"So what do you want to learn first?" Kagome asked.

"Could you help us with our shadow clones?" Moegi requested.

"Sure." Kagome agreed.

At that moment, a bunch of shuriken came towards the three kids. Kagome quickly got in front of them and took out a bunch of shuriken, bouncing off each other.

"What is it, Kagome?" Konohamaru asked, shook up by the shuriken attack.

"Someone's here." Kagome replied as she took out her chakra blades.

All of a sudden, an unknown person appeared from the bushes and headed straight towards Kagome. To Kagome's point of view, he looked like a bandit. It was strange how he got past the village's guards. He probably got past them while they were sleeping.

"Kirara, protect Konohamaru and his friends." Kagome ordered. Kirara nodded and changed into her large form. "Konohamaru, you and others get on Kirara. She'll get you to safety, okay?"

"Hai, come on, guys!" Konohamaru instructed.

Kirara lowered herself to the ground as Konohamaru helped his friends get onto the saber tooth cat. Once all of the kids were on her back, Kirara took off. The stranger was about to go after them until something grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a pink light rope wrapped around his ankle and he followed the line which led to Kagome holding it with two fingers.

"Your fight is with me." Kagome declared.

With a powerful tug, she tugged the whip upwards and swung him across the field. The guy rolled a few feet away from her. The rope disappeared from his ankle. Then Kagome ran towards him with her chakra blades. The man took out a kunai and ran towards Kagome. The two began to fight with their blades, neither backing down. Unexpectedly, Kagome ran off into the forest with the stranger following after her. Midway through the chase, the stranger lost sight of Kagome. Unexpectedly, he heard a whistling sound coming from his left during his mid jump. He turned and saw a life size boomerang coming towards him. Unfortunately he couldn't avoid it. Then the boomerang slammed into him which caused him to hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. He looked up and saw Kagome in front of him with her chakra blades at his neck.

"How'd I do, Iruka-sensei?" Kagome asked.

Kagome got up and put her chakra blades away. Then she held her hand out to him. He grabbed a hold of it and she pulled him to his feet.

"How did you know it was me?" Iruka questioned as he took off his disguised hat.

"I can sense auras, remember." Kagome reminded him.

"Oh, right." Iruka rubbed the back of his head, "Forgot about that."

"So how did I do?" Kagome repeated.

"You did great, Kagome. Now I know that you and your team are ready for the Chūnin exams." Iruka replied.

"So that attack was just really a test?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, I can easily tell that you've improved a lot since you graduated. I guess I have to start looking as a shinobi instead of one of my students." Iruka declared.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Kagome smiled as she thanked him who smiled at her in return.

The next day, the members of Team 7 were waiting for their other team member to arrive at where the Chunin exam was taking place.

"Where's Sakura? She's never late." Kagome said as she, Kirara, and Sasuke waited for her.

"Don't know." Sasuke shrugged. Then they saw her run up to them.

"Sakura, you're late." Kagome stated.

"Sorry." Sakura apologized and gazed at Sasuke, "Good morning, Sasuke."

"Morning." Sasuke responded.

Kagome and Kirara looked at each other. They were a little both confused about Sakura's behavior. Then the team entered the building and went to the second floor. When they got there, they saw a mob of genin in a corridor. A boy with a bowl haircut was pushed to the floor after he got punched by one of the two people who were guarding a door.

"How can you expect to pass the Chūnin exam at that level?" The one who punched the boy mocked.

"You should quit while you have the chance." The one next to him said.

"Please, just let us through." A girl with hair buns begged. Just when she was about to be punched, Kagome appeared in front of her and grabbed the boy's wrist.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't hit girls?" Kagome grinned.

"So fast!" A male genin said. Kagome released his wrist.

"Listen up! We're just trying to be kind to you! The Chūnin exams are extremely difficult." The first boy said.

"We've seen many who gave up easily on becoming a ninja or got seriously injured when they took this exam." The other added.

"A Chūnin is the commander of a squad," The first one said, "It's their duty to take responsibility for the team's missions and their deaths. And to think that these brats are trying to…"

"What's wrong with dwindling the numbers of who aren't going to pass?" The other teased.

"It's a nice speech and all, but I'll pass." Sasuke smirked as he stepped forward with Sakura behind him as he stood next to Kagome.

"Undo the genjutsu on the door. We want to get to the third floor." Kagome ordered.

"Oh?" The first boy responded with an arched brow.

