Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
The day of the tournament came and Kakashi and I departed for the arena which as it turned out was underground. We descended through nondescript doors I wouldn't have guessed led anywhere in particular but the further we descended, through a throng of jovial and excited spectators, the more I realised was held underground in Suna. We passed storerooms filled with pantry stuffs that were being kept cool down here away from the heat of the sun. Further down there were cavernous caves that lead to dead ends away from the stairs we were descending. I assumed these were shelters for civilians in times of crisis. Eventually we came to an opening into a vast underground cavern in which the arena was held. Sometimes I wondered how the village didn't collapse in on itself.
Kakashi and I had discussed what we had trained the previous evening and he had shown me the new ninjutsu he was working on inventing. It had a high chakra demand however so he was only able to show me the once. In the confines of our hotel room the sparks that began chirping across his hands had made my hair stand on end. That aside he told me that Minato had trained him on "this and that" when pushed he said it was mainly speed training though he still carefully avoided looking at me. I had told him about my difficulty sensing killing intent and whilst he hadn't initially believed me he did eventually say that it made sense. Though he was still confused how I can seem so advanced in some areas but completely miss something as elemental as sensing killing intent, there wasn't much I could say to help that though - who would believe that as far as I could tell I had been reincarnated and from another universe no less as far as my remaining memories could discern.
When we arrived we were shown to the contestant area where almost everyone had already arrived, even the other genin's senseis. Minato and Shikaku were absent however. I marked where Baki stood immediately since he was the only openly hostile contestant that I felt I had to worry about. He had taken up a spot as far as possible from most of the others though and didn't seem interested in starting anything before the matches start.
We had one of the best viewing spots in the arena, the box for contestants was built into the wall just below where the stalls began. The fighting area itself was around 50 feet below where the audience sat and smooth sandstone walls rose on all sides. The terrain we were fighting in was half sand, half rocky terrain, a not so subtle attempt from Suna who would want their shinobi to have the home field advantage. My observation of the field was broken by the crowd quieting at an unseen signal and then the voice of the Kazekage echoing across the cavern.
"Welcome to this, the finale, of this year's Chunin exams. All combatants present today are already victors worthy of our respect having won through two of the most arduous tasks our proctors could devise." Cheers greeted his proclamation, I was unable to see where he was speaking from and the way his voice echoed meant that the sound offered no clue either. He must be speaking from directly above us. "I will not see you deprived any longer from the main event, I will defer to our referee for today - Karura!"
Again cheers roared from the crowd as Karura, looking almost dwarfed by the huge arena surrounding her walked out onto the field.
"Today we will hold the first round of the Chunin exam tournament, the final rounds will be held tomorrow!" She announced, "The first match will be Ibiki Morino of Konoha and Tokara of Konoha!" She exclaimed.
The audience clapped as Ibiki and Tokara descended but as the applause died it gave way to mutters, evidently it was somewhat unusual for two shinobi from the same village to face off.
Tokara and Ibiki seemed to share some words between themselves on the arena floor, Kakashi leaned easily at my side looking down with what seemed to be some sympathy, "who do you think will win?" He asked.
"Hmmm…" I took a moment to decide, I had only met these two in passing so I had limited information to decide from, "Ibiki has always seemed like the leader of his team so he should have the edge tactically. It could go either way though." I finally said.
"I keep forgetting you only relatively recently joined the village. Ibiki was in the graduating class of last year, if I remember right he was one of the top graduates. Tokara… wasn't great in the first task. I'm surprised he made it so far."
"I had forgotten about that, what did you do to him?"
"Honestly not much, mostly theatrics." He shrugged.
"Well. Ibiki has the edge then. To put it lightly." I said.
Kakashi scoffed, "Very lightly"
Down on the arena floor the battle got underway, Ibiki seemed to be set on backing Tokaru up to the wall as he pressed him back whenever Tokaru tried to disengage and make some space. I hadn't noticed before but Ibiki had quite an intimidating stature especially to those his own age. Tokaru eventually found a break by throwing some smoke pellets to the ground.
Ibiki jumped back and began kicking sand into the smoke, it didn't take long for a spluttering Tokaru to emerge wiping sand from his face, I heard Kakashi 'tsk' from my side.
With Ibiki having the advantage of being able to actually see his opponent Tokaru received a few unexpected hits for his trouble on his next few attempts to escape and Ibiki finally backed Tokaru against the wall.
