Chapter Eight
Miyako groaned as Takeo used a healing jutsu on her wound. It had been twenty-four hours since the second part of the exam had started, and their examiner had attacked in-person early that day. Miyako, who had just woken everyone up from resting the night, had been hurt during the attack. The damage was minor – just minor cuts and scrapes from an earth style jutsu – but it had slowed the group down. Despite the fact that the two fights had put a dent in their travels, Team Thirty was still on schedule thanks to Takeo's mathematical skills.
"Makes you wish you had the first shift, eh Miyako?" Takeo teased as he headed up the last scratch, the girl shooting him an icy-blue glare.
"I thought it'd be best if you had the most fulfilled amount of sleep, being our medic and all," Miyako stated, and Hisoka and Fumito nodded in agreement to her statement. "And it turns out I was right."
"Did it occur to you that I might not have been needed if you go more fulfilled sleep?" Takeo questioned as he stood up, helping the girl up.
"Perhaps, but we survived and we're not behind schedule, we have till the end of tomorrow to get to the village, and we're just under half-way there. Besides, our examiner has no plans to attack us anytime soon. She plans on using the last fights information to beat us," Miyako explained, and Fumito looked at her in confusion.
"Miyako-chan, how do you know this?" he questioned.
Hisoka cleared his voice, grabbing the elderly man's attention. "It's best not to think about it. The knowledge will eventually come out, but for now, its best kept as a secret from even most of our own village."
Fumito nodded, not understanding completely, but understanding enough that he knows they won't tell him. For good reason too. After all, being a Shinjitsu gave Miyako a kekkei genkai, and the second stage of the kekkei genkai allows her to hear the thoughts of others – but only if she's actively searching for them. She had that skill since she was found by the ANBU that one winters day – that was how she understood what the Hokage was thinking, and part of the reason she knew he was telling the truth (the other was the first stage of the kekkei genkai which gave her a feeling if someone was being truthful or lying to her).
"Come on, we best get moving. I want us to be almost to the village by the time we make camp," Miyako ordered, and everyone nodded, grabbing any weapons they had used in the fight with their examiner before setting off, the old man looking at Miyako with something akin to recognition in his old, brown eyes.
...
No one approached as the four made their way into the village, they had to look around for some check-in before settling in. they soon found it in the form of a temporary booth where Jitsuko – the proctor for the exam – along with her twin sister Aika sat, looking board out of their minds. When they saw the group, they seemed surprised and waved the group over.
"Hmm, you made it I see. Barely a scratch on you three too. Your examiner told me your skills; I'm impressed. Already five teams have failed, six teams have already arrived, well, we can make that seven teams now. Go into the town's inn, they have rooms for your team and your civilian. Stock up, because tomorrow you best head off. The second part isn't going to be as easy," Jitsuko explained as she marked Team Thirty off as making it to the check-point.
The team nodded and walked into the village, easily finding the inn and signing in. despite being in the 'safe-spot', the team still wanted to keep an eye on Fumito. It was decided that Hisoka will watch him, and share a room with him, whilst the other two went out to get supplies and shared a room together.
"It would be nice to have proper food tonight," Takeo stated as Miyako looked through the vegetables in the only grocers in the town.
"Yes. I'm thinking just sweet and spicy curry with rice. What do you think, Takeo?" Miyako questioned as she grabbed a couple of apples and a pineapple from the shelf.
"Hmm, I love your cooking. You could cook horse shit and still make it the best thing I've ever tasted," Takeo stated as he grabbed a small bag of rice. "Do you need any herbs or spices?"
"No, I carry those with me. I do, however, need some minced pork, celery, and Pak Choy. I'm going to grab some shiitake mushrooms, seeing as Hi-kun loves them so much," Miyako stated and Takeo ran off to get what she listed.
Haruno Mebuki – Miyako's adoptive aunt – had taught her how to cook when the girl graduated from the academy. Mebuki believed that if her niece was old enough to go on missions and hold weapons, she was old enough to cook. At first, Miyako cared little for the idea, but she quickly grew to love cooking. If you asked Miyako what her hobbies were, cooking would be the first thing to come out of her mouth, followed by learning new things and training.
"Found them!" Takeo announced as he put the items into the basket Miyako was holding, just as she found some whole shiitake mushrooms. "Is that everything?"
Miyako nodded and walked up to the cashier, who scanned the items. Miyako paid, surprised at how expensive some of the items were compared to other places, before leaving the store.
"I'm going to go and stock up on my shuriken and kunai, you need anything?" Takeo questioned Miyako as he noticed a weapons store.
