Chapter 40

Morning came and Baki returned to the room where Gaara wast. He stared in amazement as Gaara slept peacefully for the first time in years. The murderous intent was gone, leaving a young boy. 

He heard footsteps running towards the room. Temari slid open the door with a loud thunk, "Is he alright?" she asked. She was dressed but her hair was down and messy. 

"Shush," whispered Baki. He pointed to the sleeping redhead. His chest rose and fell, still deep in sleep. "He… has a lot of sleep to catch up on." 

Temari stared at him in shock. "What did she do to him?" 

"She sealed the one tail." 

…

"GOOD MORNING!" I shouted in Naruto's ear. 

The sleeping blonde screamed and jumped out of bed. "What! What! Where's the assassin?" 

I giggled, "I'm just playing with you. Get dressed! Today's the first exam! I need to talk to the rest of your team."

Naruto glared at me, "Big Sis… I wanted to sleep."

"Well you're awake now so get up." 

Naruto put on his orange jumpsuit and ran to the fridge to grab breakfast. "Hmm…" he pondered, "Should I eat ramen or ramen? Hm… I wanted to save this one but… hmmm…" 

I rolled by eyes and grabbed him by the arm. We teleported to the front of Sakura's place. "Big sis!" whined Naruto, "I haven't eaten breakfast!" 

I pulled a bento box out of my bag and handed it to him. His eyes lit up. "Thanks Big Sis."

I nodded and jumped to the windowsill of Sakura's room. She was sleeping too. "Sakura~" I poked her in the cheek. "Up, up, up, get up." 

She covered her face with her blanket. "Just five more minutes mom…" 

I grinned and transformed my face. I poked her again and she opened her eyes. She blinked, looking at my transformed face, then screamed. "Oni!" (Oni is a demonic creature in japan) 

She rolled off her bed and grabbed a kunai next to her bed. Then she looked at me again and dropped her kunai. "Sensei! Don't do that! Please?" 

I laughed, "Hurry up, Naruto's already waiting for you. I got you breakfast." 

She nodded as I jumped out her window. 

"Oni?" asked Naruto as I landed next to him. His mouth was full. 

"Don't worry about it," I grinned. 

We waited for Sakura to come out and I handed her the bento, "Eat all of it," I warned, "Or you will regret it. I don't care if you are on a diet." 

She nodded. We walked towards Sasuke's place. "Come on," I grinned at both of them, "Let's go wake him up." 

Naruto cracked his knuckles, grinning. He closed his bento and handed it to me. "Can you hold it for me." 

I sighed and placed it in my bag. Then I grabbed Sakura's too. To my surrpise, hers was almost completely empty, save for a few spoonfuls of rice. I grabbed both of them and we teleported straight into Sasuke's room. 

Sakura frowned, "You have tags in his room?"

"I have tags all over the village," I said, "Some of them are from the fourth." 

"Oh…" 

Naruto was kneeling by Sasuke, giggling at the drool trailing out of his mouth as he slept. "Get away from him" said Sakura. "Let me wake him up." 

She walked over to his bed and shook him gently by the shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, time to wake up." 

He stirred but did not wake up, "Sasuke, get up! Rin sensei is waiting for you." he did not wake up. 

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Let me show you how it's done." He jumped as high as he could and landed on top of the sleeping Uchiha. 

"Oof!" Sasuke woke up. 

"Naruto!" Sakura punched him then turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" 

I doubled over in laughter. "Okay, all of you get out, Sasuke get changed." 

…

We were in front of the building. "This is where the first exam is taking place," I said. 

They nodded and started walking towards it. "Um, I need to tell you something first." 

They turned and walked back towards me. They stared at me expectantly. I handed them each a small pouch. "No matter what you do, don't lose it, okay?" they nodded. 

Inside each pouch was my Flying Raijin seal. Orochimaru was bound to show up sooner or later. I could prevent him from taking Sasuke. "What's in it?" asked Sakura.

"That is a secret," I said, "Don't open it unless it is an emergency okay?" 

They nodded. "If you see the Snake, open it immediately, don't even hesitate." 

"What snake?" asked Naruto, "Don't worry, you'll know when you see it." 

The seal would activate the moment they opened the pouch, allowing me to sense their location and teleport there. 

…

"You think they'll pass?" asked Kakashi, "With Ibiki in charge of the first exam, theres no saying how it'll go." 

I shrugged, "They got this. Ibiki might be good at torture and mental games but so is Naruto." 

"Huh?" Kakashi's single eye showed his confusion, "Naruto… good… at… mind… games?" 

I shrugged, "I'm more worried about the second exam." 

"Ankos proctoring," he nodded in pity for the test-taking genin. 

"It's not that," I sighed, "This years batch might be a bit… challenging for them." 

He turned and looked at me. Nothing got past an ANBU, especially not body language. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "You know something, don't you." 

I shook my head and sighed. We sat in silence. Kakashi pulled out his book. Icha Icha Paradise: The Graphic Novel. I groaned, "Must you read that vulgar thing in my presence?" 

He put it away. "Its a good book. And, its written by Naruto's godfather, Jiraya." 

I glared at him, "Honestly, that old man hasn't come back once, not even to visit Naruto. Does he really have the right to be called a godfather? His only use is to pass down his senjutsu to Naruto, and maybe some of Minato-sensei's ninjutsu." 

We both fell silent at the mention of Minato-sensei. "Have you…" I hesitated, "Have you gone to see Kushina-nee?"

The wind howled around us and a cloud blotted out the sun, adding to a gloomier mood. Kakashi turned his head away from me and I couldn't see his face. "Yes," he finally said, "Sometimes I go at night. I wish-" his voice cracked, the first time in years. He had been bottling all the emotions. "I wish one day she would wake up. But then… then she would wake up and find out that Minato-sensei is gone. And that her son had to grow up alone." Then he laughed, "Ha, she would kill literally Sandaime. I can already image her hair floating like crazy." 

He started laughing and I relaxed slightly. Kakashi with emotions… ummm… I started laughing too and we began to converse. 

"'Sup!" shouted a voice behind us. We were grabbed by the shoulders. 

"Eek!" I yelped and Kakashi face flattened out again. "Anko!" I turned and smiled, "Ready to proctor?" 

She grinned, "Those kids are gonna have the best exam in their lives." 

"I highly doubt that," said Kakashi, "It'll probably be the most traumatizing experience in their lifetime." 

She grinned, "'K, cya! She jumped off the roof and lept into the exam room.

Now… beginning the second exam.