"So you noticed?" The other boy asked with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Sakura, how about you?" Sasuke asked, glancing at her, "You should've noticed first. Your analyzation skills and illusionary technique know-how is the best in our squad."

"Sasuke…" Sakura trailed off with surprise before smiling, "O-Of course, I noticed it right away. This is the second floor."

Then the illusion was gone and was back to its original form. The sign on the door turned back to its correct number, '201'.

"You're pretty good." The first boy said, "But detecting the genjutsu ain't enough…" He tried to kick Kagome as she tried to kick him as well. But they were stopped by a boy with a bowl shaped haircut.

'He's pretty fast.' Sakura thought, 'He's totally different when he first got hit.'

'He stopped Kagome's kick?' Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. 'What's with the chakra in his arms?'

"Hey, you broke your promise." A boy with long brown hair and pale eyes, "You're the one who said that you didn't want to gather any attention by doing something that will make you stand out."

"But…" The boy trailed off and looked towards Sakura and blushed, "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, right?"

"Huh?" She blinked in confusion.

He gave her a thumbs up and grinned, "Will you be my girlfriend? I will protect you until I die!"

'I think someone has a crush on Sakura.' Kagome thought.

"Definitely...not…" Sakura replied. Lee instantly got depressed.

"What?" Lee asked.

"You're too 'unique' for my taste." Sakura responded. Lee hung his head down with depressed lines on his head.

'Poor Lee.' Kagome thought while Kirara sighed. Then he gazed upon Kagome and blushed even harder.

"Who are you, beautiful?" Lee asked with pink cheeks.

"Kagome Uzumaki." Kagome replied.

"Please be my girlfriend! I vow to protect you with my own life!" Lee repeated the same action from before with Sakura. Sasuke's brow began to twitch. He didn't like how this guy was looking at Kagome. He made it clear to himself that Kagome will be his girlfriend.

"Sorry, Lee. But I'm…" Kagome began to say.

"No, she won't." Sasuke finished. Kagome elbowed him in the ribs.

"You didn't need to answer for me, Sasuke." Kagome narrowed her eyes at Sasuke before she turned towards Lee, "I'm very sorry, Lee. I can't accept your offer. But I hope that we could be friends."

Lee nodded sadly, "I understand, Kagome. I didn't know that you belonged to someone else."

"What? I don't belong to anyone." Kagome said, blinked.

"But, didn't your teammate just say that you belonged to him?" Lee asked, confused while pointing at Sasuke.

"No, I don't belong to him. Where did you get that idea, Lee?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, then I'm sorry that I caused a misunderstanding, Kagome." Lee rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay, Lee." Kagome assured with a closed eye smile.

'But it wasn't a misunderstanding, Kagome!' Sasuke thought,'You're meant to be with me!'

"Hey you two there." The long brown haired boy said as he stood across from Kagome and Sasuke, "Identify yourselves."

Kagome identified the boy as a Hyuuga. He's probably a relative of Ryouta's. She knew that Ryouta never wanted to be near his birth family after his uncle's death when he was little. He felt like it was his fault which was the reason why he moved into an apartment near hers. It was an emotional scar for Ryouta that never really healed.

"You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask." Sasuke smirked.

"You two are rookies, right? How old are you?" The long brown haired boy questioned.

"I'm not obliged to answer that." Sasuke responded.

"What?" The long brown haired boy narrowed his eyes as he got angry. The girl from before chuckled at Sasuke's reply.

'He's cute.' The girl thought.

"We better get going, right Sakura?" Kagome suggested, heading off.

"R-Right. Come on guys." Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hand and followed Kagome before heading towards the third floor.

Team 7 headed towards the stairs that would lead them to the third floor. They hoped that there wouldn't be any more delays to the exam.

"Hey!" Spoke too soon.

The three genin and two-tailed cat looked up and saw Lee standing at the balcony.

"I want to fight you right here and now!" Lee declared.

"You want to fight me?" Sasuke smirked.

"I'm Rock Lee and I wish to fight you, Sasuke Uchiha." Lee announced.

"So you know who I am?" Sasuke's brow arched.

"Hai, will you fight me?" Lee requested. Kagome and Sakura glanced at the clock that hung on the wall nearby.

"Sasuke, we only have a few minutes until the exam!" Sakura reminded him.

"Don't worry, it will only take me less than five minutes to beat him." Sasuke declared, arrogantly. Lee jumped down from the balcony and appeared in front of Team 7. He blushed when he gazed at Sakura.

