~*****~

"You're an embarrassment to our village....." Gaara spoke softly, his face remaining emotionless. "Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?"

Shivers continued to run up and down my back as I gazed at this guy. He reminded me of the blood lust Naruto had shown in the Land of Waves. And it freaked me out. "I know! I-I mean, they challenged us!" Kankuro tried saying. "They  started the whole thing, really! See, here's what happened-"

"Shut up," Gaara clipped coolly. "Or I'll kill you."

"U-Uh, right..." Kankuro whimpered. "I was totally out of line. I'm sorry, Gaara."

Gaara looked over at me, another quake of fear shooting up my back. "I'm sorry. For any trouble he caused." I just stared, keeping my true emotions hidden as I nodded to him. Suddenly, his body was enveloped in sand, and he disappeared and reappeared besides Kankuro. "Let's go." He simply commanded. "We didn't come here to play games."

"A-Alright sure, I get it." Kankuro kept whimpering.

"Hold it!" I hear Sakura snap from behind me. I hold my arm out before she can get in front of me. She gives me a confused look before continuing after they halt. "Why are you here? It's not exactly common for Sand Shinobi to enter Leaf Shinobi territory."

"Really? Have you all been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on, do you?" The girl started.

"They're here for the Chunin Exams, Sakura." I state, crossing my arms over my bosom. "They're about to start soon."

"The Chunin Exams?" Naruto hummed from behind me. "What's that? Well, I've never heard of any Chunin Exam, what is it?"

"To become a Chunin, a Genin must first take the Chunin Exams." I state, turning to Naruto. "Kakashi told me about them when I first became a Genin. And same goes for becoming a Jonin in our village. An exam must take place."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so! I am so there!" Naruto shouted happily, making me huff.

Sasuke dropped down besides me, making me glare at him and roll my eyes as he turned to the Sand Trio. "Hey, you! Identify yourself!" He snapped.

"Hm? You mean me?" The blonde girl asked, her cheeks tinting pink.

"No. Him. The guy with the gourd on his back." Sasuke denied her.

Gaara turned around. "My name is Gaara. Of the Desert." He replied, gazing at the two of us. "I'm curious about you two as well. Who are you?"

I gaze at him wondering why the hell he wanted to know about me. "I am Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied. Gaara turned his head to me, waiting for a response.

"R-Ren Yukimura...." I simply say, turning my head away and rubbing my arm gently.

It was silent for a moment before Naruto butt in. "Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name, right?!" Naruto shouts, breaking me out of my panic. I turned to him, smiling softly.

"I couldn't care less." Gaara simply replied, and with that, they left.

"Hey, Konohamaru, do I look uncool or something?" Naruto asked, obviously hurt.

"Well, compared to Sasuke, yeah."

"Ahh!! You're not gonna show me up, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

"Back off, Naruto." Sasuke simply replied.

~*****~

I watched in mild interest as Choji scarfed down a bunch of short ribs. "Choji! Quit eating all of the short ribs! Ren was cooking those for herself!" Ino snapped at the larger boy. I just chuckle and lay my head on my arms, staring out the window, still replaying today's events. "You alright?" Ino asks from across the table.

"Hm?" I sit up, unaware that I was still here. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Something happened today, and it's still sticking in my mind." I reply, sipping at my water. Shikamaru snatches some of the short ribs cooking before Choji could get to them and set them in front of me. "Oh, I would've just ordered something for me."

"Those were for you, Ren." Shikamaru casually replies, smirking as I freak out.

"Seriously, Ren, you usually never forget anything. What happened?" Ino asks.

"Well, we ran into some Genin going to partake in the Chunin exams, and one of them...." I trail off, palming my head and eating a short rib. "He... He scared me." I state simply.

All three of them drop their chopsticks, their mouths agape as they stare at me in shock. "He must've been terrifying, I've never seen you get so frazzled about anything." Ino mumbles, wrapping her arms around her body. I waved my hand a little, calming them down.

"Don't worry about it, really! It's probably just me!" I try to laugh it off and eat the rest of my BBQ. "It was really fun hanging out with you guys again, I've been pulling my hair out with Sasuke and Naruto's constant fighting, ya know?"

