It was midday in Konoha with not a single cloud in sight. The sun blazed brightly over the academy's training hall, but its inhabitants were settled deep inside, safe from the sweltering rays that had taken refuge nearby for the past several days.
"I can't believe the village is still holding chunin exams this year."
Kazahi looked over at the seat where Awai was sitting. The first round of the chunin exams had yet to begin, but all the genin, Konoha genin in particular, were already assigned their seat for the practical written exam. Kazahi sat near the back of the room, across from Awai who leaned against the window. Their other teammate, Setsumi, sat next to the aisle a few rows ahead.
The jonin proctor paid them no attention as they were far from being the only ones in the exam room who were holding a conversation.
"It's only Konoha ninja, though," Kazahi said.
"Because the village gates are closed to outsiders," Setsumi added. She glanced over her shoulder. "While there is a war going on, any chance for the Leaf to increase its strength will be taken."
"Yeah, I guess," Awai mumbled, "And I wanted to show everyone how great the Uchiha are..." Her pencil danced between her fingers for a few seconds, only to slip and leave her clumsily chasing after it. "Hmph, let's just not repeat last time."
The Uchiha glared at Kazahi as he handed her pencil back, her dark eyes pointed over her nose.
"Got it, Kazahi? Remember what happened last chunin exams?"
.
.
.
The overcast sky caused the exam room to be dim even though the few ceiling lights had been on all day. Rain pelted the windows and roof with such an increasing ferciousity that even the jonin protocter couldn't stop his eyes from darting outside every time the drainage pipe was drummed. The skittering sounds of pencil marks accompyed the raindrops as genin from the Land of Fire, Sand, Grass, and several other nations participted in the first round of the chunin exams. To some, the sound of rain was calming. Unfortunately for Kazahi, it was anything but.
Sensing the rocks and dirt on the training field outside, Kazahi's head pulsed. His mind felt as if it would break from his skull. He could sense the young children skipping stones over the bridge a few miles out, their parents holding battered umbrellas above their heads. Dots of chakra blurred his vision, the nonstop pounding in beat with the drum of the metal roof.
His paper was blank save for his name up top, and a single stroke which he repeatedly went over with his pencil. His eyes were clouded over. He could barely concentrate on the first question, or the second, and definitely not the fifth. Something about chakra natures, or team formations... no, that was question four, this one...
One...
"Mind transfer jutsu!" whispered Shiki, sitting beside Kazahi.
Startled from his muddled thoughts, Kazahi squinted at the messy haired Yamanaka. Shiki held his hands up in the classic triangle-shaped hand sign of the Yamanaka clan's jutsu. A second later, his head dropped on the desk.
Kazahi, confused and lightheaded, followed Shiki's prior line of sight to the jonin instructor at the front of the room. His head was still pointed towards the window, but a sudden jolt and a slight, snotty grin so reminiscent of Shiki alerted the Squad 6 genin to the Yamanaka's plan.
Shifting in his chair, the jonin proctor leaned over his desk that was angled in the corner of the room, and started to shuffle through a short stack of papers laid across it.
Kazahi blinked. Then the storm hit harder, and he slapped his hands over his mouth as a strong case of vertigo washed over him.
.
.
.
"It wasn't all my fault!" grumbled Kazahi. He balked at the memory of his attempt to swallow his bile, which ultimately proved futile in the end.
"That's the most emotion I've seen on your face, stupid Kazahi! Well, besides looking like you're constipated," Shiki called out from the other side of the room. His manic grin looked down on them as if Yuuji's ninken, Takeki, wasn't tugging playfully on his loose green yukata. Sitting in the seat beside his teammate, Yuuji gently released the puppy, giving her his pencil to chew instead.
"Stop being mean to him, Shiki!" Awai shouted. At this point the exam proctor had tuned them all out. "And don't act like you're any better! It's a miracle you weren't kicked out the first round because you used your mind transfer jutsu on the sensei to cheat!"
Kazahi's mouth twitched in amusement.
"Of course the other chunin would notice the exam proctor shuffling through his desk papers like a madman," Awai continued, "And when he kicked you out of his mind, you popped back looking so out of place and offended that your plan failed. Nori's so lucky she's a chunin now, so she doesn't have to put up with stupid Shiki as much anymore."
