Chimera, Chapter 2: Pawn
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Notes: I've changed up some characters' ages for the Chuunin exams because a) it's more interesting to include a bunch of well-known characters who could have realistically crossed paths at major international events, and b) age of promotion really doesn't matter at all as far as the plot goes. So please don't worry too much about it, and enjoy this chapter!


Eleven was on the older side for Chuunin promotion, but the rules of engagement (three-man teams) put restraints on Yagura's ambitions no matter how good his candidates were. This year, only one team had survived the mortality rates of Academy Graduation in time for the Exams, held in Cloud. Mei had the great honor—or misfortune—of being on that team.

"Get through the preliminary group exercises. I don't care how. I'm sure I don't have to explain to you three that failure in the singles round is not an option."

Yagura glared down at Mei and her teammates over his nose. Unlike his fellow Kage in attendance, he declined to don his Mizukage robes. A shrewd man by nature, the deep impression cast by appearances was not lost on him: Kage regalia exuded an aura of leadership, but shinobi garb reminded onlookers of the reason he was a Kage in the first place and a Jinchuuriki in the second. While the Kage of other villages mingled politely in their shared private box, Yagura kept to himself and his ANBU guard.

"Yes, sir," Mei and her teammates said in unison.

He watched them like a group of stray cats he'd dragged in to deal with a pest problem, and if they failed he'd just send them to the slaughter and replace them with new ones. "Just get it done."

Yagura left them to await the group exam, which would place them in the wilds of Lightning Country for the better part of three days hunting elusive paper trophies and trying to remember not to kill the competition. Mei watched Yagura walk away and leave her team with the others preparing to embark on a wild goose chase.

"Finally, I thought he'd never leave."

Ameyuri Ringo.

Ameyuri's bright red hair hung in bushy pigtails over her shoulders and framed angular cheekbones, gaunt and like cut marble, like a starved lion that had just caught the scent of meat. She was armed to the teeth with all manner of curved kunai, daggers, and chokutō. A swordsman by training, Ameyuri nonetheless excelled at lightning-based chakra manipulation, a rarity for Mist shinobi. She was on track to becoming a member of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen, the most prestigious shinobi ranking in the Bloody Mist.

"Shut up, Ameyuri. He's got ears everywhere, and you know how he feels about insolence," said the lone boy in their three-man team.

Mangetsu Hozuki.

Mangetsu faced off against his future Swordsmen colleague. His unblemished pale complexion and deep indigo eyes failed to soften his otherwise ruthlessly calculating nature. Mangetsu was something of a prodigy in their age group, gifted with the sword and ninjutsu alike. He was a tactician by nature, a strategist concerned only with the win and the most efficient way to get there. She had never seen him smile, and she wondered if he knew how.

"Screw him," Ameyuri spat. "He doesn't care about us, and I sure as shit don't care about him."

Mangetsu rolled his eyes and decided not to egg her on. It wasn't worth it. Mei resisted the urge to tug at her short hair, a nervous habit.

"Anyway," she said. "We have a job to do."

Ameyuri glared at her, dark eyes thin as slits. "You know, I still can't figure out why you're here. Everyone knows Yagura's training up the new generation of Swordsmen, and you couldn't even chop an onion. So, what gives?"

Mei bit the inside of her cheek. Ameyuri was the only other girl who'd survived the Academy Graduation slaughter, aside from Mei, but it was not surprising that the two of them had never been friends. With so few girls enrolling in, let alone graduating from, the Academy, they had to be better, smarter, and meaner than the boys, or they'd be the first to get picked off. Never wanting to be the target of group violence, the girls usually turned on one another, hoping it would be some other girl who'd be the weak link instead of them. In many ways, the girls were worse than the boys. Ameyuri was notoriously cruel and cared little for anyone but herself. Mei, however, could be just as cruel.

"It's true that I can't fight with a sword like you and Mangetsu," Mei said, forcing a smile. "But I got something just a good." She dropped the façade and glared at Ameyuri. "And Yagura made me the leader, not you."

Acid steam leaked from the corners of Mei's mouth, misting in the air but lingering just out of reach of Ameyuri and Mangetsu. Ameyuri stepped back, hissing when some of the mist singed her nose.

"Ow, what the hell!"

Mei glared and balled her small fists. Her poison draped her like a cape. "Don't you forget it."

Mangetsu said nothing as he peered at the poisonous mist surrounding Mei. He reached out a hand toward it, and his fingers liquefied when they came too close. Mei and Ameyuri stared, their previous animosity forgotten.

"That's interesting," Mangetsu said as the mist joined with his water and made a hissing sound.

"Be careful," Mei warned, but she immediately bit her tongue and regretted the warning. What did she care if he hurt himself? He should know better if he'd managed to stay alive this long.

Mangetsu pulled away and his hand solidified once more. He appeared to be unharmed. "That's very interesting..."

"All Chuunin candidates report for the group examination," a voice boomed over the loudspeaker.

Mei, Ameyuri, and Mangetsu followed the loudspeaker to a post at the mouth of a vast rock jungle, where the other Genin teams from various villages were gathered. A Jōnin proctor dressed in Cloud's traditional black and white uniform stared at the teams gathered, bored. He yawned and gestured vaguely, as though counting.

"Uh, okay, guess you're all here. So let's just get this over with," he began. "Basically, find the treasure scroll and bring it to the finish line, which is gonna be that tower over yonder." He pointed to a tall rock spire miles in the distance. "You got three days."

A young boy with mussed, black hair and goggles raised his hand and waved it around. The proctor ignored him.

"So, uh, any questions?" the proctor asked.

The dark-haired boy continued to wave his hand around and began to jump like he had to pee real bad. Mei frowned. His hitai-ate marked him as a Konoha shinobi.

"No one?"

The Konoha boy made a whimpering sound, but still the proctor remained willfully oblivious.

"How many treasure scrolls are there?"

A stocky boy wearing a headscarf that barely concealed the most eye-catching facial tattoos stood with his arms crossed. He hadn't bothered to raise his hand but clearly expected a response.

The proctor smiled. "Ah, good question. There's only ten treasure scrolls, but sixteen teams. So, well, if you don't find one and bring it to the finish, you're out."

The Genin mumbled among themselves. The Konoha Genin who'd just about had a heart attack raising his hand grumbled something about how he was going to ask that. Mei narrowed her eyes as she thought about the implications of this information.

"We have to find one of those damn scrolls," Ameyuri whispered. "Yagura'll skin us if we get disqualified."

Mangetsu said nothing as he continued to stare ahead, his gaze far away. Mei nodded but remained silent, too.

"Oh, and one more thing," the proctor said. "Um, this isn't about killing each other, so try to keep that to a minimum, okie dokie? The real exam starts in the final one-on-ones. And you need your whole team alive to qualify."

There was more grumbling to be heard from the gathered Genin, but Mei tuned it out. Her team had to find a scroll and get to the finish line as soon as possible without risking any confrontations with other teams. But that meant reining in both Ameyuri and Mangetsu, a feat which would no doubt prove challenging.

"Okay, so, I guess go? Remember, three days," the proctor said, waving them off.

The Genin teams took off, some at a sprint, others at a more sedate pace. But within the span of three minutes, there was not a soul in sight. Mei and her team absconded into the jagged rock forest away from the other teams.

