(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Twenty First Chapter everyone is forced to compete in a 1v1 preliminary match before being allowed to take the Third part of the exam. In the Sixth match Sakura of the Leaf defeated Yamashita of the Stone. The Chunin Exams continue! What will be the outcome? I love feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave a review so I can improve my writing and storytelling skills. Enjoy!)
"That was an amazing match, Sakura!" exclaims Kenta.
"Thanks a lot, Kenta. I worked really hard to perfect my Jutsu," she replies, blushing vehemently.
"You certainly earned your victory, Sakura," says Kayo as she rubs her student's shoulders.
"Thanks a lot, Sensei. I couldn't have gotten the chakra control down without your training," she responds.
"It looks like Team 3 is two for two," comments Jando.
"I guess that means we have to win our matches, Kenta," sighs Ichimaru.
"Yeah, I almost forgot we still have to fight," admits Kenta, "But everyone left is so strong."
"Have some more confidence, Kenta," encourages Yoshikuni, patting his student's back, "You are strong in your own way."
"Yeah, I guess you are right, Sensei," replies the boy.
"Sakura, you should sit down now," suggests Kuroda, "If you don't you will probably pass out from using up too much of your chakra."
"I do feel a little light-headed," admits Sakura as she puts her back against the wall and slides down into a seated position and shuts her eyes.
"I guess she used more chakra than she thought," comments Ichimaru.
"Sakura is not one to give up easily," replies Kuroda, "Once she sets her mind to something she doesn't quit until she reaches her goal."
"I guess that is what it takes to be a chunin," responds Ichimaru.
"Is she going to be all right, Sensei?" asks Kenta, concern showing on his face.
"She is just exhausted from her match," explains Kayo, "Besides, you should be focusing on yourself."
"Kayo is correct," adds Yoshikuni, "You need to focus."
"Sorry, Sensei," says Kenta.
"Is she really going to be okay?" whispers Jando, putting his hand by his mouth so only his Sensei can hear.
"She should be fine after a while," replies Kayo, "She just needs a little rest."
"Finally showing concern for someone else, Jando?" mocks Kuroda.
"Just be quiet," replies Jando harshly.
"Wait a minute, what are you doing?" asks the boy wrapped in bandages, being carried out of the room.
"We're taking you to the medical area to treat your injuries," replies one of the Medical Ninja carrying him.
"Healing my wounds can wait until later. Take me back up to the rafters," demands Yamashita.
"But your wounds are serious, they need to be tended to immediately," counters the Medical Ninja.
"I don't care about my injuries, I need to watch the rest of the matches," responds Yamashita.
"I'm sorry, sir, I cannot allow that," insists the Medical Ninja.
Yamashita starts to move around and get out of the stretcher.
"What are you doing?" exclaims the Medical Ninja.
"I told you already, I need to see the rest of the matches," explains Yamashita as he wills himself to stand up, "If you are not going to take me there I will do it myself."
He stumbles over to the stairs and struggles up, leaning heavily on the railing. After a few hard steps abruptly a portion of his weight is taken from him. "Thank you, Hoshi," he says. She slips under his arm and helps support him up the rest of the steps.
"You are supposed to be the smart one, Yamashita," says Hoshi, "You're just going to make your injuries worse. What are you doing?"
"That should be obvious," replies Yamashita, "Our team is the only one who can properly recognize when Kuroda uses that Jutsu. Naga is incompetent, plus he might be in a match with the guy. So that leaves me as the only one who is qualified."
"Aren't you forgetting about someone?" she asks.
"Do you really want me to say it?" responds Yamashita.
"Say what?" she asks.
"You are scared shitless of the guy. You can't even look at him. And when we were near him earlier you could not stop yourself from shaking. I can still smell the urine from when you pissed yourself," whispers Yamashita.
"I didn't think anyone noticed," admits Hoshi, shamefully staring at the ground.
"All of the Jonins noticed, and so did your father," he reveals, "It is nothing to be ashamed of, especially at your age. Being afraid of a dangerous person is smart, it will keep you alive longer. Anyways, Sensei already informed me that the Tsuchikage ordered me to stay and watch his match no matter what happened, so I have to do it."
"I'm sorry, Yamashita," says Hoshi when they reach the top of the stairs and stop for a breather.
"I would have done it regardless of whether it was an order," he replies.
"Are you two on a date?" jokes Naga when they arrive.
Hoshi blushes and Yamashita ignores the remark asking, "Why hasn't the next match started yet?"
"Tatsuki seems to be in one of her moments of deep thought," comments Chiasa.
"You look like crap," says Naga, "Shouldn't you been in the hospital ward?"
"Be quiet and prepare for your match," orders Yamashita.
Tatsuki finally starts the selection machine again, "Let's move on to the next match. It looks like this time the fighters are Rino Shigure and Kenta Akamichi. Please make your way down to the field quickly."
