Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"I get it," the other two said before Hisuke severed the connection. If Itachi was right, he wanted to conserve Chakra.
Karin watched the team carefully. They've figured it out, she thought. And they all know because Hisuke connected their minds as only he and Yorusuke can do.
Chapter 6 – The Second Exam
"One minute!" Kiba called out. Itachi, Hisuke and Hotaru tensed. "OK... Time's up!" Before he had even finished his sentence the hidden Jounin had attacked with frightening speed. Itachi and his teammates reacted with equal speed, grouping together in a strategical position. Hiroshi's team reacted almost as fast, as did Kei's. Both of them had inherited their father's intelligence, so they'd figured it out, too. Most of the other teams grouped together within fifteen seconds – those that didn't fell victim to the attacking Jounin. Itachi saw his older sister amongst the Jounin and smiled grimly. He knew her strengths and weaknesses. He was tempted to challenge her, but resisted the urge – that would be suicide. He needn't have worried. She made her way towards him, along with Karin. Hotaru took on her mother, while Itachi took on his elder sister. Her Sharingan was no match for his, however, and she soon backed off, choosing easier prey. It was the same with Hotaru – she managed to drive away her mother. Hisuke had been guarding their backs. All three were barely breathing hard – they had incredible stamina. Kiba was overseeing the fight.
"Suna, squad 2 – you fail! Iwa, squad 5 – fail! Suna, squad 1 – fail!" he shouted as teams failed to meet his expectations. "Konoha 3 – fail! Ame 4 – fail! Kumo 6 – fail! Kusa 1 – fail! Taki 2 – fail!" Soon he began to pass squads as well. "Konoha 2 – pass!" Itachi sighed in relief, but didn't let down his guard. "Suna 5 – fail! Kumo 2 – pass! Konoha 1 – pass! Taki 1 – fail! Suna 3 – pass! Kumo 1 – fail!" Eventually, there were twenty teams left. Seven from Konohagakure, four from Sunagakure, three from Kumogakure, two from Kirigakure, one from Takigakure, one from Iwagakure, one from Amegakure and one from Yami. Kiba looked at them all in surprise.
"I never thought that so many of you would still be here," he admitted. "Well done!" Akamaru barked in agreement. "Now, because we're so very kind, we're going to give you five minutes to recover before your next exam." No-one complained, even though it was outrageous. The Jounin were too harsh to even consider lengthening the time.
"Are you injured, Ita-kun?" Hotaru asked. He shook his head. "Hisuke?" He too shook his head. "Good."
Itachi grinned.
"So, what twists are they going to hit us with this time?" he wondered out loud, lying back on the grass, keeping his Sharingan activated. His teammates shrugged.
"We'll probably be in the Forest of Death again," Hisuke reasoned. "After all, it is the most dangerous training ground." Itachi nodded.
"If we have to sleep out there, I think that two of us should always be on watch," he said. "After all, these guys aren't going to be pushovers." Hotaru and Hisuke nodded in agreement.
"That sounds sensible," Hisuke commented. "I guess you're right, as usual." Just then, the wolf-like boy from earlier sauntered over to them.
"Uchiha Itachi - am I right?" he asked. Itachi nodded warily. "I am Ookami Kurai." Itachi gazed at him emotionlessly, taking in the Yami ninja's amber eyes and wolf grey hair. What does he want? he wondered suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Kurai was inspecting Itachi, taking in the Sharingan and his shoulder length raven hair. Why do I think he's popular with the girls? Before either of them could say anything more, Kiba shouted.
"OK! Resting time's over, follow us!" He and Akamaru led the way to... the 44th battle training zone, AKA the Forest of Death.
"You guys have all seen this place before, so I don't need to describe the terrain," Tenten said, stepping up. "The rules are the same as the Chuunin exam – there are none extra. You'll each be given either an Earth scroll or a Heaven scroll and you've got to complete the set," she continued. The Chuunin all nodded. They remembered the rules – or rather, lack of rules. "Alright then, pick a gate and let's get ready!" The teams did so and were soon standing at different gates. Itachi's team was gate sixteen.
"You get an Earth scroll," the Jounin at the gate told them, handing the blue scroll to Itachi, who pocketed it without a word.
"Strike during the day, rest at night," he then murmured to his teammates, who nodded.