Ibiki said something at this point, unfortunately he was too far away to hear but it got a reaction out of Tokaru who looked suddenly wide eyed, through red irritated eyes, at Ibiki as he pulled a bottle from his belt. He was raising it to some sparks he had spouting from his teeth when Tokaru suddenly shouted his surrender. Ibiki grinned at his teammate and began drinking from what looked to be a standard canteen.
"That was a pretty one sided fight." Kakashi grunted, "Wonder what had Tokaru so spooked."
I nodded, he almost squeaked his surrender "Judging by the sparks coming from his mouth and the way Tokaru was acting I'd bet he told him he had something flammable in that canteen."
It was at that point that Shikaku and Minato chose to show up.
"How's it going my lovely genin students," Minato beamed, "Have we missed anything?"
"Just the first fight but it wasn't anything too interesting, Ibiki won pretty easily." Kakashi replied.
"That was the Ibiki-Tokaru fight right?" Shikaku said, "Unsurprising considering their academy records."
By this point the previous combatants had been taken from the field and the next match was being announced, "The next match will be Hayate Gekko of Konoha and Kazu of Suna" Kararu announced.
The crowd roared their approval to this matchup, being just recently out of a war many attending probably had their own pound of flesh to be satisfied watching one side or another getting beaten on the field.
Even Kakashi perked up a little for this battle, "I have heard that Hayate is something of an expert with the sword. My father has told me about him before."
Shikaku nodded, "He couldn't have found a better match in this tournament - Kazu is one of the best kenjutsu practitioners Suna has produced in generations."
True to Shikaku's prediction both Hayate and Kazu immediately drew swords at the onset of the battle and fought head on. They were fast, remarkably so for genin. If not for my training I would have seen little more than flashes of silver and sparks. Eventually they held each other in a stalemate of crossed swords in the middle of the arena.
"Interesting." Minato commented.
"What is it sensei?" Kakashi asked.
"Kazu is winning as it stands. Hayate has the speed to match him but Kazu is beginning to make himself felt with the power behind his blows. Hayate will need to end this quickly if he wants to win" He elaborated.
"Remarkable considering Suna weaponry is generally lighter than the Konoha equivalent, Hayate actually has the heavier weapon but he's the one backing off." Shikaku explained.
Kazu decided at that moment to press his advantage and began swinging indiscriminately, relying only on brute strength to push Hayate back - and it was working. In short order Kazu had forced Hayate back to that the rocky area of the arena prevented him from retreating anymore without risking faltering on his footing, instead Hayate jumped to the side narrowly avoiding a blow that very nearly rent in two the boulder that took it.
Hayate seemed to realise what we had all suspected at that moment and instead of approaching Kazu to try and force him back by force he jumped away to gain space. Kazu didn't push him but re-readied his stance, waiting for Hayate to make the first move confident in his advantage.
Hayate lowered his sword and then slowly brought it up beside him in a two handed grip before suddenly making a mad dash for Kazu, if he was fast before it was nothing compared to now, so fast was he that he almost seemed to leave after images behind him.
Shikaku leaned forward, uncharacteristically interested, "His sensei did said he had been concentrating on this technique, but I didn't think he had mastered it already." He muttered
There wasn't time to ask what technique he meant as when Hayate was almost within striking distance he leaped in 2 directions at once, for his part Kazu dropped his stance, hesitating, suddenly confronted with the prospect of defending from two sides at once. Even I didn't see the real Hayate descending from above until it was almost too late. Kazu didn't see him until it was however. Hayata reversed his grip at the last moment and instead of likely bifurcating Kazu merely knocked him out.
"The match goes to Hayate Gekko of Konoha!" The referee called.
The crowd was deafening. It was certainly a more exciting fight than the one that had preceded it.
I wasn't sure about Kakashi but I could feel the eyes from his opponent digging into his back since we had arrived. I glanced back to confirm and Baki stared back at me his eyes spoke only of promised pain. I turned to Kakashi as the announcer made ready to announce the next battle.
"Be wary of Baki, he is stronger than he might appear and his wind Jutsu are no joke." I told him seriously.
Kakashi being Kakashi simply gave me a thumbs up before flipping over the rail down into the arena below. Showoff. there was a perfectly good staircase down from our viewing platform, one which Baki made use of.
Shikaku moved up to take Kakashi's place at my side to watch the battle.
