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Minato nodded in understanding and left to get some sleep that night. Who knew, perhaps he would get the answer to the riddle that was Mist's ploy one day.
12.
Minato watched the match going on under him with interest. He had never seen the masterful earth manipulations Rock ninja prided themselves in before, so he found them fascinating. As long as he wasn't on the receiving end of the techniques, that is. Unfortunately for the Rock ninja, he was matched against a Waterfall shinobi with plenty of water around to combat the earth element. After an initial ninjutsu match they had simultaneously decided they wouldn't get anywhere using only ninjutsu and started to attack with taijutsu and weapons. They had been at it for a good twenty minutes and nothing pointed towards an end of the match anytime soon, unless one or both of them ran out of chakra.
"What do you think?" Fugako asked beside him. The two of them were the only Konoha ninja to attend the final matches, having come out victorious in their previous battles. The Mist had a shrewd way of arranging things, and although nearly fifty genin passed their first terror test, only ten were left in the finals. The number of forehead protectors gathered at the first stage of the exam was the number of battles the genin had to fight before the finals. The ones with the most wins were allowed to proceed, while the ones who lost dropped out. It was also a rather unfair system, in Minato's eyes, because some, like him, had more than five forehead protectors. It meant they had more battles to fight, but also a larger chance of passing.
"They're evenly matched. One of the will give up, or it's a double knock out," Minato answered slowly. He was impressed with the intensity of the two genin battling it out, but he didn't think they'd pass. They were merely fighting to win, not planning on what to do to win. They didn't practice tactic, which, unless things were more different in Mist than he already thought, were required of a chunin.
"You think so? The earth element is strong against water but the Waterfall guy has the upper hand with all the water in the air here," Fugako countered thoughtfully. Minato shook his head with a small smirk.
"No, they both used a lot of chakra in the beginning of the fight instead of feeling each other out and trying to spot a weak point. They don't have enough chakra to go back to ninjutsu anymore."
"Perhaps you're right. It should be over soon anyway," the older boy said and nodded towards the two exhausted boys in the arena. Minato could hear the cheering and jeering from the crowd, each mingled into the other and blended together, but egging the two opponents on for different reasons. He wondered what kind of opponent he would get, and let his eyes travel over the other seven genin waiting for their turn.
Other than Fugako and him there were two Mist genin, a boy and a girl, a Sand ninja with a puppet on his back, another Rock ninja, a Grass kunoichi and one boy from Cloud. They were all tense and nervous, but trying not to show it. The Grass kunoichi was succeeding in that, her face was completely blank and pale, like that of a porcelain doll.
Mikoto had quit the exam upon hearing about her teammate's death, and spent most of her time counting the hours until they could leave and go home. Fugako had continued despite the death of his female comrade, but he had silently sworn to pass just for her. Despite all their fighting, they were good friends on their team, and now he had to handle the exuberant Inuzuka on his own. Truth be told, Isuna hadn't been as energetic as he used to be after learning what happened to Kimiko. Misuri sensei said it was nothing to worry about and that he would bounce back to his old self given some time, so they pretended everything was normal and went on preparing for the finals.
Minato wasn't sure what to feel about their deaths. He was sad they were dead, naturally, but he didn't know them very well and had only spent a few days in their company. After seeing the deaths of close friends it felt…. Distant, removed from him somehow. It was something that happened that he couldn't help, and that more than anything made him uneasy. He knew someday he would fight in a war, unless he found a way to avoid it, but somehow that didn't seem likely. He didn't even know what triggered it, and he couldn't just tell the Hokage that he didn't want to. So it was easier to let it be and not think about it.
He looked back at the arena in time to see the two genin crash together in a final brilliant clash of earth and water, like the tidal wave hitting a cliff and getting soaked up by the crumbling remains of the rock and earth it had deformed. The arena filled with a soggy mass of mud. The two genin were carried out unconscious after a double knockout and Minato smiled at Fugako.
Minato had been surprised at first, when he discovered that the floor of the arena wasn't the wooden floorboards that made up most of the ground in the Mist village. It was actually made from real earth, and not only that, but it was dry land. He supposed the middle of the village was a larger of the many small islands the village rested on and around, and that the arena had been built there for that reason. It was also close to where the Mizukage had office, but today the Sandaime Mizukage wasn't in his office. He was watching the fight with his personal guards around him, staring down at the genin with impassive eyes. Minato had gotten a glimpse of the blue haired male when the finalists were presented in the arena before the matches started. Him and a whole lot of other dignities. He had seen the Fire Daimyo there, with all twelve of the Fire Guards, and many of the nobilities serving him. Minato recognized their banners from his history lessons at the Academy. They weren't alone, of course. There were banners from all over the Elemental Countries.
