Naruto : Struggle Of Childhood

Signal

The sun hadn't even risen when the two figures approached. Both were almost impossible to distinguish in the darkness other than that one was tall, the other short, possibly his wife. It was too dark to see either their clothes or their faces. The morning mist swirled a little as they walked. Both walked with a determined and steady step, not like most travelers who were caught out after dark.

Finally, they reached their destination: Konoha.

The city was completely silent at that early hour, and the large imposing doors rose up through the mists to greet the two travelers. Neither seemed to intimidated by or even interested in the size or the atmosphere of the doors. They continued towards them with pausing or hesitating.

The doors were both firmly closed until at least six, when the late comers would come to get seats for the Chuunin Exam Finals. Both figures stopped right at the doors. The taller one leaned over and said something to the shorter who didn't seem to respond. For a moment, nothing happened, but then one of the doors opened slightly, and a young man with a tired and irritated face looked through the small crack and glowered at the two figures.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait until the doors officially..." The Uchiha on guard began, but he trailed off and slowly stepped aside as the two passed, neither so much as looking at him. Once they were both gone and out of sight along the roads, the guard shook his head and looked at the slightly opened door in a confused way.

"I sure hope no one gets wind of this..." he muttered, "sleeping on duty and the wind getting the door opened...Akira must not have locked it...Hokage-sama would have killed me for not noticing it. Good thing no one's come in..."

As he closed the door and locked it, the sun began the rise, slowly staining the clouds blood red.

The dawn had arrived.

Neji was the first to wake up. He opened one eye and looked around at the sleeping figures around him. No one even twitched. Heaving a small sigh, Neji sat up and crept out of the hotel room. They needed their sleep. Even Gaara had been knocked out so that he wouldn't lose control that day. Everything had been painstakingly prepared for. Even Zabuza had a place in the plan. Neji smirked at that thought. It was actually kind of funny in a sick way.

Everything was going perfectly.

Naturally Sasuke and he had both been nervous about that, but it seemed that their worries were being misplaced. There hadn't been anything to complain about. Even Naruto's little arrest had blown over without much of anything happening.

Neji was thinking about going to the ramen place that Naruto was always raving about for breakfast, just so that he could see what all the fuss was about. Secretly, Neji thought that the only reason he was so loyal to it was because the two had been decent to him. To Neji, all ramen tasted the same, other than the individual flavors.

Maybe it would be better not to talk about it.

Well, there were always other stores that were open at this time. He didn't worry about the others missing him. They would know where he was. That was the strange thing about them; they always had a good idea where everyone would be. Maybe they just knew each other too well.

The sun was just starting to rise as Neji walked down the all but deserted street. It was pleasant to walk around when no one was around other than the ever present ROOT members that just got on your nerves. At least he could half pretend that they weren't there. Neji could get something to eat and enjoy the peace and quiet.