The third exam was a tournament, no surprises there.
It takes place on an island near the main one, one of the Mizukage's personal training grounds, there is a massive clearing in the center and they built the spectator area around it.
While I spent most of my time during the month-long period between the exams training the Rasengan I did take the last two days to rest, as much as I need to exploit the fact that I'm away from Suna to train my CKC the kind of intense training needed for rapid leveling puts a strain on me.
I barely slept for the duration of the break, depending on energy pills and the odd four-hour nap every three days to keep me going while I restored my SP and CP by meditating.
I knew I would need to be in top form if I wanted to win the tournament, so for the last two days, I just slept and relaxed, and damn if I didn't need it.
I had been ignoring the worry of my team for the most part but I have to admit that they were right, I was driving myself into the ground and while the results speak for themselves I can't afford to burn myself out.
On the day of the exam, there were hundreds of ships taking people from all the islands of the Land of Water towards the island the exam was set to take place in.
It somewhat reminded me of Suna during festival days, the crowds and colorful clothes, the food stalls, and the decorations.
I was one of the last competitors to arrive, it was a struggle to convince the twins that I'd be fine and that they could trust me to win, by the time I got there everyone I knew was there already.
Haku, Mangetsu, and Chojuro gave me a nod but didn't approach, they seemed to be trying to focus and I did the same.
Hana was there too, I expected her to drop out of the exam with her teammates dead but it seems not, I hope she walks away okay because nobody will be saving her this time.
The last three participants, a team from Ame of all places, arrived soon after I did, they didn't look very chatty but the looks they gave me made me nervous.
Not because of them, they don't look that though, but because it could be a sign that I just entered the Akatsuki's radar, and I doubt anything good would come from that.
After the rest of the spectators arrived and everything was ready the event started.
The Mizukage, whom I can now see as definitely Yagura, appeared from his booth above the rest, Zabuza standing to the side and slightly behind him, and started speaking.
His speech was surprisingly similar to what I remember Hiruzen saying during the Konoha chunin exams, bring glory to the homeland, fight with all you have, you are the future of the shinobi world.
Nothing too out of the ordinary, I expected something encouraging viciousness but I guess they are putting up an act for potential clients.
The first match was then announced.
Haku against Hana.
I'll be honest, I expected Hana to give up on the spot right there, she was with me, she saw what Haku can do.
She's either incredibly stubborn or incredibly stupid, because she actually went into the fight.
Unlike what I expected, she didn't lose immediately, while Haku stuck with taijutsu she actually held her own surprisingly well, using her superior strength and her advantage in numbers, thanks to her dogs, to keep Haku on the defensive.
Her Fang Over Fang proved to be powerful, the increased speed it provided allowed her to press Haku and even score a solid hit, one that should have ended the fight.
I already expected Haku had something in mind so it wasn't too surprising, but what it was did surprise me a lot.
As soon as Hana struck Haku with her Fang Over Fang she exploded in a shower of ice, the entire corner freezing instantly.
Ice Clone? I don't remember Haku having that! I don't even remember that being a thing!
It didn't kill Hana, even though I'm sure Haku could have, but it slowed her down and she couldn't dodge when Haku threw a handful of senbon at her.
She blacked out on the spot, losing the match.
I imagine the only reason Hana lasted this long against Haku was that Haku was giving her a chance to show off what she can do and get her promotion.
Hana's sensei, he looks familiar but not enough for me to recognize him from this distance, went to recover her, and after what looked like Haku assuring him Hana would be out for a while but would be fine he took Hana away.
Haku just came back to the participant area and stood by his team, the Ame team was less than subtle with their glaring at him, probably an attempt at intimidation, but I didn't get involved.
The next match was Mangetsu against one of the Ame genin, Ichijou according to the announcer.
It wasn't even a fight, Mangetsu danced around him effortlessly and destroyed him without ever drawing the Kiba blades, a single Wild Water Wave knocking out and nearly drowning the poor bastard, his own attempt at water release not even close to matching Mangetsu's.
I wanted to see what he could do with those before I had to fight him but it doesn't seem like I will be able to, and if the wink he gave me when he got back to the participant area was any indication that was his intention.
The following match was me against Chojuro, I allowed myself to grin.