Kenta tells Ichimaru, "Man, there is no way I am gonna win. We already lost to the Rain Team back in the forest."
Ichimaru responds, "If you really don't want to compete you should just forfeit the match. That way you don't get injured further and we can move on with the rest of the matches." Kenta walks down to the battlefield still deciding what he should do.
Yoshikuni asks, "Why did you tell Kenta to give up?"
Ichimaru replies, "There is no point in going into a battle if you already know you're going to lose."
Yoshikuni inquires, "So you fought that guy in the Forest of Lost Souls?"
Ichimaru nods.
Rino and Kenta make their way to the center when Rino recognizes Kenta from the forest. "Well, well, I thought we left your team for dead in the forest. There must have been some pretty weak teams out there if you guys were able to get a scroll. Maybe my sister was right about killing you earlier, but no matter I can finish the job now," taunts Rino.
Kenta takes a big gulp of air and says, "I am Kenta Akamichi from the Hidden Leaf."
"Rino Shigure of the Hidden Rain," says his opponent.
Tatsuki says, "All right, you two, begin the match."
Rino starts out by grabbing his large umbrella off of his back and launching himself straight at Kenta. Kenta is barely able to roll out of the way of the attack. Rino charges again, but again Kenta rolls away to a safe distance. Rino prepares for another attack, but Kenta raises his hand and announces, "I surrender."
Rino launches his attack anyway. Tatsuki steps in and catches Rino's umbrella with a single hand.
Tatsuki warns Rino, "If you attack another opponent like that again I will disqualify you."
Rino just scoffs and says, "This was a waste of my time. I could have just stayed up there." Then he walks up back to where his sister is standing.
As Kenta makes his way back to the upper level Ichimaru starts to get worried and thinks, "Man, there are only four people left, and one of them is Kuroda. I don't want to have to fight my friend, especially after he helped me out in the forest."
Rame Tsu tells Shun, "Look at this; I'm the only female left. I'm gonna prove that female shinobi are superior to the males. So I will have to face Kuroda, Ichimaru, or that Rock Ninja. My brain tells me that I want to go against that Rock Ninja, because he seems like an easy win and I will be guaranteed to get into the next round. And I am curious to see a match between the Kuroda and Ichimaru. After all they are best friends. But my gut is telling me that Kuroda is the strongest ninja left, and if I want to prove myself I have to fight him."
"Well, your gut is wrong," states Shun.
"Really? You think Ichimaru is stronger?" asks Rame Tsu.
"No, that is not what I meant," explains Shun, "You said Kuroda is the strongest one left. But in reality he has been the strongest all along."
"What are you saying?" she asks.
"I am saying that ever since the start of these exams Kuroda has been the one on top. He has been one step ahead of everyone else the entire time. He is the one to beat, not Hara or Hoshi or even me," says Shun.
"Then maybe he should fight Ichimaru, so I can see what he truly is capable of," she replies.
Tousen states his opinion, "Some of the greatest battles ever have been between best friends. It means a lot more when you defeat someone who you have a deep connection with."
Kayo steps in and says, "That's not true, Tousen. The best battles are between those people that truly love each other."
Tousen declares, "Yes, yes, of course, you are right, Kayo. How could I forget about the power of love? Kayo, your beauty is only out shined by your wisdom."
"Sensei, you're so pathetic," grumbles Rame Tsu.
"So it is down to the last four," says Mari, running her hand through her green hair.
"Something wrong, Hara?" inquires the intimidated Masuma Shiranui.
"Yes, something is troubling me," reveals Hara.
"What is it?" asks Mari.
"I have been getting this strange feeling ever since these matches began," explains Hara, "Like something has been going on behind the scenes the entire time. And I think I just realized the source."
"So you noticed it too, did you?" asks Mazuma.
"What are you guys talking about?" asks Mari.
"That guy over there with the bangs," says Hara dipping his head towards the Leaf Ninja, "There is something going on with him."
"You mean the guy who made the scene at the first exam? Kuroda Taishi?" asks Mari.
"Yes, that is the one," confirms Hara.
"Hey, Sensei, didn't you say you have seen him before?" asks Mari.
"Yes," verifies Mazuma, "His team was the one that attacked me back in the Grass Country."
"Did you notice anything significant about him back then?" inquires Hara.
"To be honest I never really even got close to him. It was the Mist Ninja that I had the most contact with," explains Mazuma, "However, there is something else. When I passed by him earlier I got the strange feeling that I had been in close contact with him before."
"That is strange," comments Mari, "But I still don't understand why you guys are so suspicious of him."
