Notice: I do not own Naruto, and make no claims of copyright on the
characters who are not my property. Original characters, however, are mine.
Author's Notes: So, its time to start in with the Chuunin exam. I've tried to be original and not repetitive with things, which will become more apparent as additional chapters are put up.
Many thanks to all reviewers, I appreciate any comments I receive!
Step into the Mountains
It was snowing when they entered Hidden Stone, the village high up in the heights. The snow fell clear and powdery, to lie upon an already solid carpet of it. The snow had piled several feet up in the storms of the past few weeks, and in other places had reached even greater heights. Neji and Shiren had spent much of the trek marveling at it, having never seen the world turned into this blanket of white before, an utter carpet of frozen water coating the land. It had made progress hard, until Gosain had fashioned snowshoes for them. Xi continued to walk steadily without such aids, and he did not seem to sink in at all. More and more Neji was certain that the dragon ninja carried some device that provided him with this ability to defy the cold.
All the week long journey Shiren and Neji had continued their practices, becoming quite familiar with each other's fighting styles and learning their capabilities intimately. Neji now felt he knew Shiren's abilities almost as well as he had known Tenten or Rock Lee's and he was also certain that they trusted each other. Of course, he had not been foolish, and had included Gosain in these sessions; indeed he had ordered the older ninja to instruct them in how to fight in the snow, figuring it would be a major disadvantage in what was to come. Learning those methods was difficult, especially trying to maneuver while wearing the cumbersome snowshoes, but Neji recognized that such training was essential if they were to win a fight against the Stone ninja up in the mountains.
They reached Hidden Stone at midday, and Xi took over then. He went to the office of Tsuchikage, the leader of the village. They registered for the exam, and arranged for rooms, and then went to them, ignoring other ninja along the way.
So many ninja. Neji saw in surprise. The Stone Village was not that large, nestled up in the mountains as it was, but there were ninja everywhere. There must be as many as were in Konoha during the exam, he decided. It was unpleasant to realize that this was more than Konoha now possessed. So many gone, and all these come here? Stone, Rain, Grass, Sand, Lightning, Mist, Neji recognized all these countries and more, though his was the only forehead protector graced with the crest of Konoha. There were no Waterfall ninja, but Neji knew they were coming. Perhaps the most dangerous ninja have not yet arrived, since that Mizuho user is not here yet. Then he amended that thought. No, the most dangerous ninja have already arrived; we are the most dangerous team.
Xi steered them through stone deftly, taking back roads and alleys, knowing the outline of the village well. "What are we avoiding?" Neji asked him at one point.
"We are avoiding my countrymen." Xi said sternly, voice cold as the snow that covered the ground. "It's best they not be given any time to realize that we are here."
That remark effectively killed the conversation, for it was clear that all four ninja had reasons to conceal their presence from the rest of the group.
They found their rooms, a small apartment with two bedrooms and a kitchen, designed for something of a prolonged stay. Mostly for Xi, Neji realized, since none of us will use this unless we make it through the second stage.
The four ninja walked in and set their things down, quickly stripping off the soaking winter clothes and setting them to dry. Xi was not wet at all. "The three of you should stay here until tomorrow morning, when you report to the examination hall. Better that none of the ninja should see you."
"What about our own intelligence?" Neji asked Xi.
"Surely you don't need to scout out these ninja today. Simply arrive early tomorrow and inspect them as they arrive. You all know how this goes." The older ninja gave Neji a hard look. "I want to prevent the idea that you are a mixed team from getting out as long as possible Neji. If they find out that many of the jounin will instruct their genin to target your team."
"I see." Neji replied to Xi's back as the older ninja left.
The dragon ninja did not return that evening for dinner, or later. The three ate quietly and discussed what they expected one final time. "Each chuunin exam is different," Gosain went over it for perhaps the tenth time, but they were all just as serious as before. "Still, there is a set pattern. The first exam will involve some sort of test to judge our competence as a team and our nonviolent skills. The second exam will be survival based and designed to drastically reduce numbers, and the third exam is one on one matches in a tournament for the lords one month later. Things are harsher here than in Konoha, Neji, Shiren, remember that. There will be over a hundred genin participating I'm sure, and likely at least twenty will die, and probably a good deal more will be injured."