"How is that, by the way." Ino chimes, leaning towards me. "I mean, is Naruto even able to keep up with you and Sasuke?"

I think back on my mission to the land of waves and shudder. "Well, for one, Sasuke and Naruto were actually at the same level on Chakra control." I say, giggling. "Sakura and I mastered the technique Kakashi had set out for us!" Ino's mouth drops as Shikamaru starts laughing at her.

"Ha!"

"It took them a few days to even reach where Sakura and I got the first day!" I keep bragging.

"Looks like he isn't as talented as you think, Ino." Shikamaru keeps bugging. We both start snickering and snorting with laughter at her.

"Oh shut up!" Ino snaps, puffing her cheeks out while Choji just cooks up more BBQ for all of us.

~*****~

The next morning, we all met up at the bridge again, waiting for Kakashi as usual. "Why, why, why!?" Sakura shouts angrily. "He sets the time, and we have to wait hours for him!!"

"He's always been like this, Sakura...." I drone, leaning back against the railing of the bridge.

"It's not fair!" Naruto screeches, egging her on.

"What about my feelings?! I rushed here so fast, I didn't have time to blow dry my hair!" Sakura shouted.

"You're hair looks cute air dried, Sakura." I try to get her to shut up, but she ignores me as Naruto speaks.

"And I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto added.

We all just looked at him in disgust. "You... didn't?" I ask incredulously. "That's... so gross."

Sasuke had that disgusted look on his face, clearly not going to forget that any time soon. "Hey! Good morning everyone! Sorry I was late, I was savoring the breakfast Ren made me!" Kakashi called out. We all looked up, ticked.

"YOU LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura screamed.

We all stood in a line as he jumped down.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams. All four of you." Kakashi stated, holding up our applications. "Here are the application forms."

"Application forms?" Sakura hummed.

"You're repeating me, Sakura." Kakashi droned. "This is all voluntary. Its up to each of you. If you don't feel ready, you can wait till next year."

"Alright, Kakashi-Sensei! You rock!" Naruto shouts happily, latching onto Kakashi, making me giggle. Kakashi wasn't one for physical contact with anyone, and seeing Naruto catch him off guard and latch onto him was adorable.

"Don't slobber on my vest!" Kakashi reprimanded. After he detached Naruto, he spoke again. "Who ever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy. It's at 3 P.M. Five days from now. That's is." Kakashi finished.

"Chunin Exams! Chunin Exams!" Naruto chattered happily from besides me. We started walking away, gazing down at our forms. "Hm.... Chunin Exams...." Naruto hummed out. "I'll be up against a lot of really wicked ninja!"

I gazed up at the sky, wondering if I'd have to square off against Gaara. I shivered in fear as I thought about it. But, on the flip side, I'd get to square off against Sasuke, and that'll be really rewarding if I kick him on his butt. And we'd both get promoted to Chunin just because we fight so well together. My cheeks felt hot as I thought about it. 'What the heck, I sound like Sakura and Ino....' I shake my head at the thought and think about others I'd get to fight. Like Shikamaru. Even if he's lazy and unmotivated, his strategy skills are way better than mine and he'd be hard to beat. Kiba's a lot faster than I, so I'd have to train with Guy a bit more, or at least take off the stupid weights he makes me wear. And even Naruto would be a challenge. He's really grown since we became Genin. I look between the two boys and smiled.

In the course of the next few days, a lot of different ninja arrived from all around, and I got to meet a lot of new and interesting people. Shikamaru and I were strolling around Konoha as we both talked about the upcoming exam when Sasuke came into view. He just nodded his head to me, wanting me to follow as he walked off. "Ah, talk about rude. I'll talk to you later, Shikamaru!"

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled as I trailed after the Uchiha.

He led me to a really eerie looking part of the woods, and still didn't say a word. "So....." I trail off, looking around, feeling a bit off about this place. "Why are we walking into this creepy looking area of the forest?" I question, rubbing my arm.

"Because I want you to give up on the Chunin Exams." Sasuke states as he stops and turns to me. I cocked my head and rolled my eyes.

