Naruto didn't waste any time after he got back up, happily walking home with a spring in his step. He was actually singing a little song about becoming chunin and then Hokage as he went. Sasuke on the other hand was surrounded by an air of grave anticipation that wavered a little between determination and fear.
"Worried about Panda Eyes?" Haruka asked him. "You should be, in fact, stay as far away from him for as long as you can." She hadn't connected the dots at the time, but it was obvious in hindsight. Gaara's chakra felt like Naruto's in the same way that Sasuke's and Itachi's chakra felt the same. Only, of course the former two weren't relatives, which left one other possibility she could think of: they were both jinchuriki. Whatever seal kept the Tailed Beast locked away inside of her teammate was a lot stronger though. The weird malevolence in Gaara's chakra was some kind of bleed through from his seal, she was sure.
"Bah, as if that guy scares me," Sasuke scoffed. "And what is up with those nicknames?"
"They're cute."
"You think the puppeteer and the guy with the dead eyes are cute?"
"No, you idiot. The nicknames are cute. Cat Boy seems like a moron and Panda Eyes scares the shit out of me." Haruka scrunched up her nose. "I kind of regret not giving Zabuza a nickname though, you know to balance the Demon and Devil stuff out. And I meant it about the redhead. Stay away from him Sasuke, that guy can and will kill you if he gets the chance."
"Whatever," he mumbled, not looking at her and then stalked off. Haruka watched him for a few seconds.
"Why are both of my teammates idiots?" She sighed. "And stop fucking hiding Sai."
"Apologies," he said, appearing at Haruka's side with a Body Flicker. The different tone he used when speaking to her ever since that meeting with Danzo was a little unnerving. He was generally behaving more like a personal guard under her command than like a friend. They'd had a really awkward conversation about it.
Sai had looked a little like a kicked puppy when she'd first mentioned the change, asking if she wanted him to stop. She'd almost told him yes, but then thought better of it because that would have been an order. So instead Haruka had stood around in silence for several minutes to come up with a way to tell him that he was under no obligation to take orders from her without making it seem like she was rejecting him. Sometimes talking to Sai was incredibly difficult. He didn't really know how to properly interact with people outside of missions and a chain of command. Before she'd been a mission objective, someone to get information from, then they'd been acquaintances and now they were friends. It was good to know that Sai equated 'friend' with 'person that should be protected', but he applied that concept too literally in her opinion.
"You stay away from Panda Eyes as well," Haruka told him. He nodded, never even asking for an explanation.
They spent the rest of the day on Team 7's regular training ground. Sai taught her how to use Body Flicker and Haruka shared some of her kenjutsu knowledge. It was a good trade. She was primarily a close combat fighter and needed a way to eliminate the distance between herself and her opponents fast. Sai on the other hand was a mid-to long-range fighter, with some very basic kenjutsu knowledge. The latter was something, Haruka managed to ferret out, that was apparently common for Root members. He could easily adapt his style to incorporate the tips she'd gotten from Zabuza. Of course Haruka didn't mention where that knowledge came from and Sai made sure not to ask any questions that might reveal the source.
***
Haruka and Sasuke had already been waiting in front of the exam building for a few minutes by the time Naruto showed up the next day. The blond was ridiculously excited and stormed through the door after hastily throwing a greeting their way. Sasuke glared after him and Haruka shook her head in exasperation, but they both followed.
The inside of the building was mostly empty, gray walls and old wooden floors. No decoration anywhere in sight. The corridors were also really wide, which was good because they were packed with people. It wasn't that bad on the ground and first floor, but there was a veritable crowd on the second. Several dozen genin had grouped up in front of a door with a sign that proclaimed it as the entrance to room '301'.
A boy in a tight, green full bodysuit, with bandaged forearms and orange leg warmers sat on the ground, wiping blood from his mouth. Two guys that were under a Transformation jutsu and definitely not genin, were blocking the door. One of them had knocked Green Guy down and they were both mocking all of the genin, telling them to just go home and quit.
A girl with a pink, qipao-style top and two buns walked up next. Her tactic was to ask nicely, but all that got her was a blow to the face. She landed on the ground beside Green Guy and got mocked some more for her trouble. Afterwards the two door guards spouted some story about having failed the exams three times themselves and that they were merely weeding out the weak.
"Wow, that's pathetic," Haruka said, walking towards the stairs.
Thanks to her heightened sense of chakra the genjutsu surrounding the sign was obvious to her, but even without that advantage no shinobi worth their salt should have fallen for it. Rooms on the ground floor started with the number 1 and rooms on the first floor with the number 101, accordingly room 301 had to be on the third floor, not the second.
"You're going to let me pass," Sasuke told the crowd, and then—because he just had to prove he was smarter than everyone else—turned to the guards, adding: "And remove that False Surrounding genjutsu."
Haruka was about to call him an arrogant idiot for helping their competition, but Sakura was faster. Of course she also had a different goal in mind, proclaiming that she too had noticed the genjutsu a while ago, to impress Sasuke. It didn't quite work as intended. The Uchiha, as always, ignored her. Green Guy on the other hand seemed completely enraptured by her skill.
