Chapter 23
The Chūnin Exam Begins: Rookies of Konoha Face Off!
Of all the battle scenario's Amari prepared to encounter during the Exams, fighting before it even began hadn't been anywhere near the top of her list. It didn't even make her list, not even as a warm-up. In the end, though, she should have figured this would happen. Just on their first real mission they hit snag after snag of bad luck, knotting them in a giant net of misfortune a thousand good luck charms couldn't ward off.
"Lee, much as I enjoy a good fight, this is not the time," Mimi tried to coerce her teammate.
Looks like we're still tangled up in bad luck.
Amari wondered if their luck would ever change.
Mimi's attempts to stop the fight started out strong but grew weaker with every renewed attempt. Although she wanted to avoid a fight spilling out here, Lee's stubbornness proved too much for her to bludgeon past. She realized how hopeless it was to keep voicing her argument. Little could dissuade Lee from going through with this; further attempts were a waste of breath and she knew it. That didn't stop the Inuzuka from shooting him reprimanding looks as he stared down at them from the balcony.
The room they were in was an indoor training room connected to the hall leading to and from Room 301. It was quite spacious, high ceilings and a wide open floor down on the bottom floor. The hall leading to their designated room was the balcony Lee and Mimi were standing on, giving Team Seven no choice but to pass through them to reach their inevitable destination.
A strategic trap, she could give Lee that much.
"Now is as good as any. We have time," he replied easily.
While Amari wouldn't generally call Lee and Mimi showing up for a fight misfortune—it was more troublesome than anything—this time was different. Currently they had around thirty minutes left to reach Room 301 for the first part of the Exam. The walk itself wouldn't take more than two or three minutes depending on how slow they walked, but a fight complicated matters. Every minute of conversation, every second of struggle in the fight delayed them all significantly and could lead to them being late.
Late, Amari frowned. She hated being late. And on an occasion like this they didn't have the time for tardiness. But even more important than her immense hatred for being late, Amari really didn't want to take a beating before the Exam. Maybe Lee could wait until after the entire Exam was over to cover her with bruises?
Maybe not, she thought as she watched Lee jump down from the balcony to their floor. What a drag. Mimi heaved a heavy sigh of defeat before following after him, landing gracefully with her hands in her sweater pockets and Aoko still lounging peacefully on her head.
"My name is Rock Lee," Lee introduced himself before pointing to Sasuke. "You said it is a common courtesy for a challenger to give his name first right, Sasuke Uchiha."
Sasuke merely cocked an eyebrow up at the boy. "Hm. So you're the one Amari hit with a genjutsu."
Lee blanched as his straight as a board posture faltered into a defeated slouch, the comment snuffing out his youthful fire instantly. Mimi chuckled lightly and jabbed Lee in the shoulder. "Hehe, that's what you get for being cocky when we had her on the ropes."
"It won't happen again." Lee returned to his confident demeanor, the fire in his eyes and spirit igniting once more as he met their gazes again. "That is a warning to you both. I admit, I did grow arrogant in our battle, Amaririsu, but I will not make such a mistake ever again."
"And I certainly as hell won't underestimate you even when you look out of steam," Mimi tagged on, a wide grin on her face.
Amari smirked at the pair. "Good. Being underestimated greatly perturbs me." She shrugged. "Plus it wouldn't be any fun if I could use the same move to beat you again."
It'd be kind of dull, if she were honest. Like playing shogi against anyone who wasn't a Nara or Asuma.
"So who is it going to be, Amari? You or me?" Sasuke asked.
Letting her smirk fall, Amari glanced over to her teammate to size up his attitude. Despite her show of confidence, Amari wasn't blind to the threat these two shinobi now posed. Lee's warning about not growing arrogant ever again needed to be heeded, as did Mimi's warning. If she were to fight either of them again, she couldn't rely on a single moment of luck to get her through it. She needed to grow stronger to actually stand on the same level as them.
But Sasuke…Sasuke was taking them lightly because she pulled off a win against their team. He didn't see her fight against them as she did; he saw it as his teammate defeating an entire team, an Uchiha being far more powerful than them. Sasuke saw an illusion despite her attempts to release the genjutsu blinding him to reality; the illusion of Uchiha blood and Sharingan making them far superior to everyone.
It didn't. If it did she wouldn't have failed to cause any real damage to Zabuza. Her clone wouldn't have been defeated by Haku and Team Guy wouldn't have pushed her so far. Yet she failed to land more than a single blow on Zabuza, and the blow she did hit wasn't even an incapacitating one; all she did was cut his cheek. Woo, go team. Her clone failed to defeat Haku for several reasons and Team Guy pushed her to her limits without taking her seriously.
If Uchiha blood and Sharingan was meant to guarantee victory, somebody needed to inform her body of that fact so she could stop getting her butt kicked.
The problem Sasuke had, besides too much arrogance, was he hadn't tested his Sharingan on a legitimate opponent since Haku. Had he actually sparred with her she could have shown him its flaws, yet he kept to himself, training solo or not as hard as he should for whatever stupid reason he had. It left him believing Sharingan would be his ultimate weapon to win him any fight. But it's not that simple. Lee's and Mimi's taijutsu are the worst matches for our Sharingan. Definitely at our current stages with them.
Maybe when they fully advanced they'd be able to see more than a blur of motion, but right now that's all she could see when they picked up the pace.
"It's up to you," she answered. Personally, she had no desire to fight either of them here and now. Her focus was on the Exams; that's what they all needed to be focused on. But if Sasuke didn't want to appease Lee's desire to fight, she'd step in just to get it over with…even if it would be a big, stupid drag. "If you don't want to fight, I'll go. But if you really feel like being a glorified punching bag, be my guest."
Might do your arrogance some good. She didn't need Sasuke getting himself hurt in a real combat scenario because he was too arrogant. A few punches from Lee would open his eyes to see the limitations of the Sharingan against an opponent like Lee.
Sasuke turned to her with a furrowed brow. "You don't think I can win?"
Amari fought the need to roll her eyes. No, she didn't think he could win at all. Definitely with that fragile ego guiding his arrogance. But attacking his ego wouldn't do her any good. She needed to use the emotionless facts to get her point across. "Sasuke, I barely beat the four of them. The only reason I won was because they didn't actually fight me like they would a real opponent, where I took them on as if I was fighting Haku all over again. You won't have that same opportunity." She turned her head just enough to meet his eye with a flat stare devoid of jest, earning her his undivided attention. "You underestimate him for a second, you'll lose. I guarantee it."
Amari turned her gaze back upon the two Genin across from them. "Don't take either of them lightly. Lee's physical strength and speed are incredible. My agility and flexibility barely kept me in the fight. I didn't have enough time to even think; I was forced to fight on instinct alone."
Lee smiled and bowed his head. "I appreciate the compliment, Amaririsu."
Mimi mocked a hurt look. "Hey," she whined, "I lasted the longest. Where's my compliment?"
"Aoko is pretty awesome," Amari teased.
Aoko barked happily, causing Mimi to frown up at her teammate. "You little traitor."
Her warning did little to ward Sasuke's arrogance off. A smile tugged onto his lips. "Sounds like fun. Okay, your fight is with me."
"Amaririsu." Amari perked up as Lee directed his attention to her. "You showed me great strength, tenacity and intelligence in our fight." His expression shifted into determination. "Because of that you are now an obstacle I must overcome. Before I am able to defeat you, however, I believe I must first beat him," Lee said, returning his attention to Sasuke.
Two egos were struck hard by his comment, neither of which Amari was looking forward to dealing with. The Nara sweatdropped. Great, now Naruto and Sasuke are offended. She appreciated Lee's compliment and accepted his challenge, but couldn't he have waited until they were alone to say all that? Now she would have to deal with bruised egos until the Exam started.
What a pain.
"That's some arrogance thinking you can beat me," Sasuke said. His stare became deadly. "Underestimating an Uchiha? You've just made your first and last mistake."
