Chunin Exams Part 2

The members of team seven were walking up the stairs and going to the third floor, going towards the real room 301.

"Hey, you with the attitude. Hold on." Lee's voice was heard by the members of team seven.

"Huh?" All of them, but Hiroki said at the same time as the looked behind them.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"He probably wants to fight you. He likes Sakura and Sakura likes you so he sees you as a love rival." Hiroki said as he chuckled.

"That's not only the reason. Fight me right here and right now."

"You want to fight me here and now?" Sasuke asked with his hands inside his pockets.

"Yes." Lee said as he jumped down from where he was.

"My name is Rock Lee. You said it was a common courtesy for a challenger to give his own name first, right? Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Hm. You know me?" Sasuke asked.

"Everyone is talking about the Uchiha clan and how great they are. I want to see if it's true. I figure you will be a good test for me. And also... Oh Sakura-san, I love you." Lee said the last part as he looked at Sakura and blushed.

Sakura had a unaccepting expression on her face as she screamed, not wanting to receive Lee's love.

"You've heard of the Uchiha clan and you still want to challenge me. You must be even more psycho than you look,if that's possible." Sasuke said with a smirk. He then got serious as he looked at Lee.

"You want to know more about my clan, then I'll teach you the hard way."

"Bring it on." Lee said as he got into his fighting stance.

Hiroki looked at Naruto and he saw that the blonde didn't really care about what was going on in front of him.

'This is already a big change. Naruto isn't desperate for recognition against Sasuke as he used to be. He's still competitive, but not obsessed as before.' Hiroki thought with a smirk.

"Sasuke." Hiroki said as he called the raven haired.

"What, Hiroki?" Sasuke asked as he looked at his clan and team member.

"Don't proud yourself in the Uchiha name. You aren't invincible because you're an Uchiha. The Uchiha clan wasn't built on it's name only. It was built thanks to the efforts of those that worked hard to make their name rise. The Uchiha name just went along with them. And one last thing. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter who he or she is." Hiroki said as he looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke grit his teeth hearing Hiroki saying those words, but after processing what he meant, he understood that he was being conceited and overconfident just because of the Uchiha name that he carried.

"Sasuke, we need to get going. It's almost time for us to reach room 301 and register ourselves." Sakura remembered him.

Sasuke didn't pay attention to Sakura's words and rushed towards Lee.

"Don't worry, Sakura. The fight won't last very long. We have half an hour to get there. Let Sasuke experience this for himself and understand what I said." Hiroki said as he looked at Sakura and nodded to her.

Sasuke first punched towards Lee, but Lee disappeared in front of him and showed up at Sasuke's back. Sasuke turned around and saw Lee coming his way as he kicked towards Sasuke's face.

'He's moving too fast for me to react.' Sasuke thought as he tried blocking, but to no use as Lee's kick landed on his face and sent him flying into the air. Sasuke hit the floor and skidded a short distance and then got up.

'He's using a technique to get to me. Let's see him trying something now.' Sasuke thought as his eyes changed.

"That... that's the sharingan. When did Sasuke learn how to activate it?" Sakura asked.

"Probably when he fought Haku. It was a serious situation and I'm sure he remembered the tip I gave him." Hiroki said.

'So that's the sharingan.' Lee thought as he saw the red eyes with two tomoes on each of them.

"Now Sasuke can do anything he wants. If it's like Kakashi-sensei's, he'll be able to read Lee's jutsu and nail him." Sakura said to Hiroki.

"Huhu." Hiroki chuckled hearing Sakura.

"What is it? Am I wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Just wait and see. You too, Naruto. Pay close attention to this fight. This will help you as well. Pay attention as well, Sakura. You'll know what I mean." Hiroki said as he stood watching he fight.

Sasuke sprinted towards Lee, but he was hit with a kick to the chin as he was flung up. Sasuke landed on the ground and Lee came at him. As Lee struck, Sasuke would try dodging, but would get hit every time by Lee's strikes.

"What is happening?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke can read Lee's moves with his sharingan, but he can't respond to it in time. In other words, Lee is too fast for Sasuke to react to. It's like seeing a kunai coming at you so fast you know it's going to hit you, but you can't react to it in time to dodge it." Hiroki explained.

