Hello hello, here's chapter 11! Thanks again to anybody who's left a fav, follow or review, and anyone who's just enjoying reading this. This chapter covers the second half of the Chunin exam, while the next few chapters will be a sort of interlude before events start picking up again. I'll do my best to make those chapters interesting to read though. Sorry if my writing of combat isn't that good, I've not really written it before. Some parts of this chapter may also be a bit cheesy. I did have a lot of fun writing a particular scene in this chapter, which probably won't be hard for you guys to guess. I know I said this wouldn't take so long to be posted, but due to my computer being on the fritz and one scene becoming two it took longer than expected.
Thanks to tentaclecat for the constructive criticism, I'll edit the older chapter and try to improve my future writing.
Our team faced our assigned opponents in the forest, a referee presiding over the match. All of us were anxiously awaiting the battle-Genma and I were trying to burn holes in one another with our glares, Obito and Guy were both tensed, and Rin was looking a little apprehensively at Kakashi. My eyebrow twitched when I heard a clicking sound next to me. Unwilling to break my stare, I peered out of the corner of my eye-Obito had a lolly in his mouth, it would seem.
"We will now begin part two, the team competition. This is the preliminary qualifier!" said the referee, holding up his left arm
After a few seconds he brought it down again "Begin!"
As soon as the word left his mouth, all of us leapt into action.
Genma crouched, Rin formed a handsign and Guy came running straight at us. As Kakashi and I prepared to meet him, Obito surprised us by sliding in front. He prepared handsigns for a jutsu.
"Fire Style: Fireball-"
What followed next struck a blow to our team, but was pretty hilarious.
As he tried to perform the jutsu, the lolly Obito had in his mouth fell into his throat and he began choking on it. Guy luckily unknowingly saved him by delivering a solid kick that knocked the lolly out-along with Obito. I was snorting at an attempt to contain a fit of giggling, simultaneously lamenting our teammates' misfortune.
I was pulled back to reality when I heard Genma say something:
"Earth Style: Mudslide Jutsu!"
The ground began to shake under our feet. Kakashi and I leapt to the side as it bulged and rippled. I prepared a jutsu of my own in retaliation; Kakashi moved to block Guy charging at us again. I glanced back at the unstable ground, noticing Obito was still unconscious-and getting sucked into the earth. I gave up on my jutsu and ran to help him instead. Genma came towards me as I pulled Obito out of the dirt, kunai in hand. Rin was just behind him.
Growling in frustration, I dropped Obito and formed handsigns as fast as I could.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
Rin dodged most of it, getting caught on her shoulder by the high-pressure stream. Genma was less nimble, being hit more directly. I heard Kakashi clashing with Guy behind me and realized I'd need to get Obito back on his feet. So, I prepared yet another jutsu.
"Water Style: Raging Waves Jutsu!"
Water flowed out of my mouth this time, washing down the area and turning the dirt to slippery mud. I grabbed Obito and shook him frantically, hearing wet footsteps coming up behind me.
"Come on, wake up!" I hissed
He opened his eyes a bit-at which point I turned around to deflect a barrage of shuriken aimed at us. I cursed when one cut my hand, the stress of the moment degrading my skill. Obito was awake now, getting up slowly-too slowly.
"Wha-" he formed half a word before I yanked him hard to the left, narrowly avoiding a kunai whizzing towards us
"Get a move on, lazybones!" I admonished, prompting Obito to run after Guy
The side of my head flared in pain at a sudden impact-a punch threw me sliding across the wet ground.
I frowned as I recognized Genma's smirk in front of me. I got up, pausing to wipe mud from my face, and ran at him with a kunai. The harsh sounds of metal-on-metal permeated the air around the pair of us, sparks illuminating our inner and outer anger. I vaguely noticed Guy was down and Kakashi was facing Rin with Obito. I smiled with satisfaction when I cut across Genma's arm; Genma slashed my already-injured hand in retaliation, rendering it useless for the remainder of the fight. Annoyed, I moved the hand behind my back and kicked at Genma's legs.
Distracted by his triumph, he failed to dodge it completely and became unbalanced. At that point we'd dropped our kunai and resorted to punches and kicks.
At the end of that part of the exam both our teams had managed to pass. We were granted a couple days rest to recover from our injuries and prepare for the next part of the exam.
