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Chapter 17 - Amaya's Final Test
Amaya hovered, ready to knock on Kakashi's door. She bit her lip; she didn't have much time to waste. Her final test would begin in less than half an hour and she'd need most of that time to get to the 3rd training ground. Her decision made for her, she left, knowing more time was needed if there was to be any hope of making Kakashi see her point of view.
Weaving through the quiet, early morning streets of Konoha, she wondered where Genma was and prayed for his safety. She smiled when she realized her prayer was unneeded; nothing would stop Genma from missing their first date.
It took her less time to reach the training ground than she thought. Memories from Team 7's bell test flooded her mind, so she didn't immediately notice the shinobi leaning against one of the logs. When she did, she frowned. "Haku? What're you doing here?"
"I received a note with directions to this place."
"So you just followed this strange note?"
He shrugged. That's when she noticed his outfit. A white kimono hung to a quarter of the way down his thigh. A dark teal undershirt showed through cuts to the seams holding the half sleeves on. Shinobi pants and sandals, along with a purple sash around his waist, created an elegant look. Haku's long hair was up in a bun, two strands falling over his face. "I see you went shopping."
"Yes, Sakura-chan insisted."
"I'm sure she did. You're a good friend to her, letting her play dress-up, but I see things went well. How's living with Naruto?"
"Oh, he's...great."
Amaya raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean annoying?"
The young ninja suppressed a laugh. "A little. I only just got him to stop hugging me so much. He seems to really enjoy the company. Even after I'm officially a ninja of Konoha, he might beg me to stay. I don't know if I can refuse. He's very good at persuasion. I'm not sure he knows it, though."
Before Amaya could agree, two Anbu appeared in puffs of smoke. Both clad in the normal Anbu attire, the woman's dark hair hung around her badger mask while the man's shaggy hair hung slightly over the edge of his rabbit mask.
"From the stories, you must be Amaya," said Badger, "and you must be Haku." The Anbu turned her gaze back to Amaya. The auburn-haired Jonin could feel the other woman's sneer.
"Is there a problem?" she asked.
Badger sniffed, not bothering to hide her contempt. "Why are you wearing a Konoha hitai-ate? You're not a shinobi of the Leaf."
"I may have left, but I never stopped doing my best to represent my village." Amaya straightened. "I was proud to say I was from Konoha, even though it didn't win me friends in some places, even though it almost cost me my life once or twice."
"Please, enough," Rabbit interrupted, directing his next comment at his partner. "We do have a mission to complete after this, so I suggest we get on with it."
"Very well," she huffed. She inclined her head toward Haku. "Follow me."
Once the pair was gone, a sigh escaped the remaining Anbu. "Forgive my partner. She can be very much like the animal her mask resembles."
"No worries. Before we begin, though, I have to ask... Rabbit?"
A note of indignation entered Rabbit's voice. "It's not a rabbit. It's a hare. You know how it goes."
"Best scores get to pick first. I didn't have that problem. I was given my mask. They said it fit too well for anybody else to have it."
"Lucky. That's what happened to my partner. But, anyway, we must begin the test. I'll be your opponent. If you can last ten minutes against me, you'll be officially reinstated."
Amaya smirked. "Against someone who scored low enough to get stuck with a rabbit mask, I could last twenty."
"Haha. Very funny. Let's get this over with. Oh, they aren't usually allowed, but you can use your summon." She nodded, barely dodging the kunai that shot by her ear. She could hear the smile in Rabbit's voice. "Doesn't mean I'll give you the chance, though."
Amaya dodged more kunai, allowing one to knick her arm. Using the blood, she quickly summoned Mamoru into his pocket but not in time to dodge a fireball blazing toward her. She slammed her hand into the ground, and when she rose, a protective wall of earth rose with her. The flames slammed into the wall in an explosion of dirt. A cloud of dust obscured her vision, but she knew he couldn't see her at the moment either.
"He's right in front of us. I can smell him…. Wait, he smells familiar," Mamoru squeaked.
"We'll worry about that later." Having intentionally placed her back to the small pond on the training ground, she was in a good position. The dust began to clear only seconds after it had been blown into the air, so a few quick hand seals later, tendrils of water rose behind her.
"He's moving," the field mouse said, ears twitching.
The tendrils of water whipped past her to latch around Rabbit's hands and feet. He struggled, unable to break the water's steely grip. Amaya, taking a kunai from her pouch, performed another set of seals. More water rose from the lake, surrounding the kunai until the weapon was encased in a spear of liquid, hard as steel. With all her might, she hurled the projectile at the Anbu. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and Mamoru sneezed, which only meant one thing.
Lightning.