"I will not set out to kill anyone." Neji told Gosain, making it very clear. "And I am certain neither of you will, but if we are attacked with deadly force I will answer as a dragon ninja."
"Ah." The older genin replied. "I expected that. Don't think I won't fight with everything I have either, I need to become a chuunin here."
Shiren nodded quietly at Neji, giving him and then Gosain a pleasant smile, making it clear that she was confident in the three of them. "Just a little walk in the snow, and hopefully nobody else gets hurt."
They went to bed early, conscious that there would be little time between the first exam and the second, and already planning ahead toward that, knowing it would be likely the most difficult of the three for them.
In the middle of the night Neji awoke, conscious of something crawling through the back of his mind, a strange sense of danger. He walked out of the room and into the kitchen.
Xi was lying against the wall with a kunai in his hand, sleeping sitting up. His body was relaxed, but his face was not.
The moment Neji stepped into the kitchen Xi's eyes opened and he saw him. Xi motioned with his head, beckoning Neji next to him. Looking at him, Neji saw that Xi seemed to be exhausted, something he had never seen the dragon ninja before. He sat down beside the man. "What?" He was sparing and quiet with his words, knowing that there was something important for Xi to say, something terribly important for him to even be here.
"Neji, listen carefully." The dragon ninja's voice was hoarse and cold, tired. "This is not going to be as easy as I expected. There is something going on in this village, and I could not determine what it was. This will not be as bad as Orochimaru, but I think the Akatsuki have turned their eyes this way, and I am worried. Beyond that, Neji, when you go to the examination hall tomorrow you pass beyond my sight and ability to monitor until the second stage is completed. You will be on your own then, and your teammates lives in your hands, and I am certain someone is targeting those lives. Neji, try to stay clear of the Earth ninja, and beware of Waterfall. Very, very cautious of Waterfall."
Xi motioned Neji away then, but took a deep breath and added a single sentence more. "Remember, always remember, that even in this you are a dragon ninja."
Neji stood up completely then, and headed back toward his room. Xi was already asleep by the time he reached the door.
When morning came the Dragon ninja was gone.
Neji did not mention Xi's visit in the night, but instead led his team to the examination hall.
* * *
The mixed team was the very first to arrive at the examination hall. They woke up before dawn, and as the first rays of light peaked over the eastern peaks, Neji, Shiren and Gosain were already seated and waiting.
The first of the chuunin who served as an examiner arrived about ten minutes later. He opened the locked door of the examination hall and then stepped back in shock, drawing a kunai. "Who are you and how the hell'd you get in here?" he barked at them.
"Draci Neji." Neji answered him. "We're here to take the exam."
"That still doesn't answer how you got in here." The chuunin replied.
"Why should it matter?" Neji responded. "I don't have to tell you my secrets, and this wasn't a high security area or anything." There's no need for you to know that I picked the lock with a key made out of my chakra. I tried it just to see if I could, I'm still rather surprised that it worked.
"Fine." The chuunin answered, moving over to one of the desks and picking up a clipboard. "If you're really who you say you are." He scanned down on the clipboard. "Draci Neji. From Konoha, ah, yes, that's got to be right. There's no other entry from Konoha. You're companions are?"
"Kabure Gosain."
"Senirai Shiren."
"Yeah, you're on here." He muttered and looked at the clipboard again. "Ah, you're that team. I should have figured."
"Is that meant to imply something?" Neji questioned darkly, eyes narrowing.
"Not really, aside from the fact the your team mixes to hidden villages and is sponsored by the legendary Draci Xi who was listed as 'deceased' up until yesterday, and that the examiners gave us all a special briefing about how to deal with you, no it's not meant to imply anything at all." The Chuunin seemed ready to laugh mockingly in their faces, but he caught Neji's gaze, and thought better of it. "All right, you've arrived. Sit there then. I expect other ninja will be along in a minute."
The three watched the chuunin go and sit over by his desk. The man was like most of the Stone ninja they'd seen so far, gruff, sturdy, and dark skinned. He looked quite strong, but wasn't particularly big, simply had the heritage of the mountain people. Neji turned back to watching the door. "Each of us is to keep a count, how many ninja, what village they come from, and mark out anyone who seems suspicious. We'll compare things once everyone has arrived."
"Right." They said, agreeing with the plans that had been made the night before.
