Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter Fifteen
Twenty-one genin out of seventy-eight had made it through the second exam; out of the twenty-one genin, nine of them had been rookies.
Karibi stood beside Ibiki as she glanced around the indoor arena of the tower. She took note of every ninja who had passed, recognizing all of them from studying their profiles. She tried not to seem too excited about Naruto passing, the blond already having waved to her and greeted her as he entered the room; she didn't want to seem obviously biased. And still, although she was excited for everyone who had passed, there was still a lingering fear from everything that had happened since the beginning of the exams.
The Hokage had decided to continue with the exams. He wanted to draw Orochimaru out, and the only way to do that was if they continued on. Although Karibi was against the notion, she let the Sandaime do as he pleased, trusting his judgment; she would trust his choices until the day she didn't.
Shivering suddenly, the 22-year-old blinked as she felt a piercing stare against her back. She stole a side-glance to the left as she turned her body slightly to make it seem as though she were trying to turn her attention to Anko. Her body stiffened when she caught sight of the same man she had run into days before, his eyes making her feel tense and nervous all at once.
"Are you alright?" The jonin looked to her right as Iruka stared at her with a raised brow. She blinked before realizing she must have been wearing a rather obvious and anxious expression on her face. Forcing a smile across her lips, the redhead nodded her head.
"It's all a little exciting, isn't it?" she asked as she glanced out to Team 7. "The rookies have all passed."
"That's right...I should have had more faith in them and in their leaders," the chunin stated quietly as Karibi chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"You live and you learn. At least, that's what I've been told." The brunet let out a short laugh, smiling at the woman before Anko's voice caught their attention.
"Congratulations on finishing the second exam."
The Hokage stood in the middle of the room with all the passing team's jonins behind him. Anko spoke into the mouth piece provided to her from Hiruzen's left, Ibiki and Karibi to the Sandaime's right. Several other chunin stood with the proctors, everyone remaining silent as Anko continued to speak.
"Alright, now pay attention!" The violet haired woman snapped. "Hokage-sama is going to explain the third exam to you. And you better listen carefully, maggots." Karibi held back her chuckles; Anko did enjoy being extra harsh with the genin.
As the Hokage spoke to the crowd, Karibi forced herself to remain calm and composed. She locked her hands behind her back and clenched her jaw, feeling that same cold gaze on her back that she had noticed earlier. She did her best to ignore it, but the longer she stood there, exposed and out in the open, the more vulnerable she felt; she hadn't felt so out-of-place in a very long time.
You have no one left.
Karibi was broken from the darkness clouding her mind as coughing filled the air. She blinked and turned her head a fraction to the left, Hayate standing before the crowd with his mouth covered as he continued coughing. The woman's gaze softened as she frowned at the man's condition; it was such a shame he was feeling so ill.
"A preliminary exam must be done before we can move on to the final exam." Shock seemed to be a universal emotion among the genin as their eyes widened, the chunin and jonin in the room observing closely.
"Preliminary exam?!" Shikamaru exclaimed as he caught everyone's attention. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm sorry, sensei, excuse me?" Sakura spoke after Shikamaru in a calmer manner, though still taken aback by the proctor's words. "I really don't see the point in a preliminary exam. Why don't we just move on to the next exam?"
"Well, the problem is, the first and second exam might have been too easy," Hayate explained, the bags under his eyes making even the most energetic person feel dreary. "We never expected so many of you to still be here, and the rules of the chunin exam clearly state that a preliminary round can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining." The genin glanced around at each other before they frowned to their teammates; just when they had thought they had finally made it, there was just another obstacle in the way.
"Is that fair?"
"At this point, we need to speed things up a bit," Hayate said honestly. "Like Hokage-sama said, there will be many important people attending the last exam, and we can't afford to waste their time," he stated evenly.
"So, if there are any of you who feel like you are not at top, physical—" Covering his mouth, the jonin fell into another fit of coughs, the genin eyeing him intently for a second. "Sorry about that. Anyways, as I was saying, now is the time for those of you who feel they are not ready to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately."
"Come on! You mean right now?!" Karibi's gaze lingered on Kiba as she smiled softly; he and his sister shared similar facial qualities, as well as a temper.
"We just finished barely surviving the last exam. Don't we get a break?" the blond from Asuma's team inquired helplessly as her teammates moaned with her.
"Winners will be determined by one-on-one combat—sudden death," Hayate said. "If there's anyone who doesn't feel up to it, now's the time to speak up."