Shiki blushed bright red, barring his teeth, and suddenly stood up. "Stupid Uchiha—!"
At that point the jonin proctor decided a fight in the exam room was too far, and clapped his hands. "Enough! No fighting! The exam will begin shortly, so sit down and stop squabbling. You'll get your chance to rough it out later."
Soon enough the exam papers were passed out. Another simple written test, just like last time; a total of nine questions and a set time of one hour. Kazahi got to work answering the questions, enjoying a much easier time without his sensory abilities getting in his way. The test was easy for him, as he often had high scores back in the academy. It was no different for his teammates who also excelled when it came to written tests, Awai being the best.
It was a bit different for the remaining members of Squad 2, Shiki and Yuuji, who excelled more in practical skills.
Finishing the eighth question, Kazahi paused when his eyes scanned the final problem. Instead of the usual script, there was a few lines of symbols unfamiliar to him. Written in the same black stiff font as the eight previous questions with an empty space below, the ninth question posed less difficulty than a greenhorn genin would immediately assume.
"It's a code," thought most of the genin in the room.
"Pretty good skill to test these days," Awai thought smugly. She started to write out several code keys on the margins of her paper. "I wish I had my Sharingan... This'd be so much simpler." Resigned, she exhaled deeply from her nose, her pencil slowed as something occurred to her.
A few rows ahead Setsumi activated her Byakugan.
A disturbed cycle of chakra was embedded inside the exam paper. A quick glance around her confirmed her suspicions. "It's a genjutsu."
Setsumi formed a hand sign, imbuing a small amount of her chakra and mumbled, "Release."
The last question reacted to the sudden nudge of chakra. The indescribable symbols morphed back and forth until they settled into readable words at the bottom of the page.
"Congratulations. You have completed the test," Kazahi carefully read, "Take the remaining time to double check your answers."
From his seat, Shiki snorted, grinning, and leaned back with his head in his arms. "Heh, like I need to check my answers. I'm not stupid."
Beside him Yuuji held up his paper, checking his exam with all the enthusiasm he normally put into everything he did.
Shiki glanced at the clock. He glanced again. And again.
His nose twitched.
"Tch," the Yamanaka scoffed, dropping over his paper and picking his pencil back up. "But I'm so bored, I might as well. Not that I got any wrong anyway."
Shiki wasn't the only one who was too stubborn to recheck their answers. Of the ones who had caught the genjutsu, only some skimmed back over their pencil marks, while even fewer took more time to study their completed exam.
"Hmm, this ink smells weird..." Yuuji brought the paper closer to his nose. His eyebrows furrowed, and he held the paper in front of Takeki's muzzle. "What do you think, girl? Smells all... chakra-y."
"What?" Shiki sat up, looking at his teammate like he was insane. "Wait—why are you smelling the stupid paper?!"
Yuuji gave him a half-toothed grin as his ninken yipped her agreement. "It smells like chakra."
"Duh it smells like chakra! A genjutsu was put on it!" Shiki half whispered and half yelled. Despite his aggravation, he took his own whiff of his paper.
"But it smells like chakra all over the paper. It's not like it only smells at the bottom of the page where the genjutsu was concentrated. So—"
Shiki snapped his fingers, a rare grin splitting across his face. "There's another genjutsu! You're pretty smart, Yuuji!"
Back in his seat, Kazahi had come to the same conclusion. He quietly released the second genjutsu and looked at the new question on the page. It replaced all the prior questions, taking over the entire page.
"What is your greatest strength?" read all of the successful genin.
Yuuji rubbed his finger beneath his nose with a vibrant beam. "My nose, of course!"
Shiki huffed, writing his answer, "Ninjutsu. No question about it."
Kazahi scratched his head and reluctantly wrote, "My sensory abilities."
Setsumi calmy wrote on her paper. "Taijutsu."
Awai's pencil paused millimeters above her paper. She made a troublesome face as her hand shook slightly. "Well, definitely not taijutsu. And I don't have my Sharingan..." she regrettably mumbled that last part. "Ninjutsu? No. I guess genjutsu—er, not really... hand signs...?" After several minutes Awai finally wrote something.
Eventually time ran out and the jonin proctor collected their tests. He then left the room, ordering them to remain inside the room until their scores were decided and the next proctor returned to collect those who would be continuing. The moment he left the room, the genin started conversing.
