-A/N-
I'd like to thank those following the story. I write for my own amusement, but I'm glad other's take the time to entertain my story. That being said, I will understand if you don't like where I take it. I'm not really an experienced writer…
Chapter 15: The Rising Tide
"Are you really ready then?" Naruto talked through his food and swallowed. Yuuki sighed as she picked at her food.
"Yeah. I just can't believe Noriko would just dip out like that, you know?"
-Flash back-
"Much better, Yuuki. You can hold onto the sword if you want. You guys might want it in the exam." Noriko sheathed her swords and turned. Yuuki stopped her.
"Hey, what do you mean, 'you guys'? You're part of the team to!" Noriko stopped and smiled.
"I'm not going to participate." Yuuki jolted. "I don't want to participate to be accurate. There's a lot on my mind right now, and I just want to be alone and train." Yuuki looked down with a saddened expression. "Don't worry; I'll be watching you three." Noriko half turned to Yuuki. "You had better make it to the finals." She seemed happy about her decision, so Yuuki gave her a grin back.
"It's not about the finals to me. It's about facing every opponent with everything I've got. I'm not going to give anyone sympathy, and I don't expect any in return."
Noriko left. "Good Luck, Team Seven."
-End flash back-
Naruto grabbed seconds and Hinata responded. "Everyone walks their own path differently. When one road seems to close, another always opens. She'll be fine, Yuuki."
Tsumi finished her plate and nudged Yuuki. "Even I'm going to cut them a little slack. Are you sure you want to go all out?"
Yuuki took a few bites and leaned her head against her hand. "You can't be too careful. And when you act like you're struggling and then say 'just kidding' and stomp them, what does that do for them? I hate people who lie." Tsumi rolled her eyes. Naruto stared at her, feeling sympathy for her words. That's how I used to see it. But the role is reversed; she may crush a lot of morale with the skill she possesses…
"Whatever. It should be fun, that's what I'm saying. Are you all set?" Yuuki nodded and set down her glass.
"Good luck you two! No matter how it turns out, I'll be proud of you!" Hinata gave them a group hug and a kiss on either forehead. Both of them pulled back and swatted away.
Naruto was next: he placed his hands atop their heads a rubbed them vigorously. "Play safe out there now. Remember, these exams are a mission in their own right." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "And if Isami's given you any advice on the test portion, don't listen to it! He never did take those seriously."
Yuuki and Takeshi had an awkwardly silent greeting and began walking towards the academy. Along the way, he brought up a conversation. "Sucks about Noriko. Hope she knows what she's doing." Yuuki seemed to be in deep thought at the mention of her. Takeshi switched tempo. "That was a lecture of a breakfast I had! Man, if Hitomi told me to never listen to Isami one more time, I would swear he was up to something." Yuuki smirked, seeming to know where this was going.
"It's probably true; don't listen to him today." Takeshi and Tsumi looked at her confused, as if she had a scheme. I may be on bad terms with them now, but they ARE still my team. I can't afford to hold a grudge. "And who is that!" Yuuki pointed to the one hiding next to the fence near them. He jumped and jogged away in a panic. Yuuki glared his way and continued on. "Weirdo."
OoOoOoOo
As they arrived in the biggest classroom, their jaws dropped at the amount of people inside. "So this is a small amount of teams, huh?" There was around one-hundred fifty people. They had to separate in order to find a seat for the exam. Yuuki sat next to a boy who gave her a devious grin. His hair was short and brown, but she thought he was familiar for a moment. "Whatever…" Finally, Nia walked in the door and silenced everyone.
"Alright, this is the first stage of these exams. I will be the test administrator and grader. However, I refuse to sit in and watch a bunch of idiots fail this new exam, so I will not be observing. Here are the rules: If your team misses ten questions total, you will be asked to leave. Talking is cheating. If you are caught cheating, it will count for two missed questions. Got it?" The class dropped their jaws and some even began screaming. Nia smirked as she walked out. "Oh get over it you babies. Begin." So, cheating is still acceptable then. Seems a bit too obvious though… The blank sheet in front of them glowed slightly. Yuuki slowly reached for the paper and touched it. Suddenly, text snapped onto the page with her name already on it and all the questions neatly ordered. Despite them being multiple choice, these questions weren't something even most chunin knew. They were about average to insanely hard logic questions. Oh man, I hope Takeshi handles this well. I'm sure Tsumi will know enough.