Lee smiled, lifted his right hand up and rested his left forearm behind his back. "Bring it on!"
Amari put her arm out in front of Sakura and guided her back a few steps. Better to give this ego fest the space it deserved before it rubbed off on them. "Amari, is this a good idea?" she asked for only her to hear.
Good idea? Probably not. Could she do anything about that? Nope. "It's a drag, but I don't see any way out of it." Lee was too hot-blooded to cool off, and Sasuke's wounded ego couldn't be fixed by her at this point, not when she was part of the cause. As long as Naruto didn't do anything stupid—
"Hold it!" Naruto's shout cut off everyone and dragged their attention to him.
Amari tried her best not to slump in depression, but she knew what was coming. Still she prayed to kami for a miracle. Don't be stupid, Naruto. For the love of everything sacred don't do something stupid.
"I get him first," he declared. "This bushy-browed weirdo is mine."
Damn it, she cursed. Maybe Sasuke wouldn't encourage hi—
"Go for it," Sasuke offered.
Seriously Sasuke? Amari groaned lowly. She was going to strangle her troublesome teammates if they kept this up.
"Naruto," Sakura scolded.
"What? It's not a four on one handicap match this time. I'll have him begging for mercy in two minutes," Naruto said confidently.
Amari hated the egos of boys. She really did. It made them so stupid and blind to logical thinking. By fueling such blind overconfidence, they'd only get a worse beating than normal, and that would then bruise their egos even more. And then she would have to deal with it.
It was all such a drag.
Mimi's lips curled into a sadistic grin. "Ohhhh, a feisty one!"
Ah, crap. Naruto woke the wolf from its slumber, and now he'd have to pay for it.
"I'll take this dance, Lee," Mimi said, stepping forward with her hands still in her sweater pockets. "All this talk about fighting has gotten me all riled up." Her pupils became slits. "You two must be flooded with testosterone because it's making you throw around bold words you haven't a chance in hell of backing up." Mimi's stopped in the middle of the empty room. "Let's go, blondie. Try to make me beg for mercy."
Naruto growled and clenched his hands into fists. "Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl."
Mimi's grin became downright feral as something dangerous and wild flashed in her blue eyes. "Hehehe! Oh, I'm going to enjoy emasculating you, little boy!"
With nothing more to say, Naruto charged in with his usual plan: a head-on assault with no plan whatsoever.
"Well, he's a goner," Amari mumbled. Not only was he facing Mimi—a tactically intelligent opponent—but he was so clearly underestimating her because she was a girl. That part did perturb Amari and made her consider pummeling his ego personally. Luckily for her she wouldn't have to get her hands dirty; Mimi was about to teach him the error of his thinking the hard way.
Naruto jumped at her with his fist aimed right at her face only for Mimi to gracefully sidestep him. To his credit, Naruto recovered quickly and pressed his assault, throwing aggressive jabs and hooks and kicks at the far more skilled kunoichi. Mimi made no effort to block them, simply dodging the attacks with little to no effort.
Her feral grin never left her face.
The dance continued, Naruto increasing the frequency of his attacks and having no choice but to try harder and harder to actually land a blow as Mimi ducked and dodged around. He didn't even notice she was having him wear himself down. Frustration built, beads of sweat formed on his face as he put forth his greatest effort to land a single blow.
Nothing landed.
"Damn it! Why can't I land a blow?" Naruto growled at himself.
"Whoa, Naruto's throwing everything he has at her and she hasn't even had to take her hands out of her pockets," Sakura awed.
Because she doesn't have to, Amari thought. Witnessing Mimi's skill again set a fire beneath her skin. It called for her to step in and move Naruto out of the way so she could fight this kunoichi again. She needed to fight her. Needed to feel her strength and combat it with her own until they collapsed in exhaustion. The strange connection binding them demanded to be explored.
Not now, she calmed the fire. This wasn't where she wanted their fight to take place. She wanted it on a training field where they could use the full extent of their ninjutsu without worrying about what damage they caused. Stay focused on the Exam for now. Eventually they would have their rematch, just not here and now.
Mimi continued to toy with her teammate, letting him get frustrated at his lack of progress and the vast difference of skill between them.
"Come on, little boy. Stop taking it easy on me because I'm a girl," Mimi taunted, dodging out of the way of another attack, her grin still in place.
"Why you!" Naruto feinted a sweep kick and closed in to land a stiff punch. "Take this!" His fist connected…against the palm of Mimi's hand. Naruto tried to tug it away but found the grip too strong. "Eh?"
"Time's up." Mimi stepped to the side and pulled Naruto forward at the same time. Before Naruto could react, a hard knee landed right in his sternum, knocking the wind right out of him and causing him to cough up saliva. In one fluid set of motions Mimi released his hand, swept his legs out from under him and sent him flying to the back wall with a hard kick. "Don't underestimate kunoichi's," she said as she lowered her leg.
Naruto didn't hear her on account of being knocked out, though the message likely was still received through the kick.
Aoko yawned in boredom. "Nice move, Mimi," Lee complimented.
"Eh, it was nothin' really," Mimi replied, an amused grin on her face as her pupils returned to normal. She rested her hands behind her head and looked back over to Amari and her team. "Fair warning, tough guy, you don't stand a chance against Lee. If you choose to fight him, you'll lose." She shot Sasuke a crooked grin. "Not that I won't enjoy seeing you taken down a peg or two."
"Fight me and I will prove her words true," Lee challenged.
"Hmph," Sasuke chuckled and prepared to fight. "Don't think I'm anything like that loser. Come on, let's do this."
Mimi snorted and turned away to walk towards Naruto. "Have fun, Lee."
Sasuke wasted no time charging in to attack Lee. As Amari had warned them all, Lee's speed was too much for such simple tactics. He appeared to teleport due to his insane natural speed and reappeared next to Sasuke as his leg flew right at him. "Leaf Hurricane!"
"I'll be right back," Amari told Sakura before Body Flickering over to Mimi and Naruto. The Inuzuka was crouched down next to him with a green glowing hand resting on his head and focused expression on her face.
Behind her, Sasuke ducked under the kick at the last moment. Before he could react, Lee landed, spun into a low crouch and aimed a second kick right at Sasuke. Her teammate put his arms up to guard, but Lee's speed and strength went right through it to land his blow right against his cheek, knocking him senseless and flying back to where he had been standing before.
"Is Naruto okay?" Amari asked. Mimi gave a small nod but didn't speak, her focus remaining on her work. Amari waited until she finished healing him to ask her next question. "How'd you get into Medical Ninjutsu?"
"My cousin Hana is a medic-nin and specializes in veterinary medicine," she answered. "Chakra control has been one of my greatest strengths since I started training. When Hana noticed how good I was getting with it she took me under her wing and helped me start studying it…" A nostalgic smile pulled onto Mimi's face as hidden, softer emotions reached her eyes. "Used to stay up late into the night together to study. Some of my best memories come from that time." She lifted her chin at Naruto. "He'll only have a small headache now."
"And a bruised ego," Amari added flatly.
Mimi grinned up at her then stood up to continue to watch the fight. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, both eyes holding two tomoes within. Amari sighed. "Any other fight, Sasuke," she muttered under her breath. In any other fight it could have made a difference. But against Lee…
"It won't help him here. You witnessed that firsthand," Mimi stated.
She nodded in agreement and defeat. While it was possible his eyes could track Lee's movements better than her Sharingan, his body had no chance of reacting in time. As far as she knew Sasuke hadn't started training with genjutsu either. Even if he had, though, it wouldn't matter because Lee would start watching his feet instead of meeting his eyes.
Amari activated her own Sharingan to keep Lee in her sights as Sasuke charged back in. Lee went straight through his guard again, landing a hard kick right under his jaw that sent him flying back into the air again. The Uchiha boy flipped out of his fall and landed on his feet, only to find his opponent right back on him. They began trading blows, but just like Naruto, Sasuke couldn't land a single punch on Lee. With every blow Lee landed, he slowed down even more.
