For some odd reason, I edited chapter 62 before this chapter... not really sure why.
Anyways, without further ado, GUH!
Chapter 61: Advertising Pains and a Guilty Conscience
"Team spotted!" Lee's shouted out in an exuberant voice, shooting her an expectant look. "Tenten, you have them?"
She smirked, already drawing the massive scroll from off her back out in front of her, and flipping her body around. She jumped backwards, and trusted her team to point her in the right direction as she dealt with their pursuers.
"I do!"
The mottled soil below them had turned to sandy dunes a few hours ago. According to Neji, that meant they were just a bit past halfway there. Tenten found herself paying the most attention to the difference in climate, given that, if anything, the lack of any fauna around them meant the winter nights in the dessert were far colder than they were back in the Leaf.
Honestly, though, she'd had enough of crawling through snowy forests on her mission under Sasuke. She'd take the colder weather as long as that white garbage stayed behind in the Leaf Village.
She finally caught sight of the three ninjas chasing them. She didn't recognize them, some unimportant team from the sand, but if they thought they were making it there before their team, and taking their reward?
They were sorely mistaken.
She fired off a good hundred or so weapons as a warning shot, waiting to see if the team would drop back, give up on overtaking them. Instead, their leader, presumably, drew his palms together, and a wall of wind shot out from him, deflecting the weapons, and sending them spiraling into the sand around him.
Tenten almost laughed at the cocky expression the boy gave, as if asking 'that all you got?'.
Oh, don't worry. She almost wanted to shout.
You'll see in a second.
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Hinata wasn't quite sure if they were making good pace or not.
Sure, Kiba kept telling them they were, in fact, according to him, there were only four or five teams ahead of them, but…
She just couldn't see it. There had to be a few more Genin teams better than them… right?
No! She shook her head, dispelling her self-doubt as best she could. That's how I used to think! Now I… Now I've got my team, and Neji's team, and father, and sister. And… and Naruto!
She activated her Byakugan, observing their surroundings without even needing to turn her head. From what she could see, there weren't any threats around them, aside from Team Asuma, who were just a bit beyond their position. She couldn't see terribly far, perhaps a kilometer in all directions, but it was a good radar system, and Kiba's idea of turning it on every so often to check for enemies was a solid one.
None had shown themselves so far, so they resolved to pick up the pace, and catch up to their fellow Leaf ninjas.
It wasn't a particularly quick journey, taking them a good hour and a half to cover the space between them, and that was largely due to the fact that speeding up even a little past their comfortable pace would have consequences later. Their bodies had grown used to a particular speed, and pushing them beyond it…
Wasn't necessarily a great long term plan.
Still, they'd be able to relax in a moment, for they could see Shikamaru and his team just ahead.
Though, maybe it was a sign of just how weird her life was, because when Choji reared up and tried to attack them with a massive fist, she simply sighed.
They jumped backwards, trailing, but not quite falling back.
"What the hell was that, you all!?" Kiba shouted at them, and with how piercing his voice was, Hinata had no doubt they'd heard it. "Oi!"
"I don't recall the proctor's saying anything about working together!" Shikamaru grinned back at them. "In fact, as the people currently taking up the number three spot, I think we have every reason to prevent you from coming any closer!"
"The first three teams to arrive in the Village Hidden in the Sands will receive an incredible boon! The last three teams to arrive… are eliminated from the competition!"
She remembered Naruto's words, even if they sent a shiver down her spine. If they managed to fall behind significantly…
It was a long walk home.
"Hinata!"
The voice that addressed her was firm in its conviction, and she turned to see Shino shooting her a calming smile.
"It's alright." He said, seemingly having read her mind. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Even if you were to falter, we'd pick you back up."
She made to open her mouth, to say something, but found her teeth clicking shut instead, shaking her head as a small laugh bubbled out of her mouth.
She nodded back at him, just in time to see Kiba let out a proud snarl.