Setsumi gracefully hurried over to her teammates, resting a hand on Awai's desk. "You figured out the last problem, correct?" Setsumi asked, not at all concerned her friends would not be able to get past the sneaky double genjutsu.
Kazahi nodded, his pale face stretched into a reassuring smile. "It was easy this time. My head didn't feel like it was going to burst."
"Yeah! An' you didn't spew chunks this time either!" Yuuji bounded over with Takeki on his head and Shiki trailing behind him. "Luckily it ain't snowing this time, I know how bad winter is for Kaza-chan."
"Ew, Yuuji. I hate everything you just said," Awai groaned. She especially didn't like his last sentence, which Awai hoped wouldn't spell trouble for her in the future. Or Kazahi, who it would probably affect more.
"So, Awai," Shiki started, slipping past Yuuji to tease the griping Uchiha. "What'd you write for the final question?" He wiggled his eyebrows arrogantly.
Awai glared at him. "My smarts."
Shiki burst out cackling. "Your smarts?! You? Stupid Uchiha? As if they'd accept that answer! Bwahah!"
"Don't laugh, Shiki." Kazahi frowned. Awai was his teammate after all. "Awai's brain is very useful on missions. In fact, just last month—"
Setsumi sighed as Kazahi started to compliment their friend's skills rather than the person herself. "Oh, Kazahi..."
"Arf!"
Yuuji shoved back past Shiki, eagerness written all over his face. "So? How'd you guys get through it? 'Cause I know you guys don't have a nose like me an' Takeki."
Awai shrugged, nonchalant. "I'm getting pretty good at genjutsu. You know, being an Uchiha and all. And wait, you smelled it?"
Setsumi activated her Byakugan. "I simply used my Byakugan. It worked pleasantly both times." She turned her attention to the final member of their friend group. "And you, Kazahi?" She smiled lightly, watching as his creased face shifted at the sight of her strained eyes and veiny skin.
"It was the exam proctor," Kazahi started, taking a glance at each one of them. "I noticed at the beginning, when he clapped his hands." He copied the motion the jonin had made earlier to get their attention, only he emphasized the last movement of keeping his hands together in a vertical position. "He was making some sort of sign. That's when he probably cast the genjutsu. He most likely thought he would have a better chance of hiding it if he had a reason to calm us down, so he didn't bother to make us behave."
"Wow," Yuuji whistled. He laid a hand on Kazahi's desk and leaned close, his fangs reflecting off the sunlight from outside. "You're a real genius, Kaza-chan! You were paying that much attention. I don't think I could ever notice that. That's too much work, I'd rather learn from interactin' with people. Watching is hard, right, girl?"
"Arf?"
"That's cause you're too hyper, stupid Yuuji," Shiki griped, pulling the Inuzuka up so he could yell in his face.
Kazahi frowned, waving his hands to dissuade his best friend from thinking of him a genius. "It's only because the proctor made us pay attention, I wasn't trying to—"
The genin was interrupted by the arrival of the second exam's proctor. The jonin entered the room, instantly getting everyone to quiet down as he read aloud the names of the genin who would pass to the next stage. Included in these genin were both Kazahi's and Yuuji's teams.
.
.
.
The Forest of Death. A formidable and volatile place guarded by impassible beasts and poisonous creatures. Also known as the forty-fourth training ground, no living thing inside it was able to be deemed safe. Even the strongest of ninja found themselves without a moment of rest when placed within the ten-kilometer radius. This was also the usual site for the Leaf Village's second round of their chunin exams.
The jonin proctor for the second round stood tall in front of the small group of eighteen who had passed the first test. His flak jacket, darkened by years of loyal use, appeared menacing as it blocked the shrill chirping emanating from behind the chain-link fence of the grounds.
"Your second test will be a treasure hunt!" the proctor barked out. He pulled out two scrolls and held them in a single hand. One was white with the kanji for heaven, while the other was black with the kanji for earth. "Hidden throughout the forest are three pairs of these scrolls: one heaven and one earth. Each team is to search out a scroll, and then they are to report back to the center tower. In other words, each team will only need one scroll to pass this exam!"
A murmur broke out between the genin.
Awai knocked her shoulder against Kazahi. "Hey, there's six teams here, and six scrolls, but there's only three treasure spots. Why'd you think they did that?"