Karibi's eyes twitched as she caught sight of someone flinching in the line-up of genin. She raised a brow before her eyes widened, Sasuke grasping the back of his neck and wincing in pain. Her entire body stiffened as she gazed long and hard at him before her eyes flickered to Anko, who seemed to have seen the same thing. Glancing over at the Hokage, he nodded to her and then to Anko and Ibiki, Karibi stepping out of line before she approached the Third.
"His condition isn't good," Karibi pointed out as she stole one more look over at the Uchiha.
"It's just as I feared," Hiruzen added as he frowned, Ibiki and Anko staring over at Sasuke.
"So then, what should we do with him?" the interrogation professional asked as Anko scoffed.
"We pull him out, hand him over to Black Ops, and let them keep him locked up."
"Anko, that's too rash," Karibi pointed out as she crossed her arms and grimaced.
"There isn't any other choice, Karibi," the other woman argued quietly. "It's the only way."
"Oh? And he's just going to quietly go along with all of this, you really think so, huh?" The four looked over to Kakashi as he joined the conversation smoothly. "You're forgetting. He's of the Uchiha clan." Karibi glanced to Ibiki as he shared the same apprehensive look on his face; from what they could see, Anko had reached her limit.
"I don't care what the hell he is!" she barked as she glared at Sasuke's sensei. "If he stays, he's a danger to everyone!" Her rage was only fueled by fear, her own experiences causing her to feel slightly panicked.
"As he grows stronger, so does the curse mark! That thing is feeding off his chakra!" Anko grimaced as she reached up to her own curse mark, glancing back at Sasuke with a sympathetic gleam in her eyes. "It's amazing the kid is even alive at this point...he should be dead." Everyone gazed at Sasuke, the genin now mingling with each other as the older crowd of ninja inconspicuously spoke with one another.
"...Lord Hokage, we're treading into dangerous water," Karibi said softly as she tore her eyes from the raven haired boy and looked to her leader. "What should we do?"
Hiruzen didn't have a chance to answer, a hand rising into the air. "Ok, this is it. I'm out." Karibi's eyes widened as she stared at Kabuto; this was now going to be his seventh time failing.
"Kabuto Yakushi, of the Leaf Village, right?" Hayate asked as he flipped through the profiles until he found the one he was looking for. "You can go ahead and step aside then."
"Right."
Karibi narrowed her eyes as she watched the young man walk away. She began to glare when she realized that Naruto seemed to have some sort of affiliation with the drop-out. The feeling didn't sit well with her. There was something so strange about that Kabuto that the 22-year-old couldn't seem to understand.
"I've seen this one before. If my memory is correct, this isn't the first time he's dropped out before a battle," the old man said suspiciously. "What sort of game is he trying to play?"
"This will be his seventh time failing this exam," Karibi said quietly to the Hokage as he nodded.
"What do we have on his background?"
"He was average at the academy. Took him three times to pass the graduation exam," Anko explained as Karibi shook her head.
"That can't be right," she said as her companions looked over at her. "His chakra is strong, and it's obvious he knows how to use it if he's gotten this far six times before." The redhead wasn't going to buy Kabuto's "weak guy" act.
"There's another thing," the violet haired woman added. "Do you remember the child that was found after the battle of Kikyo Pass? The only survivor?"
"I remember the story," the Third said with a firm nod. "Is that him?" Anko nodded.
A cough filled the stiff silence, breaking whatever tension was left when Kabuto exited the arena. Hayate ignored the tenseness as he let out a deep breath. "Now, is there anyone else?" he asked as he glanced from genin-to-genin.
"Sir, what should we do about Sasuke?" Karibi asked, turning back to the matter at hand. She watched as the Third blew out a puff of smoke from his pipe and gazed ever so intensely at the Uchiha.
"I'm still concerned about what Orochimaru said," he stated, referring back to what Anko had told him before meeting with the genin. "Allow the boy to continue for now."
"What?!" An incredulous expression came over Anko as she looked at her Hokage with disbelief. "But—"
"However," the Third began. "At the first sign of his power growing out of control, you will step in and stop it." Looking at Karibi, the woman blinked. She frowned as she shook her head.
"Hokage-sama, I only have a temporary answer to his curse mark."
"Then so be it. For now, that is what I wish." Karibi hesitated before she looked to Anko, the woman begrudgingly nodding her head.
Everyone turned to Hayate, though Karibi caught Kakashi's eye for just a moment before she turned to face the proctor for the next part of the exam. They all listened carefully as the pale proctor placed his clipboard behind his back, locking his hands together in a neat fashion.
"We will now begin the preliminary portion of the exam."
§
There were going to be ten rounds—opponents chosen at random. Those who won the matches would pass on to the final and last part of the exam; that was what had been decided. A panel on the wall revealed the names of opponents, and the first had been Sasuke's name and Yuroi, both ninja of the leaf.
