This story was started as a challenge fic for the 19th Mostly Lucky Star Forum challenge. From now on it is also an entry for the 21st Mostly Lucky Star Forum challenge, with disability as the theme. I did not alter anything in the plot to fit the story with the theme, since it was already fitting.

"Hey, guys… Don't you think it's too quiet?"

Miramaru turned towards Kushina. "Eh? Something on your mind?"

The group was still travelling across the enormous burial grounds. The fact that it was created by one of the most sinister shinobi that ever lived and that every single tomb was empty somehow made it even more grim than a real cemetery; not exactly scarier, but more depressing.

"Only that I've been expecting a fight every now and then, with this being the chuunin exam and all. I know it's less… less…"

"…confrontational…?"

"…yeah, that, than it used to be, but hey, where are the others? It wouldn't make sense to set up an exam where you're supposed to test your skills against the others, but you can't even find them!"

"You might have a point", Miramaru mused. "We haven't seen anyone yet, and it seems nobody has found us either. Well, except for that genjutsu person."

"Yeah, that's weird…"

"Indeed. I don't like this…" Miramaru stroke his chin, as he often did when he was thinking. "Can you sense anything, Haiko?"

The quiet bespectacled kunoichi, whose senses currently were their only clue as to what direction they should take, slowly shook her head. "Nothing new. I can only trace the path that summoned creature took when approaching us."

Kushina sighed. "Then we can only follow it and hope for the best."

Miramaru wasn't ready to simply accept it yet. "Walking straight into a trap is still not on my to-do list. We need to be extra careful. I wonder if Konohamaru-sensei ever told us something that could help us now…" He nervously swept his long hair back, even though it wasn't actually necessary.

"Hey, Yamanaka-kun…" said Kushina; her voice was somewhat different from the usual cheerfulness, like it suddenly got a tad deeper. "You're totally panicking here, you know?"

"What? I merely…"

"Stop it. You are forgetting something important." Kushina turned toward the third member of their group. "Forgetting that we have the best damn sensory ninja of all the genin in Konoha, and probably the chuunin too! Remember how she saved us in the Land of Grass? There's no way she would miss any trap. Right, Haiko-chan?"

The little ninja did not respond; her entire face was hidden behind her hood, save for a thin line of her lips.

Kushina blinked, then smiled and lowered herself in front of her small companion. "Don't tell me you doubt yourself as well. I know you can do it. I totally believe in you."

"But…"

"Mmm? What is it?"

"But…" Haiko's voice was barely audible. "The grass… There is none here. I cannot be as alert as then… what you said. I am sorry…"

Kushina didn't seem taken aback by her friend's admittance. "That's okay, Haiko. I know you've practice a lot with your sensory exercises to become a kanchi. Do you think I would ask this from you if I weren't absolutely, totally sure that you could do it?" She placed her hand on Haiko's shoulder and squeezed, giving her a closed eyes smile. "You just need to realize it too, and you'll be able to detect anything."

"Okay…" Haiko blushed visibly under her hood. "I'll try. I mean, I will do my best."

"Good!" Kushina grinned, raising back to her feet. "Then there's not a thing in this world that can stop us from getting that token." She put her hands on her hips. "No time to waste! Team Uzumaki, we're moving!"

"Team Uzumaki, my ass", muttered Miramaru, but he dropped his objections and followed the blonde obediently. Seeing Haiko having made up her mind, there was no point in arguing with her and Kushina at the same time, since they both of them could be extremely stubborn. What's more, he was actually curious about their mysterious opponent; this person seemed not only dangerous, but also rather cheeky.

oooOOOooo

The Roaring Valley was considered one of the more gloomy spots of the enormous necropolis: a round low hill, split in two by a single attack of the Nine Tails long ago, it looked like a plump creature whose bloated corpse cracked in a most unpleasant way.