"Alright!" Their de-facto leader shouted out, looking back towards Shikamaru. "We're overtaking these bastards! I don't know about you, but I don't much feel like losing, and a 'boon' sounds awfully nice right about now!"
She smiled, as did Shino. They both felt much the same.
"Shino, bugs at the ready, see if you can get a few hundred in front of them, slow them down!"
"Mm."
"Akamaru!" He called to the dog just off to his left, who ran along beside them.
"Arf!" The creature called back.
"Change into me. Let's see how they like a good old wolf-fang-over-fang!"
"Hrf!" The dog growled back, and one puff of white smoke later, the dog had transformed into Kiba, running along beside him.
"Hinata!"
"Yes?"
"Another Byakugan sweep! After that, I'm counting on you to have my back! Shino, after her, it's you!"
The both of them nodded, and she activated her eyes.
They widened almost instantly.
"Three figures, coming up fast!" She shouted, turning behind them, where, sure enough, three figures flew above the desert sands, gaining on them quickly.
It was… the green haired girl she'd seen briefly at the exam. She was… carrying her teammates below her!?
Despite the precarious positioning, neither looked particularly worried. If anything, they looked a bit beleaguered, having to put up with the much younger girl above them, who was fairly clearly having the time of her life, swinging her head back and forth as if she were listening to some music. She was flying thanks to some impossibly thin wings emerging from her back, which seemed to almost resemble an insects.
Before Hinata even realized what was happening, the three had flown by overhead, overtaking them in but a moment. It seemed the same could be said for Team Asuma, for they could do nothing but watch as the strange, bug-like girl and her team flew by them, before disappearing over the horizon a mere five minutes later.
Kiba summed their thoughts up rather succinctly.
"What the fuck was that!?"
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"All clear on our end." A staticky voice echoed out from the piece on Naruto's collar, which he gripped with his left hand, lifting it up to listen just a bit better to the words. "No signs of foul play, but that team from the Waterfall's certainly making strides. They cut ahead seven places in the last hour."
"Impressive, but no cause for concern." Sasuke called back to the security team in charge of their western flank. They were being led by a man Naruto didn't know. "Monitor them, but don't worry about it too terribly."
"Understood, sir."
The piece on Sasuke's lapel went dead, and he let out a weary sigh as he looked over at Naruto, barely eking out a smile for his sake.
"This whole security business is… harder than I'd expected."
Both he and Sakura let out exasperated breaths at that, before refocusing in on the horizon.
Yeah… Tsunade could've given us a bit more information than 'in charge'.
Because as it turned out, in charge didn't mean delegating that authority to others with more experience. Oh no, that wouldn't allow them to grow as leaders at all. Instead, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 had the illustrious job of deciding each and every decision their security teams made, who, what, when, where, why and how.
It was… well, overwhelming was underselling it a bit.
"This is east flank." Haku's voice cut into Naruto's thoughts like a knife, refocusing him just in time to avoid tripping over a particularly tall sand dune. "Keeping our eyes on the front-most competitors. Team Guy seem like they will arrive within the Sand Village in above three hours, under four."
That was pretty insane, at least as far as Naruto could hazard to guess. They were expected to be pretty fast, Chuunin the lot of them, but with those three's head start, it looked like they might actually manage to beat them there, given they were still five or six hours out at their pace.
"South flank." Another voice, this one belonging to Tsume Inuzuka, called casually. "Nothing to report. The last place team has officially crossed into Sand territory. Pulling up the line to the desert's entrance."
"Understood." Naruto called back, before flicking his communicator back off.
"North Flank, our Waterfall team has officially caught up with Team Guy." The man who reported that, who, once again, Naruto hadn't known, let out a small laugh, sounding almost excited. "Man, that team from the sand that they shook off earlier ain't backing down neither! Oh shit, is that– It is! Team Kurenai and Team Asuma seem to be fighting as well! They're competing for the top three spots, too! Damn, shit's really getting-"
"Might I remind you we're not here to gawk, Homer?" Sakura's voice came through scarily firm, even into Naruto's own communicator. It sounded even more terrifying in person, coming from three feet behind him. "Do your job first, then you can worry about 'interesting fights', understood?"