Kakashi had bruises but was still in good shape. Obito and I were beat-up, marred with cuts and scrapes. All of us were muddy to an extent thanks to the conditions of the terrain we'd been on. When the three of us stood together again outside the exam building, I decided to pull Kakashi away before another argument erupted.
"What are you doing?" he asked irritably as I grabbed his arm
"Making sure you don't explode at Obito." I replied, attempting to drag him
"He could have cost us the match!" exclaimed Kakashi angrily, resisting my pulling
"Yes, but you guys arguing all the time could cost us the exam." I sighed and let Kakashi go, turning to face him
"Look, just-I don't know, channel your anger by glaring at him or something." I shrugged, too worn out to say anything more useful
Avoiding the look Kakashi sent me, I walked back to Obito-or where I'd last seen him. I raised an eyebrow and glanced around, wondering where the Uchiha could have gone. I found him after a few seconds-talking to Rin. I slumped forward with a sigh, mumbling something about being slow.
I heard the familiar scraping sound of sandals hitting the ground behind me-my remaining teammate walked off with a hand in his pocket.
"Oh well.." I sighed, walking over to a wooden bench in the shade and sitting down on it
As I looked around at the other genin, I spotted Rin and Obito disappearing into the village. My attention lost focus when I hissed at a sudden stab of pain; I'd forgotten about my injured hand. The blood from it had dried and was encrusted around the cut along with some mud. I grabbed a cloth from my pocket and wet it with my water bottle. After cleaning the wound I took some bandage from one of my pouches and wrapped it around my palm. I was without my jugs or scroll, not risking using them during the exam. The pain ebbed a bit, but did not disappear. Not all of it was physical.
Obito and Rin were gone now, along with most of the other genin. In a few days' time, the teams who'd passed the second part of the exam would split into singles and be paired into one-on-one matches. I tapped the bench's arm as my mind wandered absently. Rin was probably patching up Obito-I thought back, vaguely recalling their interactions in one instance.
'Didn't he like... tell her about his dreams or something? Great.'
I rubbed my eyes, suddenly feeling rather tired. There was nothing more to do at the moment since the exam results needed to be organized. I sighed, then closed my eyes and adjusted my position on the bench, deciding I'd had enough of being conscious for the day.
I sank into my mind as my body rested, experiencing and re-experiencing the jumbled knowledge contained within.
I was meandering down a pathway in the village. Buildings surrounded me on either side, hazy and unfocused. I turned to the right to see Ichiraku Ramen in front of me. I pulled out a wallet; rather, a wad of credit cards wrapped in a scrap of leather.
"Do you take Eftpos?" I asked, holding the wad in front of me
"Yes." answered Teuchi, his hat upside-down
Teuchi grabbed the wad, then smashed it on the counter with a hammer. He gathered up the shattered bits of plastic while I sat down. Someone was seated on either side of me, I noticed.
I turned to the right first. Shisui was enjoying a bowl of spicy noodles. Weirdly, his forehead protector was missing. In it's place was a circlet, composed of a giant, hollowed-out chocolate chip cookie. Judging by the crumbs stuck in his hair it had been put there recently. He didn't say anything, nor acknowledge my presence-his eyes were closed.
I looked to my left; Naruto, appearing be around 10, was sitting eating five bowls of ramen at once. He had an empty bowl on his head, obscuring his eyes. He managed to finish the bowls in seconds somehow. Teuchi approached him; Naruto held out a chubby frog.
"Put it on my tab." he stated
Teuchi nodded. The frog's tongue shot out, sticking to his face. The man turned back to prepare more ramen with the frog clinging to his cheek.
Suddenly incredibly impatient, I banged both fists on the counter and demanded where my order was. Teuchi spun around to place a bowl in front of me, the frog no longer on his face.
The bowl contained noodles mixed in with bits of my credit cards and some dollar bills. Oddly satisfied, I began to eat with a plastic fork that'd materialized.
The background gradually melted away. Within seconds it was just me, the counter and the chairs surrounded by black. My bowl had vanished; I turned my head to look for it.
Glancing to the right, I saw someone new sitting next to me. Itachi held a dango stick, looking somewhat blurred and smudged. His eyes were closed like Shisui's had been, but he was facing me. Unlike Shisui, blood was steadily leaking from the closed lids.
