Just as promised, here's the second chapter of the double update. It's more of an intro to the Final Exam, but you'll come across several hints regarding some of the subplots that are still to come and I hope you won't find this chappie as a bore.
Before starting, I wish to congratulate a cousin of mine (but most of all: a good friend) for completing his studies and becoming an engineer. Yesterday's celebration (and the start of today) was surely filled with unexpected turns (at least for me). Well done man.
Chapter #115: Day of the Finals
Title Page: the stairs: Kai is reaching the top, right behind him stands Kumiko, resting her hands on her knees, Kusari is sitting on one of the steps lower, his back turned towards the "audience", Ibuki stopped beside him, taking a sip from a bottle of water and Takaru is even lower, sitting calmly on a balustrade
"Welcome, Gaara-dono," Kakashi greeted the red-haired man that just entered his lounge, taking the seat next to the Leaf's Hokage. The Hidden Sand leader merely nodded in acknowledgement, not allowing any trace of emotion to appear on his face. Besides the two, there were a few other people, occupying the rest of the throne-like chairs, all put in a straight line with one next to the other. The masked, Sharingan user sat at the middle, with the Kazekage taking the place to his right.
Gaara's eyes shifter further right, noticing a young woman that sat beside him. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties with long, purple hair, clipped in a ponytail and two bangs falling on the sides of her face. Her green eyes caught the redhead's gaze as he examined her violet outfit with black leg guards and metal protectors covering her arms. She winked to the Sand's leader, but the Kazekage's face remained motionless, even though his heart seemed to skip a beat.
After that, his glance went to Hokage's left, where two more people sat. First was a man with a headgear that covered his short, brown hair and cast a shadow on his teal eyes. He wore a black t-shirt with a grey vest on it and pants in matching color. He had several scrolls hanging around his belt and seven wooden umbrellas attached to his back. He made nothing of Gaara's judgmental gaze and kept on staring down at the arena before those gathered.
The last person was also a man, though much older than any of them. His long, grey hair was clipped in a ponytail, but some of it was falling freely on the sides of his head. His left eye was completely white, with a scar going across it, while his right one was green. He wore a grey robe with wide sleeves, which were now folded up, thus revealing the man's right hand was wrapped in a chain, while the left seemed to hide a root beneath the skin. But regardless, the redhead's attention was driven to something else…
"I notice that two seats are empty," Gaara finally spoke up, settling his gaze at Kakashi.
The Sixth Hokage didn't look at him though, as a calm response left his mouth, "The Takigakure leader is excused for injury. And when it comes to the Hidden Grass representative… he simply refused to come…"
The redhead's expression didn't change, but as he asked another question, a note of surprise could be caught in his voice: "But from the information I was given, there will be four grass-nin participating in this phase. It's quite strange for the leader to not appear in these circumstances, especially since Kusa is not all that famous. This predicament is a great opportunity for them to advertise themselves. What reason could there be to not come?"
"Hidden Grass' new leader is pretty young, Gaara-chan," the woman announced with a playful smile. "Even younger than myself. Who knows what thoughts float in his mind? Don't let that bother you and just enjoy the show," she added.
At this point the older man spoke up with a somewhat annoyed tone: "You're really too carefree, Satsuki-dono. Your village will have two representatives and yet you came. Heck, Genmei-dono's and my own only have one and we showed up regardless. As village leaders, it's our duty. I do not think it's very trustworthy of Fugo to ignore it…"
The last person, the man with a headgear, didn't respond in any way. He just cast a quick glance at the speaker and then shifted back to the arena, awaiting the beginning of the final exam in silence.
--A little earlier, outside the stadium--
"Well, this is it," Ibuki announced as she and her teammates reached the entrance to the arena. "You guys better do your best, coz I'll be cheering for you from the stands. Good luck."
With that, she bid them farewell, leaving for the main gate of the stadium. As she disappeared from their view, Kai turned towards Kusari, asking the question that was floating in his mind since they met up on the bridge few minutes earlier.
"Where's your chain? No offense, but after seeing you fight during our assault on the Tanken estate, I must say that you suck without it."
"There's no need for you to worry about that," the chain master replied calmly with an evil smirk appearing beneath his nose. "I have that covered…"
As those words sunk in, another familiar voice reached their ears: "You better; otherwise I'll be greatly disappointed if I let just a weakling, that'd lose in his first match, enter the final exam…"
As they turned in the direction it came from, they was a team of grass-nin heading their way, with Hizoku out front. The speaker turned out to be Taka, whose mask hid an annoying smirk. The redhead on the other hand offered the four a warm smile as he spoke up. "So, you guys are ready for this?" he asked, settling his eyes on the young blonde as a worried expression crossed his face.