"Okay, lame Genjutsu, Iruka-Sensei." I state, holding up my hand. 'Release!' The area cleared up, and the image of Sasuke disappeared as well. "You'd think being a higher rank than I am, you'd be able to hide yourself a lot more, huh?" I ask with a smirk as Iruka gets pulled out of the tree across from me with my water whips. He hung helplessly with a confused expression on his face. "But hey, thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm not the same little girl who studied under you in the academy. I've grown. And so has the rest of my team." I smile, releasing him. He chuckles nervously and rubs the back of head.

"You sure have grown. Kakashi's done a really good job training you and the others." Iruka hums, smiling fondly at me.

"Hey! As an apology, you can treat me to some ramen!" I retort, receiving a shocked expression. "But don't worry! I can only eat one bowl before I get full! I'm not Naruto!" We both start laughing and leave the area for a treat of ramen.

~*****~

The next morning, I waited outside the academy with Sasuke and Naruto. "Sakura! You're late!" Naruto said happily as she walked up.

"Uh.... right." Sakura started, already obvious that she was nervous. "Sorry, guys." She looked right at Sasuke, glaring a little. "Good morning, Sasuke."

"Yeah...." He said, creeped out. He then looked at me and probably wondered why I was giving him the stink eye.

We entered the building and went up two levels. I cocked my head as I stared at the plates along the walls as we arrived at 301. 'That's not right.... This is the second floor....' A crowd surround the door, with Lee and TenTen on the ground in front of them. 'Aw, man, that means Guy is here too....' "You better be tough enough to take the heat!" One fake Genin said.

"Delicate, little girls don't belong here!" The other said as I stepped forward, ignoring everyone else.

"Then what are you two idiots doing here? Shouldn't you be guarding the gates or something?" I quip, making everyone start to giggle. "And while you beat it, why don't you reverse the stupid Genjutsu you put up. It's so obvious."

"We're going to the third floor." Sasuke added, stepped up besides me.

"Well, well." The first hummed.

"So, you noticed the Genjutsu." The other stated.

"It's hard to fool Sakura and I with Genjutsu like that. We've got the best eyes and best analytical skills on the team. Sakura." I ask, turning my head to her.

"Of course! This is only the second floor." She adds, grinning.

"Right!" Naruto agrees.

The sign turns back to 201. "Well you noticed an illusion, lets see you deal with this!" One says, launching a kick towards me, but Sasuke jumps in. They were both stopped by Lee, making me sigh gently.

"Hey! What happened to the plan! I thought you were the one to say we are to keep a low profile! Don't let anyone see our skill level!" I hear Neji jeer at Lee. I sigh again. Neji Hyuga. He's apart of Hinata's family, but he's on the branch family, and according to Hinata, there's some bad blood between the head family and the branch family. He's known as a genius, and he's insanely strong.

And behind Neji, Tenten stands there. I remember first meeting her. She told me she wanted to be a great Kunoichi like Tsunade. She's actually really strong and she's deadly with her scrolls and ninja tools.

Lee stands up straight and looks at me. "No, but...." His cheeks flare up a soft pink color and I immediately freak out. I hated when he did this. Lee walks up to me, and I back up a step. "My beautiful Lotus. Will you please do me a great honor of being my girlfriend!" Lee declares happily, holding up this thumb and winking.

I sigh and palm my head a little. "It's the same response every time you ask, Lee. No."

Lee was once again, crestfallen. "Why?" He asks, clearly confused.

"Cause you and Guy are weird...." I reply, crossing my arms over my chest. I remember the first time he asked me out...

"Kakashi, why's that weird guy in the spandex following you again?" I question as Kakashi and I trail around the grocery store, getting food for the week.

"Don't look him in the eye, he might smell the fear." Kakashi replies monotonously. I giggle and hoist the basket in my hand up a bit. "Anything particular you want?"

"Ah! I'll go get it! I'll met you at the check out, alright?" He nods at me as I trail off towards the snack isle. I've been craving some BBQ chips ever since Choji had stolen mine and this was the perfect opportunity. I reach upwards, trying to grasp the ever so elusive bag of chips. I flinch backwards as someone else reaches from besides me and tugs it down. I look up at him and cock my head. His cheeks are tinted pink, and his hair is shiny. He wore a dark red head band and he was dressed rather casually. But his face.... it reminded me of Guy....