"Your five days starts now!" the examiners said in unison, opening the gates. Slowly, Itachi's team entered the twenty kilometre area.
"Let's find somewhere to set up camp," Hisuke suggested. "If we avoid moving around too much and wait for them to come to us then we save energy." His teammates nodded in agreement and they set off to find the stream. They found it with little difficulty and sat up camp a short distance away from it. Sitting down in a circle, facing outwards, the team stayed silent, not doing anything that might alert enemies to their position.
They remained unmoving for hours, determined not to be noticed, only very occasionally stretching so that they didn't cramp up. Eventually, night set in and they had a short debate about who would sleep first.
"You're constantly using Chakra," Hotaru said to Itachi. "You should get some sleep before you're completely drained. We'll wake you in three hours." She wouldn't take no for an answer so Itachi lay down and quickly fell asleep.
"Itachi's so lucky," Hisuke said, glancing at their sleeping comrade. "He can sleep anywhere, anytime."
Hotaru nodded.
"I know. That's why I made him get some sleep first. Not only is he lowest on Chakra at the moment, he can recuperate quickly as he falls asleep quickly."
Hisuke smiled.
"I knew there was logic to your argument, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten your way just know – but let's be quiet, we're supposed to be lookouts."
Hotaru nodded and fell silent, watching and staying alert for anyone who might have been approaching. Her hours of watch passed without incident and she shook Itachi awake at the designated time. He got up quickly and activated his Sharingan. Once she was satisfied that he was awake, she lay down and quickly fell asleep. Hisuke glanced at Itachi, noticing that the watch had changed and that Itachi was on full alert. Suddenly, they both tensed as someone approached and shook awake their female teammate. She scowled, but when she saw that her teammates were tensed up, she tracked down the intruders' Chakra signals. Her eyes widened and her teammates looked at her inquiringly. She held up three fingers – there were three of them, then interlaced her fingers – their private signal for Jounin. Itachi smiled grimly. So this is the twist, he thought. There's some Jounin in here and they attack us while we're sleeping. The three Jounin suddenly appeared with a hail of kunai, which the three Chuunin dodged or blocked with ease. Looking at their assailants, it wasn't hard to recognise them. The large, ginger-haired one was Juugo, the red-haired kunoichi was Karin and the silver-haired Jounin was none other than their perverted sensei. They'd been ambushed by arguably the most dangerous team – the widely renowned and feared 'Sound Squad', so named because they originally hailed from Otogakure. The only team that were as renowned as them were 'Team Seven' because all its members had been trained by a member of the legendary Sannin, of which only Lady Tsunade was still alive.
"You anticipated us," Suigetsu commented. Itachi chuckled.
"No, our strategy was a precaution against the other Chuunin that might try to attack us while we slept. I had no idea they would send Jounin after us," he admitted. "We only noticed you because you made as much noise as a herd of elephants."
Karin glared.
"As impudent as ever, I see," she said. "You are so like your father." It was Itachi's turn to glare.
Now where have I heard that before? he wondered. Only from everyone I meet who knows Dad, he realised, annoyed. Was he really so similar to his father? He scowled.
"Are you going to attack? Or are we going to stand around chatting?" he asked coolly.
"Eager, aren't we?" his sensei asked.
"Not really, I just know that that's what you came to do," Itachi replied.
"Fine," Karin said. Hotaru started to form seals, and a split second later her mother formed similar handsigns. Itachi sighed before forming some seals of his own. It didn't help that his sensei knew most if his jutsu – but then again, it was the same in reverse as well. Drawing his Katana, he held it at the ready. Once his Chakra had built up to the required level, he channelled it along his blade in a technique that his father had shown him recently. Suigetsu grinned and drew his Executioner's Blade.
"Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana, huh?" he said over the telltale sound of birds chirping. Inwardly, he was seething. Damn it, my blade can't stop an attack from Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana – I don't recall him ever using that before; he must have mastered it recently. Dropping his blade, the water ninja made a series of handsigns, all of which Itachi read and recognised.
"Suiton: Suikōdan no Jutsu!" A pool of water appeared and a shark emerged, diving at the young Uchiha.
"Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!" his daughter shouted, forming the final handsign in the technique. A massive wall of earth formed in front of Itachi, absorbing the attack. Similar defences protected Hisuke and Hotaru, buying them some time. "We don't have long, Ita-kun! Hisuke!" she shouted. "Mum's doing a counter attack!" Hisuke grinned and formed handseals of his own.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" he said, aiming towards Juugo. His mind slipped into the giant and he promptly took control of his actions. Firstly, he threw a kunai at Karin, forcing her to stop her counter measure. Then, gritting his teeth, he drew a kunai along Juugo's throat. The wound wasn't deep enough to kill, but it successfully immobilised the Jounin. His mind slipped back into its own body, unharmed. That was his unique ability. He could slip his mind into an opponent and take control of their actions, but because his soul stayed where it was, whatever happened to the host's body didn't affect him, so it was a perfect assassination technique (unlike the Yamanaka clan, he didn't slip his SOUL into a person, just his mind). He regained control of his body just before Karin countered her daughter's defences. Before Itachi could react, Suigetsu slashed at him with his massive blade. Itachi cursed and jumped out the way, striking with his katana as he did so. Karin threw some kunai at him, which he caught on his arm guards. He sent a Chidori Nagashi her way, which temporarily paralysed her. With a kick he knocked her out. Then there was just his sensei left. He swung his Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana, which darted around Suigetsu's larger and clumsier sword to strike his sensei's sword arm. Suigetsu cursed as his arm went numb and he dropped his blade. He was defenceless and they all knew it. Because Itachi had injured his arm, he couldn't make handsigns or use effective taijutsu. It was Hotaru who struck the final blow, showering him with miniature versions of Doton: Doryō Dango and rendering him unconscious. Something white caught Itachi's attention and he extracted a scroll from Juugo's pocket. It was a Heaven Scroll.
"I see," he said.
"What?" Hisuke asked. Itachi showed him the scroll.
"All the candidates have been given Earth Scrolls – and the various Jounin that are in the forest have Heaven Scrolls, so we'll fight each other and cut down our numbers when really the people we ought to be attacking are the Jounin. Very clever. Almost no-one would be able to figure that out," Itachi explained.
"Tell us that later. We weren't exactly quiet just now – everyone's going to be headed this way," Hotaru said. "The best thing for us to do is get to the tower quickly before we get attacked. Besides, we don't want to be here when these three wake up."
"You're right," Itachi realised. "We have to get to safety and fast – but who can say that the tower's safe? This is a Jounin exam, remember, not a Chuunin. My uncle told me that we must never let down our guard, or we'll be caught out. I think we should go to the tower, but not enter it, and then decide what to do next." His teammates nodded in agreement and they set off, keeping a careful eye out for traps.
"Itachi!" Hotaru whispered suddenly. "There's a pair of squads up ahead." Itachi thought for a moment.
"Let's go and see what they're up to – if they fight then we'll be able to see their style in case we have to fight them later," he whispered. The other two nodded and they carefully made their way to where the two teams were. When they got close enough, they stopped and looked at the two opposing teams. One was from Suna, the other, Taki.
"Surrender your scroll or die!" a Taki ninja said. He was met with glares.
"How about, I kill you and we take your scroll?" a small, redhead Suna ninja asked. He had a gourd on his back. The Taki ninja scoffed and attacked. A stream of sand blocked the strangely shaped kunai. The other Suna ninjas grinned.
"You made a big mistake when you challenged Mamoru," the other shinobi on the team told the Taki ninja. They scoffed.
"Yeah right, go home to your mummy," one said rudely.
"My mummy is dead," the Suna shinobi retorted.
"Cool it, Taro," the Suna kunoichi said, glaring at the opposing shinobi.
"Whatever, Usagi," he replied. The kunoichi scowled at him.
"Let Mamoru deal with them. They got on his nerves so they're going to pay. Well, we warned them," she said. The redhead, Mamoru, smiled cruelly.
"Time to die," he said. The surrounding sand rushed towards the unfortunate Taki ninja. "Sabaku Kyū!" The sand smothered the three of them, killing them instantly. "Taro, Usagi, there are others nearby," the sand-wielder said. Itachi signalled for his team to back up. They did so and were soon running towards the tower.
There is so much déjà vu in this chapter. Sorry. There's more coming up in future chapters as well, but it will differ from the Chuunin Exams, I promise!
Thanks for reading!
Tsari