Chapter 24

I looked at Kiba and said "Kiba, let this be a lesson for you. Never underestimate your opponent." Kiba just clicked his tongue and turned away. Sakura asked "How are you so strong? Also, how are you able to fight without even seeing anything?"

I smiled and said "Sakura, I will tell you when the time comes. Until then, it is better if it remains a secret". After taking a break for an hour, we went back to our sparring and it continued till evening. Everyone returned home. Sakura and Hinata invited me for dinner, but I refused. I had to go meet Asuma. It has been two weeks and it will be problematic if I delay it any longer.

I went to Asuma's house, but it was locked. So, I went to Kurenai's house to ask where he was and when I was about to knock on the door, it opened by itself. Asuma opened the door and stopped when he saw me. I then looked at Kurenai standing behind Asuma. Seeing her messy hair and the stench of sweat from the house, I can tell what they did. I asked Kurenai "Is this what you meant by 'important work'? I was expecting some important mission or something."

Kurenai just blushed and avoided eye contact. Asuma placed his hand on my head and said "Is this how you talk to your elders. Kurenai said that you wanted to ask me something. Let us go then". He then took me to a restaurant and ordered dinner. He then asked "So, what do you want to know?"

I took a deep breath and asked "I heard that you get your Carunium from some smuggler. I want to know all about him and meet him". I was nervous asking him, because if this gets out, his reputation could be in danger, as he is the son of the Hokage and he shouldn't be dealing with smugglers. Asuma glared at me and blew out smoke. He said "I need to know why you want to know about him. Only then will I decide whether to tell you or not."

I now have to bluff my way out. I said "While I was going through my father's things, I found some property papers. When I went to look at the land, I found out that it had a lot of Carunium deposits. I am telling you this because I trust that you wouldn't tell this to anyone. I now need someone who can buy my Carunium ore after I hire workers to mine it".

Asuma looked at me and asked "Why can't you just register those mines and sell the ore to the village? That way, you don't have to struggle with any legal problems". I replied "Asuma sensei, I am still a 14 year old orphan, with my only relative, my aunt, not with me. The minute someone learns that I have a mine which will make them rich, I will have many ninjas coming for my head. As someone who doesn't have chakra, it will be difficult to live."

Asuma then looks at me and asks "Why are you telling me all this? You know that if I report it to the higher officials of the Land of Fire, they will seize your mines". This was what I wanted to hear. He is slowly getting convinced. I said "I trust Kurenai sensei and I don't think she will betray her student. So, I know that she will help me at that time."

I actually don't know if she will help me, but Asuma knows that Kurenai is kind. So, there is a possibility that she would get involved in this matter. To avoid all that, Asuma decided to just give the info I need and keep Kurenai out of all this. He said "You are lucky to have Kurenai accept you as her student. The guy you are looking for is, Tenchi. He is a smuggler who has a lot of power. He is the only person who dares to smuggle ore out of Kumogakure, which is known for its military strength. You need to go to a town near the Land of waves and meet a person who works for him. After he deems you trustworthy, he will take you to Tenchi. You should be careful though, because he is rich and has hired many rogue ninjas of Kirigakure."

There is a risk of Asuma reporting this to his father, but I didn't care about it. If he does report about the mine and they search for it, I will still be safe. We then ate dinner and went our separate ways. I went back to my house and slept.

The next day, I was told that there was no training because all the jonin had to assemble at the Hokage's office. I can already guess why. It is about the chunin exams. Since I didn't have anyone to train, I just wore my weights and was roaming around the village. I noticed many people who are new to the town. They must be ninjas from other villages.

I was roaming the streets when I noticed a kid among the crowd because of the massive fan on her back. Temari had also come to the village for the chunin exams. She was walking ahead of me and she was alone. I think that Kankuro is with Gaara, making sure that he doesn't do anything he shouldn't do.

I silently followed her, which she seemed to have sensed and led me to an isolated area. When no one was around, she was about to reach out to her fan, but I raced her to it and stopped her. I then remembered what I told her, so I coated my hands with haki and used all my strength to smack her ass.

If there was anyone nearby, they would be shocked to hear such a loud clapping sound. That smack was hard. I can even break a stone with ease. She immediately jumped away from me and glared at me. "We meet again" I said and she didn't say anything. Before she could try to swing her fan again, I said "Stop. If you attack me, you will alert Konoha ninjas. This is the Konohagakure and I don't think you want people to know about your work near that mine."