Showtime.
-[DS]-
I stood across Chojuro in the arena.
"Are you both ready?" Zabuza asks us.
I nod, chakra already flowing through my limbs, Chojuro's nervousness seems to vanish when he draws his blade and also nods.
"Begin!" Zabuza shouts and backs away.
I half expected pre-battle banter but it seems they aren't all that inclined to do that here, maybe because there is a strange tension in the air that discourages it, maybe because giving your opponent time to prepare tends to be a bad idea.
I wouldn't know, all my fights thus far have either been with friends, whom I talk to normally, or complete strangers, whom I don't normally don't have anything to talk about.
Either way, barely a heartbeat after Zabuza started the match I had two wind-coated kunai on my hands and was using them to parry a shockingly fast swing from Chojuro.
I use the shorter reach of my weapons to my advantage to force my way into his guard and go in for the attack, I can already see that if I commit to a fatal blow he will land his before I can land mine, so I twist my kunai to parry his blow and go for a kick.
I land the hit but he rolls with the blow and while I managed to gain the distance I wanted the damage was negligible.
I immediately use Heat Haze, a corona of heat appears around me and I feel the moisture in the air condensing into water, not all that useful of a side effect but anything that can reduce the effectiveness of his water release is a good idea.
He prepares to come for me again but while I'm good at close-range combat and my Heat Haze gives me an advantage I'd be stupid to engage a swordsman in his preferred range, especially when I'm better at a range.
I throw both kunai at him and while he prepares to parry I make a single hand seal and breathe in.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"
I pump it with more chakra than strictly necessary and the sharp gale carves a trench on the ground as it moves, he is forced to jump away to dodge but the kunai are pushed by the gale and one nicks him in the arm.
I grin, first blood.
Before he even hit the ground I'm already moving through hand seals, thanking the fact that my chakra monster build lets me use pretty much any ninjutsu that I have short of Scorch Release as much as I want without having to worry about spending too much.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball"
I target my fireball to where he will land, given that he is midair he will have a hard time dodging that.
He doesn't dodge, instead, he counters it.
"Water Release: Water Bullet"
His water bullet, bigger than average, hits my fireball and creates an explosion of steam, my instincts scream and I bend ninety degrees backward, a gorge opens up on the wall behind me, I only have an instant to move as I see Chojuro dashing through the steam, his blade glowing with chakra.
Of course, it isn't just a temporary sword until he can get Hiramekarei, it is a chakra saber.
He comes at me with an overhead slash but I exploit the fact that I'm already bent backward, I put my hands on the ground to use as supports and perform a mule kick on his stomach with both legs.
He folds only for a second but it is enough for me to do a backflip, landing a kick in his jaw and landing on my feet.
He wipes a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth, I only now notice how the crowd is roaring.
Sure, cheer to the battle, possibly to the death, between two children you savages.
He comes at me again but he is slowing, I don't know if it is lack of mastery or just lack of charka but it seems like his chakra saber is eating through his reserves at an incredible speed.
My Heat Haze doesn't help, I have increased the range enough to cover most of the arena and he is breathing hard already, sweat covers his face and his previously flawless stance now has enough signs of exhaustion that even I, that only knows enough about kenjutsu to counter sword users, can see them.
I sidestep the first slash, duck under the second, parry the third with a hastily drawn kunai, his blade glows and slices through mine in the fourth exchange like a hot knife through butter, but then I act.
One hand draws another kunai in a rising slash, the wind chakra increasing its range enough to force him to take a step back, the other goes for my pouch.
I can almost hear the confusion when I draw a handful of shuriken, a quick throw has them scattered around him, he is smart enough to realize I missed on purpose but not fast enough, not tired as he is, to dodge when I pull on the ninja attached to them.
He goes to slice through it but I channel an abnormal amount of wind chakra through the wire and it slices through his blade, him not being fast enough to reinforce it with chakra, and ties around him.
I cut the supply of wind chakra before I chop him to pieces but the cuts on his arms, legs, and especially the one tied around his neck, show what I could have done.
With his blade in pieces and him at my mercy, he surrenders.
-[DS]-
After our match Chojuro and I walked back to the participant area together, he isn't technically a participant anymore but nobody stopped him so I wasn't going to complain.