"Oh Sakura, you're an angel from Heaven." Lee said dreamily and blew a kiss at her. Sakura quickly dodged the heart that headed towards her. Then Lee repeatedly started sending more air kisses towards her and Sakura kept avoiding like her life depended on it.

'Didn't Sakura just reject him? Why is he still going after a girl who doesn't like him?' Kagome thought with a sweatdrop on the back of her head, 'But I have to admit that he's pretty determined.'

Finally he stopped, allowing Sakura to catch her breath. Then Sasuke and Lee began to fight with Kagome, Kirara, and Sakura on the sidelines. They watched Sasuke run towards him, only to get hit in the gut by Lee's foot, landing on the other side of the room.

'He's quick. I'll give him that.' Sasuke thought as he activated his Sharingan and ran towards him. His team began watching him lose to Lee. Then Lee went under Sasuke and kicked him in the chin which sent him up in the air. He appeared under Sasuke as the bandages on his hands began to unravel. Suddenly, a windmill shuriken pinned his bandages to the wall. Sakura quickly ran and caught Sasuke from his fall. Kagome ran towards the other two.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sasuke grunted.

"Stop right there, Lee."

They looked to where the voice came from and saw Lee kneeling nervously in front of a life sized turtle. Kagome knew that it was a summoning turtle. She had never seen a turtle summoning before. She wondered what kind of abilities the turtle has.

"Y-You were watching?" Lee asked nervously.

"You fool!" The turtle loudly scolded, which made Lee and the others flinch, "Did you think that excuse would work on me? You know very well what it means for a shinobi to reveal his moves."

"Hai!" Lee quickly stood and saluted.

When Sasuke was able to finally stand on his feet, he wiped away the blood that was on his face and glared at Lee.

'I lost to this weird guy?'Sasuke thought, angrily.

"Are you prepared to face the consequences?" The turtle asked.

"Yes, sir." Lee replied.

"Guy-sensei, please take care of the rest." When the turtle said that, a man that almost looked like Lee appeared on the back of the turtle doing a weird pose. Kagome knew who this man was: Guy Maito, the so-called proclaimed 'Green Beast of Konoha'. She remembered him when she was reading the Bingo book. He was infamous for his taijutsu, but he didn't really have a talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu. She had to admit that the guy must be an extremely talented jounin of taijutsu.

"You guys are in the springtime of your life, aren't you?" Guy asked. All three genins' jaws dropped and their eyes bulged out at the sight of the man.

"Another weird guy came out!" Sakura pointed out, obviously creeped out by the man's pose.

"Yo, Lee." Guy said as he showed a thumb up and grinned, making his teeth sparkled.

"What a weird guy indeed." Kagome muttered.

"Don't make fun of Guy-sensei!" Lee shouted as he pointed at Team 7.

"Sorry, but I have a feeling that Guy will always weird someone out." Kagome said, shrugged.

"What did you say?!" Lee exclaimed.

"That's enough, Lee." Guy said and Lee immediately obeyed him.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted.

"You idiot!" Guy said before he punched Lee in the cheek and made him land a few feet in front of them. Team 7 were surprised that Lee's sensei would unexpectedly punch him. Guy knelt down on one knee as the teacher and student stared at each other.

"Lee, you...you…" Guy began to cry.

"S-Sensei." Lee began to cry as well.

"Lee!"

"Sensei! I...I…"

"It's alright, Lee. You don't have to say anymore." Guy said. Then the scene changed to a sunset where they were on a cliff and waves were crashing against it.

"Sensei!" Lee cried as he ran and hugged Guy.

"Lee!" Guy cried out.

Kagome, Kirara, Sakura, and Sasuke were repulsed at the scene before them. They couldn't help but be disturbed at this awkward drama between Lee and Guy.

'I lost to this guy?' Sasuke thought, his left brow twitching. He was having a hard time believing that this green spandex weirdo was able to wipe the floor with him. The strangeness was added when they noticed that even the summoning turtle had tears streaming down.

"This is youth, right?" Guy asked.

"Sensei!" Lee cried. Then Guy released Lee from his arms and they both stood up.

"It's alright, Lee." Guy placed his hand on Lee's shoulder, "It's normal to make mistakes when you're young."

"Y-You're too kind, sensei!" Lee said as he tried to wipe away his tears. Guy pointed outside.

"Now run 500 laps around the training ground and into the sunset!"

"Hai!" Lee saluted before he and Guy started to leave.

"What are you going to do about the Chūnin Exams?" Sakura asked, "There isn't any time left."