Shikaku hoped the month away and the training had been effective. It had been decided by Minato after seeing the results from the psych evaluations that form part of the medical exams shinobi have to take following missions. Kakashi had to take them more often since he was working in the hospital and over the months it had shown a stronger and stronger bond to his teammate, a desired trait in teammates, but in Kakashi it had started to go rogue, becoming almost an insidious obsession. At first it was healthy camaraderie but something changed after the episode with Danzo, his desire to help and protect his teammate had become obsessive, unhealthy even. It only took one look at Kakashi's face when the prospect of fighting Ko came up, outside of a friendly spar in the village, nevermind a serious battle for the future of their shinobi careers in front of thousands of people. This wasn't the kind of mentality that bred good shinobi and would only be damaging to him and any team he was put with in future. Something had to be done, removing either Ko or Kakashi from the team had been discussed but in the end Minato had decided some time away and a strong talking to in conjunction with some training might be all he needed.
We would see. Shikaku knew of Baki, he'd been tapped as a future Jonin even at his relatively young age but he didn't think he had what it took to beat Kakashi even with his 4 year advantage. Once Kakashi got through to the next round and fought Ko we'd have a real idea of how things stood. If Kakashi can't overcome this obsession his judgement will be called into question even if he performs well enough for a promotion. In all likelihood in that scenario he will remain a genin.
He had little time to ruminate further for Baki entered the field at that moment and Shikaku concentrated on the combatants.
Kakashi sauntered opposite his opponent his ease at odds with the stiff glower of his opponent, looking on I could clearly see he was out for blood. I looked up to Shikaku and Minato to ask who they thought was most likely to win and paused for a moment. Shikaku was looking on with something beyond concentration… was that concern?
I tapped him to get their attention and he almost jerked, not truly, but enough for me to see that I had yanked him out of his own thoughts, "Who do you think will win?" I asked when he looked towards me.
"Honestly? Baki is no slouch and he has the age and experience advantage. That being said there's no real replacement for raw talent and we both know Kakashi has that in spades."
Minato shook his head at my raised eyebrow, "No need to worry Ko, we don't think Kakashi will lose."
"Or at least if he does it won't be because of his opponent." Shikaku added this last under his breath as he turned back, almost too quiet for me to hear. I began to ask what he meant but a roar from the crowd drew my attention back to the fight.
Minato looked on his hands almost making finger sized indentations in the railing as large boulders of rock fell from the arena wall where a wind jutsu from Baki had stuck it, he forced himself to relax a moment later when Kakashi revealed himself unscathed metres away from the scree that flew out from the avalanche of rock.
Kakashi wasted no time in throwing himself back at Baki, his speed was faster than any of the the genin that had come before him and Minato could smell the now familiar odour of ozone drifting up from the arena floor. During his training he had only gotten faster and Baki was having obvious difficulty keeping up, the problem was the hits that got through Baki's guard didn't seem to phase him for a second. Whatever training Baki did he was obviously used to punishment worse than what Kakashi was currently dealing out.
It came as no surprise then when moments later Baki absorbed a kick from Kakashi, sliding slightly in the sand as he did, and then grabbed the offending appendage. Grinning maliciously Baki threw Kakashi towards the rocky area of the arena hoping to dash Kakashi against the jagged stones though reflexively Kakashi flipped and managed a graceful landing.
That was only the beginning however, where before Baki had thrown his blades of wind individually now a torrent of them rained on Kakashi and fast though he was he was quickly running out of area to maneuver, it was then that Baki upped the ante again, inhaling deeply so that his chest swelled he exhaled at the ground, dust threw itself up around him at first and then expanded so that the whole arena was consumed in a small sandstorm, try as he might Minato couldn't see beyond the dust into the battle below.
Kakashi shoved an arm up to shield his eyes, whilst the match so far hadn't entirely gone to plan he could still work with what had become of it, he focused his senses on the area around him, no doubt Baki would be able to move around this chaos with ease having lived in the desert all his life. If he wanted any hope of dodging his strikes or, more importantly, the blades of his wind jutsu he had to be prepared to move at a moments notice.
It wasn't long before he did, bending at the waist he stretched backwards to avoid a blade of wind that nearly divided his head from his body, it was a close thing but it also revealed Baki's position and Kakashi charged more electrically loaded chakra to his muscles and moved fast enough that the sand blowing in the storm actually caused abrasive pain to his exposed skin, he wouldn't be able to move at this speed for long before his clothes and then his flesh would get ripped to shreds, if he had played this right though he wouldn't need to.
Watching from above all I could see was the raging sand but from the chakra I could get a feel for what was happening below, whatever it was it was consuming Kakashi's chakra fast, every now and again I could even see a flash of what could only be blue lightning through the disarray. All at once though the sand exploded outwards from an area of the arena and something, a body I realised, tumbled through the air blowing a corridor in the sand until it struck the wall.
