A/N: This time it's a title from a story written by H. C. Andersen. I hope you like my chapter too. :)
As the sea calls 7
A Leaf from Heaven
The room waiting for them was huge and empty. Considering the structure of the tower, it was reasonable to thing that all the other doors around the bottom floor led to similar rooms.
And up on the wall was a… riddle written for them.
"If qualities of Heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If qualities of Earth are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When Heaven and Earth are open together, the peerless path will be righteous forever. This is the secret way that guides us from this place today."
"…The scrolls were also called heaven and earth." Souseki pointed out after reading the riddle. "Maybe we should open them now."
"Sound reasonable." Kairi nodded and extracted the two scrolls from her back pack. The other one she gave the Hara who had two functional arms. Souseki had his broken arm in a sling now.
"On three." Hara stated. "One, two, three."
The two scrolls were opened, revealing the summoning technique inside.
"Toss it away!" Kairi gasped, throwing the heaven scroll to the floor. The earth scroll flew on top of it. With a plume of smoke a chuunin appeared on top of the two scrolls. Basic Konoha attire, bandana-style hitai-ate and dark brown hair over the right side of his face. Kamizuki Izumo.
"Ah, Suna genin." The chuunin smirked. "All three in one piece and in the tower with both of the scrolls. Congrats, you passed the second phase of the exam."
"Thank you, Shinobi-san." Kairi nodded her head. "May I ask though, what is that little poem on the wall?"
"A poem? It's much grander than that, little girl." Izumo scoffed. "They are words from the First Hokage himself. The principles that chunin should follow."
"Oh?" Souseki arched a brow but kept his face impassive. "How exactly then…"
"My other job here, than to simply congratulate you, is to explain it." The chuunin told them. "Heaven is mental strength while earth is physical strength. If you are weak mentally you need to study and meditate to strengthen it, while if you lack physical strength, you need to train and gain stamina. All in all one needs to be strong in both aspects in order to be the perfect chuunin, just like the balance between the two in required in mixing chakra for techniques."
"I see. That sounds quite reasonable." Kairi smiled. "As expected of the first Shinobi no Kami."
Izumo chuckled. "Yes, yes… Now, through those doors you'll find rooms to stay in, a dining area and lounge rooms. The third exam commences only after the five days are up. Until then you are to stay in this tower. The three upper floors are out of bounds for the genin but otherwise you are free to roam the tower."
"Understood. Let's go, Souseki, Fuukatsu." Hara moved to leave the room, swaying slightly until Souseki went to support him.
There were four other teams already which was quite surprising. While Kairi had expected the Sand Siblings and team 8 to be there already, the fact that other two rookie teams were too, came as a shock.
Kairi didn't dwell on it though. Just ushered the boys to one of the barrack rooms available and began taking off her armor. It was dirty, as was the rest of her clothes and Kairi was tired. She wanted to eat and shower before crashing on the bed and sleeping. For a tower in the middle of the forest, it was quite well equipped for prolonged stay.
"I'm getting food for us." Souseki announced and left then to look for the dining area.
"I'll take the first turn in the shower then." Kairi told the boys and went to the adjacent bathroom. It didn't have hot water much but just enough that it wasn't freezing cold. Probably moderated somehow to all the rooms that the water simply didn't come any warmer than not-freezing. But it was lovely anyways. While they might have been in the woods only two days, it was still nice to get refreshed.
Kairi changed into clean shirt and pants. They were of the same model than the ones she'd previously worn, just different color in wine-red and dark grey. And as they were made of such a light and thin fabric, they packed really tightly into small space.
Souseki came back with food and all three of them began eating in silence. Ignoring them was like heaven-sent option for Kairi.
The next few days had Kairi exploring the tower and observing the changes once more. Late evening on the third day team 3 arrived and bunked in another room than the rookies. Interestingly enough the Oto team wasn't seen at all. Considering their skill, they should've acquired the scrolls easily even if they lost their earth scroll to team 7. So what had happened this time to differ from canon?