"What the hell're we doing? We should be taking the others out!" Ameyuri said as they broke under the shadow of a hanging rock precipice.

Mangetsu looked around, silent. She rolled her eyes at his nonchalance.

"Seriously? Are you even in there?" Ameyuri poked him in the bicep, but he merely liquefied and her hand sank through to the wrist. "Ew! Aw, gimme a break! That's so gross!"

Mangetsu didn't spare Ameyuri a glance as he continued to scope the area. Mei watched the exchange in silence, thinking.

"We're better off finding a scroll and getting to the finish without running into trouble," she said. "But that means we can't draw attention. Think you can do that, Ameyuri?"

Ameyuri whirled and advanced on Mei. "Listen, Princess. So ya got a few neat tricks up your skirt, cool, whatever. But you're not better than me, got it? Your magic burps got nothin' on my knives."

"I'm no more a princess than you are. So again, can you hold it together long enough not to get us in trouble with the other teams?"

Ameyuri flushed with anger.

"Don't be so loud," Mangetsu said as he stared in the opposite direction, very still. "This is one fight I don't want to waste time with."

"What's happening?" Mei asked, completely forgetting about Ameyuri.

Rock spires, thicker around than a house, rose like trees in the densest of forests where Mangetsu was staring. Some were dappled with natural caves and crevices. A golden eagle squawked and took to the air hundreds of feet overhead, its sharp eyes turned toward the earth in search of prey.

"One of the Konoha teams is fighting the Suna team. Listen."

Mei strained her hearing, but she heard nothing but the wind.

"Are you kidding me? This is such bullshit!" Ameyuri hissed. "That should be us in there. We gotta get rid of the competition."

Mei gritted her teeth and snatched one of Ameyuri's red pigtails. With her other hand, she held a curved kunai to Ameyuri's throat and punctured the skin.

"No, we don't," she said softly, ignoring the chakra in her veins that began to boil and writhe like a living thing inside her, wanting out. "We don't. Say it."

Ameyuri bared her teeth and reached for her own kunai, but Mei twisted her weapon deeper into Ameyuri's neck, stilling her movements. Ameyuri merely grinned wider.

"Bitch," she spat.

"Back at you."

Mangetsu ignored them. Ameyuri's blood flowed in a steady stream from her neck wound, but she gave no indication of discomfort. Mei hid her inner bewilderment. No eleven-year-old, Bloody Mist or not, should have been so calm around her own blood and pain. Perhaps if she hadn't been the arrogant type, Mei would have admitted a grudging respect for Ameyuri. The Academy had made the girl strong, stronger probably than any other kunoichi in this fool's errand. But Mei had no capacity for respectful animosity. There was only empathy, a hollow, melancholic pull that manifested itself in a phantom pain at Mei's own neck, and she felt her own blood trickle just as hot and just as sticky as Ameyuri's. And she didn't flinch, either.

"Fine," Ameyuri said. "Don't draw attention. Got it."

Mei didn't back off right away and instead took a moment to inspect her teammate, the girl whom she was supposed to trust to have her back in this bloody circus show. The first impression that drifted through her consciousness was that Ameyuri was not Utakata. As a Jinchuuriki, Utakata was confined to Mist and therefore banned from the Chuunin Exams. Not that he needed some exam to prove he was worthy of promotion. But Mei had never been away from Utakata since they'd become friends, and as a result she hadn't slept much on the journey here. Ameyuri was angular where Utakata was soft and gentle, dark and shrewd where Utakata was warm and accepting. Everything about her was wrong, mismatched, off. Mei would not have trusted Ameyuri with so much as the first watch.

"Good," Mei said, pulling back and sheathing her kunai.

"Goddamn, I just washed this," Ameyuri grumbled as she scraped at the blood seeping into the collar of her shinobi gi.

"Oh," Mangetsu said. "It looks like one of the Konoha teams got killed off."

"Already?" Mei asked, forgetting about Ameyuri and returning her attention to Mangetsu. "What happened?"

"Dunno. But there were three, and now there's two. We should keep moving."

"Whatever. Let's just find the damn scroll so we can get on with the real fight," Ameyuri said, avoiding eye contact with her teammates.

The three of them disappeared into the earthen jungle, silent as the fog that descended with the encroaching night.


Man-made madness. What else could this be? To send eleven-year-old children (and yes, they were still children no matter what Minato said about how far they'd come, no matter what the Hokage approved on paper, no matter how good he was)—children—to this wasteland alone to face victory or the ultimate defeat was a heavy responsibility, a careless one. At least, it would have been if not for him.

"The sooner we get one of the scrolls, the better. There's a limited number," Kakashi Hatake said just ahead. His hands were stuffed in his pockets as he walked, and despite the form-fitting mask he wore, it wasn't enough to tame the shock of silver hair he'd inherited from his late father.

"Yeah, and I'll be the one to find it. Don't you forget it, Kakashi."

Obito Uchiha bared his teeth in a grin as he watched his teammate's back while they walked through the rocky maze. His hands were folded behind his head, where his fingers threaded through dark tangled hair that was getting too long too fast. There was never any need to wonder at what he was thinking because he was more than happy to announce it either with his words or with his flamboyant actions. He swiped a kunai from its holder at his hip and twirled it in anticipation of some phantom threat lurking around the corner, or perhaps the perceived one walking along in front of him.

Rin Nohara bit back a smile as she tucked her short brown bangs behind an ear to see him better. "As long as one of us finds it, that's what matters. We're a team, aren't we?"

Obito dropped the curling grin and beamed at her. "Yeah, you bet! And we'll definitely get one and get out of this stink hole. I mean, if our fearless leader agrees."

Kakashi ignored his teammates' banter, and Rin spared Obito a bright smile. "Of course he does. Minato-sensei's counting on us."

At the mention of their teacher, Obito's look turned somber and he leaned in close to Rin. He whispered, "Y'know, I bet this is some kinda ploy to seal the deal for his Hokage appointment. Once we're Chuunin, we won't need him and he can, you know, take over the world."

"Minato-sensei would become Hokage whether or not you pass the exam, Obito," Kakashi said. "There's no need for you to lose sleep over it."

Any good humor Obito had derived from the excuse to cozy up to Rin vanished, and he brandished his kunai at Kakashi. "I'm not losin' anything over it! What's that supposed to mean? You think I won't pass or somethin'?"

Kakashi said nothing and continued to scan ahead. Rin sighed and put a hand over Obito's kunai, lowering it.

"That's not what Kakashi meant. Minato-sensei's just obviously gonna be Hokage either way, that's all. We should pass this exam so we won't have to burden him. What do you say?"

Obito flushed at the contact of her bare skin on his, and his reaction made Rin blush in turn.

"Um, yeah, of course. I mean, like I said, I'll find the scroll. We're practically guaranteed to pass!"

Rin couldn't fight the smile that bloomed across her face. "Definitely," she echoed his enthusiasm.

She was too distracted to notice the furtive glance Kakashi cast back at them, dark eyes unreadable. Unlike Obito, his thoughts were anyone's guess, and anyone was usually wrong.

"Let's just keep moving," he said. "The other teams are strong. I don't want to make any enemies unless it's really necessary."


