Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Lotus Blossom ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

(Akimis POV)

It was finally the day we were supposed to go take the first Exam. I was so excited, Lee and I already knew the skill needed for the first exam; my mother told me a long time ago. We have to cheat without being caught. I told my teammates. Neji was already set because of his byakugans, and since I could control the elements I was set as well, and I decided to help Lee too. I told him how I was going to do it, and taught him how to read the earth like I did. My plan is to use my earthbending to sense, and read the vibrations of a person with the answers, and send them to Lee. So I taught him how to read the vibrations I will be sending him.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! See you after the Exams Kiro and Kito! I called my little brothers ( Kito has brown hair, like my mom and blue eyes like mine, and Kiro has white hair like mine, and red eyes like my dad.)

"Sister! Sister! Good luck!" The 5, and 4 year olds called to me. I hugged and thanked them both.

"Do your best Akimi." Dad said as I waved good-bye to them. I met them, and Lee looked just as excited as I was. Neji just smirked; his 'I'm better than everyone else and I know it' smirk. Together the three of us walked to the academy. We walked up to the third floor, Lee was trying to get the Chunin in front of the door to let us in, but they denied us entry into the room we were supposed to go in. Lee was pushed to the floor, and then a new team came to the scene. The team had a boy with raven-colored hair, a girl with pink hair, and a blonde loud mouth boy.

*The raven haired boy must be the last Uchiha. I heard that this clan has a kekkei genkai like the byakugans, but weaker. They have the Sharingan....I wonder.....what it can do?* I watched as that Uchiha kid and Neji were just about to kick each other, but Lee stopped them. Everyone seemed surprised by how fast Lee can move. Like he's magic, one second he's here, the next he isn't. Then Lee blushed at the sight of the pink haired girl.

*He just saw her and he already has a crush on her? (Sighs sadly)*

"Might as well release the genjutsu. We know this isn't the right floor. I bet you already saw that too, Sakura?" Raven hair boy said.

"Uh, yes Sauske! I did! We are only on the second floor. Naruto, Sasuke lets go." Sakura (pink haired girl) took them.

*Sasuke hm? Yes, he must be Itachi's little brother*. We too, began to leave, but I realized something wasn't right. I turned around to see that Lee had not moved from the spot he was in.

"Come on Lee let's go." I told him.

"You guys go ahead. There is something I need to check out." He replied. I just nodded and left with Neji, while Lee went the other way. I was quiet as Neji and I walked to the third floor of our ninja school.

(Neji's POV)

I watched as Lee kept staring at that girl with pink hair. I glanced over at Akimi, who seemed a bit depressed, but was trying hard not to show it.

*She must have a crush on Lee, but he is too blind to see it*. After the other team left, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, we started to leave. Akimi turned around, and I heard her tell Lee to come on, but Lee said he had to check something out. Akimi and I left, but she remained quiet the whole way, eyes on the floor. My byakugans were on her, watching her, as she quietly made her way to the exam room.

*Lee, your interested in a girl that calls you a weirdo and you don't even realize that your own teammate likes you?* I continued to watch her stare at the ground as we walked on up to the third floor. I walked until we reached the floor where the first exam was to be held, and I stopped. Akimi was down a flight of stairs, staring down while leaning on the rail. I sighed quietly, hating to see Akimi like this because of Lee. I had a strong feeling right then and there that she really did have a crush on Lee, and that seeing him, falling for another girl was tearing her up on the inside.

"Akimi, go get Lee. Tell him that we need to get in there, and that all three of us must be in there or we're disqualified." I told her, looking down at her. She looked up at me, and nodded. Akimi jumped over the rail and landed on the first floor, running on to get our teammate. I sighed again, wondering what she was going to do when she got there. I saw Gai sensei pop up in a cloud of white smoke.

"Neji....where is Akimi and Lee?" He asked.

"Lee said he had to check something, so Akimi and I came up here. Then I told her to get Lee and tell him that we need to get in there by 3." I replied. He nodded and disappeared as I sat down, thinking about my teammates. This reminded me about my cousin, Lady Hinata. She has a crush on a classmate, that Naruto kid. and he is completely clueless. She is to shy and quiet to tell him, thinking that he thinks she's weird or weak, or something. While Akimi, might be a cheerful girl, when she is around Lee, she just can't seem to tell him. Though she isn't quite as bad as Hinata, who blushes and faints every time Naruto looks her way, but still, I feel sorry for Akimi. Lee is really interested in that Sakura girl, but is too blind to see Akimi, who is pretty depressed with this situation.