Kairi didn't get her answer until the day of preliminaries. Before that, she entertained herself by challenging the other genin into a game of poker. Or blackjack. Or Texas Hold'em. Or some other game. She also had Hanafuda cards with which she also played. Mainly her opponents were team 3(Lee and Tenten), team 8(Kiba) or Temari and Kankurou. Rock Lee was very enthusiastic to play even if he didn't have skill. Tenten was calm and skilled though easily stressed. Kiba was… Kiba. And Temari and Kankuro had experience and knowledge to bow out when it was obvious that Kairi was winning. They didn't play with money though, but with snapped chopsticks.
"How did you find the first phase?" Kairi asked when she was dealing the next round to the three Konoha genin sitting in front of her on the floor. They were playing Old Maid this time.
"It was… alright." Tenten shrugged but eyed warily at the lion-sized summoning fox that the Suna girl was using as backrest.
"Don't mind Shimon-san. He just wanted to check up on me. He looks gruff and scary but is real softie inside." Kairi smiled, scratching the fox's ears. Shimon snorted but leaned his large head against his paws then. He was the largest and fastest summon that Kairi could call on her help currently and she wanted him to familiarize himself with the smells of people there. If only in the case she run into them during the invasion, he'd know not to kill or grievously injure them. Or then downright avoid them. Konoha Twelve was out of bounds, and while his team wasn't there yet, running into Kabuto was hazardous both because of his skill and because he was an 'ally'.
Shimon was almost black fox and his name was written with the kanji for 'death' and 'gate'. He was the older brother of Shirin and Shanna, the twins.
"Right…" Tenten flashed a smile and gathered her cards. "We got our missing scroll easily enough."
"Our opponents gave us valiant fight but in the end we prevailed." Rock Lee declared, flashing a thumbs up.
"Did you leave them alive?" Kairi asked. "Because some of the teams fight with the intent to kill or seriously main and then in order to survive your only chance is to fight fire with fire."
"Ah, yes… Our opponents should still be alive." Tenten said.
"Yes. They surrendered their scroll to us and decided to retreat." Lee nodded but his thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. Like remembering something he'd seen… Kairi could only wonder. In canon Lee had found the camping site of team 7 and arrived to help Sakura. But here it wasn't guaranteed that he'd meet with the explosive-note squirrel or want to help the Nara girl(assuming she was the one to wake up first from Orochimaru's assault) like he did with Sakura. But team 7 had survived to the tower. So what had happened there? Especially if it was something that made Rock Lee to quiet down.
"And you, Inuzuka-kun?" The Suna girl turned at Kiba. Akamaru woofed once and the boy stiffened for a moment but forcibly relaxed then.
"I don't know. We trapped ours with some leeches. I don't know if they're still alive." The boy shrugged. "What about you then?"
"…" Kairi sighed. "There was a Konoha team that attacked me. I took care of them and got the scroll. Another scroll I found from a Kusa team that got killed by a boar. Good thing that I got them both since Hara and Souseki lost ours to that Kabuto's team."
"They did? Why aren't they here yet then?" Kiba frowned. The Suna girl shrugged.
"Maybe they lost each other or maybe their original scroll was taken before they ambushed the boys. Who knows?"
"Say, were you the one to talk to Gaara when he was about to… to…"
"To kill you after killing the Ame team? Yes. I wasn't sure if he'd listen to me though but good thing that he did? I guess Temari-san could've talked him down too."
"Thank you anyways." Kiba said, bowing his head quite uncharacteristically. "I'm… grateful to be alive with Shino and Hinata."
"It's alright. Just a right thing to do. I live in the same village than Gaara, I've heard of him enough to reason with him." Half-lie but contained the necessary information. Kairi smiled at the boy. Still so young and innocent. "But you are welcome anyways."