"You see. I'm only using taijutsu. That means no tricks, Sasuke. It's straight martial arts, nothing more." Lee said as he disappeared from his spot and appeared behind Sasuke. Sasuke swung his arm backwards, but Lee had already dodged with a leap backwards.

"I know your technique. Forget it. It will not work, not on me. I know you can see through you opponents jutsu. That sharingan gives you the ability to read his chakra and decipher his hand seals and movements. You can guess what he's going to do almost before he knows himself. The problem is, taijutsu is a little different."

"Right. So what's your point?"

"I do not try to hide or disguise my moves. I do not have to. Even if you can read them, you still cannot stop them. You are too slow. Your eyes may be quick enough to stay one step ahead of me, but if your body cannot keep up, what good does it do you?" Lee asked while he was still in his fighting stance.

Sasuke could only grumble hearing Lee saying those words. He knew and understood what he was saying, but he couldn't accept it since it hurt his pride.

"Here is what I believe. There are two different kinds of shinobi. Those like you who are born with talent and do not have to work at it, and those born like me, the ones who have to train every day of our lives." Lee said.

Sasuke dashed towards Lee as he threw out a punch, but missed since Lee dodged it.

"I'm the worst opponent for your sharingan. I'm going to show you what I mean." Lee said as he moved quickly and sent a kick again at Sasuke's chin. He struck, but Sasuke wasn't flying into the air like before. Instead, his foot was caught. He looked at the one holding his foot and saw that it was Hiroki.

"Ah. You're the other Uchiha. I wanted to fight you as well." Lee said.

"I'm sure you did. But anyways, you two should stop. If this continues, one of you will get hurt and I'm sure the chunin exam is more important than this small challenge. And that technique you were about to use, Lee. It's not something meant for fellow comrades of the same village. I'm sure your sensei taught you better." Hiroki said as he looked up towards the figure that was watching the fight.

"He's right Lee. That technique is not meant to use against fellow village shinobi. You have broken the rules and disrupted the chunin exams. When the exams are over, you will do 500 laps and 1000 thumbs push-ups as punishment. How about that?" A loud voice said as a older version of Lee jumped down.

"Gai-sensei, you were watching the whole time? I just wanted to prove myself against the number one rookie and genius of Konoha, but I know I've made a mistake. Once the exam is over, I'll run 500 laps." Lee said.

"Very good, Lee." Gai said as he gave his student a thumbs up. Gai then looked at team seven.

'Huuum. Those are Kakashi's genin. I'll check them.' Gai thought.

"You four. You're Kakashi's students right, how is he doing?" Gai asked.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Do I know Kakashi? Well, people say he and I are arch rivals for all eternity." Gai said as he chuckled. He then disappeared from his spot and appeared behind team seven.

"I have recorded 50 wins versus 49 losses." Gai finished saying with a smile.

"What, you defeated Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

"I did because I'm stronger than him and faster." Gai said.

'He's faster than Kakashi. Is he even human?' Sasuke asked himself as he saw Gai's monstrous speed.

"I'm sorry for the trouble Lee caused you. Look into my eyes and accept my sincere apology. Also notice my handsome manly features." Gai said to Sasuke.

'He claims he's better than Kakashi. Could that be true? Damn it. I don't think he's making this up.' Sasuke thought as he grit his teeth and tightened his fists.

"Lee, you should accompany these four to the classroom. I'll be leaving now. Farewell." Gai said as he shunshined away.

"Yes." Lee yelled in agreement.

"Sasuke, I actually haven't been honest with you. I said I wanted to test my skills, and that is true enough. But you ate not really the one I wanted to test them against. I lied to you when we were fighting before. I told you I am the best genin here, but there is another top shinobi, someone on my own team. I came here to defeat him. You were just practice. Now you are a target. I'll crush you. There you have it. Consider yourself warned." Lee said.

Sasuke only looked at him and chuckled.

"Your teammate is not the top shinobi here. He is the strongest genin here, no matter what you say." Sasuke said as he pointed towards Hiroki.

