Genkaku (Naruto fanfic)

Chapter 21: Only child

"Sasuke" Shizuka drawled lazily from where she was sitting on the ground, grass tickling her bare shins unpleasantly. "Entertain me."

"No."

"You suck."

Her cousin merely kicked her in the chest, causing her to topple over onto her back.

Rolling over, she dramatically widened her eyes with an exaggerated pout at Naruto who was observing their shenanigans with some degree of amusement.

"Naruto, he's bullying me."

The blonde chortled at that before puffing out his chest and sending a mock glare to Sasuke.

"Don't bully Shizuka, you bastard!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, crossing his arms and pointedly looking away from the annoying duo. Probably pretending they weren't there. Smart guy.

"I agree." Kakashi popped up out of nowhere and considerably late as usual. "Bullying isn't nice."

Shizuka stood up, nodding sagely at her teacher. Willing to ignore his tardiness just this once for his rare assistance in bothering her cousin.

"Anyway" The man continued. "I know this is quite early, but I want you guys to know that I chose to recommend all three of you for the upcoming chunin exams."

A rush of excitement went through Shizuka. She couldn't believe it! They had been genin for less than a year and already they were recommended for promotion. Though higher ranks equaled riskier missions, it also equaled better pay. And less babysitting and dog walking. 

"YES!" Naruto cheered, launching himself at Kakakshi and holding him around the neck like a koala bear.

"Hey!" Their sensei protested, attempting in vain to pry the blonde off. "Don't drool on my vest."

"You're the bestest sensei!" Naruto continued as he blatantly ignored Kakashi's protesting.

Kakashi, resigned to his fate, pulled out some forms from his pocket and handed them to his genin, distracting Naruto long enough to dump him on the ground.

"For those of you that want to participate in the exams, take the signed form to room 301 at the academy. The exam starts in five days at three."

She nearly choked on her spit. Five days? How on earth was she supposed to prepare and train in a measly five days? She had more or less assumed they'd have at least a month's notice.

"Heheh, chunin exams~" Naruto sing-songed, clearly not sharing her concerns as he hugged the form to his chest.

~~~

"Fire Release: Fox Fire!"

Four little balls of fire circled lazily around Shizuka as she stood in the middle of a training ground. Sweat trickled down her face from both the exertion and the added heat of the flames. 

Shooting out her hands, all four of the flames shot out towards the waterfall in front of her before fizzling out in a cloud of steam as they made contact with the water and superheated it.

There were two days left before the chunin exams and Kakashi had given his students the days off to train to their heart's content. Yesterday had been spent sparring with Sasuke and endurance training, but today was dedicated towards chakra control and jutsu's. 

"So that's your fancy new jutsu? I'll be sure to call you when I need a candle lit."

She grinned at the familiar voice, not needing to turn around to recognize the gruff tone. Wiping her sweat with the towel she had brought, she took a greedy gulp of water from her bottle and finally turned around.