Kazahi blinked, turning his puzzled face to his teammate. "They want to draw conflict between the teams?"
"It's more than that," Setsumi interjected. From the other side of Awai, she kept her gaze on the proctor. "They are more likely interested in whether or not a team takes both scrolls, or only takes what they need. Perhaps it is a way to test a ninja's greed?"
"Sounds more like it's to prevent others from passing, then."
The exam proctor held up his other hand, erecting three fingers in the air. His eyes were stern, steely in their cold emotion, and his mouth drilled into a frown. "Most importantly, if even one member of your team is considered unable to continue, your team is disqualified. All members must report back to the central tower together, and they must return with a scroll in order to pass. Fighting between exam participants is allowed. Your deadline is three days. Good luck!"
And the next moments were a blur for Kazahi as he and his teammates were directed to their own gate on another side of the exam grounds. The chunin proctor manning their entrance held his stopwatch studiously, until one second Squad 6 was standing and the next they were flying through the trees as if they knew exactly where they were headed.
Once they had located a safe enough place to rest momentarily, Awai suddenly halted atop a tree branch, resting her hand lightly against the grooved bark. The two others behind her stopped accordingly, landing much smoother. "Alright, Squad 6, what's our game plan?"
Their test being a treasure hunt, it was almost guaranteed that a sensory ninja would be pivotal to their success. Luckily for the young squad, their team housed two shinobi with sensory abilities of differing degrees.
Setsumi spoke up from the back of the formation. "Since there is a three-day time limit, we should be wary about food and water as well as finding the scrolls. Even so, we should be more prepared because of our survival training with Kumo-sensei."
"Right!" Awai pumped her fist in the air. "Then first things first, let's go searching for those scrolls!"
Kazahi, however, was unsure. He pointedly gestured to the surrounding area of large, spiky fauna and distantly howling creatures. "Shouldn't we search for food first? We might not be hungry now, but it'll probably be too late to find supplies once we start looking for the scrolls."
"It's probably best to start to on the test's objective," surmised Setsumi. As the most strategic of the group, she activated her Byakugan and began scanning the forest. "As we hunt for the scrolls, we can also keep an eye for edible food and water, which will provide us with more time overall. More importantly, it's better to reach the scrolls before other competitors do, in order to give our team less chances of failure."
"I'd rather sit down to eat," Kazahi bemoaned, but neither kunoichi reacted to his comment as the Hyuuga suddenly took off, waving her teammates to follow.
Midday turned to dusk and dusk to the middle of the night. Setsumi had found numerous suspicious areas with her Byakugan. Undergroves that curled into manmade forms, caves with entrances covered by rubble in staircase patterns. Sections of open plains where the dirt made mounds like a game of whack-a-mole. Hidden behind each one of these alcoves were either air or similar looking twigs. The team had made little progress in their hunt but had yet to run into any other genin.
Awai and Kazahi stood by the river as they attempted to catch a very early breakfast. They had split up with Setsumi still out scouting.
"Wait... hold on..." Kazahi knelt by the bank as he sensed the fish swimming by. Crouched beside him was Awai. "I feel a couple slowing down... Now, three at your four-o'clock!"
Awai threw three kunai at the fish, catching each one. A flurry of splashes downstream, and the rest of the fish swam away.
Kazahi flinched when Awai ducked her hand into the river to retrieve her catch.
"You have to get that under control, Kazahi," Awai chided, walking back over the water. "It's gonna be such a pain if I have to deal with your constipated face fifty years from now."
Kazahi paused in making a small firepit. "We'll still be a team then? You'll be an old grandma at that point."
The Uchiha scoffed, smirking as she brought the fish over. "Course I will! And I'll be such a great police force chief, that they'll never want me to retire!"
While Kazahi mumbled something about a "granny chief", Awai got to work on roasting the fish. Well, tried to, anyway.
"Why won't this light?" She fussed over two dry sticks, trying to light a small fire. Kazahi watched, bemused.
"Why not use ninjutsu." He sat back, holding his head in his hand as the kunoichi repeatedly failed to make a spark. "You're an Uchiha. Fire should be your specialty."
Awai sputtered. She chucked the sticks at Kazahi, who made a small fire in no time at all and started to roast the fish. He watched as she stormed off a short way away.
"Some Uchiha you are."