So they waited, and watched the ninja teams arrive. They came from all the countries save the Leaf, more ninja than Neji had ever scene in one place before. The teams arrived slowly, some leaving their jounin outside the door, some coming without jounin to guide them, all assured and confident in their movements. If there were rookies, then someone had prepared them well. Stone ninja predominated, the harsh and mountain carved ninja that often seemed surprisingly kind underneath the skin. They were the most comfortable here, and did not shiver from the cold, but talked and laughed with their companions. Few other ninja were as well adjusted as they, and few others arrived early. Many of the Stone ninja stared long and hard at Neji's team, but none of them said anything, that was not their way.
As the morning wore on others started to appear, Mist ninja and Rain ninja, with their grim faces and strange accoutrements. Grass ninja with their confident smiles and easygoing manner, and lightning ninja. The ninja who bore the bolt and cloud symbol of Hidden Cloud all gave baleful stares at Gosain and Shiren, and many looked at Neji as if they intended to kill him. Bravado, he decided, recognizing the true motions and body language as he always did. He saw the Lightning ninja look at Gosain and quiver. They are afraid, either of him or his reputation. These ninja, they will mock us and aggravate us, but they are not going to fight with us. Neji pushed them aside and wondered about something more disturbing. Where are the Waterfall ninja?
Indeed, it was almost noon, and all the chuunin examiners had arrived, save only whoever was to direct the exam itself, and still not a single Waterfall ninja had arrived. There should be twenty-one, Neji recalled clearly. They will come, four teams that were defeated in the last exam, and three more beyond that. Dangerous ninja, but where are they, what are they planning?
As the clock read ten minutes until noon, the Waterfall ninja appeared. They slammed the doors wide open, and seven teams of ninja, lined up in columns, marched into the examination hall as if they owned it. Neji glared at them, examining each one in turn. He remembered the faces of twelve, even if he knew nothing about them, and also recognized one more. Mizain Seve. The thought was grim and angry. Should we meet outside this hall I will have to kill him. Neji remembered what he had done to Ryukin; the technique was graven into his memory, his body, carved there by blades of chakra, though he had not dared to even practice it since that day. It was a technique so dangerous that he could barely contemplate it. Yet, should I meet that boy from Waterfall, I will have to use it again.
The other eight could not be placed, but Neji could tell that they were older, strong. They are indeed planning something to arrive like this, but what is it?
"So, that's everyone I imagine." Gosain muttered from Neji's right.
"Ah." Neji and Shiren responded in unison.
"So, how many?" Shiren began.
Neji took up the numbers from that point on, reciting what they all had seen. "Eighty-one genin from Stone." He began, starting with that astounding number, more teams even than had come from the Leaf to take the exam in Konoha, though not by much. As Gosain and Shiren nodded to confirm it, he continued. "Nine ninja from Sand, Twelve ninja from Mist." Those countries were far away, most of their ninja would have gone to Konoha, but obviously a few had made the journey to take the exam in the cold snows. That choice could not be discounted. "No ninja from the Leaf, and forty-two from Cloud." That completed the five great shinobi countries, the Lightning ninja numbering second in presence to the Stone ninja, but still having only perhaps half the numbers. Of course, that did not include Neji's teammates. "Fifteen from Rain, twelve from Grass, and twenty-one from Waterfall. That plus us, one hundred and seventy four ninja in total." That was the completed count. Gosain and Shiren nodded their assent, confirming that they had the same numbers.
"Quite a few." Gosain remarked. "Must because so many skipped out on Konoha the last time."
"Perhaps." Neji said, not wanting to speculate on what that would mean. "Do you see anyone notable?" He asked the other two.
"I don't know any of these Stone ninja, but one of the Cloud fellows is somebody I know. Yilosi Nemari," Gosain pointed to an extremely tall genin who stood in the corner. He carried, of all things, a long spear. "He's a dangerous fellow, didn't make chuunin for lack of victories last time, but for lack of restraint."
"Can you beat him?" Neji asked, trying to measure this lightning ninja's strength.
"Yeah," Gosain answered. "It'd be tough though."
"I see. Shiren?"
"There's a team of grass nins over by the far wall, they look strange, almost as if there are things growing out of them, and one of them has cruel eyes." She said cautiously, and with a dark touch.
