A.N.: Here is another chapter. Thanks to everybody who could be bothered to review.
I started a poll: Should I make a page with pictures of the charakters? Do you need better visuals or are you content with the description? There would be original characters appearing in the Exams.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I feel too uninspired to add anything witty.
The gathering immediately erupted into chaos. "Just where is the Labyrinth?" "What monk?" "Natives are at advantage!" "That's unfair!" and "It's a restricted area!" were some of the most frequent exclamations.
"Maybe we should stick to some local team to find the Labyrinth," Naruto suggested. "They would know where it is and could lead us to the monk."
"I don't know, they said something about it being a restricted area," Hotaru pointed out.
"But at least they know where the place is," Hana replied. "Inside we'd be on our own."
"So let's go," the youngest teammember prodded. "Some teams are already leaving."
"You're right, let's go," the Inuzuka concluded the discussion. They stuck to the backs of the cat-boy's team, while Team Oboro stuck to theirs. They walked out of the building in silence. They strolled down a few lanes, before the cat master spoke up.
"What are you doing following us?" he snapped at them.
"We're going to the Labyrinth," Hotaru answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Go some other way, I'm in no mood to smell dogs all the time," the Suna genin replied.
"Why should we?" Hana raised an eyebrow. "This is a public pathway, isn't it?"
"Because if you don't I'll make you," the cat-boy explained. His giant feline accented it with a hiss and show of its teeth.
"I'd like to see you try," Naruto scoffed.
"Well you just might," the older blond sneered.
"Akira!" The shout came from the kunoichi on the Suna team. She was a petite girl with brown hair tied into four knee-length braids and ANBU-style armor over her shinobi uniform. She carried a sword at her waist. "We're not supposed to fight, have you already forgotten?"
"Mizue is right," their third teammate added. He was a tall and broad boy in reddish samurai-style armor. "There is no use threatening them. We'll just lose them in the maze."
"Spoilsport," Akira grumbled, but turned around and followed the rest of his squad. Naruto turned to Team Oboro and mouthed 'the same goes for you.'
"Naruto," Hana chastised. "You shouldn't be rude to fellow Konoha ninja."
"I know," the blond admitted. "It's just that Tokiko is nasty to you."
"She has her reasons," the dog mistress replied.
"That doesn't make it right," the boy opposed.
"It does," the kunoichi in question joined the discussion.
"Quiet, all of you," the purple-haired girl ordered them.
"Just my words," Noriaki said. "We have more important matters to attend to than your petty feud."
"What do you call a petty feud?" Tokiko snapped.
"Just this," her teammate answered. Team Tenzo didn't wait for the rest of their argument to unfold. They quickened their pace to catch up with the Suna team. Team Oboro joined them a little while later, Tokiko still fuming, but thankfully silent.
Soon they reached the border of the Sand village. They noticed other teams near them. All of them were heading the same direction. They climbed up the cliffs surrounding Suna and ran over a vast plateau for about half an hour. Then they stopped. Cracks appeared in the stone under their feet, becoming wider and deeper the further they went. A sign 'RESTRICTED AREA – DO NOT ENTER' was mounted on a pole and they could see others a hundred steps to both sides.
"It looks like we're here," Naruto remarked.
"Yes," Akira confirmed. "And from now on, don't try to follow us."
"Why would we even want to?" Hana scoffed. "You'll just get lost."
"Not going to happen," the cat user smirked.
"Cut it, we're losing time," Mizue interrupted.
"You're right. Let's go and leave them in the dust." The Suna trio descended into the nearest ravine.
"So how are we going to go about it?" Naruto asked when the other squad disappeared. "If we just go down there, we can spend a whole day running and not search even a half of this area. It's huge."
"No kidding," Hotaru confirmed. They couldn't see the other side of the maze from where they were standing.
"My dogs have good noses, but they don't know what to sniff for," Hana added.
"But those canyons don't seem too wide, at least not in this area," Naruto continued. "We could jump over them and look what is down there."