Everyone had begun to move to the upper level of the arena, giving each fighter enough room below. Teams had reunited with their jonin leaders, the Hokage moving ahead with Anko and Ibiki. Karibi lingered behind as she stared at Sasuke with a frown; even when he wasn't in battle and using his chakra, he was still feeling discomfort.
"Ah, so this is where we meet again." Karibi froze at the voice behind her as she felt someone approach her. She forced herself to look to her right, the man from the other day smirking at her with his hands in his pockets. "How serendipitous."
"...That's not quite the term I would use," the redhead stated before she narrowed her eyes, trying to look as brave as she could; the truth was, she was terrified.
"I never caught your name," the man said as he stepped too close into Karibi's personal space. She refrained from backing away and stood her ground, glaring icily at the stranger from the sound.
"That's none of your business."
"How cold," the man whined playfully, though his voice only caused the Leaf jonin to shiver. "I was hoping we could become friends." Karibi's jaw clenched as her hands balled up into fists. She did whatever she could to stay composed, but each passing second was becoming a challenge.
"Yo." Karibi immediately relaxed at the sound of the voice as she turned to see Kakashi walking over to her. Her shoulders sagged as she let out a relieved breath, ignoring the stranger beside her completely. "This should be exciting."
Kakashi didn't bother acknowledging the man with Karibi. He was normally more polite than that, but he had sensed an ominous air around him, and just by the fearful gleam in his friend's eyes, he knew that whatever the stranger wanted from her—it was no good. He placed a hand on the woman's shoulder before he began to usher her away, not even bothering to glance at the jonin from the Sound. And as he and Karibi strolled off, they didn't notice the way the pale jonin licked his lips at them.
"Let me guess, an old friend of yours?" Kakashi remained close to Karibi's side, the playfulness in his voice lightening the mood and air around his friend. He watched and relaxed as the 22-year-old chuckled and shook her head, leaning against him as they walked. Naruto began to wave eagerly to his guardian as she smiled to him before waving back, feeling secure by the warmth of Kakashi's body.
"Never met that guy in my life."
§
No one had been sure what to expect from Sasuke and Iroi's battle. But straight from the beginning, things seemed to be leaning towards the latter's favor. Sasuke had been struggling to keep his strength against the genin who continued to steal it away, and then there was the curse mark on his neck that kept eating away at him; even Sasuke, himself, was unsure of how this match was going to end.
Karibi watched the battle intently, glancing down at her hand every few seconds. Her grasp was tightly around the railing of the upper level, Naruto sitting by her feet and Sakura and Kakashi on the blond's other side. No one said anything, the battle between Sasuke and Iroi far too compelling and worrisome for anyone to interrupt.
But then there was Naruto.
"Sasuke!" Karibi almost jumped as Naruto's loud voice echoed through the arena. "Come on! What the heck was that?! And you call yourself an Uchiha?!" Karibi blinked as she looked down to the blond, his blue eyes gleaming with hope for his teammate. And as Sasuke stared up at Naruto, his eyes flickered to Lee, who had been standing just beside Karibi.
And then he had been inspired.
The Uchiha began dodging Iroi's attacks carefully, paying close attention to his movements; in order for him to keep up, he had to use all of his concentration. Then, with speed that no one thought Sasuke had left, the young boy moved and appeared right before Iroi, crouching back and thrusting his leg up. The bottom of his foot collided firmly into the other Leaf genin's chin, sending him clear into the air. Reacting quickly, Sasuke rolled on to all fours before jumping into the air after Iroi.
Karibi's amethyst eyes widened as she stared in shock. She turned her head to Guy, who had been standing just a few feet away from her. She could see the sheer astonishment on the man's face as he watched Sasuke. The redhead then looked back to the battle as Sasuke continued. He must have copied that move from Lee at some point during this last exam with his Sharingan, the woman said to herself as she watched the young boy carefully.
Just when things seemed to be looking up for Sasuke, they stopped. His body began to burn as a sharp pain shot through his neck and down his spine. He began to growl in pain, and he could almost feel the curse marks spreading from his neck. And as he tried to control himself, Karibi narrowed her eyes. She glanced to the Hokage as he looked back to her, signaling with his eyes for her to wait. She nearly ignored his call, but when she finally looked back to Sasuke, her eyes widened.
The marks began to recede.
"What..." Karibi watched in amazement as Sasuke smirked and began to finish the borrowed move with his own twist. The others shared her same amazement as Iroi was sent to the ground, Sasuke digging his heel into the genin's gut before he slid away. The older kunoichi relaxed after that as she let out a held breath; it seemed her technique wasn't needed, for now.