"No, I'm good. I'll be in our room, preparing dinner. When you're done, do you mind getting Hi-kun and Fumito-san for dinner?" Miyako questioned and the boy nodded before heading off.
Miyako smiled as she made her way back to the inn and up to her room. She walked in and went about cutting everything up, preparing the curry with a small smile on her face. This dish wasn't actually something Mebuki had taught her, it was in-fact Miyako's grandfather on her mother's side. She had remembered the dish well enough to explain it to Mebuki so Mebuki could teach her when she was older. It was among Miyako's favourite dishes – even if it did have shiitake mushrooms in it.
...
The next day – tummies full, and well-rested – the trio of shinobi and a single civilian signed out of the village just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. The group of four walked leisurely, as many of their other genins test-takers shot passed. The objective of the test wasn't to finish the quickest but to protect the civilian and themselves from danger. Like usual, Takeo was next to Fumito's right side, with Miyako at the back, and Hisoka at the front. There was no talking as everyone, even the ninja, were still a bit drowsy from their good night's rest. Of course, their tiredness quickly faded as a group of shuriken where aimed towards Fumito.
Hisoka, who had heard the sound, activated his one tomoe Sharingan and deflected the attack as Takeo pushed Fumito to a boulder where Takeo stepped in front of the elderly man, prepared to defend from the front or side as the back was protected. Miyako – who was surprised she hadn't sensed the thoughts of their attacker – grabbed a kunai, standing next to Hisoka as their examiner stepped out from behind a tree, a smirk on her face.
"I figured it out, you – girl – can read minds, that's why you sensed my previous attacks. Though it appears that there is a limit to them," the woman stated, holding a sai in her hand. "Now then, are you three ready to fail?"
Miyako twitched, and Hisoka shot forward, weaving hand signs at a rapid pace. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
The flame shot towards the woman, who leapt over the flame, only to stare in shock as she came face to face with Miyako who had just finished weaving her signs. "Paralysis Jutsu!"
The woman gasped in surprise as she felt her body being restrained with invisible ropes. She started to plummet towards the earth, and Hisoka shot after her, kicking her into a tree, leaving a dent as the woman slid down the trunk. Hisoka and Miyako jumped back next to each other and watched as the woman stumbled to her feet, the jutsu fading away. The woman glared at the duo, blood dripping from her lip. She sneered as she quickly weaved some hand signs.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" she shouted out as a wall of mud hid her from view. Miyako and Hisoka shot into action, destroying the wall with a well-placed lightning jutsu, only to find the woman was gone.
The duo looked around, even going as far as jumping into a tree in the event that she was underground, but they saw no sign of her. Nor did they sense her. That was until she shot up in front of Takeo. Takeo, who had suspected the move charged towards the woman, chakra around his hand that looked as if he was going to karate chop her, only the attack seemed to do no damage as the woman jumped back after Takeo's hit landed on her chest.
"So, you're the weak link," the woman sneered with a smirk, only to freeze as she started to rapidly cough. "What?"
"Chakra Scalpel, it does damage to the cells itself. If you hurry, you may find a medic before you heart stops beating," Takeo stated with a blank look on his face.
The woman's eyes widened in fear, before glaring at the trio and shooting off back to the town, dying for this exam was not on her agenda.
...
"Congratulations onthe eight teams that had passed the second exam. We still have twenty-four participants, and the last round will be held tomorrow. Gaku will take over," Jitsuko announced, gesturing to a heavily scarred, but small man who had a smirk on his face as he stepped up so that all the examinees could see him in the classroom they were seated in.
"Tomorrow will be the final part of the exam. From this point on, it's every man for themselves. The exam will be watched by nobility, and your kage and this exam is a battle royal. All twenty-four of you will be placed into an arena, your job is to be the last man standing. You can, of course, do the test in your teams, but remember, that only one will win. There are no rules, you can kill and seriously injure one another if you need to," Gaku explained. "How you choose to do the exam is your choice, but remember, you just need to last long enough to show your skills to your kage. Now then, before we continue, does anyone want to pull out?"
Miyako looked around the room, surprised when seven genins held the hands up. They were all badly injured, a couple even having broken bones, and they knew they wouldn't stand a chance. That brought down her competition to sixteen, and she liked those odds better. As the proctor took the names of the people who pulled out, Miyako noticed movement from her left and saw Takeo walking up to the man, pulling out. He walked back to his teammates, who looked at him in shock.
"Why?" Miyako questioned simply.