"Huh? Oh...right." Guy cleared his throat and looked at Lee, "Lee, I'll punish you for fighting and breaking our promise after the exam, okay?"

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted.

"Do 500 laps!" Guy said as he made a weird pose.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted again.

The three genin and two-tailed cat watched the scene with sweat drops on the back of their heads.

"They're stupid…" Sakura muttered.

"Weird is a better word, Sakura." Kagome said. Then Guy turned towards them. Team 7 flinched when they noticed him staring at them.

'These are Kakashi's…'Guy thought.

"He's looking at us!" Kagome whispered, freaked out by his stare.

"You're Kakashi's students, right?" Guy asked, "Is he doing well?"

"You know Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Not only that, but people call us eternal rivals!" Guy declared with his clenched fist in front of him.

"That sounds so fake!" Sakura exclaimed.

"How rude!" Lee exclaimed, "Guy-sensei really is…"

"It's okay. Don't say it outloud." Guy replied, "Show it in your attitude."

Sasuke was eyeing on Guy. But when he blinked, he disappeared.

"We had over a hundred matches. 50 wins and 49 losses." Guy proclaimed with his puffed up chest when he appeared behind them.

"When did he…" Sakura trailed off.

"Anyway, let's just say that I'm stronger than Kakashi." Guy boasted.

'What?'Sasuke thought with disbelief, 'His speed is definitely better than Kakashi. Is he even human?... stronger than Kakashi? Damn it...he's not bluffing.'

"You see?" Lee said, "Guy-sensei is amazing, right?"

"Lee has caused you trouble, so please forgive him for the sake of my face." The green spandex man said. Team 7 sweatdropped.

"This is a refreshing face, that is. Lee and you five should head towards the exam room now." Guy threw a kunai at the windmill shuriken, making it fall off the wall.

"Do your best, Lee! Farewell!" Guy said.

"Hai, sir!" Lee saluted once more. Then the teacher and turtle disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sasuke." Lee called out, "Let me say this before I go. To be honest, I wanted to test my skills."

"What?" Sasuke asked, surprised.

"I lied a while ago. The strongest of Konoha's genin is my team. I entered this exam to fight against him. And you're one of my targets, as well. Prepare yourself for the exam!" Lee declared before he jumped and left.

Sasuke clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe that Lee was able to defeat him. It almost seems that Lee was underestimating him. He had never felt so humiliated. Especially in front of Kagome. She probably thought that he was weak and arrogant. He couldn't believe that he had lost to a taijutsu user. But now, he had another opponent that he wanted to defeat. He wanted to show Kagome that he was the strongest rookie and that she belonged to him and no other guy can have her.

"Sasuke…" Sakura trailed off when she saw Sasuke's head lowered, his bangs covering his eyes.

"You just had to get into a fight, didn't you?" Kagome questioned, hands on her hips.

"He wanted to fight me and I wanted to fight him. So we both wanted to fight." Sasuke reasoned.

Kagome sighed as she crossed her arms.

"Just don't do that again." Kagome scolded. Sasuke nodded.

"The Chūnin Exams are getting interesting, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah!" Kagome grinned along with Sakura. "Let's go, everyone!" Kagome cheered and Kirara mewed as they followed her to the third floor.

When they reached the third floor, they spotted Kakashi in the corridor near the assigned room for the exam and stopped a couple feet. He closed his orange covered novel when he noticed them.

"I see, so Sakura came as well." Kakashi said, "Now you can officially register for the exams."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I'll tell you the truth, this exam can only be taken in teams of three." Kakashi explained.

"But didn't you say that we can decide if we want to take the exam or not?" Kagome questioned.

"Yeah, I did." Kakashi answered.

"You lied?" Sakura asked.

"Hai." Kakashi replied before he looked away, "If I had said that, Kagome and Sasuke would force Sakura to take the exam. Even if she didn't want to take the exam, if Sasuke asked her, she would try to take it anyway."

"What would have happened if Sasuke and Kagome had come here?" Sakura asked.

"I would have stopped them from taking the exam and entering these doors." Kakashi looked towards them, "But the three of you came here of your own free will. Sasuke, Sakura, Kagome, and of course you too, Kirara, I'm proud of you all. I couldn't have asked for a better team."

Kakashi moved to the side, allowing his team to move towards the door. Team 7 smiled and nodded their heads.

"Let's go!" Kagome cheered and they entered the room.

Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional. - Roger Crawford