Mei stared intently at a pattern of cracks in the rock face that was her lonesome view as she lay on her back trying to convince herself that it was okay to sleep. It was the first night of the exam, and she'd already heard a boy's blood-curdling death rattle in the distance, witnessed a strange black smokestack that did not smell like any campfire should have smelled, and followed in the destructive footsteps of one of the other team's decimation of about a square mile of rock forest for no apparent reason. The macabre atmosphere didn't addle her; rather, Mangetsu's staring did. After seven minutes and twenty-two seconds of it, she'd had enough.

"What do you want?" she bit out.

"Do that acid mist thing again," he said readily, as though he'd been counting the seconds just as she had been.

Mei's short hair tickled the back of her neck, like it was curling in on itself at his request. She resisted the urge to bite her lip, barely. "What for?"

Ameyuri was a short distance away keeping watch, as she'd been doing for the last half hour. Mei wasn't getting any sleep in soon.

Mangetsu's violet eyes appeared black in the pale moonlight. Despite the chill in the air, he didn't shiver in his sleeveless shirt. "I wanna try something."

Mei shot him a poisonous look over her shoulder. "This isn't a game, you know."

"Sure it is."

"What're you talking about?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's always been like that, don't you think? I kind of like it like that. If it's a game, there's gotta be a winner."

"...If you say so."

"So come on, do it again."

He was standing and had a height advantage, one which Mei was determined to rectify now. They were young, and while Mei was no paragon of physical presence, she was of a height with Mangetsu and held her head high.

"Not that I care, but it's dangerous. If we're gonna win this, hurting you would be a stupid idea."

"Stop being such a wuss and just do it already."

Mei was taken aback at his jab, and it showed. Not one to be called a coward, she ignored her lingering reservations. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

A simple deep breath was all it took to summon the familiar burning chakra to her throat. When she opened her mouth, a thick roiling mist snaked out of it and tested the air with delicate tendrils, snatching it up as it moved. As before, she controlled its range so it wouldn't touch Mangetsu. But also as before, he reached out to grasp it. His hand liquefied on contact as before, hissing as some of his water turned to steam under the poison mist's corrosive influence. Mei watched him, curious as to why he would want to subject himself to unnecessary suffering, when all of a sudden his submerged hand manifested its solid shape.

Mangetsu bared his teeth a little, the only sign of what Mei knew full well was agony. "Huh, thought so."

Before she had a chance to question him, he removed his hand from the mist and hid it behind his back.

"What's so?" she demanded.

Mangetsu eyed the mist that still curled around the crisp, night air all around Mei, who stood oblivious to it at its center. "If I can control it, you can, too."

His vague responses were grating on her nerves. "Control what?"

"The mist's acidity. You can manipulate it. Or at least, you should."

They called Mangetsu a prodigy of sorts, though from the time she'd spent with him up until this point, she had a bit of trouble getting why, exactly. He did nothing to distinguish himself or draw attention to himself in their Academy days. He barely said anything unless it was necessary or prompted. And he gave nothing away freely. He wouldn't even show her his abused hand, and for an absurd moment Mei had the thought that it was perfectly unscathed, that her technique hadn't worked on him. Preposterous. As though reading her mind, he showed her his hand, and she could only gape at its pristine condition. No welts, no oozing sores, no boiled skin and tissue.

"How...?"

He waggled his fingers at her, but instead of answering her question, he answered his own. "All you have to do is alter the pH level to make it more basic. That's what I did when I hydrated. Do that, and it's not poisonous anymore."

"Why would I wanna do that?" she blurted out before she could stop herself. Never mind how and why he'd been able to do it.

Mangetsu shrugged. "We're a team. No one said the game was every man for himself."

He retreated to get a little sleep while Ameyuri was still on watch without another word. Mei watched him go, hackles raised and poised to strike, but there was no reason. Her mist coiled around her like fingers, itching to stretch out but reluctant to wander beyond its master's reign. She brought her hand up through it, watching it disperse between her fingers. Harmless.


On the morning of the third day, Ameyuri was about ready to slit the throat of the next living creature she came across. She'd begun muttering to herself as her soles crunched over the gravel underfoot. Mei tried to ignore the noise, but there was little she could do to appease Ameyuri. After all, they were just about out of time and the frustration was justified. Mangetsu lagged behind with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the sky, seemingly bored. Mei couldn't decide which was more agitating: Ameyuri's anxiety or Mangetsu's nonchalance.

"Aaaahhhh, this is bullshit. I say we track down some other team and just take their scroll," Ameyuri said.

Mei stopped and turned around. "What other team? All I see are rocks."

Ameyuri rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a smartass. You know what I meant."

"It's not that easy, Ameyuri. Besides, the teams that found scrolls probably already went to the finish line. If we run into anyone, they'll be empty-handed just like us."

"You dunno that. Where's this magical finish line you keep going on about, anyway? This place is a freaking maze!"

Mangetsu strolled by them and stopped in front of a fat cracked rock spire that blocked his path just ahead. He put a hand on it and peered around it into the distance but said nothing.

"I don't want to fight with you," Mei said, trying to stay calm.

"Really? 'Cause I'm pretty ready to fight someone. And even you're lookin' good enough right now," Ameyuri said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ameyuri smirked and crossed her arms. "Just that you're no challenge. But I guess I can't be picky out here."

Mei took a step forward. Rising to the bait was a foolish move, but no one called her weak and got away with it. "Say that again. I dare you."

"Ooohhh, what, you gonna hit me? With what? You don't even carry a sword! What kinda kunoichi are you, anyway?"

Mei had had enough. She brought her hands up in a seal and took a deep, lingering breath, ready to unleash the fires of hell upon Ameyuri and her big mouth, when Mangetsu spoke up.

"Someone's coming," he said.

He backed up and walked right in between Mei and Ameyuri, careless of Mei's pent up chakra and the twin blades Ameyuri had drawn halfway from their sheaths. It took Mei a second to register his words, but when she did she swallowed the heat in her throat. Voices drifted around the stalagmites toward her. She locked eyes with Ameyuri, who'd arrived at a similar conclusion, and dashed to follow Mangetsu. They took shelter behind a thick boulder and masked their chakra. The teams that had gathered for this exam were nothing to sneeze at, and running into one was low on Mei's wish list. From her hiding place, she raised a finger to her lips, signaling to Mangetsu and Ameyuri to stay put and shut up.

"Man, this place is seriously one big maze," a boy's voice said. "I mean, we've been in here forever and we still can't find a way out."

He came into Mei's line of sight followed by two teammates. Cloud ninja, from their hitai-ate. The speaker was a young boy with dark skin and unruly bleached hair. He sucked on something long and thin, a toothpick or twig, perhaps.

"Three days is hardly 'forever', Omoi," said the lone female of the group.

Mei's eyes lingered on her. She was blonde and blue-eyed, and most eye-catching of all was her pale skin—pristine, not a speck of dirt upon it, no scars to speak of. Mei glanced at her bare hands, which hid old grime under uneven fingernails and in between the natural grooves in her flesh. A cut on her palm had begun to scab over, brown and crusty.

Omoi sighed dramatically. "It feels like forever. I just wanna go home, I guess."

The third member of the Kumo team sauntered behind his teammates with his hands in his pockets, which he only removed to stifle a yawn. "Samui's right. You're exaggerating again. Anyway, we live here. Shouldn't you know how to get out of here?"