Naruto groaning as he woke up preceded his shout of shock at the sight of his teammate getting beaten. "Sasuke!"
"The fight's done, blondie. Your teammate didn't stand a chance."
Sasuke took a hard elbow to the sternum. The air taken from his lungs, he stumbled back and held his stomach as he struggled to keep his eyes open to not to lose sight of his opponent. "Underestimation will always seal your defeat. I don't know how many times I have told you two to let go of your egos, but I can only hope this serves to reinforce those lessons," Amari scolded. "I told you three before I barely won. It was a mixture of luck and their underestimation of my abilities that got me through."
"What about your Sharingan?" Naruto attempted to argue.
Amari stiffened at his loud question, eye immediately scanning the area for anyone who might have entered the room without her noticing. She sighed in relief when she was certain it was still only her team and the two members of Team Guy. "Naruto, these two may know of my eye but that doesn't mean you can go around blurting it out in public," she chastised.
"Oh, uh, sorry about that Amari," he apologized genuinely.
"Anyway, look at how it's working for Sasuke," she said, motioning to the fight. Sasuke attempted to hit Lee but only hit air. "The Sharingan is a powerful tool, I don't deny that, but it isn't an unbeatable weapon. No one jutsu is. Every jutsu has a weakness that can be exploited. And Lee's style of taijutsu is one of our Sharingan's weakest areas."
"She's right," Mimi agreed with a nod. "There is no trick or illusion to see through. It's just intense speed and strength you rookies haven't experienced before. Lee trains until he collapses, and then he trains some more just for the hell of it. Nobody here can match his work ethic."
Amari did not doubt that. Lee became a shinobi on taijutsu alone. To do that he would have had to put in double or triple the effort to prove he did not need ninjutsu or genjutsu talent to survive in the shinobi world. Until he proved his clear talent to everyone else, Lee would constantly be under scrutiny from his fellow shinobi. He would have to prove himself again and again that his taijutsu was enough, that he was a great shinobi without using ninjutsu and genjutsu.
Add in Guy's insane teaching style and you had someone with a work ethic that put her to shame.
"Here is what I believe," Lee spoke calmly as he fought Sasuke. "In the shinobi world there are two different kinds of shinobi: There are the naturally gifted like you who are born with incredible abilities you do not have to work at." Sasuke growled and charged back in. "And then there are those like me, the ones who have to train every day of our lives."
Sasuke's sluggish punch hit air again. "You rely too much on your Sharingan when it is the worst match for my extreme taijutsu, and now you are finished!" Lee sped forward, once again piercing straight through Sasuke's block to nail him right under his chin with a huge kick.
This match is over, Amari thought. It was over the moment Sasuke decided to fight Lee as if he were some average shinobi. The moment he underestimated him, the moment he thought Uchiha blood and Sharingan put him above everyone else, he lost. At least he's learning that lesson now and not against a real enemy. A small blessing, but one she'd take gladly.
Lee jumped up from the floor and directly behind Sasuke into a technique known as Dancing Leaf Shadow. Essentially Lee was mimicking Sasuke's position in the air, almost like a shadow. Honestly, the technique alone was relatively harmless.
"Oh…Oh crap." Amari turned to look at Mimi in confusion but found a panicked expression already on her face. "Damn it, you hot-blooded idiot!" she hissed before raising her voice. "Lee! You were forbidden from using that technique!"
Amari's eye widened. "Forbidden technique?"
Of course adding in a forbidden technique could change its harmless nature dramatically.
Lee didn't seem to hear her. The wraps around his left hand unwound itself in preparation for whatever he was about to do. Whatever it was froze Mimi in panic. Seeing her fellow kunoichi so worried only heightened Amari's concern, to the point she started sending chakra throughout her body for a Body Flicker.
"Damn it, this is such a drag!" she groaned. Then she was gone, empty space replacing her previous position as she sped across the room to stop this madness before it went too far. Her body reappeared as she shoulder tackled her dazed teammate from the side to knock him out of the way. "Sakura! Catch him!" she ordered as a white bandage moved to wrap around her ankle. Whatever this technique was, she wasn't about to let it hit one of her teammates. One hardened red eye met Lee's surprised eyes.
Sharin—
A flash of dangerous movement dragged her eye away from Lee to the weapon behind the movement. The weapon hit the white bandage and pinned it against the nearby wall before she could really see it. "This is not good," Lee muttered to himself.
"Lee, you've really done it now!" Mimi chastised.
"All right! That's enough, Lee!" a foreign voice boomed.
Amari and Lee both landed on their feet without incident. The Nara immediately observed her surroundings. Sakura was kneeling on the floor, Sasuke's slouched seated form resting against her front after barely managing to catch him from a bad fall. Nice work, Sakura. Her red eye flitted over to the weapon she had seen next. A flower pinwheel kept Lee's bandage pinned to the wall; an odd choice of weapon but she wouldn't judge considering its sharpness. She then looked to the source of the weapon and found herself dumbstruck.
"Is that…a tortoise?" she muttered.
The tortoise approached Lee first, its hard eyes piercing straight through the young boy. Mimi muttered a curse under her breath before she jogged over to the group, leaving Naruto to stare at the creature with the same confusion Amari herself felt.
The forbidden technique was forgotten by the Nara as she tilted her head at the sight of the giant tortoise. With the hump of its large shell it matched Lee's crouched height. Its body and shell were colored red while the shell itself bore yellow swirl markings on each individual square. Far more interesting was the Konoha headband around its neck.
No way…Memories of Kakashi's summoned ninja hounds holding down Zabuza flashed in her mind. Each of them wore headbands of their own, which meant…Which means he's a Summoning animal, likely Guy-sensei's summoning.
How did the energetic Might Guy end up with a tortoise of all animals?
Was that irony? It felt ironic.
There's been too much excitement before the Exams, Amari decided before deactivating her Sharingan and standing up to walk over to Sakura and Sasuke. At this rate she was going to be out of energy before the real Exam began. This has all been so troublesome. "Hey, you two okay?" she asked on approach.
Sasuke grunted dismissively and looked away.
One severely bruised ego, check.
Sakura gave a small nod. "Yeah. I'm okay." Her emerald eyes glanced worriedly at the boy she was still supporting the weight of, but she kept her worried words inside. Pointing out his injuries or loss would only add insult to injury to his fragile ego.
"Hey you guys!" Naruto's loud voice pierced the settled silence. Amari half turned to see him slowing down after rushing all the way over. "You're not going to believe this, but—"
"That isn't their Sensei, Naruto," Amari stated flatly, already seeing where his head was at.
"Eh?!" he wailed in surprise. "But— How did— But look!" He pointed at the tortoise, Mimi and Lee. "He's scolding Bushy Brows and everything!"
True, the tortoise was in fact scolding Lee for almost using the forbidden technique. There was one glaring issue with his argument…Well, two technically. First off, she knew Guy-sensei. That rendered the entire argument moot. But since Naruto wouldn't listen to conventional knowledge she went with her second point first. "Mimi's scolding him, too. Does that make her their Sensei?" she asked.
"Uhhh…" Naruto deflated visibly. "Well, no. But—"
"I've met Guy-sensei." Amari shook her head. "Not a tortoise."
Quite opposite of a tortoise, really. He'd have been better fit with a rabbit, or something else with a bunch of energy. Maybe a squirrel. They had about the same attention span.
Although the tortoise didn't intend to, he helped prove her point by reverse summoning Guy to their location. The energetic shinobi in spandex appeared on top of the tortoise's shell, hip cocked back, right hand high above his head and left hand creating a circle around his eye to look through. A strange and dramatic pose for…whatever reason. Perhaps being Might Guy was reason enough.
Pearly white teeth somehow managed to gleam in the sunless room. "Hey! What's shaking! How you doing everybody! Life treating you good?" Guy asked.