Well. Naruto couldn't help thinking. Seems like Sakura knows this guy.
There was a pause, where the only sounds were the kicks of sand and dirt flying as Team 7 and a few of their personal guard skipped along the desert wastes.
"Roger that, ma'am."
"That's what I thought."
Naruto gulped as he heard the sound of Sakura switching off her communicator, gritting her teeth as she let out a growling sigh.
"I refuse to let those bastards up front watch the Genin fight!"
"We understand, ma'am." A ninja off to her left sounded out, nodding to her. "It's highly unprofessional behavior. If you want, one of us could take over for him-"
"No, no! It's fine." Sakura waved her hands in front of her, grumbling as she turned back to look ahead of her. "Honestly, it's just not fair."
Naruto and Sasuke both nodded, even as the Jonin beside them seemed to grow rather confused, retaking his formation.
Yeah, how dare they! Naruto wanted to shout to the heavens. We worked for a month, gave blood, sweat, tears, and more sweat to this project…
He gazed ahead of him, where nothing but a vast ocean of desert seemed to stretch out endlessly towards the horizon.
"So how come they get to have all the fun, while we're stuck staring at sand!?"
He looked down at the ground, before realizing everyone was looking at him.
A few of the Anbu were snickering quietly to themselves.
"I said that out loud, didn't I?"
He cringed slightly as both of his best friends nodded.
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Ino watched, a bit bemusedly, as the sixteenth, and therefore final, team stepped into the small section reserved for them.
Team Matsuri cheered as they laid on the ground, utterly spent.
"We… did it!" The dopey one, Yukata, shouted out.
"I… I want to die…" Their leader helpfully supplied.
She was fairly sure the lone male of the group was dead.
No, wait, small movement in his left arm.
Only mostly dead then.
"And that's that!" A voice called from the front of the cordoned off area, a young man dressed in an orange jump suit, with black trimmings running along it, and a beaming smile as he took them all in. Naruto waved at her, and she rolled her eyes. "You sixteen teams have succeeded in passing the first stage of the Chuunin Exams."
The three teams who'd failed, two from the Leaf that Ino didn't know, and one from the sand, who'd all yet to arrive, were out of the competition. Even still, with the threat of failure hanging over her, she didn't relax, though she did wave silently to Haku, who blushed and nodded to her. It was evident that the men behind him thought that action a bit at odds with how he normally acted, for they all shot him appraising looks, as if not quite expecting him to be the shy type.
Which made sense, given he didn't exactly show it to anyone else.
He put up a hard exterior, mimicking a particular ninja when it came to acting tough. In reality, he was a real sweetie, and one who should've been allowed to deal with the problems plaguing him long, long ago.
She bit down on the inside of her lip, trying to keep the guilt within her down.
It was always easier than she expected, and, in turn, she always felt worse off for it.
"For now, rest, and relax." Sakura's voice sounded out, and she could hear the amusement in it as she looked over the Genin. "The second test here in the Sand is far more difficult than the one we posed for you, so do yourselves a favor and prepare."
She gulped, sighing out as Sakura turned back towards the other three and laughed at some joke they told. Seeing the three like that, it was easy to forget the times when she and the other Genin around them had once been considered their equals. A hell of a long time had passed since then, and the gap between them had only grown.
Must be nice to be strong. She huffed.
"And look at you! You're of a prestigious ninja family, you have a hidden art! You can be just as good as any of them with a bit of work, can't you!?"
She grimaced as she heard Sakura's words from way back when play as if on a tape in her head, even while the proctors for the second test, almost all of them sand ninja, escorted them into a nearby hotel.
She didn't want to acknowledge her friend as right, even if, realistically, she knew she was, because that wouldn't have proven her point at all. Honestly, there was a part of her that wanted to just lay down and sloth away the rest of her life, if only to somehow 'prove' that she couldn't do it, that she was destined to be a failure, to be weak.