She released her jutsu as lightning rocketed down the tendrils of water. Channeling chakra into her feet, she softened the earth beneath her, dropping into the newly-created sand. Water soaked the earth. Her kunai sliced into Rabbit's shoulder. She smiled at the fact he hadn't been able to dodge. She burrowed deeper into the earth to catch her breath. Without her usual store of chakra in her tattoos, all this ninjutsu was quickly draining what little she'd been able to store since her interrogation. This battle had to end soon.
"Come on out, little mole. We still have five minutes left," Rabbit taunted.
Amaya burrowed beneath the Anbu, knowing she wouldn't catch him off guard. But that was the plan. Erupting from the earth beneath Rabbit, who leapt into the air to avoid her, she flashed hand seals and the water-soaked earth congealed into mud. Rabbit, too busy watching for her next attack, landed but slipped on the unstable ground. He fell on hands and knees, mud between his fingers and coating his legs.
She had him.
As easily as she drew water into the earth, she drew it out again. Rock-hard mud encased the Anbu's hands and locked his legs to the ground. He grunted as he tried to pry himself free.
"You really should be careful what you say," Amaya said as she strolled toward the helpless ninja.
"I don't...know what you mean."
She squatted in front of him, a smug smile on her face. "I know who you are. The only person who ever called me a little mole was my Genin teammate Kazuma Izashi. And you know what else?" She reached into her jacket and Mamoru scurried into her hand. With his muscular tail, he hung from her finger as she dangled him before Rabbit. "My teammate was also terrified of mice."
Rabbit swallowed hard but said nothing.
Amaya moved Mamoru closer. "Impressive. You've made progress. But I wonder what'll happen if I push you further?" Her summon climbed back onto her hand and leapt onto the shinobi's head. The Anbu began to visibly shake yet still remained tight-lipped.
Mamoru decided to do something about that. He crawled to Rabbit's ear, making sure his whiskers tickled the nin. "You've become an excellent shinobi, Kazuma, but to me, you'll always be the young boy who screamed like a little girl when he first met me."
"Al- all right. Just le- let me up," the ninja stammered, shaking so hard his kunai and shruriken rattled. Amaya released him, letting the mud run off him. He stood on unsteady legs, and with a slightly shaking hand, removed his mask.
"You win. You win. It's good to see you." Kazuma grinned, his honey-colored eyes lighting up, though they were partially obscured by his dark brown, shaggy hair.
Amaya smiled back as Mamoru returned home in a tiny puff of smoke. "So finally made Anbu, huh?"
"Yeah. You're cruel, you know that?"
"Sensei didn't teach us to fight fair. He taught us to survive."
Kazuma glanced down, digging the toe of a sandal into the now solid, dry earth. "That he did. You know he passed a while back."
"I heard. So, where've you been? I tried to find you when I got back."
"I got back at the end of last month from a year-and-a-half long undercover mission in Kumo. I've been avoiding everyone, so don't give me that look."
"That's where you learned that lighting jutsu."
"Yep," he said, pride swelling his chest."Took forever and I can only barely use it."
Movement caught Amaya's eye as Haku and the badger Anbu, who sported many small cuts, returned. Badger grumbled, glaring at the young nin from time to time. "Little brat passed. Can't believe he fooled me like that."
Kazuma suppressed a laugh while Amaya didn't bother. Haku only thanked her for the excellent fight, which made her grumble even louder. Her partner couldn't hide his amusement any longer, and for his slip, she cuffed him across the head, nearly knocking him flat. Kazuma assured his former teammate that they'd get together and train like old times after he completed his mission and took a couple weeks to settle back in.
Amaya and Haku watched the pair leave, Badger still berating her partner. Haku hid a chuckle behind his hand. "They're quite the couple, aren't they?"
"They're what?" She glanced after the Anbu in confusion. She hadn't noticed a thing.
"You didn't notice? Well, I guess I'm not surprised."
She frowned at him. What the hell was that supposed to mean? After his comment, Haku took his leave, saying he had an errand to run, but she knew he was probably as tired as she was and was headed straight home to sleep.
"Amaya-sensei! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."
The auburn-haired Jonin turned to see Sakura running toward her. The girl paused only a moment before launching into a rapid explanation that Amaya could barely follow. "Slow down, Sakura, please. Just calm down."
"I've been trying to find you all morning. I looked all over the village and went to your apartment. I thought about leaving a note—"
"You didn't, did you?" she interrupted.
"No. I decided to search some more instead."
"Good. Keep going." Amaya was tired of notes.
"Well, the Chunin Exams start Wednesday and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me do a little last-minute training."
Amaya lay a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Sure. Can it wait until tomorrow, though? I have errands to run today."
"Yeah, that's fine," Sakura said, hardly able to contain her mix of disappointment and excitement.
The tattooed shinobi smiled at her student. "Tomorrow then."