There was an overall tranquil mood as we walked, he didn't talk but didn't seem to be all that broken up about losing, he also didn't suffer any serious injuries from our fight, despite me not having held back that much, so he didn't have to go to the hospital either.
To be honest, I only held back at all because I didn't want to reveal too many of my cards or waste too much chakra, I have plenty but there is no point in being wasteful with it when I still had two matches to fight.
After we got there Chojuro went to talk to his team while I just took the time to relax and wait for my next match.
The two remaining Ame genin, a boy no older than 13 and a girl who looked 12, fought but I didn't really pay attention, whoever won would have to fight Haku and I had a hard time believing either of them could get past the ice user.
No, I would fight Mangetsu in the next round, and assuming I got through him, if Chojuro was that good with a regular chakra blade I didn't want to think what Mangetsu could do with the Kiba blades, I would fight Haku in the finals.
Not the easiest opponents possible but hopefully nothing I couldn't handle.
I half expected that they would announce a break between the quarterfinals and the semifinals, if only because the fights thus far have been far more taxing than what is normal for chunin exams and they'd want to have the next rounds draw as much attention as possible, something that won't happen if the chunin are dead on their feet by the time of the finals, but no such luck.
If my opponent had fought harder and tired more, that might have worked to my advantage, as it stands the opening match in the semifinals is me against Mangetsu and he's as ready to go now as he was when he first got here.
What I can't help but find odd is how they've had the winners of the second and third paired, if this was anywhere else I'd say they are letting the winner of the fourth rest, but if that was the case they'd pair Haku with Mangetsu and let me fight the Ame genin.
My best guess is that someone is pulling strings, either to let Haku have the best chance at winning and drawing clients to Kiri or to screw me over by putting me through a gauntlet of the strongest genin here is anyone's guess.
"Let us dance, princess" He says, a smug grin on his face.
I roll my eyes but smile, fighting is actually pretty fun when I don't have to kill and Mangetsu has more than proved that he is good enough that I don't need to worry about killing him by accident.
His hands immediately go to the Kiba, I'm half honored half annoyed that he won't be playing around at all.
Well, I can only answer in kind.
I take a breath, chakra flooding my limbs and heating up at my command, my vision sharpens as I channel chakra through my eyes, and I hyperfocus.
Zabuza declares the start of the match, I barely register it as I see Mangetsu blur, I'm ready.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball"
His blades scythe through my fireball like it isn't even there but I achieve my objective, it blocks his sight and the heat bothers him just enough for him to miss it.
I flicker behind him and take his head off with a roundhouse kick.
I immediately flicker back, the cauterized cut on my cheek the only indication of how close Kiba came, my Heat Haze is in full effect and particularly effective against him, if how long it too his head to reform.
Hozuki, a pain to damage, but oh so vulnerable to heat.
I flicker again and he follows, a game of cat and mouse so fast I doubt any civilians can even see us, impossibly sharp blades and furious lightning bolts tear the arena asunder as gusts of wind carve trenches and fireballs ignite the ruins.
I bend back, dodging a horizontal swing even as I land an uppercut, only for the feeling of water to be overshadowed by the pain of a lightning burn.
He jumps over a kick, immediately moving into a defensive stance to block the follow-up that never comes, his legs are sliced apart as I channel wind chakra through ninja wire, the kunai at the tip acting as a counterbalance and deadly weapon both.
I replaced myself with a piece of rubble, leaving a basic clone behind, I duck behind it and send another clone running away, he falls for it for a split second only but it is enough to slap a few explosive tags on the rubble and kick it towards him.
The explosion rocks the arena.
I dodge a wave by jumping on a tree, only to realize my mistake as he forms out of the water and hits me with a punch-packing far more strength than he had before, I'm launched into the air but scatter him with a gust of wind, buying precious time to recover.
The scenes shift from one to another, I'm so focused on the fight that I can't even tell how long it has been, my chakra reserves are still fine to keep going but the fact that they aren't nearly full tells me I have been burning through it fast.
His movements slow down but so do mine, the heat did a number on him and all the water jutsu he used only served to create a hot and moist atmosphere that tired both of us out faster than usual.