Shocked gasps escaped her teammates at his grand entrance. Amari could only giggle at their first reaction to Might Guy's exuberance. He was definitely an odd ball by all normal standards, but he was the good kind. His eccentrics were a bit too much for her on a normal day, but Amari wouldn't deny that Guy's heart seemed to always be in the right place.
"He's got the biggest eyebrows yet!" Naruto shouted in shock.
"Too weird," Sakura muttered as she and Sasuke got up.
Amari rolled her eye at Naruto's loud and disrespectful observation. "Don't underestimate him. Last time you did that you ended up with your butt kicked."
Naruto turned his body to face her while jabbing his finger at the older shinobi. "Yeah but look at them Amari! That's where Lee gets it from; the same soup bowl haircut and even bushier eyebrows!"
"Hey! Do not insult Guy-sensei!" Lee shouted back, anger in his voice and posture. "He is one of the greatest men in the entire world!"
Amari sighed in helplessness. Why? Why did her best friend have to be so loud with no manners? Sure, they had some of the bushiest eyebrows she ever seen. And the bowl cuts and spandex suits didn't help matters, but seriously? Did he have to shout it for the entire shinobi world to hear? He was a shinobi; subtlety was meant to be their specialty.
"Well excuse me for not noticing his greatness! I was too busy watching him crawl out from underneath a turtle!" Naruto returned fire.
Ugh, this was becoming annoying.
"He did not crawl ou—"
"Give it a rest, Lee." Guy waved his student off. Sighs of relief left Mimi and Amari for the end of the shouting battle. Before the relief could settle in, though, Guy clenched his hand into a fist, wound it up and punched Lee directly in the face. "You little fool!" he scolded as his student flew away from him.
This time Amari found her jaw dropping off its hinges along with her teammates as they wailed in horror. What the hell is wrong with you?! Surely Lee didn't deserve that! She saw blood drawn from that single punch for kami's sake!
Guy turned to Mimi next. The Inuzuka braced for impact and lowered her head. "Sorry Sensei. I froze up when it happened." She actually sounded disappointed in herself, and the curled fists revealed the anger.
Instead of punching her lights out, Guy rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Mimi. Lee should have known better than to use that technique. And I know if he ever tries it again, you'll be ready to stop him." Guy gave her a grin and a thumbs up.
"Right!" Mimi agreed, grinning back.
Guy turned back to his protégé and crossed the distance between them, kneeling down in front of him as Lee tried to pick himself up off the ground. "I'm sorry about that Lee, but—" Guy's voice became choked up. "It's for your own good." Tears began to flow down his face, no doubt causing Lee to cry as well.
Amari raised an eyebrow at the pair. Seriously? Isn't he being a bit dramatic?
"Oh Lee!" Guy cried.
"Oh Sensei! I- I am so sorry!"
"All right, it's over! You don't have to say anymore!" Lee tackle hugged Guy as they cried together, neither paying any mind to the other shinobi around them.
It's like they're in some sort of dramatic farewell scene of a TV series. Granted the father-son relationship was kind of sweet. Weird, but sweet.
When they regained control of their tears, Guy pointed out at the…wall. It's like he thought he was pointing into a sunset or something. "Now take off! I want you to give me one hundred laps around the practice field! Show me what you got!" Guy announced.
"Yes sir!"
"Uh, Sensei, Lee," Mimi tried to interrupt.
"Run into the setting sun! Run and suffer, but don't mess up your hair!"
"Sensei, Lee," Mimi tried again.
"Let us go!" Guy continued, walking off with Lee into whatever sunset he believed was going on.
"Guy-sensei!" Mimi raised her voice, startling Guy and grabbing his attention. "What about the Chūnin Exams? There's no time for laps."
Guy halted his triumphant walk away. "Oh, right." He rubbed the back of his head as a sheepish smile formed on his face. "I forgot about that." Clearing his throat, he turned back to Lee. "Lee, you not only disobeyed the rule against fighting but you also interrupted the Chūnin Exams. I think that warrants a slightly more severe punishment, don't you?"
Mimi attempted to interrupt only to stop herself and shake her head in exasperation. "Why do I even try?"
Lee saluted his sensei. "Yes sir!"
"Let's say five hundred laps, how does that sound?!" Guy asked with even more exuberance than before.
All of Team Seven deadpanned as they stared at the duo. "They're insane," Sakura said.
"Yep," Amari agreed.
How Kakashi dealt with him on a consistent basis was beyond her. They have too much energy for me.
Guy then turned to them, his grin refusing to budge. "So, this is the rest of your team Amaririsu. Tell me, how is Kakashi doing?"
Amari opened her mouth to answer, but Sasuke's disbelief filled voice cut her off. "Wait, you know him?"
Slowly she turned to her teammates, her visible eyebrow raised in mild annoyance at the question. They totally doubted her. They totally thought she was lying about Kakashi and Guy's eternal rivalry…No, she shouldn't jump to such a drastic conclusion. Maybe the shock of Guy's exuberance was affecting their logical processes. Maybe it was all too much for them to process right now so they merely forgot what she said.
"Did you three seriously doubt me?" she asked. Naruto and Sakura laughed nervously while Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck, choosing not to meet her eye. Ah. So they did doubt her. They believed she made everything up, even got her clothes all wet before going to the hospital to craft a story about eternal rivals. Did they realize how much work that would take? It'd be a drag, even more than the real fight.
Amari's brow fell into a glare. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, turning her head away from them. Fine. If they weren't going to believe her, then she'd let someone else tell them. "I'll let you explain, Guy-sensei, since my words obviously fall on deaf ears."
Troublesome teammates.
"Well, you see, Kakashi and I are arch rivals for all eternity!" Guy explained, humming a laugh as he grinned even wider than before. He really liked this whole eternal rivalry business, didn't he?
"There's just no way!" Sakura and Naruto wailed in disbelief.
Amari huffed again.
"I can't believe you guys are doubting Guy-sensei. Didn't Amari already tell you—"
"Let it slide, Mimi. A ninjas actions speak louder than words," Guy interrupted his student.
All it took was a single blink and Guy was standing behind him without making a sound. "My record is fifty-one wins and fifty losses, which is one better than him by the way!" Guy spoke, startling her teammates.
"What?!" Amari's eye widened in shock. No. It couldn't be. He couldn't already be one ahead of Kakashi. It was far too soon for him to lose the tie she fought so hard for. Yet there wasn't an ounce of jest in Guy's eyes. He was downright burning with the brightness of the sun in sheer joy of having the lead against Kakashi. "Kakashi-senseiiiii! I'm going to crush you for losing the tie so quickly!" Her body sagged in depression. "All that hard work. All that time in the hospital…Did he at least put up a decent fight?"
"Of course!" Guy declared. "Kakashi put up a valiant challenge, as always. He is my eternal rival, after all."
Well, at least he fought hard.
"N- No way! How'd he beat Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto panicked.
Guy grinned and jabbed a thumb into his chest. "The fact is I'm stronger than Kakashi, and faster!"
No longer wallowing in defeat, Amari frowned back at Guy. "Hey, wait a minute. Rock, paper, scissors and having your team fight me doesn't count as making you better. One is a luck based game, the other doesn't even require you to actually fight." She ran a hand into her wild hair as she pursed her lips in thought, not seeing Guy suddenly pale at being called out for two of his non-skilled based challenges.
"Though I can't say your strength and speed aren't real enough. I want to say you're evenly matched, but you two use different kinds of fighting styles. Your taijutsu heavy while Kakashi-sensei is a mix of ninjutsu, taijutsu and some genjutsu." Amari rubbed the back of her head and rolled her head around as she fell into her thoughts. "Comparing the two of you together isn't simple or black and white. It'd be like comparing my skills to Lee's. He's far superior to me in taijutsu, but I have better ninjutsu and genjutsu. It doesn't necessarily mean he's better than me or I'm better than him. It's…too tough to call."
"Analytical as always," Mimi teased.
