(The epic Chunin Exam Arc is underway! In the Twenty Eighth Chapter the Third portion of the Chunin Exams Begin! 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!)
Early the next morning Kuroda wakes and is summoned to a large red carriage outside the hotel. He enters and finds the 8th Hokage sitting inside. In addition to her regular attire she has on the formal white Kage robes and traditional Hokage hat. She starts off complaining, "Kuroda, Kuroda, Kuroda, I have only just arrived and I already have to deal with the situation that you have created. What were you thinking?"
Kuroda tries to defend himself, "I was only following the rules, Lady Katonae."
"You know that's not what I'm talking about," she says, "I could care less whether you killed some Rock Genin in a match, but was it necessary for you to provoke a Jonin?"
"If the Tsuchikage wasn't there you would have been killed," she finishes.
"But the Tsuchikage was there, Lady Katonae," Kuroda points out.
"That's no excuse, Kuroda," she says, "I don't know why you did it, but you had better not do anything else that will make the situation worse than it already is. Now, I have somewhere to be so please get out."
"Yes, Lady Katonae," he says while exiting.
"And make sure that everyone arrives at the arena on time," she yells out the door before closing it. The Hokage's carriage drives off and leaves Kuroda in the dust. He goes back inside to wake the rest of his team.
Later on, the Hokage arrives at the arena where the third exam matches will be held and meets the Tsuchikage at one of the side entrances. "Greetings, Lady Hokage," he says.
"Good morning, Lord Tsuchikage," she responds.
"I trust your journey here was safe and uneventful," he says.
"Yes, there were no problems," she confirms.
"Good, good, now would you like a tour of the facility before going to our seats and waiting for the matches to start?" he asks.
"I trust all the proper security measures have been taken," she says.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to jeopardize the relationship of our two lands, by letting any unwanted people freely roam around," he responds.
"Then I would love a tour," she says, "I've been stuck in that carriage for a while and could use a good stretch of the legs."
"Then follow me," he says.
As the Tsuchikage guides her around the arena they talk about various topics and then she brings up more important matters. "Sorry if I am putting a damper on the mood, but I must inquire to if we will have any problems during the upcoming matches," she says.
"Are you referring to what happened during the preliminaries?" he asks.
"Yes," she answers.
"Then the answer is no. Though the outcome was unfavorable, it was not unexpected. I wouldn't let something like that compromise the commencement of these exams," he explains.
"I see, you are very wise, Lord Tsuchikage," she says.
"Come now, Lady Hokage, no need to flatter me. My subordinates do that enough already, as I'm sure yours do," he says. They continue on the tour until finally they reach their seats at the highest point of the arena.
A few hours later Team 3 arrives at the arena; most of the seats are filled with people from various nations and countries. They enter inside and move towards the center where a bunch of people are standing. "Looks like we are the last ones here," says Kuroda.
"Sensei, we're not late, are we?" asks Jando.
"No, in fact we're early," she answers.
"I guess everyone was just itching to get started," comments Sakura.
They walk over to everyone else and stand next to Shun, Yoshikuni, Ichimaru, and Tousen. Kuroda stands and talks with Ichimaru.
"Ichimaru, I'm surprised to see you. I didn't think you would be here this early," comment Kuroda.
"Yeah, well I usually wouldn't be, but Yoshikuni-sensei thought it would be a good idea. So here I am," says Ichimaru.
The proctor Tatsuki Asakura sees that every one of the participants has arrived and sends a signal up to the Tsuchikage.
The Tsuchikage stands up from his seat atop the arena. The crowd becomes silent and he begins to speak. "It seems that all of our contestants have arrived, and the arena is almost full, so I see no reason to wait until the official starting time. As of this moment I declare that the third stage of the Chunin exams shall begin."
Cheers from the crowd erupt, as everyone is eager to see the matches.
"All right, you heard him, let's get this thing started. The first match is between Hoshi Ishimaru and Jando Hyuga. Everyone else can go wait in the contestant viewing box up there, but your trainers must go take seats with the rest of the audience," announces Tatsuki. Everyone starts to file up to the viewing area when...
"I would like to forfeit my match," announces Shun.
Tatsuki comments, "Are you sure? Look, it isn't even your turn yet so you should wait and take the time to make sure you really don't want to fight."
Kuroda interjects, "Shun, what are you doing? Why are you forfeiting? I was really looking forward to our match."
Shun replies, "I have decided that I don't want to risk getting killed by a member of my own village just to become a Chunin."
Kuroda asks, "What makes you think you would have to put your life on the line?"
