The Chunin Exam - 7

Sato had no idea where Lee lived or hung out yet he did, fortunately, know someone who might.

He ended up near his own apartment building. The weapons forge next door looked open and occupied so he decided to drop by for a minute.

The front door was left wide open and upon entering Sato's eyes met the display of a countless number of swords, kunai, shuriken, chains and every other pain-inflicting devices that shinobi adored. They had all been hand made.

'It's a bit warm in here...'

Venturing casually to the back, Sato discovered Tenten, hard at work like the blade-smith she was. He watched curiously for a moment as she folded the steel of the blade she was making over a glowing fire, hammering away. Judging that she was drenched in sweat and looked a mess, and that the blade looked like it was coming into its final stage of lamination, he guessed she had been hard at work for a while.

Sato cleared his throat loudly to catch her attention.

She paused and looked up in mid-swing. Tenten gave him a weary smile, and pulled the blade out of the hearth, setting it in a basin of cold water.

The silver haired boy raised a hand in greeting, "Hello there, neighbor!"

True, her apartment was only a few doors down from his.

"Hi," Tenten removed her gloves, and rubbed the sweat out of her eyes with the back of her hand, "What can I do for you, Sato?"

"I've been sent to find Lee," He reported, "I don't suppose you know where he is?"

"He should still be training with Gai-sensei, I think. Our team uses training area six, uptown." Tenten answered, leading them to the front of the forge, "Can you believe that Lee's training has actually made my folding better?" She displayed a well-muscled arm, now capable of swinging things many times the weight of a cow.

'She's way fitter than I am...'

"I believe it all right..." Sato mumbled, "Maybe I should stop by sometime if the results are that good..."

Tenten smirked, noting his annoyance, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind! He'll run you ragged though."

"If I can survive Kurenai-sensei's training, I can survive just about anything," He replied, heading out the door, "Thanks Tenten, and oh! Good luck on your C-rank mission tomorrow!"

She frowned to herself after he had gone, 'Now how did he know about that?'

*

The following day, Team 2 had been training rigorously under the watchful eye of their mentor.

"Move your feet, Haku." Jiraiya advised, looking up briefly from his book.

The dark haired boy leapt, hurling a few dozen senbon at Gaara who met them with his sand shield. Round after round of needles, Haku's attacks were utterly useless against his teammate.

'I can't keep up long range attacks...I have to get closer.' Haku landed lightly, moving fast and low as Gaara's sand reformed and floated around him. In a bold move, Haku met Gaara's first onslaught of sand with a running kick, breaking through, which the red haired boy promptly blocked.

Senbon were thrown again, only two connected with Gaara's arm and not in critical spots either. Haku cursed his inaccuracy as Gaara hit him with a solid punch that he had no ability to block. Off-balanced and frustrated, Haku was knocked down with another blast of sand and Jiraiya sniffed at his poor performance. 'Jeez, looks like my genius student needs to dust up on his taijutsu. Naruto has hit harder than him since he was six.'

"Where is Naruto-kun?" Haku asked curiously, winded, being that his defense was not nearly as difficult to crack as Gaara's was. He would much rather have the blonde boy as his opponent at the moment.

Gaara extracted the needles from his arm and answered, "When he isn't here it usually means he is training with Hinata-chan's team."

Haku frowned and stood, brushing himself off, "You shouldn't put ideas into his head...he might get into trouble."

"I doubt it."

Gaara had earlier informed him that since he had dropped a subtle hint to their blonde friend about Hinata's crush, Naruto had been investigating it thoroughly. Haku feared that if Naruto did not handle the situation properly that Hinata's feelings could end up getting squashed.

Though he often never meant to be, Naruto could be quite destructive when it came to delicate circumstances like that, and Haku was very worried that he may even unintentionally discourage Hinata from her pursuit. He found it amazing that Naruto already had such a faithful admirer, although it could be anyone's guess how long it would be before he recognized it.

Gaara just liked to shake things up...in his own lazy sort of way.

Jiraiya had put away his notes and turned his gaze to Haku from his seat atop a summoned toad's head, "Haku, I'm going to be honest with you. Your taijutsu needs major improvement, and I mean major, before the Chunin Exams begin, got it? It could end up saving your butt if you get yourself into a difficult fight. I've already recommended you guys for the exam and I won't have any of you making a fool out of me!"

"You do that perfectly well on your own." Gaara pointed out and the sage ground his teeth at him.

Haku had already learned that the hard way. Unlike his teammates, Haku was frail and terribly low on stamina. Where Naruto could easily recover from a hit, Haku often suffered a knock out. The Hyoton boy had to admit, it was difficult to keep up with the abilities of his teammates in terms of chakra, endurance, hand-to-hand combat and general ability.

There were moments when he wished he could trade his agility and strategy for better physical qualities, 'Some are just lucky I guess...'

Jiraiya had once told them that they were a fairly balanced team. Haku and Naruto were fast on their feet while Gaara was the stationary, defensive sort. Haku contributed brains to the team and Naruto contributed brute strength and Gaara was a bit of both worlds for stability.

But it was becoming more and more evident that Haku was starting to fall behind, 'Things just seem to come more easily to them these days. Perhaps it is in the nature of jinchuriki to adapt rapidly?'

"Since you're so close with Team 13, I suggest you go train with either Neji or Lee in your free time." Gaara commented, noting Haku's troubled expression, "They will help you improve more quickly." Haku nodded, since he had even thought of it himself.

"I did speak with Tenten earlier about it. I will seek them out when they return from their mission." He resolved, glancing over at Jiraiya who had dismissed his toad, "Until then, I think we should see where Naruto-kun has been."

*

Near the border of the Fire Country Team Gai advanced swiftly towards their location.

It was a standard C-rank mission and was not scheduled to last more than two days. The task was to simply retrieve a scroll that a wealthy lord did not rightfully own, though he claimed it being a 'divine heirloom' of his clan. It was unclear if he was even originally from a clan to start and there were no reports of encountering any opposing shinobi, so it was deemed another taking-candy-from-a-baby sort of mission.

Once they had passed through a rocky outcrop of forest, they stopped for a moment of rest on a rock ledge overlooking the palace below. A scrub-covered plain was between them and their destination.

"The estate further ahead is small and should have relatively weak defenses," Gai announced, grinning in the hazy afternoon light, "They will not be expecting ninja to be seeking this scroll."

"What is our plan, Gai-sensei?" Lee was already trembling with excitement.

"Neji, Tenten; you two will scout ahead near the west side of the estate," Their jounin instructor became more serious, "If there is no guard stationed there you will proceed to infiltrate the palace and retrieve the scroll. The records said it is kept separate from other documents on the grounds and should be relatively easy to locate."

Tenten nodded, memorizing their instructions.

"If your approach on the east side of the palace is unguarded, we can expect to rejoin you once we are inside?" Neji pointed out keenly and Gai nodded.

"Yes. Lee and I will follow behind and keep a lookout for sentries. Keep your radios on and we will meet back here before dark."

Tenten gingerly adjusted the device secured around her neck.

"Move out!"

The Hyuga prodigy and his partner darted down the stone slope while Gai and Lee retreated back into the brush forest. Already, Tenten could hear Lee's enthusiastic rambling over the radio and she smirked in amusement when she saw Neji sigh to himself, also hearing his proclamations.