He watched two more matches, the Mist kunoichi got neutralized on the sharp and poisonous daggers of the Sand ninja's puppets. Minato was a bit disturbed by the Sand ninja, mainly because he couldn't decide if it was a girl or a boy. He or she was wrapped in layers of fluttery clothing and the hands were covered by gloves. After them the Cloud ninja got impaled, he died on the spot, by the remaining Rock shinobi. The earthen spears rose from the ground like the spikes on a hedgehog and there was no room to escape. The downside was that they had to change the proctor as well…. No promotion there… and most likely a pissed off Mizukage. When it was all cleared up Minato was to fight the kunoichi from Grass.
She was slender as well as pale, with long straight black hair and equally long and black lashes. Her mouth was too red compared to her skin, making her almost transparent in appearance. Minato eyes her cautiously, wondering what kind of fighting style she had. She hadn't moved since they arrived in the arena, and stood with her eyes fastened on something over his shoulder. He was nearly tempted to turn and look if he could see what she found so fascinating, but decided it wouldn't be a wise thing to do considering the situation. The new proctor declared the match on and hurried out of the way suspiciously fast, probably fearing he might end up sharing fate with his former comrade.
The girl still didn't move, so Minato stayed where he was, pondering the stalemate and coming up with plans. They all relayed on the girl actually moving though.
"Do you want to negotiate?" she finally asked in a tone that suggested that she was seriously considering it. Minato stared at her before he blinked in disbelief. Was it even possible to negotiate in a chunin exam?
"Why would you do that?" he asked and tilted his head to the side, regarding her with curiosity. She had guts to suggest it in front of all these people, he'd give her that.
"I see no reason to fight with you, and even if both of us have a lot to gain from winning, a mutual beneficial agreement would be preferable."
"Hmmm, that might be so, but I don't think it is possible. If we do work out an agreement like that, it would lead to both of us giving away the victory, meaning none of us would fight in the next round. Neither of us would benefit from that, seeing as the people here want to see what we can do. If we, as allies, were pitted against each other in any other situation, I would have agreed with you though."
"Then fight we will," the girl nodded and slid her hand over a seal, summoning a wooden umbrella covered with seals. Minato didn't know what they could do, so he jumped backwards and frowned at the dark markings. The girl just smiled amiably, and lifted her umbrella to hide her from the sun. A moment later she disappeared with a flick of the umbrella in front of her. Minato's eyes widened as she reappeared right in front of him, her eyes still as the deep waters and ready to plunge a senbon needle in his heart. As she did, she looked amazed for a moment as the blond boy dissolved into hundreds of small sky blue butterflies.
"You are not the only one who can do illusions," Minato said softly and stepped out from behind the proctor. The man jerked in surprise, but didn't otherwise show what he thought of being snuck up on by a child, a genin none the less. The girl smiled now, a small true smile that showed appreciation and was again gone in the air. Minato huffed as he realized he was caught in another genjtusu, this time he canceled it out and caught her in another one. This time they were facing each other in a field of flowers, with butterflies flying above them in an overwhelming display of color. It was nearly impossible not to look at the many fluttering wings, trying to make out one butterfly among the many hundreds fluttering around them. The girl was holding her breath a minute, before she forced her eyes to Minato. He hadn't moved from his place opposite her.
"It is pretty. Did you make this illusion?" she asked thoughtfully. She knew she was in one, but when she raised her hands to cancel it, nothing happened. She opened her mouth startled to look at Minato, who now was mirroring her earlier small smile. The butterflies were obscuring him slightly from her view, like thin and moving mist, but he didn't move and didn't answer her question. Instead the butterflies started to move around quicker, gathering around her in a dense impenetrable cloud. Their silken wings turned hard as steal, cutting her clothes and skin when they touched. Desperately she tried again the undo the illusion, and this time it faded away like a bad dream. Minato watched her clutch her umbrella as she kneeled on the ground and panting. She had overcharged the release technique when she tried it. When she looked up, Minato met her gaze steadily.
"You…. you double layered a B – ranked illusion?"she asked wonderingly, and Minato smiled and shook his head.
"I altered a C – ranked illusion named Profusion of Flowers to fit my preference for butterflies. What makes it B – ranked is the double layer. I call it Profusion of Butterflies. Wasn't it pretty?" he explained lightly. The girl stared at him and smiled.
"Yes, it was pretty. You must have good understanding of illusion since you managed to do that," the girl admitted and rose, twisting her umbrella so it folded in on itself and formed a staff.
