Surviving the Cut: The Rookie 12 Together Again!
Just as the sun rose, marking the beginning of the fourth day, Squad Nine made it to the Tower, with both their scrolls in hand. Orchi's wounds were almost healed, but she did have a few faint bruises. Ichiro had dirt and grass stains on his clothes, as did Miyuki, who also had a few scratches on her arms and legs.
"You girls ready?" Ichiro asked, glancing at his two Kunoichi teammates on either side of him.
Both girls nodded. "Ready." they said in unison. "Let's do this."
The three Genin took a deep breath and exhaled, before pushing the door wide open and stepping inside.
The room they stepped into was empty, no one in sight.
"So, what do we do now?" Orchi asked, looking around.
"Look up there." Miyuki pointed to a large board on the wall in front of them.
"What is it?" Ichiro asked, slightly confused.
Miyuki cleared her throat. "'If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher.'" she read. "'If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are opened together, this perilous path will become righteous forever. This, something, is the secret way which guides us from this place today.'"
"This what?" Ichiro questioned.
Miyuki shook her head. "There's a word missing." she noted. "But, I think it's about the scrolls."
"Think we're supposed to open them now?" Orchi asked.
Miyuki nodded. "It says 'When Heaven and Earth are opened together'." she re-read.
Orchi held the Earth Scroll while Miyuki held the Heaven Scroll. Slowly, the two girls gently unsealed them. Once they opened, there was a single drawing in the middle of a bunch of jutsu formula.
"What the hell?" Ichiro questioned.
Then, the kanji started to rise. Orchi and Miyuki tossed the scrolls in front of them, just as an explosion sounded and a puff of smoke appeared.
"Congratulations Squad Nine!" came three very distinct female voices from the smoke. "You've officially passed the second phase of the Chūnin Selection Examinations!"
The smoke cleared revealing Arée, Rose, and Shirayuki, who struck a pose similar to that of Charlie's Angeles. The three Genin gaped at the sight.
Rose pulled out a pocket watch on a chain and smiled. "You guys made it with just over twenty-four hours to spare." she informed. "Not bad for Rookies."
Ichiro, Orchi, and Miyuki all sighed and collapsed on the floor.
"So how many of the Rookie teams made it already?" Ichiro asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Well Squad Eight got here about two days ago." Shirayuki answered.
"Dog-breath's squad made it here before us?" Orchi questioned. "Man, that bites."
"What about Squad's Seven and Ten?" Miyuki asked.
Arée chuckled. "Well, we haven't heard if they've made it or not." she answered. "You guys were the second Rookie team to make it here."
"Oh." Miyuki replied, looking down at the floor.
"Hey Miyu, I'm sure Chōji's fine." Orchi reassured, nudging her friend's arm.
Miyuki nodded, but she was still worried about her brother. She took a deep breath and exhaled, putting on a small smile.
The following day…all the remaining teams met up in the main room of the tower. The six Leaf teams were grouped together on the left, next to them was the four-man Sand team, and the two Sound teams stood at the far right.
"This many passed huh?" Miyuki thought. "Things just might start to get interesting." she cracked a small smile.
At the front of the room stood the Jōnin Sensei, and in front of them was Lord Third Hokage. A step down, the Chūnin messengers and proctors stood, Anko was located on the right-hand side, at the front of the line.
Anko, cleared her throat. "First of all, I would like to say congratulations on finishing the second exam." she started.
"The majority of the passing teams are Leaf Village Genin." Orchi pointed out, glancing around.
"After two grueling exams, only the best teams made it this far." Ichiro added, smirking.
"Makes me a little nervous about what the next exam is going to be like." Miyuki gulped.
"Alright now listen up!" Anko yelled, getting all the attention of the present Genin. "Lord Hokage is going to explain the rules of the third exam to you! So you better listen carefully, maggots." she turned to the elder leader and bowed, "Lord Hokage, they're all yours."
Hiruzen took a huff of his pipe and exhaled the smoke. "First before I explain what the third exam entails, I would like to first explain about the test itself." he began. "Listen closely, I'm going to tell you all the true purpose of these exams."
"True purpose?" Orchi repeated, softly, glancing between her two teammates.
Miyuki shrugged her shoulders.
"Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?" Hiruzen asked. "To raise our Shinobi's ability ad foster friendship between allied nations to be sure. But it's important you know the true purpose of these exams. The exam's true purpose is, so to speak…they're a representation of the battle between allied nations."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Tenten
"Now if you look at our history, you will see now that the countries we are allied with, were once neighboring countries, who continuously fought with each other for power." Hiruzen answered. He went into a lecture, talking about the Chūnin Selection Examination's history.
"In order to avoid diminishing each other's military strength meaninglessly, those nations picked champions to do battle for their countries at a mutually selected location. That was how the Chūnin Selection Exams originally began."
"Well that's great, but why do we go through all of these exams then?" Naruto asked.
"I mean it's not we're doing this to pick Chūnin to go fight or anything, right?" added Ichiro.
"We're all allies here, so there's no reason for us to pick ninja to go and fight each other." Miyuki followed.
Hiruzen took out his pipe, "Well actually, there is no question that part of the point of these exams is to select Shinobi who are worthy of becoming Chūnin. That's just not the whole story." he answered. "These exams also give the opportunity for Shinobi to carry the pride of their nations on their backs and fight with enemy ninja for their very lives."