Hayate looked from one motionless genin to the other. He sighed as he made his way to Iroi, crouching down and checking his condition. "Well, this one's had it." Before he could move to Sasuke, the jonin could hear grunting from the boy, the raven haired Uchiha forcing himself to sit up, wiping his mouth with the back of his head. His breaths were haggard and forced, but he was merely relieved that he was still conscious.
"I'm declaring Sasuke Uchiha the winner of this match."
"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he hopped to his feet, Sakura grinning madly. Karibi merely chuckled as she nodded and glanced to Kakashi, who was no longer standing with them. She looked back down to the lower level and smiled as the silver haired jonin poofed behind the nearly unconscious genin. His legs kept the young boy from falling over, propping Sasuke up from like the back of a chair would.
"Man! You won, but you sure don't look like it!" Naruto laughed as he shook his head. "You came out looking like you lost the match!" Karibi stared at the back of the blond's head before her eyes flickered over to Sasuke, the young boy smiling slightly at Naruto; they had come far in their once turbulent friendship.
"I have to say, it's strange to see someone else pull a move off like that who isn't you, Guy." Said jonin looked to his right as Karibi smirked at him before giving him a wink. The man frowned before he began to chuckle, looking to his eternal rival.
The light mood around Karibi dropped when she noticed Kakashi's glance flicker over to her. He stared for only a second before he looked back down to Sasuke; that had been her cue. "I'll be off for a bit, then."
"Huh?" Naruto looked back to the redhead as she caught his confused stare. "Where are you going?"
"There's something I need to do. I am assisting in this entire event. It's not like I'm not busy," Karibi pointed out as the blond frowned and pouted.
"What if you miss my match?" The jonin blinked before she chuckled and shook her head, placing her hand on his head.
"I'm not missing anything, short-stuff. So, don't worry about that." Karibi winked before she turned and locked her hands together, her index and middle finger up. She smirked to Naruto and Sakura as they watched her go.
"See you in a bit." And just like that, she was gone.
§
He had no idea where they were going. He was barely registering the fact that he was walking in the first place. He merely followed his sensei quietly, doing his best not to stumble and trip every so often as the corridor grew darker and darker. It wasn't until he bumped into the jonin's back that he had realized they had finally arrived to their destination.
"...Where are we?" Sasuke asked, finally breaking the silence that had settled over himself and his sensei.
"About time you two showed up. I've been waiting." The 12-year-old blinked as he looked and found Karibi standing in the middle of two circles—a large circle and a smaller one inside of the first circle that had been carved into the concrete floor. There was a smirk across her lips, several kunai dug into the ground; Sasuke assumed she had set this entire thing up.
"What is this?" the young genin asked as Karibi glanced to his sensei, the masked man nodding in approval.
"Here's the truth," Karibi began sternly after she knelt down in order to meet Sasuke's gaze. "That curse mark on your neck has been placed there to corrode your mind, Sasuke." The genin blinked as he glanced at his teacher, the man remaining silent with his steady gaze. "It feeds off of your chakra, but it also amplifies it as well, tempting you to rely on the mark while forcing your body to endure agony." Sasuke grimaced at that as he applied more pressure to the spot on his neck.
"In order to stop that from happening, we're going to seal the mark up. Or rather, Kakashi is." Said man blinked as Karibi smiled back at him before looking back to Sasuke.
"Sit right here in the middle for me, Sasuke. And take your shirt off, too." The genin hesitated before he nodded and did as told, pulling his blue shirt off and setting it aside. He sat where Karibi pointed before he felt a gentle hand on the top of his head. A strange heat began to spread from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet as the boy realized it was Karibi's hand that was placed ever so gently on the top of his hair. His dark eyes widened as he looked up, the redhead smiling down at him.
"You're lucky you still have people who care about you, kid. Most people who suffer from this mark die without any support or love." Sasuke's eyes remained wide before he relaxed, gazing down at the floor; for a moment, his heart had felt at ease from the woman's words.
"Alright, Scarecrow. Glove off." Karibi approached the 26-year-old as he frowned under his mask.
"You should be the one performing this jutsu, not me," the older jonin stated quietly as Karibi rolled her eyes.
"I've already set everything up. The rest is up to you," she stated evenly. "There needs to be heart poured into this jutsu to make it last. And there's no one better for this than his sensei," Karibi stated with a confident smile. Kakashi hesitated before he sighed and complied, pulling off his glove and holding his exposed hand out to the fuinjutsu expert. He watched as the woman pulled out a kunai, giving him a warning look before he nodded.