"Yo, I'm the observer today!" Everyone's eyes shot to the door and saw Isami enter the door. Yuuki rolled her eyes and continued the test. Saw that coming. Isami looked over everyone as they went back to the test and sighed. "You know, they're only giving you twenty minutes for this exam, right? I hate the new set up." The classroom really became frantic now. Yuuki looked over to Datsu, who was nodding in agreement. Don't listen to him, Datsu. Isami picked up a copy of the test and looked over it. "Oh man, they're trying to screw you guys. Well, lucky for you guys, they picked the wrong observer for this test." Isami picked up a piece of chalk and wrote out the numbers one through fifty. He turned to them and winked. "I'm going to make sure they switch back to the old way. Shhhhh." One by one, he began writing an answer for every question. Yuuki noticed something and looked at her test. He's giving wrong answers. I hope they can deduce that. Surprisingly, Datsu was looking at his test and shaking his head in disagreement for one of the first questions. Yes, probably number four. The chemical composition of water is…H₂O! Easy for him probably. Clearly, a lot of the teams were falling for it as they vigorously circled answers. He stopped at question thirty-four and sighed. "This test is more retarded than I thought. Tell you what, I'm a Jonin. She's a chunin. Just crumple that test up and throw it!" Isami used his copy as an example.
Datsu trembled at the temptation, and he wasn't alone. He knew Isami, but this had to be a trap. Isami was pacing around. "Oh, come on! Haven't you realized the true nature of the test yet? They try to scare you guys and demoralize you. Show 'em you're not afraid of anything and throw that test. I'll take full responsibility for it." Finally, the person next to her stood up quickly and crumpled his test.
"He's right! I've made it through this testing portion before, and it was all just a scare tactic. The score doesn't even matter!" He threw his ball of test and matched grins with Isami. Several people throughout the room followed suit and nothing bad happened. Yuuki's eyes widened. That's why I know that kid next to me! It was Isami's clone. Makes sense, I am pretty centrally located. Time for reinforcements. Yuuki made a hand seal and smirked. Datsu picked his test up and felt his fingers twitching.
Suddenly, the door bust open to a very angry Hitomi. "You noisy pervert, what are you doing?"
Isami's eyebrow twitched. "Hitomi? Why are you here, I'm observing a test right now." Hitomi pointed straight at Datsu.
"If you crumple that test up, I swear to god I'll rip your nuts off!" Datsu slammed his test back down and covered himself. "That goes for everyone who hasn't listened to this dumbass. Set an example for once, pervert!" Isami looked over the remaining teams and saw them obediently listening. I got plenty of people; I guess I'll call this one. He looked back at 'Hitomi' and smirked. Not bad, Yuuki. Making sure you all get there, huh?
"Alright, all teams who cheated and all teams who threw their test are to leave immediately. This test is over." Isami planted his palm against the chalk board and a list of teams showed up. Yuuki noticed no Leaf teams or Datsu's team showed up. Hitomi dispersed in smoke. "I intended on taking this the full twenty minutes, but someone cleverly disguised a shadow clone as Hitomi Uchiha and saved a lot of you." Datsu looked back to Yuuki and put his hands in a prayer position. Nia walked in now.
"A lot of cheaters out there, huh? Well, for those of you who didn't cheat, we've already recorded your correct answers. If you don't pass the exams, the next time you will not see the questions you got right. When you get all the questions right, you get to skip this portion. Cool, huh?" Everyone left was pretty happy about it.
The window busted out and scrolls and banners began popping out everywhere. Lightning traced the strings and a great duo appeared before them. "The end of days are nigh! If you aren't prepared to die, you'd better run and hide!"
"Remember the chaperones of your demise! Anko and Kakashi Hatake have arrived!" Nia and Isami quickly pointed to them in anger and reminded them they were too early.
"Anyways, go with these two to the next stage of examination." The duo dipped their heads in depression at the lack of enthusiasm the group shared about their intro.
That's what you can count on from those two. Were they ever really ninja? Yuuki shook her head and continued.
OoOoOoOo
"Alright, this portion hasn't changed at all. The goal is to get both heaven and earth scrolls and deliver them to the objective point without opening them. Why? Because that's what you were told to do. You have seventy-two hours to complete the task or you're done for." Shino debriefed as Kakashi and Anko threw scrolls to the team captains. "What's so terrifying about the forest of death, you say? It's simple…" Shino turned to them and extended his hands up. Out of the brush, massive insects, snakes, and spiders poured in to prey on the group. As dozens of shrieks were lit off, the swarm was instantly killed, leaving their carcasses to fall upon the groups. Kakashi and Anko now stood next to Shino. Wow, those old geezers can move that quickly?