Lee remembered the time where he tried kicking Sasuke, but was stopped by Hiroki. Her then looked at Hiroki and saw him smiling towards him. Lee then leapt and went towards room 301.

"You know that I could have defeated him if I unsealed the weights. Why did you stop us?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Hiroki.

"A guy as fast as him, do you think he doesn't have any weights on him as well? Do you think he is just naturally that fast without any special training? And the technique that he would have used, if his sensei allowed it to happen, would incapacitate you for at least a few weeks or months. That kick would send you up and in midair you wouldn't be able to move or dodge." Hiroki said. Sasuke understood it instantly and he tightened his fists.

"No need to be frustrated. You only fought him with taijutsu. If you used the jutsu that you learned from the scroll Kakashi gave you, you could have finished it pretty quickly." Hiroki said. It was then that Sasuke realized the mistake he had made. If he used it from the beginning, he would have a very easy time against Lee.

"Fine. The chunin exams can't wait to see what's next." Sasuke said as he got excited.

"Right. Naruto! Sakura! Hiroki! Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said excitedly.

The members of team seven got pumped and went towards their destination.

———

The four of them walked towards the hallway that would bring them to room 301. In front of the room's door, they saw Kakashi waiting there for them.

"Glad you guys came. Now, you all can formally register for the chunin exams." Kakashi said as he looked at his genin.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Only teams of three are allowed to take the exam. That's the way it's always been. If any of you three didn't come, I wouldn't be allowing you to take the exam." Kakashi said.

"Wait. What about Hiroki then?" Naruto asked.

"Hiroki is a fourth member of the team, an extra member. It is not very common in shinobi squads, but it's not unheard of. Nidaime Hokage had a team of six students. Anyways, the chunin exams are supposed to be taken as teams, but there is a rule that it is not very known by all and that is that one person alone can take it. It's much harder for that single person and that is why there wasn't any case of a single person participating by themselves. The chunin exams aren't as easy as many people think. You can die in battle at any time so to raise the chance of survival, a thee men cell is best." Kakashi explained.

"We'll help Hiroki out no matter what. Even if we become rivals in the exam and might face one another, at the end, we are friends and teammates." Naruto said.

"Yes." Sakura agreed.

"I'm very glad to see the bond between all of you very strong. Always remember this and don't let it slip away. I'm proud of the team I have. I wish you guys good luck. Ja ne." Kakashi said as he moved aside from the door and let them enter the room.

"We won't let you down, sensei. Datebayo!" Naruto said as the four of them opened the door and walked in.

As they walked in, Naruto and Sakura were surprised with the number of people in the room.

"What's this?" Naruto asked surprised seeing the number of people in the room. All of them were genin.

"I guess we are not alone. I never thought we would have so much competition." Sakura said.

"Hey, no need to worry about numbers. Over half will fail in the first part and another half on the second. The competition will be thinned out as the exam goes." Hiroki said as he touched Sakura's shoulder, comforting her.

She looked at him and only nodded.

"Hiroki-kun, where have you been?" A girls voice asked as she jumped at Hiroki's back and hugged him from the back while hanging on his back.

"Oh, hey Ino." Hiroki said as he smiled at her.

"I was so worried that you wouldn't be coming since only three team members can take the exams, but you're here." She said as she blushed.

"Well, to tell the truth, there's a rule that not many know about so that's why I'm able to participate." Hiroki said.

"Oh, it's you guys." A boy said as he walked towards team seven with his hands in his pockets. Another boy was next to him, munching on some potato chips.

"I knew this would be a drag, but I didn't know it was going to be this lame."

"The three stooges are here." Naruto said as he looked at the boy.

"Hey, you know what, pipsqueak? Ah, forget it. You're a waste of time."

"Being that lazy isn't good for your health, Shikamaru." Hiroki said as he saw the boy talking back to Naruto.

"Hey, Choji. How are you guys?" Hiroki asked the one next to Shikamaru, eating the potato chips.

"We're... *munch munch* good." Choji answered in between chips.

"Yo. It looks like the whole gang's back together again." A boy with a dog on top of his head said. He was accompanied with another not wearing sun glasses and a girl.

"Hi, Naruto." The girl said as she looked at the blonde.

"Aren't you going to say hi back?" Hiroki asked Naruto.

