There was silence as the brigade of chunin exam hopefuls travelled to Kumo. As they traveled Maruku took time to take in the sights. He didn't get to leave the village very often. As they went on there was something bothering the boy. The cold. The chilly air and breeze bit into his skin and sunk into his bones. "Holy shit it's freezing." He glanced around, nobody else seemed bothered by the cold as they continued to move north. He caught Sakura's eyes and she mouthed "Is it your blood?" Maruku frowned in thought. That sounded plausible, he was sluggish and noticeably slower than his contemporaries.
As he was starting to lag behind Kakashi appeared to his side. "Channel some fire chakra. That should heat you up. Stay strong, we're almost there." Maruku took his advice and let fire flow through him. He immediately felt bet as the deep seated cold left his bones and felt movement return to his limbs. So caught up in getting rid of the cold he didn't notice how everybody was looking at him.
"Maruku did you know you're on fire." Naruto looked at the burning mass that was his friend with concern.
"Am I really?" Naruto frowned as he was starting to sweat from the proximity."Yes. Can you turn it down."
"Sorry Naruto but apparently me and the cold don't mix well." The other boy's eyes widened. "Oh is it because of your-" That was as far as he got before he got bonked on the head by Sakura.
"Hey! Sakura why'd you hit me?!" The girl shook her head."Because you're an idiot."
"What type of excuse is that?" The other boy's protest went unheard as the group kept moving. As they mountain climbed Maruku felt it was safe to let down his flames. Using fire was nowhere near as chakra intensive as Plasma Style, if he wanted to he could have kept it up until they were at the destination but considering he was making other people heavy sweat he stopped. There was a small mutter of thank god that made him blush in embarrassment.
As they reached the summit of the mountain they looked down and saw the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Surrounded on all sides by mountains the upper levels of the village were partially hidden by clouds giving it it's namesake.
From there it wasn't to long before they reached the entrance of the village. There was a welcoming party of several Kumo ninjas. Most of them were unfamiliar to Maruku but he recognized a few the most prominent ones that caught his eyes was Yugito Nii. Instead of the adult jinchuriki he was expecting she was a girl that looked like she was around his age. That by itself was weird, however it was not as weird as what happened when he glanced over to Darui.
The man looked strangely familiar. Not familiar as in he knew the man before him would be the next Raikage but there was a strange almost deeper connection. Apparently he wasn't the only one who felt something as the man looked over to him. He couldn't pick up much emotion from the other man's face but he thought he saw a flash of recognition which confused him. He put it to the back of his mind, that mystery could wait right now he had to focus on the exams.
They followed their entourage to the place of their lodgings. It was a simple hotel but it was nice nonetheless. Once they were given directions to be waiting outside by eight next morning they were allowed to finally rest. As team 8 walked into their designated room Kiba made ti a point to immediately claim the bed. Before he could blink Shino had claimed the couch. Which left him sleeping on the floor. Awesome.
Despite their training their teamwork was shoddy. Only Shino was willing to give him the time of day and even then that didn't mean anything if Kiba was intent on taking the lead. Any plans or strategies went out the window when Kiba butted in. It was as if the other boy was doing his best to make sure that he didn't participate in the group. It was starting to piss him off.
He tried to ignore his feelings. He only needed to work with him until the exams were over. As he tried to get comfortable on the floor he had a thought. There was a very good chance he would have to fight his friends during the second half. He honestly didn't know if that was something he could do. This place was strange despite, being near the mountaintops he didn't feel that same cold. There was also the fact that at the very least three human demon containers were all in the same place. Even with all the extra security it still seemed like easy pickings for those hidden in the shadows. The Akatsuki. They would make their move soon and he knew that he wasn't strong enough to stop them.
He looked at his right hand. The White Divider. As it was right now it had a huge weakness. Well two if he counted all the possibilities of something happening to his hand. It was the fact that it would only work if he could touch his opponent directly. Right now he had no way of applying the seal at a distance and it didn't work on ninjutsu. He would have to modify it somehow without blowing off his arm.
Maruku shook his head, there would be time to do that later. He pulled out his newest sealing book. It was a mixture of both seals and barriers. There was one in particular that he was interested in. The Flame Containment Unit. it would put up a barrier and then set everything inside on fire. Considering the natural high heat of his fire style, anything caught in the barrier would be burnt beyond ashes. He hadn't had time to work on it yet but he would have it down before the finals.
He closed his eyes and prepared himself for tomorrow.
Tomorrow came in the blink of an eye. Stretching out his muscles and making sure his bag was packed he prepared himself for the challenges up ahead. Meeting the rest of the leaf genin outside at exactly eight o'clock they waited for about 3 seconds before their tour guides from yesterday showed up.