Neji looked over at them. Indeed, the Grass ninja were strange looking, different even from other Grass ninja he had seen, who were usually quite ordinary. The one who led them, he did either have something growing out of him, or he had attached thorns to his outfit somehow. A very strange technique, whatever it is. His eyes are viscous, and also lost, like my own were, or Gaara's. That did not bode well.
"Also," Neji said, speaking on his own. "There is a Waterfall ninja, the one with aquamarine hair and red eyes, Mizain Seve." He told them quietly, making sure no nearby ninja could hear. "He has a very dangerous bloodline limit, the Mizuho."
"Water fire?" Shiren asked. "How does that work?"
"I'll explain later," Neji answered, as the Cloud ninja Gosain had indicated, Nemari, approached them.
The tall genin had a cruel face, with scars on both cheeks, and anger seemed ever present in his eyes. "So, Gosain," He said mockingly, "Is this the best you could round up to get killed by your curse? An outcast and some moronic leaf ninja?"
Gosain bit down hard, his hands clenched, but Neji stretched his arm over, restraining him. Then he stood up. "I'm the one who 'round up' these two." Neji said in his most derisive Hyuuga voice. "And that's enough from you. We are here to take the exam, not to squabble with the likes of you." He stared up in the Cloud ninja's eyes with his own pupil-less white spheres, and the man blanched.
"The hell! You're a thrice damned Hyuuga!" The words rang clearly through the stadium. Heads turned, and Neji saw the both the Grass ninja Shiren had noticed and Seve had turned to stare at him. The Waterfall ninja's eyes were burning.
Enough, I'll end this quickly, Neji decided. "Go and sit down, or I'll sit you down." He said.
Nemari flashed him a look that would have sent young children screaming in terror, and made many older men blanch. He had the face of a true devil. "I'm not foolish enough to struggle with a Hyuuga now, besides, if you're with Gosain, you're sure to die without me having to do anything." He walked sedately back to his bench.
Then it was noon.
A flash of smoke from the front of the room where there were no benches, and the rest of the examiners appeared. They were stone ninja in brown uniforms, chuunins all, with sadistic grins. In front of them stood a smallish ninja woman, also in the garb of stone. She wore a ski mask and slim outfit that looked like it was for rock-climbing or some similar pursuits. She was also covered in snow, and laughing. "An amusing display." She said in a surprisingly pleasant voice. "But now everyone had better go sit down."
Ninja dropped to their seats immediately. When one Stone ninja was two slow to move, she sent a kunai sailing over his head. "I expect my instructions to be followed rookies." She said, voice still pleasant and happy. "I am the first examiner of the Chuunin exam, Special Jounin Chi Kiri."
Strange woman, Neji decided. Still, there are many talented ninja with that sort of falsely foolish exterior. He knew that very well.
"We will now begin the first exam of this Chuunin exam. There are fifty-eight teams participating, so we have to be prompt." She smiled as she said it, but there was a strange sadness underneath the smile. "So, bring your applications to the examiners at the front if you haven't already. Then take your bench and stack it against the wall."
"What? Against the wall?" Some ninja demanded.
"Don't ask questions rookie!" Kiri shouted at him. "I gave an order, so follow it. Anyone who fails to follow my instructions in the future will be failed immediately. You're ninja, not school children! Move it!"
Neji's team had already handed in their applications long ago, so they picked up the bench and brought it over to the wall without saying anything. This is strange, Neji thought. If we are putting the benches away this obviously won't be a written test, but what sort of exercise is this?
Once all the benches had been stacked against the wall a very impatient Kiri shouted another order. "Gees, so slow, you expect to become chuunins. Anyway...get in a circle! Sit down! Move it! Move it!"
One hundred and seventy four genin dashed around now open examination hall, and then managed to make an awkward giant circle that just barely fit into the room. With the examiners on the edge and the foot tapping Kiri in the center. "Sit down already!" She kept shouting at several genin.
It's not an act, Neji realized. She's doing this deliberately, having us pick up the benches, then scramble to sit like this. They're trying to confuse us. Realizing this, he made sure to keep a close watch on both his teammates. Gosain seemed perfectly composed, not flustered at all, and Shiren was steady, though her eyes betrayed some nervousness about what was going to happen.