"What was that?!" Awai flipped her head back at her teammate, ready to pounce on him.
Kazahi glare sharpened as turned the fish. "You can't use fire style ninjutsu, you suck at taijutsu, and you don't even have your Sharingan. You're a pretty useless team member.
"How do you expect to become chief of the police force like that?"
"How do you expect to talk to me like that after praising my smart a couple days ago!"
Kazahi was blind for a moment as Awai tackled him, accidently snuffing the fire in her assault. They rolled over the dirt, the kunoichi tugging his hair as he tried jamming his knee between their bodies. They knocked over the spits in their tussle, marking scrapes along their faces and arms.
"Fuck you, Kazahi! I don't need any of that to be the best!" Awai shouted, enraged. She tried to slam her forehead onto Kazahi's own, but luckily, he dodged the collision just in time. "I'll just use kindness instead!"
"You're doing a horrible job of that now!" Kazahi cried.
Finding a moment of weakness, he swapped places with Awai so he would be on top and able to restrain her. The Uchiha, not one to go down easily, suddenly bit his arm, earning a squeal from the ninja.
Seething, Awai spoke through her teeth's hold, "This is 'cause you're you!"
Kazahi shook the Uchiha off his arm and pressed his forearm firmly over her neck. "That makes no sense!"
"You don't deserve the same kindness," spat Awai. Her dark eyes flashed, but Kazahi, for the first time, thankfully saw no red. "You're my idiot teammate who speaks his mind and hurts everyone in doing so!"
Kazahi couldn't find words to say back but instead kept quiet as Awai continued.
"I'll be kind just like my papa! I'll take care of the whole village, and keep them safe!" A fondness grew over her face as her tone started to soften. "Papa is the kindest person I know. He protects everyone in the clan, even those who don't have families to keep them safe anymore. He even saved a little girl who was left all alone when she was a baby! I want to be just like papa!"
"Nee-chan?"
"Huh?"
Both Awai and Kazahi looked behind them at the unexpected young voice. Awai was stunned into silence at the familiar figure, while Kazahi spoke up first. "Isn't that your little sister?"
Awai slowly blinked and murmured, "Achi-chan?"
The two teammates cautiously separated and got up from the ground. Kazahi made sure to hold out an arm to prevent Awai from bursting forward.
There, meters away from the two genin was the rosy-skinned little sister of Awai, Achi Uchiha. She had a bright and happy smile on her face as she called out again to the pair.
"But, how?" Awai wondered aloud, "This is the Forest of Death! It's an extremely dangerous place, you can't be here Achi-chan!"
Kazahi kept a firm grip as she tried to pull forward. "It's got to be a genjutsu. There's no way a kid this young was allowed in here."
"But—!"
Awai was silenced by the whiz of a kunai inches from her face. A haunting laughter rose from the trees surrounding the two as the figure of Achi suddenly morphed into an older Konoha genin whose head was wrapped in a scarf.
"A transformation justu." Kazahi and Awai instantly got into a defensive formation.
The older genin roared with laughter. He twirled a pair of shuriken that weren't there before. "Damn, and I thought that'd work, with you two so focused on your little tussle."
"Why'd transform into my sister?!" shouted Awai accusingly while Kazahi scanned the area.
"Come on, you can't be serious," the older genin spoke calmly, as if he were demeaning them. "Everyone knows how Uchiha chief Suguru found a lil' abandoned baby on the station's doorstep and took her home. Never thought I'd run into his other daughter. But damn how lucky I was that you're such an emotional little brat!"
Awai would have been skewered had Kazahi not sensed the other genin hidden in the river water. He deflected the kunai with his own as Awai jumped back and armed herself.
The older genin's teammate revealed himself from underneath the water's surface. He stayed behind his teammate, dancing another kunai between his fingers and a scroll in his other hand.
"They have a scroll," Kazahi noted, taking the offensive position.
"And another team member, most likely," Awai added, searching the trees behind them. "We're outnumbered without Setsumi."
The genin on the water threw his kunai. Kazahi blocked it, but hidden behind the weapon were several water shuriken. The water style jutsu collided with the two younger genin, only for their bodies to erupt into water and splash on the ground.
"Damn. They ran." The older genin with scarf looked down at the residue of Kazahi's water clones.
