Kinuta growled, ready to lunge at Nori with a kunai. "I knew there was something up. Now, what else do you have up your sleeve? I don't believe for one second that you're blind."
"Tsk tsk. Good thinking! I have tons more tricks up my sleeve." Nori said, raising his hands and removing the wrap off of his eyes to reveal full black eyes with a white arrow design in the middle, changing directions as each couple seconds went by. Nori then dashes for Kinuta, throwing punches and kicks, all being either blocked or dodged. This surprised Nori, until he saw Kinuta was looking at his midsection and not his eyes.
"You really thought I would fall for your Genjutsu." Kinuta said smugly. "I was guessing that's what you had under your blindfold." Kinuta finished, lunging at Nori with his kunai aimed at his chest. In a flash, Nori disappeared, causing Kinuta to go flying. Kinuta landed near a tree. "Damnit…" He cursed under his breath. Suddenly, Nori appeared in front of him, grabbing his chin and forcing his gaze into his eyes. Nothing seemed to happen. The arrow just kept changing directions. Kinuta looked around, nothing different. "What..?" He questioned. Just then Nori sent a hard punch to Kinuta's jaw, so powerful it sent him flying a few feet. His vision darkened. He felt pressure on his jaw, as if someone was holding him down. "If I can't have her…" a voice growled. "...No one can."
Kotori was on the ground, her face still in the dirt. She tried all her hardest to look up. Her captor lifted her head up by her red locks. She could see Kinuta on the ground, gaze turned towards her and her opponent. He looked terrified. More horrified than she could ever imagine Kinuta being. A gut wrenching scream came from his open mouth. He struggled to get to his feet, but couldn't. It was as if someone was holding him down, but there was no one or nothing there. "Kinuta!" She yelled. "Get up!" Nothing changed. He was still screaming and struggling under his invisible captor. She looked to Nori, who was smirking. This made Kotori think. She tried to sense Nori and Kinutas chakra. Then it hit her. "Kinuta! It's not real! Whatever you see is just a genjutsu!" She yelled, hoping to alert her teammate.
Nori chuckled. "He can't hear you, stop wasting your breath."
Kotori ignored him and kept yelling, hoping to get through. Soon, the screaming stopped. "Kinuta..?" Kotori questioned quietly.
Nori looked confused, but lunged at Kinuta nevertheless. He hit Kinuta with a downward kick to his chest, cracking the ground around them.
"Kinuta!" Kotori screamed, struggling to get out of the grasp of the sand shinobi holding her down.
The dust lifted to show Nori standing wear he kicked, looking down at his target, which had turned into a puddle of water. Nori, looking sincerely angry, looks around for his target, not finding him. Looking up higher, Nori found his opponent crouching in a tree. Nori could also see a large, dark cloud gathering over the area where they were fighting. Kinuta's face was unable to be seen due to the shadow the trees and clouds where projecting onto him.
Kinuta places both hands on the branch he was crouching on. "Water Style: Storm Upheaval!" He yelled, sending the cloud of water onto Nori creating a large pool of water that Kinuta could use to his disposal. Throwing hand signs together he shouted "Water Style: Raging Waves!" This sends multiple waves of water at Nori, further drowning him. These waves also his Kotori and Emi, forcing Emi to release Kotori. Kinuta jumped down from his branch, landing softly on the water, using chakra to walk on water. He walked up to where Nori was supposed to be underwater, sparks seeming to fly off of his body every few seconds. Suddenly, a wall of mud shoots up out of the water, sending Kinuta flying into the air. Kinuta landed hard in the water. He swims up to the surface, looking up at the pillar of mud that was formed for Nori to stand on. "Earth Style, huh?" Kinuta said, knowing water style was weak against earth. Kinuta smirked and jumped up out of the water and threw hand signs together. "Water Style: Liquid Bullet!" Kinuta yelled, sending a stream of water towards Nori. The jutsu hits and a poof of smoke emits from its point of contact. A clone. "Bastard!" Kinuta whispers under his breath. Suddenly the pillar of mud explodes into a ball of fire as Kinuta can see the sand ninja, Emi, flying through it.
When the smoke clears Kotori is visible, and throws a quick smirk at Kinuta before going past him to get Emi. Kinuta smiled until he felt a large pain and force on the back of his head. Nori had punched him and sent him face first into the water. The water seemed to be much shallower than it once was. "Was his earth style absorbing the water?" Kinuta thought. He stood up in the now shallow water.
"She's mine…" Kinuta heard Nori whisper into his ear from behind him. Kinuta turned around yelling "Liquid Bullet!" Directly hitting another clone.
"You're the only one in my way of getting her…" Another whisper from behind. Another liquid bullet. Another clone.
"Coward! Come out and fight me!" Kinuta yelled, the sparks on his shoulders returning.