"Yeah, but not here here. 'Sides, you're the team captain, Darui. Isn't it on you to get us outta here?"

Darui's limp bleached hair hung in his eyes. He yawned again, and Mei wondered if he'd been up all night, too.

"Me? That's pretty dull. I already got us a scroll, so my part's done," Darui said.

"Your part's not done," Samui said. "We're a team. We work together."

Darui put up his hands. "Yeah, yeah."

"Still, I'm kinda glad you guys're here, too," Omoi said, grinning. "This place gives me the creeps."

"We live here." Samui poked him in the chest.

"Yeah, but not here here. Didn't I just say that?"

Mei watched the exchange in tense silence, and at the revelation that this team carried a scroll, she could almost hear Ameyuri begin to salivate. This was their chance, and they were running out of time. There was no telling whether they'd have another opportunity to find a scroll, or if there were even any left lying around. Still, the idea of fighting these Kumo shinobi did not sit well with her after Yagura's warning about passing the exams. She hesitated, and it was her undoing.

Ameyuri stepped out from hiding and confronted the Cloud shinobi. "So, you guys got a scroll, huh?"

Samui and Omoi jerked to attention and crouched into defensive positions. Darui eyed Ameyuri with a puzzled look, but he didn't seem alarmed at her sudden appearance.

"Uh, where'd you come from?" he asked.

"From behind that rock," she said triumphantly.

Omoi peered at said rock, as though to confirm that yes, there was definitely a rock there.

Damnit, Mei thought. You ruined our element of surprise!

Mangetsu peeked out from behind the rock he and Ameyuri had been hiding behind but said nothing. There was no use remaining concealed anymore. Mei stepped out, too, and joined her teammates.

"We'll be taking that scroll from you," Mei declared. "Hand it over."

Darui gaped at her. "What? Oh, I'm really sorry, but I can't just give it to you."

"These people are weird," Mangetsu whispered.

Ameyuri just stared at him like he'd grown another head.

"And I'm sorry you had to walk by here," Mei said. "But we're still taking it."

"Stealing another team's scroll instead of finding your own?" Samui said. "Not cool."

"Hey, you guys're from Mist, right?" Omoi asked. "Is it true that they call it the Bloody Mist 'cause the mist is actually the blood of dead kids? I heard that's why there aren't that many of you guys around."

In spite of herself, Mei clenched her fists and suffered a spike of anger over the way he spoke of her home. She caught herself, ashamed and flustered over the heated reaction. He wasn't far off the mark, if not a little too gullible. She had no love for the place, or so she'd convinced herself. It was the only place she had, though.

"The kids who survive come out strong," she said.

Ameyuri snorted, and Mei nearly lost her cool over the urge to smack the girl.

"Mist nin, huh," Darui said, his eyes roving over their group slowly. "You guys fight with water."

Omoi grinned. "Yeah, they do."

"Darui," Samui said, a warning in her tone.

"Fine, you can have our scroll," Darui went on. He reached into his pocket and produced a small beige scroll with a simple lightning bolt stamped on the seal in red wax. "If your team can beat mine, that is."

Mei bristled at his loaded words and the way he watched her as he offered them. She pegged him at a few years older than her, which meant he was bigger and probably stronger. And with that one little look, she felt naked, like he knew how this would end just after three minutes of conversation.

But he didn't know.

"Deal," she said, raising a hand toward Mangetsu and Ameyuri. "If my team can beat yours."

Mangetsu held her gaze, understanding, but Ameyuri was too preoccupied with the impending fight to care. She licked her lips and rubbed the hilts of the daggers at her hips.

Darui grinned. "Samui."

Mei didn't even have time to be confused when a rush of wind slammed into her at lightning speed. She opened her mouth in a gasp, and even that was too slow. The girl called Samui stood just feet away from her holding a wicked chokutō aimed for Mei's neck. The only thing stopping it was Mangetsu's equally sharp blade. He now stood directly in front of her, so close she could smell him, and how he'd moved so fast when he barely found the energy even to blink was beyond her. Mei caught her breath, and Samui was already leaping backward, icy eyes narrowed and looking for a new opening.

"If it's swordplay you want," Ameyuri said, lunging at Omoi, "then you came to the right place!"

"Whoa!"

Omoi scrambled backward and drew his own sword, a long curved katana, to parry Ameyuri's assault. She bared her teeth in a feral grin, pleased at his quick reflexes with a blade. Meanwhile, Mei recovered from the sneak attack that should have killed her if not for Mangetsu's timely intervention. He circled, stalking Samui and watching her every move as she sought another opening. Darui unsheathed his own sword, a broad, silver blade, which unfolded and snapped into place with a loud chink. Mei eyed it warily.

"Well, I guess we better get this over with," he drawled.

Mei gritted her teeth and jumped backward, anticipating a swift attack. Not a moment later, the ground beneath her feet exploded. Thinking quickly, she executed a hand seal and spit out a thick stream of lava. It hit the rocky earth with a terrible hiss. She landed against a tall rock spire not far away, holding fast with chakra. Darui had had a similar idea and now perched atop a rock pillar, though not without having suffered at the hands of her technique. The skin on his upper left arm was smoking and peeling away where lava had splashed him. He panted.

"Thought you Misties were water users," he called.

Mei eyed his sword. If he got in range of his sword, she was sure he would outmatch her easily. Curved kunai could only do her so much good, and Ameyuri was right, the sword was her weakness. Lava could keep him at bay, but relying on it too much would raze the battlefield and those who fought upon it. Already, she caught Mangetsu veering to avoid the molten river Mei had created. This wasn't going to work as long as he and Ameyuri were down there. Unfortunately, Darui also picked up on this.

"Guess you'll have to think of something else. Neat trick, though. I got some, too."

Mei raised her hands to perform more seals. "You want water? I'll give you plenty!"

Below, the rubble marking where Darui's sword had hit the earth began to quake. Thin streams of water from the underground table shot into the air and converged into thicker ribbons. Mei directed them at Darui like lashes, hard and fast. They collided with the pillar he'd been standing on, cracking it but not toppling it. The victory was short-lived, however, when something crackled in the air. The smell of ozone was Mei's only warning before lightning, yellow and bright, snaked along the water ribbons she'd sent after Darui and he wrested control of them from her. She hissed and released the technique while flinging herself toward another giant stalagmite. The electrified water hit the spot she'd been clinging to with a deafening crack.

But she wasn't out of danger yet, and Darui didn't give her a moment's respite. Mei lunged to the nearest stone pillar in an attempt to put some distance between Darui and herself, but she was too slow. Charged water lashes hit her back and seared through her clothing, eating at the skin underneath and raising pus-filled welts where the electricity burned her flesh. She cried out and stumbled.

Back on the ground, she panted and blinked rapidly in an effort to see through the pain. There was no blood that she could detect, but she could hear the sound of the sores swelling with pus and smell her skin roasting. She bit her lip and dashed behind a nearby boulder. Darui withdrew his attack but didn't dispel it, and the electrified lashes followed him down to the ground as he searched for her.

"Hiding's so lame. Just come out so I don't have waste time looking. Please?" he said.

