Truth: That word went right into her and inspired her to do her best.
On the day the third part of the exam started, Team 9 was escorted into another room that was very similar to the tapestry room in basic design. It had a balcony running the length of the room on each side, but this one was much larger, with a much higher ceiling. There was as statue of two hands folded into a sign at the head of the room. They were assembled in lines with the other teams.
"Alright now pay attention. Lord Hokage will explain the third exam!" Anko bellowed at the chunin hopefuls. She stood by the statue of the clasped hands with the other proctors, a few chunin who were there to administrate, the Hokage, and the genin's teachers.
The third test was quite simple compared to the last two. It was just a fight. As vicious a fight as you wanted, but nothing more than a one-on-one fight nonetheless. You were selected, paired with another random candidate, and you stepped into the ring. If you won, you moved on. If you lost, you were out of the running.
"Because of the number of teams that came through the Forest of Death," the Hokage continued, "one person will be fighting twice. If you should be selected and feel you are too injured to fight after your first battle, you are at liberty to bow out without repercussions and someone else will be selected, but only if you have already fought. The person who fights twice need only win won battle to move on.
The only real surprise was that Kabuto bowed out of the third exam
The battles were a mix of predictable and unexpected. Some people went in and really blossomed. Others failed dismally. Some went in cocky and came out on a stretcher. Some went in terrified and walked out under their own power, looking shell-shocked.
Anyone who knew him could have predicted it from the beginning when Sasuke stepped into the ring, though he did seem to have to struggle against the painful effects of… something, his inability to use his Sharingan, and his opponent's odd, chakra-sapping move. He dismantled his opponent, drawing on some odd power that send black marks racing across his skin, and seemed to fight with even more speed and skill than before. However, as soon as he stepped out of the ring, he was hustled away by some medic-nin for treatment, despite the fact that he was barely scratched.
Shino had the first fight against a Sound-nin, taking on Zaku. He was a surprising victor, but then again, he was fighting a disabled opponent. None of Team 9 had never witnessed the curious control he had over bugs, and they were admittedly surprised by how effective his techniques were. They never would have expected the advantages his bugs provided.
Kankuro proved himself to be quite capable in a fight. Sayuri and Kankuro's team were the only ones who weren't surprised when 'Kankuro' turned out to be a puppet, the boy himself hiding in the wrappings on his back they had all assumed contained a puppet. It was an ingenious bluff – after all, who expected their opponent was wrapped up in bandages?
It was clear that in some cases this wasn't just a fight for a higher rank. For several people, it was intensely personal, usually because of who they were paired with. Sakura and Ino were the most obvious examples, screaming at each other until Ino broke down, slicing off her own hair in an imitation of Sakura. They both showed they were more than pretty teenage girls. But in the end, though neither of them won and both were out of the running, the two ex-best friends seemed to be well on the road to reviving their long-lost friendship.
Tenten was interesting to watch for Miyako, who used weapons often in her own fighting, and not with nearly that amount of accuracy, or in that amount. However, her luck was bad, as she was to fight Temari, whose gigantic fan turned out to be the perfect foil to Tenten's sharp barrage. That fight was over fairly quickly, though it was intense while it lasted, showing that neither girl was to be trifled with. In fact, Neji and Lee seemed utterly shocked when Tenten lost.
"Miyako Hasekura vs Choji Akimichi!"
Miyako paled. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god."
"Breathe," Sayuri said, grabbing her shoulders. "You're going to be fine."
Miyako was shaking as she stepped into the ring. She looked at the boy across from her. Threatening, Choji was not. In fact, he was probably one of the least-threatening competitors here. For a moment, Miyako felt good about herself, thinking she could do this. And then she promptly felt horrible and arrogant for thinking she was better than Choji.
"No hard feelings?" Miyako asked hopefully. Choji grinned weakly, looking as nervous as she felt.
"Yeah."
"Good," Miyako sighed in relief.
She made the first move, hurling a few kunai at Choji. He jumped out of the way. Miyako had a certain aptitude for dodging and bending around attacks, and she used her agility and flexibility to throw weapons from surprising directions. While she didn't deal in the sheer mass or accuracy Tenten did, Miyako's abilities were nothing to sneeze at.
"Human Boulder!" Choji cried. His body began to expand. Miyako's eyes widened as his arms, head, and legs disappeared inside his clothes so that he was completely spherical. Her jaw dropped as he started rolling. She yelped and scampered out of the way, pirouetting. Choji rolled past her and Miyako turned, tracking him with her eyes. She dodged and weaved, getting an idea of his maneuverability. Her eyes widened when he crashed into a wall with enough force to crack the stone.