"Good idea," the Inuzuka agreed, "but why do you suppose the Suna team didn't do it?"
"They didn't think of it," the blond offered.
"Look around," the brunette said. "Everybody is going down, nobody tries to stay up. Why do you suppose it is?"
"No idea," the young ninja admitted, "but I'll send clones to scout first."
It didn't take them long to discover just why nobody wanted to stay on top.
"Scorpions?"
"Yes," the youngest of the three confirmed, "awful lots of them. Good at hiding and aggressive too. Most of my clones didn't even see what had hit them."
"There goes the plan," Hotaru grimaced. "We have to go down like everyone else. Drat, I'm so not looking forward to searching all the area."
"If it helps, I can still use clones to scout," Naruto offered.
"That's a great idea," the dog mistress agreed. "And while you do so, we can have a nice picnic here."
The blond boy created over two hundreds of replicas and sent them into different entrances of the Labyrinth. Then they settled comfortably into a shadow, after they confirmed it was scorpion-free, and waited. Other teams passed them looking at them oddly, but the Konoha trio wasn't bothered.
They waited for good two hours before Naruto suddenly straightened. "Found him," he announced with a grin.
"Where?" Hana inquired.
"Follow me." He jumped to his feet and ran towards a canyon about a mile to their left. He then led them through the maze of twists, forks and crossroads without hesitation. Both girls wondered how he could remember the way so precisely and worried he might take a wrong turn somewhere. They encountered quite a lot of teams going around, looking for a clue where the hermit might live.
Then the narrow canyon widened and they entered a circular place. In one of the cliffs surrounding it was a cave entrance covered with a cloth. In front of it two teams stood waiting. The Konoha squad was surprised somebody was able to find the place before them, but considering the faster squads were from Suna, it wasn't all that unexpected.
"You have to wait," one of the genin already in position informed them. "He doesn't admit more than one team at once."
"Is it so or is this another joke like the false queue in front of the examination building?" Hotaru asked.
"It is true," the Suna boy replied.
"And how do we know?" the purple-haired girl inquired. "Your word just isn't enough."
"Then go in and get yourself kicked out," the Sand shinobi suggested helpfully. Before they could decide whether to try it or not, a team exited the cave and one of the waiting teams went in. They settled down to wait. Then something occurred to Hotaru.
"Naruto," she asked, "how do we know that this one isn't a decoy?"
"Because I had my clones search the whole Labyrinth and this is the only hermitage around," the only boy on Team Tenzo explained. "What do you think took me so long?"
"That's good to know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jounin lounge~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tenzo was sitting in the spacious room reserved for the jounin-senseis for the participating teams. There were shinobi from every country Suna was on speaking terms with. Some of them weren't on speaking terms with each other and their delegates pointedly ignored each other. Tenzo was now ignoring a long-haired Iwa jounin who in turn did an excellent job of not noticing him and his Konoha peers.
No matter their personal and political differences, everybody in here waited with bated breath when the names of the teams that managed to register for the first round were announced. The Mokuton user sighed in relief. His team got in. They had his full confidence, but it was still good to have it confirmed. Most of his colleagues were happy as well. Out of the fifteen Konoha teams participating, only one had failed to find the correct room in time. They all offered their condolences to their disappointed sensei, trying to console him that at least his charges won't get hurt. It was cold comfort, but it worked somehow. Only they were now worried about what would happen to their own genin in the next two rounds.
Around ninety percent of the teams made it to the first round. Their senseis stayed in the room, the others slowly left to pick up their unlucky students to either console them or yell at them for their failure. Soon talking resumed in the lounge, everybody either praising their students or complaining about them, some even betting at their success.
"And what about you, Tenzo?" asked Oboro. "How do you think your team would fare?"
"That's hard to say," the former ANBU scratched his head. "They are good and well-equipped, but I can't make any guesses when I don't know what they are up against."
"We don't know it either," the elderly woman shrugged, "but after you sent your teams to as many Chuunin Exams as I have, young man, you can make a pretty good educated guess."