I've had to rely on jutsu a lot more than I'm used to in order to keep his blades away, and had to rely on tricks to make sure I kept some cards hidden for the finals.
By the same token, I can see that even with all the moisture in the air creating this much water and constantly repairing himself with his hydrification technique has left him spent.
I don't know what makes a Hozuki insane enough to use blades coated in lightning, their main weakness, but it is clearly not a problem to Mangetsu.
And then, by an unseen signal, we clash.
We meet in the middle of the arena, eyes meeting for a split second before I sidestep one of his blades, he swings the other and I can tell it will hit me, the angle of the slash won't let it kill me but a wound that bad will cost me the fight and probably leave me stuck in a hospital bed for a long while.
I push my Heat Haze to its absolute limits, hissing in pain as my skin burns, but it works.
He slows down just enough that I manage to get inside his guard, his reach works against him, and with a wind coated kunai I slice his hand off, not something I'd normally do to someone I'm on friendly terms with but he's a Hozuki, he will be fine.
I thrust the kunai at him, even in his stunned state he manages to parry, but it leaves him in a bad enough position that when I snap up one of the Kiba from midair, the hilt still wet from the watery hand, he fails to evade my stab.
The lightning more than the blade are what win me the fight, he collapses into a puddle and I immediately take away his blades, both because I'm fairly sure that if I let them there the lightning would kill him and because if he isn't down yet I need to remove his greatest advantage.
It is not that I don't think Mangetsu will keep going after I have clearly won the fight, it is just that I think exactly that and even if he isn't as bad as the others he is still a ninja and a Kiri-nin at that.
He doesn't, it takes a few moments for him to half form himself back from the puddle but when he does he groans.
"You're a tough one, aren't you?"
"I try" I smile, still not dropping my guard.
He's nearly fully reformed now, his features aren't right and have a watery texture to them but he could be mistaken for a weird human now.
"I lost" He says. "I'm running on empty, if I get destroyed again I might not be able to reform"
I finally let out a breath, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming, damn if he wasn't though.
Then I glace at the participant area, Haku's neutral gaze meets mine, that's right, I'm not out of the woods yet.
The strongest of them is still to come.
-[DS]-
After Zabuza called the match I returned to the participant area, though Mangetsu didn't, and after a glance at my CKP bar told me I was at 50% I ignored the others and started meditating, knowing that I would need as much chakra as possible for the final battle.
Mangetsu just popped a soldier pill to restore some chakra and said that his sensei would want a word with him, I was kind of nervous when he said that normally, when somebody defeats a wielder of one of the Seven Legendary Swords, they get to keep the sword.
Thankfully he isn't a full wielder and was just borrowing it from his sensei, I don't want to know what kind of political shitstorm would come from a Suna-nin, the daughter of Pakura at that, having one of the swords.
I don't know if Haku figured out that I was trying to get some rest or if his opponent was just that bad but his battle ended quickly, with his opponent out cold in less than a minute.
I got lucky, I don't know why but Yagura decided to call a small pause before the finals, barely half an hour but with meditation my recovery speed was unmatched by anyone short of a jinchuriki.
Zabuza came by to talk to Haku but I didn't pry on their conversation, it didn't take too long for him to leave and Haku just stood in a corner and I have in the other.
Soon the pause was over and it was time for the final match.
I am a bit nervous about fighting Haku, while I believe we are even, at worst he is sightly stronger than me, I have been forced to reveal each and every one of my tricks, only Starburst Sphere remained hidden and I didn't know if he saw me using it back in the second exam.
On the other hand, while I do have some idea of what to expect from him the only fact that I have is that he should be weaker now than he was in canon, and that wasn't much.
Does he already know how to use the Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors? What jutsu does he have that I don't know about? He showed an Ice Clone so it is possible that there is more.
But there is no point in worrying about it now, I will deal with it if and when he uses it, right now I need to focus.
There was no conversation before the match, I am tense and while Haku is better than me at hiding it so is he.
A split second after the match began there was a clash, my Scorch Release chakra is naturally hot, Haku's Ice Release chakra is naturally cold, the moment I unleashed my Heat Haze, which in truth is just me releasing pure Scorch Release chakra into the air, Haku also did something similar.