"Why doesn't she attack?" Lee asked. His team was standing between Team 9 and Team Kakashi.
"Miyako doesn't like violence," Sayuri said, calmly adjusting her hitai-ate.
"Then she shouldn't have become a shinobi," Neji said shortly.
"Watch it Hyuga," Kiyomi said sharply.
"What did you say?" Neji's eyes narrowed at Kiyomi. He recognized her as the girl who stepped between Sasuke and him at the Academy and wasn't impressed. He was even less impressed with the display going on down in the arena.
Miyako jumped off of a wall, leaping over Choji as he collided with it with a smash. She rotated in the air and flicked her fingers. Choji's spinning stuttered, slowed, and stopped, leaving a very dizzy boy behind, staring in horror at thin air in front of him. Miyako winced as she landed on the ground, looking at Choji apologetically. She walked forwards and placed a kunai to his throat.
"Release," she said softly. Choji blinked and looked around blankly, not understanding what had happened for a moment. The prick of the kunai at his neck made him flinch, and he sighed.
"Miyako Hasekura is the winner," the proctor, Hayate Gekko, announced around a wet cough.
"She takes her time," Kiyomi said with a smile. "Miyako likes to analyze exactly what her opponent's capable of."
"And more importantly, she's kind," Sayuri said proudly. She faced Neji so he knew she was addressing him. "Any idiot can beat someone up. It takes a special kind of person to help someone up."
Neji narrowed his eyes at her as well before recalling that it did him no good to make faces at her. He turned his eyes back to the ring and sure enough, Miyako had put her kunai away and was helping Choji to his feet.
"Besides," Kiyomi added. "She didn't even use her kekkei genkai. Otherwise, this would have been over in one move."
"I'm really sorry about that genjutsu," she apologized. "That wasn't very nice."
"Hey, it's a competition," Choji shrugged, and then winced. "But did you have to run me into so many walls?"
"Sorry for that too," Miyako apologized.
The two left the ring and return to their teams, Choji in disgrace and Miyako proudly.
"You done good, kid," Ayano said, giving her a big beam and ruffling her hair.
"Thank you," Miyako said, flushed with exertion and pleasure at the praise from her teacher.
"Good job!" Kiyomi grinned, hugging her tightly.
"Thank you," Miyako said, eyes glittering with a rare confidence. "I wasn't sure I could do it, but I did!"
"Nice going," Sayuri said with a smile as she hugged Miyako. "And you were worried," she whispered in her ear.
"You know me," Miyako murmured back. "I don't like it when I have to hurt people."
"Then you should be a diplomat," Sayuri said with a crooked grin as she pulled back.
The next fight was Kin, the only woman from Sound, vs Shikamaru, who proved himself worthy of his title of genius – and his title of Laziest Shinobi Ever. He didn't even knock out his opponent out himself. He tricked her into knocking herself out against the wall, cleverly manipulating her into a trap.
Team 9 watched with fascination as Naruto fought with Kiba. They weren't really sure who was going to come out on top there. They were both generally regarded as the punks of their class. Kiba had technique and Akamaru, but Naruto had pure force. In a sudden upset, Naruto won. It was rather touch and go for a large part of the fight, until Naruto proved himself surprisingly capable with tricks if the situation required it, and then he had Kiba on the ropes.
Hinata was another surprisingly emotional battle. No one expected the nervous, blushing, fumbling Hyuuga to do as well as she did, especially against her prodigy of a cousin. Their Byakugan were rendered a bit moot seeing as they didn't give them the same advantage as they would have against an opponent without one. The Gentle Fist style was impressive to watch, but in the end, as everyone expected, Hinata lost to Neji, almost losing her life in the process. The medic-nin appeared almost the instant the fight ended, and Naruto swore to defend Hinata.
And then Lee fought Gaara.
Team 9 had been all set to root for Lee after what Gaara had done to Sayuri. Lee came at Gaara with a series of powerful kicks and hits, his strong limbs hurtling through the air, but each and every time, they smacked against a wall of sand that rose to Gaara's defense. Gaara stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at the wall in front of him and not even seeming to notice that he was being attacked. He may have been small, but his defenses were nothing to joke about.