Nori suddenly appeared in front of him, seeming to come from the ground that had recently absorbed all of the water. "...And now you're going to disappear!" He said, throwing a punch towards Kinuta neck.
Kinuta ducked and dodged the punch. "Hand of Waves!" He shouted, blasting Noris midsection with a powerful blast of water. The jutsu sent Nori flying backwards a few feet, just in range for Kinuta to try something he's been practicing. With the sparks on his shoulders increasing in frequency. Summoning the very last bit of chakra he could muster, he was ready to end this battle.
"Water-Lightning Style: Arced Liquid Bullet!" He yelled, sending an electrified steam of water towards Nori. Struggling to wait until it hits his target, Kinuta watches as Emi jumps in front of the attack, blocking it. The hit sends Emi flying back into Nori, sending them both flying backwards. "What..? No…" Kinuta croaked as his vision darkened and he collapsed due to having a lack of chakra. From the darkness, Kinuta feels a warmth flowing through his body. He felt a jolt of energy flow through him. Not a lot, but just enough. He was able to open his eyes and see familiar, green eyes looking into his, filled with worry. He felt another jolt of energy run through him. He could now look down and see that his teammate had been using a simple healing jutsu. Another jolt of energy. Kinuta sat up, focusing his brown eyes on Kotori. "Thanks… I really needed that." Kinuta thanked his teammate.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't overwork yourself so much. I might not be there to save you next time." Kotori said, poking fun at her teammate.
Kinuta chuckled and looked towards Nori, who was getting up and checking on Emi.
Both Kinuta and Kotori stand up, facing towards Nori. They look each other in the eyes one last time before going into the fight. Kotori kicks off the fight by throwing a paper bomb kunai. The kunai explodes near Nori, allowing Kotori to get in close for some strong Taijutsu. Kinuta stays back and waits for an opening, staring directly at his opponent. This turned out to be a big mistake when Kinuta locked eyes with Nori.
Kotori kept throwing punches and kicks at Nori, some hitting, some getting blocked. As she was using her Taijutsu, she heard a familiar scream. Kinuta. Looking back she could see him, horrified like before.
Kotori knew she had to keep her head in the game, so she remained focused on attacking Nori. "Hang in a little longer, Kinuta." She thought to herself, drawing her final kunai and stabbing him deeply in the thigh.
A blood curling scream erupted from Nori, who drops to one knee. This is a signal to Kotori to go help Kinuta.
Kotori dashed back in the direction of Kinuta, knowing he had fallen back under Nori's genjutsu. "Release!"
Kinuta seemed to be out of whatever sick fantasy he was in and looked around, clearly afraid.
Kotori grabbed him on his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm okay. Everything is okay. Life is wonderful. Everybody's happy and getting along." Kotori said sternly.
Meanwhile, Nori had pulled the kunai out of his thigh. He smiled as the kunai dripped of his blood. "Time to finally connect us… by blood!" He said, throwing the kunai at Kotori. The bloody kunai had stabbed Kotori in the back of her right shoulder. This earned a scream from Kotori and a scowl from Kinuta. Kinuta looked at the kunai sticking out of his teammates back. Checking his pouch for a kunai to return he realized they were washed away in the water from earlier. In reaction to this, Kinuta removed the kunai from Kotori shoulder, earning a small scream from her. Kinuta cringed at the sound before running head on at Nori, with all intentions of returning the favor. "You bastard!" Kinuta screamed, lunging at Nori.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" Nori yells, summoning a mud wall to block the attack. The wall was hit and a splash of water came from over the top. Nori then could feel the warm blood from the kunai on his neck and his arm being forced behind his back.
"Surrender the scroll… and you live." Kinuta growled and Nori took the scroll out from under his vest. "Also… get in line, Hakuryū." Kinuta said, taking the scroll from his hand and stabbing Nori in the other thigh.
As Kinuta walks away from Nori, Kotori walks up to him and asks "What did you see in that genjutsu?"
Kinuta was silent for awhile. "That's for later, right now we need to get Tadashi and go to the Tower."
From there Team 4 makes there way to the tower successfully without any interruptions, to their surprise. Once they get there they hand in their scrolls. One heaven, one earth, officially granting them a passing grade in the second Chunin Exams. After that they wait on the other passing teams to arrive. In the end, the team that team 4 had nearly lost to, passed.
"How did they do that? We took their scroll!" Tadashi said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they got 2 scrolls before their 4 days were up. Not at all." Kinuta said, patching up Kotoris gash made from the kunai that was thrown by Nori.
"Yeah, they were super strong, I hope I don't face them at the next exam." Kotori said.
"Right, were not chunin just yet, just one more part to go." Said Kinuta, finishing up on Kotoris shoulder