So, she'd have some reason to shout at Sakura.
She shook her head, dispelling her thoughts as she answered some vague question from Shikamaru. She took the chance to observe the area around them and was rather surprised at what she found.
The hotel wasn't shoddy, nor was it cheap or budgeted. If anything, it looked incredibly high-end, for the banquet hall they entered had two twin tables, each large enough to easily sit fifty people each. If she hazarded a guess, she'd have said that Genin would take one, and the proctors and organizers would take another.
"Your exam will begin in three days' time!" Sasuke shouted out to them from his spot near the back of the room, before he stepped to the side, revealing a staircase he'd been stood in front of. "For now, however, I will ask you to please listen to a word from the current interim Kazekage, and also one of the main organizers of the Joint Leaf-Sand exams, Temari."
No one clapped as the woman walked up, but, then again, it wasn't really expected.
Still, Ino could admit that she cut a mean figure. She was wearing the Kazekage habit, a simple white cloth draped around her neck, but it was the hat that really sold the look. Along with that, she'd matured her normal wear as well, into a black outfit which clashed pleasingly with the rest of her ensemble.
All in all, she looked both powerful and important, aided as well by the massive iron fan slung along her back.
"Thank you to our allies from the Leaf, first and foremost, for organizing a fantastic first stage of the exams." Temari shot an honest smile over towards Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, who all looked generally proud of themselves. "They have graciously agreed to continue providing support for the upcoming second, and third exams. Before you are allowed to refill and rest tonight, I feel I must first go over with you just what will be expected of you in this second exam."
Ino stood a bit straighter, as did most of the people around her in the crowd. A boring speech was one thing, but a boring speech with some information?
That changed things.
"Your task is simple. You will be unleashed into the nearby desert wilderness for an entire week." Temari explained. "during that week, you will be tasked with surviving the harsh climates that you'll be faced with, and, perhaps more importantly, both the flora and fauna that reside within."
She nodded at that. It sounded like a pain in the ass, but a pain in the ass that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, either. Honestly, it kind of sounded eas–
"However, there will be complications, of course."
Ah, my bad, guys. She internally slapped herself. Shouldn't have thought that until she was finished.
"Your teams, all sixteen of you, will have to contend with a 'dangerous ninja', who's been 'tracking you and your squad for weeks'." The Kazekage explained, turning towards Team 7 once again. "This idea was provided to us by our gracious friends from the Leaf, who saw fit to add another complication to this stage of the exams."
Ino gagged, partially because they were reeeaaally hammering home this whole cooperation thing, and also because Sakura and Team 7 had once again made her life more difficult.
They owed her more than a few nights spent helping her wrap her damned bouquets.
"This dangerous ninja will be a single Jonin, either from the Leaf Village, or the Sand Village, who's been personally assigned to your team specifically."
That… was beginning to sound rather difficult. Off to the side, she saw Zaku and his team shift slightly, even if they still looked decently confident.
"You may deal with them in any way you see fit, aside from killing them, as, mind you, we'd rather like to have them back." She earned a few bits of laughter here and there. "Capture them, tie them up, or just avoid them for the full seven days. Whatever it is you wish to do, you may do it."
The woman cleared her throat before speaking again.
"Those three who arrived in the village first, Team's Guy, Fu, and Asuma," Ino gave a smirk of absolute victory as Kiba glared at them. "Will be given a rather stark advantage over the other thirteen. They will not only know the identity of the Jonin following them but will be able to spar against them for an entire day in the nearby training arena, whilst the other teams battle it out in the hot desert air. Those three teams need only spend six days in the desert, rather than seven."
She pumped her fist, eager to see the advantage they'd worked their butts off to receive was actually worth something.