When everyone was seated, Kiri spoke again. "Good. We now begin the first exam of this Chuunin Exam."
Author's Notes: So, its time to start in with the Chuunin exam. I've tried to be original and not repetitive with things, which will become more apparent as additional chapters are put up.
Many thanks to all reviewers, I appreciate any comments I receive!
Step into the Mountains
It was snowing when they entered Hidden Stone, the village high up in the heights. The snow fell clear and powdery, to lie upon an already solid carpet of it. The snow had piled several feet up in the storms of the past few weeks, and in other places had reached even greater heights. Neji and Shiren had spent much of the trek marveling at it, having never seen the world turned into this blanket of white before, an utter carpet of frozen water coating the land. It had made progress hard, until Gosain had fashioned snowshoes for them. Xi continued to walk steadily without such aids, and he did not seem to sink in at all. More and more Neji was certain that the dragon ninja carried some device that provided him with this ability to defy the cold.
All the week long journey Shiren and Neji had continued their practices, becoming quite familiar with each other's fighting styles and learning their capabilities intimately. Neji now felt he knew Shiren's abilities almost as well as he had known Tenten or Rock Lee's and he was also certain that they trusted each other. Of course, he had not been foolish, and had included Gosain in these sessions; indeed he had ordered the older ninja to instruct them in how to fight in the snow, figuring it would be a major disadvantage in what was to come. Learning those methods was difficult, especially trying to maneuver while wearing the cumbersome snowshoes, but Neji recognized that such training was essential if they were to win a fight against the Stone ninja up in the mountains.
They reached Hidden Stone at midday, and Xi took over then. He went to the office of Tsuchikage, the leader of the village. They registered for the exam, and arranged for rooms, and then went to them, ignoring other ninja along the way.
So many ninja. Neji saw in surprise. The Stone Village was not that large, nestled up in the mountains as it was, but there were ninja everywhere. There must be as many as were in Konoha during the exam, he decided. It was unpleasant to realize that this was more than Konoha now possessed. So many gone, and all these come here? Stone, Rain, Grass, Sand, Lightning, Mist, Neji recognized all these countries and more, though his was the only forehead protector graced with the crest of Konoha. There were no Waterfall ninja, but Neji knew they were coming. Perhaps the most dangerous ninja have not yet arrived, since that Mizuho user is not here yet. Then he amended that thought. No, the most dangerous ninja have already arrived; we are the most dangerous team.
Xi steered them through stone deftly, taking back roads and alleys, knowing the outline of the village well. "What are we avoiding?" Neji asked him at one point.
"We are avoiding my countrymen." Xi said sternly, voice cold as the snow that covered the ground. "It's best they not be given any time to realize that we are here."
That remark effectively killed the conversation, for it was clear that all four ninja had reasons to conceal their presence from the rest of the group.
They found their rooms, a small apartment with two bedrooms and a kitchen, designed for something of a prolonged stay. Mostly for Xi, Neji realized, since none of us will use this unless we make it through the second stage.
The four ninja walked in and set their things down, quickly stripping off the soaking winter clothes and setting them to dry. Xi was not wet at all. "The three of you should stay here until tomorrow morning, when you report to the examination hall. Better that none of the ninja should see you."
"What about our own intelligence?" Neji asked Xi.
"Surely you don't need to scout out these ninja today. Simply arrive early tomorrow and inspect them as they arrive. You all know how this goes." The older ninja gave Neji a hard look. "I want to prevent the idea that you are a mixed team from getting out as long as possible Neji. If they find out that many of the jounin will instruct their genin to target your team."
"I see." Neji replied to Xi's back as the older ninja left.
The dragon ninja did not return that evening for dinner, or later. The three ate quietly and discussed what they expected one final time. "Each chuunin exam is different," Gosain went over it for perhaps the tenth time, but they were all just as serious as before. "Still, there is a set pattern. The first exam will involve some sort of test to judge our competence as a team and our nonviolent skills. The second exam will be survival based and designed to drastically reduce numbers, and the third exam is one on one matches in a tournament for the lords one month later. Things are harsher here than in Konoha, Neji, Shiren, remember that. There will be over a hundred genin participating I'm sure, and likely at least twenty will die, and probably a good deal more will be injured."
"I will not set out to kill anyone." Neji told Gosain, making it very clear. "And I am certain neither of you will, but if we are attacked with deadly force I will answer as a dragon ninja."
