Naruto: Tango with Death

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Amai-Sensei didn't take long to come back with Yono Hyuuga, and the moment they saw the deathly quiet, he sent a glare my way, to which I smiled.

Yono looked at her students, whose clothes had turned a little wet because of their sweat, and then sent a glance at me too. It was hard to read her expression, especially with her blank eyes, but nonetheless she said nothing to me.

Amai-Sensei picked a slab of meat and said, "Alright, it's time to go train."

Laiko, Izumi and I got up from our seats, and as I looked at the other team, I saw Inaki glaring back in challenge, Four Eyes trying to hide his death glare, and the girl, whose name I didn't know, seemed to have stars in her eyes.

Well, what can I say, I'm just this awesome…

"I can practically hear you praising yourself."

I sent a glance at Laiko and asked, "Who will know if you fall in the stairs?"

Laiko rolled his eyes and said, "Itachi was annoying with the way he ignored everyone, but it's only now that I've seen you that I realize how much better that was."

I winked at him and teased, "Don't say things like that, I know that deep inside you, you love me. How could you not, I'm just that awesome."

Laiko shook his head silently, and Izumi suddenly spoke up, "Sensei, how are we going to handle the Chunin Exams?"

We all looked at her in surprise, and Amai-Sensei replied, "I haven't signed you up for the upcoming exams."

Izumi shook her head and specified, "I'm talking about the ones after that. Sukaina will certainly take them for her promotion, but what about us? Are we going to participate too? And if we don't, and Sukaina passes alone, are we going to get a new teammate?"

Amai-Sensei looked away and said, "Chunin Exams aren't the only way to become a Chunin, they are more of an exposition to display our talents and earn the sponsors' approval, so we may get more missions from them. Part of the reason why we get missions from other lands is because our Chunins impressed them more than their village's. But if we displayed all of our talents in the Chunin Exams, we would be placing a target on all of them."

Izumi asked, "Then that means Sukaina won't take the Exams? And neither will we?"

Amai-Sensei shrugged and replied, "Depends on you really. I can apply for your promotion if I feel you are ready, but I can't force you to promote. Some Genins stick to the Chunin Exams to impress the sponsors, so ultimately it is your own choice. But either way, none of you are getting promoted before the next Chunin Exams, in three months."

Remembering the last one I had assisted to, I couldn't help but ask, "Will it be a shared exam again, or will it be restrained to our village?"

Izumi and Laiko looked confused at my question, but Amai-Sensei's gaze sharpened for a second before he said, "This year's probably going to be… special. I don't know myself, and probably will only know not long before the event itself."

It was a bit of a shot in the dark as I didn't really expect him to know. Both were viable options, as Konoha had many problems ongoing. The possible war with the other villages, as well as the revolution and the mysterious Mokuton user… All these could lead Minato and the Elders to decide it was better to keep this trial to ourselves.

However, at the same time, still doing a shared Chunin Exam would be a show of strength to the other villages, and could help prevent any conflict.

But then, since this war not only originated from the last one's resentment but also the overwhelming power of Konoha… It was a very complicated issue, hence why I doubted he would have the answer. Still, it was worth a shot, to hear what he thought about it.

Since Amai-Sensei wasn't very specific with his answer and was done with his answer, I turned to Izumi and asked, "Were all three of them in your promotion?"

Izumi nodded, and replied, "Inaki's true to himself. But I guess they changed."

Amai-Sensei said without looking away, "It's normal for that to happen. Now, we have to go make our mission's report, but since you've already made yours, you can go home, Sukaina."

I nodded, and after smiling at my teammates as a goodbye, I sped away.

I quickly reached the Uchiha Compound, where I directly headed to the training grounds, and as usual, I found Shisui, training.

Not seeing Itachi anywhere, I asked, "Is Itachi on a mission?"

Shisui nodded and replied, "Anbu's a lot of work. Being in the police can be sometimes less… epic, but I get a lot of free time. You should consider it."

I shook my head at the invitation and said, "I'll only be facing the difference of age in Anbu, while I would also pretty much be the only non Uchiha in the police. So no thank you."

Shisui shrugged, "I think it wouldn't take you long to get accepted, but I can't really force you. Anyway, how did today go?"

I smiled and replied, "I was a little excited for today, but my attention was required somewhere else. I swear, I think I'm cursed."

Shisui rose an eyebrow in surprise and asked, "You encountered another difficult situation?"

I nodded, but said nothing, which Shisui understood as he sighed, "You really are a magnet to trouble. Well, maybe your next C Rank mission won't have a Jonin trying to kill you."

I shrugged and said, "It's fine, I'm getting used to it. It makes me wonder though, am I going to fight the Tsuchikage on my first B Rank mission."

Shisui snorted, "Don't jinx yourself, but I guess we should prepare you for it either way."

I nodded, and followed him outside the compound. As we walked toward the public training grounds, Shisui explained, "Itachi initially wanted his old Team leader from Anbu to train you in Taijutsu, but he wasn't available."

Old team leader? A Jonin then. Shame, especially if those two believed he would have been a better teacher than themselves.

Reason I was excited about this training was that I would be introduced to a strong Taijutsu user, this was an area I wanted to become better at, and while Shisui and Itachi were good, most of their techniques needed the Sharingan to follow.

The Sharingan allowed them to react to any attack and actually have the time to think of a way to counter it. As for me, while I had a good reaction time, in the end it was nothing before the Sharingan, and so I had to do like other people, and learn techniques.

Shisui patted my head and said, "Don't be disappointed, although that guy was busy, he recommanded a friend of his, claiming he was the best Taijutsu user in the village. Some say he even matches the great master Chen from old."

Best Taijutsu user? Wait, it couldn't be…

"LET THE POWER OF YOUTH SHINE!!!"