Lee was left a bloody mess on the floor, unable to move, unable to walk. Medic-nin escorted him out, giving Gai news that left him looking crushed. Neji remained in the room while Tenten and Gai hurried out after Lee worriedly, and Neji looked as if he would have quite liked to continue the fight.
"Sayuri Kaguya vs Neji Hyuga."
Neji's head snapped up. He'd already won his fight, but as he looked at Sayuri, he fully intended to beat her again. A blind girl? As if. He'd take her apart.
The two of them squared off in the arena, facing each other.
"I'm assuming you appreciate the irony?" Sayuri asked before they began.
"You're blind, while my eyes see better than anyone else's," Neji said, nodding in acknowledgement. "But that should prove to you beyond all doubt that you were destined to lose this fight. I'll give the option to surrender now."
Sayuri sighed. "Please don't start that destiny and fate business with me. Let me tell you something: if destiny is determined by our birth, then my birth as a blind Kaguya should have destined me a very short life, and likely death by drowning. If they were feeling kind, they would have just left me in the woods for the animals. However, I survived when perfectly healthy children died among the Kaguya, and here I am. So please, believe what you want, but don't throw it in my face. I'm not interested."
Neji set his jaw. "Fine then. You've sealed your fate."
"Forgive me if I don't tremble in fear."
"Byakugan!"
The two clashed. Neji's Gentle Fist style was a taijutsu technique, which was Sayuri's strength. She blocked him blow for blow, diverting his attacks to the side with sweeps of her arms and legs, never letting him connect. Neji was honestly surprised she managed to keep up with him so well, considering she couldn't see his attacks.
The two circled, legs and arms flying in an impressive display.
"Kick his butt, Sayuri!" Naruto shouted down. Sayuri made the mistake of allowing the shout to distract her and Neji saw this, making him move.
Her head lashed to the side as Neji punched her. He stepped back, pleased. Sayuri touched her cheek softly, feeling the red spot.
"You're weak," Neji said confidently, and Sayuri stiffened. His Byakugan noticed the little movement and he jumped on it. "You know it too, don't you? You're blind. You have no right to try and become a ninja when we all know you will never be as good as someone who can see."
"S-Say that again," Sayuri stammered, face tilted to the ground, shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Weak," Neji hissed.
"Y-You know," Sayuri whispered. Her head snapped up, a wide grin crossing her face. She reached up, raising her hitai-ate so it covered her forehead, revealing her eyes and markings. Her eyes were alight with mischief and enjoyment brought on by adrenaline. The truth was that that word went right into her and inspired her to do her best. "I'm starting to understand why the Kaguya so love fighting. The danger of it, the adrenaline… I'm starting to like it myself." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I want you to look me in the eyes when I knock you on your ass Neji Hyuga. I am not weak, and you're going to pay for calling me that. I think it's time to take things up a notch."
She unzipped her shirt and shrugged it off, readying to use her bones. All around the arena, eyes widened as Sayuri shucked her shirt. Even Neji was visibly startled. The whole front of her torso was mottled blue, black, purple, and yellow. Her team was grim-faced as it was revealed, and Ayano's face was murderous. Across the arena, Gaara smiled viciously at his handiwork, the cool colors spread across pale skin.
Neji ruthlessly attacked again, and kept going, pushing himself forwards, fingers striking the chakra points across her body. He attacked viciously, striking the darkest spots among the bruising when Sayuri made no move to defend herself. She just stood there, taking the hits.
"What are you doing?" Naruto shouted at her. "Move!"
"Sayuri, he'll kill you!" Sakura warned.
"She is crazy," Lee concluded.
Neji paused. His hand was stuck. His eyes widened in shock as he saw what had a hold of him. Rib bones, bursting from the front of Sayuri's chest, had caught and held him by the wrist. Sayuri tilted her head to look at his fingers brushing against her breast.
"You know, normally I'd slap you for this, but I suppose I did bring it on myself," she said with a casual shrug. "You're not the only one with a kekkei genkai. My Shikotsumyaku allows me to freely manipulate the bones in my body. I can even make a shell of bone under my skin that's harder than steel. In another words, hard enough to block your strikes to my chakra points."
Neji ripped his hand free and jumped back, eying her with a new respect. Sayuri rolled her shoulder and it gave a loud pop. A bone burst through the skin. Sayuri grabbed it casually and tugged it out of her shoulder, swinging it out to reveal a sword.