"Ah." The older genin replied. "I expected that. Don't think I won't fight with everything I have either, I need to become a chuunin here."
Shiren nodded quietly at Neji, giving him and then Gosain a pleasant smile, making it clear that she was confident in the three of them. "Just a little walk in the snow, and hopefully nobody else gets hurt."
They went to bed early, conscious that there would be little time between the first exam and the second, and already planning ahead toward that, knowing it would be likely the most difficult of the three for them.
In the middle of the night Neji awoke, conscious of something crawling through the back of his mind, a strange sense of danger. He walked out of the room and into the kitchen.
Xi was lying against the wall with a kunai in his hand, sleeping sitting up. His body was relaxed, but his face was not.
The moment Neji stepped into the kitchen Xi's eyes opened and he saw him. Xi motioned with his head, beckoning Neji next to him. Looking at him, Neji saw that Xi seemed to be exhausted, something he had never seen the dragon ninja before. He sat down beside the man. "What?" He was sparing and quiet with his words, knowing that there was something important for Xi to say, something terribly important for him to even be here.
"Neji, listen carefully." The dragon ninja's voice was hoarse and cold, tired. "This is not going to be as easy as I expected. There is something going on in this village, and I could not determine what it was. This will not be as bad as Orochimaru, but I think the Akatsuki have turned their eyes this way, and I am worried. Beyond that, Neji, when you go to the examination hall tomorrow you pass beyond my sight and ability to monitor until the second stage is completed. You will be on your own then, and your teammates lives in your hands, and I am certain someone is targeting those lives. Neji, try to stay clear of the Earth ninja, and beware of Waterfall. Very, very cautious of Waterfall."
Xi motioned Neji away then, but took a deep breath and added a single sentence more. "Remember, always remember, that even in this you are a dragon ninja."
Neji stood up completely then, and headed back toward his room. Xi was already asleep by the time he reached the door.
When morning came the Dragon ninja was gone.
Neji did not mention Xi's visit in the night, but instead led his team to the examination hall.
* * *
The mixed team was the very first to arrive at the examination hall. They woke up before dawn, and as the first rays of light peaked over the eastern peaks, Neji, Shiren and Gosain were already seated and waiting.
The first of the chuunin who served as an examiner arrived about ten minutes later. He opened the locked door of the examination hall and then stepped back in shock, drawing a kunai. "Who are you and how the hell'd you get in here?" he barked at them.
"Draci Neji." Neji answered him. "We're here to take the exam."
"That still doesn't answer how you got in here." The chuunin replied.
"Why should it matter?" Neji responded. "I don't have to tell you my secrets, and this wasn't a high security area or anything." There's no need for you to know that I picked the lock with a key made out of my chakra. I tried it just to see if I could, I'm still rather surprised that it worked.
"Fine." The chuunin answered, moving over to one of the desks and picking up a clipboard. "If you're really who you say you are." He scanned down on the clipboard. "Draci Neji. From Konoha, ah, yes, that's got to be right. There's no other entry from Konoha. You're companions are?"
"Kabure Gosain."
"Senirai Shiren."
"Yeah, you're on here." He muttered and looked at the clipboard again. "Ah, you're that team. I should have figured."
"Is that meant to imply something?" Neji questioned darkly, eyes narrowing.
"Not really, aside from the fact the your team mixes to hidden villages and is sponsored by the legendary Draci Xi who was listed as 'deceased' up until yesterday, and that the examiners gave us all a special briefing about how to deal with you, no it's not meant to imply anything at all." The Chuunin seemed ready to laugh mockingly in their faces, but he caught Neji's gaze, and thought better of it. "All right, you've arrived. Sit there then. I expect other ninja will be along in a minute."
The three watched the chuunin go and sit over by his desk. The man was like most of the Stone ninja they'd seen so far, gruff, sturdy, and dark skinned. He looked quite strong, but wasn't particularly big, simply had the heritage of the mountain people. Neji turned back to watching the door. "Each of us is to keep a count, how many ninja, what village they come from, and mark out anyone who seems suspicious. We'll compare things once everyone has arrived."
"Right." They said, agreeing with the plans that had been made the night before.
