Disclaimer: Naruto characters are owned by Masashi Kishomoto and not me.

Chapter 6 Let the Games Begin

NOTICE: Good day, fellow ninjas! Three weeks from now, the first scheduled Chuunin Exam will commence. Promote yourself into a Chuunin-rank ninja to enjoy more perks and privileges as well as kick ass new skills!

NOTICE: The exam will start on Monday, 12:00 noon and will end Sunday 9:00PM. The first five days will be allotted for elimination while the remaining two days will be action-packed, player-versus-player duels! For more details, click here.

The message was exactly three weeks and four days old from when it was first aired publicly a couple of times to the Ninja players in game. It was exactly four hours since the official start of the Chuunin exam. Game players were milling about the Chuunin examiner NPC, Ibiki Morino, trying to get close enough to talk to him to start the exam. Naruto and Sakura, although having the same objective as the other players, were some steps away from the crowd – far enough that their constant chat won't register into their chat logs. They sat on the dusty road in front of the Ninja Academy where they first took the Genin examination to play the game.

Sakura: what time did you say he was logging in again?
Rahmen: uhhh… 2
Sakura: and what time is it now?
Rahmen: uhhh… 4
Sakura: …
XuanWu: hey guys!!!

Sakura saw a female ninja clad in a light-pink, short-sleeved top with a Chinese collar running towards them. The name of the ninja was familiar but she couldn't remember where she heard it before.

Rahmen: tenten?
XuanWu: yep
Sakura: oh
Sakura: hey tenten
You cannot invite XuanWu into the party.
Sakura: you have a party already?
XuanWu: me?
XuanWu: oh yeah neji and lee
Rahmen: so you guys gonna be taking the exam?
Sakura: where are they?
XuanWu: actually we finished the first part already
XuanWu: neji and lee are out at the shops
XuanWu: buying scrolls and stuff for the second part of the exam
XuanWu is requesting to be your friend.

Sakura clicked on the 'Yes' option on the message box that popped up.

Request accepted.
Rahmen: OH so you finished the forest of death quest already!
XuanWu: um yeah i think that's what the quest was called
Rahmen: man i wish sasuke was here already
Rahmen: we should be collecting those 100 scrolls now to get to the main event
Rahmen: not waiting for him :(
XuanWu: wow naruto you sure do know a lot about this game
Sakura: he knows more about this game than he does on school topics
Rahmen: hey!
XuanWu: ouch
Sakura: heh :P
Rahmen: well you're supposed to know this stuff if you wanna be hokage, you know!
XuanWu: what's a hokage?
Sakura: a ninja rank
Rahmen: not just a ninja rank
Rahmen: THE ninja rank
Rahmen: imma gonna be the BEST ninja in konoha
Sakura: oh boy…

Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto was being – well… he was being Naruto. She mentally sighed. She wished he could set his priorities straight. Oh, yeah, and she wished Sasuke was here already.

Just then, a bell rang from her computer speaker, making a small box pop-up on her lower right screen, saying that Venganza had just logged in.

Rahmen: hes in!!
Sakura: he's in!
XuanWu: who's in?
Rahmen: sasuke
Rahmen: oh
Rahmen: whered she go?!
Sakura: i think she got DCed
To Venganza: hey sasuke
To Venganza: where you at?
To Venganza: hi :D
To Venganza: naruto's looking for you
Rahmen: oi sakura, he says hes in the armor shop

Figures that he wouldn't talk to me. Sakura bit her lip, swallowing the urge to curse.

-----

Greetings, fellow Ninja!

The first scheduled Chuunin examination is now open! If you received this message, then you are most likely a level 30 (or above) genin. Because of this, you are qualified to take the exam! No more jobs for scavenging items from lowly thugs and monsters. Get higher salary for taking C and B rank missions. Unlock chuunin-level quests and skills. Open yourself to new armors and weapons. So what are you waiting for, try out for the exam now!

That was the greeting message Hinata received upon entering the three-dimensional world of Ninja.

From Venganza: party?

That was the first line that logged in her chat box after the greeting message. She smiled inwardly. For the past three weeks, though not necessarily everyday, she had been playing the game with Ven – a pet name she had adopted because she thought his long name had been a bother to type. Not that she uses it when she talked to him. She would have liked to call him by his real name, or even nickname at the least, however, the situation for asking hadn't arisen – that is – he hadn't asked for hers so she ended up not asking for his.