Amari shrugged. "I can't help it. These things just come to me."
"Well in any event, I'm sorry for any trouble Lee may have caused you four. Look into my eyes and accept my sincere apology, also notice my handsome manly features."
Did…did he realize how awkward that was to say to four young kids? I doubt he would have said it if he did. Team Seven silently decided to nod their heads and hope it would stop him from making things even more awkward. "Lee, Mimi, you two should accompany these fine young ninjas to the classroom. Right now."
He tossed a kunai and hit the pinwheel flower directly, knocking it off the wrap Lee used. Without any other words spared, Lee began rewrapping his bandages around his forearms and hands. Amari made small note of the scars lining his skin beneath them but didn't say anything. Guy-sensei's taijutsu is extreme enough to wear down the flesh on your body. Lee's pain tolerance was undoubtedly high.
"Remember to give it your all! Lee, Mimi, farewell!" Guy disappeared in a poof of smoke along with his tortoise summon.
Mimi moved to Lee's side and rested her hand on his cheek. A green glow emanated from her hand, knitting together whatever wounds were beneath the surface before removing her hand and grinning at him. "Sensei's hit was the only one you took. Nice."
Lee nodded, but his features remained serious as he looked over to Sasuke. "Sasuke, actually I have not been completely honest with you. It is true that I wanted to test my skills against you, but you weren't the one I truly wished to test them against."
Amari felt her heart shrink into hiding as Sasuke's and Lee's eyes flitted over to her. Their gazes on her only lasted a few seconds, but it still made her incredibly uncomfortable. So…this is what it meant to be an obstacle to her fellow shinobi. She was an end goal for them both to defeat, an opponent to overcome because of what she accomplished.
How troublesome.
"If we're all coming clean about lies then I suppose I should too." Mimi came to her rescue. Whether intentionally or not, Amari didn't care. She was still grateful. "While Amari has definitely earned her place as one of our targets, she isn't the one Lee wants to defeat most. Our other boy teammate, Neji, he's Lee's end goal." Mimi's blue eyes moved over to her, a challenging grin forming on her lips. "As for me, I want to fight Amari again more than anyone else."
The feeling was mutual.
"I came here to defeat Neji and Amari. You were just practice." Lee's stare hardened. "Now you are a target. I will crush you!" Sasuke growled in irritation at the declaration of war. "Consider yourself warned. Let's go, Mimi."
He turned and jumped back up to the balcony without a backwards glance. "I guess that means he's ready to go." She gave a two finger salute and a grin to the four. "See you four later." She pointed at Amari. "Hopefully in battle for you, Amari."
She followed her teammate out at a slower pace, leaving Team Seven in a tense silence. The weight of their declaration of war and the bruised egos left in the wake was palpable. Oh man, why do I have to be stuck in the middle of this? This is such a drag.
"Meh, would you look at that. Looks like the Uchiha's aren't as great as everyone thinks they are," Naruto pointed out a bit smugly.
"Naruto!" Sakura chastised the boy.
"Just shut up!" Sasuke clenched his hands into fists. "Next time I'll drive him to his knees."
"Yeah right. Neither of us even landed a single blow on them and you want to talk about driving him to his knees?" He looked away, a look of deep contemplation on his face as Sasuke tried to restrain his growing anger. "You guys saw his hands right? When he took off the tape? That Mimi girl said Bushy Brow has been training until he drops, and then he trains more." The blond glanced over to Sasuke. "He trains more than you, that's for sure."
Sasuke turned away, clenched fists still shaking in rage. Overall, Naruto's plan to point out Sasuke's recent lack of serious training was a good one. The execution didn't seem to work as—
"Fine."
Amari hummed in question at the sound of Sasuke's voice. His hands have stopped shaking.
"This thing is starting to get interesting. And as soon as we pass these Exams, we're all going to be training even harder to be the strongest," Sasuke declared. He turned back to them, a confident smile on his face. "We're the next generation, right? Let's show them what we're made of!"
Smiles pulled onto the rest of Team Seven's faces as they nodded in agreement. "Right!" Naruto agreed.
And so they walked towards their fate with their heads high. Whatever was waiting for them, they were going to succeed no matter what. Team Seven would prove to the shinobi world that they could surpass the past generations.
When they finally reached Room 301 they found a surprise waiting for them; Kakashi leaned lazily against the door, his relaxed posture betrayed by the intense eye he kept locked on them. "Glad you two came, Sakura and Amari," he said slowly. "For both of your sakes and the others. Now you can all formally register for the Chūnin Exam."
"What do you mean now we…can…Oh." Amari stopped herself as the realization hit her. She hadn't even considered it a possibility but…"Our official team is four people. Missing one of us would have forced you to turn back the others. It was either all of us or none of us the same as Team Guy, right?"
Kakashi nodded before explaining in detail what he meant. While he had told them the decision to enter was up to the individual—which it was to a degree—the decision they made affected the team. Telling them the truth would have possibly led to Sasuke and Naruto pressuring Sakura and Amari into doing it. At the same time, Kakashi didn't want the two kunoichi to feel obliged to participate because of their feelings for Sasuke or Naruto.
The point was to make sure the choice they made was on their own volition. Sneaky, but a good move by Kakashi.
"It's a moot point. You four are all here and for the right reasons. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Amari." Kakashi looked at them all with pride, bringing out smiles from the group. "I'm proud of you. I couldn't ask for a better team." He stepped to the side to grant them passage to take the Exams. "Good luck to each of you."
"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, we won't let you down, you know!" Naruto declared.
Amari waited until she was about to pass Kakashi to lightly jab his side with a finger. "That's for losing the tie so early."
"Hehe," he laughed apologetically and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that."
She smiled up at him. "We'll make you proud, Kakashi-sensei. I promise."
Kakashi ruffled her hair and smiled at her. "I know you will."
With that, Amari followed after her team through the doors. Her steps stuttered when the eyes of what looked to be more than a hundred shinobi all turned to glare at their group. A quick glance around revealed symbols from different Shinobi Nations, though she did not see Mist, Stone and Cloud among them. She did see Team Guy, the trio of Sand shinobi they encountered and the music note shinobi trio, whoever they happened to be.
Well, Amari exhaled a troubled sigh, man is it going to be a rough road. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her posture. Can't be helped. If I'm going to reach my dream of becoming a Jōnin, I have to pass this. None of these guys are going to stop me from reaching my dream.
"There's even more competition here than I thought there would be," Sakura whispered.
Amari bumped her shoulder with her own. "Chin up, we can do this. You're a lot stronger than you were five days ago."
And then nails on chalkboard squealed from out of nowhere. "Sasuke! Where have you been?!"
Sakura and Amari tensed for entirely different reasons at the sound of that voice, but Sasuke got the worst of it. Arms wrapped around his neck from behind him as Ino forced him into a hug he never, ever would ask for. An irritated look crossed his face. "Training," he grumbled.
He looked up and met Amari's eye, a silent plea to do something to end this. She could only shrug helplessly, in turn making his scowl deepen. What did he want her to do about it? Get in a fight with Ino? Sasuke was her clansman, but that only went so far. Stepping into a troublesome argument with a girl for him just wasn't high on her priorities.
You don't realize it, but I'm already going to have to deal with far more than a hug, she thought. Sakura and Ino were going to start quarreling any second now, and somehow she'd end up getting dragged into it. Your sense of humor is lacking, oh greater power. My torment is not meant for entertainment.
Ino began rambling on and on and on about how much she missed Sasuke and his brooding looks. Naruto and Amari both sweatdropped as they watched Sasuke do his best to remain as still as possible. A vein bulged in Sakura's forehead right before the bickering started. Voices were raised as everything from classic name calling to harsher insults were spat between the two.
"It's like we never left the Academy," Amari muttered.
Unfortunately, her quiet voice was caught by Ino. "What'd you say, One-eye?!" Ino shrieked.
The distraction was enough for Sasuke to slip away. You owe me one, Sasuke.
