End of Second Exam. Beginning of the Third.
We walked up the volcano, and strangely saw no one. It was deadly silent and we didn't even see the Sound ninja again. "Where is everybody?" I asked during break.
"You're right," Hinako said. "We should have run into someone by now. Did everyone else get killed?"
I shivered at the thought. "There can't be too many teams left, but we'll just have to continue on. It's survival of the fittest."
"For once," Jin said, "I agree with you."
Hinako nodded. We decided to head out. I knew what was going on. The Sound ninja must have been reducing the competition. Orochimaru's face flashed in my mind. I didn't understand why, but that man just scared me. My entire being seemed to know his power. I took a deep breath and looked ahead. The next Exam was going to be a tough one.
We arrived at the top of the mountain that evening. "We would've made it here sooner if Sarafu hadn't fainted" was Hinako's remark.
"Well, EXXCCUUUUUSE ME!"
We threw the rubies into the lava without a second thought. The Cloud Jounin nodded to us and showed us to yet another cave. "Just walk down this tunnel and you'll be there. So, we did just that. As we walked by, we saw what appeared to be a dead body on the floor. How many people were going to die from this exam?
The walk wasn't very long. By nightfall, we had reached the end of the dark tunnel. It opened out into a great valley, that was strangely full of the greenest grass I'd ever seen. The sky was blue and bright. No wind seemed to roll into the little valley. It was a haven compared to the barren volcano. We saw many Jounins and other teams. Gai's team was there, of course, and so was Gaara's. Expectedly, the Sound nins were sitting there, staring at us. A shiver flew down my spine as I saw the bloody mouth of the Cannibal. Other than that, there was no one else. Shigame-sensei walked up to us and told us that we were going to wait until time was up. Then start the next Exam.
"Oh, so the Exam is to be here?" I asked.
"Yes, it is. There is a port-a-potty over there if you need to use it. I'm sorry, but for now, you'll have to sleep outside.
It would just take too long to transport you back, and then transport you here again. Many spectators will be watching tomorrow, so be prepared."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"The Third Exam is to show the power of your village. Many feudal lords and nobles will be watching this next exam as a precedence on what village to use in the future. Also, many will be making bets, so you better not lose. I'm sure they'll try to cheat, but that's nothing for you, eh? Oh, and also, the Hokage and the Raikage will be watching as well."
"Woah! Really? So Tsunade-sama is coming here? That's very...unlazy of her."
Shigame smiled and walked away. As she did this, Hinako said, "It's not that she's being a busy body, its probably because she's trying to skip out on the paperwork."
I chuckled and we picked a nice spot, under a tree, to sleep. We weren't worried about being attacked during the middle of the night.
When we woke up next morning, it was just before the spectators were going to arrive.
"Good Morning everyone!" Shigame called out. "The explanation for the Third Exam will be given out by the Raikage."
Out stepped a middle-aged man in the traditional kage suit I had seen Tsunade-sama in before, but this time it was yellow colored. "Thank you, Shigame, and congratulations, Examinees, on making it this far into the Chuunin Exam. I am happy to announce that the Third Exam shall begin today in only half an hour. The Third Exam consist of one-on-one battles which are selected randomly as you pick a number from this box and are paired up with your opponent on this chart." He pointed to a board and box Shigame was holding. "Now, if you please, come up one at a time and pick a number from this box."
As he looked around at the ninjas who passed he seemed crestfallen, and I, who was closest, heard him mumble, "So, there are no Cloud Ninjas again."
Neji was up first. He grabbed a slip of paper from the box and said, "Ten." Shigame then wrote his name under the 10 on the board.
Next was Lee. "One." He seemed quite disappointed. Maybe he didn't want to go first.
TenTen: "Six."
Chubby Sound Guy: "Five."
Orochimaru: "Four."
Cannibal: "Seven."
Temari: "Three."
Gaara: "Eleven."
Kankurou: "Two."
Hinako: "Nine."
Jin: "Eight."
It was my turn. I grabbed a slip of paper and pulled out a slip of paper. "Twelve."
Shigame wrote my name on the board. My heart skipped a beat when I realized who my opponent was.
"I will now read out the match ups," Raikage said as he read the board. "First will be Rock Lee versus Kankurou. Next will be Temari versus Orochimaru. Then, Kinuta Pakuno versus TenTen. After that, its Joujin Guru versus Nakagawa Jin. Then it will be Uchiha Hinako versus Hyuuga Neji. Last, it will be Gaara versus Kichino Sarafu."
Hinako looked at me and then at Neji. So, its the two genius clans of Konoha against each other. And its me against Gaara. I was hoping to not go against him, but I made a promise to myself. There was no way I was going to back down now. I looked over at Gaara who gazed back at me with an interested gaze. I smiled at him. He was so unaware of the beat-down he was going to get. He seemed surprised at my smile, but then returned to that same stalward face.
Soon, the rock walls encloseing the valley had carved seats in them, which were soon full of many people. We were ordered to stand shoulder to shoulder over to the side, so that they might observe us. I felt a bit nervous with people all staring my way, but I realized that it wasn't me they were looking at, it was Gaara and Hinako.
"So, its an Uchiha again!"
"This should be a good fight."
"But Gaara isn't against the Uchiha girl, is he?"
"That girl he's fighting against is going to lose fast. Hopefully they'll get it over with soon."
All these comments angered me. Why does everyone care about them so much? I'll show them! I'll beat Gaara, no sweat!
The crowd was silenced by the Raikage. He cleared his throst and said,
"Third Chuunin Exam...BEGIN!"
...to be continued.