"Don't forget why you're here. You may have been recognized by your senseis as worthy, but if one of your teammates is lost or dead when you show up, you're disqualified. Consider how you have to get the other scroll, and well…you might die. Don't get poisoned either; it's embarrassing and usually lethal." Kakashi finished his speech and opened the gate. "Fighting within the first hour is forbidden. After that, anyone is fair game. We're watching you." He disappeared and the groups hesitantly approached the gate. Without a second to waste, a group of Sand ninjas ran through.
"Come on, it's not like you guys stand a chance anyways!" The boy seemed quite playful in tone, but his group seemed well disciplined. There was a Purplish-brown haired female holding a strange barrel and a man with shades and a mask like Kakashi's. Yuuki narrowed her eyes. Another loud guy. I'll keep an eye out for them. Red hair…why do they seem familiar?
"Alright, let's roll Team Seven!" Yuuki charged in next with Takeshi and Tsumi right there with her. As they were leaving, a lot of whispers and gossips filled the groups.
"Team Seven? I heard they've already defeated armies!"
"And they have the Byakugan and Sharingan. Stay away from them." The nameless ninjas were starting to freak each other out.
"Oh please! You're all cowards. I've taken on both of them before, it's not that hard!" Datsu ran up next, followed by Kaito and Akano. Seeing the massive sword of Kaito's made them even less heartened.
"Monsters! There are monsters in this exam!" The ninja with lesser guts had already pinned themselves as prime targets for everyone else. Surely the competition was tough, but the composed genin in the crowd had already made mental notes on which they could get the scrolls off of.
OoOoOoOo
"This isn't going to be difficult, is it?" Tsumi reached for the next branch as they shot through the trees. Yuuki and Takeshi stared ahead, focusing on making distance.
"What makes you so sure they won't group up against us?" Takeshi finally spoke out as they reached a brush line near a lake. Yuuki gave the thumbs up, indicating there were no targets anywhere near them. Tsumi sat down and relaxed.
"You kidding me? It looks like everyone froze when they heard we were Team Seven. I could hear the whispers, they're already counting themselves out."
Takeshi sat on a nearby rock himself and countered. "That could just as easily been a front to make the other genin target them. And I could feel the excitement surrounding some of the other teams. We can't let our reputation do the fighting for us." Yuuki now took a place to scratch on some paper.
"In the end, our reputation is going to assist in these fights. I'm surprised how fast the rumors spread, but it'll help unnerve them. Here's the way I want to take this one: Tsumi and I will send clones in pairs and send them in twelve directions, mimicking a clock. If we come across a team, we will assess them and report back." Takeshi sighed, interrupting Yuuki slightly. "I know, it sounds boring for you, but this is about getting the scroll we need and getting out. We don't need to take unnecessary risk, and the Byakugan will make scouting a breeze. What do you think? We still need to hold the central position, so we need your help here in case."
Hearing a rustle in the trees, Takeshi prepared to throw his kunai at the source, but the spider had already been staked to the tree. Yuuki lowered her arms and crossed them. He turned to her with a little shock. "We can't afford to slack, even for a moment. I know we all have become much stronger, but it only takes one mistake and we're done." Takeshi stood up and smirked at her.
"I'm really getting pumped up for these exams, you know?" Tsumi jumped up and stretched. Takeshi shifted his eyes between them. "I wonder which one of us has become the strongest, or which team is the better prepared?" He activated his sharingan to both his teammates' surprise. "You know, I'm not afraid of using it anymore."
He's certainly more confident in himself anyways. "All right then, let's do this!" Yuuki and Tsumi made twelve clones each and sent them on their way.
OoOoOoOo
"Well, well, it's been way to long! You sure you want to be all the way out here?" Naruto shook hands with an old friend. They sat down in his conference room and smiled.
"Nice to see everything's going well. I've heard Rekano's been doing well to. Making more allies to the west, are we?" The red-haired man sat a bit more casual now.
Naruto grinned. "I wish all the other Kage's were still in the team mindset as much as we are, Garaa. It's been difficult maintaining communications with the other nations." He nodded his head, reminded of the slipping of foreign relations. Naruto shook his thoughts back into motion. "But yeah, I'm seeing a lot more higher ups in this year's chunin exam."
Garaa laughed a little. "Well, I'm sure they want to see how we're shaping the next generation. I must say, I was looking forward to seeing your youngest participate, but now you've got two! A shocking story to say the least." Naruto rubbed his head and laughed. "Besides, I want to see how Shikamira's been doing."