"Maybe, or maybe I just have a very persistent sensei," Minato answered and eyed the staff curiously. It was nearly the same as the one Misuri sensei carried around. Only this one was covered with dark seals. There was only one way to find out what the girl could do with the staff and that was to attack it. He was surprised, however, when he leapt towards it and his hand was rebuked as he tried to reach behind it. Moments later he was thrown backwards and landed hard on the ground. The girl simply smiled that small smile of hers, until the boy dissolved in water.
"Water Clone," Minato said slowly from where he was perched on the wall surrounding them.
"Those seals on your umbrella, they make it so you can channel chakra through the umbrella and create illusions without hand seals, don't they? Whatever I may see it as, it is still an umbrella, a very dangerous umbrella that is. I don't like things that look like one thing and are another."
It was annoying, that thing. He could never be sure when or if she would create another illusion, and he had to constantly pay attention to her chakra. If it flared she was likely feeding chakra to the seals, and nothing obvious happened, he would have to pay close attention to his own chakra. But…. A wooden umbrella was still a wooden umbrella, no matter how many seals there were on it. It couldn't act on its own, and without it, she should be harmless, or something close to harmless. She wouldn't be as annoying, at least. Now she used the umbrella both as a shield and a weapon.
Minato sighed and made seals for a technique he was well versed in by now. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger for Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Technique. Several small fireballs headed for the Grass kunoichi, and when she lifted the umbrella to avoid being hit, the thuds of shuriken hitting it could be heard. All the eyes were on her, and the clearly useless attempt of burning her. Still, those few who weren't watching her deflect the fireballs with her umbrella, realized the Leaf ninja was nowhere to be seen. Not before the girl had deflected the last fireball and lowered her umbrella did she realize she had lost sight of her opponent and that he was gone. She spun around, but Minato wasn't in the arena. That is, he wasn't above the ground in the arena. The girl's legs were grabbed from beneath the surface and she was dragged down until only her head was above the ground.
When Minato emerged he smiled amiably at the girl's head.
"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique. An easy D – ranked technique, but very useful sometimes. I do hope you give up now, or I will have to cut your head off or something like that," he said with all the seriousness he could muster. He wouldn't go that far, he'd knock her out, but she didn't need to know that. The girl looked as if she tried to squirm, but the ground was firmly locked around her. In the end, she resigned. The proctor declared Minato the winner, and helped the girl to get out of the ground. She looked less the pleased, but for some reason she nodded with grudging respect to Minato.
"You used that technique when I was distracted by the fireballs and the umbrella hid you from me, right?" she asked him, and Minato smiled at her.
"Yeah, I did. My sensei has told me to always make sure I know where my enemy is, be it by seeing them, smelling them or feeling their chakra. I thought, since your umbrella would have chakra in the seals you wouldn't be able to feel my chakra when hiding behind it, and neither would you see me. That left smell, but the smoke from the fireballs evaporating should take care of that. It was a good match, though, and good luck."
Minato left the arena and watched as Fugako was up against the last Mist ninja. It proved to be interesting. The Mist ninja used ice techniques, something that brought a lot of memories back to Minato, but if the shinobi could use the same kind of demonic ice mirrors as Haku had done, he didn't do it. Instead Fugako was hard pressed to fight an ice whale, possible hundreds of ice senbons, an ice figure of himself that was mimicking him too well and at the end, when he had countered the whale with Violent Water Wave, dodged and disrupted the senbons, tried to melt the ice with the Great Fireball and even combined it with the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and it still didn't work, he was caught in an ice prison. Minato had a feeling the young Uchiha was seething with frustration and irritation at having to face the only other bloodline limit in the finals. Minato doubted he would do much better against someone with such a mastery over their bloodline. He hoped he didn't have to fight the ice boy, or he would have to come up with a very good strategy to win. He wasn't sure he would be able to do that. He was by no means like the Naras.
They were only four left now; him, the ice boy, the Rock ninja who impaled his opponent and the androgynous Sand ninja. He was matched against the Rock ninja, who eyed the smaller blond boy with narrowed eyes. Minato wondered if he should worry for his life. Having seen the previous battle of the Rock ninja he knew this would be a deadlier match than the one he had with the Grass kunoichi. It was confirmed when the Rock shinobi opened the match with Earth Release: Split Earth Turnaround Palm. The earth around Minato twisted and turned, swirling in on him like a maelstrom of earth. Minato instinctively jumped to the arena wall and out of the way. The screeching sound accompanying the moving earth overpowered the sound of the cheering crowd, but Minato didn't care. He glared at his opponent angrily. If he'd been caught in that he'd been dead, sucked under in the twisting and turning earth and torn apart with it. Bastard. When the earth stopped moving he landed softly on the ground again, staring his smirking opponent.
"You can't beat me with a daft D – ranked technique and some fancy tricks," the older boy said proudly and Minato dipped his head in agreement.