Nearby, Ameyuri and Omoi were still clashing with swords while Mangetsu had his hands full liquefying and solidifying with each hyperfast slash Samui dealt. They were never going to win like this, and now it was obvious. These Cloud shinobi were strong. Attacking head-on wasn't going to work.

If only Ameyuri hadn't ruined our element of surprise!

But what was done was done. There was no use agonizing over it. Mei had to think of something that would take out all three of their enemies and keep them at arm's length. In short, only a miracle could save them now.

Just then, Omoi split from Ameyuri and rolled next to Samui, who barely spared him a glance as she thrust her sword forward to clash with Mangetsu's. Omoi grabbed her hand over the hilt and, just as the clash of steel sang in the air, he generated lightning sparks that jumped from the joined blades to Mangetsu's arm.

Mei gasped in horror as Mangetsu flew backward, past her hiding spot, and collided with a flat rock face. He liquefied on impact and dispersed, the water that made him up sparking and steaming. Mei ran after him, thinking the worst. Lightning was devastating against water, and Mangetsu was essentially made of the stuff. She crouched down and searched for signs of life in the puddles he'd left behind, and slowly they began to bubble and converge. Too slowly. His head materialized, followed by his shoulders and arms. From the waist down, he remained liquefied. Mei put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

He put a hand on his head but didn't meet her gaze. "I've been better."

She turned back over her shoulder just in time to see Ameyuri narrowly avoid Samui's sword to the gut and stumble to safety. She staggered backward a short distance from her teammates, and Mei noticed she was bleeding from her left flank, which she favored. The Cloud shinobi converged as a team, swords raised as Darui dragged along the sparking water ribbons Mei had inadvertently given him. The sight of them made her bristle with fury hotter than the electrical burns on her back.

She stood up and walked toward Ameyuri. "Mangetsu, get up." She didn't wait for him.

Ameyuri wiped blood from the side of her mouth and side-eyed her team leader. "See you got your ass handed to you," she said, noting the lacerations on Mei's back.

"I see you did, too," Mei bit out.

Mangetsu joined them on somewhat shaky legs, still dripping and sweating profusely from the effort. But he stood tall and drew the tantō at his hip.

"Any ideas?" he asked.

"If you're plotting, hurry it up. The deadline's midnight tonight," Samui said as she brandished her sword.

"Whoa, hey, Samui, don't taunt them, okay? I'd like to get outta here with all my limbs still attached," Omoi said, smiling sheepishly.

Darui watched the Mist trio with a languid look in his eye, like he couldn't care less what happened next. "I'm really sorry, but you three are at a disadvantage against us. You're younger and smaller, but you also use Suiton. I'm sure you've noticed that Omoi and I prefer lightning. Maybe you should just call it quits?"

Ameyuri growled and stepped forward. "Not without that scroll, dumbass. You think just 'cause you can use Raiton, you got this in the bag? Think again."

Darui and Omoi exchanged a surprised look, but Samui was not deterred. "Big talk. I haven't seen you back that up at all. So not cool."

Ameyuri tried to step forward again, but Mei caught her arm before she could. Ameyuri whirled and yanked her arm free.

"What the hell d'you think you're doing?" she snarled.

"What we should've done from the beginning," Mei snapped. "We can't beat them alone."

"Way to give up. I knew you were weak, but I didn't think you were such a coward."

A part of Mei wanted nothing more than to put Ameyuri in her place, but those thoughts would not aid her now. Instead, she got right in her face and whispered, "You're the coward charging in alone when you have Mangetsu and me here to help you. Open your eyes and work with me. That's an order."

"Mei," Mangetsu warned. "We're out of time."

"Then we just have to do it."

Ameyuri scowled. "Do what?"

"Just trust me."

"Enough talk," Samui said, aiming her sword at the three of them. "Darui, your call."

Darui sighed tiredly. "Let's just get this over with."

The Cloud nin charged and Darui dragged the electrified water lashes behind him, ready to flay Mei and her team with one fell swoop. But she was ready, and she only prayed that Mangetsu and Ameyuri were, too. If they weren't she will have put her faith in them for nothing. The Academy didn't teach children to work together; there was no point when one day, they would end up having to kill each other, anyway. But she had no other choice, and if Mangetsu was right, then neither did they.

"We're a team."

Mei laced her fingers together in a seal and sucked in a deep breath. When she released it, acid mist spewed out at a rapid pace and quickly engulfed the area. Darui and his team stopped their advance, wary of this new technique. Mei drooped her eyes and focused on her chakra flow, its intensity, its density, how far it dispersed. Mangetsu and Ameyuri had vanished from her side, just as the world had, too. There was nothing but the fog, too thick even to breath normally.

"You have a lot of neat tricks," Darui called. "But if I can't see, neither can any of you."

Mei registered his location somewhere to her right, a buzzing fly caught up in the web of invisible chakra permeating the mist, and she retreated. Drawing a curved kunai from the pouch at her hip, she stepped lightly to minimize the chances of detection. Her chakra was redolent in the area, and whenever someone moved, she could feel it. Four figures milled around, and she gravitated toward the closest one.

"Ameyuri," she whispered.

Ameyuri grabbed Mei's wrist. "I can't see a damn thing. What'd you do?"

"Never mind that. Here." Mei waved a hand and the mist thinned before them. "I can control the density and the acidity. I just never thought of doing it before."

Ameyuri put two and two together and grinned. "All right. Guess you're not that bad to have around. Come on."

The two of them crept through the thick haze until Mei stopped them and motioned ahead. Someone was there. Ameyuri motioned for her to stand aside, and Mei gave her a sour look. Ameyuri rolled her eyes and drew her twin tantō. Channeling her chakra, Mei was surprised to see sparks jumping from her fingertips. But before she could say anything or stop Ameyuri, the girl lunged.

Her aim was true. Someone hit the ground with a grunt and a flash of brilliant light, and Mei's hair stood on end from the static in the air. Walking forward, she joined Ameyuri and her target: Omoi. He was passed out and bleeding from the left shoulder, but he was breathing. The wound sparked with latent electricity. Ameyuri kicked his side.

"You're not the only one who prefers lightning, douchebag," she spat.

"Omoi!" Samui called from somewhere nearby.

Mei yanked Ameyuri away from Omoi and they disappeared into the swirling mists again. Mei tracked Samui with her chakra. The girl was on the move, and fast. Mei doubled around, Ameyuri in tow, and put a hand on a nearby rock wall to rest. If they could just sneak up behind Samui, they could take her out quietly without alerting Darui.

"Gahluhhgg!"

A gagging sound reached them, and Ameyuri sprinted ahead, swords raised as Mei crept up behind her. When they found Samui, she was slumped on the ground with her hands around her throat. Mangetsu stood over her, his arm liquefied to the shoulder and jammed down her windpipe, drowning her.

"Whoa," Ameyuri said.

Samui convulsed and slumped to the ground on her side. Water spilled from the side of her mouth, and she didn't get up. Mangetsu re-materialized and joined his teammates.

"One more," he said, like he hadn't just waterboarded Samui with his arm.

Mei scanned the distance. The thick mist had soaked her clothes and hair, and it stung the wounds on her back. "Let's do this quietly," she whispered. "Come on."

Taking off at a run, she led Ameyuri and Mangetsu around intermittent stone spires, blind. Darui had decided on a height advantage, perhaps thinking he could escape the mist and gain the upper hand. Mei was not about to let him.

