Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto…

Apology: The reason I didn't update for the past three days was because Monday was my birthday, and we went out to eat on Sunday. Anyway, I'm back on track now.

Chapter 13

A Team in Need: The Exams Get Complicated!

Medal Count So Far

Sand Team: 9

Team 8: 9

Team 9: 9

Team 6: 3

Team 10: 3

"Tamaru, slow down!" Raigar snapped.

"Why? It's the fourth day and we still haven't found ANY medals!" he called back to them, "We've got to get some before the fifth day!"

"Calm down! We won't be in any shape to get any if we don't take time to rest." Rasha protested, "We're all worn out. Let's just take an hour nap."

"…Fine. But I'll take watch, you guys sleep." Tamaru replied.

They dropped down into a clearing. Rasha lay down immediately and Raigar went to go find wood for a fire. Tamaru stared into the darkness. I won't fail, he decided, I won't. I definitely will pass this exam, even if I don't become a Chuunin. For Hayate. I have to prove myself.

He thought back to the times in his life that were good. Times with the three of them, working on missions together. And, last year… Tamaru had been angry at Hayate for not recommending them for the Chuunin exams, yes, but he didn't want him to die… sometimes he felt like it was his fault, as punishment for being so ungrateful, but now he knew better. Instead he just decided to hate the one who killed him. Of coruse he had been vehemently opposed to allying with the Sand, but what influence could a mere Genin hold? No, they had to ally with the Sand, and worst of all, it was that Sand Team and their leader, Baki, that came to their village most of the time.

Of course Tamaru knew what really happened that night. He even knew, by connecting a few dots and doing a little researching, who killed him. Yes, he knew it was Baki. He had even approached Baki about it, with threats and the like, before Baki suggested that he should go back home. It was as if he wasn't even sorry for killing Hayate; that's what bothered Tamaru the most. He had rushed them then- but Gaara's sand had stopped him, carried him about two blocks away, and by the time he got back they were long gone.

Team 6 really was cursed. Who would be next? Himself? He wouldn't mind; that'd only mean reuniting with his father figure Hayate. Raigar? He hated to admit it, especially not to Raigar, but he was still Tamaru's teammate, his friend. He wouldn't appreciate it if he died. And Rasha? Well, he really didn't want Rasha to die- she had too much to live for. She and Raigar had clan, had family- who would miss him if he died? The only one who would truly care was already dead, killed by some Sand bastard who he couldn't kill because of some stupid peace agreement.

Not that he could kill him anyway.

Which was possibly what Tamaru hated most about the whole situation. He was just a Genin. He had no influence, he would be helpless in combat with the Sand Jounin, and no matter how much he protested his cries that the alliance with the Sand would end up turning out for the worse, he could do nothing. That Baki just walked into our village, killed my teacher, walked out, and then they just go ahead and make a peace treaty with fake pleasantries and smiles?

His ears registered sounds as he went to wake Rasha and Raigar. The hour was almost up anyway, they may as well get going; and he didn't like those sounds of combat drawing steadily drawing nearer to them.

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5 minutes ago…

Team 10 stood in the clearing; glaring at the familiar faces of the Mist-nin.

"Heh. I'll take the blonde like last time." said the mottled-brown haired Mist-nin, Kyban, "It won't take long if she's as pathetic as last time."

Ino fumed silently.

"Remember what your father said, Karken…" the girl, Ryuna, told the man with the arm blades, who chuckled.

"Well Daddy isn't here, is he? Still, I made a promise- I won't kill anyone. This time." Karken laughed again, an eerie sound that echoed through the Forest of Death.

"That's all I ask. Your father would get mad at us if you went berserk, and I don't want to die at the point of your father's sword." Ryuna said.

"Well, are we doing this or not?" Chouji asked.

"Yeah, come on, fatso!" Ryuna exclaimed.

Sakura and Ino barely caught hold of Chouji's scarf to hold him back as he tried to run at the girl.

"Let me at her! Let me at her!" he protested.

"Trust me, I want to get at them too." Sakura said, "But you gotta remember last time. The girl uses Genjutsu, and I think the guy uses some kind of ice power. I don't know about that Karken guy, but I'd be willing to bet he cast that mist that covered the area that last time we fought them."

Karken laughed.

"Well, girl, you look like you're the brains of the group. Got us all figured out, have you?" he asked.

Kyban grinned as well.

"Oh, trust me, you haven't seen anything yet."