(Akimis POV)

I used my earthbending to feel for Lee. I found him in the entrance to the Academy, fighting Sasuke and trying to get Sakura to notice him. I sighed sadly, wanting to cry, but I knew this was neither the time nor the place.

*I have to stop thinking about this and just focus on the Exam. But how can I....I love Lee, but he doesn't even seem to notice that I exist.* I sighed again, as I then heard Gai sensei yell and hit Lee, then they made up and cried over it. Sasuke left with his team, mentioning the Exams. Gai tells Lee to get to the room, where Neji was waiting, and Lee ran. He ran up to me, and saw the look in my eyes. I had to distract him, before he could say anything.

"Come on, Lee. We need to hurry if we expect to get into the room, we only have 10 minutes before 3." I told him, trying to keep my voice steady as we walked to the third floor to meet up with Neji.

(Lee's POV)

*Akimi sure is acting strange.* I was just about to ask her about it, but she stopped me before I got the chance to say anything.

"Come on, Lee. We need to hurry if we expect to get into the room.We only have ten minutes till 3." Her voice seemed a little shaky, but I decided not to ask her about what was troubling her. We ran to the third floor, and found Neji waiting for us, with Gai-sensei. Neji was leaning against the doorframe, with his arms crossed.

"About time you guys got here." Neji said. Gai looked at us excited.

"Go on and pass these exams with the power of Youth!" Gai Sensei grinned at us. We walked in to see that the room was filled with many tough looking ninja. Some from the Leaf like us, others from villages like the rain village, the grass village, the sound village and a team from the Hidden Sand Village.

"That guy, from the Sand Village....the redhead. We have to be careful around that guy." Akimi said.

"Why?" I asked her. She looked a bit worried.

I just read his mind....but, it's hard....he has a demon, and he is emotionally unstable. One false move and its game over from him." She replied, in a whisper. *Well, we are just going to have to be careful here aren't we?* We sat down together, waiting from the proctor of this exam. There was still 5 minutes left, we watched as Sakura and her team came in. I grinned, to myself.

*The lovely Sakura made it here.* Then there were 6 other kids, all of this years rookies. 1 girl with bleach blonde hair, wearing purple, grabbed Sasuke from behind. Sakura and the girl were now fighting over Sasuke. I sighed inwardly, remembering what Sakura said. She had called me a weirdo.

*She likes the Uchiha, doesn't she? Of course, he has pure talent, he doesn't have to work hard to be a good ninja. I train constantly to perfect my skills. What kind of girl would want someone like me, when they can have someone like him...or Neji?* I felt someone's eyes on me and glanced over to Akimi, who seemed to be thinking deeply, because of how she kept moving her white hair out of her face. She wasn't smiling though, she seemed, a bit angry, but concealing it well, so it was hard to tell.

She watched as a man who called himself Kabuto, walk to the 9 rookies, and talk to them, then a bunch of Sound ninja attacked. Then in the front of the room, a man and a bunch of Chunin popped up, all wearing grey. After telling everyone to calm down, and that there will be no fighting in these exams without permission of the proctor, he began.

"I am Ibiki Morino. Your first exam proctor. Everyone is to bring their papers, and each of you will be handed a number. This number will tell you where you will sit." He started. When everyone was sitting in their numbered seats, he began talking again.

"Here are the rules of this exam: Unlike what you are used to, each of you begin with a perfect score of 10 points. 1. Answer a question wrong and you lose a point. 2. If you are caught cheating you lose 2 points. 3. If you're caught five times you and your teammates are out. The Chunin around the room have been specially trained to catch anything and everything. They will know instantly if someone is cheating. This test is scored on a team basis, meaning that you're whole team passes, or they all fail. 4. If one person scores a zero, the team fails, even if the other two have perfect scores. 15 minutes before the exam is over, you will be given the 10th question. If you answer wrong, you fail, no matter how well you did on the other nine. You have one hour. Began!"