"First of all, he has been acting very suspicious. He has looked like he has been intensely focused on all of the matches, but the ones he truly was interested in were his teammate with the butterflies and the rock kunoichi," reveals Hara, "For the rest of the matches, including my own, he looks like he is focused on the fight, but really he is only looking with one eye. His other eye has been scanning around the entire room and analyzing everyone and everything in it. The next suspicious thing is where he has looked. Excluding his own team he has examined every single person in the room; everyone except for the Tsuchikage. He is making a significant effort not to pay attention to the man."
"That doesn't seem too suspicious to me," says Mari, "Considering what happened between the Tsuchikage and the former Hokage."
"That is true," admits Mazuma, "He is too young to have any real connection to the Hokage. However he might have been present at the execution and is afraid of the Tsuchikage."
"I sense that it is more of a grudge than it is fear," says Hara, "It feels like something would explode if he looked at the man."
"Okay, so is that all that is bothering you?" asks Mari, "I mean, that really is not that much."
"Yes, that alone is not noteworthy," agrees Hara, "However, there is one final piece. It is the fact that, save for the proctor, every single Rock Ninja in the room has had their eyes on him from the start."
"Hey, Kuroda," says Sakura after waking up from her short rest.
"Yes, Sakura," he replies.
"Can I ask you a question?" she inquires.
"That depends on the question," he replies mildly.
Sakura whispers into his ear, "What are you going to do if you have to fight Ichimaru? He is your best friend after all."
Kuroda replies, "Well, for now it doesn't matter, because the proctor has already started the machine and the next fight is between Ichimaru and Rame Tsu."
Ichimaru sighs, "Man, I was kind of hoping to go last."
"Yes! Finally it is my turn to fight!" yells Rame Tsu before she jumps over the railing and flips down to the combat area.
"Looks like somebody is ready to go," comments Jando.
"Just my luck," complains Ichimaru, "Why do I have to fight the crazy girl?"
"Better than having to fight your best friend in the first round," comments Kuroda.
"Yeah, I guess you are right," replies Ichimaru.
"Good luck, Ichimaru," says Kenta.
"Thanks, Kenta," he replies.
"You had better get down there," advises Sakura, "Or else she might get mad."
"Have fun, buddy," says Kuroda, patting him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah," comments Ichimaru as he passes by on his way towards the stairs.
"Another spunky one," thinks Tatsuki as she glances at the fighter for the next match, "But her opponent on the other hand looks irritated. At least this fight should be better than the last one. Hopefully it will be longer too."
In the back of the arena standing near the Tsuchikage is the proctor of the second exam. "This thing is almost over," says Kenji Takimasu as he stifles a yawn.
"It is not like you have anything better to do," comments the first exam proctor who is standing uncomfortably next to him.
"I can think of a few things," he counters.
"Don't even think of it," warns Chiaki Enjoji.
"Hey, Chiaki, you see that Leaf Genin walking down the stairs for the next match?" he asks.
"Yeah, what of him?" she asks.
"I like him. There is something about him," says Kenji, "He kind of reminds me of somebody, I just can't figure out who."
"That is because he seems just like you, you idiot," she thinks to herself.
Ichimaru finally arrives at the center where Rame Tsu is impatiently tapping her foot. "Finally decided to show up?" she asks.
"I thought it might be a good idea," he says dryly.
Rame Tsu warns, "I'm not going to go easy on you, Ichimaru."
Ichimaru replies, "I wouldn't expect you to. You're always going on about the superiority of females, so why would this be any different?"
"Good, it seems you actually learned something," she replies, "Considering your academy days I am impressed."
"I'm glad you think so highly of me," he mutters under his breath.
"If you are both ready then we can begin the match," announces Tatsuki.
"So what should my strategy be in this match?" ponders Ichimaru as he analyzes the situation, "Kuroda, Sakura, and Jando have all seen my Shadow Paralysis Jutsu before and know how it works. On the other hand Shun, Rame Tsu, and the Genin from the other villages don't know about it. So the best thing for me would be to not use it and keep it a secret as long as I can. However, Rame Tsu is no pushover, it is going to be tough to beat her without my Jutsu, especially when she is all pumped up like that."
"What the hell, where did she go?" exclaims Ichimaru when he realizes the brown-haired kunoichi has disappeared from his view.
"If you weren't such a slacker you would have had your eyes on me the whole time!" shouts Rame Tsu as she appears right in front of him and puts all her weight into a punch.
Ichimaru brings his arms up just in time to brace for the impact and protect himself from major damage. "Damn, she is faster than I remember," thinks Ichimaru, "And stronger too."
He slides back on his heels a number of feet until coming to a stop. She is immediately right on top of him, attacking with her Taijutsu. She brings her leg up for a high foot sweep aimed at his head. Ichimaru is able to lean back just far enough so that her shoe passes by his nose. She comes around full rotation and leaps up into a jumping spin kick. Rame Tsu's bare thigh passes over his head when he ducks. She lands on his side with her back towards him, and then quickly drops into a squat and thrusts backwards with a powerful horse kick.