"And what does your experience tell you, Oboro?" he asked.
"That all the Exams tend to be a variation of the same old theme," she replied.
"And what would that be?" another new jounin-instructor asked.
"Well, first comes the initial confusion," the woman started her explanation. "It is to see who can do their job even though they receive incorrect information somewhere along the way. Few teams ever fail that. I'm surprised there were that many this year, the proctors must have come with something extra tough." She waved her wrinkled hand. "Not that it matters. Our little guys are all in.
Then comes the official First test. That one is a non-combat information-gathering exercise. It might take many forms from a written test where knowing the answers isn't the point to a city-wide search of some elusive item. The proctors tend to have a lot of fun with this one." She took a sip from her water glass. The air was dry and speaking so much was hurting her old throat.
"Then comes the Second test. This is always a mission simulation. The teams are ordered to perform a task and have to compete against the other teams to complete it. It is made so they have to fight each other in order to succeed. Everything included killing is allowed. This is what really decides who is worthy, the previous tests are there just to weed out the worst incompetents. Oh, and not to forget, there are always the proctors who usually outdo themselves to be scary in every possible fashion. That is to make sure the candidates are able to function even when scared or confused." She took another sip. The desert air was really too harsh on her old bones.
"In case the Second test was too easy and too many genin passed, there are preliminaries right after the Second Exam ends. But that doesn't happen often, only about every two or three years. If they happen, they are in the form of one-on-one all-out matches. Once this is over, the final tournament is announced to take place roughly in a month's time. That is also a one-on-one all out fight in front of a public audience, but you already know that. Enough about this. Now you know what to expect, how do you think your teams would fare?"
"Hmm, I don't know," the new jounin-sensei said. "I'd like to say my guys are good, but to be honest, they still have a lot to learn. Information-gathering isn't their forte."
"Well," Tenzo said, "I have a well-rounded team. There's somebody for everything the proctors can throw their way. I'm afraid only that they might get lost in the desert or run into an overpowered enemy team."
"Why are you so worried about that?" One of the Konoha jounin asked. "From what I heard one of yours took out a jinchuuriki."
"It's not that easy," said the Wood wielder, "and you shouldn't be talking about such things in public. You never know who might overhear. Though looking around, I reckon by this time tomorrow every village leader in the Elemental Countries would know." The man who spoke so unthinkingly looked ashamed.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Sorry doesn't quite cut it," Oboro scowled. "You are going to be in my report."
"Enough about this," said another member of the Konoha delegation. "So how do you think your students would fare?"
"I hope well," the oldest among them spoke, "but I can't be so sure. Ever since Tokiko lost her brother, she has been changed. It's really a shame, she used to be such a sweet girl. And now when she is near Hana, I'm afraid she might do something rash, like making her team go against Tenzo's or looking for them on her own."
"That would be really bad," the Mokuton user agreed. "Let's hope that the Leaf genin would retain sense of camaraderie."
"Yes, let's hope, because it's the only thing we can do now," Oboro said. Soon the discussion ended, everybody waiting anxiously which teams would pass the First Exam.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Labyrinth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They waited while the two teams took their turns with the monk. Judging from the time they spent there, the old man wasn't easy to convince. Another team found the spot in the meantime and took their place in the line. Finally it was their turn. They entered the cave with a sense of trepidation.
The inside of the dwelling was cold and dark. They walked through a narrow corridor until they reached a living area. It was a lot bigger than they expected a cave in sandstone to be, but it seemed artificial. The walls were smooth and covered with some designs hard to recognize in the flickering light of a torch. In the middle of the area was a worn rug and on top of it was an old bald man sitting in a meditative position. Naruto realized they were entering his home and removed his shoes. The girls were initially startled with this, but followed his example soon. They walked a few steps into the room and bowed to the old monk. They had no idea how to convince the hermit to give them the key, but they mutually agreed that politeness couldn't hurt. They waited for the man to acknowledge them. And waited. And waited. And then waited some more. Naruto had trouble sitting still, but he somehow managed not to fidget too much.
