The Ninja from Nowhere (Naruto fanfiction)

Chapter 24: Test 3

Yukana woke up from the bustling outside of her room. Yawning from a rough sleep, she slowly made her way out of bed and to her bathroom to inspect her healing injuries. I'd better wrap them up just in case. She changed into her ninja clothes after wrapping the larger bites on her arms and legs. Wow, the Chunin exams are a bigger deal than I thought. The white haired girl looked out of her window to see many foreign travelers on the streets. Curious about what was currently going on in the Hokage tower, Yukana poked her head into the hallway and saw many Jonin and Chunin passing by in a hurry. "Excuse me, where's the Hokage?" She asked a passing shinobi.

"He's overseeing the welcome party for the Feudal Lords. You can find him on the roof." The shinobi replied.

"Thanks." Yukana ran up to the roof of the Hokage tower where she found Hiruzen with two other shinobi. The pale girl walked up to the edge of the roof top in front of her sensei. "Are they all here for the exam?"

"Yes. These are the Feudal Lords." Hiruzen answered.

Yukana had never seen so many people all at once. She crouched down to get comfortable as she took in the sight of the fancy, two wheeled carriages and the decorated bulls that pulled them.

"At last, it begins." The Hokage stated.

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The tournament was about to start. Yukana stood with the other candidates in the open arena. It seemed that a few people were still missing. Dosu, Naruto, and Sasuke still had yet to arrive.

Naruto, Sasuke, where are you guys? Yukana worried. I know Naruto wouldn't miss this for the world. What is up with him being late? As if on cue, the blonde knucklehead dove right through the stadium door and slid to a halt in front of the lined up candidates. Yukana looked down at her, out of breath, teammate and giggled at his antics. "I was beginning to think you got lost on the path of life."

"Huh?" Naruto rose his head from the ground. "Hey, where's Sasuke?"

"He must have been the one who's gotten lost. If he's with Kakashi sensei, I wouldn't be surprised. That sound ninja guy's missing too."

"Hey, knock it off you two." The exam proctor interrupted. "Present yourself proudly to the spectators." The audience cheered from all around the stadium. "You guys are the heroes of this final competition."

Yukana, suddenly started to feel a little self conscious and tugged on the collar of her kimono, making sure no scars were showing since she was with the group that was currently the center of attention. She glanced around the stands filled with people and her eyes lingered on the highest set of chairs where the Hokage sat. A small smile came to her lips, knowing that her sensei will be, proudly, witnessing her progression.

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Hiruzen gazed down upon the arena as a Leaf shinobi stood beside him. "No sign of Sasuke yet?"

"No," the shinobi replied, "a team of ANBU Black Ops are searching for him but so far, they've found nothing." The ninja leaned down and cupped a hand over his mouth to whisper, "he may already be in Orochimaru's hands in which case, of course, we may never find him."

The Hokage paused to think before replying, "I understand." As soon as the conversation was finished, a man dressed in Kage robes with a team of sand shinobi following him approached the empty seat next to Hiruzen. "Aha!" He greeted the newcomer. "You made it. Welcome, Lord Kazekage." The leader of the Sand sat down. "You must be weary having come all this way."

"Not at all." The Kazekage responded in a smooth voice. "I'm only glad for your sake, the arena is here in the Leaf village. As strong as you are, I'm sure a long journey would have proven difficult for you at your age. Isn't it about time to decide who should succeed you as Hokage?"