So they waited, and watched the ninja teams arrive. They came from all the countries save the Leaf, more ninja than Neji had ever scene in one place before. The teams arrived slowly, some leaving their jounin outside the door, some coming without jounin to guide them, all assured and confident in their movements. If there were rookies, then someone had prepared them well. Stone ninja predominated, the harsh and mountain carved ninja that often seemed surprisingly kind underneath the skin. They were the most comfortable here, and did not shiver from the cold, but talked and laughed with their companions. Few other ninja were as well adjusted as they, and few others arrived early. Many of the Stone ninja stared long and hard at Neji's team, but none of them said anything, that was not their way.
As the morning wore on others started to appear, Mist ninja and Rain ninja, with their grim faces and strange accoutrements. Grass ninja with their confident smiles and easygoing manner, and lightning ninja. The ninja who bore the bolt and cloud symbol of Hidden Cloud all gave baleful stares at Gosain and Shiren, and many looked at Neji as if they intended to kill him. Bravado, he decided, recognizing the true motions and body language as he always did. He saw the Lightning ninja look at Gosain and quiver. They are afraid, either of him or his reputation. These ninja, they will mock us and aggravate us, but they are not going to fight with us. Neji pushed them aside and wondered about something more disturbing. Where are the Waterfall ninja?
Indeed, it was almost noon, and all the chuunin examiners had arrived, save only whoever was to direct the exam itself, and still not a single Waterfall ninja had arrived. There should be twenty-one, Neji recalled clearly. They will come, four teams that were defeated in the last exam, and three more beyond that. Dangerous ninja, but where are they, what are they planning?
As the clock read ten minutes until noon, the Waterfall ninja appeared. They slammed the doors wide open, and seven teams of ninja, lined up in columns, marched into the examination hall as if they owned it. Neji glared at them, examining each one in turn. He remembered the faces of twelve, even if he knew nothing about them, and also recognized one more. Mizain Seve. The thought was grim and angry. Should we meet outside this hall I will have to kill him. Neji remembered what he had done to Ryukin; the technique was graven into his memory, his body, carved there by blades of chakra, though he had not dared to even practice it since that day. It was a technique so dangerous that he could barely contemplate it. Yet, should I meet that boy from Waterfall, I will have to use it again.
The other eight could not be placed, but Neji could tell that they were older, strong. They are indeed planning something to arrive like this, but what is it?
"So, that's everyone I imagine." Gosain muttered from Neji's right.
"Ah." Neji and Shiren responded in unison.
"So, how many?" Shiren began.
Neji took up the numbers from that point on, reciting what they all had seen. "Eighty-one genin from Stone." He began, starting with that astounding number, more teams even than had come from the Leaf to take the exam in Konoha, though not by much. As Gosain and Shiren nodded to confirm it, he continued. "Nine ninja from Sand, Twelve ninja from Mist." Those countries were far away, most of their ninja would have gone to Konoha, but obviously a few had made the journey to take the exam in the cold snows. That choice could not be discounted. "No ninja from the Leaf, and forty-two from Cloud." That completed the five great shinobi countries, the Lightning ninja numbering second in presence to the Stone ninja, but still having only perhaps half the numbers. Of course, that did not include Neji's teammates. "Fifteen from Rain, twelve from Grass, and twenty-one from Waterfall. That plus us, one hundred and seventy four ninja in total." That was the completed count. Gosain and Shiren nodded their assent, confirming that they had the same numbers.
"Quite a few." Gosain remarked. "Must because so many skipped out on Konoha the last time."
"Perhaps." Neji said, not wanting to speculate on what that would mean. "Do you see anyone notable?" He asked the other two.
"I don't know any of these Stone ninja, but one of the Cloud fellows is somebody I know. Yilosi Nemari," Gosain pointed to an extremely tall genin who stood in the corner. He carried, of all things, a long spear. "He's a dangerous fellow, didn't make chuunin for lack of victories last time, but for lack of restraint."
"Can you beat him?" Neji asked, trying to measure this lightning ninja's strength.
"Yeah," Gosain answered. "It'd be tough though."
"I see. Shiren?"
"There's a team of grass nins over by the far wall, they look strange, almost as if there are things growing out of them, and one of them has cruel eyes." She said cautiously, and with a dark touch.