I blinked. Then flinched. Itachi's eyes weren't bleeding now. But the dango stick was different; the three dumplings on it had been replaced by three eyes. Each eye had the appearance of a regular sharingan to begin with, swirling into different patterns every few seconds. I opened my mouth to say something in protest, but what came out just further disturbed me.
"Are you going to eat that?"
Itachi shoved me hard as a reply. I fell onto the black ground with an audible thud. When I looked up again nothing was there. Nothing but me.
The ground started to change in texture, melting. Foggy silhouettes appeared as I struggled to move, each looking down at me with a pair of dimly glowing eyes. I became enveloped in the sticky blackness while my limbs thrashed. I tried to speak, but even though my mouth was uncovered I could not move it.
One of the silhouettes stepped towards me, crouched to my level. It's form seemed to be continuously moving and shifting. It reached down, covered my face firmly with a hand of shadows. I began to suffocate, paralyzed and unmoving. My panic increased until, when I could feel no more, I relaxed.
I jolted awake-only to be greeted by the darkness of night. As it turns out, sleeping on a stiff wooden bench for long periods of time is rather uncomfortable. I got up from my lying position with a groan, stretching and popping my stiff limbs. The area around me was devoid of people, except one woman hefting some sort of small crate. I was feeling a little drowsy and heavy from the improper rest, so I merely stayed sitting on the bench.
I ran a hand through my hair and pulled it back when I felt the dried mud still stuck in it. I looked down at my clothes-sweaty and mud-caked, just like the rest of me.
'I'm such a slob. Why did I just go to sleep on a bench, anyway? All it did was give me a weird dream and sore muscles.'
Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I stood up and patted myself down to get rid of some of the dirt. My hand itched; I scratched at the bandages absently. A sense of calm gradually washed over me. The village was quiet at night, save for the expected ambiance of nature.
I squinted up at the thin sliver of moon in the sky for a moment, thinking. Then I put my bandaged hand in my pocket and started for home, humming a random tune that was whispering at the edge of my thoughts.
I hung over the exam arena's rails slightly, looking down at Obito and Guy. Despite my sunken mood some days prior, I was ready to cheer on my teammate and best friend. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want Guy to lose either-but in the end, my favor was weighed towards Obito.
I noticed Obito gesture at Guy-was that a thumbs down?-who afterwards appeared confused. I shook my head in amusement when Obito got angry at Guy, then decided to snap him out of it with some motivation.
"Hey, Obito! Kick ass out there, you can do it!" I yelled as loudly as I could, earning glances from a few people
I didn't notice them, however, continuing to wave. Obito stopped in his ranting and looked in my direction-warmth glowed within me and reddened my face when he grinned back. He said something in return, his determination appearing to be bolstered.
I was abruptly snapped out of my floaty mood with a light smack on the head from the person adjacent to me.
"Owww... what was that for?!" I grumbled, rubbing my head and peering at the culprit
"Volume." said Kakashi simply, arms already folded again
I just shook my head and returned my eyes to the match. I leaned forward on the rails in anticipation as the referee raised his red flag, then brought it down.
Obito was still looking at me for some reason, and his lack of focus earned him a kick from Guy. Not unlike the last time it happened he was knocked out. I winced as Obito was launched backwards, his goggles tumbling through the air and landing on the dusty ground. The referee raised his flag to Guy-he was the victor.
"What is he doing?" wondered Kakashi in dismay, hand on his cheek
"Aargh, dammit what did I do?!" I exclaimed in a panic, clutching my hair as I beheld my defeated teammate
About a quarter of an hour later, Obito was leaning dejectedly on the rails across from me. He had a white pad bandaged over his left eye and wasn't wearing his goggles or forehead protector. Kakashi was below us in the arena, fighting Guy. The pair were in near-constant motion, trading blows swiftly. I wasn't really looking at him though-I kept glancing at Obito, trying to come up with an apology. Noticing he seemed to be looking at something with a miserable expression, I followed his gaze. It was Rin, who was cheering enthusiastically for Kakashi.
Obito's eye reflected a pain I myself was familiar with. I'd never seen him at such a low point.
'How can she not notice him looking at her like that?'
I felt my face shift into concern, and before I knew it my body was shifting too.
"Hey."
My friend flinched in surprise as I placed a hand on his shoulder. He raised his head to meet my gaze, the single pupil somewhat disconcerting.
