They had left early, Hasuka eating her breakfast of a bowl of steamed rice and tamagoyaki, a rolled egg omelet on the way. The trio walked at a semi-leisurely pace, not in any particular hurry but still walking with a purpose in mind.
Only a few minutes after their arrival at this particular school's training field number 3, the rest of her team appeared through the foliage. Unlike her, no guardian was there to watch over them during their training session.
Hasuka glanced up at Sanchin and Saifa, a little anxious about meeting these new people. Without meeting her eyes, the pair gently pushed her foreword, urging her onward. Cautiously approaching the indifferent pair, she muttered a "Hello," in greeting.
"Hi..." The boy on the left mutters. The green haired boy on the right nudges him with his elbow and they share a glance before he introduces himself.
"My name is Asoka and this is my twin brother, Emoda," the latter gives an awkward wave, seemingly unused to interaction as she was. "You're Hasuka right? We've heard a bit about you. Is it true that you can use your body's energy in place of chakra?" Asoka asks, much more interested in this girl than his twin.
She nods faintly, wondering just how exactly they had known that. It wasn't exactly common knowledge that she could do so, even in training she barely used it, saving it for dreams and the few minutes she could spare at the end of the day.
"How old are you again? We're 13 ourselves."
"8," Hasuka mutters, more than shocked at their age gap.
"And you're taking the exams?" Emoda harshly butts in. "Hopefully you can at least pull your own weight."
"I'm sure she can, Emoda," his friendlier brother chides.
"Why don't we have a few friendly fights to see how you feel against each other?" Saifa suggests.
With a unanimous agreement, the twins take up a position opposite of Hasuka so they make a triangle, each point facing in towards the center. On Saifa's command, the 2-on-1 fight begins, Asoka beginning to walk towards her like there wasn't any battle at all.
"There are three ways we fight, depending on the opponent and situation," he begins. "If it's both of us against one, I'm the close fighter who goes in with no sign of attacking."
After saying so, he grins, continuing his steady pace across the grass, his silent brother watching the exchange from a distance. "It is often unnerving for an opponent to get up-close and personal with an attacker, even if they are a taijutsu fighter."
Hasuka understands what he's saying very acutely. The knowledge that they are in a fight and her natural instinct is clashing with the rational part of her brain that isn't detecting any particular danger. Slowly, she draws her hair sticks, gripping the familiar weight and feeling comforted by the Garoma charms that swing against her wrists.
"Don't worry Hasuka..." Asoka murmurs, the words sounding louder than they should have. "Could you really have beaten us anyway?"
She tries to respond but for some reason, no sound comes out. "Magics of the body can take you far, but the mazes of the mind are where the most damage can be done. Let's see the mazes that you like the best..."
The world around Hasuka melted away in the blink of an eye, replaced with a village covered with sand and fire. "Interesting..." Asoka mutters. "Did you know that clarity comes through fire? Fire bakes sand into glass, revealing what's on the other side. I shall find what's on the other side of you-"
"Asoka," Emoda cuts him off, appearing beside his brother. "Her parents are calling for you to cease your jutsu and release her."
"Do I have to...?" He whines, "I was just having a little fuuuun." No sooner had he said so, than the fire around them grew almost sentient in movement, slowly creeping it's way towards the trio.
"Come on," Emoda demands grabbing his brother by the ear. To Hasuka's eyes, he releases a breath, and a significant amount of chakra compared to before, to take them back to the clearing where they had started.
"Genjutsu," the silent brother offers as an explanation. "I'm more of the attack head on type of guy whereas he goes more of a roundabout to take down opponents." Komura nods in understanding, still not quite all there.
Clarity? She thought, the other's words making mazes of their own inside her head. What was he talking about? Did he know something about the death of her village? What could be known other than that two ninjas destroying it for some economic gain in this war?
Or was there something that she didn't know that he was hinting at? Who were these people, to go inside her head and memories and make her like this? A snapping of fingers drew Hasuka out of her inner conflict and back to the conversation at hand.
"Emoda," her guardians call. "How about a fight between you and Komura, since the outcome of Asoka's and Hasuka's battle has been decided." Asoka nods, moving away to stand with them, leaving the space open for a much more entertaining battle.
Emoda releases a sigh before dropping his weight backwards and bringing his hands up. Swiftly unsheathing a kunai from a pouch situated on his hip, he takes up a fighting position. Hasuka mimics him, matching his lunging stance with the sticks gripped tightly in her palms.
A moment passes where the only sound is the rustle of leaves through the trees and the whisper of the slight shifting of clothing. Seeing that he would not attack first, decides to, focusing energy into her eyes as she leaps forewords.
To avoid her jump, Emoda shifts his weight, spinning around in a complete circle and bringing the kunai up to glide across Hasuka's back. It wasn't a deep cut, but the sting from the sweat posting down her back was enough to pause her movements.