"Though we will be handling things slightly differently in this second stage." The interim Kazekage continued. "Teams will be forbidden from attacking one another. This is not to test your ability to out-think your fellows, but a measure to place you up against one another, to test your abilities in a vacuum. The third test, the last stage of the exam, will be testing your capabilities in battle against other teams. Until then, I'd advise you all that cooler heads will prevail."
"And with that, I do believe we've covered everything." Temari spoke again, smiling at them in a disarmingly nice way. "I will leave it to our esteemed proctor's to take things from here. I wish you all the best of luck with the upcoming exams."
She inclined her head ever so slightly, a show of humility that was, while unnecessary, surely rather popular. She heard an all-male team of Sand Genin sigh dreamily as she exited the room.
She couldn't really blame them either.
The proctors, surprisingly enough not Team 7, began organizing them rather easily. The Sand hopefuls had their own floor of the hotel, while the Leaf visitors and those from all other countries took the second floor. The proctors and organizers would share the third and final floor, while security would be interspersed throughout.
They were led to their space on the second floor without much commotion, and it was explained to them that meals would be served at specific times during the day. As they'd arrived third out of the teams, they were given room 3 on their floor. Team Guy took room 1, and Team Fu took room 2. Ino didn't miss that the green-haired girl, presumably Fu, despite having seemingly carried her entire team here, looked amped up, jumping up and down in excitement as her teammates smiled indulgently, if not in a bit of a beleaguered way.
Once they were inside their room, Ino finally allowed herself to unwind. The day had been exhausting, finishing up their travels to the Sand that they had started two days prior. They'd honestly underestimated the trip, and only through a complicated mix of calculated rests, avoiding other teams, and sheer dumb luck had let them come out ahead.
I… I may perish. She thought with an aching groan, finally able to feel just how spent she was. My legs… feel like jelly.
She turned to her right, taking in the rest of their room now that she could actually think to focus on it.
It was a quaint space, uncomplicated, if not undeniably nice. The walls were a rather predictable cream color, though, with the setting, they seemed to resemble more sand than anything. At the front of the room, on a dresser evidently meant to hold their clothing and other accessories, was a communicator with a note next to it, presumably call signs for the rest of the hotel, should they need them.
At the back of the room lay three beds, one of which she was currently laid on. Choji had taken the one by the entrance, which left Shikamaru the middle bed. She didn't envy him that position, given that he'd be caught between Choji, a heavy snorer, and herself, who had a bad habit of reacting poorly to Choji being a heavy snorer.
Eh, not my problem.
She watched as Shikamaru winced slightly as he massaged his legs. He was, most likely, dealing with the pain therewithin now, so that tomorrow, he'd be able to move far more freely than if he'd left them alone.
She wanted to protest, to think such a thing foolish… but she knew it was a good idea. She sighed as she reached down and began working her fingers through her throbbing flesh, trying to avoid thinking about the harsh pains echoing out from it.
We're here to win. She reminded herself. That means doing everything in our power to be as strong as we can be.
A little bit of pain now was nothing compared to the trouble they could find themselves in if she were to collapse during the test. Well, not like such a thing would happen, she'd brought a few food pills with her specifically designed to help deal with cramping muscles, but she hadn't wanted to break such things out so early.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to have a look at herself, maybe fix her make-up just to have something to do. She reached over for her bag–
…
It took her a moment to see a problem.
"Hey, guys?" She looked towards her teammates, hoping beyond all hope she'd merely made a mistake. "You didn't see me leave my bag somewhere earlier, did you?"
Choji put his hand on his chin, thinking about it, but Shikamaru merely eyed her warily, like he was too tired to be dealing with this.
"Bag?" He muttered, before shaking his head and leaning back on his bed. "You didn't bring a bag."
But… I packed a bag! She could remember having done so; she'd even gone so far as to set it by her door so she wouldn't–
The truth struck her a second later.
Oh, she knew where her bag was. In fact, if she'd cared to, she could've told her teammates exactly where she could find it. It was sitting by the door, in a place she wouldn't forget it, back at her house in the Leaf Village.