"I said it's like we never left the Academy," Amari repeated flatly.
Ino sneered at her. "Well, you still don't look nearly as beautiful as me, so I suppose you're right. And it looks like you gained some new scars; how sad."
Sasuke and Naruto stiffened at the insult, a growl coming from the blond as Sasuke clenched a hand into a fist.
"Ino!" Sakura hissed.
Amari cocked an eyebrow, unfazed by her condescending assault. "It's like you're trying to prove my point." Ino's sneer was immediately replaced by a snarl for her blow not landing. "Yes Ino, you look pretty. Beautiful even." Ino raised her chin in pride and opened her mouth to speak, but Amari cut her off quickly. "But a pretty face alone isn't enough to survive as a shinobi. Get your head right before you jeopardize the lives of your teammates."
Ino recoiled in offense at the sharpened barb. Then her lips curled in a snarl. "Why you—"
"Ino, enough already. You're only proving 'Risu's point every time you try to argue," Shikamaru's lazy voice preceded his presence next to Amari. Her cousin was flanked by Chōji, who munched away on chips. "At the end of the day, 'Risu is the top kunoichi and top rookie of our class. Instead of insulting her, why not try actually learning from her."
"You're just taking her side because you consider her family," Ino shot back.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of the comment. "No, I'm taking her side because she's right. Think about it, Lady Tsunade of the Sannin is considered the most beautiful woman in the shinobi world. But she's also known for her incredible strength and for her immense Medical Ninjutsu knowledge." He shrugged. "Beauty doesn't change a fight."
"Shikamaru's right," Chōji agreed before shoving another handful of chips into his mouth. "Besides," he spoke as he chewed, "you shouldn't be so mean, Ino. Amaririsu is a comrade."
Ino grumbled under her breath but offered no other retort. There was nothing for her to say anyways. Shikamaru's analytical point and Chōji's kindness were unbeatable.
"Anyway, how'd you get dragged into this whole troublesome exam, 'Risu?" Shikamaru asked.
Amari smirked at him. "Come now, Shika, you know this is my kind of troublesome."
"Heh," he laughed. "Good point."
"What about you? Uncle Shikaku tell you to do this or Asuma-sensei didn't give you a choice?"
"I didn't even get to voice my opinion." Shikamaru sighed. "It's going to be such a drag."
She couldn't stop the amused snort from escaping her. "You say that about everything that involves work."
"And I'm always right too," he retorted.
That's my Shika, Amari mused, giggling lightly at his lazy nature. If he ever started acting motivated, she'd start worrying about him.
"Well well, what do you know? It looks like the whole gang is back together again," Kiba said.
The group turned to see Kiba, Hinata and Shino approaching. "Hey guys," Amari greeted. "Glad to see each of you. Especially the handsome half of the Inuzuka, right Akamaru?"
Akamaru yipped. "You always take her side," Kiba mumbled, a frown tugging at his lips.
Shino nodded silently to her in greeting, an action she returned.
"O- oh hi, Naruto. An- and hello to you, Amaririsu," Hinata greeted shyly, index fingers fiddling with each other as she tried not to step back behind Kiba.
"Hinata, how many times?" Amari teased, smiling fondly at the Hyūga.
Pink covered Hinata's cheeks as she looked away, smiling sheepishly at the continued correction. "On- one last time, I promise, Amari."
Sometimes Amari hoped she'd never get it right. She enjoyed seeing Hinata all flustered.
"You guys are here too, huh?" Shikamaru stuffed his hands into his pockets and shook his head. "Man, everyone got dragged into this stupid thing."
"Yup, here we all are. The ten rookies of Konoha," Kiba said. His usual grin took form on his lips. "This is gonna be fun, at least for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right, Sasuke?"
"Careful you don't get a big head, Kiba," Sasuke retorted with a confident smirk on his face.
"Great, the ego fest begins. What a pain," Shikamaru muttered.
"You said it, Shika." Between Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, Ino and Sakura, they were at peak capacity for egos. Any more and the entire room would collapse in on itself. The Nara's shared a sigh as they watched their friends banter with each other. "You ever get the feeling they do this because they know it frustrates us?" she asked curiously.
Shikamaru snorted. "Nah. Too much thinking would go into that."
Amari jabbed him in the side with her elbow as she masked a giggle behind her hand. "Heh, good one, Shikamaru," Chōji laughed. The Akimichi pulled out two chips and offered them to the two Nara's. "You guys want one? They're barbecue flavored."
"Why not."
"Thank you, Chōji."
Chōji smiled back to them. "You're welcome. The rest, however, are mine!" he declared proudly before upending the bag of chips into his mouth. Amari traded an amused look with Shikamaru then popped the chip into her mouth.
Mm, barbecue.
"Hey you guys." The foreign voice caught the attention of all ten rookies. Amari and Shikamaru lazily looked over to the source, both hiding their analytical stares as they discerned if this new person was a threat or not. The person was a man, possibly on the border of teenager and adult, maybe even already an adult based on height. He wore circular framed glasses, a set of violet colored clothes consisting of a shirt, fingerless gloves and pants. Underneath his violet shirt was a white undershirt along with a white waistband. His long ponytailed hair was ash-grey.
His forehead protector was marked with the symbol for Konoha; that alone was enough for Amari to lower her guard down slightly. Unlikely they would find trouble in a Leaf shinobi, but she would keep on guard just in case. The Exams wasn't a place to make friends. People were here for a promotion or to make their home country proud. Mistaking a kind face for a friend could easily lead to a knife in the back if they weren't careful.
Good news, his smile reached his eyes. Faking a smile was easy, faking the emotions in your eyes was a far harder task to accomplish. Not impossible, granted, but it'd take someone used to wearing an emotional mask.
In distance alone, Amari stood closest to the newcomer. Still a good eight feet between them, too far for a sneak attack to have any effect. I don't sense any aggression in his body language either. Hmm, maybe they could trust him. For now.
"You may want to take it down a few decibels," he said. "I mean, no offense, but you're the ten rookies, right?" The question was innocent, but it still placed Amari on edge. Either he overheard Kiba, he caught onto gossip about ten rookies signing up, or…or something far more dangerous lurked here. His smile faded into a serious expression. "I wouldn't go make a spectacle of yourselves. Cool off. This isn't a class field trip."
Sound advice. Strange he would offer it to total strangers. "He's right," Amari said, turning her head to look at her teammates. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, remember what I said. This is the lion's den." We can only trust each other.
Her three teammates nodded in understanding. They were on their own here. Friends and comrades surrounded them, but at the end of the day they could only look out for each other. And trusting a stranger even from their own village was dangerous.
"Exactly," the stranger agreed, unaware of the true meaning behind her words. "From this point forward, it's an uphill battle for all of us to become Chūnin."
Amari nodded once then spoke. "True, but who are you?" She was curious about his intentions. Was he taking pity on the young rookies and trying to help out? Or was he buttering them up to take them down later?
His smile returned. "I am Kabuto Yakushi. Take a look around, you ten have made quite the impression." Glancing around, Amari found every set of eyes in the room locked on them. Anger, sneers, looks of disinterest, every shade of emotion stared back at them from every village participating in the Exams.
We pissed off an entire room without even talking to them. Could that be considered a kekkei genkai? Because it seemed like a special ability at this point. Even the older Leaf shinobi appeared to want to kick them around for their ignorance. Every non-rookie understood what this test meant. It made them tense, ready to lash out at anyone who could stand between them and their goal.
Seeing a bunch of rookies acting untouchable did not sit well with any of them.
"Rubbing these guys the wrong way isn't something I'd advise," Kabuto warned.
"Agreed," Amari said. She hid her suspicious glance from him. But why aren't you acting like them? What about us interests you so much?
Kabuto chuckled and waved them off as the children they were. "You can't help it. You're just rookies. You haven't learned how things work yet." A reminiscent smile pulled onto his lips. "You remind me of myself a while back."