"A-Ah... Um. Here!" The boys says enthusiastically. "I noticed you were struggled, so I can to your rescue!" He stutters, gripping at the fabric of his tunic. He had the slight stink of sweat. It made me smile. He worked hard. "I-I saw you the last time... My sensei had met with yours! And I thought-"

"Hold up, is your sensei Might Guy?" I question, a deadpan look on my face.

"RIGHT!" I scream and throw my basket sideways, slamming it into the face of the intruder besides me. Guy lay on the ground, grasping his nose in pain as all the food I had been holding scattered everywhere.

"G-Guy-Sensei?" Lee grumbled, deflating.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THAT, GUY! THE LAST TIME, I COULDN'T SLEEP FOR A WEEK!" I scream at him, hitting him with my basket. Kakashi appears from the end of the isle and gazes down at Guy on the ground, his nose bleeding and stars in his eyes.

"Oh, Guy. Did you not learn the last time?" Kakashi mumbles, stooping down to pick up the groceries I had dropped and started packing them into the basket.

"I was only... trying to further.... the romance between our two young pupils...." He mumbled out, trying to sound cool.

"Romance?" I question, backing away from a now embarrassed as hell random kid. "Th-There's no romance that's going to happen, you spaz!" I snap. The boy sinks forward, hanging his arms low. "I don't even know him!"

He snaps right back up, holding out his hand with steam billowing out his nose. "I- I AM ROCK LEE! AND I WILL PROVE MYSELF AND GAIN YOUR FAVOR SO THAT YOU MAY GO OUT WITH ME AND BECOME MY GIRLFRIEND!" He basically screams. My face falls again and I grasp onto Kakashi and start tugging him.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, LEE!" Guy screams, slinging back upwards as the duo gets fired up. I lean towards Kakashi.

"Let's get out of here before they notice were still here!" He nods quickly and we both run out of the store, leaving the cash for the groceries at the front.

I shake my head at Lee, backing up a little. "Hey, you. What's your name?" Neji asks Sasuke.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking someone elses." Sasuke replied, an edge of agitation in his tone.

"Hey, you're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you, anyway?" Neji quips.

"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke snaps.

"What's that?" Neji growls.

Tenten gazes at Sasuke in adoration. I roll my eyes at them and prop my hands on my hips. Sasuke walks back over to me before sending Lee a glare. I grab onto his hand and grab Sakura's. "Come on, guys." I call. Sakura grabs Naruto's and we go for the stairs. Sakura wraps her arm around mine and starts talking.

"How do you know Lee?" She asks as I look over at her.

I shiver a bit, causing her to giggle. "Their sensei has this obsession with Kakashi, and since I'm under his care, I see him more times than I can handle."

She giggled again. "He asked you to be his girlfriend."

"Don't remind me.... When he became a genin, he witnessed his sensei play an intense round of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Kakashi, and his sensei lost. That's when he first saw me.... Then... It happened." I say, getting dramatic. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto looked at me in horror. "We were grocery shopping... when... Guy tried to get Lee to confess his love!" Sakura screams in utter horror. "It was horrible! I didn't even know him, but Guy just shoves the poor boy towards me! And spurs his hopeless romantic thoughts! If it's anything like Kakashi's book, I don't wanna know!"

Sakura patted my shoulder as I leaned against the wall, feeling like my life was over. Sasuke stayed on the step I was on  as Sakura and Naruto headed on. "Hey...."

I turn to him, raising an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"You're... not ever going to go out with anyone else.... right?" He questions, his cheeks turning a light pink.

At that moment, it felt like my stomach was going to explode. All those things Ino would say about Sasuke suddenly came rushing forward. I felt like I was going to die. 'What does that even mean!? Being with someone? I should ask Sakura later, but right now, it feels like I'm going to puke!' I quickly shook my head and looked down, feeling ten times warmer. My skin jumped as he grasped my fingers in his. Looking back up, he had his head turned away in embarrassment.

"Good...." He finally says, leading me forward by the hand. 'Sometimes, I really hate being a girl... Then maybe everyone will stop being weird around me.'