"Hold on..." Karibi carefully dug the tip of the weapon into the man's calloused skin, the silver haired ninja remaining calm and ignoring the slight pang he felt in his palm. The younger jonin then tilted his hand downward and watched as a trail of blood dripped down his fingers, plopping on to the floor. "There." Kakashi nodded as he approached his student from behind, Karibi watching from outside the circle.
"I'll leave you two to it, then." Sasuke and Kakashi glanced back to Karibi as she nodded to them before she turned and began to walk away. "Good luck!" Kakashi's eyes lingered on the redhead as she faded into the darkness, and then he turned his full attention to his student.
"Alright. Let's start."
As Karibi strolled away, her expression began to fall. She stopped mid-step and waited, her ears twitching and a set of chills causing her body to slightly jerk. She quickly turned around and glanced through the darkness before she relaxed and continued forward.
She never noticed the set of gold eyes watching her as she walked away.
Hello! Yes, it's been quite some time since the last time I updated. I sincerely apologize for that! I have been extremely busy with some personal issues, but since I've had so free time, I thought to update while I could LOL I'm hoping the next update won't take so long to post, but I cannot make any promises—as much as I would like to.
So! Here we are. The knock-out rounds of the chunin exams! I can't believe it's come to this already! It's strange having written up to this point, but I can't wait to keep going and to take this story to where I have planned :) I want to thank all of those who are still reading this story and have been doing so since the beginning! I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to read and favorite and follow and review! The support is genuinely loved :D And I do hope that my efforts and thoughts have shone through the writing, itself. If there is anything I can do better or anything I can fix please don't hesitate to tell me so I can correct the error!
I know a few people have asked some questions about Karibi's relationship with Sasuke and what it could possibly become. Well, you've gotten a little snippet of what could be XD I won't say much else, but I will say this is the official beginning of that little bond! And then there was stupid Orochimaru XP Writing this all over and including him only reminds me of how much of a pain he was and how much I dislike him altogether LOL And I know that there wasn't much between Karibi and Naruto or Karibi and Kakashi, but unfortunately that was just the way the chapter ended up coming out. Don't worry! There will always be more to come, that much is for certain :D
Thank you again to whoever is reading this! I hope you continue to read and continue to enjoy!
Reviews:
lizy2000: I wish they could've just canceled it! Then things would have been so much easier, but then there wouldn't have been much of a series to watch...LOL Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
bored411: Yes! It is definitely going to be interesting to see how Karibi deals with Orochimaru in the future. I've given her a few PTSD type of symptoms just due to her experiences and just how young she had been. Nothing intensely severe, but just enough to show just how much she went through without having to say exactly what. Those two will definitely be encountering each other more, and there will definitely be words shared, but I don't want to spoil anything, so you may just have to way and see ;D Thank you, thank you for reading!
WindyCitySlayer1: I'm so glad you liked the last chapter! I can only hope that you like this chapter and will continue to read! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing! I genuinely appreciate it!
Rina Dragonfly: There is definitely going to be more action. I would call this sort of like the "calm before the storm" type of situation. With everything that is coming up, there are going to be fights and lots of things going on all at once! You'll have to wait and see, though XD Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
LilyVampire: Karibi and Orochimaru do share a history, though it's definitely not a positive one—as you can probably guess LOL More will be explained and seen throughout the updates, so you'll see more of that. I won't say too much of what's going to happen with the chunin exam just because I don't want to reveal anything or spoil too much, and seeing as we're so close you'll be seeing soon! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and for the support! I really appreciate it! :)
Fanfic is love fanfic is life: Hi there! I'm thrilled to hear that you like this story and the way that the plot as been planned out thus far. My whole idea is to keep it similar to all the major points in the Naruto series, but still add my own flare to this story! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update. As I stated above, I've had a lot of things keeping me busy, but I'm hoping that the next update will not take as long. Thank you for reading, though! And I hope you enjoy this and keep reading!
ButterfliesOfInk: Hi there! Sorry for the confusion! Yes, there are time skips throughout this story. I labeled them by months, but I know it gets rather confusing and that is something that I should have probably thought out more! I'm sorry for the trouble! But I hope that you still enjoy the story, itself, and will continue to read! And if not, I understand :) Thank you for letting me know about the confusion and for reviewing! I will have to look into maybe editing it or just keeping it in mind for future chapters! Thanks again!
MyNameIsLaura: Hello! I'm glad to hear that you think this story may have potential! There is a lot that ends up going on, but I'm hoping that it keeps readers' attention and that Karibi is an interesting and likable character! If there is anything I can do better or need to fix, please feel free to let me know! Thank you very, very much for reading this and for letting me know your thoughts!