On the fifth day the second phase finally ended, Kabuto's team slinking in right in time. He and Kairi exchanged one very short glance before focusing to the front of the room where Hokage and the jounin instructors were standing with the proctors. All the teams were arranged into short ques facing the front of the room. The Oto team in the end hadn't come at all and for some reason that made Kairi nervous. She glanced at the brunette Nara girl standing between her two team mates. She was the key. And either she hadn't stopped Sasuke from killing the Oto team or had taken care of it herself somehow. Kairi didn't know what to think about it.
"First of all…" Anko began. "Congratulations on finishing the Second Exam. Now pay attention. Hokage-sama is going to explain the Third Exam to you. You better listen carefully, maggots."
"First, before I tell you what the Third Exam entails, I want to explain about the test itself. Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?" The Hokage asked rhetorically. Kairi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. While interesting tidbit, it as something that wasn't necessary to tell right now. People here were either exhausted or eager to fight. They didn't want to hear babble about peace and replacement war. What a joke really. Replacement of war held between allies…
She didn't really listen to the longwinded explanation, deciding rather to concentrate to the slight shifting of air currents in the room to see if there was anything to see. For example if Orochimaru was in the room. In canon he'd been disguised as Oto team's jounin sensei but now… Maybe Kabuto's team? But they wre a Konohan team so shouldn't people know something is amiss. Unless the Sannin was using the man's face and the sunglasses and face… veil? Scarf? Something like that anyways though Kairi really couldn't see the Snake Sannin wearing something so absurd.
She snorted quietly at the thought. Even Kazekage's robes were more fitting for him. Which reminded her… when was Kazekage going to be assassinated? Right before the finals? That sounded reasonable.
"This Exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of its shinobi and thus the strength of the nation itself and it's because its and Exam where your life is on the line that is had meaning. And it's for this very reason and for the strength of the nation that your forerunners fought in this Exam. It's truly a dream worth striving for."
Right…
"Why did you say it was about 'international friendship' before, then?" Tenten demanded. Ah, what Kairi remembered and had seen of the girl, she was a peace-loving talented, kunoichi. The older girl couldn't only hope that the Konohan wouldn't be driven into corner where she'd have to make drastic decisions. Like what happened to Itachi. They were relatively around the same age even if Itachi had been a genius and in Anbu.
"This is a custom where balance is preserved by fighting and dying." The leader of the village replied. "In the world of shinobi, that is friendship."
Bullshit. This was just a glorification of messed up values. A way to get potential chuunin vent out their frustrations in veiled showman ship and opportunity for the village leaders to thumb noses.
"The Third Exam is a fight for life, with the pride of your village and your own dreams at stake."
Like Kairi just explained. She wanted to become a chuunin even if it was unlikely that it'd happen in these exams. Again, for reasons out of her control. But it still would be so nice to have her father's name to use… Maybe if she gave good enough showing, like Shikamaru did in canon, she could get promoted… But with the Kazekage not watching… So difficult.
"The test is fine. Just tell me what the details of the Exam are already. I can handle anything you throw at me." Gaara rasped.
Whisper of wind and a ninja was kneeling in front of the Hokage after arriving by shushin.
"Hokage-sama, before you do, please allow me, Hayate Gekkou, proctor of the Third Exam to speak first." The ninja said.
"So be it." Hokage granted.
"It's nice to meet you all." Hayate spoke and coughed then. He turned around to address the genin gathered and damn, he looked tired. "There's something I would like all of you to do before the Third Exam… We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one. This is the first time in five years that there have been enough candidates finishing the Second Exam to require one."
"Preliminaries?" Shikamaru asked in annoyance. "Just what do you mean by that?"
Idiot. Did he know nothing about chuunin exams and their finals? Granted he was a fresh genin but still… Chuunin Exam Final Tournament was always so big of an event that everyone noticed them. And there surely had been exams in Konoha too during the past years that the current generation would remember. Actually… wasn't the exams five years ago requiring preliminary round also in Konoha? Tch, tch… So easy.