Almost like Naruto's orange Kyuubi chakra clashing with Sasuke's black Cursed Mark chakra our energy collided, while the ground slowly froze around him I could see the air around be shimmer.
Haku blurred, I flickered, our fists met in the middle of the arena, a shockwave spreading and moving both of our long hairs.
He came with a roundhouse kick, I ducked and performed a low kick, he jumped over it and brought his knee towards my face, I leaned back and came at him with an uppercut.
With a ridiculous feat of flexibility that is only possible with chakra he jumped, flipped upside down, grabbed my extended fist, and finished his flip by throwing me into a tree.
I hit the tree feet first and retaliated with wind-coated shuriken, his own wind shuriken met mine in a loud clang.
Oh, right, Ice Release is Wind plus Water.
A hail of ice senbon followed, moving much faster than the previous shuriken, I made a hand seal and took a breath.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough"
I blew them right back at him but with a gesture, they turned back into water, he made a few hand seals and took a breath of his own.
"Ice Release: Bitter Cold"
My eyes widened as viciously sharp and incredibly cold air came at me, the ground freezing in its wake, I flashed through hand seals faster than normal.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball"
It wasn't enough, even with me putting nearly twice as much charka as what is strictly necessary for the fireball the winds just dispersed it and kept coming, I flickered away just in time to avoid the worst of it but I didn't need to look to feel the pain coming from my shoulder.
I flickered forward, his face remaining blank even as he met my wind-coated kunai with his ice-coated one, mine dug into his but didn't make it through and I had to abandon it, he danced around my blows and I just barely managed to avoid his.
I was pushing him, I could tell by the way he held himself, by damn if he wasn't good at making each move seem graceful and effortless.
I managed to corner him after a few exchanges and my kick hit him in the chest, the chakra enhancing it causing him to fly towards a tree, he tried to land on his feet but I put enough power into it that he went through two trees before the third stopped him.
If he hadn't been reinforcing his legs with chakra he would have broken them with that impact, a civilian would have been paralyzed for life if not outright dead.
I didn't waste the opportunity, flashing through hand seals as fast as I could and managing to finish what will hopefully take him out as soon as he recovered.
"Scorch Release: Starburst Sphere"
The orange sphere of Scorch Release chakra shot from my hands and flew towards him at incredible speeds, I smirked when I saw his eyes widen but he quickly recovered and flashed through his own series of hand seals.
"Ice Release: Demonic Ice Mirrors"
It was my turn to widen my eyes when I saw the mirrors forming, even more so because I didn't know they could be used like that.
Three mirrors, each larger than the average adult, formed in front of Haku, my Starburst Sphere hitting them and exploding, the first mirror is shattered by the explosion, the second is destroyed by the spreading heatwave.
The third half melts, the edges are gone but Haku managed to hunker down behind what remains, I can see how his arms are an angry red and but while painful it doesn't look debilitating.
"That was very good" He says. "But I'm afraid I can't lose, Zabuza-sama ordered me to win this tournament and I can't fail"
He flashes through the same series of hand seals but channels much more chakra into the jutsu, dozens of mirrors appear around me as the air goes colder than I ever felt before.
I push my Heat Haze as far as it will go without injuring me but I still feel cold, Haku steps in one of the mirrors and suddenly he is in all of them.
I remember a few things about this jutsu, it isn't a space-time ninjutsu, he may appear to be everywhere but he is only in one mirror at a time, I look to the mirror he entered and flash through hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball"
My jutsu hits the mirror but it quickly recovers, that's not good, suddenly a senbon strikes me in the back, I bite down a curse, how!? I didn't even see him move!
I start flickering, I need to make it as hard for him to hit me as possible, I manage to dodge a few senbon as I try to track down where he is but it is no use, every time I think I've got him pegged he strikes from a different direction.
Soon his senbon start hitting me, moving starts becoming more difficult and I make a choice.
I pick the direction I think he is going to next, my chakra heats up tremendously as I move through hand seals, if I can hit a large enough area it doesn't matter if I hit the precise mirror he is in.
"Scorch Release: Starburst Sphere"
It flies towards the mirrors, the light reflecting off of them and creating a surreal ambiance of orange.
Then it hits.