With a glance and a quick nod Darui turned around and began leading them to the testing site. Not before he made eye contact with Maruku however. There was something strange going on there. He shook it off as he followed his peers. When they stopped it was some sort of abandoned building. As they walked inside they were met with the first proctor and several other teams of genin. Maruku let out the smallest sigh when he was met with a familiar sand team. This made things a lot harder.
He tried to shake off the bad feelings of foreboding. While he was lamenting the proctor, some random Kumo jounin he was unfamiliar with started to speak.
"Welcome to the Chunin Selection Exam. This will be your first trial. It is a test to see how well you can retain and gather information. When I call your team number come forward and you will receive either a white or black coin. You will receive further instructions then."
Maruku waited for his substitute team to get called. When they were finally called the team walked up and received a black coin. Once everybody received their coin they were separated.
"Everybody who got a black coin follow me." They followed the proctor to the other side of the building.
"For those of you who got the black coin you will be tested on how well you can hold secret information. You will be told a phrase and those with the white coins will try to get the phrase out of you. During this phase there will be no maiming or killing but if I were you I would prepare yourselves for extended pain. You'll have to endure this part of the exam for at least an hour. Good luck."
Maruku fidgeted slightly. When he woke up this morning he had no intention of getting tortured for an hour.
"Nervous,loser?" He ignored Kiba's taunt. He steeled his nerves and walked forward to receive the phrase for his team.
"Team 8. Your phrase will be… Birds are the ones who fly through the sky." Maruku raised an eyebrow that didn't mean anything.
Once he was told the phrase he reported back to his temporary teammates. They waited for a bit before they were called on again. They were led to a back room with nothing but three chairs. The proctor nodded and left. They sat in the chairs and waited. They didn't have to wait long as another team was soon led in. It was a bunch of fodder ass rain-nin.
"Begin." the command came from a speaker in the ceiling. As soon as the order was given the rain ninjas immediately went on the attack, not even giving a thought of asking them their phrase, not that they would give it to them anyway. As he sat in the chair taking blow after blow he tried to focus on his meditation.
It was difficult. The pain was distracting but he knew if he could get into his meditative state he would be able to endure any type of pain. Maruku closed his eyes trying to block out the pain and the noises of his teammates.
There!
He could feel it. The gentle flow of his chakra. He watched the gentle stream with fondness. As he was lost in his chakra time seemed to pass in an instant. He felt a gentle push. When he opened his eyes he saw it was Shino who had awakened him. He took a glance at his teammates. The damage wasn't too bad but it was ugly. Shino was bleeding from his head and Kiba had a black eye and several knots on his forehead.
As he stood up his legs and body protested. He stumbled forward a little before he righted himself. The exams were just beginning, he couldn't afford to show weakness now.
"Congratulations team 8, you pass." Maruku tried to smile but it hurt to do so, so he just nodded. They followed the proctor out of the room and out of the building.
"I will take you to the next testing site. Prepare yourself." They followed the man in silence, taking in the sites of the foreign village. It truly was a beautiful place. It wouldn't be long however before they arrived at the next location.
"This is the base of Mt. Thunder." Maruku rolled his eyes, who came up with that name."We will wait for twenty minutes for the rest of those who passed and then we will explain the test." Hearing that there would be a short break he sat down trying to let his body rest.
He could sense the arrival of the others before they actually said anything. Raising to his slowly he went to meet his friends.
"You look like shit." That was as far as Naruto got to say before Sakura slapped him on the back of the head.
"Are you alright?" The question came from Sasuke. He nodded." In a little pain but nothing I can't deal with."
"Good. I was doing some research on these exams and the second part is always a survival trial. It would probably be best if we stuck together during this phase." Maruku considered Sasuke's logic. Judging from how non beat up they were he guessed that they had the white coin from the last phase. However before he could say yes he was interrupted.
"We don't need help from a loser team. Its already bad enough we're carrying your trash teammate. So why don't you just get lost." It took all of Maruku's will power to not punch Kiba in his fucking face.
"Kiba ,we're already injured. It would be wise to accept help from our allies." Shino didn't speak very often so when he did people tended to listen. There was a stare down between the two before Kiba relented.
"Fine but they better not slow us down." Sakura looked like she was on the cusp of verbally destroying the annoying genin before the proctor spoke.
"Welcome to the second phase of the Chunin Selection Exam. In the previous phase you received either a white or black coin. To pass this phase you simply need to bring both coins to the summit. You'll have exactly five days to reach the summit. But be warned Mt. Thunder is the highest peak in the Land of Lightning, so before we begin I'll have you sign these consent forms because there will be death from this point onward."
Everyone signed the form and turned to face the mountain.
"Begin!" With those words everybody rushed off. To the Peak of Mt. Thunder.