To Venganza: sure
To Venganza: have you taken the chuunin exam?
From Venganza: not yet
From Venganza: join me?
To Venganza: okay :D
Your message has not been received.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. She was about to type another message into the chat box when a message popped out of the screen, telling her she had been disconnected from the server. She went back to the login screen but still, she couldn't connect. She bit her lip. Sure it was only a game, but she loathed to make people wait. I should have taken his mobile number…

She blushed at the thought.

-----

Rahmen: come on sasuke, lets take the test already
Venganza: no
Rahmen: why the hell not?!

Yeah, Sasuke why the hell not? But of course, he had already planned to party with a certain online female friend that seemed to have just disappeared for quite a number minutes now, longer than the time she was online. If only he had a different source for contacting her. Scratch that. He didn't want to encourage any girl, even if she was someone he was mildly interested in. Still…

Venganza: then you go first
Rahmen: we cant!
Rahmen: i told you there has to be 3 of us to take the exam
Venganza: i already have a party
Rahmen: yeah… US!
Venganza: that was before the 2 of you got DCed
Rahmen: f-uck it sasuke, we got DCed for only 3 f-ing mins!
From Sakura: who are you partying with sasuke?
To Sakura: no one
Rahmen: come on sasuke lets take the test its been 10 mins already!
From Sakura: …
Venganza: fine

Fifty heaven scrolls. Fifty earth scrolls. A calligraphy brush. The Forest of Death. An hour.

Scavenging. That seemed to sum up the whole quest. How interesting. Not.

As expected of a quest so trivial, it went smooth sailing afterwards. Immediately after talking to Ibiki Morino, Naruto seemed to have the natural aptitude at finding the required scavenged items, although Sasuke would never admit it and will probably put it down in his book as Naruto's lucky day. Now they had the fifty heaven scrolls and earth scrolls in their inventory – all they needed was a calligraphy brush.

Rahmen: the heck?!

Sasuke smirked behind his monitor. Now this he might actually enjoy. A quest that actually prohibits him from chatting with his teammates or any other characters except for the none playable, until he finished that part of the quest – which was to gather information on who took the Scroll of Seals, a collection of forbidden jutsu formerly housed within the Hokage's study. In return was a calligraphy brush. How that was supposed to be reward he wouldn't even bother to find out.

Sakura: well okay so after we accept this we won't be able to talk to each other
Venganza: tell us something we don't know
Rahmen: bwahahawhahhaahaha!
Sakura: shut up naruto!
Rahmen: but im not talking
Sakura: …

Sasuke revised his opinion into thinking that he would get less annoyed with hanging out with the two since he wouldn't be hearing their voices. This must be his punishment for that mistaken idea. He decided to play leader. He didn't really want to, but if it meant separating from this two, so be it.

Venganza: it took us 30 mins to finish the first part
Venganza: let's allot 20 mins here so we could have 10 mins to finish everything up
Venganza: so in 20 mins, no matter what happens, we'll meet here
Sakura: sasuke that's brilliant!
Rahmen: whats so brilliant about scheduling
Sakura: shut up naruto!
Rahmen: but im not even talking
Sakura: grr
Sakura: you know what i mean!!!
Sakura: well guys, see ya in 20 mins!
Sakura: naruto you better be here in 20 mins or i'm so gonna kick your ass!

----

After what Hinata thought was a million tries on logging in, she finally got connected. It had only been fifteen minutes since she got disconnected from the game, so she was hoping that Venganza was still there. She quickly opened her messenger and, very much aware of the fluttering of her heart upon reading the online status of her online friend, clicked on his name.

To Venganza: hi
You cannot send Venganza a message at this time.
To Venganza: hello?
You cannot send Venganza a message at this time.

She thought of messaging another person. Mustering up all of her courage, she typed the name in.

To Rahmen: hi
You cannot send Rahmen a message at this time.

That got her really disappointed. Maybe there was something wrong with her avatar, she thought silently. So, she randomly picked a player in her vicinity to verify her problem.

To xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: hi
From xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: hi
From xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: where are you?
From xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: oh there you are
From xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: hey! are you really a girl?
From xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx: asl plz

Okay, well that worked successfully. Too successful, she thought to herself as she included xXxCl0udStr1fe15312xXx in her block list. She sighed, her random clicking on the map echoing her mild dissatisfaction, her mind not even focusing much on the game.