Now there was a new tenseness as the two clashed. Sayuri was definitely giving Neji a workout. He now had to dodge expert sweeps and jabs from her sword. She was as fast as he was, and while she might not be as strong physically, Sayuri made up for it in sheer determination, pressing him viciously. And soon it began to pay off.
"She is actually doing it," Lee breathed, watching in awe. "She is actually beating Neji."
"Now who's got the kickass students, huh Gai?" Ayano teased.
Neji made the mistake of trying to kick her away, to get a bit of distance and time to use his Eight Trigrams. However, he came just a bit to close.
"Larch Dance!"
Bones shot from Sayuri's body like some macabre kind of porcupine and she started to spin. Neji couldn't redirect his attack in time and he connected with the spines, being punctured over and over as she spun.
Sayuri stopped her spinning as Neji staggered back, blood dripping from a dozen minor wounds. The bones retreated inside her skin, leaving her with just her sword.
"You're tough," Sayuri said when she noticed Neji was still standing.
"I told you. It is your destiny to lose this fight," Neji ground out, although the blood loss was starting to get to him a bit.
"Oh, put a sock in it," Sayuri snapped. "Camellia Dance!"
On a good day, Neji would have been able to block each and every one of the strikes. But they came from such random places, the sword slicing in at such unexpected angles, which was the secret of this attack. He fought hard to block every single one of them, but pain and blood loss wore on him, and she just kept coming. Finally, one strike slipped through, but the Camellia Dance was designed so that one strike was all it took.
At the last second, to keep from killing him, Sayuri twisted the sword. Instead of taking him through the neck, it stabbed through his shoulder. Sayuri swung him around by the blade in his shoulder and Neji shouted in pain as she dropped him with a kick to the knee, the sword sliding into the ground below like it was butter, pinning him in place.
"Sayuri Kaguya is the winner of this match."
Neji looked up and met her eyes, conceding his defeat. Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps she was not destined to lose today. Perhaps her kekkei genkai saved her from that. It was certainly formidable.
Ssayuri readjusted her hitai-ate, dropping it back into its usual place over her eyes. Her sword was sucked back into her arm as she walked up the stairs and back to her team. She pulled her shirt back up, zipping it to cover the worst of the bruising.
"You totally kicked his ass!" Kiyomi cheered, grabbing Sayuri in a hug. "Way to go Sayuri! That was awesome!"
"You did really well," Miyako agreed, taking Sayuri's hands in her own when Kiyomi released her.
"I'm proud of you, kid. You did amazing," Ayano said proudly.
Neji was removed from the ring on a stretcher, looking bloody and incredibly pissed as he was carted off for medical treatments. He had a lot of stab wounds that would need to heal.
"After this, we're going out to celebrate," Kiyomi said happily. "And we're gonna-"
"Kiyomi Arita vs. Dosu Kinuta."
Kiyomi paused, eyes widening slightly.
"You go," Miyako encouraged her. "You'll be great!"
"Make me proud," Ayano said with a grin. Sayuri nodded at Kiyomi as she descended into the ring.
Kiyomi sized her opponent up. He was hunched over, but his center of gravity was pretty low, so he was still stable. His face was wrapped in bandages and the ends of his sleeves flopped over his hands. Probably not a close-range fighter then. Kiyomi smiled slightly. Good. She'd keep him on edge.
"Fireball Jutsu!" Kiyomi shouted as soon as the match began, starting things off with a bang and her most frequent move.
Dosu wove to the left and Kiyomi cut him off with a bunch of senbon. She came at him as he moved in the opposite direction, throwing punch after punch.
"No, no, no," Sayuri was cursing in the stands.
"What's wrong?" Ayano asked in confusion.
"Don't you remember Miyako?" Sayuri asked. "At the first part of the exams… The Sound-nin attacked Kabuto. They didn't even hit him, but he still-"
Miyako's eyes widened in horror. "No, it can't be!" she whispered in fear, gnawing her lips in worry. "Kiyomi…"
Kiyomi was confident in her attack plan as she leapt back from Dosu and shouted, "Fireball Jutsu!" once more. She jumped over the attack, intending to come at him from above. Her eyes widened when the fire seemed to part around Dosu and he sailed through, unscathed, sleeves pulled back and revealing some kind of metal contraption on his arm.
Dosu halted his lunge through the fire with a foot on the ground, redirecting his momentum to fling himself into the air with Kiyomi. Her eyes widened as he tried to punch at her and she twisted madly, ducking under his attack, but something still washed over her and she hit the ground sloppily.