The hill was free of graves, only some loose stones were sticking from underneath the thin layer of sand. In the valley itself though, a number of dried trees surrounded its central feature: a small, salty lake.

It was this lake they secretly observed from a distance, or rather a lone figure that stood in front of it. Completely unmoving, it looked like a statue of a teenage boy with unruly hair, dressed in a heavy robe of sorts that looked strangely out of place on a ninja. He was also holding two curved blades that crossed at their tips, just above the sandy ground. His head was slightly lowered, which made him look like one of those warrior sculptures Ebisu-sensei kept in his house to be periodically cleaned by genins.

"Haiko-chan, do you think it's our culprit?", whispered Kushina. Miramaru made a face at her whisper, which was far from stealthy.

Haiko returned the gaze. "Of this I am not sure. But the track ends here."

"And is there anyone else?" Kushina asked.

"None that I can sense."

"Good enough for me. Let's go!" Kushina got up, pushing a strand of her hair away from her eyes.

Within a second, Miramaru grabbed her hips and pushed her down again unceremoniously. "Are you insane? Where's your tactics?"

Kushina shrugged. "Well, he looks like he's looking forward to a fight, and frankly I am too. Since Haiko-chan didn't spot any traps, I say we may as well do it. We can't be sitting around all day!

Miramaru gave her a hard stare; then he looked at Haiko, who looked as emotionless as usual, and he sighed. "Okay, if you insist, fine, have it your way this time." We don't have much up our sleeves anyway, he added to himself. "But let's coordinate it at least."

"Fine. Then you're with me, Yamanaka. Haiko-chan, support us, okay?"

None of them objected.

"Okay then. We're going to kick his ass!"

The area around the lake was completely open, which indicated that the swordsman took no precautions against being found. On the other hand, this made him virtually impossible to sneak upon without specialized jutsu that the team didn't have. The best option was to simply approach the swordsman of foot and watch out for surprises, which they did: Kushina walking at the front, Miramaru a little behind her and to the left, and Haiko following them while maintaining some distance.

As they were closing the distance at a brisk pace, the lonely figure seemed to pay them no heed, still gripping his swords and looking at some point on the ground ahead of him. He was about sixteen years old, tall and rather heavily built, although his body was covered with the thick robes and difficult to appraise. On his forehead he wore a skew hitai-ate with the symbol of Amegakure, the Village Hidden in Rain.

With their kunai drown, Kushina and Miramaru stopped a short distance from the swordsman. He still didn't react to their presence at all.

"Hey, you!" Kushina addressed him starkly. "Are you in the chuunin exam too?"

The boy slowly raised his gaze at her, but did not respond.

"Careful, Uzumaki, he may be under genjutsu", Miramaru half-whispered.

Kushina barely nodded. "Who are you? Did you send this huge worm to attack us?" she pressed.

"You…" The boy's voice was flat and gentle, his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. Do you…"

"You killed my mother!" he bellowed, raising his swords suddenly and with great force. "Die!"

Kushina barely had the time to spot two charges of wind chakra running down his blades, and in the next moment he swung the swords at the both of them: first at Kushina and immediately after at Miramaru. The girl felt a pressure of wind rapidly approaching her; recognizing an air blade technique, she leaped to the side to get off its course. She mostly succeeded, but the howling attack painfully cut both her side, tearing the fabric of her white outfit and some of the skin underneath.

Rolling away in pain, Kushina dropped her kunai, but managed to remain in control of her trajectory. She immediately got up, reaching for another kunai to replace the lost one. She saw Miramaru recovering from a dodge as well; he seemed completely unharmed, which annoyed her a little. She immediately returned her gaze to the swordsman though, who was now sprinting towards her with his blades spread to the sides like wings of a sparrow. His robe was half-open now, revealing a metallic armour underneath: an armour of a samurai from Tetsu no Kuni, the Land of Iron.

Kushina gritted her teeth. "Oh come on! Genjutsu or not, you should be smarter than this!"