"Oh no, but I do know a trick you'll fall for," he answered lightly and started to make seals. As soon as he did, the other genin melted into the ground. Minato huffed and shook his head. Talk about bastard, he wouldn't even risk falling in a genjutsu. Instead Minato summoned large amounts of water, forming a wave and thoroughly drenching the area. It slammed against the walls of the arena and finally calmed down to form a small basin. Minato stood atop of it just as the Rock ninja emerged from the wall. He still had that cocky smirk on his face, and Minato decided to thoroughly wipe it off his smile and hopefully they wouldn't meet again.
"Didn't your sensei tell you water techniques are weak against earth techniques?" his opponent mocked, but Minato simply tilted his head a little, waiting for him to drop from the wall to the surface of the water. He could feel his heart beat uncomfortably fast, since he only had one chance for this to succeed. If he failed he wouldn't get the other genin to step onto the water again. No one was that stupid after all. He refused to show how nervous he was and kept silently waiting for his opponent to do something, anything.
He nearly missed the sudden movement in the dirty water as a large spear of earth rose from under it. He hissed as he was forced to jump away, only to dodge another one. Weaving through the spears he kept half an eye on the other genin. He had never been happier that he had decided to become faster, and landed panting on one of the still spears reaching for the sky above. The other genin was finally on the ground again, or as it was, on the water. He cut the chakra flow that kept him to the spear and fell towards the ground, flipping around so he could land in a crouch and slammed his hands to the water. Immediately currents of lightning raced through the water, cutting right through the earthen spears and heading stunning the Rock shinobi into a cardiac arrest. That hadn't been Minato's intention, of course, but it was harder to control the amount of chakra he poured into the only lightning based technique he knew while falling and trying to catch his breath. Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder, he whispered as he saw the other boy fall to the ground, shaking and shivering from the lightning and the pain it caused. Medic nin swarmed into the arena as the proctor declared Minato the winner, safely perched on the wall, away from the almost deadly attack.
Minato breathed heavily as he rose and nearly fell through the surface of the water, not that it was deep enough to reach above his knees, but still. He felt wobbly after pushing so much chakra into one technique, enough to electrocute the entire arena, cut through the earth spears and creating several holes in the arena wall where the lightning bolts had struck it. He hoped he wasn't charged with some kind of fee for collateral damage… it was lucky that the other guy had tried to avoid the lightning, or he would have been frizzled on the spot. Too bad earth was weak against lightning. Hadn't his sensei told him that? Minato shook his head and returned to the balcony where the two others were watching. They didn't say anything, just eyed him warily, as if trying to figure out how such a small boy could do what he just did. He was two years younger than them, or looked two years younger than them. His mind was a different matter, but they didn't know that.
The Sand ninja and the ice boy entered the damaged arena shortly after, but Minato didn't watch their fight. He sat down with his back against the wall and rested his head against his knees. The first thing he was going to do when he got back to Konoha was to enlarge his chakra reserves. His body grew, and he trained but this took too long. He had to find to increase his chakra pool faster. It was true that he had put a lot of chakra into this fight, with all the jumping he had done and sped up his movements with it, and also pouring a good half of his remaining chakra into one technique, but he still had one fight left.
He distantly heard the sound of crashes and felt the cold draft the ice techniques left in the air and wondered who would win. He could summon the energy to stand up and watch, but if should stand any chance in the next match he'd need all the energy he had and probably some more. His opponent too would be low on chakra from fighting so many battles in a row, and this one was taking its sweet time to finish up. It was too tempting to resist, so he slowly stood up and noted that his muscles were protesting on the movement.
The arena looked…. Wrecked. The ground was torn apart, both from his match and this one, the walls had holes in them from his lightning, and long deep gashes from what Minato assumed was ice attacks, and ice and puppet pieces lay strewn around on the bottom. The Sand shinobi was really a he; it was clear since most of his layers of clothing had been removed during the fight. One of his arms hung useless at his side, bleeding and hastily bandaged by some of the clothing. He was pale, probably from blood loss, and his eyes were murky with pain and exhaustion. The Mist ninja was leaning against the wall and holding a small senbon needle in one hand. It was bloodied, so Minato thought it must have been removed from his body somewhere. The Mist ninja had several small puncture wounds, proving that both of the opponents had fought keeping their distance and relying on senbons and throwing weapons along with their techniques. Minato could see shuriken and kunai littering the ground when he took a better look and he was sure the puppet user had poison on them all. Nothing else explained why the ice boy was in such a state. He didn't have any obvious wounds other than the small trickles of blood left by senbon needles.