"The First and Second Exams might've been too easy." Hayate explained. "The fact it, we never expected so many of you to still be here According to the rules of the Chunin Exams, a preliminary exam can be held at any stage in order to reduce the number of candidates remaining. It's just that, as Hokage-sama said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the best. So if there are any of you that feel you are not in top physical condition, now's your chance to bow out. The preliminaries will be determined by one-on-one combat and they will be starting immediately."
Sneaky, to imply that the finals would be immediately after the preliminaries. Considering the hectic pace they'd bene led on thus far, it was necessary faulty assumption.
Kairi looked over the genin assembled. With the Oto team gone(?) but her team there, the amount of genin was the same than before. So technically the match ups would be relatively the same. Of course some changes there would be because she doubted her team would automatically replace the Oto team. Hara and Souseki against Shino and Chouji? Her against Shikamaru? Somehow Kairi doubted it'd happen.
"Okay, you got me. I'm out." Kabuto raised his hand with a sheepish expression.
"Kabuto?" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you doing? You can't quit now!"
"I'm sorry, but my body is just too beat up." The medic apologized. "I just can't hack it."
"I'll pass too." Another hand rose up.
"Souseki!" Hara gaped. "Why? You got this far, if you give up now you end up like her." The pointed finger in Kairi's direction was definitely now appreciated.
"My arm is still broken from our fight in the forest and unfortunately I need both of my hands for my techniques. I severely doubt surviving a match and then the Third Exam right afterwards." Souseki smiled at his friend. "I have complete faith in you for succeeding to make a spectacle."
"You bet!"
"Anyone else?" Hayate asked. "Alright, Kabuto Yakushi and Souseki Nagaya, please leave the room. We will now begin the preliminary round."
The pair left and the proctor continued explaining.
"There are 19 of you remaining, so we will need nine matches and one of you will gain free pass. The surviving candidates from these matches will move on to the Third Exam. As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one of you dies or concedes defeat or is rendered physically incapable of continuing. Naturally, those who are losing, are encouraged to concede defeat to avoid fatal outcome. Furthermore, as a proctor, I'm given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible."
That's… nice.
Please not the sarcasm.
Kairi couldn't help but think about how the matches in canon could have ended if Hayate or anyone else hadn't stepped in. Hinata, Lee… They both could be dead. Maybe Tenten and Chouji too if their opponents hadn't deemed them 'weak' and 'not worth the effort'. Though Hinata and Chouji were both clan heirs so they both were protected. Lee was alive only because Gai intervened. Tenten… she was a mystery. In some worlds (read: fanfictions) she was depicted as orphan, in some she had family…
"The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match, these names will appear on the display behind me. In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear."
The display went through the names in 'convincingly random' manner until it stopped.
Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado
"Everyone other than the two opposing canditates will now clear the area and move to the upper level." Hayate requested.
The Suna shinobi and Misumi Tsurugi went to the left balcony. The Konoha Twelve went to the right balcony. Sasuke and Yoroi were left on the floor with Hayate.
"And begin!" Hayate gave a sign. Yoroi and Sasuke sprang into action but Kairi didn't really concentrate on the fight. She rather observed the people on other balcony. Everyone was measuring each other. Tension was high, anticipating.
A match stick was waiting to be lit and make the cannon fire the start of war.
In a month the big day would be and Sasuke would light up the match and fire the cannon that was Gaara.
Sasuke won his match. Not surprising. What interested Kairi more, was the message being passed along among the jounin of the Konoha Twelve. The one who made the message and gave the first push was the Nara girl though. Hatake Kakashi's student. Kairi still didn't know her name. Maybe she'd finally find it out when it'd be displayed on the screen.
Sasuke and Kakashi left. Orochimaru in disguise followed them. Kairi's shoulders relaxed fractionally and she leant her elbows against the railing.
Kankurou vs. Misumi Tsurugi
Once again a predictable fight.