Naruto crossed his arms behind his head. "Hey, I'm curious myself on how well Nezero is going to do. He looks quite full of energy. Kankiri seems like a chip off the old block as well." Garaa smiled as he thought it over.
"I trust there's another good reason why we're here. What's this report I got about a different Team Seven?" Naruto sipped on a glass of water.
"Yeah, from what's been reported to me, they're going to be something else this year. Rekano has my full support in his push towards becoming a great nation. Are you going to wait to find out what they're capable of?" Garaa shook his head.
"Nah, I've spoken with Rekano a few times. He has a lot of drive, and he certainly earns my respect as a leader. Bringing a village together and creating a country out of nothing, and a government that works and thrives? That on top of his skill is just incredible. I didn't have much a clue what I was doing at the age he set all that up. As far as I see it, he's got two votes already."
"There's going to be a lot of genins promoted this exam." Naruto stirred his water a bit and sat it down. Garaa dipped his head.
"You think it's going to get that bad? How are you going to be sure they're ready for this?" Naruto nodded his head before flipping a switch. Several screens showing the different teams displayed, shocking Garaa. "What are these?"
Naruto chuckled. "This, my friend, is the next big thing. It's still in prototypes, but you can see Shikamaru and Temari have been busy." Garaa couldn't help but inch his head closer, seeing his son. "From what I remember, Light is absorbed into a fine, chakra tuned crystal. The chakra acts as a carrier and transmits to a receiving crystal, which then filters the chakra and re-transmits the light. He explained how the different channels worked, but it's over my head. He's working on even getting sound to come in also." Garaa nodded, still fascinated by it. Naruto watched Yuuki devise her plan and send the clones out in twelve directions. Very cunning, Yuuki. "Just don't get worked up over what we see happen. I'm sure people would flip out if they saw what happened in our chunin exam. Regardless, we should find much better information on who is ready, and who is not, this way." Garaa nodded, rubbing his hair at what he did.
OoOoOoOo
"You see that?" Yuuki's clone pointed towards a set of chakra signatures. "That looks like Nagi's chakra, doesn't it?" Tsumi had to work a bit harder to see how far Yuuki was. After acquiring it, she nodded.
"You've been working on your range, huh? It's a bit early for me to know for certain, but it does look like it. Let's get closer and see what's happening." The clones nodded and moved to advance.
OoOo
They hid in the tree line as Nagi scanning over the opponents. Seeing them cautiously move around made them look unsure about what they were doing.
"Hey, there's no one here. It was probably one of those snakes, let's head for the finish."
The leader looked around for a while before standing up straight. "This forest creeps me out. If only we were doing this in the mountains."
Nagi narrowed his eyes. So they're stone ninjas then. Nagi looked to Shitto and nodded. Bugs began moving in slowly.
"We should find somewhere with solid ground." The man swatted at a few bugs that hovered by him. The leader turned to leave, swatting at them himself.
"Damn bugs, we must be near a swamp or something." More and more bugs began swarming and finally the farthest member of the group was getting covered. "What the hell?" Suddenly, a spiraling duo took out the second team member. When they stopped spinning, it revealed two German Shepherds. The leader backed up against the tree. "This forest is worse than I thought!" Nagi rolled out a scroll and slung ninja tools everywhere. Ninjas? I'm done for. He screamed as the bladed objects made contact with an ancient tree. The man opened an eye and realized he wasn't dead. However, his whole body was pinned to the tree. He looked around to find his comrades in the same condition. That's impossible! No one's that good. Nagi appeared before him and shut all his chakra off. Byakugan?
"Who has the heaven scroll?" Nagi crossed his arms as Kobi and Shitto revealed themselves. The man shifted his eyes over the group and shifted back to him.
"What makes you think we have that stupid scroll. We're stone ninja, I made sure to grab the earth scroll!" Nagi backed up and laughed.
"Oh, so that's how it is! Hey, there's no point in fighting then, is there?" The leader let out a sweat and laughed with him. This guys an idiot! "Let me get you guys down from there. You won't be able to fight much, but it's the least I can do." He rolled his head to his teammates. "Right, guys?" Shitto agreed and Kobi shrugged.
Once they were all released, Nagi apologized once more and left. The enemy team moved together and spoke desperately. "What was that! They were way better than us!" The leader snickered while he searched his pockets.
"I'll admit, they're good. However, they're all retards for taking an enemy's word on anything." He slowed to a stop with his eyes widened.
OoOo
"So, why are we just going to let them go? We could have taken their scroll and had a backup, right?" Nagi was looking at his earth scroll and shrugged.