He fishes out another knife as she turns around, bringing both of the weapons down upon her frame. Hasuka meets him halfway however, crossing her hair sticks in the opposite direction while strengthening the wood with a cover of energy.
Visibly, she could see the metal cut into the shield, yet not enough force was used to touch the wood itself. A brief glimpse of his next attack allowed her to block an incoming kick, raising her own limb to collect the force. Hasuka slid her leg back down onto the ground and pushed Emoda's backwards while he was off-balance.
He tipped backwards, futilely swinging to hit her even as the distance between the two widened. Nimbly, her fingers stretched the shield over the sticks into a line which she used to wrap around his neck. Their shadows, should they have existed at the noonday time, would have reflected what everyone else saw, Hasuka, gripping onto what appeared to be nothing, while Emoda was strangled at an angle by a limp hairstick.
"Stop!" Asoka called angrily, rushing over to catch his brother. "The battle's over!" Immediately, she let go of the invisible string and the weapons dropped to the ground without a sound. Sanchin and Saifa remained silent, preferring their own thoughts to those of the younger brother.
"Are you alright?!" He asked the shaken Emoda, who gave no response other than deep breathing. "What did you do to him?!"
"I won," Hasuka replies, unconcerned.
"You almost killed him!"
"And you invaded my privacy, so what's the problem?"
"Ugh how could-"
"Now now, settle down," Saifa calmly chides. "You guys will have to learn to work past your differences and problems if you are to win the Chunin Exams."
"I agree," Hasuka adds with a nod. Emoda regained a stable condition, awaking from his forced slumber as Asoka schooled his features with difficulty. He still wasn't happy with her at all, but revenge would have to wait.
Emoda coughed, gently holding his throat as he sat up. Looking up into Hasuka's eyes, he beheld a fierce light to match the stony face. Whatever Asoka had showed her in his genjutsu must have triggered something within her.
What had even happened? One second he was falling backwards and the next he wasn't falling but being held at an angle by some invisible force. It had used his own body weight to choke him.
His mind still reeling, Emoda missed the conversation between the four others, and was only brought away from his thoughts by Asoka.
"You are okay right?" He asked, gently shaking his twin with worry in his eyes. Emoda nods, still calming his racing heartbeat.
"Can we be done for the day? I'm not feeling so great..." He pleads, shakily standing up. With the adults consent, Emoda and Asoka retreat from them, leaving his two kunai behind.
"Wonderful job dear," Sanchin praises.
"And what a pleasant surprise to see your fight after what was surely a damaging encounter with the former battle." Saifa adds.
Hasuka practically glows at the words of praise, sending out her energy to collect her hair sticks once more. She notices, on the ground, the pair of kunai that Emoda had dropped and forgotten to retrieve after their fight.
"May I keep them?" She asks her guardians, leaning down to grab them.
"I don't see why not," Saifa answers. "It's not like he could use them well enough anyway." Hasuka grins, that smile turning into a wince. In the results of the battle, she had forgotten about the thin line carved into her back.
For the time being, she closed her eyes, focusing on drawing the energy out of her eyes and through the veins, into her back. Very carefully, she inserted the energy into the skin and white blood cells, effectively closing up the gap. She would have to have another shirt ordered, but that was a trifling matter at this point.
"You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Sanchin questions, looking at Hasuka from every angle. To which she replies with a "Nope," popping the "p" in a childlike manner. "Good, let's get you home for an early dinner, and then we can prepare some exercises for tomorrow's group practice."
"I can't wait," she replies. 'And thank you Garoma' she adds in her mind, sending a silent message to the sleeping raccoon.
Killing was almost easy now, almost effortless. The woods of the wilderness danced to his every tune, yet there was someone who was able to outsmart Akino on the battlefield. Even as he chased the blonde-headed Konoha soldier, he vanished before his eyes.
He wore the symbol of a snake upon his forehead protector, but in the speed of war, it wasn't a noticeable difference from others. His master had determined his training ready enough to be put to use on the field, and so here he was.
If grasses strangles a man, he moved on to the next. If trees shredded limbs from bodies, he danced in the blood. It came to the point where he was almost drunk on bloodlust. Yet there was always the one Ninja.
He glided in and out of existence, killing just as many as he did, with significantly less effort. For his abilities were limited in that he could run out of energy. The Yellow Flash however, used almost no chakra with his teleportation at all, so he had the upper hand.
A few dangerous face-offs had almost spelled out his doom against the much older foe. Still, he refused to be beaten, especially by a Konoha Ninja. His master had supposedly come from there, which only fueled his reason for war against them.
They had not agreed with his master's ideals, so he had gone rogue. In doing so, his power had increased exponentially. The Konoha Ninja followed a society that was keeping them oppressed, and the only fulfillment of strength could be found in following the path which allowed you the freedom to do what you wanted.