She immediately let go of the fan, but she was pissed. She asked "What do you want?" and I replied "Well, I did say that I would smack you every time I see you, but I still get pissed every time I remember the day you almost killed me. So, I want you to voluntarily come to my home everyday and get smacked by me. Also, I don't want anyone following you because I have information that you wouldn't want others to know and it isn't about the mine."

I honestly think about that situation every time I train and the anger, regret, weakness I felt that day are what's keeping me focused on my training. I am definitely not going to leave this girl. Shikamaru, you have to forgive me, but I am not letting this girl go without experiencing humiliation.

Temari glared at me, but she didn't have any other options. She could try and kill me, but she couldn't take me down with a single move and our battle would alert other ninjas. Even if she decided to ask Gaara to kill me, my death would only complicate their mission to attack Konoha. She just nodded her head and walked away. Even though this feels weird and disgusting, it is all I can do, because I don't want to stop the crush of Konoha either. I can't let Sarutobi live.

After she left, I was walking around a little longer and suddenly, I felt a presence behind me and my observation haki told me that I was going to get attacked. I immediately jumped to my side and a second later, kunai landed in the place I was previously standing. I then heard a voice from behind say "Good....good.... it looks like the rumours about you are true."

I turned back and found a woman with purple hair, a mesh type clothing from her neck to her thighs, and a brown overcoat. She is Anko, a former student of Orochimaru. I looked at her and asked "Why did you attack me? The speed at which they came flying, could have injured me fatally."

She smiled and said "I am in charge of the second stage of the chunin exams and an Anbu member asked me to hire you. I wanted to see for myself whether you have what it takes to help me in conducting the exams."

Yugao must have recommended me because of my financial situation. I have to thank her later. I looked at her and asked "What do I need to do to prove I am capable of helping in conducting the exam"? It looks like she was waiting for it. She immediately replied with a smile "Follow me"

She then took me to the forest of death, where the second exam is supposed to take place. She then turned to me and said "This forest is crawling with things that will constantly try to kill you. We are going to fight here."

"Why do I need to fight you?" I asked and she replied "In the second exam, each team will be given a scroll which they have to carry. They are not supposed to open it until they finish the exam. If someone does open it, it will activate a reverse summoning seal and an instructor will be sent. The instructor has to knock them out. I heard that you don't have chakra. If you are weak, you can't be of any help."

That makes sense. Anko then said "We will go to the area with the most dangerous animals and fight". I nodded and followed her inside. After travelling for a while, she stopped and immediately turned to throw a kunai at me. I sensed it before itself, when she was slowly reaching out to her kunai while running. So, I moved to the side and easily dodged it.

She said "You are pretty good at dodging." and my observation haki showed me an image of her forming a hand sign, so I immediately picked up the kunai she threw and threw it at her, making her move to the side and stopping her from making the hand signs. That was the intention, but she made the hand sign while she jumped and continued when she landed. She then inhaled a lot of air, which meant that it was going to be a fire style jutsu.

She then released a huge fireball, which was flying towards me. The speed wasn't too fast, but I had my weights on, which made it difficult for me to dodge completely. It was about to hit my right arm, so I coated the area with haki. When the fireball hit me, it didn't do any damage to me, but half of my shirt was burnt.

Anko didn't give me time to think. She immediately threw kunai towards me, using the smoke from the fireball as a cover, but my Sharingan helped me see them and I was able to dodge them. With the smoke as a cover. I tried to hide from Anko behind a tree. I needed to remove my weights, but Anko shouldn't find out about it. I have to leave it in a place that I can find when I come back.

So, I moved behind a tree and tried to distract Anko with a kunai. I threw a kunai at her again, but this time, she threw a kunai at me too. It had an explosive tag attached to it and landed straight at my feet. I coated my whole body with haki and tried to run away, but it was too late. The explosion was big, but the force wasn't enough to carry a 2 ton person. So, I just fell on the ground while I had some bruises from the explosion.

I needed to get rid of these weights fast, because this woman is definitely trying to kill me. I can even sense her killing intent. It is amazing that she was able to hide it till now. I was thinking of ways to distract this woman, when we both heard a roar coming from Anko's side.