Shun admits, "I'm afraid, afraid that if I fight you, I will be killed just like that Stone Ninja, Naga."
Kuroda tells Shun, "Don't be foolish. I only killed Naga because he deserved to die. I would never kill a member of my own village unless he gave me a good reason to. Remember the day you almost killed Jando?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this?" says Shun.
Kuroda explains, "That day I said that Jando didn't deserve to die, but if Jando had ever tried to do something like that to you again, then you would have every right to take Jando's life. I believe that ninja who don't learn from their mistakes are the first to die on the battlefield, and therefore those who don't learn from their mistakes, should suffer the consequences from them."
"I understand, so you met Naga in combat before?" assumes Shun.
"Yes, in the Forest of Lost Souls. I battled and defeated him, but then spared his life because I knew he would be too weak to become a Chunin. I also warned him about running his mouth instead of paying attention to his enemy. When he did not head my warning in the preliminaries, I punished him for it."
Shun says, "I am now certain you would not attempt to kill me without good reason, but nevertheless I am still going to forfeit."
Kuroda questions, "So there is another reason you don't want to fight?"
Shun explains, "Ever since we graduated from the academy I have seen a drastic improvement in your skills. I myself have also improved, but not nearly to the same degree. And as Ichimaru told me, there is no point in fighting a battle I have no chance of winning."
"Wise words as expected from Ichimaru, but both of you should remember that this is merely an exam. In real situations sometimes you are forced to fight battles you can't win," says Kuroda.
Tatsuki asks, "So, Shun Kashi, you still want to forfeit?"
"Yes," he answers.
"Fine then, I will remove you from the board," she turns towards Kuroda, "Since Shun has forfeited your match, we will move you up and now you will be fighting Rino Shigure."
Kuroda says, "I have no problems with that."
"These Leaf Ninja keep dropping like flies," comments Rino, "I'll win this tournament by default if you cowards keep quitting."
Tatsuki sighs, "Now that all of that is over, everyone but the first two competitors needs to go to the viewing area."
"Wake up, sir, the first match is about to start," says a servant as he nudges his master.
"What already?" complains the man dressed in an expensive looking purple outfit as he awakens, "I thought we still had a while?"
"The Tsuchikage decided to start early," explains the servant.
"That Masato is always changing plans at the last second," complains the wealthy man, "Who is in the match anyways? I don't even know."
"A young boy from the Hyuga clan of the Leaf Village," answers the servant, "He is up against Hoshi."
"Hoshi?" asks the wealthy man, "Who in the world is that?"
The servant responds, "She is…"
"Hoshi Ishimaru, she is the daughter of the Tsuchikage," interjects another wealthy looking man dressed in blue and gold robes sitting a few spots over.
"Oh yes, I remember now that he has a child," comments the first noble, "Wait a moment, is that her over there in the brown and black outfit?"
"Yes, that is her," confirms the second noble.
"But just look at her, she is so young. Is Masato mad? Does he really expect a youngling like that to be ready for the Chunin exams?"
"Don't underestimate Lady Hoshi," comments a female Rock Ninja sitting in the row above.
"Hoshi was the only Genin from our village to make it into the finals," sighs the ninja next to her.
"What, how can that be?" inquires the first noble.
"Hoshi has been in training since she could walk," interjects a husky ninja in the row below.
"She is the spitting image of her mother, and has all of the talent that her father does," adds the lanky man sitting next to him.
"She was originally one of the favorites to finish first in the exam. She may be young, but she has all the skills to do it," says the woman from earlier.
"Some people say she is the second coming of the Tsuchikage himself," adds another ninja as he is taking his seat.
"She has our whole village supporting her," says the husky ninja.
"She is the pride of the Hidden Rock Village!" exclaims a youthful man.
"Go, Hoshi! You can do it!" yells a young villager, "Beat that guy into the dirt!"
"I guess it is a good thing you woke me up," says the noble garbed in purple, "I want to see if she lives up to her reputation."
Kuroda gets to the viewing area and can now see the full fighting stage. There are some trees and a large pond on the outside with a few boulders in the center. Kuroda is so preoccupied he forgets that Jando and Hoshi are about to start their match.
He only realizes it because Sakura asks, "Do you think that Jando can win?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry I wasn't paying attention. No, Jando won't win. Frankly, I didn't expect him to win his preliminary match," answers Kuroda.
"Yeah, there is no one left that Jando could beat," agrees Ichimaru.
"Look, it's starting," says Sakura.
(That is the end of the chapter, what did you think? The month long training is over and the first battle is about to start. Who will attain victory in the third stage of the exams and be elevated to Chunin rank? 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.)