All the mirrors in that direction shatter, I put so much chakra into it that a smoking crater forms, over half of the mirrors either melt or look close to melting just from the heatwave that spread from the initial explosion.
Then a senbon hits me in the back of the neck and I black out.
-[DS]-
"I ordered you to show Suna's power" Rasa says with a stern frown. "I ordered you to do your utmost to show off and draw clients to Suna"
Waking up with a killer headache wasn't fun, waking up to Hamuko telling me that I got knocked out by Haku wasn't either.
Any sense of annoyance I had vanished when I noticed we were in a boat away from Kiri, I expected that we would leave soon after the exam but I found it odd that they didn't even wait for me to wake up.
Then Himiko told me a civil war started in Kiri.
Apparently, when Haku won Yagura came to congratulate him personally, I didn't get a detailed retelling of events but from what they told me Zabuza took the opportunity to try and assassinate Yagura.
Captain Yamamoto told me all he saw was Zabuza running Kubikiribocho through Yagura and Tailed Beast chakra flaring before he grabbed my unconscious body and ran away, meeting up with the twins in the hotel room and threatening a ship captain to take us back to Wave.
I don't blame him, I wouldn't have wanted to stick around in the middle of a village that was tearing itself apart as a foreign shinobi either, somehow I doubt the invitation we got for the exams would have mattered much if we got caught in the middle of their war.
I spent most of the trip back being carried, Haku was kind enough not to kill me but he still did a number on my body, everything hurt.
By the time I made it back I was put into the hospital for two weeks, I was fairly sure it didn't need to be that long but one of the few advantages of being Suna's poster girl was that they really wanted me to live.
"Your teammates reported your showings in all three exams" Rasa continues.
I expected him to either come to take my report in the hospital or be satisfied with what my team reported, instead I hadn't even gotten out of the hospital yet when an ANBU came and told me I was to immediately report to the Kazekage.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" He asks.
I force myself not to scowl.
"I did my best" I say. "I'm sorry it wasn't enough"
Fucking asshole.
"Quite the contrary" He says, and I have to double-check because he is smiling. "It was more than enough, we already have dozens of mission requests, most of which have your name on them"
What?
"I am disappointed that you couldn't win" He says. "But I knew the exam would be stacked against you when I sent you alone"
"You're not mad?" I ask.
"Why would I be?" He retorts. "You have shown incredible promise, your team has nothing but praises for you, your mission record is spotless"
He shakes his head.
"No, I am not mad, in fact, I am very happy with your progress and have high expectations of you in the future"
He opens a drawer and pulls a sand grey vest.
"You have done your village and your mother's memory proud, chunin Koge" He says. "Continue to do so"
Despite all the bullshit he put me through, despite him using Pakura's memory like that when he killed her, I couldn't help it.
I smiled.
-[DS]-
This chapter took way too long, I know.
This chapter is rushed as hell, I know.
I could go on and on about how IRL has been a pain, I could say how I was getting burned out of the Naruto fandom(it happens every now and then, I step away for a few months to obsess over something else and then come back) and that the idea of writing Chunin Exams wasn't helping, I could make a hundred different excuses.
I won't, instead, I will be brief.
Good news, the chunin exams are over, even if they didn't end on the same note or even the same way I originally intended, and if I have any say in the matter I'm not writing chunin exams ever again.
I swear, all my fanfics from now on will be field promotions only, I don't know who looked at a world so full of potential as Naruto and decided it needed a tournament arc but I hope somebody kicked them in the balls.
Bad news, this fic is going on a hiatus.
I won't bore you guys with the details but in short, I have been unemployed for a while and recently I got the opportunity to get a cushy, well-paying, government job, and all I have to do is pass a test.
Admittedly, I have to be better at like 80k people at that test to even qualify but that is not the point.
I will need to focus on studying and with have to stay away from fanfiction for a while, I will try to squeeze in some time so I can finish reorganizing my profile, I still have a few stories I want to rewrite, but I likely won't have time to update this until at least the test is done and I'm hopefully getting used to my new job.
So, yeah, I'm sorry but in my defense blame the society that doesn't recognize how fanfiction authors should be exempt from such mundane things as paying bills or needing to work for money.
See you guys later.