"It's okay. I know how it feels, believe me. I'm here if you ever need someone to lean on, 'kay?" I spoke gently, a smile crawling across my face on impulse
Something passed between us, then. Like some sort of invisible flash-here and gone in a split-second. Obito's uncovered eye seemed to widen a bit.
The moment abruptly ended when I realized how close I was and clumsily sidled into apologizing.
"U-uh, also sorry about before-it was my fault you got kicked, I-I distracted you and... uh.." I took my hand off Obito's shoulder, rubbing my arm nervously
Obito spoke up quietly after a few seconds "It's.. it's alright. It was nice to know somebody was cheering for me up there."
He smiled at me, once again invoking a cocktail of feelings from within. Most distinctive was a sense of belonging, like being a puzzle piece fit into just the right spot. I decided that for once, I wasn't going to just wander away.
I leaned on the rail next to Obito and watched Kakashi's fight absentmindedly. Silence stretched between us, though it was a comfortable one. It didn't smother or stifle, but was simply a long moment of peace and pondering. I found myself almost disappointed when the referee raised his flag to signal Kakashi's victory.
Kakashi came up to join Obito and I after a few minutes, still scuffed from his fight.
"Well, looks like it's my turn." I sighed, getting off the rail
We'd read the order of battles before entering the arena; it was going to be me against Genma. Since both of us shared mutual feelings of antagonism, I could tell it wouldn't be a simple clash.
I made my way down the stairs Kakashi had just emerged from, already feeling anxious. The battle would ultimately decide whether I would pass or fail the Chunin Exam after all.
I came to the bottom of the stairs and found myself looking out into the fighting area through a small square tunnel. I wrung my hands, slick with sweat, and took a few long, deep breaths. I was ready-I had to be ready.
The referee called us in quickly. I erased querying thoughts from my mind and just focused on moving my body to point A. Sooner than I expected Genma and I were standing face-to-face, just a few feet apart.
There was no point in taunting words now. We just stood there and glared.
Seconds passed in festering quiet. A sudden flash of red signaled it's end.
As if awoken from a reverie, we burst to action. I struck first, throwing a flurry of shuriken at my target to test what I was up against. Genma ducked and blocked them with relative ease.
'Okay, so a frontal ranged attack isn't effective. Best to throw projectiles when he's moving or distracted.'
Genma started to form a jutsu. I braced myself to move or block whatever was coming.
"Earth Style: Flying Stones!"
Many small rocks were gouged out of the ground, rising in the air. Pillars of dust accompanied the sudden upheaval and invaded my nose and eyes. Through a fit of coughing I could make out projectiles heading right for me.
Since the converging stones were spread out it wasn't easy to dodge. I opted to counter instead.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
A stream of liquid shot forward, pushing away the rocks in my immediate path. A few stray ones managed to clip my shoulder regardless. I stopped the flow of water fast, just in time to notice my opponent had moved.
Genma flashed to my side and delivered a hard kick to my abdomen. I was flung across the ground, sliding painfully over some of the small stones that'd previously missed their target.
Though a bit winded I was quick to get up. I didn't want to give Genma another opening to attack. Hearing the rapid approach of my opponent, I decided to try a new tactic. My hands were a blur, the movements well practiced.
"Water Style: Starch Syrup Trap!"
The viscous fluid I shot landed in a wide puddle, right around where I'd aimed it.
"Getting slow, flat-chest?" remarked Genma upon noticing the attack had missed him
'Nope. I'm getting smart.'
I formed another handsign and focused. I'd trained this particular jutsu so I could manipulate the sticky syrup more easily, meaning I could take opponents by surprise. Luckily, that's precisely what happened this time around.
Genma tensed as a tendril of water snagged his leg and quickly snaked up towards the rest of his body. He attempted to jump away, but the syrup held him with an iron grip. I ran towards my trapped nemesis, kunai in hand.
But he was not to be underestimated. Genma had a few tricks of his own.
Working fast before his arms were completely covered, he raced through a set of handsigns.
"Earth Style: Mud Shot!"
Almost as soon as he finished, a large glob of mud was expelled from his mouth straight at me. I was unable to dodge-it hit me full in the face with a disgusting splat. Vision obscured, I grabbed at the muck and tried to wipe it away.