Hana was discreetly surveying the room. It didn't take her long to realize that the designs on the walls were in fact a map, and if she wasn't mistaken, it depicted the vicinity of Sunagakure. Because her clan usually worked as trackers, they were trained in understanding maps since an early age. She concentrated on committing the plan to memory. It could become useful later on.
Finally the hermit spoke and it was all they could do not to jump. His voice was quiet and raspy, barely above a whisper, but it resounded like thunder in the enclosed space.
"So another bunch of kids came to disturb my sanctuary," he said in an annoyed tone.
"We humbly apologize, honorable monk," Hana started. As a clan heir she had the most diplomatic training of the three of them and they had mutually agreed to let her do the talking. "We wouldn't have intruded on you if we had any other choice."
"And I care why?" His tone was bored, disinterested, bordering on rude.
"There is no reason for you to now," the kunoichi replied, "but perhaps we might be able to give you one?"
"Don't be ridiculous, girl," the man snorted, "you aren't that pretty. And money has no meaning in the desert."
"But there are things that do," Naruto interrupted before Hana could take offense and try to bite the old hermit. The dog mistress shot her teammate an annoyed look, not at all happy with him interrupting her show.
"And just who gave you the permission to speak, young man," the monk scowled. "And don't get it into your head that you can bribe me. I have everything I need here."
"I humbly apologize, honorable elder," the youngest genin bowed. "It was presumptuous from me to think you might still have earthly needs. One such as you had surely attained such perfection through his endless meditations that he doesn't need to eat or drink more than once a month anymore."
"You're right, brat," the bald man sneered. "You are presumptuous and a smart-ass to boot. I don't want to hear a word from you anymore."
"Please excuse his rudeness, exalted one," Hana tried to salvage the situation. "He is still young and he has no parents to teach him manners. I do my best to instill some in him, but he has still a long way to go."
"That he has," the hermit agreed. "But as I said earlier, I don't care and I don't like you one bit."
"Then we seem to have reached an impasse," the Inuzuka stated. "You don't want to talk to us and we aren't going to leave without a key. Then we have only one option left and that is stay here and bug you until you give in just to have your precious peace back."
"Don't think you can threaten me, twerps," the bald monk scowled. "You are forbidden to use violence, but I'm not. How are you going to prevent me from physically throwing you out?"
"Can you throw us out all at once?" the Inuzuka questioned. "I somehow doubt it. And even if you do, we would just come back. And even though we are prohibited from harming you, nothing holds us back from vandalizing your possessions. And before you object you have none, how would you like your dwelling redecorated in bright orange? But it's up to you, really. You might get whatever you ask for your key, money, water food, equipment, you name it, or you might get whatever damage Naruto here is able to inflict upon your abode, not to mention what my dogs can do. They haven't marked any corner in an hours. Their urine has unique properties, did you know? It's really hard to wash and water is rare here. So really, the decision is entirely up to you."
"You are a bunch of rude brats, aren't you," the monk grumbled. "I have half a mind to give you a thorough thrashing for the utter gall of yours, but I'm too lazy." He reached into his robes and took out a big red key. "Here, take it and be gone. I don't want to see any of you ever again."
"Likewise," Naruto uttered and the old hermit shot him a dirty glare. Hana took the key from him.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation," she smiled bowing deeply. "Here is your reward," she handed him the bribe package she had prepared earlier. "Let it not be said that Konoha ninja are ungrateful."
"Just without manners," the man remarked. They paid him no heed and left his cave as fast as dignity allowed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That could have gone better," Hotaru muttered.
"At least we have the key," Naruto replied.
Hana took out an empty scroll from her backpack and started scribbling. She was eternally grateful for all the lessons in fact and detail recollection Tenzo had put them through. She wouldn't be able to complete this task without them.
"What are you doing?" the blond inquired.
"Drawing the map before I forget it," the Inuzuka explained. "It's not like we have another." It took a good while, but finally the brunette was finished. "That's it, let's go," she announced packing the scroll away.