"Huh? Hi, Hinata." Naruto said as he smiled at Hinata and her face became crimson red.

"Even you guys? Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru said as he grumbled.

"Here we all are. The ten rookies. This is going to be fun. At least for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right, Hiroki?" Kiba said as he looked at Hiroki.

"Kiba, careful you don't get overconfident." Sasuke said as he smirked.

"Just wait. We're going to blow you guys away. We've been training like crazy." Kiba said proudly.

"What do you think we've been doing? Sitting around and picking flowers? You don't know what training means!" Naruto said as he pointed at Kiba.

"Don't mind Kiba, Naruto-kun. I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it." Hinata said shyly.

In the meantime the original rookie nine were spotted, Hiroki spotted someone he met not long ago.

"Ino, I need to say hi to someone really quick." Hiroki said to Ino. She let go of him and saw him walking towards the center of the room. As he walked, he noticed that he was being stared at by almost everyone in the room, specially by the three sound shinobi: Dosu, Zaku and Kin and the sand siblings: Gaara, Kankuro and Temari. He continued walking as he waved at them and smiled, making some of them angry.

"That damn brat. If I see him in the exams, I'll be sure to kill him." Kankuro said as he grit his teeth. He was reminded of the embarrassment he went through.

"Shut up Kankuro. He's strong." Gaara said.

'Damn it. For Gaara to say that he is strong, he might really be. There aren't many that Gaara would say that about.' Kankuro thought as he clicked his tongue.

On the other hand, the expressions of the three from Otogakure was the same, but at the same time opposite.

"That brat. He's going to be a problem to our plan." Zaku said as he followed Hiroki with his gaze. He resented Hiroki, but at the same time, he feared him.

"We will have plenty of time to complete our plan. If we have any chance to separate him from the others, then we take that chance to kill Sasuke. He won't be able to interfere if we end up matched in the final parts of the exam." Dosu said.

Hiroki finally arrived in front of the person he had recognized.

"Hello, Haku." Hiroki said as the girl had her back towards him.

Haku turned around and saw Hiroki. She was startled when she first heard his voice.

"Hiroki-kun. You're taking the exams as well?" She asked.

"Yeah. I was just having some conversation with the other genin teams that graduated with ours from the academy and I noticed you here." Hiroki said.

"I see." Haku said.

"So, it seems that everything went alright with Zabuza and the rebels since you are here." Hiroki said.

"Yes. Zabuza-sama was able to help the rebels defeat Yagura and now kirigakure has a new Kage. It will take time, but things will be better." Haku said.

"I hope everything goes well." Hiroki said as he smiled.

"Haku, who is he?" A boy a bit older than Hiroki asked as he saw Hiroki and Haku conversing.

"Kiri, this is Hiroki-kun. He's one of the shinobi we ran into in Nami no Kuni." Haku said.

"Here. Let me introduce you to my team." Haku said to Hiroki.

"This is Kiri and that is Chojuro. We were the only team sent from Kirigakure due to us rebuilding the village." Haku said.

"Nice meeting you, Chojuro, Kiri." Hiroki said as he looked at them.

"Nice meeting you, Hiroki." Chojuro said politely.

"Haku, you know that the exams are very tricky. We don't know if this guy is here to get information from us and use it against us in the exam." Kiri said as he was suspecting Hiroki.

"No need to be worried. I don't have the need to get information from you guys. I just came to say hi to an acquaintance. I'll leave you guys be now. See you later, Haku." Hiroki said as he walked back to the rookies of Konoha.

'That guy is quite paranoid.' Hiroki thought as he chuckled. When he passed a few more of the genin in the class, he found his friends talking to someone he had been waiting to see.

'Kabuto.' Hiroki thought.

He didn't have any thoughts about him. He knew what he had gone through and why he was like the way he is, but he knew he couldn't meddle much because he wanted Kabuto to redeem himself in the end.

"... mission experience, eight C ranks and 1 B rank as a genin. There's not a lot more information on this guy. He's a genin from Sunagakure, but there is this. He completed every mission without even getting a scratch on him." Kabuto said as he corrected the position of his glasses.