It must have been an amusing sight for the crowd. Both of us were immobilized by a sticky mess, struggling to get in a hit. But this period of impasse did not last long. As I finally managed to remove most of the mud from my face, I'd lost control of the syrup trap. It was slipping off of Genma alarmingly fast.
We came free from our bindings at almost the same time, abruptly charging after one another. We collided with a flurry of taijutsu, both thoroughly ticked off and eager to deal damage through close combat. After half a minute of back-and-forth pummeling our strategy changed again.
Genma suddenly jumped away after aiming one last kick at my chest. It knocked most of the wind out of me, as well as adding what was sure to be another bruise. I tried not to wince each time I took a breath, pain flaring in various parts of my battered body.
After regaining a sufficient amount of oxygen I looked up at my opponent. I wiped sweat from my brow as my eyes regained focus, then gasped. Evidently those precious few seconds I took for a breather were vitally important-it showed in Genma's smirk of satisfaction. As well as the final hand-sign he'd just formed.
"Earth Style: Antlion Jutsu!"
It was too late to move. In mere moments my feet were stuck to the ground and sinking fast. The area of dirt I was standing on turned to quicksand-like mud and left little room to manouver. Regardless of whether I would've tried something, an involuntary sort of paralysis had overtaken me. A strange roar filled my ears as I sank deeper and deeper, drowning out almost everything else. Unease came next, a brief prelude to a chilling fear that seeped into my very bones. I was confused by it-this was not the first time I had been trapped nor would it be the last. The fear was irrational, almost primal. Yet it shackled me as well as chains of steel, dragging me down further.
The mud was up to my neck now and showed no signs of stopping. The fear was almost overwhelming.
But when my mouth was covered, the fear seemed to slowly recede. Thought came to a crawl and my muscles relaxed. A memory came to me, unbidden.
White. That was the first thought to enter Yoku's mind as she woke that particular morning. She was five years old and excited to go explore the freshly made winter wonderland outside.
She quietly observed the snowflakes through the window in the kitchen, marveling at the way they fell to the large lumps of snow beneath. Distant streaks of color raced across the white now and again as children such as herself played amongst it.
Yoku felt a twinge of envy as she imagined a few kids having a snowball fight. She hadn't made any friends, not really. For the most part she was usually content to be alone, but at times she found herself desiring companionship. Yoku turned away from the window with a huff and forced such thoughts out of her head. It was a day for fun, not moping.
After a hot breakfast and tugging on some warm clothes, she set out on her adventure. Meaning, wandering through some of the nearby forest in the training fields. The young girl's boots crunched into the snow as she moved and swung her kunai at an invisible opponent.
Yoku selected a random tree for a training dummy. While she cut and gouged the wood, the snow started to fall faster. The girl did not notice this at first, thoroughly enjoying the psuedo-battle.
"Ha!"
She jumped backwards to throw some old shuriken at the unfortunate plant. Three soft thunks accompanied a startled yelp.
"Brrr..."
Yoku shivered. She had tripped over and fallen into a mound of snow that had grown large in the recent minutes. Now Yoku noticed how numerous the snowflakes were becoming, how hard the frigid wind was blowing. Her clothes were starting to lose their warmth from the onslaught.
"B-better g-g-get home.."
The girl put away her kunai and waded through the snow to get to the damaged tree. Two of the embedded shuriken came free with minimal effort, but the last one was more stubborn. Yoku tugged and tugged, pulling out the shuriken but dropping it as well. She sighed as she watched the rising snow consume the metal weapon.
'I hope nobody steps on that.'
Realizing she was starting to feel numb, the girl turned away and started to trudge back towards the forest's end. After a few minutes of walking the numbness had enveloped Yoku's whole body. It started to change into a different sensation.
'I feel almost.. warm. I could just lie down... and...'
Yoku blinked and shook her head to stave off the sudden lethargy. With a creeping dread, she began to understand why people could so easily die of cold. Luckily the forest's edge was in sight.
An hour after her ordeal Yoku was back home. The girl was sipping warm soup her mother had finished making shortly after her arrival, thankful to be rid of the leeching frost.
'This is like back then.. but I can't... I won't...'
I forced myself to keep conscious. Just when I thought my lungs would explode the mud started to dissipate. I instinctively inhaled the fresh air, coughing as I tried to take in as much as possible. I could feel my body being pushed out of the ground as well.
Unfortunately I could also feel plenty of pain. I groaned as I attempted to push myself up to no avail. My hand slipped and my head thumped back onto the dusty dirt.