"Stay behind me." She threw out an arm to block her teammates' progress.

With her other hand, she formed a seal and focused her chakra in Darui's direction. It intensified and thickened, and she put everything she had into it. In the distance, she heard a muffled cry of pain followed by a thud. Mangetsu took off and Ameyuri was hot on his tail. Mei released the acid mist and followed as fast as she could. With their sight returned, locating Darui was a simple task. He lay on the ground, trembling and gasping for air. Mangetsu hauled him to his feet and Ameyuri acquainted her sword with his throat. Bleary eyes focused on Mei as she approached.

"You're just full of neat tricks, kid," Darui said.

"Hand over the scroll," she said. "We had a deal."

Darui's eyes swept over his fallen teammates. Omoi was starting to come to, and Samui had begun coughing up water as she doubled over on the damp ground. Darui chuckled.

"We sure did. Check my left pocket."

Mei did so and fished out the scroll he'd flaunted in her face earlier. Pocketing it, she backed away with Ameyuri. Mangetsu threw Darui onto the ground.

"Hey, you got a name?" Darui called after the Kiri team.

"I do," Mei said.

She signaled for Ameyuri and Mangetsu to follow as she dashed out of the area before Darui's teammates could come to his aid. Darui watched them go and slumped.

"All right, then," he said to himself.

Omoi managed to drag himself near enough to be heard. "Man, that was rough. That chick came outta nowhere. I think I might need medical attention."

"Yeah, we'll go home. Help me with Samui."

They rose and approached their female teammate, who was still doubled over trying to regain herself. Darui hauled her up and grinned.

"Idiot, it's not cool to smile when we've just lost our shot at the exams," she snapped.

"Huh? But we still have this." Darui produced another scroll from his vest and waggled it in front of Samui's face.

She gaped, and Omoi groaned.

"Man, you had two all along and you didn't tell me? We could've avoided all that nonsense. Seriously, it's not like I like putting my life in danger like that," Omoi complained.

Darui shrugged. "I wanted to see how they fought. The Raikage did tell us to be careful of the Mist team."

"With good reason," Samui said.

"Anyway, let's get outta here," Omoi said. "This place gives me the creeps, and now it's all moist and stuff. Kinda gross."

"We live here," Darui and Samui said in unison.

Omoi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."


"Well, congratulations on passing the first round, I guess," the proctor said, stifling a yawn. "Wait here for them to announce your, uh, match partners. Yeah."

Last night, Mei and her team had acquired their scroll and raced to the finish line, one of ten teams that had advanced to the singles round. After some brief sessions with medical ninja to heal the worst of their injuries, they'd had a night to recover before today's final round. Fifteen matches would be fought in a day's time. Some would last as long as an hour, others mere minutes. Everything was left to chance and the drawing of names from a lottery. But unlike the first test, which had hinged on each team's ability to fight as a unit, these matches were one on one, and Mei had no qualms about pulling out every trick she had to gain the upper hand. Yagura's wrath would tolerate nothing less.

A hand on her shoulder drew her from her thoughts. Ameyuri pursed her lips in a shaky sour line like she was trying to smile but had honestly never tried before. "Ready to fight?"

"I'd ask you the same thing, but you're always ready."

Ameyuri smirked, all teeth and tongue. Ferocity suited her best. "Got that right." She dropped her hand but didn't move. "Listen, Mei. Yesterday with that weird mist thing you did? That was a good move."

Mei blinked. "You can thank Mangetsu for that. It was his idea."

She averted her eyes as though troubled, but said nothing of it. "Oh, well, whatever. It was a good move."

Mei bit her lip, suddenly feeling a little warm. "Thanks."

"It looks like the Cloud team also advanced," Mangetsu said, drawing up to his teammates.

The room they were in was made of metal gratings and cement with benches lining the walls and an upper level cordoned off for the proctors. A large screen sat hanging from the ceiling at the front of the room with a view of the arena in which the Genin would be fighting. The Kage's booth could be seen on screen as the cameras swept over the crowd. Yagura sat with his short arms and legs crossed, flanked by two of the current Legendary Swordsmen, Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinpachi Munashi. Their demonic swords, strapped to their backs, were perhaps more intimidating a sight than their respective wielders. Mei glared at the screen. Not for the first time, she wished Utakata were here.

"The Konoha teams are strong, too," Mangetsu went on. "Two of the three made it to the finals."

"Not as strong as us," Ameyuri said. "They didn't have to beat the Bloody Mist to get here."

For once, Mei agreed with Ameyuri. And for once, she was grateful that Ameyuri and Mangetsu were here with her. "We won't lose."

"Okay, everyone listen up," the proctor announced from the upper level. "I'll call out the pairings as we go. Those called report to the loading dock immediately, got it?"

No one responded, but he took that as understanding.

"First up is...Baki of Suna and Shisui Uchiha of Konoha. Please report to the loading dock."

Whispers erupted from the group of gathered Genin. Mei watched as a young, dark-haired boy calmly approached the loading dock. She'd heard of the Sharingan, a terrible doujutsu capable of hypnotizing even the most formidable opponents with a single glance, though she'd never faced it herself. Shisui's eyes were dark and warm, almost inviting. She wondered what they would look like drowning in blood.

Time passed more quickly than expected, but Mei didn't bother to watch most of the matches on the screen provided. She'd seen enough bloodshed and faced the prospect of more to dwell on the suffering of others. She sat on a bench and pulled her knees to her chest, tuning out the other Genin and staring at the floor.

"Mangetsu Hozuki of Mist and Maito Gai of Konoha, please report to the loading dock."

Mangetsu locked eyes with Mei and nodded. She had the urge to stand and go to him, wish him luck or some other foolish errand, but he was gone before she had the chance. Mei bit her lip and resigned herself to watching his match on the screen. To her surprise, Ameyuri plopped down beside her.

"You do strike me as a loner, now that I think about it," Ameyuri said, pulling her knees up to her chest to mimic Mei's position.

"If I'm a loner, doesn't that mean I wanna be alone?"

Ameyuri watched her a moment, dark eyes contemplative. "You're really kinda mean, you know. What's wrong with you?"

Mei frowned. "Why do you care? You've only ever been out to get me this whole time."

Ameyuri rolled her eyes. "I said thanks, didn't I?"

A tense silence stretched between them, one that Mei had no idea how to break. Utakata had been her only friend for so long. Mangetsu was one thing, but Ameyuri? No way.

"How'd you do it? The mist, I mean," Ameyuri tried again.

"Why should I tell you?"

"'Cause I wanna know, obviously. We're a team, right? That's what you said."

Mei's anger dissolved at those words. Team? Hardly. They had stumbled along in the dark, hoping for the best. And then, they got lucky. She still wondered if Darui hadn't let them win. His team was here now, so obviously they'd had a backup plan in the end. But still...

"I guess there's no other word for us," Mei conceded.

Ameyuri nudged her shoulder and grinned. "So, spill. How'd you do it?"

Mei smiled to herself. "I told you, it was Mangetsu's idea."

"Yeah, fine, but how can I do it? You know, that'd be a great move with my lightning attacks. Nobody'd see me coming."

"Yeah, I guess it would."