With perfect timing to avoid a hit, Ichimaru does a back handspring. "Crap, it looks like cloud boy learned some new moves," thinks Rame Tsu as she goes into the attack again, "He is a lot more flexible and agile than I recall." She moves into a flurry of punches and kicks, but Ichimaru is able to dodge the majority of them.
"Wow, Ichimaru is keeping up with her," remarks Sakura, "I have never seen him move like that."
"Yes, he is doing fairly well," comments Kuroda.
"He is never going to win this way," says Jando, "He hasn't attacked her once, and she has hit him a bunch of times."
"He is just biding his time until he can find a good opening," explains Kuroda, "Rame Tsu is keeping him off balance by not letting up her attack. It is a good strategy against someone like Ichimaru. However, she will either get tired or slip up and he will be ready."
"That is Ichimaru for you," adds Kenta.
Rame Tsu lunges forward for a powerful blow, but she puts too much strength into her attack and steps too far. Ichimaru ducks under the punch and gets in close to deliver a sturdy punch to her gut.
"Damn, I messed up," she says as she slumps over his back.
"Sorry about that," apologizes Ichimaru, "Hitting a girl is not exactly my idea of fun, but I really didn't have much of a choice."
Suddenly Rame Tsu's eyes snap open and she says in a sly voice, "Sorry to hear that." She grabs hold of his head and holds it in place as she jerks her knee up into his chin and sends him flying.
"Stupid boys always trying to act cool and think girls are weak," she mutters as she brushes some hair out of her eyes.
"So she was playing dead, not bad," thinks Ichimaru as he floats in the air, "On the bright side I have a second to think." He twists in mid-air and is able to pull out some shuriken with his left hand. He flings them at her just before he hits the ground and rolls back onto his feet. The brown-eyed kunoichi is able to slip out a kunai from her trusty backpack and deflect the weapons away.
"So I didn't knock you out," she comments.
"It looks like we both know how to play dead," replies Ichimaru as he takes out a kunai and backs up a few paces.
"Shit, I was hoping to take him out with that last attack," thinks Rame Tsu as she tries to come up with a new strategy, "I don't think plain Taijutsu is going to cut it anymore. Plus, now he has a kunai and will be ready for that. I suppose that now is as good a time as any." She stabs her kunai into the ground then reaches back with her right hand and opens up one of the larger pockets on her backpack. She takes out a strange curved blade with a circle as the handle.
"What is that?" wonders Ichimaru, "It is too big to be a kunai, but that handle is too irregular for it to be used as a sword."
"Here, have a taste of my Demon Wind Shuriken!" she yells as she rotates a full 360 degrees. As she spins the weapon unclasps, revealing four blades on opposite sides and then she whips the shuriken at him. Ichimaru is barely able to dodge it and then it flies across the rest of the battlefield and wedges itself in the wall.
"A large shuriken?" asks Ichimaru as he goes over and tries to remove it from the wall, but it is stuck.
Meanwhile Rame Tsu has taken out another shuriken of the same type and prepares to throw it. "This one is a little different," she explains, "Go, Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows!" The shuriken is thrown at Ichimaru and it cuts into the edge of his green vest before flying past and missing the rest of his body. But then a second shuriken appears out of nowhere and strikes Ichimaru in the chest.
Luckily, he is able to quickly use a Replacement Jutsu and the windmill shuriken slices through a large piece of debris from the floor that was created in an earlier match before it plants itself in the wall like the previous two.
Ichimaru comments, "I see, you hid the second shuriken in the shadow of the first and that's why I was not able to detect it as quickly."
"Wow, she is really serious!" comments Kenta, "She almost cut him in half."
"This is a match to the death," Sakura reminds him.
"People have died before while taking the Chunin exams," adds Kayo.
"Just take a look back at the second exam," remarks Kuroda, "A lot of people didn't make it out of there."
"Yeah, I remember, but I thought it would be different this time," says Kenta.
"Why, because they are from the same village?" asks Jando.
"Yeah, that's what I meant," replies Kenta.
"You have to be willing to kill at all times," says Yoshikuni as he places a hand on Kenta's shoulder, "Even if that person is from your own village or even your own team. A ninja must be prepared for any situation and capable of doing whatever it takes to complete the mission. Right now that mission is getting to the next match."
"So, Ichimaru, do you have what it takes to win?" Kuroda wonders.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The Preliminaries have officially started and Kenta forfeited his match to Rino. Now, Ichimaru is locked in a fierce contest with Rame Tsu. Who will prevail? As usual, if you want more information on my characters you can see their bios on my profile page. Be warned, there may be some spoilers. Also I'm in the process of getting pictures drawn for the characters, but I have no idea how long that will take. If you're interested in drawing and have a DA account then send me a Message. Enjoy the next chapter, and please review.)