Through the resulting jolt of pain, I could hear someone's voice.
"The victor-Genma Shiranui!"
I coughed again, my throat burning and dry as sandpaper. It showed in my raspy breathing. Although I had come to a conclusion, I found myself too exhausted to taste the bitterness of defeat at that moment.
'Guess I.. lost..'
My eyes slid shut.
Above the arena, two spectators reacted to the fight's outcome.
"She isn't..?"
"No, probably just unconscious-she should be fine."
In a small building beside the arena the Chunin Exam was being held in, a girl pushed herself off a stiff mattress. It was one of many, all lined up in neat rows along the spacious room. There were other exam participants occupying beds, mostly with minor injuries. When they felt rested enough the ninja would get off the bed and return to the arena. Empty spots were filled and emptied in a random fashion.
The girl's limbs protested against her movement, but this was a small inconvenience. Since she had no concerning issues her body was all but untouched. The girl did happily note that the mud caking her face had been wiped off. Although her clothes were in a sorry state. She exited the building with intent to meet up with her team.
Kakashi came out of the building, holding up a certificate and a chunin jacket. I commended him for passing; he'd done a pretty good job.
"Well done for passing the exam on your first try, Kakashi." I nodded respectfully-and a little begrudgingly "But I'm certain that me and-"
I paused when I heard a grumble behind me. I turned my head to see Obito walking away down the path, hands in his pockets.
I beckoned to him for a moment 'Wait-Obito, I didn't mean-" my words had no effect; I scolded myself "Ughh, stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Kakashi was looking at me awkwardly. As if on cue, someone else exited the building and came up to him.
"Hey, I heard you passed! Your battle was really cool, Kakashi."
Rin was set to talk with him. I decided now was an opportune time to sneak away and put a new idea of mine into effect.
"I'm gonna go find something, uh, bye Kakashi and Rin!" I gave the pair a quick wave and ran towards the nearby maze of shops
The soft sound of jingling bells announced my departure from the small bakery. I'd been hunting for some sort of food item to get inside. After scanning several colorful shelves, I decided to just go with classic chocolate chip cookies. I'm certain my odd dream had influenced my choice of baked confection on some level.
I began heading towards the path I'd come from, the small paper bag held by my hand crinkling as it swayed. I found the noise of bustle surrounding me that day to be almost lyrical; I sidestepped a hurrying deliveryman as if dancing to a rhythm.
My sandals clacked on the familiar dirt path. I scanned from left to right and noticed the sun was getting low in the sky. The day was beginning to dim, soft orange rays crawling alongside growing shadows.
I was starting to wonder if my friend had gone home. A quick observation of a bench off to my right revealed that wasn't the case. I chuckled slightly at what I saw-Obito was stretched out across the bench, seemingly asleep. It appeared I wasn't the only one who'd gotten the idea.
I walked over to one end of the bench and inspected my friend. Sure enough, his eyes were closed and he was snoring softly. I decided to wake him up, as the stone bench looked even less comfortable than the wooden one I'd slept on.
"Hey, sleepyhead! That's not a very good place to take a nap." I advised in a loud voice
Perhaps I shouldn't have been leaning right over him. Obito woke up with a start, sitting up quickly and banging his head on mine. I let out an exclamation of pain and rubbed my head, as did my friend.
When we'd recovered from the accidental impact Obito noticed my presence and scooted back on the bench.
"O-oh, it's just you, Yoku. I thought someone was attacking me for a second.." Obito laughed nervously for a moment
As if remembering something, his laughter faded and he turned to the ground with a frustrated look. I tilted my head with a frown, realizing he was probably still mad about what I'd said earlier. I decided it was time for the reconciliation cookies to make their debut.
"Hey, I've got somethin' for you. Catch!"
Obito lifted his head to see what I meant. I tossed him one of the cookies from my bag and he just managed to grab it, almost falling off the bench in the process. I chuckled warmly at his clumsiness, moving to sit down next to him. I was surprised to see a look of embarrassment in his features when I met his eyes again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you in a mean way, I just-um..." I too became embarrassed, deciding to just follow up with the reason for the sugary projectile
"I got the cookie for you because I want to say sorry for what I said back there. It was almost inevitable that Kakashi would pass.."