"Another water style user. This'll be interesting." His teammate chuckled, listening for their third team member's directions. "Let's go after them."
Kazahi led Awai away from the older genin team, running across the branches of the overgrown forest. Kazahi was doubtful they'd outrun them. Awai felt the same.
"We should set up traps, try to ambush them," the kunoichi suggested. The trees flew past her as she fumbled with her tool pouch. Kazahi shook his head.
"We don't have the time. They'd catch up to us before then."
Awai growled and fished out the spool of wire that she had been grabbing for. She skidded to stop, causing Kazahi to look behind himself and do a quick turn so he wouldn't leave her behind.
"What are doing?" he pressed, watching her as she roped the wire from trunk to trunk. He anxiously shifted his feet.
"I'm setting a trap! You should go on and find Setsumi, I'll be fine!"
Awai gave a small but proud smile at her work. Kazahi frown deepened as anger seeped into his expression. "Awai—"
"I'm gonna be useful," the Uchiha assured him. She grinned, sweat rolling down her face. "Now go!"
With a resigned huff that she knew said this wouldn't be the end of this, Kazahi stepped off the branch and jumped away.
Awai watched him go but then remembered she was running against the clock. She made the last adjustments then hopped away into hiding.
Closing in on Awai, the older genin team of three sped through the forest in search of their target. The older genin with the scarf scoffed when he saw the wire ahead. The moonlight shone on it, giving it away almost instantly.
"What kind of cheap trick is this? You kids trying to make a fool out of us?" The older genin cut the wire with a kunai. As expected, a slew of ninja weapons shot out at them, but they easily avoided them.
Unfortunately, the water type genin moved backwards into a smaller wrap of wire hidden between two branches. Instead of shuriken or kunai, however, a smoke bomb popped out and reduced the team's visibility immensely.
"Shit!" The genin coughed, waving their arms to dissuade the smoke. "They got us!"
Awai smirked from her hiding place and readied a wire stacked with paper bombs. She held her arm back to throw it, only to feel her wrist be caught.
"I don't think so, kid." The last member of the older genin team stood behind her, his hand ruthlessly gripping her arm. He yanked her back, diffusing the paper bombs as he used the leftover wire to tie her wrists together. After she was immobile, he kicked her off the tree branch where she landed face first on the ground, smearing her face in dirt.
Awai growled as she watched the older ninjas escape from her trap easily and hound in on her. The scarf-wrapped one stepped forward and dropped his foot on her back, leaning in with a ridiculing grin.
"Some Uchiha! What, did your teammate think you were too useless and leave you behind?" He cackled with the rest of his squad.
The water type ninja twirled their scroll in front of her face. He spat on the ground inches away from her. "Looks like you aren't passing this round, Uchiha."
Awai's face flushed as the genin started to howl out more insults and jeer at her reddening expression. She dug her face into the ground, tears starting to poke her eyes.
"Hey, don't ignore us!" One of the older genin kicked her head, and his teammates took this as an invitation to join him. Awai sniffled and tried to hold back her sobs as she felt the relentless pounding from the shinobis' sandals. She couldn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes, and her vision became swamped with mud.
"Stop..." Awai mumbled, choking back a sob as one of the genin's feet hit her skull, causing a ringing deep inside her head. "...please..."
"Shut up, you dirty Uchiha! You're all so fucking full of yourselves, thinking you can tell us what to do!" The genin raised his foot, ready to stamp it into her head.
"Gentle fist!"
The familiar sound of chakra hitting skin warmed Awai's ears. The older genin who received the blow hit a tree trunk but was not left alone as his attacker rushed to disable the most vital of his chakra points for offense. The other two older genin were momentarily stunned, and their attacker's partner took their second of confusion to his advantage.
"Water style: Water bomb jutsu!"
The genin were bombarded with a cohesive surge of chakra infused water. Soaking wet, they were then attacked by both new arrivals with a series of taijutsu techniques. Once they were assuredly rendered harmless, the pair rushed to their friend's aid.
"Awai! Are you okay?" Setsumi called out, sliding down next to her best friend and cutting her free from the wire.
"This is why I told you not to stay behind like that." Kazahi stood above her, a frown ever-present on his face but there was clear relief and concern in his tawny eyes.