"Just you wait, I'm gonna kick that scythe guy's butt in an instant and then it'll be your turn!" Kai responded confidently, pointing his finger at Hizoku, only making a smile return on the redhead's face. Kumiko, however, was skeptical.
"You shouldn't take your fight lightly. That sand-nin is most likely the worst opponent in the whole event. Winning against him won't be easy. Stay on your guard." And with that, Taka left them as the rest walked through the door, entering the stadium.
Hanamaru stuffed his mouth with more chips, crunching them between his teeth, while Kogane observed him, sweat dropping. The blonde then turned right, where Rei was sitting, or more specifically – sitting with her legs stretched out front and loud, snoring noises escaping her lips. "You guys suck!" the young alchemist finally broke, her eyes turning pupil-less.
"Quality time with your teammates, I see," Senkou's voice made her look over her shoulder, noticing three of Hinata's subordinates sitting down just one row behind her. "But, seeing how she acts, it makes me wonder why she even bothered to come," the masked genin announced, glancing over at the seat the lazy girl was occupying, still sound asleep.
"Umm, Kogane-san, are you sure you should be here?" Mikka asked the blonde worriedly as she took the chair left to the silver-haired boy. "Your injury was quite serious. I heard your body suffered internal damage. It may not be safe for you to…"
But she never got to finish that sentence as the alchemist quickly interrupted her with a warm smile. "Two of my teammates are going to participate. It'd be inappropriate of me to not show up." As silence fell between them, it got instantly broken by the blonde kunoichi, who added with a devious smirk. "And I couldn't let Takaru-kun down…"
"Too bad, you were this close to sounding cool," Senkou responded, while another voice reached his ears.
"Sorry, it this seat taken?" Ibuki asked Mikka, settling down next to the young medic. At seeing this, Kogane merely smiled, resting her chin on the back of her chair.
"Seems that all Konoha rookies are here as well. I wonder…"
"They're coming out," Tsume interrupted her, pointing at the arena below, where a group of young ninja entered, walking towards the center of their future battlefield. Everyone's eyes turned to the participants, who stopped upon reaching the place Lee was standing. Kai looked around; all the elimination winners seemed to be there: two girls from Tsuki, the bald axeman who fought Kusari and Ibuki in the Forest of Death, the boy with scars from Hidden Rain, the fat Taki genin, the team of elder genin from their village, Funbo included, Hizoku and his companions, other Leaf rookies, and the sand-nin, most of all Takai.
Takaru took this opportunity to look around their soon-to-be battlefield: it was a wide arena with few trees and bushes here and there, along with a pond a little to east of the center. Tall white walls reached the sky, dividing the fighters from the audience and on one lounge the son of Tsunade spotted village leaders, observing them closely.
"I suppose it's time to begin," Kakashi muttered, picking himself up from his seat. The Sixth Hokage gathered air in his lungs and then spoke up as loud as he could, quickly gathering everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, to start off I'd like to thank you all for coming here today to witness the final phase of the Chuunin Selection Exam! In a moment, the thirty two participants that stand below in the arena will enter the last test that'll determine whether they'll get promoted or not! I hope you'll all enjoy the show and cheer for all of our young warriors!" And with that, claps echoed in the stadium as anxiety rose.
"Okay, please calm your youthful spirit just a little longer," Lee asked, making all genin gaze at him. "Before we start, I have few last words to say. In case you're not aware of that fact, this exam has the same rules as eliminations, meaning that there are none, although the battlefield differs. The loser is whoever dies, forfeits, or loses consciousness and if I'll decide the fight is over; I'll step in to stop it from progressing. Clear thus far?" Upon receiving nods from most of the participants (A/N: Takai ignored the question all together and Reiji simply stated that only a complete moron would not understand), he went on: "I hope you remember who you're fighting with...Now, will everyone, besides the first two fighters, please move onto the platform?" All of the young ninja complied. Kai and Takai were the only ones left.
"That blonde is Naruto's student, right?" Kankuro asked his sister as they sat in the stands, waiting for the test to begin.
