A/N: I do not own Naruto. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Battle
The three girls squealed. "We're up!" They jumped onto the field and ran towards Genma. Somehow, they managed to everything in unison. "We have chosen Team 3 of Konohagakure as our opponent!" they shouted, still in unison. Even the pitch of their voices was exactly the same. Grumbling about fighting squealing girls, Enoki stood, followed by Tsume and Hanabi. Kurotsuki sat quietly, healing her cuts and stabs that she had received in her previous battle. The teams bowed and Genma signaled the start of the match. She watched them with interest, learning what they used as weapons and their battle formations. All the Genins had different weapons. Shizuka held three parasols; Yomika, three pairs of bolas and a multitude of shuriken; and Haruka, a bow and a full quiver on her back. Uh-oh, all long ranged weapons... This is bad for Hanabi-chan's team. Enoki and Tsume had both summoned a dog and a cat, respectively. Hanabi had activated her byakugan and taken a Jyuuken stance. "Let's go!" The triplets all attacked at the same time.
Shizuka launched one of the parasols into the air, sending a rain of senbon down on all three of the Genins. Hanabi frantically used her byakugan see and divert the senbon from her teammates. Yomika sent one of her sets of bolas flying towards Tsume. His summoned cat jumped up and knocked the weapon away from his master, hissing furiously. Haruka was a little more successful. Her arrows were coated with some kind of combustible substance. After she pulled out her arrows, she lit them using a strike strip that was attached to her right shin guard. She fired the flaming arrows in quick succession at Enoki which his dog tried to knock away. Unfortunately, the canine finally landed back on the ground, much worse for wear. Some of the creature's fur was burned and several arrows were embedded in his skin. The triplets were relentless. They kept up their assault, not letting the Konoha team do anything more than defend. Finally, the girls decided it was time to end the match. Shizuka threw her last parasol and senbon rained down again. Attached to each one was an exploding tag. Yomika threw her last set of bolas at Hanabi, forcing the young Hyuuga to block the weapon and let the senbon fall. Lastly, Haruka let loose a fiery arrow that hit a tag dead center.
Boom! A large chain explosion caught all three Genins from Konoha. When the smoke cleared, they were all on the ground, unconscious.
"The winners of this match are Team 5 from Amegakure with 15 minutes and 57 seconds." The delegates from Amegakure applauded furiously, showing their pride for their triplet kunoichis.
"Hanabi-chan, Hanabi-chan! Wake up." The girl woke up and saw Tsume and Enoki leaning over her. "Come on, we've been healed of our burns and we have to fight again," Tsume told her.
Hanabi jumped off the bed and ran down the short hallway, the boys following. The team ran onto the field and stood next to Genma. "We have chosen Team 9 of Kumogakure as our opponent!" Hanabi hurriedly blurted. The team made their way down to the arena. The boy, Ashidate, was talking to his teammates on his way down.
"Hah! Did you see her? She may have beaten us but she's still paralyzed. As soon as she let those string things go, she practically collapsed. She won't win the finals, that's for sure."
"Shut up Ashidate," Ichigo snapped at him. "We won't be there either if you don't focus and help us win."
They bowed and begun. Ashidate jumped backwards again and left Hibari and Ichigo to defend him. Team 3 of Konoha took the same stances, a little shabbier than before but still holding strong. Enoki summoned a different dog, presumably to let the first one rest. Tsume did the same. The smoke cleared to reveal... nothing.
"WHAT THE HELL? WHERE'S KATSU?" the boy yelled.
"Forget about it, Tsume-kun," Hanabi ordered. "I'll take the girl with the daggers, I'm the most agile and it'll be easier for me to dodge the poison. Enoki, attack the girl with that halberd, she's the strongest on her team and you're our best offense." Clearly, the Hyuuga was the brains of the team. "Tsume, we'll take the girls, you go for the boy. Move!"
Three separate battles were being fought on the same field. Hanabi was winning against Hibari. The girl form Kumo was coughing up blood, trying to remain standing. Enoki was parrying strikes from Ichigo's halberd while his familiar attacked her unguarded side. Further away, Tsume was hurling shuriken at the boy. He made sure to avoid every weapon and all the wires that riddled the air. Tsume was the first to triumph. He had stolen Kurotsuki's summoning trick. He summoned Katsu behind Ashidate's back. At the signal, the cat pounced on the boy and nicked a jugular vein with its claws. Ashidate surrendered, desperately trying to stop the blood pouring out of the wound. Relieved that he had beaten his opponent, Tsume turned to help his team. His help turned out not to be needed. Hanabi had a few small cuts from Hibari's poisoned blades but they didn't hinder her too much. After being beaten so badly by Kurotsuki, she had honed her ability to dodge close-range attacks. She landed a solid blow to the muscled girl's neck. Hibari fell. At the same time, Enoki managed to twist Ichigo's halberd out of her hands.