"Because his opponent is unable to continue, the winner is Kankurou." Hayate announced. "The third match: Temari versus Tenten!"
This fight didn't go quite as depicted in anime but Tenten still lost. Afterwards Kakashi returned. Kairi focused again to the conversation.
"Where's Sasuke?" The Nara girl asked.
"Oh, he's fine. Sleeping soundly in the infirmary. But he's been put under guard by the ANBU. Although…" The copy-nin hesitated. "When you were in the forest… did Sasuke… did he… you were attacked by a team of Sound ninja, weren't you?"
"Yeah, we were." The girl replied.
"Did Sasuke kill them?"
So the Oto team was dead. No wonder they weren't at the tower then.
"No." The Nara girl said. "I did."
Wow. That was all Kairi could think as she looked up directly at the girl. She looked tired but determined. Nothing impressive outwardly but still… Kairi grinned.
"Show me the windmill you are making to turn, little deer. Show the ripples you are causing." Then she had to blink. Didn't Orochimaru use windmill as a metaphor when he explained to Sandaime Hokage why he was orchestrating the invasion? Damn… Was this creation of Kairi's mind or an effect of having the Archive and thus making constant references to things having passed and going to pass?
The girl scowled and looked down on the arena right before the Nara girl could sense her gaze and meet it. Kairi didn't fancy being suspected of anything just yet, thank you very much.
"Next match: Kiba Inuzuka versus Naruto Uzumaki!"
Kairi watched both boys leave the opposite balcony and noted with interest that Naruto was carrying a water canteen. What was he planning? The girl already had a feeling the fight was going to be different from canon.
"Sorry, Kiba. Don't take it personally if I blow you away." Naruto told his friend and opponent for the battle.
"That's just what I was going to say! Only not so politely." Kiba growled. "Right, Akamaru?"
"Woof!" The dog agreed. Cute dog but Kairi knew better than to go and pet him.
"When you're ready…" Hayate glanced between the two boys. "Begin!"
Kiba started with the standard Inuzuka technique where he went down to four limbs and attacked with very fast taijutsu. It was accompanied by smoke bombs, intending to make it harder for Naruto to dodge.
When the smoke cleared, Naruto was lying on the ground and Kiba was standing. Until Akamaru went and bit his master.
"Surprise!" Naruto cried when releasing the henge. He backed off soon enough though.
"What? Where's Akamaru?" The Inuzuka demanded. And the Naruto on the ground revealed the dog with him.
"Whaddya know?" Kiba grinned. "Got a little stronger, I see. But not nearly strong enough because now I'm going to get serious."
"Good, I was hoping you would because I want to seriously knock you out." Naruto countered.
Akamaru was fed a soldier pill and after the transformation, the dog broke free from Naruto's clone's grip.
"Beast Human Clone! Fang over Fang!" And with the two techniques, the Inuzuka pair attacked. Naruto used kawarimi to dodge and…
"Hidden in the Mist jutsu!" Naruto called, whilst going through the seals. Kairi's eyes widened.
"Where has he learnt that technique?" The girl thought in astonishment. "It's one of the staple jutsus taught at Kiri… And I doubt it's something that Kakashi would've taught him. The only Kiri-nin Naruto should've been in contact with thus far is Momochi Zabuza but…"
She was lacking information. Something had changed once again. Of course the Archive didn't show everything that happened but it was still a good source material. Especially considering Kairi's current 'Spot-the-Difference' game. And in canon the only three jutsus that Naruto regularly used where Kage Bunshin, Henge and the variations of Rasengan. The girl's eyes flicked to the blonde's female teammate. Maybe having someone smarter than Sakura (and of course the brunette girl was smarter – she was a Nara after all) was helpful for the team dynamics and development.
Several Naruto clones appeared all around the room with… wire? Yes, wire in their hands. The ninja wire was probably crisscrossing in the mist where Kiba still was.
"Alright! Eat this, Kiba!" Naruto jumped out of the mist. "Lightning Release: Radiating Shockwave!"