"Like the fatso said, are we going to do this or not?" Ryuna asked.

Team 10's answer was for Sakura and Ino to let go of Chouji's scarf. Chouji charged at the girl like a rampaging bull.

"Human Boulder!"

And proceeded to roll at her like a bowling ball.

"This is gonna be fun…" Ryuna smiled.

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"What do we do?" asked Tamaru, "Do we help the Leaf team?"

"Back away slowly while they're preoccupied?" offered Rasha.

"No!" Raigar whispered harshly, "Don't you see? This is our chance! There are two teams! If we wait for one of them to win, we can take the winners on since they'll be weakened, and get all our 9 medals!"

"What? No! I can't just stand by and watch the fellow Leaf team be decimated." Tamaru argued.

"What would you rather do? You don't even know the Mist team will win for sure. What if the Mist team wins?" Raigar asked.

"Then we'd have to fight the Leaf team!" Tamaru protested.

"So? There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition." Raigar shrugged.

"Come on," Rasha hissed, "We all know that you'd kill your own girlfriend without hesitation if she was your opponent."

Raigar shrugged.

"It's the ninja way. We don't owe anything to them. We graduated a year before them, so we didn't even get to know them."

"Just keep thinking like that, Raigar, but in the meantime I'm going to go help them out." Tamaru replied, leaping out of their bush cover into the clearing.

"Tamaru! Dang, if this goes badly, I am going to murder him!" Raigar swore.

"Well, nothing we can do now but fight our best…" Rasha said as they stepped out as well.

The Akamichi was just finishing missing the girl Mist-nin, then coming around for another shot.

"Hmm? What's this now? More Leaf-nin?" Karken asked.

Sakura and Ino turned, surprised at Team 6's appearance.

"They're popping up like cockroaches!" Karken laughed.

Ino's face darkened.

"Last time a team said that to us, we showed them!" Ino said.

"Err… Sasuke showed them, actually." Sakura commented.

"Whatever, we've improved since the fight with the Sound-nin last year. We can take them this time!"

Sakura glanced back at the three of them.

"Well, are you guys going to help, or not?" she asked.

Raigar crossed his arms.

"Apparently we're still deciding that." he said.

"Ignore that loser, I'm helping!" Tamaru exclaimed.

"We don't need their help, Sakura!" Ino protested.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we'll just go on our way then, which is what I wanted to do in the first place." Raigar said sarcastically.

Tamaru glared at him.

"Ino… we could use their help…" Sakura said softly.

"Well, what could they possibly do?" Ino scoffed.

Rasha's eyes flashed green for a few seconds.

"We're in luck." She said, "That Mist team has 6 medals. Which means that if we defeat them together, we can split it evenly."

"Did you just-" Ino gaped.

"Read their mind?" Rasha smiled, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Heh, that's like YOU could defeat US!" Karken laughed, "We have 6 medals for a reason, and we'll enjoy taking 6 more!"

That was the final straw. 6 ninja vanished into the trees, leaving only Chouji, Ryuna, and Rasha alone in the clearing.

"Chouji, your frontal attacks won't be too effective against this girl." said Rasha, her hazel eyes taking a green ring around them.

"How'd you-" Chouji started.

"Mind reader, remember?" Rasha smiled, "This Ryuna person is a long range Genjutsu user."

"Sakura already told me." Chouji said, "But I won't be tricked by any lame Genjutsu!"

"No, I'm sure you won't." Rasha rolled her eyes, "But just in case, because my Seigan sees through Genjutsus easily, I'll be able to dispel any Genjutsus used on you or me."

Ryuna blinked.

"Seigan? You're a Seigan user?" she said, disbelieving.

Rasha grinned evilly.

"Ooooh yes. Which means all of your Genjutsus are useless. As I believe you just said a moment ago? This is going to be fun…"

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"So you say he uses some sort of ice power?" Raigar asked.

"Well, yes, that's what Sakura said." Ino explained.

Raigar's eyes narrowed.

"Interesting…"

Following Kyban right on his heels, the three of them were exchanging projectile exchanges. Kyban would reach back and fire a barrage of kunai-sized projectiles that looked like icicles, which the two of them would counter with their own kunai.

Finally they reached a clearing that was far away from the first one, where they stopped.

"Heh. You're at a disadvantage now. I've led you to a nice… open… area…" Kyban deliberately paused during the last three words, "You're doomed?"

Raigar smiled.