K9: dam it where the hell is that bozo?!

That got her attention, quickly remembering that K9 was Kiba's handle in the game. She decided to stop and check out what he was up to. She ended up looking at two male avatars, one of them with a white puppy, standing on a lone armor shop. Oh, Shino's here… She giggled. His avatar even looks like him! Well, minus the big coat.

BugBoy: at ino's
K9: what?
BugBoy: he's at ino's place
K9: wait… you knew that since when?
BugBoy: I don't
K9: …
K9: dont say it like you know it!!
BugBoy: …
K9: darn it
K9: then what the HELL are we supposed to do?!
K9: we need 3 of us to take this dam exam
K9: and its the last day for cryin out loud!
BugBoy: there's always next month
K9: NO FREAKIN WAY!
K9: IM NOT GOING TO LOSE TO THAT MORON!

Knowing her best friend, he was referring to none other than Naruto. His trash talking didn't bother her, knowing that it was only friendly banter… and healthy competition. From what she had gathered on their conversation, they were in quite a predicament. She would have liked to help; in fact, she would have done it in a jiffy. But, there was still the matter of hiding her identity until she could establish a connection with him. But she hadn't been doing that at all, she thought guiltily. But this was an online game. Unless she would tell them directly that it was her, they wouldn't have any chance of knowing.

BugBoy: simmer down
Sol: um…
K9: no freakin way! dam it where the hells my cell
K9: im gonna go call chouji
Sol: you guys wanna party?
BugBoy: kiba
BugBoy: …
BugBoy: sol
Sol: yes?
BugBoy: you asking us?
Sol: um… yes!
BugBoy is inviting you to join a party.
You have accepted BugBoy's party invitation.
Sol: thanks!
Sol: um… are you sure it's okay with k9?
Sol: i mean… weren't you guys waiting for someone?
BugBoy: he won't come
Sol: oh
Sol: uh
Sol: okay
K9: he says hes not coming

Hinata giggled behind the monitor. She could vividly imagine Shino looking down on Kiba behind his shady glasses with his own version of an I-told-you-so look.

K9: and who the heck is this?
Sol: um…
BugBoy: our third member
K9: HEY! are you really a girl?
Sol: er…

Was that the norm in an online game? She didn't know how to answer it so she kept silent. But then the place got too silent. Her brows knitted, thinking of a reason behind this. But then everything clicked into place. She smiled. There was a high chance that Shino was berating Kiba for acting that way.

Sol: hey guys?
BugBoy: let's go
K9: pfft…

-----

Sakura: that was harder than i thought!
Rahmen: no way! that was a piece of cake!
Sakura: you know… i AM kinda wondering how you got it right naruto
Sakura: i mean… i needed a paper to get the facts right
Sakura: and you were even the first one that got here
Rahmen: oh!
Rahmen: well i didnt leave the place
Sakura: EH?! then what DID you do?
Rahmen: well you know how in movies that the bad-looking guys are actually the good guys and those who look like angels actually ARE the bad guys?
Sakura: uh… yeah?
Rahmen: yeah well i chose mizuki coz he was like the most pathetic-looking

Sakura choked on the glass of mango juice she was currently drinking, almost dropping the glass on her computer. Sasuke choked on his own spit. The both of them thumped a fist to their chest a couple of times. If Naruto could have seen them now… Well, thank goodness he couldn't.

Rahmen: come on guys we still need to find the arena
Sakura: yeah sure

And look for it they did. It didn't take long, since the NPC had hinted that it was the largest place on the map. The NPC hadn't been kidding, the building was colossal. The three went inside the arena. There, at the center of a white circular platform, stood a male avatar, a silver-haired broom-head with a mask covering the lower part of his face.

GM-Silver: Yo!
GM-Silver: They say I have to fight with you guys.
GM-Silver: If you beat me, I'll let you in the tournament for this weekend.

DC - disconnect

I (actually) updated. Please don't hurt me. I had to rewrite the chapter outline a couple of times before I actually got satisfied with it. So how did this chapter go for you? Did it lack description or did it have too many dialogs? Give me your feedback by dropping a review.

My writing skills seem to be degenerating the more I write this type of chatting fiction. I hope you don't mind if I take a different style on the next few chapters? Nothing drastic, I promise. Kind of like dot-hack sign (as if they had a written novel but I hope you got my drift). Please check my profile for further updates.