Kakashi stood in the vacuum that had been created, his fist held out. He was tired, visibly so, he gasped a few scant breaths before he followed after the trajectory that Baki's body had taken. Baki though, surprisingly considering the large crater that was now become clear on the other side of the arena had already made his move and moving at an impressive speed himself met Kakashi in the middle of the arena with a jumping roundhouse kick, Kakashi blocked but, tired as he seemed, the blow threw his guard aside and Baki's other leg followed up with a blade of wind chakra. Kakashi had no chance to dodge.
I leaned forwards with a silent shout of alarm as the jutsu made contact with Kakashi but leaned back again when he exploded into smoke. I breathed a sigh of relief. A shadow clone. He didn't know how to do that before he left.
Baki spun on landing, sand kicking up around his feet, looking for the next attack from Kakashi. He didn't have long to wait from below him hands erupted from the sand dragging his body into the ground, Kakashi came up even as Baki sunk. He didn't stay trapped for more than a brief moment though as blades of wind erupted all around Baki throwing up sand and some bits of rock that must have been embedded deeper into the sand. The blades kakashi deftly avoided, the sand though shielded the rocks that flew towards him and clipped his shoulder sending him tumbling onto his back.
Baki wasted no time launching himself at Kakashi trying to keep him immobile on the ground, for Kakashi's part he didn't move fast enough, nowhere near as fast as I knew he could move and in those few moments I suddenly realised why. He was gasping for air, his chakra levels were approaching their absolute minimum. He was in real danger.
Baki made it in time and Kakashi stared up in shock as Baki, now pinning Kakashi to the ground with his larger size and mass, produced another kunai from his holster and prepared to make use of it.
"I surrender." Kakashi gasped
Baki stared down at him uncomprehending for a few moments, he too was gasping with exertion. Then his face twisted in disgust as he climbed to his feet, "Coward." he bit out before spitting to the side of Kakashi's prone body. Finally he turned and stomped away.
"The winner is Baki of Sunagakure!" Karura announced to rapturous applause.
The gong of abused metal made me flinch, looking to my side I realised it was Minato who was looking uncharacteristically frustrated, Shikaku reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You did all you could do Minato." Shikaku consoled.
Minato nodded his head then shook it grimacing, "To have resorted to such subterfuge though. He cannot think he has us fooled with this charade."
Suddenly I was getting the idea I no longer knew what they were talking about, I tapped Minato and looked at him in askance.
Minato sighed, "You may as well know Ko. The reason why Kakashi was brought back to the village before the final tournament was because we were concerned about his decision making, specifically when it came to you." I raised my eyebrows, "You must have seen some of it, he's your friend Ko - but it goes further than that. Any decision he makes whether its on a mission for the village or otherwise he puts you first. A laudable thought but not one the Village can allow, not to this extent. Of course teammates are important, arguably more important than a mission but its a thin line - a judgement call - and its not a call that can be made when a shinobi puts a teammate above the demands of a mission at every turn."
I frowned, certainly I had noticed Kakashi was attached, I had noted it following the situation with Danzo. What did that have to do with right now though? I put my question to Shikaku and Minato.
"Cast your senses down to the field Ko," Shikaku advised. "You'll find your answer there."
I did and… that couldn't be, I looked at Kakashi who was approaching the stairs to come back to the competitors area and then back to where the rubble of rocks were on the other side of the field and then it fell into place.
I balled my fists at my side as frustration and then anger began suffuse me. I turned to Minato who seemed to recoil at my stare, "I'm going to have a word with Kakashi." I ground out before turning and making my way to the stairs. I passed a scowling Baki as I descended the first flight, every step down seemingly only deepened my hurt and anger at what kakashi had done. Finally I turned on a landing and saw Kakashi approaching from below.
Kakashi stuck a hand behind his head in embarrassment as he approached, "I guess this wasn't my exams." He chuckled, ducking his head.
"I hope what I heard about shadow clones passing on memories is true because when I get a hold of you this is the least of what is waiting for you, you damn idiot." I said as I approached.
Something about my tone must have given Kakashi pause because his head lifted just in time to see my fist hit his face.
His body corkscrewed backwards through the air landing on the stairs below before exploding into smoke. 'Shikaku was right' I thought as I stared at the rapidly dispersing smoke, 'sometimes you have to get mad'.
AN: Tada, what a twist. I have a feeling it is one many will dislike but it was one of the things that was planned from the very beginning and another part of the changes Keiko is accidentally bringing about. It is 3am as I type this so I can only hope there aren't too many spelling errors. I hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know how much you hated/liked it. I'll see you in the next chapter.