A Sacrifice for Another

Chapter 16

Team 7 had just received their Heaven Scroll, and had gone back out from the protection screen that had been put up.

'Alright, now all we have to do is get into the arena and we'll have our second scroll in no time!' Naruko thought, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

Naruko failed to notice that Christina had leaned over and whispered something in Neji's ear. He had nodded and activated his Byakugan. He looked around for a few moments before deactivating his bloodline and whispering back to her.

Naruko had taken notice by the time that Neji whispered something back to her. She and Neji were the only ones who had enough skill to see what happened next. (Hizashi was turned the other way at the moment.) It seemed as if Christina's appearance flickered while a booming noise sounded around them.

Murmurs of asking about what just happened sounded through the crowd. Naruko turned to Christina.

"Ne, what did you just do that required your super speed?" She asked, whispering into her friend's ear.

"I'll explain later, we'll look suspicious if we are seen whispering here." Christina replied.

Then, team 7 went off to find a gate that they would use to enter into the arena. They stood there for a couple of minutes until the gate was opened.

"Alright guys, let's go kick some ass!" Naruko yelled, fist pumping the air.

"No need for that Naruko, me and Neji double teamed to just steal a scroll before the exam actually began." Christina said.

"WWWHHHAAAATTT?! But I wanted to beat up some people!" Naruko whined.

"Naruko-chan, it's probably better to do it this way, since it saves us more trouble." Neji said. "Besides, you don't want to get shown up by Gaara again, do you?" Smirking knowing just which buttons to push to make her change her mind.

"Like hell I won't! He became a Kage before me and got to every other rank before me except for genin! I'll show him who's boss this time around! Come on, let's go to the tower!" She yelled, racing off.

The rest of Team 7 just laughed and followed quickly behind her. Due to their superior speed, they were able to reach the tower quickly. They entered a room and Neji and Christina tore open the scrolls and threw them on the ground in front of them.

There was a puff of smoke and suddenly, their sensei appeared in front of them. He looked at them and his eyes widened.

"Jeez. I knew you guys would be fast but half an hour? Seriously? How the hell did you guys even manage that?" He asked.

"Christina-chan and Neji-kun stole a scroll before the exam even started." Naruko said.

Minato looked at them and raised his eyebrows.

"What? There was nothing in the rules against it. Besides, in the real world, ninja always use cheap tricks to win, it's a widely known fact." Neji said.

Minato chuckled. "I suppose that is true. Anyways, you will be spending the next 5 days in the tower. Feel free to do anything you wish other than interfere with the exam." Minato said.

The ninjas nodded and Minato shunshined out. They decided to all get some lunch since it was around noon.

They made their way to the cafeteria and picked out their respective foods. They sat down and had a pleasant lunch with each other but each of them felt a little bit down. They each felt as if something was wrong, as if there was something... missing. They felt as if a piece of them was gone, and sadly, they wouldn't get it back for awhile. This missing thing from the picture, the team, the lunch, and the exam, was one Kakashi Hatake.