A while back? The dōjutsu wielder pursed her lips in thought, picking apart every word he spoke for hidden intentions. Meaning you've taken this test before. So you are either skilled enough to be a Chūnin and these tests are really hard, or you don't have what it takes to become a Chūnin.
"This isn't the first time you've taken the test?" Sakura asked.
"No…it's my seventh," Kabuto answered.
The others took his answer like he was some sort of veteran. Both Nara's traded a knowing glance with another. They were on the same wavelength without even trying.
"Some expert. He's failed the test six times," Shikamaru stated for the others to hear.
Kabuto immediately became sheepish and brought his hand up to rub the back of his head. "Well, they say seventh times the charm, right?" he asked, an embarrassed laugh leaving him.
"Meaning all the rumors about the Exam being extremely difficult are true," Amari noted, humming in discontent before sighing. "Shika, you're right again. This is going to be a drag."
A seven time test taker? I knew this would be tough, but someone coming back seven times and still not passing? She gave him credit for perseverance, but kami did she not like the odds they were facing. Every single one of them had an area of expertise; a few of them had more than one, but would it be enough to pass the Chūnin Exam? They were just rookies, barely into their first year as shinobi. This fellow Leaf shinobi had more battle experience than them based on age and he still hadn't passed it.
What were the odds they of all these gathered shinobi could actually pull through?
Low.
As all hope felt lost, Kabuto smiled reassuringly at them. "Hang on, don't fall into despair yet." He reached into his back pouch. "Maybe I can help you kids out a little." The ash-haired ninja pulled a set of orange cards. "With my Ninja Info Cards."
"Info Cards?" Amari quizzed. She hadn't heard of anything of this sort before. Admittedly, she was intrigued by what he could possibly have on the cards, and if they could actually increase their chances.
"It's hard to explain, but these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past four years." Kabuto went down onto one knee and placed the deck of two hundred cards on the ground. He flipped one over to reveal a blank white card. "They might not look like anything to the naked eye; in fact, they're completely blank. Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." He set the card onto the floor and began spinning it with his index finger as he channeled his chakra into it.
Amari was hooked instantly. "Interesting. By chakra encoding them, anyone who isn't aware of how they work wouldn't see anything except a blank set of cards." She brought a hand to her chin. "Yet the amount of data you could store on them is incredible, and no one would be any wiser to your data collection."
Kabuto smiled at her and nodded. "That's right."
Now her gears were turning. This shinobi's idea was amazing. The amount of data he could collect, the perfect way to hide it as nothing but a deck of cards. No shinobi would think anything of them as long as they didn't see the blank cards. "And because of how small the cards are, you could easily carry over two hundred with you as separate decks. On recon missions you could record enemy movements or scout an enemy's ability for a future battle to share the information with your comrades. Strengths, weaknesses, enemy numbers, patrols, Clan techniques, anything and everything is possible.
"And if an enemy did find out or overwhelm you, all you have to do is set fire to them and poof, all the information on your person is gone. The enemy wouldn't be able to do anything about it, or know if you had copies given to allied shinobi." How had this not caught on yet? "It's…ingenious. You could even pass on data easily and inconspicuously."
"Aren't you a smart one," Kabuto complimented, smiling kindly at her. "And the only way to see the information is by using my chakra to reveal their secrets. So even then, an enemy shinobi would have no chance of revealing what I learned on their own. Here, I'll show you."
Kabuto surged his chakra into it and the blank space was replaced by a map of the continent. Green 3-D bars were at the bottom of the card with lines leading from them to the Village they were associated with. Underneath the bars were numbers and Village symbols to link the information together.
"One hundred and fifty-five people here for the Exams," Amari stated as she examined the card. "Of them all, Konoha makes up seventy-four of them. Suna is second with thirty. Ame with twenty-one, Kusa with fifteen, twelve from Taki and three from a village I've never seen nor heard of."
The music note village.
"That last one is Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound. It recently sprang up so it's no surprise you didn't know them," Kabuto said.
"A lot of competition regardless of what village they come from," said Kiba.
Mist, Stone and Cloud had no participants whatsoever.
Kabuto nodded in agreement. "You're right about that, but why do you think they all come together to take the Exams?" The rookies answered with silence, unsure of what the real reason was. "It's to foster friendship between nations, of course. International brotherhood and all that, and it's true enough as far as it goes."
A frown made its way to Amari's face.
"But there's another reason." Sasuke beat her to the punch.
All of this was pointing to something other than the simple reason of fostering friendship and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. There were one hundred and fifty-five ninja here. No way all of them could pass. One by one they would be picked off until the end of this test.
So what was the real purpose of the Chūnin Exams?
"You see, the important part of the Chūnin Exam is the regulation of the total number of shinobi. Without it, any village could increase their total forces under no supervision, thus disrupting the balance of power."
"O- oh right, balance of power," Naruto said.
You have no idea what he's talking about, Amari mused.
"Balance of power, big deal. It's all a drag," Shikamaru complained.
"Basically, if one shinobi village ended up with more ninja than its neighbors, someone could attack or fear being attacked, causing another war to break out," Amari explained for the group. "And doing these exams gets the fighting out of our systems and keeps a single village from gaining too many shinobi."
"Right on all accounts," Kabuto answered.
As Sasuke asked Kabuto about the cards holding information on individuals, Amari fell into her own thoughts on the point of these exams. Although her points might have been right, something about it all didn't sit right with her. How was balance of power achieved if Stone, Cloud and Mist did not participate? For all they knew, those three villages could be gathering their forces without anyone knowing because they did not participate in the Exams.
Then there was the whole fostering friendship thing. Combat definitely created bonds, but essentially they were all here to fight a war on behalf of their village. Those who made it to the end won, those who did not make it that far lost. Couldn't that still breed resentment?
Each nation was sending the best of the best to try to become Chūnin, but they were also showing their nations strength. If one nation did not make it to the end or even past the first part then that nation would look weak. Other nations could see it as an easy target and send their ninjas to invade or destroy it completely.
Either way, there was a lot more pressure on every ninja here than Amari had originally thought.
No wonder they look so tense. I just thought this was about a promotion, but there is more to it than that. A lot more. She sighed. It sounds like there are a lot of politics underneath all this.
Kabuto sent chakra into his first card to reveal Rock Lee and his stats. His taijutsu peaked all the way to the top of the pentagon diagram while his other skills were a bit lacking. Nothing new there. The card also revealed he had done eleven C-rank missions and twenty D-rank missions. Not a bad record for being a year older than them.
This was Team Guy's first time at the Exams the same as them, and his team was the only other four man squad here besides Team Seven, according to Kabuto. He sent chakra into a second card to reveal Mimi Inuzuka's skills. Most of the basic information about missions and teammate remained the same, but the drastic change was her ninjutsu in the diagram.
"Her ninjutsu is sublime to the rest of her team," Kabuto pointed out. "Her taijutsu isn't bad either, though considering who her teacher is that isn't a surprise. It seems she has an affinity to the Water Nature. Oh," Kabuto's eyes widened, "this is interesting. She's listed as a medic-nin. That definitely gives her and her team an edge."
"Whoa," some of the rookies awed.
"Her chakra control is amazing. I've seen her stand on top of her own Water Dragon as it attacked," Amari said.
Kabuto gave a thoughtful nod. "I'm not surprised. Medical Ninjutsu is said to need supreme chakra control. I'd watch out for her if I were you guys."
"Yeah. Mimi likes to play around, but when she gets serious it's usually all over for her opponent," Kiba commented.
"And you fought her, 'Risu?" Shikamaru asked, looking at her in surprise.
"Her and her team. They're all tough, but Mimi is on a different level entirely."
Kabuto brought up his third card and sent chakra into it to reveal Gaara and his team, minus his sensei. A question mark remained where their teacher was meant to be. Another question mark was placed over his skill level and D-ranked missions. Other than that it showed he had done eight C-rank missions and one B-ranked mission.