The proctor looked from one to the other and patiently waited for one of them to do something. None of them could do something, so he declared the match over with a double knockout. One was poisoned and one was suffering from blood loss and the beginning stages of hypothermia. It turned out Minato didn't have to fight either of them, which felt surprisingly disappointing. They were clearly brilliant at what they did and Minato would have liked to see what he could have been able to do against one of them. It also ended the first chunin exam after the war strangely anticlimactic. There were some mulling around by the audience, but little by little the stadium emptied. It was over, just like that.
Minato met with Yashino outside the stadium. The others had left already and waiting for them at the hotel.
"Sensei," he said softly as he made his way down the stairs and towards him.
"Congratulations, Minato. I think you won the tournament," Yashino said with some wry humor mingled in his voice. Minato snorted and shook his head reflexively at the silly comment.
"I don't think I could have fought the Sand ninja or the last Mist ninja. They were great," he said thoughtfully, and Yashino hummed in agreement.
"They were, but they had some bad luck, having to fight each other before the final."
Minato looked tiredly at him, and wondered what he meant by that.
"They were both preferring long distance, specializing in techniques that keeps their bodies safely away from the enemy while the techniques can get close. The ice user had the upper hand here, with all the water around, but the puppet master had a advantage of being able to do close combat with his puppets, something that other boy was ill adapt at. Why do you think he kept Fugako safely away from himself? He never would have won if Fugako had been able to copy those techniques as he normally would have."
Minato frowned.
"So Fugako lost because he couldn't copy the techniques?" he asked with some annoyance. That meant that no one else would have been able to win either, if they weren't on a much higher level than the ice user had been. Yashino shook his head.
"No, he could still have won if he had been able to realize that he needed to get close to his opponent. Sadly that ice boy was really good at keeping him on his toes and preoccupied with dodging. That said, the Sand ninja also had the fortune of having seen the ice techniques in the previous battle and had time to think of a strategy. It is much easier to do when you aren't fighting for your life."
"Yeah…. I am glad I had time to think of something when fighting that Rock ninja…. He really did try to kill me. I was almost tempted to use the wind strings on him."
Yashino gave him a half smile and shook his head knowingly.
"You say that, but a true trump card isn't something you show in front of hundreds of witnesses. Besides, you did well without them, didn't you?"
Minato smiled up at him, and laughed.
"I guess I did. So when can we go home?"
"From what we were told, the Mizukage together with his advisors and the visiting daimyos are going to have a meeting deciding who gets a promotion this evening, so I suppose we can go home tomorrow when they have announced their decisions. They don't want us loitering around longer than necessary in any case."
True enough, the next day the remaining finalists were summoned to a strange room in the Mist village. The room was dug out of the hard rock the main island in the Mist village and a long, spiraling staircase led down to it. It was chilled and humid, with only torches for light. The air smelled salty, and the walls were glistening wet when they passed with the torches. When they reached the bottom there was a large lake surrounded by a carved walkway all around it. The water was very black, and very still. Unnervingly so, as if it was waiting for something or someone, to break the mirror-like surface.
The Mizukage was waiting for them at the other side of the lake, staring seemingly uncaringly at the blank surface of the lake. Minato didn't like the cave, down here it looked natural and no longer carved out of the rock, but the feeling was the same. Chilling and disturbing it unsettled his senses and made the hairs on the back of his neck and arms to stand on an end. It was as if he was walking into danger, but there was nothing to suggest that this was some sort of trap to kill them. No, the blue haired kage looked at them with his unreadable green eyes and nodded to himself as if satisfied by their presence.
"Welcome, young guests, to the heart of the Mist village," he said and smirked at them. Minato raised an eyebrow at that, and looked around to see some sort of token that this was indeed the center of one of the five great ninja villages. It was nothing that suggested that this place had any significance.
"I see you are doubtful," the Mizukage said and looked at the youngsters with something akin to bemusement. The older ninja around them, his guards and the jonin who had led them there all smiled and shared his bemusement at their expense.
"Don't worry about it, young ones. Not many knows these days but years and years ago, when the villages were first founded this was where the Mist village started. Unlike Konoha, who was the first village to be founded according to themselves to stop the bloodshed between the rivaling clans of Fire Country," his eyes swept over Fugako and Minato, who both dipped their head slightly in acknowledgement at his words.
"The clans of Water Country banded together to get rid of a great threat to their homes, no matter where they lived on the many islands making out our land. They banded together not to end bloodshed, but to carry out a large battle against an even larger evil, a demon of great renown. The three tailed demon turtle. It was a great battle, they fought heroically and the beast retreated to it layer in the middle of the peninsula our islands are situated in. To this cave. The Shodaime Mizukage came here and fought him, eventually driving him away from this land and this world."
