His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Chapter 18

Qui whipped her head around and snatched the envelope. Instead of a traditional scroll, a few pieces of thin paper were stacked and folded into a compact bundle with both her name and Uncle Igo's name written on top. "Is he here? Did you come visit?" she asked hopefully. 

"No, he left this for you in the little quail jar," her mother replied, reaching over to kiss her daughter. Qui responded in kind before leaving the house, her Uncle Igo's letter clutched in her hands.

Uncle Igo was her favorite uncle because he was closer than a family friend. Kabuto was sort of just a passing-by-friend who got along well with Mother, but Uncle Igo was pretty much a member of the Kurisani Family. There was a moment he was heavily injured and didn't have much strength, so he stayed at their house for years. 

However, he didn't stay long and left before she could even walk. The only way she knew he existed was through countless photos of him holding her and sending letters every few weeks.

When she turned five, Uncle Igo left a beautiful red clay jar with a little black quail perched on the lid. Inside, was a lengthy letter to her. In order to respond to his letter, he instructed she put it in the jar and he would receive it. Sure enough, her mother helped her write her first letter and as soon as Qui put the letter inside and closed the lid, a soft blue light shone from the tiniest cracks between the lid and the jar. When she opened it, the letter was gone.

Uncle Igo only visited during New Years. He wore an old traditional fighting outfit and always covered his face. Even the family photos had pictures of him mostly covering his face. However, he always paid attention to her, probably more than her parents. 

Well, to be fair, her parents didn't ignore her, he just paid a lot of attention to her over the tiniest of things, then her parents normally would. Parents watching their children do the same antics would be bored after awhile. But Uncle Igo was pleased and showered her with attention. 

Now, Qui walked swiftly, opening the carefully folded letter. She hoped she could see what he wrote before the exams, but her Uncle's letters were long, and after seeing the several pages stacked together, she knew she wouldn't get past even the first page.

Sighing disappointedly, Qui carefully refolded the letter and ran to meet her teammates. 

"Ready to beat up everyone?" Naruto asked excitedly. 

Qui scoffed. "Yes, because the Chunin Exam is equivalent to beating everyone rashly and getting to the finish line as fast as possible. Of course, bring it on." 

"You're so confident in yourself," Sakura noticed, pressing her mouth in dislike. "Don't underestimate your opponents." 

Qui shrugged, twisted her mouth to hide the smile of satisfaction. Sakura had been bragging to former classmates that she was qualified to take the Chunin Exams without being fully aware of the contents of the exam, other than the selected ninjas would become Chunin, a rank higher than Genin. 

Team Seven headed into the examination building where they would have their first exam. The boys were excited, both expressing eagerness in their own way to take the exam. Sakura was a little more cautious, and Qui just wanted to read her Uncle Igo's letter. They climbed the stairs to from the first floor then to the second when they encountered an enormous crowd.

"Let us in!" a girl shouted.

"You guys aren't ready!" the guys blocking the door.

"You aren't the ones to decide that."

"We took it last year! We know what happens!"

"People take the Chunin Exams every year!"

"We're doing you guys a favor!"

'Why are you all here?" Sasuke asked, interrupting the fight." This isn't the examination room."

"Huh?" What are you talking about? There's the sign, 3-A!" the girl exclaimed, whirling to face Sasuke and the rest of Team Seven.

But we've only climbed two floors. Right, Sakura? You must have noticed this immediately."

"Y-yeah!" Sakura nodded eagerly. "Why would there be a sign of the third floor? That must mean, this is the second floor and not the actual examination room."

"I barely noticed," Naruto muttered in surprise. He was one lucky boy. Had he been with anyone else, he would have missed the real exam entirely.

"Let's go. This isn't the exam room. We have one more floor to go, "Sasuke said, turning around towards the stairs. However, another voice stopped them.

"Wait. Who are you?" a boy with a pale skin sporting long hair tied loosely in the back called after Sasuke. When Team Seven turned around to face him, a piercing glare was aimed right at Sasuke, the stranger's eyes lacking a visible pupil.