Mei spent the next ten minutes explaining to Ameyuri the mechanics behind her bloodline limit, and they discussed how it might be done with regular ninjutsu. The trouble was a water source.

"I guess you'd have to have one nearby," Mei said. "That's kind of annoying."

"Plenty of water in the world. Mangetsu's practically made of the stuff."

There was no good reason and it wasn't even funny at all, but for some reason Mei couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, he is. Maybe you could use him."

Ameyuri threw her head back and guffawed loudly, uncaring of the stares she got. Mei shrank away at the looks, however.

"Good one, Lava Girl," she said once she'd caught her breath.

Mei frowned at the moniker. "That's pretty unoriginal."

Ameyuri leaned in and waggled her eyebrows. "Yeah, but it's fitting. Better use that when you fight. I bet these guys'll piss themselves when they see it."

Mei held her gaze and felt a smirk threatening to give her away. "I will."

"Ameyuri Ringo of Mist and Omoi of Cloud, please report to the loading dock," the proctor's voice boomed through the loudspeaker.

Ameyuri groaned. "Oh man, you gotta be kidding me! Not that jerk again!"

She rose and Mei grabbed her wrist. "Beat him, Ameyuri."

Ameyuri pulled her hand away just enough so she could shake Mei's. "That's the promise of a lifetime, lemme tell you."

Mei smiled and Ameyuri jogged to the exit. Alone once more, Mei curled in on herself and resolved to just wait until she heard her name called. Mangetsu and Ameyuri were gone now, having done well enough in their matches to pass the exam. It wasn't about winning, per se. It was about survival. Creativity and ingenuity. She was the last one, but the thought of Yagura didn't help bolster her confidence much. Somehow she didn't think he'd give her points for effort if she ended up losing. The hours passed until finally, toward the end of the day, her name was called.

"Mei Terumī of Mist and Kakashi Hatake of Konoha, please report to the loading dock."

Mei immediately looked around to spot whoever her opponent was, but no one seemed to be walking toward the exit. She slowly untangled herself and ambled toward the exit on heavy feet. The proctor was there to meet her and escort her out. The doors opened to a cheering crowd of onlookers, Yagura among them, though Mei imagined he was not cheering or even smiling. The sun was bright and high in the afternoon sky. Its rays cast shimmering heat over the battlefield, which was outfitted with a few trees, boulders, and even a small pond. The rest was open, barren sand.

Just then, a young boy emerged beside her. Before Mei could get a good look at him, the proctor prompted them both to march into the searing afternoon sun. All of a sudden, the crowd's cheering hit her like a slap in the face. Never had Mei experienced the weight of so many eyes, so many calls for blood. Academy Graduation had been a brutal experience, but it had been limited to the private eyes of her instructors and Yagura himself. A spectacle of this magnitude was unheard of in the Bloody Mist.

The proctor led her and the boy walking beside her to the middle of the arena. Once she got her bearings, Mei took a moment to look at him properly. He was of a height with her, probably around the same age if she had to guess, or a little younger. His silver hair stood up at angles, untamable, but most striking of all was the mask he wore. She could only see his eyes, and they gave nothing away but darkness. The rest of him was hidden.

"Match is over when one of you forfeits, falls unconscious, or dies," the proctor explained. "Promotion depends on your performance, not on the outcome, but victory will be taken into consideration."

Mei barely heard the proctor as she continued to examine her opponent, a habit drilled into her from a young age by her Academy teachers. Most people gave everything away when they felt relaxed and safe, like right now. Kakashi, however, stood rigid and stony-faced. His mask hid his expression, and his dark eyes left everything to the imagination. He caught her looking, and he held her gaze with an ease that gave her chills. She narrowed her eyes.

Who are you?

"There's no time limit, but try not to drag it out. It's getting late," the proctor went on. "Okay, begin."

He jumped to safety, leaving Mei alone with the Kakashi and the roaring crowd.

"What're you looking at?" Kakashi asked.

Mei stepped backward as though his words bore an edge that needed defending against. "Nothing."

He reached over his shoulder and drew a short sword with a gleaming white blade. When he swung it down, it left a blazing trail, a trick of the light, perhaps. Beautiful, but death usually was. Mei swallowed.

More swords. Great.

At least that made things easier. She just needed to keep her distance.

Kakashi advanced. "Good."

It began. Right away, Mei learned that more than his physical strength, his unreadable expression, and even his skill with the sword, Kakashi was fast. The match devolved into a one-way punching bag with Kakashi slashing with his blade and Mei twisting and backpedalling to avoid the blows. The crowd cheered, either for his advantage or her humiliation. With each cornering step, Mei realized the price she would have to pay for her lack of celerity and swordsmanship.

Gritting her teeth, she stayed her movement just long enough for Kakashi to sink his blade into her shoulder. Pain erupted from the entry wound and spread through broken bone and muscle. Blood warmed her skin and stained her blue gi, filling her nose with an acrid coppery stench, but she pushed past it. Grabbing his sword hand at the hilt and holding fast, she held him in place long enough to exact retribution. Mei opened her mouth and released a noxious cloud of acid mist directly at Kakashi's chest and face.

Hard, green eyes watched as he recoiled in both shock and agony. Kakashi cried out and staggered backward. She let him go and took the opportunity to put some distance between them. The crowd lauded the unexpected turn in circumstances, but Mei found no joy in their voyeurism. Instead, her attention remained focused on Kakashi, who was clutching his face and ripping at it. Shreds of navy material fell from his fingers—the remains of his mask. It had shielded his face from the brunt of her attack, but the blood running down his cheeks marked the areas where her acid had eaten through his barrier. A bare face stared back at her, lips curled in pain as adrenaline worked overtime to dampen it. Without his mask, he was baby-faced and young—just a boy too good to be left alone.

"Mei Terumī, right?" he called, his voice raspy.

Mei glared in response.

Kakashi's breath was labored as he willed the pain in his face away. "Bold move. But I've never lost a fight. I'm not about to start today."

We'll see about that.

She laced her fingers together and resolved to end this before he could come close again. The chakra burned her throat, and she relished in it, having forgotten about her wounded shoulder almost entirely. When she spat out a thick stream of molten lava at Kakashi, the crowd's cheering erupted into a sonorous roar. Kakashi didn't stick around to find out how bad this was going to be. He bolted, but Mei gave chase. She spat both steady streams of magma and short, bulleted bursts, the latter of which were faster but covered less square footage. Kakashi was fast, she would give him that, but one wrong move and he'd be a goner. It wasn't long before the arena was covered in pools of undulating lava, brighter than the sun itself.

But Kakashi would not be deterred. He weaved among the pools and lunged for Mei, sword drawn, and she knew there was no dodging this time. The only recourse was to force his hand. She inhaled and spewed more acid, this time adjusted to be harmless, and faded within its depths. In a matter of seconds, the entire arena was engulfed in fog, taking Mei and Kakashi with it.


Yagura watched Mei's match silently from his perch in between the Hokage and the Tsuchikage. He offered no reaction to her flamboyant display of her two bloodline limits, but his colleagues did.

"That's girl's a monster," the Tsuchikage, Oonoki, said. "Two bloodline limits, eh? Yagura, I thought you lot didn't cultivate that."

Yagura smirked but otherwise didn't acknowledge Oonoki. "Not in bulk."