She sighed as she placed her head in her hands.
"Damnit…"
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A day of their allotted break passed by in relative quiet. There'd been a few minor hiccups, a desert beast that'd attacked their hotel, but it'd been put down remarkably quickly by the green-haired girl named Fu.
Zaku couldn't help but think she was hiding something, especially when her teammates, two adult males who all three of them agreed were disguising some major power, dragged the girl away and out of the room. It wasn't exactly kicking and screaming, in fact, Fu had been laughing merrily, clearly having quite the grand old time dealing with sand monsters and making friends.
Well, 'friends' was a pretty blanket term, given that she'd walked up to and introduced herself to just about every other Genin so far, including their team. She and Dosu had, funnily enough, hit it off decently well, especially when she'd told him she knew a few sound-based techniques.
It was honestly a weirdly heart-warming scene to see Dosu getting on with somebody outside their team – and gods, if the man ever figured out he'd used the term 'heart-warming' in the same sentence as him, he was fairly sure he'd quickly be separated from his own heart – but the encounter had been relatively short-lived, with Fu returning back to the safety of her team not long into it.
"They're cordoning her off for some reason." He could remember Kin saying. "I think the 'why' is the important thing here."
Still, it wasn't like it was their business. They were doing much the same thing as Team Fu as well, staying separated from the other teams, lest they reveal anything about themselves that might assist an enemy squad.
Even if that Temari chick had basically expressly stated there was to be no violence between teams, Zaku trusted that about as much as he'd trusted Orochimaru to protect the three of them during their last exams. A lot of things could happen outside the eyes and ears of the proctors, and he'd be damned if he were the reason his team got sunk.
"What do you think Team 7 are up to?" Kin asked him as they sat around on the second night, casually conversing over a bowl of dates they were splitting between the three of them. "I haven't seen them much at all."
"I'm sure they're just busy." Dosu responded idly as he flicked one of the fruits into his mouth. "They are helping organize this thing."
"Eh, I guess."
"Missing Sakura?" Zaku asked innocently enough, earning him a light slap on the arm for his trouble. "Y'know, we're not bad guys anymore, we can be honest with our feelings now."
Kin shot him a glare that had him cracking up.
"You feel free to be all fruity and flowery," Kin mocked him, even if there was no fire in it. "The rest of us aren't going to act like you."
"Hey, me being 'fruity and flowery' saved the both of your lives, I don't wanna' hear it."
"Both?" Dosu raised an eyebrow at him. actually, he raised two eyebrows at him, since he'd taken to unwrapping his face recently, keeping the bandages in his bag in case he needed them, instead of as a fashion statement. "You do realize I was completely fine, yes?"
"Yeah, sure, hold onto that." He smarmed, unable to understand why the two couldn't just say how they felt for once in their lives. "Seriously though, Team 7 were rushing around earlier. I'd say there's something up, but they didn't look too worried."
"That's… concerning." Kin spoke absently, revealing just a bit of what went on in her head. He didn't comment, despite thinking calling her out on it might be worth a laugh. Wasn't worth her closing up again.
"Hopefully, they're not overworking themselves."
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Naruto laughed, nay, cackled as Sasuke's expression fell. The boy in front of him, who'd only hours prior been his best friend, quailed before his might, his utter superiority.
"No… No, you couldn't have!" He shouted. "That's impossible! I know you have to have one!"
Naruto smirked devilishly as he let his head fall, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum, so terribly amused by the Uchiha's actions.
"You absolute fool…" He muttered under his breath, baring his teeth to the man.
"I have no three's!" He declared his triumph, knew his victory was assured. "GO FISH!"
Sasuke ground his teeth together, the cards in his hands crumpling in rage.
"You bastard!"
From her bed, Sakura let out a sound reminiscent of a dying animal.
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"And you're sure it's no big deal?"
Haku smiled at her amusedly from his bed as she finished drying her hair, tying it up in its trademark ponytail.
