Red Is A Pretty Colour

10

Hiko's pov

It was the day of the chūnin exam and we had all met outside the academy. The four of us made our way into the academy and headed up the stairs. We were on the second floor we saw two kids standing in front of a door ranting to all of the other genin.

"Real nice speech, now both of you step aside and let me through. And while you're at it reverse the genjutsu, we can see through it anyway, we're going to the third floor." Sasuke said.

"So, you noticed the genjutsu, huh?" One of the kids said.

"Yeah, I don't have the energy to deal with this today." I said. "Sakura, you're a know it all, why don't you tell them."

"Well sure, of course! I spotted it right away, this is only the second floor." Sakura said.

"Right!" Naruto agreed.

And with that the genjutsu disappeared and revealed the sign that read 201.

"Well aren't we the smart ones, so you noticed an illusion. Now lets see you deal with this!" The other kid said as he swung his leg at Sasuke.

Sasuke went to block the kick with a kick of his own but a black haired kid in green intercepted them. He let them both go and the kids that were guarding the door left. Two other people approached the black haired kid.

"Hey, what's going on? I thought you were the one that said to keep a low profile and not let anyone see our skill level." A boy with long brown hair said.

"I know but..." the black hairs boy trailed off.

"Nevermind, its over, forget it." A brown haired girl said.

I signed and leaned back against the wall and shut my eyes blocking everything else out.

"Hey, Naruto, Sasuke, Hiko, come on, lets go." Sakura said.

I groaned but followed after her with Naruto and Sasuke trailing behind me.

Time skip

We were in the gym when someone called out for Sasuke.

"Hey you, with the attitude, hold on!" They called out gaining our attention.

We all turned around and saw the black haired boy who stopped sasuke's kick earlier.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"I want to fight." The boy said.

"You guys have fun with that." I said as I sat down and leaned against a wall where I dozed off. I really did not have the energy for this today.

Time skip

I was woken up by Sasuke shaking me.

"Are we going?" I asked groggily.

"Yeah, did you sleep at all last night?" Sasuke asked as he helped me up.

"No, Naruto snores a lot." I lied.

"Come on guys!" Naruto yelled from the door.

"We're coming moron." Sasuke said before making his way to the door with me trailing behind him.

The four of us made our way up to class 301 where we found Kakashi~sensei waiting for us.

"Glad you came Sakura, for your sake and the others. Now you can all formally register for the chūnin exam." Kakashi~sensei said.

"Why? What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You see only groups of three or four are allowed to apply for and take the exam, that's the way it's always been. Since you are a team of four all four of you had to enter." Kakashi~sensei explained.

"But ~sensei, you said the decision to take the exam is up to the individual." Sakura said.

"That's right, I did." Kakashi~sensei said.

"Was that a lie?" Sakura asked.

"Sort of, it is an individual decision but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want the others pressuring you. At the same time, I didn't want you to feel obliged to participate because of any feelings you may have for Sasuke or Naruto. I wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will." Kakashi~sensei replied.

"Wait a minute, do you mean if the others had shown up but I decided not to come with them-" sakura said.

"It would have been the end of the line, if you hadn't come along I wouldn't have let the others in. But that doesn't matter, you're all here and for the right reasons. Sakura, Naruto, Hiko and Sasuke, I'm proud of you, I couldn't ask for a better team, good luck." Kakashi~sensei said.

"We won't let you down ~sensei, believe it!" Naruto said before the four of us entered the room leaving Kakashi~sensei standing there on his own.

The room was filled with loads of people from all different villages, each one was more intimidating than the last.

"Sasuke! Where've you been?" Ino exclaimed as she hugged him from behind. "You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here, I've missed those brooding good looks of yours."

"Hey you porker, back off, he's mine!" Sakura yelled.

"Miss forehead, they let you in? Still got those big frown lines on your billboard brow I see." Ino said.

"Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura said.

"Oh, its you guys, I knew this was gonna be a drag but I didn't know this was gonna be this lame." Shikamaru said as he and choji approached.

"So all three stooges are here." Naruto said.

"Hey, you know what pipsqueak- ah forget it, you're a waste of time." Shikamaru said.

I ignored them and leaned my head on Choji's shoulder. It wasn't awkward because Choji and I used to be best friends when we first started the academy and choji still thought of me as a good friend. Choji and I had been super close until I became emotionally unavailable, I found it easier to deal with things on my own rather than confide in others. I was justcan easier target for myself.

"Want one?" Choji asked as he offered me a crisp.

I shook my head no and shut my eyes.

"Tired?" Choji asked and I nodded before snuggling my head into his scarf.

Choji just let me fall asleep on him, he was used to me doing things like that.