"Ah, do we know where the Morning Gale fortress is?" the blond asked.
"It's the Morning Breeze guard outpost," the dog mistress corrected, "and it should be to the north from the edge of the Labyrinth."
"Good, then let's go," replied the boy.
"Do you know how to get out of here?" Hotaru questioned.
"Of course," the youngest of the trio answered. "My clones searched the whole Labyrinth, remember? It's easy, we just keep that way," he pointed in a seemingly random direction, "and the rocks will become fewer and far between. From there the dune sea starts."
"Then lead on," the purple-haired kunoichi commanded. The group started moving.
It was exactly as Naruto said it would be. The rocks around them were smaller and wider apart and soon they were walking among separate boulders. It didn't take long for even them to disappear and the Konoha genin stood at the edge of the Great Sand Desert.
"Where now?" the boy asked Hana. "You're the one with the map."
"I'm not exactly sure which part of the Labyrinth are we at," she said, "but it should be almost straight north from here, maybe a little to the east. If I read the map correctly, it should be around two hours trek."
"Then what are we waiting for?" And then they were moving again.
They used every bit of the sand walking training their sensei insisted on ever since they entered the Wind Country. Some of the dunes were easy to climb, but on others the fine grains of the sand gave way under their feet and if it wasn't for their quick reflexes, they would just slide back down. In the end, the journey took them lot more then just two hours to complete. With no point of reference they could recognize in the desert, they had a lot of trouble finding the outpost. It wasn't until they noticed a Suna team running across the dunes a good distance from them that they found the place by following them. Even then it wasn't easy, the building was so well camouflaged that they almost didn't notice it, only the keen noses of the Haimaru siblings saved them from failure.
When they finally entered the guards' post, they were greeted by a tall woman wearing the Suna jounin vest, hitai-ate, utility belt, thigh holster, sandals and nothing else. They were used for a lot of wild stunts from Anko, but this was way over the top even for her. Yet somehow they managed not to blink more then once.
"So another bunch of brats made it here? Hn, I can see how you convinced the old fart to give you the key," she sneered shamelessly eyeing Hotaru's assets. The purple-haired girl blushed, but it was hard to tell whether due to shame or anger. "Listen kiddies, you might think you're good because you made it this far, but let me tell you something: This was nothing. From here on the second test starts, and if you think you know what pain and exhaustion are, think again. This would exploit all your limits and push you beyond them. And if you think about turning your tails," she gave them a wide predatory smile, "too late, guys. You cannot turn back from here, you have to follow through." She paused for a moment to allow her words to sink in. The three genin just watched her unflinchingly.
"Follow through with what?" Naruto asked. "You haven't told us what the third task is yet.
"Impatient little whelps, aren't we?" the woman drawled. "Well then. If you are so eager to start suffering, it's your choice. Who am I to tell you otherwise?" She threw her hands up in an overdramatic gesture. It made her vest slide up. It might have had more of an impact if there was somebody who would really appreciate the sight. "So listen, brats, because I will tell this only once. You have to get to the Golden Sand Castle and open the door with a key."
"Where is the Golden Sand castle?" Hana asked. There wasn't such a place depicted on the old hermit's map.
"I won't tell you," Asami replied. "You have to ask in the Evening Gale guard outpost." Hana sighed in relief. That one was on her map. "But not to make it too easy, you don't know whether the key you have is the correct one and you have no way to find out until you get to the Castle gates. Other teams got other keys, but even they have no idea which one is the real deal. Oh, I almost forgot, the team has to be complete to advance to the next round. And last thing, from now on, everything is allowed."
"How many kinds of keys are there?" Hotaru asked.
"I'm not telling," the proctor smiled enigmatically.
"So we just have to beat as many teams as we can and take the keys," Naruto summed up.