The man, who was in late twenties, if Minato had to guess, turned to them and watched them with a serious expression. He was a tall man, with intense green eyes. A green like that of the ocean when the rivers from the glaciers run wild in the spring. He didn't look like someone who would send tens of children to their deaths because he didn't have use for them, but neither did the Sandaime Hokage, and he too agreed to acts less than honorable for the good of his village.
"Do you know why I am telling you this?" he asked quizzically. The young genin remained silent and waited for him to explain, and with a small smirk he did.
"Every hidden village is founded to fight something or someone. Even Konoha, who was founded to rid Fire Country of its internal strife, had a secondary object; to better fight invaders to their country and home. Sand formed to fight for the trading routes through their country, to protect them from bandits and to keep them in the country so no one could redirect them through smaller countries. Rock felt threatened by Cloud, who again didn't like the assembling strength of Konoha. Everyone had their own reasoning, and with the forming of the five elemental villages, the smaller countries had to follow. It was their only chance of survival."
He turned from them again and directed his eyes towards the lake, looking thoughtful and distant in his Mizukage robes. It was a reminder of how far these young children still had to climb to be among the truly powerful of their world.
"We have just finished one war, and while peace is something all of us need, peace isn't something any ninja can guarantee. Tomorrow the day our daimyos might try to do something stupid, as proud noblemen are prone to do, and we, as ninja, might have to sort it out. Maybe we can do so with words and money, with threats or treats, but if nothing else works it is back to the war. Back to what we were first assembled to do. Fight for our countries and deter others from trying to take it. We all do what is best for our village, no matter what that might be, no matter what the consequences might be, no matter what our consciousness will tell us and no matter what others will think. That is what makes us ninja."
He trailed off, staring at the black surface for a while more before he turned to the genin with a serious expression.
"Namikaze Minato, Wakana Kouta and Yuuki Ryuo you are hereby chunin of your village. Serve them well and live your lives. When the day comes for you to face the battlefields remember why you it. That is all."
He handed each of them a small scroll, and told Minato and that Wakana guy to give it to the Hokage and Kazekage respectively. It was their proof of passing the exam and being promoted. They bowed to the Mizukage, who remained in the cave and staring impassively at the still waters as they were led back into the relative light of the misty village. Minato, silently cheering and jumping for joy in his mind, couldn't wait to be back in Konoha. He had never gotten a chance to do what normal chunin do, or celebrate passing the exam in the first place. He wondered what his friends would say, and if they would be suitably awed. Well, he hoped they would, considering they still had a few months until they graduated to become genin, and he had already passed his chunin exam. He really couldn't help the wide grin spreading over his face. Fugako glanced over at him, and for some reason, he too seemed to smile in his own way, his eyes glinting with suppressed mirth.
"Smile any wider and you'll split your face in two," he said teasingly, but Minato only chuckled at him.
"It won't. I've smiled like this before you know," he answered lightly. The Uchiha snorted and shook his head in mock resignation.
"Oh well, there'll be an exam in Rock six months from now, so when I pass those we might take missions together," he said with more vigor.
"You sound terribly sure you'll pass," Minato pointed out for him and Fugako raised an eyebrow as to dare him to say he wouldn't.
"Of course I'll pass. I know what I did wrong in this final, so I'll do better in the next. Sensei promised we'd work on strategy while we wait for our new teammate…."
The last part was said quietly and his eyes dimmed a little at the thought of his dead teammate. When he next spoke he sounded a little bitter.
"I guess your celebration will have to wait till the funerals are over."
Minato nodded in agreement, and felt some of his own good mood disappear with the thought. He never liked funerals. It was okay when they were over, when they could remember all the good times and celebrate the life of the person who passed away, but during it he was only reminded that he wouldn't see that person again in life, not speak to him or her, and seek them out for advice or just to hang out. It was sad and he felt misplaced no matter who was buried. They usually had family there, lovers, children or closer friends who were struck with the sorrow of the person leaving them much harder than him and it felt a bit as if he was intruding on their sorrow.
Forcing those thoughts away, he brightened up as they met up with the rest of their small group outside of the hotel they had stayed at. He grinned and proudly held the small scroll tied with a blue ribbon up for them to see. He laughed at the wide eyes of Isuna and the raised eyebrows of Misuri sensei. Mikoto congratulated him loudly and gave him a hug while Shibi quietly told him he'd catch up sometimes soon. What made him the happiest however, was the smile Yashino gave him. One that said 'I knew you could do it' and 'I'm proud of you' at the same time. None of the teachers he had in his previous life ever got to see his growth, and that was why that smiled meant so much to Minato. He even let Yashino ruffle his hair affectionately without trying to dodge his hand or huff at what one normally did with a child.