"…Wow." Kairi blinked as the lightning sparked through the mist and presumably fried Kiba. That attack was surprising too. She felt giddy. Everything was so very interesting and somewhat better too. She didn't need to just watch thing go just like in canon but see differences too. It made everything seem more real.
"Kiba Inuzuka is unable to continue. Winner is Naruto Uzumaki." Hayate announced and then called the next match, right away. "Shino Aburame versus Chouji Akimichi."
That one was a tough match but eventually Shino emerged victorious.
"Next match will be Shikamaru Nara versus Shikako Nara."
Okay… Kairi had to hold back a snicker. That girl's name really was Shikako? Hilarious. And so unimaginative…
"I forfeit." Shikako said, interrupting Kairi's thoughts. Wait, what?
"What's the point in that?" Temari scoffed next to Kairi. "Hanging in here to forfeit now?"
The Konohan shrugged. "There are two people in this room that I would forfeit rather than fight. My brother just happens to be one of them."
Brother? So they were siblings after all? Were they even twins then? While it was hard to say when girls were at the cusp of their growth sport while the boys weren't, the Nara girl was still shorter than her brother. It was possible that they were twins but it was also possible that she was a year younger. A year older and she probably would've been taller than her brother.
Kairi sighed. That didn't matter in the end. The next match was called.
Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga
The Suna girl nodded the order of the names in amusement. Thus far in the rigged match-ups (and it was obvious that they were rigged one way or another) the expected winners had been announced first. Naruto had thus far been the only one to break the pattern. Meaning that it was interesting that Hinata was put first while Neji was known to be on the top of his class and a touted genius. Maybe it was main branch versus side branch bias then…
The fight was terribly one-sided and brutal. Hinata was lucky to be alive. And… Kairi did a quick count of the people left. Only five genin, one of which was going to get a free pass.
"Kairi Fuukatsu versus Jyari Hara." Hayate read the names. Huh? This was the first (and only) match with the opponents coming from the same team.
"Finally." Hara grunted and leaped over the railing to the arena. Kairi rolled her eyes and used the stairs. No reason for her to showboat.
The two Suna genin faced each other on the arena, Hara haughtily and Kairi with indifference.
"Are the contestants ready?" Hayate asked.
"Yes." Kairi replied.
"Naturally." Hara smirked. "I'll end this in seconds."
"You wish." The girl said with narrowed eyes.
"And begin!"
A/N: I decided to stuck Kairi's fight right before Gaara's since Lee destroyed the arena during their fight and somehow having Kairi fight after them would've been... Well, you know how big of an impact that fight had on the canon characters.
And yes, I decided to separat the fight to a different chapter. I'm mean like that. :)
Replies to Reviews:
-The Real Chys Lattes:
I see. I always thought that as long as the reviews don't take longer word count than the chapter itself, it's fine. And also thought to make my replies public in the case one reader has a question for me to be answered but doesn't want to ask themselves and another has. Or something like that. I knew that people can reply through PMs as I've received some replies that way but I never really thought about doing so myself.
Thank you, and no, Kabuto didn't hear her. Italics are thoughts outside of narrative itself. I know that a lot of Kairi's observations and thoughts go through narrative but sometimes, especially after a spoken line, I specify a thought then then it's in italics.
-gonewind321:
Taking advise from the reviewer above, I'll reply to you through PM as it might be a bit lenghty.
-10th Squad 3rd Seat:
You are welcome. And thank you. :)
:D
-calcu22:
Yes, she is. It's just a problem when I introduce a character 'in the middle' of their storyline and development, I'm not sure what sort of expectations readers have. In usual stories they show the characters training and learning and getting gradually stronger through their hard work. I in the other hand introduced a developed character right off bat and thought I will dwell to her past, it won't make up for the 'prologue' and 'academy' chapters that I've skipped here, thus I have the uncertainty as to what my readers will think of Kairi.