"The pride of their nation?" Sakura repeated.
"Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries are invited to attend these exams as guests and also possible to seek Shinobi to work for them." continued Hiruzen. "This exam could set the course of your ninja work from here on out. And more importantly, these people will watch your battles and see your skills. Skills that each ninja and each nation is developing." he added. "If there is a gap in power between the countries the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja. And conversely, the requests to countries who are deemed weak, decline. Therefore, the stronger our nations is, the stronger our position when it comes to negotiating with neighboring countries. So it's important to show how much military strength our village has."
"Okay, but why is necessary for us to risk our lives?" Kiba spoke up.
"The Country's strength is the Village's strength, the Village's strength is the Shinobi's strength, and the true strength of the Shinobi is only shown when it's pushed it its limits, such as in a Life or Death battle." The Hokage answered. "This exam is designed to show each Shinobi's strength, and hence, the strength of its nation." he added. "It's because this exam is where you put your life on the line, that the true strength of the nation and it's Shinobi is shown."
"Then why did you use the expression 'friendship' before?" Orchi asked.
"But you all have only remembered half of what I have said." Hiruzen noted. "You also mustn't have the wrong idea of the exam's actual meaning. This is a custom in which balance is preserved by fighting and dying, In the world of the Shinobi, that is friendship." he answered. "The third exam is a battle in which the pride of your nation as well as your very own dreams are at stake."
Before Hiruzen could explain the rules of the third exam, however, another man appeared in front of him, kneeling on his knees.
"Lord Hokage, before you begin, please allow me, Hayate Gekko, appointed at proctor of the third exam, to speak first." he asked.
"Very well then." answered the Hokage.
"Before you all begin…there are some things I need to tell you…before the start of…the third exam." Hayate informing, coughing after a few words. "We have to hold a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one." Hayate announced.
"A what?" Orchi asked weakly.
"Preliminary?" Shikamaru repeated, "Just what do you mean by that?"
"I'm sorry, sensei excuse me." Miyuki spoke up. "But what's this preliminary all about? Why can't we just move on to the third exam?"
Hayate's answer was blunt, "We didn't think this many candidates would pass the second exam. A preliminary can be held at any stage, in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining."
"But, is that even fair?" Ichiro asked.
"It's just at this stage we need to speed things up a bit." Hayate answered. "Like Lord Hokage said, a lot of people will be watching and we can't afford to waist their time." he added, coughing. "So if any of you feel like you're not in top physical condition, now's the time to bow out. The Preliminaries will be starting immediately."
"You mean right now?" Kiba yelled.
"We just got through barely surviving the last exam, don't we get a break?" Ino whimpered.
"Man, what a drag." Shikamaru groaned.
"Oh yeah, the winners will be determined by one-on-one matches, sudden death." Hayate added.
All the Genin gasped, but no one seemed to be backing down.
"Okay, we will begin the preliminary round." Hayate announced. "The round will include one on one, individual combat, at full battle intensity." he added. "As for the rules of this preliminary round, there are none. The battle will end when one combatant dies or concedes defeat. Naturally, those who are loosing should concede, to avoid a fatal outcome. And as proctor, I am given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I may occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless, to save as many lives as possible." after giving each of the Genin one more glance over, Hayate directed their attention to the panel in the upper corner of the room.
"The names of each pair of opponents is chosen completely at random." Hayate informed. "Before each match, the names of each combatant will appear on the display behind me. Now let's begin."
The names of everyone appeared on the screen, half above and half below the verses abbreviation in the middle. A buzzer sounded and the first two names were revealed.
Ichiro Hagane vs. Sasuke Uchiha
Both boys smiled and met each other's eyes from where they stood.
"The first two people, please step forward." Hayate ordered.
Ichiro and Sasuke stepped forward, and faced each other. Konoha and Kakashi glanced at each other, and Konoha smiled.
"You have been chosen for the first match." Hayate announced. "Ichiro Hagane verses Sasuke Uchiha. Does either combatant have any complaints?"
"None here." Sasuke answered.
"No sir." Ichiro followed.
Both boys stared at each other, ready to fight.
"Okay let's begin the first match." Hayate said. "Now every one other than the two opposing candidates, clear the arena and move to the upper level."
All the other teams dispersed, the Leaf village Rookie teams and Team Guy moved to the right level, and the other teams moved to the left. Only. Squads Seven and Nine remained.
"Ichiro, so soon?" Orchi asked, her hands clasped together.
"It's better than waiting around, that's for sure." Ichiro replied, smiling. "Besides, that just means after this I can sit back and watch the other fights, and not have to worry who I'm gonna face."
"Don't get too cocky, remember who you're facing." Miyuki reminded. "Sasuke was the number one Rookie from our class."
"Not to worry, Miyuki, I'm gonna be just fine." Ichiro reassured.
The lavender haired Kunoichi sighed.
"Good luck Ichiro." Konoha wished, placing her hand on her Genin's shoulder.
"Thanks Konoha-sensei." Ichiro replied, smiling.
"Come on girls, let's go." Konoha motioned for her two Kunoichi to follow her.
The last two teams stood on the upper level, leaving Ichiro and Sasuke alone on the floor with Hayate.
Konoha chuckled. "Well now Kakashi, I guess we'll get to see whose boy's the stronger fighter, out of our teams anyway."
Kakashi looked at her, "Appears so, Konoha." He replied.