"You've got it at once, punk," the woman smiled. "Maybe you aren't a completely hopeless case, but that isn't going to be enough. And now go, I don't let anybody stay here overnight. Oh, and I almost forgot, there is a deadline for arriving to the castle, but I'm not telling you when." Her expression was downright sinister when she announced this. And then she kicked them out, almost literally.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hermit's cave~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tokiko was furious. They had spent hours wandering the stupid Labyrinth, almost getting lost several times. Then they lost another hour waiting in the blasted long line. They had to endure taunts from the other teams. Then they finally got into the sodden cave and met the shriveled old excuse of a man. Things went downhill from there. That old geezer was rude to them from the beginning, he flatly refused any bribes and he just sneered derogatorily at her busty figure in her tight-fitting shirt. Nobody ever did that to Tokiko. She might not be a beauty queen, but she was always one of the prettier girls around. She never took well to insults.
And what was worse, the pawprints they saw on the way meant that the bitch Hana and her team of losers had been already here and got the stupid key. They were just losing time here and the old fossil looked like he was thoroughly enjoying making their lives miserable. If they just weren't forbidden to use violence, she would have showed him. She entered a blissful fantasy of skinning the man alive.
Noriaki meanwhile was trying to reason with the man, who was utterly incapable of listening to reason.
"Please hear me out, oh great and venerable one." Even her usually so calm and even-tempered teammate couldn't keep the annoyance from his voice.
"I don't know why I should bother," the monk, if he indeed was such, which she seriously doubted, grumbled. "And why are you still here? I clearly remember telling you to get lost."
"I know, oh Wise one," Noriaki said, "but we simply cannot do this. We cannot leave without the key."
"Should I help you leave then?" the hermit offered. Tokiko was sorely tempted to ask him how he wanted to accomplish it, but she bit her tongue. To hell with it, why were they even sitting there? Just what aspect of shinobi business was that testing them on? There was no chance they would encounter another such character in reality. She just wanted to get over with it and advance to the next stage, hopefully that one would include fighting. She sorely needed to work out some pent-up rage.
"We humbly apologize, but we really cannot leave without the key," the grey-clad genin repeated.
"I humbly apologize I don't care," the old man said sarcastically.
Nobuo, their third teammate, couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "We don't care either! Just give us the key and we won't have to see each other ever again!"
"No," the shriveled old mummy flatly refused. "And don't be rude to your elders, young man. When I was your age…"
"Oh no," Tokiko whined. Those words always meant a long and torturous lesson was to be delivered upon them. They had endured their fair share from Oboro-sensei.
"Don't interrupt me, you hag," the bald man chastised her. No-one called her hag. She saw red.
"Now hear, you withered old dinosaur," she jumped to her feet.
"Tokiko!" Noriaki called in alarm, but she paid him no heed.
"You give us the key this instant, or I…" she fumed.
"Or you what?" He raised an eyebrow, completely unperturbed by her outburst. "You wouldn't be even able to hit me, silly little girl."
That did it. She punched his face with all her might. Only his face wasn't there anymore. Before she could realize her fist hit only thin air, strong fingers locked around her wrist and pulled. She was sent flying over the monk's shoulder.
"You fail," he announced them in a self-satisfied voice.
"What?!" Tokiko shouted getting up from her spot on the ground.
"You couldn't keep your temper in check, so you failed," the hermit elaborated, a pleased smile never leaving his face. "Now pick your teammates and get lost. Call the next team in on the way out."
Tokiko was speechless. They were being failed? And the dog-bitch advanced. She couldn't leave it at that.
"Hey, old man," she grinned evilly, "what prevents us from just taking the key from you? Or all the keys?"
"What, indeed," he looked at them with disdain. "Do you think you are the first team to try that? Do you see the bloody smears on the wall over there?"
The Konoha threesome looked the pointed direction. There really was what looked like blood on the floor and nearby wall.
"So do you have any other questions?" he asked rhetorically. "No? I thought so." Team Oboro, quiet and subdued, exited the cave. Eiji smiled. It was just so much fun to mess with the young ones' heads. He settled down comfortably and waited for his next batch of chewtoys to arrive.
And that's it for today.
Next time: The second test.