The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, shifted in his chair. "Still, Kakashi is one of our best. That girl is good, but there's no guarantee she can beat him."

Yagura faced the Hokage and the two guards that flanked him. "I'm sure he is. But don't forget that my Genin have all passed. There's a reason for that, Sarutobi."

Hiruzen chuckled, and the wrinkles around his eyes crinkled even more, giving him the air of a kind grandfather. But Yagura was not fooled. There was nothing kind about this man.

"Yes, that's true! Your team this year is astounding. The ones you brought to the last exams, what were their names? Ah yes, Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi. Also quite formidable."

"Like I said, there's a reason for that."

"Your Bloody Mist regime has produced extraordinary results, sir," one of Hiruzen's personal guards said.

Yagura glared at the young man. He knew what they said about Mist across the continent, and that infernal name, Bloody Mist, was the worst of it. "You speak rather freely for hired muscle."

Hiruzen chuckled again and waved off the confrontation. "You'll forgive my, ah, hired muscle, I hope. After all, he'll soon succeed me as the Fourth Hokage, and I'm sure you'll want to pursue a mutually beneficial relationship. Yagura, I'd like to introduce Minato Namikaze. He also happens to be young Kakashi's mentor."

"The pleasure's all mine," Minato said, smiling thinly.

Yagura instantly disliked the man. "Yes, it is."

Below, Mei was chasing Kakashi around the arena with her lava technique and razing the entire area. Soon, not much would be left but blackened pools of molten rock.

"Hm, if she keeps that up she may tire herself out," Minato said to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen watched the battle, eyes steady. "Ah."

Yagura suppressed a growl and once more turned to the Konoha shinobi. "Care to put a wager on that?"

"Lord Mizukage, surely you don't mean to equate one of your prized kunoichi with a common show horse," Minato said.

Yagura laughed. "You have a lot to learn if you'll be a Kage one day. What good would a pawn be to her king if he couldn't count on her to destroy the opposition at his beck and call?"

"I'll take that bet," Hiruzen interrupted before Minato could respond. "What shall we wager for?"

"The only thing that matters." Yagura returned his attention to the battlefield, where Mei had somehow engulfed the arena in a thick mist that obscured Kakashi and her from view. The crowd hollered ever louder. "Reputation."


Kakashi looked left and right, but the fog didn't let up. He couldn't see two feet in front of him, and despite the training he'd received under Minato and his natural calm under pressure, he began to panic. He'd never seen a technique like this, and even the thought that she was probably as blind in here as he was didn't offer much solace. She wouldn't put herself at such a risk. Or maybe she would. If she'd been willing to let him stab her just to create an opening, then there was no telling to what insane lengths she would go now.

He wandered, the Hakkō blade raised in front of him, as he struggled to breathe normally. The fog was so thick that he was soon drenched to the bone and swallowing water. It was just water, not like the acid spray she'd surprised him with earlier. His mask was totally disintegrated, and he felt naked without it. He rubbed the raw skin around his mouth.

How could some grubby little girl possess this kind of power? It was unheard of among his peers in Konoha. Techniques like the Sharingan and the Byakugan were considered among the deadliest, but lava?

What kind of place is the Bloody Mist?

Everyone had heard the rumors of that hell on earth where children were raised to die killing each other and the Mizukage was a monster wearing a man's skin. To grow up in such a place... Kakashi couldn't imagine what it must be like. And she had survived it. A nick in his left bicep made him jump and whirl into position, but he could see nothing. Tensing, he soon felt another slash in his calf. As fast as he could, he swung Hakkō around with deadly intent, but only a few strands of auburn hair fell to his blade.

"If you were just going to blind me, why bother destroying my mask at all?"

She didn't respond, but he heard the telltale shift of feet over the rocky ground and lunged. His fist collided with something soft, and he wrestled her to the ground. Angry green eyes glared up at him, and he raised Hakkō.

"Like I said, I've never lost a battle," he said.

He brought down the blade in her already wounded shoulder, and Mei dissolved into water, drenching him anew. Kakashi dismissed his mistake in stride and rolled, narrowly missing a swipe from a nasty curved kunai. The real Mei came at him with a ruthlessness he hadn't picked up on until this moment, when she was merely inches away. Hakkō caught her kunai and they parried.

The clash of steel rang through the arena as Kakashi and Mei tried to unbalance each other, all while carefully sidestepping the gurgling pools of lava. The breeze was starting to dissipate the fog she had created, and the faceless masses came back into view. Caught in a battle of strength, Kakashi pushed on Hakkō while Mei held her ground. They were stuck in a stalemate, one he intended to break first.

Channeling chakra through his entire body, sparks jumped to life and gathered at his hands. Mei noticed the change and tried to break the contact, but he was too fast. Freeing up a hand, she lost her balance as he swung around and delivered an electrified punch to the side of her face.

Mei went flying, and Kakashi ran after her. She rolled to a stop, incredibly, through a lava pool. Kakashi skidded to halt to avoid the molten mixture, and Mei struggled to stand. Sparks danced across her face and made her hair stand on end. Her skin would bruise later, but already ugly welts began to rise, red and painful, along her temple and jawline. The crowd in the stands cheered their approval, and Kakashi saw her cast them a look of abject hatred. She spit blood from her mouth and struggled to stand among the bubbling magma beneath her feet.

"It's over," Kakashi said. "You can barely stand."

Mei bared her teeth like an animal, feral and cornered. "Yeah, it is."

Her voice was steady and deep for such a small, mangy girl. It was Kakashi's last thought as she slammed her hands into the lava at her feet and the battlefield exploded.

The lava drained from the pools around the arena and burst from the earth in geysers. The rocky ground split and spat up jagged chunks that flew at Kakashi, who had to scramble to avoid them. He dodged to avoid a sharp rock spike and was on a collision course with a lava spout—certain death. Gritting his teeth, he swerved to avoid it (narrowly) and slammed headfirst into flying debris hard enough to see stars. He crumpled to the ground, and some of his hair burned off when it got too close to the spewing magma.

Voices screamed in his ear, far away, as his vision began to double. Something warm and sticky got in his eye, and it was forced to close. He finally rolled over and threw up water and bile as he gasped for breath and consciousness. Nearby, Mei struggled on her hands and knees, barely conscious herself, but he caught her words:

"You lost, Kakashi."

Magma bubbled near his head, and he was sure she would finish him, roast him until even his bones turned to ash. But the magma didn't move, suspended in its flow as she stared, one eye swollen shut with electrical burns. He heaved and winced at the burn in his throat, never mind the throbbing in his head that probably indicated a severe concussion.

"Your victory," he conceded.

Her arms shook, like it was too much effort just to stay upright until the medical team could retrieve her.

"No," she said. "It's not mine." She collapsed to the ground not far from him, elbows shaking as she tried in vain to get back up.

Sleep had never sounded so good, but Kakashi fought to stay conscious until the medics could retrieve him. His dark eyes drifted to the booth where he knew Minato and the Hokage were watching the fight. He supposed Mei's Mizukage would be there, too. Silent players watching their pieces collide. He could have laughed, but he only puked up more bile.

The medical team arrived with a team of Suiton users who supercooled the magma. Hands without bodies pulled at Kakashi and lifted him off the ground. The crowd roared in his ears until they rang.