16"Go to the room across the hall when your name is called," the teacher droned, "You perform the exam and receive your results immediately. Good luck to all of you…" Hotaru fidgeted in her seat in the third room, watching anxiously as he left. The room was silent as the students waited for the first name; they were surprised when two were called at once, neither in alphabetical order. She watched the boy next to her stand up and shuffle towards the door, swearing under his breath.
"Hello? You there?" Sato leaned over her desk from his chair in the row in front of her, "What're you thinking about?"
"Nothing…" she said, "…just wondering what's going on in there." Sato glanced at the other students, all of who were muttering and whispering among themselves, before jumping over to sit next to her; some of the girls nearby stared at him with wide eyes.
"Probably trying to make the process go faster," he stated, "There are a lot more students to test than last year." Hotaru nodded and tapped impatiently on her book while Sato stretched out in his chair to relax. They didn't exchange many words; Sato eventually dozed off with an annoyed expression on his face. Hotaru assumed it was from the long wait.
She watched the other students be called out in pairs, each one probably just as worried as she was. Eventually she picked up her book to try and help her to relax, yet none of the words really registered in her mind. She tried to concentrate, shutting out all other sounds and thoughts until she was able to understand what exactly she was reading. It was one of her brothers birthday presents that he had lent her on the condition that she wouldn't damage or lose it. She had only finished five pages when someone tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, it's our turn." She looked up at Sato, who was now standing next to her chair, and set her book down.
"What?" He smiled and helped her out of her chair. The sudden butterflies in her stomach made her feel queasy.
"They called our names." He replied simply, letting go of her once she was on her feet. Maybe that queasy feeling was from the food her father had attempted to make her that morning…
"A-already?" she croaked, "Both of us?"
"There are only four people left after us," Sato stated, raising an eyebrow at her. She glanced around the room; he was right. She walked past him when he held out his arm from her to go ahead of him, her shoulders slightly hunched. She didn't know why exactly she should have been nervous; she knew the jutsus, the histories, and everything they had been taught.
So why was she practically shaking? She had no clue.
She pulled open the door, crossing the hall and stopping in front of the door to the examination room. Sato stopped behind her and waited patiently. She couldn't reach out to open the door herself. He sighed and reached around her, yanking open the door and pushing her inside while he followed, closing the door behind him. Their teacher sat behind the desk with two other shinobi with the last few headbands spread out on the tabletop.
"Hotaru Rock and Satoshi Kai," their teacher started, "your test is a fight." They both glanced at each other with shocked expressions; this was far from what they were expecting. One of the other shinobi cleared his voice and continued.
"It doesn't matter if you win or lose," he continued, "You'll be judged on the abilities that you've learned." He tossed two kunai, one for each, and leaned back in his chair. "Begin at any time…"
Hotaru jumped back as Sato brought his leg up in a swift kick, landing on her feet and then charging back towards his exposed back, clamping onto the kunai with her teeth. He ducked, swinging his leg around again to knock her off her feet; she jumped over it, cart wheeling to the right in the opposite direction.
She bent her arm, dropping her legs down so she could crouch and then try and knock him over. She made contact with his leg, kicking it out from under him. He fell back and she dropped her foot onto his stomach. The air rushed out of her lung when his foot also made contact with her chest, knocking her back a few feet.
This gave him enough time to get back on his feet. She put her hands behind her and flipped back onto her own feet, grabbing the kunai from her mouth and pulling back to a defensive position while he charged at her. The two weapons clashed again and again he attacked, each time pushing her back an inch. She waited until there was a slight pause in his blows and shifted her kunai till it lay along the inside of her wrist. She ducked under his arm, spinning until they were back to back and her kunai was hovering over his throat.
"It's a tie." Hotaru saw Sato's kunai out of the corner of her eye; it hovered at the edge of her own throat. He was in the exact same position as her. She cursed under her breath and she hear Sato chuckle under his. "You can stop fighting now," the shinobi stated. They both relaxed and stepped away from each other, waiting for the final decision. Their teacher looked at both of the shinobi and nodded.
"Congratulations," he said, "You both pass the exams." Hotaru breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Sato, but he was still looking at the instructors. She was puzzled; why wasn't he excited? They had both passed and he seemed worried more than happy. She still thought about his behavior when they handed her her headband. It wasn't until they were back in the hall that he started to talk.
"Guess the first obstacle is behind us," he muttered, "and one more to go."
"What do you mean? We passed the exam; you should be happy!" He looked her in the eyes with a scowl on his face.
"What if we're not on the same team?" Hotaru stopped outside the door to the room where the instructors had told them to wait until the exam was over. She hadn't thought about the three-man cells at all. She had been so worried about passing the exam with Sato that she hadn't thought about the possibility that they might not be on the same team.
What if they were split up?
SORRY! Don't kill me even though I haven't updated in Four months. My computor kept dieing on me and I would lose my chapters. That should be fixed now that I have my laptop, so I'll try and update more often for both of my stories. Sorry for the long wait! And my sucky cliffhanger!
-Kyra
Reviews:
Tohru- technically it already said what the book was. ;-)
Acea- You've had 4 months...and you STILL HAVEN'T updated! Maybe I shouldn't update until you do...then you might never know the rest if the story. Love ya girls!