Forsaken Innocence

Chapter Three: Eleven Rookies

Forsaken Innocence

Chapter Three: Eleven Rookies

I stood there for a few more minutes. Did that really just happen? This guy was something else entirely. What was his motivation for doing that? What would he gain? Nothing. There was nothing to gain.

My body moved almost robotically back to Sasuke’s. His face was the only thing keeping me sane at this very moment. I had to see him, tell him. “S-Sasuke!” I choked out, stumbling through the door. “Sasuke!” I collapsed where I stood, complete in shock. I could have saved her. I heard footsteps closer, making me relax a little.

“Hitomi?” His face was bent close to mine, and I could feel his breathe on my cheek. “What’s wrong?” I couldn’t answer. Words seemed to have escaped me.

“Gaara…sand…alley…prostitute…” Sasuke seemed to be confused, and somewhat disgusted. “Are you telling me Gaara bought a prostitute and didn’t even have the decency to take her inside, somewhere? Real classy…” He paused for a moment. “And you watched?” The stupidity that I felt could make Naruto seem like a genius.

“No, idiot. He killed one. In the alley, with his freaky sand! He carries it around on his back…with that gourd?”

“How did he kill her…with sand?”

“I--I don’t know. Some kind of jutsu, most likely. But it was strange…”

“He didn’t see you, did he?”

I was quiet for a few minutes.  The way he looked at me after he was…finished with the girl was beyond disturbing. He seemed proud, like he had just won a first place trophy or something. To have me there watching was just like icing on the cake. Made things better; for him.

“No,” I shook my head, “he didn’t see me.” He nodded, pleased. “Good. The last thing we need is a psychopathic ninja trying to kill you.”

I’ve never lied to Sasuke, and quite frankly it felt weird to do so. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling, that was certain. But, I felt as if it was necessary. I could hand it…hopefully.
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The noise was giving me a headache, and with all of these shinobi, I was just lucky it wasn’t much louder.

“Look at all of the people here, for the exams.” One of the leaf rookies whispered. There were eleven of us: Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Michiko, Hinata, Shino, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and me. Coincidentally enough, were the only rookies this time around. All of the rest have gone through this exam, and have failed. How many times? The answers varied. At least they know what to expect, having gone through so many times. Could it really be that hard?

“We don’t stand a chance.” Hinata whispered, blushing when she realized we heard her.

“Don’t say that!” Michiko scolded. “For all we know, these shinobi just don’t have any talent. Most likely reason that they failed.” A few surrounding of these ninjas heard her, sending her death glares, making her hide behind me. “Sorry!” She called, embarrassed. I laughed, awkwardly, hoping to ease the tension.

I took this time to check out the rookies. I went to the Academy with all of them, but I never actually talked to any of them. My gaze lingered on Hinata, she was watching Naruto; like always. There was no doubt in my mind that she was madly in love with the boy, she always had been. And for this, I admired her. No matter how obnoxious Naruto could get, she always seemed to overlook these qualities, seeing him for the boy he truly was. She fell in love with his bravery, the confidence he put in himself.

“Hi,” I smiled at the overly shy girl. As if on queue, she blushed.

“Uhh…hi..” She looked down, staring at her feet. I’ve always liked Hinata. She was quiet, and well mannered. The exact opposite of Naruto.

“I’m Hitomi,--”

“Naruto’s best friend,” She faintly smiled, “I know.”

“Was,” I corrected. “He hates me, now.” I frowned, showing my displeasure. Hinata looked back over to Naruto, deep in thought. She looked at my with curious filled eyes, cocking her head to the side. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just hurt and feels a bit betrayed. You should talk to him, he misses you.” I was speechless. Never underestimate Hinata’s stalking abilities. They were the greatest among many.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I nodded.

“Hey Hinata!” Naruto called, coming closer. Hinata’s face burned a dark crimson just from the simple greeting.

“H-hi Naru-Naruto.” She stuttered. Her stalking skills may be great, but she obviously needed to work on her social skills.

“I’ll leave you two, I have to go talk to Michiko,” I winked, trying to help the ant-social shinobi. Who knows, maybe they’ll hit if off? One could only hope.

“I heard I was needed.” The chipper voice of Michiko sounded in my ear. I rolled my eyes. This girl was something else, entirely.

“Yeah, you actually are.”

“Don’t make me sound like some background character. I’m important, too!” I chuckled. “So, what’s up?”

“It’s about your disturbingly weird infatuation with the sand ninja. I sobered up, turning the conversation in a new direction.

“What about it?” She was skeptical, as if I wanted him, myself. Sorry, but I don’t need crazy. I already had obsessive, over-protective, and emo. Not to mention pervert.

“It needs to stop. I saw something that would probably make Kiba cry.” She rolled her eyes. “Like what?”

My eyes roamed around the tightly packed room. Gaara was leaning against the wall with a bored expression, perfectly at ease. Kankuro alert, and Temari was frantic. Were they hiding something?

“It wouldn’t be the best idea to talk about it here.”

Her eyes widened, but she nodded understandingly.

A boy, a few years older than me, seemed to have provoked the sound ninja. One went to swing at him, which he neatly dodged. But, as he knelt down, to recover, his glasses cracked; proving the sounds ninja’s effort wasn’t wasted.

How this happened, I couldn’t tell you. The guy didn’t even touch him. A proctor intervened, then, making sure no more harm was done. He issued a few words to the crowd, then lead us into a classroom.

“I will be your proctor for the written part of the exam.” I could almost hear Naruto’s internal panicking. This will no doubtfully test us on techniques we learned in the academy, making sure we could think, like a shinobi should.

“There will be absolutely no cheating. Highly trained jounin are here to watch your every move. If you’re caught cheating three times, you’ll be asked to leave; immediately. If you’re stupid enough to get actually get caught, you don’t deserve to be here and will automatically fail.” Displeased whispers were arising from the frantic shinobi. Naruto wasn’t the only one who wasn’t going to like this part of the exam.

“You’ll be graded as a team. If your teammate fails, do you.” Sakura cursed Naruto under her breath, asking why she had to be put on his team. She didn’t have to worry about Sasuke and me, we got this down. As for Naruto? Well, we may as well just leave, now.

“Let the first part of the exams, begin!”
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I just wanted to say, I love Kim Possible. That. Is. All.

Happy Readings~!

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