"Yes, I'm sure." Haku laughed quietly under his breath, evidently enjoying how flustered she was. "Honestly, you don't even have to ask. What's mine is yours."
She shot him an appreciative smile as she stepped out of the small bathroom he had in his room.
She was fairly sure only he and the other security staff got their own rooms. It was a smaller space than the one she, Shikamaru, and Choji had been given, but then again, if you divided their space in thirds, it would've been terribly smaller than this one. Honestly, she was a bit jealous, but she tried not to let it bother her, especially when Haku had been nice enough to lend her his shower.
…and just about everything else she'd forgotten, including a change of clothes that was way, way too big on her, a toothbrush, food pills, and a set of rather extravagant soaps.
She didn't question that last one.
"Yeah, well…" She found herself feeling guilty, using his stuff when he was supposed to be in charge of security. "When we get back, I'll take you to dinner, or… whatever you-"
His laughter cut through her attempted dialogue.
"W-what!?" She looked at him a bit indignantly, despite the way he waved a hand, trying to get her to stop.
"It's just… funny is all." He leaned over towards her, pulling her into a hug that had her cheeks heating up. "You couldn't possibly owe me anything, Ino."
What…?
"In my darkest hour, you came and rescued me." He spoke softly, lightly rubbing the back of her head. "You pulled me back from the brink, saved me. I'm nothing without you, I exist only for your sake. You don't need to do a thing for me, and I'd be satisfied."
Her stomach turned, a cold feeling settling inside of it, traveling up her esophagus and settling in the back of her throat.
"So, don't worry about me. Focus on your exam, OK?"
She was glad he'd pulled her into a hug, because she wasn't sure if she could've met the boys eyes and not have wanted to run away, not feel bile rise in her throat, not feel her chest tighten, her voice cut off…
She felt dirty. Horrid.
"Y-yeah." Ino pushed him away, standing and looking away from him. "Thanks, Haku. I…"
She could barely open her mouth to speak to him as she sought a way out of the room. She turned towards the doorway, but it seemed so terribly far away. She felt she could collapse at any moment.
And yet, she was at the door, pushing it open. She could remember having called some final words out to Haku, perhaps a 'thank you', or a 'help me' or an 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it I-'…
That was the worst part. The worst part was that she couldn't even claim this was an accident. She couldn't claim this was some unforeseen circumstance. This had happened because she'd chosen it to happen. Was it the best choice she could've made at the time…?
Two years prior, she'd thought so. Now… now she wasn't so sure. It didn't feel nearly as right, nearly as justifiable when she had to look Haku in the eye. When she had to run from him out of some misguided intention to avoid feeling the guilt in her heart.
She'd felt it before, of course. It wasn't a new phenomenon, but she'd always been able to place it aside, avoid letting it affect her. To say that guilt she felt was for the greater good, for Haku's greater good.
"I'm nothing without you, I exist only for your sake."
She choked as she fell to the floor, barely able to pull herself up against the wall beside her and curl into a ball. Her heart felt like it was beating at a mile a minute, and she gripped her chest, trying to keep from passing out.
It was the middle of the night, probably cresting one in the morning. There wasn't a soul roaming the halls anymore, which was good. They wouldn't hear her rasping, wheezing breaths as she struggled on the floor. They wouldn't hear her claw at the carpet, wouldn't hear her sob…
And they wouldn't hear her apologize to Haku for what she'd done to him, either, though that wasn't their faults. Because at the end of the day… she was too much of a damned coward to say a single thing.
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The Third day of rest passed by in the blink of an eye, and the exam was upon them the following morning.
They'd exited the hotel and been led to the opposite end of the Sand Village. Apparently, they now stood in front of a Sand training ground, one used during both survival training and wilderness training. He felt it was appropriate given they'd be dealing with both.
In front of them stood a decently tall wall. It was a good five or so meters high, and presumably a meter or two thick, for a few guards stood at the top, operating what looked like levers to open and close the gate just in front of them.
