𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟐𝟕 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐬: 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

It's... kind of difficult to piece together the words I'm looking for. I don't know where to start. Thankfully, I don't have to.

"Looks like you've gone through a lot in this test," Iruka-sensei says, smiling around at us.

Compared to the others, though? I give my teammates a careful side eye, so they don't notice me looking. There's just no way. They look like they've been dragged across the forest floor for those four and a half days I'd been without them. They're all doing a poor job of hiding being in pain – their bodies are slightly curved forward, and while they aren't speaking – I'd noticed this earlier – their teeth are clenched. What had they gone through? I wish now would be the time to be able to find out.

"What's with the surprise entrance?" Naruto loudly demands, stirring me from my thoughts. "Why did you appear with a Summoning?"

"We Chūnin are to welcome the examinees at the end of the Second Exam," Iruka-sensei answers. "It was just luck that I happened to be the one to pass a message onto you four!"

"A... message?" Sakura echoes. Our former sensei reaches into his pants' front left packet and pulls out a circular watch.

"And you made it just in time, too," he adds, relief in his words. "Everyone, congratulations on passing the Second Exam! I'd like to treat you four to ramen at Ichiraku's, but—""Yeahhhh!!"

When Naruto runs up and hugs Iruka-sensei, I start wondering – is he just happy that he passed, or does he really just want to eat some ramen?

"Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" Naruto chants. I thought so, I think, laughing a little out loud. Really, I should have already known! But how does he have this much energy? With how he looks, he should be as pooped as me, even though I'd slept the whole time...

"Shut up," Sakura says; Iruka-sensei deadpans.

"Geez... I see you're still as restless as ever," he comments. Sasuke suddenly chuckles.

"I finally get it," he says. "Iruka-sensei, if we had looked into the scrolls during the examination... what would you have done?"

"And you're just as sharp as ever, Sasuke." Iruka-sensei bends over and picks up the two scrolls. "As you probably guessed, this exam tests your mission completion ability. So, if you broke the rules and opened a scroll, we would be ordered to knock out the examinees until the Second Exam had ended."

I immediately turn to Naruto and Sakura to find them wearing relieved, guilty expressions.

"Thank goodness, you didn't open them, after all," I say, raising my hand to my head to soothe an oncoming headache. Naruto's eyes gloss over as he looks to the ceiling in prayer.

"Thank you, Kabuto!" he cries.

"Oh, Sensei?" Sakura points up at the sign. "What does that all mean? Is there a word missing or something?"