Neji looked over at them. Indeed, the Grass ninja were strange looking, different even from other Grass ninja he had seen, who were usually quite ordinary. The one who led them, he did either have something growing out of him, or he had attached thorns to his outfit somehow. A very strange technique, whatever it is. His eyes are viscous, and also lost, like my own were, or Gaara's. That did not bode well.
"Also," Neji said, speaking on his own. "There is a Waterfall ninja, the one with aquamarine hair and red eyes, Mizain Seve." He told them quietly, making sure no nearby ninja could hear. "He has a very dangerous bloodline limit, the Mizuho."
"Water fire?" Shiren asked. "How does that work?"
"I'll explain later," Neji answered, as the Cloud ninja Gosain had indicated, Nemari, approached them.
The tall genin had a cruel face, with scars on both cheeks, and anger seemed ever present in his eyes. "So, Gosain," He said mockingly, "Is this the best you could round up to get killed by your curse? An outcast and some moronic leaf ninja?"
Gosain bit down hard, his hands clenched, but Neji stretched his arm over, restraining him. Then he stood up. "I'm the one who 'round up' these two." Neji said in his most derisive Hyuuga voice. "And that's enough from you. We are here to take the exam, not to squabble with the likes of you." He stared up in the Cloud ninja's eyes with his own pupil-less white spheres, and the man blanched.
"The hell! You're a thrice damned Hyuuga!" The words rang clearly through the stadium. Heads turned, and Neji saw the both the Grass ninja Shiren had noticed and Seve had turned to stare at him. The Waterfall ninja's eyes were burning.
Enough, I'll end this quickly, Neji decided. "Go and sit down, or I'll sit you down." He said.
Nemari flashed him a look that would have sent young children screaming in terror, and made many older men blanch. He had the face of a true devil. "I'm not foolish enough to struggle with a Hyuuga now, besides, if you're with Gosain, you're sure to die without me having to do anything." He walked sedately back to his bench.
Then it was noon.
A flash of smoke from the front of the room where there were no benches, and the rest of the examiners appeared. They were stone ninja in brown uniforms, chuunins all, with sadistic grins. In front of them stood a smallish ninja woman, also in the garb of stone. She wore a ski mask and slim outfit that looked like it was for rock-climbing or some similar pursuits. She was also covered in snow, and laughing. "An amusing display." She said in a surprisingly pleasant voice. "But now everyone had better go sit down."
Ninja dropped to their seats immediately. When one Stone ninja was two slow to move, she sent a kunai sailing over his head. "I expect my instructions to be followed rookies." She said, voice still pleasant and happy. "I am the first examiner of the Chuunin exam, Special Jounin Chi Kiri."
Strange woman, Neji decided. Still, there are many talented ninja with that sort of falsely foolish exterior. He knew that very well.
"We will now begin the first exam of this Chuunin exam. There are fifty-eight teams participating, so we have to be prompt." She smiled as she said it, but there was a strange sadness underneath the smile. "So, bring your applications to the examiners at the front if you haven't already. Then take your bench and stack it against the wall."
"What? Against the wall?" Some ninja demanded.
"Don't ask questions rookie!" Kiri shouted at him. "I gave an order, so follow it. Anyone who fails to follow my instructions in the future will be failed immediately. You're ninja, not school children! Move it!"
Neji's team had already handed in their applications long ago, so they picked up the bench and brought it over to the wall without saying anything. This is strange, Neji thought. If we are putting the benches away this obviously won't be a written test, but what sort of exercise is this?
Once all the benches had been stacked against the wall a very impatient Kiri shouted another order. "Gees, so slow, you expect to become chuunins. Anyway...get in a circle! Sit down! Move it! Move it!"
One hundred and seventy four genin dashed around now open examination hall, and then managed to make an awkward giant circle that just barely fit into the room. With the examiners on the edge and the foot tapping Kiri in the center. "Sit down already!" She kept shouting at several genin.
It's not an act, Neji realized. She's doing this deliberately, having us pick up the benches, then scramble to sit like this. They're trying to confuse us. Realizing this, he made sure to keep a close watch on both his teammates. Gosain seemed perfectly composed, not flustered at all, and Shiren was steady, though her eyes betrayed some nervousness about what was going to happen.
When everyone was seated, Kiri spoke again. "Good. We now begin the first exam of this Chuunin Exam."