Kiba looked over the many groups arrayed before him. None looked too terribly nervous, aside from Team Matsuri, who hadn't looked anything but nervous the entire time he'd known them. If anything, he'd have said confidence looked the norm, as several students loudly discussed their plans for navigating the desert.
Not all of them, of course. Team's Guy, Fu, and Asuma stood back, watching them from their own separate place just off to the side. Kiba couldn't help wanting to go over there and strangle the nine of them, because even that girl Fu looked mighty proud of herself, like she might start gloating at any second.
Well, the eight of them was more like it, since Ino looked… horrible, really.
He'd wanted to ask what it was that happened, but the looks he'd gotten from her team had been a pretty decent indicator he should let that particular line of thought go. Whatever had happened, he had a feeling it was due in large part to Haku, who the girl had been doing her best to avoid the previous day, to mixed results.
Wonder if they had a fight. He pondered absent-mindedly.
Before he could really contemplate that too hard, there was a commotion at the front of the crowd.
Kiba turned towards it and watched as the gates to the testing grounds opened before them, and two figures stepped out of them.
He recognized them.
"Hey!" He shouted excitedly, waving at the two of them as literally every head turned towards him. "Gaara, Kankuro! Good to see you guys!"
Akamaru barked out a greeting as well, panting happily as he pounced through the crowd, nuzzling up against the two of them.
To their credit, they handled that well, lightly petting the dog before sending him back over.
Hinata and Shino both backed away from him, looking like they wanted to pretend they didn't know him. He wasn't sure why that'd be, given that all he'd done was say hi to some guys he hadn't seen in an awfully long time.
It'd been… what, two years since they'd fought together on that mission? They had battled up against some weird dude from the sand… Sasori he was pretty sure.
Well, mostly those siblings had fought against Sasori, and he'd occasionally thrown out an easily blocked fang-over-fang, but that was beside the point.
There were a few murmured whispers, mostly from some of the people in the sand as they looked towards him.
Huh… maybe those guys are popular?
Well, Temari had become Kazekage, but it wasn't like that made her siblings special or anything.
"You have done well to come this far." Gaara called out, raising his voice so that the entire crowd could hear him. "We will now begin the second test of the joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams."
Oooooooh. They're proctors…
…I didn't lose points or anything by interrupting them, did I, cause if I did that would su–
"The Interim Kazekage has already told you all the rules of this test, but I will remind you of them once more." Gaara continued. "You will enter the desert and survive within it for a full week. During which, you will be pursued by a single Jonin, who you must either capture, or fend off for the full period."
They all nodded.
"You will be entering into the desert in the inverse order you arrived in. Thusly, the sixteenth and final team, Team Matsuri, will enter the desert first."
The bumbling sand trio walked up to the door, and both Yukata and Matsuri shot Gaara awkward smiles.
"After that, we will be releasing the next group every five minutes, until you've all entered into the desert." This time, it was Kankuro speaking. "Remember, team to team combat is prohibited, and those who are found to be taking part will be removed from the exam. Understood?"
There was a chorus of acknowledgements, and Team Matsuri stepped up to the plate.
"Very well, in that case…"
Kankuro and Gaara stepped back, and up at the top, the men manning the gates twisted the levers that controlled the massive wooden doors.
The gate opened at an almost agonizing pace, though he couldn't tell if that was on purpose, given that he'd missed the sand siblings' earlier entrance. Even still, when it finally stood ajar, the desert beyond it didn't look particularly… welcoming.
He got the feeling that was probably the point.
"Let the Second Test of the Join Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams…"
Team Matsuri charged forward.
"BEGIN!"
End Chapter 61
Well then, we enter the second exam!
I've written the words 'Joint Leaf-Sand Chuunin Exams' A lot today.
Nothing much to report, other than that the hype for Worlds in League of Legends is fast approaching. Not sure if... anyone cares, but if you do, get excited!
Alright, that's all from me! See you all next week!