"I don't want to become a chūnin until I become a full medic. I only took the exams so you two could. I'll be watching in the crowd, kick their arses," Takeo encouraged and Hisoka and Miyako grinned, high-fiving each other as the same thought crossed their minds: only fifteen people, not including myself, left.
...
Miyako and Hisoka stood next to each other in the line of genin in the middle of a large arena that had been built just for this exam. The seats were full of spectators, and the noise was deafening. In a box sat the Third Tsuchikage, along with the Third Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage. The Raikage and Mizukage were unable to attend, so their right-hand-men took their place. Surrounding the kage booth were nobles from all the lands, including a couple of feudal lords. The rest of the seats in the oval-shaped arena were full of civilians and shinobi who have all came to watch the fight that was about to happen. The proctor of the exam stood on a ledge over the entrance to the ground of the arena, a microphone in his hand.
"Welcome to the third part of the chūnin exams! In front of you are sixteen genins who hope to impress you with their skills to become chūnin of their respective villages. This is a battle royal, every man for himself. The genins goal, last long enough to show their skills and to impress you all. Each genin will start in a designated zone," Gaku explained, and on cue, the genin moved to their spots, teammates were located on opposite sides of the arena. "When the gong goes, the battle royal begins!"
The crowd, which had fallen silent at Gaku's announcements cheered and the proctor gestured to the women behind him, who banged the gong and the genins started the battle. In a flurry, genins started summoning jutsus, attacking one another, and setting up defences. Miyako hid in a tree, watching as two genins – one for the Land of Grass and the other from Amegakure – fought it out right in front of her. Hisoka was also hiding, his Sharingan activated, as he watched the movement of three Kumo genins against a Suna genin. Cheers and shouts could be heard from the crowd, and if you paid close enough attention, you can also hear the sounds of bets being placed.
It was absolute chaos in the arena, the spectators had trouble telling what was going on, and Miyako wondered if this was a good idea on the Tsuchikage's behalf. She thought that, perhaps, it would've been better for individual spars instead of a full-blown battle royal. Miyako watched as one by one the genins started to lose to their opponents, a smirk covering her lips as she realised her decision to hide and wait was the best thing she could've done.
Hisoka – who was on the other side of the arena – was having similar thoughts, and he knew that soon only Miyako and himself would be left. This actually worried the Uchiha, as he wasn't sure he could even stand a chance at beating the young girl. Despite being younger than him – and weaker than him in terms of brute strength – Miyako was a formidable opponent. Her kekkei genkai was part of the reason for this. She has leant to use it in battle, knowing what a person will do before they themselves truly know. It was no wonder that even the feared Uchiha Clan were weary of the Shinjitsu Clan.
...
Almost an hour later, Miyako and Hisoka stood facing each other in the now destroyed arena. They were the last two genins, and the arena was now filled to the brim with anticipation as they had witnessed Hisoka taking out two other genins, and Miyako had just revealed herself for the first time. The two made no move, making the crowd restless.
"Are you scared, Hi-kun?" Miyako mocked making the Uchiha smirk as he threw eight kunai towards the girl.
She dodged and the fight properly began. Hisoka making plans and changing them so quickly that Miyako had trouble keeping track of his thoughts. In the end, she pulled out of his head and used her instincts to battle her teammate. Justus went off, weapons went everywhere, and more of the arena got destroyed as the two genins moved so fast that the civilians and the chūnins in the crowds had trouble seeing what was happening. The kage present were nervous at the skill the two Konohagakure genin showed, as were the kage stand-ins who took note of the two genins. Soon, after a wind jutsu by Miyako covered the field with dust, the dust cleared showing Hisoka – Sharingan blazing – with a kunai to Miyako's throat as she laid under him, breathing hard.
"The winner is–" Gaku gasped as, from behind Hisoka, Miyako appeared seemingly out of nowhere, kicking the Uchiha down before using the paralysis jutsu on him and holding her kunai to his throat.
Hisoka's eyes were wide, having thought he had won. His gaze fell to the Miyako on the ground, only for it vanish – showing that it was nothing more than a simple clone.
Gaku cleared his throat. "The winner is Haruno Miyako of Konohagakure!"
Cheers filled the arena as Miyako released her jutsu and helped Hisoka up. He grinned and pulled her into a hug, whispering into her ear, "Good job, Mi-chan."
"For those of you who didn't win, keep in mind that your kage may still make you chūnins, you will not find out until after you return to your village. This is the end of the Chūnin Exams!" Gaku announced, riling up the crowd more.