"Not bad," one of the door guards said. "But, not quite good enough." He aimed a kick straight at Sasuke's face. The Uchiha, who had apparently decided offense was the best defense, tried to block the attack with a kick of his own. Then Green Guy was suddenly between them, catching both of their legs long before they made contact. It was an incredibly fast move, especially considering he hadn't used a Body Flicker to enhance his speed.
His two teammates, Qipao-Top and a Hyuga boy, weren't particularly happy with that decision. Apparently they had agreed to avoid drawing attention by pretending to be weak. Not that Green Guy cared, he was too busy walking up to Sakura.
"My name is Rock Lee," he proclaimed, and told her he'd protect her until the day he died, then asked her to go out with him. Of course Sakura, who only had eyes for Sasuke, shot him down immediately. She was also being a bitch about it, declaring that Lee was lame. Haruka wondered how that girl defined lame. Sure, the guy looked weird, but he was clearly incredibly fast and strong.
Next came the obligatory exchange of names between Sasuke and the Hyuga, Neji, while Naruto fumed in the corner. The Uchiha had a real talent for acquiring fangirls, making enemies too it seemed. Not that Haruka cared, she was already halfway up the stairs. Then again, her team had already drawn attention, so it probably didn't matter anymore and those two assholes needed to learn how to behave.
"Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu," she called, turning back towards the door guards with a smile. "What do you think Ibiki is gonna say when I tell him about this?" Both men blanched at that. She hadn't been entirely certain, that they had acted without orders, but this definitely confirmed it.
"Please don't?" Kotetsu tried, nervously scratching the back of his head.
"Fine, but you owe me," Haruka told them and then moved on before they could protest. The two chunin were usually manning the gate or a desk at the mission office, but the reason she knew them by name was because they were part of T&I and Ibiki's favorite gophers. They also got reprimanded frequently for stunts like this one, which was what made it such good leverage.
Sasuke gave her a curious look, but Naruto was too excited to finally get to the right floor to pay the exchange any mind. The Uchiha was just about to ask her something, presumably how she knew the door guards or why she hadn't said anything before, when he got interrupted by Lee.
"Hey, you with the dark eyes," he shouted. "Let's fight to see what is stronger, talent or hard work."
Sasuke agreed easily, but Naruto had apparently had enough of being ignored.
"I'll take care of Bushy Brows, just give me five minutes," he declared with angry determination. Lee told him that he was only interested in fighting Sasuke, but Naruto attacked him anyway.
Lee hardly even moved. He hooked his right hand over Naruto's arm as the blond tried to hit him, completely diverting his momentum. Naruto barely managed to catch himself before his head hit the ground and tried to aim a kick at Lee. The other boy was faster though. He used a taijutsu technique called Leaf Hurricane that had Naruto rolling across the ground until he impacted with the opposite wall.
"Ouch," Haruka commented with a wince, that had to hurt. Of course instead of backing out like a sensible person—who wanted to get beaten up before the exams even started?—Sasuke stepped forward and then sprinted at the other boy. He managed to block Lee's first kick, but the second hit him square in the face. Haruka hadn't even seen the move until after it had connected. Apparently Sasuke had had the same problem because he got up, spitting blood and Sharingan activated.
Lee looked quite pleased with himself, and with good reason it turned out. His next kick connected with Sasuke's jaw so hard that it lifted him off the ground. While he fell Lee suddenly appeared beneath him, unwinding the bandages on his arms and explaining that seeing an attack with the Sharingan was useless as long as Sasuke wasn't fast enough to react in time. He also spouted something about hard work surpassing genius, but didn't get to finish because a giant turtle summon appeared and interrupted him.
It pinned one of the bandages to the wall with a paper windmill, which in turn caused Lee to abandon his attack, flipping over and landing in a crouch. Sasuke, for his part, would have impacted with the floor back first, but Haruka decided he'd taken enough of a beating and used a Body Flicker to get into position to break his fall. She also berated him for being a moron while the turtle did the same with Lee, albeit for different reasons.
And then Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey appeared, in a pose so undignified it made Haruka doubt his identity for a moment. He looked exactly like Lee, only older and wearing a jounin vest to denote his rank.
"Maito Gai?" She asked, just to be sure. He looked delighted at that and Naruto and Lee stopped their shouting match—apparently the blond had insulted Gai or something—to gawk at her.
"Ah, and you must be Kakashi's little pup," Gai said fondly. She'd never actually met her sensei's self-proclaimed eternal rival before, because Kakashi tended to avoid him like the plague. The man already seemed like being around him for more than ten minutes at a time would be incredibly exhausting, but from what she'd heard he was also a loyal friend that had always stood by Kakashi. In her book that gave him so many plus points that she was more than willing to ignore how strange he looked and behaved.
"Pleasure to finally meet you sir," she said with a deep bow that baffled her teammates. Gai assured her that the pleasure was all his and that there was no need for formalities. He also invited her to train with his team whenever she wanted to. Then, to reprimand Lee, Gai hit him square in the face calling him a fool. They immediately made up, crying and hugging. Haruka used to moment of inattention to make her escape, Naruto and Sasuke hot on her heels.