"The dude's done a B tank as a genin, and has never been injured?" Shikamaru asked.

"Last, but not least. Hiroki Uchiha from Konohagakure." Kabuto said as he took out a ninja info card from his deck.

"Ah. I see. He's from your team. A special team of four members. This is not common. He has been to one C rank turned B rank that turned A rank at the end. He killed the shipping magnate Gato and all of his bodyguards single handedly in this mission. He's done eight D ranks. It seems that he has arrived in Konoha not even a year ago, but graduated in the same class as you rookies. He's one year older than you. His academy records are all perfect. He excels in taijutsu ninjutsu and kenjutsu. There's no information if his sharingan awakened." Kabuto said as he held up Hiroki's ninja info card up.

A hand came behind Kabuto and grabbed the card from him. This startled Kabuto since he didn't feel the person's presence behind him.

"This is pretty much accurate. You must have worked hard to get all this information." Hiroki said as he looked at his card and then handed it back to Kabuto.

"Ah, yes. It's my fourth year trying the chunin exams and I've gathered information every time. Knowing too much is never bad." Kabuto said as he smiled at Hiroki.

"Your right. Knowing too much isn't bad, but there are things that not many are supposed to know. Information is very precisou to us shinobi, so don't go showing off to other people or this can get you in trouble." Hiroki said with a smile.

"Anyways, the people here all have really high potential. We need to be focused and try our hardest if we want to get this promotion." Hiroki said.

"Yes. From all the years I've participated, this years crop has the highest potential than any other past year. It won't be easy to accomplish this exam." Kabuto said.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to beat everyone of you. Datebayo!" Naruto said loudly as he pointed towards the crowd of people.

"Sigh. I feel a lot better now."

"Oh. I guess that I'm going to have fun fighting you Naruto. I won't be holding back then." Hiroki said behind Naruto.

"Ah. No, no, no, no. I didn't mean it to you Hiroki. I meant it to everyone else." Naruto said embarrassedly as he looked at Hiroki and scratched the back of his head.

"Hahahaha. I'm playing with you Naruto. It's good that you are thrilled like that. It shows that you are not letting the pressure consume you." Hiroki said as he patted Naruto's shoulder with a smile.

"What a bunch of weaklings. They think this is a game."

"What a jerk."

Many voices grumbled as they heard Naruto's declaration and how Hiroki was laughing it off.

"You heard what that guy said about Oto, right? He called us little. A mystery." Zaku said to his teammates.

"I heard." Dosu said.

"I say, we teach that guy some manners." Kin said as she smirked.

"Yeah. Let's clear up some of the mystery for him. Update his information. Let him know that if you insult Otogakure shinobi, you'd better be ready for the consequences." Dosu finished saying as he sped towards Kabuto. Zaku and Kin followed behind.

Zaku was the first to make his move a he threw two kunai at Kabuto.

*clink clink*

The two kunai hit the floor as Kabuto dodged them while leaping backwards. Dosu used the opportunity to punch Kabuto. But before the punch could even get near Kabuto, it was stopped by a hand.

"You guys are quite feisty, huh?" Hiroki said as he pushed the fist back at Dosu.

Dosu looked at Hiroki and expected to see something happening to him.

'He stopped my punch, but not the sound waves.' Dosu thought as he smirked.

"What? You're expecting something happens to me, right? Sorry to disappoint you, but it's useless. I know your little party trick." Hiroki said as he looked fiercely at Dosu and his two teammates.

Dosu, Zaku and Kin were very surprised seeing nothing happening to Hiroki and they grit their teeth in frustration.

"Anyways, we don't want to start the fighting before the exam even starts, right? If we could take out the competition right away, that would be no fun. Would it?" Hiroki said as he sent a little of his killing intent towards the three.

Dosu, Zaku and Kin stepped back as their eyes bulged and they felt fear crawling all over their bodies, telling them to get away from Hiroki.

*Poooooooof*

"Settle down you brats and listen up." A voice said as a loud explosion sounded and smoke appeared. After the smoke cleared, a tall man wearing a black coat was in front of many others. They were the proctors of the chunin exam.

"It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor and from this moment, your worst enemy. The chunin exams starts now!" Ibiki said loudly.