I noticed Obito was staring at the cookie in his hand morosely; he really was quite cut-up over his losses.
"..but, it doesn't mean we can't. I know you, Obito. You're not one to give up easily, you just keep on going until you achieve your goal! It's... one of the things I really admire you for."
Realizing my subtle confession, the cookie in my hand suddenly seemed very interesting. I decided to closely observe it to prevent my creeping blush from becoming any more apparent. It was a nice cookie, a rough round shape speckled with flavorful bits of chocolate. It's hue was golden-brown, indicating it had been cooked to perfect-
Alas, my pointless listing was halted "Really? I-I mean, thanks.."
I laughed again; there was a soft crunching sound, which I attributed to Obito taking a bite of my peace offering. I decided to do the same, still keeping eye contact with the tasty morsel even as I devoured it. I started to reflect on the Chunin Exam when it became too small to reasonably stare at.
"I'm a failure. I got too panicked at the end of my fight with Genma; If I'd stayed calm maybe I could have beat him." I sighed, popping the last cookie shard into my mouth
I continued my spiel, chewing "It's cause I had this weird dream where I suffocated at the end. When Genma got me stuck in that mud and I stayed under, I started thinking I was going to run out of air." I swallowed and continued, now more to myself than to my friend
"Even if it was only a few seconds of panic, it was terrifying. I just kept thinking that... I don't want to die. Not yet. There's still so much I need to do.."
I closed my eyes, replaying events not yet occurred in my mind over and over again. Once upon a time they may have just been fragments of a story, but that was not so now. To know such horrible things could happen tore at me, because the characters were my friends and the world was my home.
A chill crept up my spine as I thought of how so many lives were destroyed or irreparably broken by turmoil. A good example was right next to me; someone with the best intentions and purest heart driven to acts of remorseless manipulation and murder. It seemed cruel, to create such a person only to twist and mold their life for the sake of interest.
'But who's to say that's really fiction? That the person isn't really suffering? If this world exists as a reality, the possibilities could be endless..'
Thankfully, I was broken out of my doleful thinking before it could get too depressing.
"You alright?" Obito asked, brows knit in concern
"Yeah, sorry. Just got lost in thought for a moment." I smiled a little, even as his gaze provoked darker thoughts
Redirecting the conversation in a more positive direction, I spoke of upcoming goals.
"A-anyway, we'll get another shot at the Chunin Exam in several months. If we keep on training, we should be able to pass."
There was a crackling sound as I crumpled up the empty paper bag in my hand. I mentally noted to keep an eye out for a bin.
"You're right... Next time, we'll ace the exam! We've just gotta get stronger." Obito's eyes gained a familiar shine to them as he spoke adamantly
With the cookie obliterated, I swerved my gaze back to the Uchiha. I didn't answer his declaration with words; rather, I conveyed my agreement through a simple look. It was something we did automatically now and then; once you got to know someone well, verbal speaking wasn't always a necessity.
Noticing there was a small metal bin to the right of the bench we were on, I stood up. With careful precision I chucked the squashed paper bag towards it. It landed with barely a sound at the bottom of the cylinder.
"Well, I guess that's a start."
There you have it folks, that's the end of the Chunin Exam. Perhaps the beginning of something too. The next few chapters will show the characters as they develop through the coming winter, along with another glimpse at the Hidden Mist's shady doings.
Apologies if that bit with Kakashi chiding Yoku seemed off. I couldn't really think of something to properly tell her off for. Swearing is out, since a lot of the genin swore and that would be quite hypocritical. I kinda settled on volume because he was standing right next to her when she yelled so it would be rather loud, but yelling is also a form of encouragement so...eh? Sorry if that sounds lame, I kept it just because it disrupted the flow too much to remove it.
Some of you may also be wondering: Why did Yoku choose not to use her chakra containers? I'll answer this question. While she does use them on missions sometimes, she isn't really confident enough with herself to use them in a proper event around others. She also harbors fear of somebody asking about them and discovering the exact process involved. Sorry if that sounds crappy, I'm not always great with explanations.
On that note, it may be a while until the next chapter's uploaded. I'm planning to write the next three chapters one after the other, then start posting them when they're all complete. I also just need a bit of a break, as I'm getting busy with things besides this story. I'll not abandon you guys though, don't worry. A big thanks to anybody who so far has left a fav, follow or review, and I'll see you all again when the next arc is done!