Temari merely nodded with a worried expression showing on her face. "Yeah… he's almost like a mirror image of that dope. If he's at least half as stubborn, then this match can end pretty badly for him. Takai… he seems to have his eyes set on that boy…"
"You shouldn't worry about Kai," a sudden voice made them look to the side, where Naruto appeared out of nowhere. "When I stood there for the first time, few gave me any chance fighting Neji and I still won. This past month, Kai surely didn't slack off. I wouldn't bet my money on Takai, because you might just lose it." A devilish smile crossed his face, while his eyes set on his blonde subordinate.
"This guy's the teammate of Teela's chain boy," Tasuki noticed as he and the Chishio twins settled on their seats in the crowd. Very similar thoughts ran through Hogosha's head, who found a place at the opposite side of the stadium. He glanced over at Futatsu, who merely narrowed his eyes, yet said nothing. The tension was also sensed by Naginata, but the redhead kunoichi decided to ignore it and just chewed on her popcorn.
"It's that brat with Kage Bunshin," Nazaa noted in his mind, while his teammates chattered loudly about something. "This could be interesting," he added as a tiny smile appeared on his face. All around everyone began to settle down, sensing that the show was about to start. Even Shita and the rest of the Waterfall-nin froze, anxious for the match to begin.
"First match: Haisha Kai from Konoha against Takai from Suna!" Lee announced loudly, raising his hand, as Kai narrowed his eyes, settling them on Takai. The stands remained silent, as the two genin held their breaths, waiting for the signal to start. The Leaf's Green Beast froze for a moment and then dropped his hand instantly…
"BEGIN!"
--And so the battle begins--
And thus the chapter (along with the double update) is done. Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review before finishing. It'd really mean a lot. There's not much to say anymore, but just to stay on the safe side, below I'm placing the list of genin that participated in the Chuunin Exams (Yuki team is absent, coz they're already gone and since none of Kumori shinobi made it to the final exam, I left them out too): in italics are the names of people who didn't win in the eliminations and are only present at the stadium to cheer for their teammates. And after that the match-up of the Final Exam, just so you won't have to go to chapter 102 to look it up:
KONOHA: Kumiko Murasakki, Ibuki Tanken, Takaru Gekido, Kusari Hagane, Kai Haisha
KONOHA: Mikka Igaku, Tsume Inuzuka, Kokoro Benda, Senkou Hatake, Galu Kobushi
KONOHA: Rei Konpaku, Kogane Rikoteki, Toku Amagasa, Kitsune Debano, Hanamaru Gusoku
KONOHA: Taki Hamano, Hitomi Hyuuga, Akira Manako, Funbo Tanken, Horohoro
SUNA: Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Takai, Tarakudo
SUNA: Hari, Sabaku no Sabure, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame
KUSA: Tobane Hokku, Nezumi Kanraku, Taka Kuchibashi, Tokame Kyohaku, Hizoku Wanabi
AME: Youji Kasano, Karei Nokogiri, Ryo Eshaku, Tsuino Furikuzu, Nazaa Hebereke
TAKI: Kawa Azarashi, Miaka Tora, Tetsu Abura, Shita Makko, Kasui Rein (dead)
TSUKI: Teela Juusei, Tenka, Kumo Chishio, Nobu Chishio, Tasuki Kihako
KANE: Naginata, Reiji Ono, Futatsu, Hogosha, Sentou (absent, went back to Kane for recovery)
Fight 1: Haisha Kai (1) vs. Takai (2)
Fight 2: Ono Reiji (3) vs. Wanabi Hizoku (4)
Fight 3: Abura Tetsu (5) vs. Tanken Funbo (6)
Fight 4: Honemaru (7) vs. Gekido Takaru (8)
Fight 5: Benda Kokoro (9)vs. Horamaru (10)
Fight 6: Furikuzu Tsuino (11) vs. Tarakudo (12)
Fight 7: Manako Akira (13) vs. Dekai (14)
Fight 8: Hyuuga Hitomi (15) vs. Tenka (16)
Fight 9: Hokku Tobane (17) vs. Sabaku no Sabure (18)
Fight 10: Murasakki Kumiko (19) vs. Debano Kitsune (20)
Fight 11: Junsei Teela (21) vs. Kanraku Nezumi (22)
Fight 12: Horohoro (23) vs. Hagane Kusari (24)
Fight 13: Aoru (25) vs. Hamano Taki (26)
Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)
Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)
Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)
And this truly concludes the double update. In a moment the side story I promised will be submitted as well and that'll end the extra update completely. Hope you had fun reading this and that I'll read your reviews for future chapters as well.
Until next time!