"The winners of this match are Team 3 of Konohagakure with 8 minutes and 49 seconds!" Genma declared. All three Genins rejoiced along with the majority of the crowd. They were in the running for the finals.
Ichigo immediately ran over to her teammates. The Exam medics rushed into the arena, one of them coming to check that Ichigo was relatively unhurt. "I'm fine," she said, glaring daggers at the medic. "Go take care of Ashidate and Hibari."
"Sakura-san!" one of the medics treating Hibari yelled into the stands. A pink-haired teenager jumped down into the arena and ran towards the fallen girl. "It's almost as bad as Hinata-san from a few years ago," the medic told her in a forcibly calm voice.
"Move over," Sakura ordered, gently but firmly. Green chakra glowed from her hands that she applied to the girl's heart. Surprisingly, a second pair of hands joined hers, this time glowing white. Sakura looked up.
The other woman's head was bowed, concentrating on healing the girl. The pink-haired kunoichi opened her mouth to demand what the hell she was trying to do when Kurotsuki spoke. "There's a strict no-kill rule right? Go help the boy. He's already lost a lot of blood."
Sakura was about to protest when she realized that the silver-haired woman was actually healing the girl quite quickly. Nodding, she left to attend to the boy. After a few minutes, Ashidate's bleeding had been stopped and Hibari was beginning to regain consciousness. Sakura went over to the woman to thank her. Kurotsuki turned around and locked eyes with the younger woman. Sakura's eyes widened in recognition. Kurotsuki nodded slowly and pointed discreetly towards the stands. Understanding what Kurotsuki meant, Sakura double-checked the Genins' conditions and returned to her seat.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called.
Looking away from the commotion in the arena, he turned lazily to his former student. "Mmm? What is it?"
Sakura sat down beside him and smacked his forearm. "Why didn't you tell me it was her? From the Land of Waves," she demanded.
"Why didn't I tell you who was who?" the Jounin asked innocently. Sakura glared. He relented. "She didn't want anyone to know. She wanted to explain to you herself so she didn't tell me anything," Kakashi explained. "Now be quiet. It's the last match before the finals."
Kurotsuki, chakra strings now back in place, and the triplets bowed to each other. The three girls immediately jumped backwards. Long-ranged attacks were their specialty. The silver-haired woman didn't draw her katanas. Instead, her hands went behind her back, to the knot of her obi. From there, she pulled out two black steel whips with kunai blades extending from the end of the handle. The bow, no longer supported by the stiff metal, fell flat to the effects of gravity. She sent her chakra through the whips, rendering the metal flexible.
"Let's go!" Shizu/Yomi/Haruka cried. Kurotsuki simply flexed her weapons in reply, forcing Genma to duck. As the first parasol was launched into the air, it met with the black whip, splintering and littering the ground between the shinobi with senbon.
"Next?" Kurotsuki asked calmly. Yomika launched two sets of bolas at her adversary. Kurotsuki watched the weighted ends spin around each other, coming straight towards her. Expertly maneuvering her whips, she hit one weight of each bolas and sent them flying back towards Yomika. Next, she jumped up, trying to dodge the last set of bolas directed at her feet. Kurotsuki leapt a moment too late and the spiked end of the bolas hit her bare foot, digging deep then continuing to fly. At the end of its arc, the bolas turned and circled around back to Yomika who snatched it out of the air. A hail of flaming arrows and another parasol flew into the air. With one metal whip, Kurotsuki destroyed the parasol. With the other, she broke most of the arrows. She ran forward, ignoring the pain in her foot. Finally, the triplets were within her whip's range. Kurotsuki swung her whip at all three girls. They fell, clutching the lacerations to their stomachs. Ironically, they did that in unison as well.
"The winner of this match is Fuyuuno Kurotsuki of Konoha with 6 minutes and 2 seconds."
This is bad... she's expending too much chakra healing herself and her opponents. When I sparred with her, I landed a few solid hits but now that Genin from Kumogakure managed to cut her up pretty badly. Plus, she should have been able to dodge that bolas at her feet. Damnit, why does she insist on fighting even though her body's paralyzed? Ugh, I can't let her get hurt like this. After all, there's always next year... Kakashi turned to the pink-haired teen beside him. "Sakura, go and stop the next match," he told her quietly.
"Eh? I thought you didn't want me to do that!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Well, I do now. Please, go and talk to the medics," he pleaded.