"Are we?" he asked.

"Oh yes, you are. I'll kill you first, and do it quickly." he pointed at Raigar, then at Ino, "As for you, blondie, I think I'll play with you a bit and throw you away once you break."

Ino glared a death glare at him as she caught his meaning.

"Let's. Kill. Him!" she cried, punctuating every word.

Raigar sighed.

"Hell hath no fury…" he said, then threw a few kunai at Kyban.

"Oh come ON! You think that will beat me?" Kyban raised both of his hands, icicles appearing at his fingertips, then they shot out at the kunai, countering them in air; then more kept coming at Raigar and Ino.

"He's freezing the water from the air," thought Raigar, "But that means I can…"

Raigar held up his right hand.

"Fire Style: Fire Burst!" he exclaimed, a rush of flames bursting out from his palm, dissolving the tiny icicles, then dispersing.

"Heh. Did you really mean to hit me with that short-range attack?" Kyban scoffed.

"No, not really." Raigar smiled, "I meant to do this!"

Kyban felt a tap on his shoulder as he spun, seeing a hand floating in the air next to him. The hand curled into a fist, punching him soundly across the cheek, sending him flying to the edge of the clearing.

Ino looked at the hand floating in the air, to Raigar waving his single hand at the Mist-nin, then blanched.

"Ew! That is so weird!" she thought.

Kyban stood to his feet, watching as Raigar massaged the wrist of his left hand as it reattached to his arm.

"All right, so you caught me off guard." he spat blood, "You just got lucky! You haven't seen the beginning of what I can do!"

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Karken stood in the clearing, arms crossed.

"Well? Are we going to fight or what?" he asked.

Some rustling of leaves was heard as he whirled around in time to glimpse a pink-haired girl leaping at him. He jumped backwards as the girl slammed her fist into the ground, making a huge round crater.

Karken gaped in open amazement, then laughed.

"Why does he laugh at everything…" Sakura groaned.

"I think this might be fun after all!" Karken did a few hand signs, then suddenly a thick mist was covering the area.

"You can't hit me if you can't see me!" his voice echoed from all around her but she couldn't pinpoint his location.

A few moments passed in silence.

Then she heard a step behind her- too quick to react!

"Secret Homicide!" Karken exclaimed, stabbing at her from behind.

Metal clanged together, and there was a figure holding two katanas standing in between Karken and Sakura, blocking the blows with his katanas. Karken smiled, leaping back into the mist. Tamaru spun his katanas back into their sheaths, drawing his Giant Shuriken.

"Let me get rid of this fog for you." Tamaru said, starting to spin his weapon expertly. The Giant Shuriken acted as a fan, blowing away the mist around them until it faded completely, revealing Karken standing a few feet to their right.

"I see! So this WILL be some fun after all!" he exclaimed, laughing.

Tamaru exchanged his Giant Shuriken for his two Katanas again.

"I think I can fight off his arm blades using my katanas. You keep out of danger and look for a chance to strike with that punch of yours." Tamaru said.

"Ok." Sakura said, leaping into the bushes, leaving just Tamaru and Karken staring each other down.

"You fool!" Karken spat, "You think you can take me alone? The two of you wouldn't be able to beat me! Do you know who I am?"

Tamaru smiled.

"The next person for me to beat?"

Karken scowled.

"You will pay for your insolence. For I am the son of one of the great Seven Swordsman of the Mist!" he cried.

Tamaru blinked.

"Who are they again?" he asked.

Karken scowled even more.

"First you mock me, and now you don't even know the most famous weapon masters in history! Oh, you will pay. I am going to rip you to shreds!" Karken didn't laugh.

"The only weapon masters I know are myself," Tamaru replied, "And my mentor and father figure, Hayate Gekkou! If you claim you and your Seven Swordsman people are the true weapon masters, I'll consider it a challenge to Hayate's honor, and mine! Now I won't lose to you no matter what, because you've insulted us both!"

"Well, you also have insulted me and my father!" Karken shot back, "No more talk! Let's do this!"

Then he charged.

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Medal Count so Far:

Sand Team: 9

Team 8: 9

Team 9: 9

Mist Team: 6

Team 6: 3

Team 10: 3

The battle continues, and these people mean business! They aren't like any normal Genin I've ever seen! But it doesn't matter! She called me fatso, so she has to pay!

Next time: Battle on Three Fronts: The Leaf-Nin Alliance!

R&R Please!