The only thing left for them to do, was to head back to Konoha. Minato didn't know if Yashino had been successful with his mission, but he knew better than to ask him. Judging by his mood he'd say Yashino had found what he was looking for, or he was happier by him passing the exam then Minato had though he would be.
The first three days of their journey went without incidents. The swampy mainland of Water country was just like they remembered it to be, and their week and a half stay in Mist hadn't changed it. Wet and dreary. The young genin were ever so delighted when they learned they were taking another route home, one that didn't lead them along the coast and the entire swamp, but rather took the route through the Water Country to the border of Rain. Minato had some misgivings, but well, from what he knew at this time Pain was a brat a few years older than he was at the moment, and busy with…. Whatever gave him the notion of being a God. Perhaps he should be worried after all.
Following the border of the Rain Country would lead them to the small part of northern Fire Country that shared borders with Rain. Between that border and Water's border with Rain lay smaller countries which wouldn't give them any troubles so the plan was to keep to their side of the border. They still ran the risk of running into Rain ninja, but as they weren't at war at this time, the worst that could happen was a scuffle for pride.
That was what they assumed.
Two days away from the Fire Country border, while trying to avoid a small patrol from Vegetable Country (Isuna had great fun with that name) both Minato and Yashino picked up on something very, very disturbing. Minato because he had trained hour upon hour with his chakra and sensing it had become second nature to him, and Yashino because that skill was one they would practice in the ANBU. Somewhere behind them there was a battle going on, one where chakra was being used. They could feel the spikes of chakra as it was used. From the different signatures Minato would say there were six, but that made no sense to him. Apparently it did for Yashino though, for he was swearing angrily under his breath.
"Hurry up, we need to get moving quickly," he instructed them, and Misuri blinked in surprise but followed him and ushered the rest on with a gesture of her hand. Minato overheard their discussion, which was hurried and not so subtle.
"What's with the sudden urgency?" she asked him irritated. At this speed they would tire out their charges and she couldn't imagine what Yashino had in mind.
"We're being followed. I was afraid this could happen, but I didn't have the time to cover it up more than I did," Yashino answered curtly. Minato could tell he was angry and worried.
"Cover what up?" Misuri asked with a frown.
Yashino eyed her for a moment, before he reached over to his right shoulder with his left hand and tapped it once. Her eyes widened shortly in understanding as they darted between him, Minato and back where they came from.
"So what is following us?" she asked even if she did have a good idea.
"Hunter ninja. If they operate in teams it is always in teams of three and one tracker, making up a group of four. The Vegetable patrols are made up of the daimyos guards and two ninja on each patrol, making the total of chakra signatures six. Any other country would use teams of four and a tracker if they are bringing one, making a group of five. The only other country who might follow our track is Rain, but they wouldn't have any busyness with us since we never crossed the border. Vegetable wouldn't fight their own patrol, and if it is ninja with some other loyalty we won't have to worry. Though, I prefer not to take that chance."
"You know, that isn't a half bad theory, but it could be some random team of four," Misuri pointed out.
"Yeah, and I am a paranoid ex – ANBU so deal with it," Yashino scoffed. At that Misuri snorted and nodded towards his shoulder.
"That tattoo is still there. What did you do to think they'd be following us?"
"Just some information gathering…. I am pretty sure they were able to piece together who would have done it, considering the ability to cast genjutsu with the eyes is rather limited to individuals of a certain clan in a certain village."
"Why not kill the target?"
"In the middle of the chunin exam? I think they would have gotten suspicious if someone went missing during that time. Better that they fell into a coma from what looked like a small accident, but with my luck he had to wake up, right?"
"What do we do about it?" Misuri asked when she realized discussing this wouldn't get them anywhere. Yashino shook his head and glanced back at the genin following them, and at Minato, who was listening to them with a neutral expression on his face. Yashino was surprised to see the calm in those blue eyes, as if Minato was used to being chased. Maybe it was from all of the C – ranked missions they had done, even if that was stretching the value of that experience.
"We'll see how far we get before the next dawn. The border is only two days away if we'd followed the original plan, and they won't follow us there. That could spark a new war, and at the moment that isn't something the Mizukage would want, or be able to afford."
"Yashino, this isn't your ANBU team," Misuri said and the Uchiha gave her a sharp glare in response.
"I am fully aware of that. That is why I am saying we'll see how far we get by dawn, and if we have to the two of us will intercept the Hunters," he said abruptly. Minato's eyes widened at that. He knew very well what that could lead to. He'd seen it done, and the people who did it rarely made it out alive. Unconsciously he sped up, hoping with all his heart that they'd be close to the borders by dawn.
The night was starlit, with a close to full moon. It wasn't full yet though; it was missing a thin sliver at one side, making it look oddly lopsided. They ran the entire night and when if their hearts hadn't been beating so hard in their chests the only sound they would have heard were the breaths of the others and the small thuds their feet made against the ground. The rushing of the wind in their airs further served to dampen any other sound.