"Not a lot on this guy, but get this: he survived every mission without getting a scratch on him," Kabuto explained.
"The dude has done a B-rank as a Genin and has never even been injured?" Shikamaru asked in shock.
I knew I wasn't going to like learning more about this guy. Team Seven barely made it out of their C-rank turned A-rank without casualties, and apparently this kid did a B-rank without a scratch? Gaara wasn't to be trifled with, that was for sure.
Kabuto put those cards away and brought out his map of the continent again. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall and Sound. By the looks of it they've sent exceptionally skilled candidates to the Exams this year. Of course the Hidden Sound Village is small and only sprang up recently. No one knows anything about it; those guys are a mystery."
Amari hummed and frowned. "So no one knows what kinds of skills they have…That's troubling."
He put his cards back on the deck then looked up to the ten rookies with a sympathetic smile. "Well you get the point. The competition is going to be intense this year."
"So it would seem. It's almost enough to make you lose your confidence," Hinata said quietly.
"A fine time to start thinking like that!" Ino chastised.
Frowning at Ino's scolding, Amari shot her a quick glare before turning a comforting smile to Hinata. "You'll do fine, Hinata. Don't worry so much. My mom wouldn't have sent you three here if she didn't believe in each of your skills. Find strength in your comrades."
"Ri- right!"
"Do you really think it's going to be tougher this time?" Sakura questioned.
"Oh yeah," Kabuto said. "In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch."
"This is going to be a drag," both Nara's said in unison.
They traded smirks with one another at their unison thought pattern. She missed being around Shikamaru. Sudden movement from her blond teammate caught her attention before his loud voice penetrated the silence.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to beat every one of you! Believe it!" Naruto shouted at the entire room.
Why did her best friend have to be such a knucklehead?
"Huh, that took longer than expected," Shikamaru said.
Amari turned to her cousin in slight confusion. "Naruto announcing he'd beat everyone?"
"No, Naruto being a complete idiot."
Amari stifled a laugh. Yep, she missed being around her Shika.
"He's not very bright, is he?" Kabuto asked curiously.
"Nope."
"No."
"I don't think anyone's ever accused Naruto of being smart," Chōji said thoughtfully.
Kabuto exhaled a laugh and moved to stand up. "Looks like one of you will have your hands full."
"Nothing new there. 'Risu always has her hands full with that idiot," Shikamaru pointed out.
Aggressive movement from the Sound shinobi caught Amari's eye, killing her good mood instantly.
"Naruto, you jackass!" Sakura shouted as she put their teammate in a sleeper hold for acting so brashly.
The three Sound ninjas sped through the crowds of shinobi, ill intentions in their movements and on their faces. In preparation for an attack, Amari activated her Byakugan and kept her sights on the three shinobi. Most of the other ninja didn't even seem to notice them zipping around, but the dōjutsu wielder could see them perfectly.
These guys have strange…tools or something on them. The one wrapped in bandages had a strange mechanism on his arm, while his other male teammate had weapons of some kind beneath the surface of his skin. Pipes of some kind were in his arms, going towards his palms as an exit point with chakra moving through them. Probably amplifiers of some sort to increase the strength of their jutsus.
The spiky-haired one jumped off a desk and aimed two kunai right at Kabuto and Amari. "Look out!" Kabuto shouted, pushing Amari away and into Shikamaru's arms before she could react. Kabuto dodged back, sliding on his backs of his heels to narrowly dodge the kunai knives aimed for them. As he skidded to a stop, the bandage wrapped Sound shinobi appeared in front of him.
Chakra entered his mechanism just before he threw a punch at Kabuto. The Leaf shinobi was too fast for it to hit, dodging again and smirking at the successful evasion.
Then his glasses cracked. Kabuto frowned at first and reached up to pull his glasses off but then smiled. "Oh, I get it. So it was that kind of attack."
"Wait a minute, I saw him dodge the attack. How did that happen?" Sasuke questioned.
Before any answer could be given, Kabuto gasped in pain and fell to his knees despite no other attack happening. The contents in his stomach then hit the release and came shooting out of his mouth.
Naruto and Sakura ran over to his side in worry as Amari stared hard at the three Sound ninjas. Only one thing I know can do something like that. Flashes of her clone having her ear drums nearly blown out played through her mind. Sound. Must be a Village thing.
"Write this on your little card, punk," the spiky-haired one sneered, "the Genin from the Sound Village will be Chūnin when this is over. Guaranteed."
Cocky, huh? She knew how to handle arrogance like that. "Look at the little punks with no real strength," Amari taunted.
That hit a nerve. The spiky-haired one growled and spun to glare at her. "What did you say?" he seethed.
"'Risu, what are you doing?" Shikamaru whispered worriedly.
Amari chose to ignore him. He wouldn't understand, he'd call it troublesome. But not her. This was right up her alley. No one messed with Leaf ninjas on her watch. "Oh I wasn't actually acknowledging you," she retorted. A venomous smile pulled onto her lips. "You're even more of a waste of time. Why are you even here?"
"You little—"
"You're still talking?" Amari sighed dramatically and rolled her eye. "Idiots never learn. But…" They blinked and she was gone. As their eyes opened again, the two male Sound shinobi found the two kunai thrown placed against their throats. Shocked hissed breaths escaped the trio, the spiky-haired one actually flinching at the feel of cold steel against his throat. "Consider me talking exclusively to all three of you now."
The air around them chilled as her killing intent unshackled itself. Second by second the intent grew stronger until all three Sound shinobi were suffocating in it. The spiky-haired man attempted to say something but shut his mouth when she put more pressure on his throat. No blood was drawn, but a bit more and crimson blood would be spilt.
"You think your little toys make you strong?" Her voice remained quiet. Why? To ensure they listened intently to what she was about to say. "You're not real ninjas," she said, the blades in her words growing sharper. "You're fakes. Frauds. Low life punks who wouldn't cut it as true shinobi if someone took away your little amplifiers. I swear to you, if you ever harm a Leaf shinobi in my presence again…"
More killing intent unshackled itself, thinning the air around them and sending a shiver through all three Sound shinobi. "I will break your toys."
An explosion of smoke behind them snapped the Nara back to reality, causing her to rein in her killing intent as a deep, commanding voice bellowed, "All right you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!" Amari half turned to see the smoke cloud dissipate and reveal a large number of older Leaf shinobi standing at the front of the room. In front of them stood a man wearing a long black open coat, a man with scarred and serious features.
"It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment…your worst enemy."
Damn this guy just makes me feel smaller than I am. The man carried with him an aura of danger that put her to shame. Almost as if he could cut anyone down just by looking at them.
"First." His finger and stare penetrated through the crowd right at the three Sound ninja and Amari. "You candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound and you from the Leaf, knock it off! Who told you that you could fight? You want to be failed before we've even begun."
"No sir. I was just returning these kunai knives to their thrower. Wouldn't want anyone getting hurt over a simple misunderstanding," Amari responded nonchalantly despite the fact her heart was beating frantically against her chest. Man, this guy scares the crap out of me.
She dropped the kunai knives at their feet and walked back over to Kabuto, Naruto, and Sakura while the three Sound ninjas gave an even more halfhearted apology.
Ibiki frowned at all of them. "I'll say this once, so listen up! There will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately."
"Understood, Sir," Amari replied.
"Now if we're ready, we will proceed to first stage of the Chūnin Exam. Hand over your paperwork; in return you will each be given a number. This number determines where you'll sit. We will start the written test once you are all seated," Ibiki explained.
Written tests are such a drag.
"Hey." Kabuto's voice dragged Amari from her thoughts back down to his crouched form. "Nice work getting those three ninjas to back down. I owe you one," he said with a thankful smile.
She gave him a close eyed smile. "No problem. I'm only sorry you had to push me out of the way and take the sound wave. Thank you for trying to help me, though."
With the fighting over, it was time to take on the Exam.
Hopefully we all pass.