"Okay... If you say so..." Sakura jumped down into the arena and ran over to the medics. After a short exchange, the head Exam medic and Sakura walked over to Kurotsuki who was healing her foot. She looked up as they addressed her. She shook her head vehemently in reply. Sakura knelt down and placed a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. She rose to talk to Genma. He nodded.
He faced the crowd and made the announcement. "Sadly, Fuyuuno Kurotsuki will be removed from the Exam for medi-"
"No." The voice was quiet but clear. Gaara rose from his seat and walked to the edge of the balcony. "The rules dictate that a participant can only be withdrawn from the Exam if there is a recommendation from the head medic and no objection from the present Kages. Fuyuuno Kurotsuki is to remain in the Exam until a winner is decided for the final round."
Genma nodded solemnly and signaled the medical team to leave and Team 3 from Konoha to enter the arena for the last time. They bowed to each other and the referee signaled the official start of the match. "Begin!"
Kurotsuki forced herself to focus, but she felt like she was fighting a losing battle. I have to win. I have to become Chunnin. I have to be accepted...The fever was taking its toll on her body. She couldn't quite bring the world into focus and her reactions were slower. Though she could move because of the chakra strings, there was absolutely no strength left in her muscles. The instant Hanabi figures out how to cut the chakra strings, I'm done for. While her opponents were setting up their primary weapons, she compressed the chakra strings until they became invisible. One more obstacle for Hanabi-chan. This'll be a close-ranged fight, Hanabi's the most dangerous. And check for summons everywhere... Here we go.
Hanabi ran forward, taking the spearhead position. Enoki and Tsume flanked her, coming at Kurotsuki from the sides. Drawing her katanas and taking her odd stance, she parried most of Enoki's blows, but not all. She used the other katana to keep Hanabi at bay. Tsume and Katsu were now behind her and they struck. Kurotsuki's bare foot lashed out, connecting with the cat's abdomen. The poor animal was sent flying across the arena. Tsume faltered for a second, torn between attacking the woman and helping his cat. He received the same treatment as Katsu.
"Tsume-kun!" Hanabi cried. Her byakugan showed his chakra coursing through his veins. He was only unconscious, not seriously hurt.
Kurotsuki stabbed Enoki and his dog, both through the stomach. Master and companion fell. Last came Hanabi, furious that the silver-haired woman had done such a large amount of damage in such a short span of time. She viciously attacked her opponent, using every trick that Hinata and Neji had taught her. Unknowingly, whenever she swiped the air near Kurotsuki, she cut some of the chakra strings with the chakra in her hands. While the woman struggled to replace the threads, Hanabi managed to hit her, quite a few times. Soon, Kurotsuki was the one losing.
"Come on, come on, Kurotsuki..." Kotetsu muttered from the stands. Kakashi was staring down at the arena, prepared to jump in and help Kurotsuki the instant Genma called the winner of the match.
"I've had enough," Kurotsuki growled softly at Hanabi.
The Hyuuga froze. What the hell's wrong with her voice? It's like... she won't hesitate to torture and kill me... Wait a minute! Her eyes are supposed to be blue. Why are they black and red?
Kurotsuki felt the color of her eyes change. The pins and needles feeling was unmistakable. The world suddenly shifted into focus, every line, every form, so sharp it was almost painful to look at. She clearly saw Kakashi, Kotetsu, Naruto and Sakura clearly in the stands, watching carefully. Looking at the Kage's box, she saw Gaara, worry etched across his face. The Hyuuga girl's seen too much. Yeah, I know. I'll end it now. Kurotsuki focused chakra in her left hand. It began to glow an ominous black, mixed with blood red. In one swift motion, she backhanded the small girl, crushing one of her cheekbones. Hanabi landed heavily on her side, breaking an arm. Kurotsuki leapt towards her and swung her katana down at the girl's head.
At the last moment, her hand moved slightly to the right. The blade landed not an inch away from the girl's skull. "The winner this year's Chunnin Exam finals is Fuyuuno Kurotsuki of Konoha!" Genma declared. The crowd roared its approval.
Kurotsuki cast off any remaining blood and sheathed her swords. Kneeling down, she quickly healed Hanabi's cheekbone and broken arm. "Feeling better?" Hanabi looked up, relieved to find that Kurotsuki's eyes were blue. Maybe it was a trick of the light. And her voice is back to normal too. Hm, my imagination's been playing tricks on me.
The silver-haired woman stood and bowed to the crowd. Kakashi leapt into the arena and hugged the champion. "Congrats," he whispered in her ear.
"Thanks." She promptly collapsed in his arms.
A/N: This chapter's kinda short. And there's not really anything other than fighting that happens. An apology for that but it's what the Chunnin Exams are all about. The purpose of bolding certain words won't be revealed for a loooooooong time. Thank you for reading and please review! ^_^