Minato was nearly gasping for breath when they stopped. His throat was aching and felt raw, and he was shaking with exertion. A thin layer of sweet covered his exposed skin, making him shiver in the early morning air. Yashino looked around them, from the rising sun to the field they were standing on. It was only a few hours away from the Fire country border and they could already see the first trees which were the start of the great forest covering their homeland.
"Sensei?" Minato questioned brokenly between his gasps. Misuri had nodded to him, as if agreeing to something unspoken between them and left to say something to her students. Minato gazed up at Yashino, who kneeled down in front of him and ran a hand over his hair. It was a strange gesture, almost like he wanted to comfort a child and not sure of how to do it.
"Minato, you have to take the others back to Konoha, can you do that for me?" he asked and rested his hand on Minato's shoulder. The boy blinked, not wanting to believe what Yashino was saying.
"But, sensei…. We are almost there. It is only…."
"I know, Minato, I know how close we are, but right now that is how far away we are. You need to travel as fast as you can, to get as far into Fire Country as possible while we delay them. You are the highest ranking ninja among you guys, so you will have to take responsibility for their lives and make sure they all make it back to Konoha, right?"
Minato felt his eyes and throat burn, and this time it had nothing to do with running all night. He nodded with closed eyes and felt himself being engulfed in a warm hug.
"Don't cry. I'm not dead yet, am I? I'll do my best not to end up dead either, so you be brave and do what every chunin of Konoha would do. Make sure your team gets home safely, okay?"
Minato nodded against his shoulder, not willing to let go of him just yet. He grabbed tightly on to Yashino and wanted to cry, but he knew what Yashino said was true. He shouldn't mourn them before they were dead, and they might even get out of it alive. Yashino hummed softly before he ran a hand through Minato's hair again.
"Minato, I have something for you to take back to Konoha with you."
Minato withdrew unwillingly from the embrace and looked on while Yashino pulled out two scrolls from one of the pockets on his west. One was a mission report, Minato recognized those, but it was a different color than he was used to. It was pitch black and he knew it was one of those missions that officially never happened. The 'black' missions of ANBU. Most of them weren't reported in a written form like this, they were delivered in person and only vocally. Yashino must have feared that something like this might happen since he had written the report down.
The other scroll was smaller and had intricate drawings of flowers on the outside, tightly held together with a dark blue ribbon. Yashino smiled as he handed it to Minato.
"It is your gift. I promised you one for keeping up with my company, remember?"
Minato took the two scrolls and smiled, or tried to but he still couldn't shake the feeling that Yashino, for all him saying he wasn't going to get killed here, was saying goodbye. The man hadn't let go of him, he still had one hand on his shoulder and eyed him with a small smile. He then shook his head lightly.
"I hope my nephew grows up to be like you. I am really happy I got to teach you, and I hope we'll meet back in Konoha for that party. If we don't… Minato I'll watch with the butterflies, right above you."
Minato looked into his eyes and saw his own reflection in their blank surface, and he realized Yashino was holding back his own tears. Tears he would never let fall, because he was never going to admit he was saying goodbye. He rose and ruffled Minato's hair one more time before they walked quickly over to the genin and Misuri. Yashino smiled reassuringly to Fugako, patted his shoulder and nodded to Minato.
"Hurry up now, you don't want them to show up before you are gone," Misuri said and the two jonin watched in silence as they ran away while mentally preparing to fight the Hunter nins from Mist.
Minato clenched his fists so hard he could feel the nails digging into his skin, but he preferred that sharp pain to the dull ache and fear he harbored in his heart. He watched the rest of his companions from behind, seeing their grim and exhausted expressions. They knew too that this could have been the last time they saw the two jonin. He pretended not to see Mikoto's tears, or the way Isuna was clenching his jaw. The sharp fangs granted by his Inuzuka heritage were embedded in his lower lip, causing a trickle of blood to run down his cheek. Shibi was as any Aburame: hard to read, and Fugako seemed to be staring straight ahead while seeing nothing at all. They were all exhausted, but they would reach the safety of their own country.
Minato felt the first spike of chakra about two hours later. It was weak, since they had been running as fast as they could without stopping or hesitating. The different signatures continued to spike after that, sometimes mingling and sometimes quieting down as of withdrawing. He could sense some disappearing. Either the person was too wounded to continue, or he or she was dead. It hadn't stopped when they barreled over the border and took the treetops without a second thought. For them it felt safer up there- leaping from branch to branch also used less chakra than running with it did. It was only when they reached the first small road Minato discovered that he couldn't feel any of the chakra spikes anymore.