Kiyomi suddenly swayed. What…? It was like she couldn't find her balance even though she knew her feet were planted on the ground. Or were they? Were they on the wall? Or maybe the ceiling? Wait, no… Yes? Nausea rose up, roiling in her gut. Kiyomi staggered, eyes wide. Her feet were like lead, they didn't seem to be going where she directed them. She toppled, panting, to her hands and knees as she fought not to throw up.
"My attacks affect the inner ear, destroying your sense of balance," Kinuta bragged. "There's no way you can fight now."
"I- can," Kiyomi grunted, struggling to get to her feet. She made it upright and tried to take a step, fist pulled back to punch. She hit the ground on her knees and groaned, holding her stomach and trying to keep from throwing up.
"Dosu Kinuta is the winner," the proctor announced.
Kiyomi closed her eyes and lowered her head. Dosu strode past her confidently, headed for his team. The medics came and collected Kiyomi, hauling her off to the infirmary.
The victors were lined up in front of the Hokage, and he explained the third exam to them. Essentially, it was the same as what they'd just done, only they had a month to prepare and get stronger. Whoever passed and became chunin would be chosen by a panel. They drew lots to see who would fight who in the brackets. Miyako would apparently be fighting Temari, and whoever won that fight would go up against the victor of Shikamaru's fight with Dosu. Sayuri found herself facing whoever won Naruto's fight with Neji.
Sayuri, Miyako, and Ayano approached the bed where Kiyomi was laying.
"She'll be fine," the medic assured them. "Just give her a few days for her balance to come back fully and she'll be fine."
"Thanks," Ayano said, dismissing her as they gathered around Kiyomi's bed.
"I failed," Kiyomi whispered. Her eyes were closed tightly, her hands fisted. "I didn't pass. I choked."
"Hey, you couldn't have known what that guy was capable of," Ayano encouraged. "I've never seen anything that crazy before either."
"But it's not like I'll be going into every fight knowing what my opponent can do!" Kiyomi protested. "I won't know, more often than not. I thought I had him, but…. One move," she whispered, opening her eyes. She looked crushed. "He took me out in one move."
"None of the fights were easy," Sayuri said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Miyako fought Choji!" Kiyomi snorted. "She was guaranteed a win! And you… you wiped the floor with that Hyuga."
"Choji's not as weak as everyone thinks he is," Miyako countered, but it was a weak argument.
"Neji had already fought, he was tired." Sayuri's grip tightened in a show of support. "I bet things would have been different if-"
"Sayuri!" Kiyomi snapped, shoving her hand away. Sayuri froze. This was all too horribly similar to that day they fought once before, when Miyako had to break them up. "Hard as it may be for you to believe, I don't want you to sit here and tell me what would have gone down if so-and-so hadn't happened. The fact is, it happened, okay? That's it. I lost. I'm out of the running. I'm going to be left behind while you guys run off and become chunin!" Kiyomi was shouting by now.
Hesitantly, Sayuri asked, "Are you worried about what your father will say?"
Kiyomi's eyes hardened. "Get out."
Miyako tried, "Kiyomi-"
"I said get out!" Kiyomi snapped.
"Come on ladies, let's let her rest," Ayano said, grabbing their shoulders and guiding them away from the bed.
"I didn't mean to make her angry," Sayuri said, her voice small. "I just blurted it out… I wasn't thinking…"
"It doesn't matter," Ayano said, shaking her head. "She's just angry right now, and disappointed in herself. She'll come around."
"I hope so," Miyako murmured worriedly.
Sorry I was so late getting this up. I angered the fan fiction gods or something, because every time I tried to get on I got an error message. So here's this week's update!
Also, the results of the character submission contest. The winners are:
Mayumi Ki, courtesy of December 25th
Harumi Kazeno, courtesy of Himeno kazehito
Atsumori Kogara, courtesy of December 25th
Atami Taiyohono, courtesy of Sleep Arypsure
Gidayu Kijimuta, courtest of December 25th
I may have use for more characters later on though, so if you have any good ideas, let me know and I might use them. I'll give you credit just like the guys above, don't worry ;) And from now on I don't need characters with kekkei genkai, they can just be your average ninja on the street!
ALSO! I have a new poll up on my profile for what pairing you'd like me to write for my next stories. I've got ideas going everywhere plot wise but I'm not sure what pairing I like best for the story. Either one works. Just let me know!