"Sorry 'bout that—oof! Sestumi!" Awai laughed as Setsumi smothered her in a tight hug. The Hyuuga buried her face in the crook of her neck, and Awai could feel tears beginning to soak her shirt. She let out a light exhale. "I'm okay, you two."
Kazahi pulled out some bandages and handed them to Setsumi as the Hyuuga finally pulled back. "You can patch her up, I'm going to get that scroll." Setsumi sighed, as if his actions were unnecessary.
"You know we already have one, we don't need another."
Awai flinched as Setsumi started to apply first aid. "We already have a scroll? How? And besides that, how'd you guys get back here so fast?"
Setsumi paused in her administration of bandages and dug inside her kosode, pulling out a white colored scroll. "I managed to locate a treasure spot that still had a scroll left inside. It seems the original team was generous enough to leave behind one of the two scrolls."
"Not these guys though," Kazahi interjected, holding up both kinds of scrolls. "They must've taken both but only made it look like they had one so they could give it up as a peace offering if they ran into someone stronger. That way they'd still have a scroll left to pass the exam."
"Fitting," Awai grumbled, then remembered something. "But you never answered me, how did you get back here so fast after finding Setsumi?"
At that Kazahi almost snorted, but he decided to scrunch up his face in favor of not receiving another beating. "I could sense your tears, it's really salty water. They lead me right to you."
Awai blushed at that statement of weakness and jerked her head the other way. Suddenly her head pounded, her vision blurring, and she dropped her head between her knees, whining. Alarmed, Setsumi gently rolled Awai's head back up and checked her eyes using the glare of a kunai.
"This isn't good. I think you have a concussion." Setsumi finished wrapping Awai and cautiously propped her against her shoulder. "Let's head straight for the central tower. They can heal you there."
While Kazahi nodded, stowing his two scrolls in his jacket, Awai huffed and settled her jaw against her friend's arm, preparing herself for the seemingly long journey ahead.
.
.
.
"So you guys made it after all!" Shiki announced on the morning of the third day. His team had arrived at the central tower the night before. Yuuji stood beside him with their other member, another genin from their own graduating class. Shiki held his arms out partly in celebration and partly in jest.
"Of course we would! We even got three scrolls!" Awai barked, slightly woozy from the ringing in her ears. Setsumi scolded her and dragged her off somewhere, hoping to find a medic.
Shiki whistled, watching them stumble off. "What happened to her?"
"Bullies," Kazahi answered. The Yamanaka snickered, but seeing Kazahi's perturbed face laced with anger, he stopped and adopted a lopsided frown.
"You turned in your scrolls yet? I can take you there." Yuuji hopped over to Kazahi, unbothered by his friend's expression. "You hand them into the proctor. He's right over there, c'mon! He even knows medical ninjutsu, you know. Awai probably got dragged over there. This place is a goose hunt, Kaza-chan!"
"Arf, arf!" Takeki jumped onto Kazahi's shoulder and licked his cheek. She liked ninja with tattooed cheeks.
Sure enough the rest of Squad 6 had ended up huddled around the second exam's proctor. Despite his serious face, the jonin gently handled Awai as he tended to her wounds. He clucked his tongue when he diagnosed Awai's concussion. "That'll be a bit of a pain for you next round, but I can manage something."
Kazahi approached the man and held out three scrolls. "Majime-sensei, here are the scrolls from Squad 6."
The proctor looked up and raised an eyebrow at the number of scrolls. "Three? Then that's all that were out there. Hey!" One of the chunin proctors suddenly appeared beside the jonin. "Round up the rest of the teams still out there. Round two is officially over now. The genin who passed will proceed onto the last round shortly."
Shiki and Yuuji, who had followed their friend, grew surprised at the announcement. "Already?" exclaimed Shiki.
The chunin then whispered into Majime's ear. The jonin's face turned to stone. Awai blinked at the sudden change in attitude.
"Is it certain?"
The chunin nodded gravely.
The young Uchiha felt the proctor's grip on her shoulder tighten. He took a deep breath.
"We have just received word from the main front," Majime started, his eyes steeled over. "The western platoon has failed to fight back the enemy. The captain and many of the chunin who were sent out alongside him were killed in the battle."
Awai's blood ran cold.
"Chief of the police force, Suguru Uchiha, is no longer with us."
Through streaming tears all Awai saw was the deep, deep red of a Sharingan.