"I don't know…" He then pulled out the heaven scroll and smirked. "Oops, I think they might have dropped this! You really are slow, you know that Kobi?" Kobi's face deadpanned as the group took off in laughter.
OoOo
The stone ninja collectively bowed their head. "Hey…I don't think they were retarded…" The leader raised his lame arm and smacked his teammate.
OoOo
"That was won pretty easily, huh?" Yuuki's clone sighed in boredom. Tsumi was quick to follow suit.
"Yeah, and the only thing we learned about Nagi's team is that he's really good at throwing weapons…Might as well disperse, huh?" They shared a nod and did so.
OoOoOoOo
"Well, looks like Team Five got their scrolls." Yuuki updated Takeshi, who had been pacing back in forth with boredom.
"Nagi, huh? That's not surprising. Any luck on finding nearby teams?" Before Yuuki could answer no, Tsumi pointed to two O'clock.
"There! They are lightning ninja though…" Takeshi crunched his fingers together and smirked. Yuuki rolled her eyes.
"No. Earth jutsu's won't do anything against them; it'll leave you wide open to attack." Takeshi smiled.
"What, you don't think I know that? I'm not rushing into this decision, I know better. Now if you consider that I'm not going to use earth jutsus, and that you two know a few wind jutsus…see what I'm sayin'?" Tsumi rubbed her head and nodded. Yuuki sighed.
"Alright, but Tsumi's not that good with wind jutsus for your information. Her affinities differ from mine." Takeshi stopped and started. No way, they really are a lot different.
Tsumi spoke out. "My primary affinity is lightning, secondary is fire…" Takeshi nodded his head. Just like dad then. "And thirdly is water." His jaw dropped. No way, she has three? "I don't really like using jutsus anyways, so it's no big deal." Takeshi tightened his forehead protector and smirked.
"Well, let's stop messing around and go!" Yuuki nodded, grinning right back.
OoOoOo
"Wait!" The clone stuck her hand out and watched the guy with red hair grab the scroll from his body. "Shoot, we missed the better part of this one." The opponent spat out blood and lifted his head.
"I didn't expect you guys to actually be a challenge the way you ran in here…" He knelt down to his defeated opponent and grinned. "A puppet user too. She was stronger than I planned… What are your names?"
He pulled the man's head up. "I'm Nazero." He twisted the man's head to the girl.
"Kankiri…" She responded. As the man's head was shifted to the teammate in sunglasses, he said nothing. An awkward silence sustained itself for a moment. Kankiri stepped over and pointed to him. "…Vin."
Nazero turned his head back to him. "I'm the son of Garaa, the Fifth Kazekage. She's my cousin. And Vin…anyways, I'm going to be the next Kazekage. Wait and see!"
OoOo
"Not bad, at least I know where I've seen him from then." Yuuki's clone dispersed in smoke and Tsumi followed suit.
OoOoOoOo
"Hey, your boy turned out to be pretty cool!" Naruto smiled as Garaa sighed.
"Yeah, he reminds me of a certain someone I know…" Naruto tilted his head, as if not seeing the resemblance.
"Vin seems…interesting." Garaa shrugged his shoulders.
"He doesn't really talk, but Nazero seems to like him as a rival." They nodded over the strange boy, finding no more words to describe him. "Nazero's gotten quite good. I wasn't sure if I should send him or not, but he's made it this far." Naruto agreed, watching Yuuki's team shoot across several monitors. "Looks like Shikamira's team are setting up a trap near the objective point. She seems like quite the thinker, huh?" Naruto looked himself and nodded.
"I don't know how the Nara's are always so smart. She and Yuuki were always battling for the highest grades on test. I wonder how much better she's gotten." The group was patient and willing to cooperate with each other. "Funny, InoShikaCho team is still intact after all these years."
Garaa's eyes shifted to a separate monitor and widened his eyes. "Hey, looks like the river ninja know your jutsu." Naruto's face deadpanned as he saw Datsu multiplied and terrifying a team. The enemies had backed into each other and were absolutely soaked. Kaito walked up and pointed his sword at them and they simply passed out. Garaa shifted around and shook his head. "That fight must have been over before it started. At their age, I don't blame them. Look at the size of that blade!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "It looks bigger than it used to, and that's saying a lot." He shook his thoughts straight. "I can't believe Yuuki taught someone shadow clones! That's been like a family trademark!" He began rubbing his temples in frustration. As he looked up, he noticed team seven come into view near their marks. He leaned forward and focused on them. "I'll take a rain check on that thought. Looks like we're going to see what they can do." Garaa leaned in casually, subtly intrigued himself.
OoOoOoOo
"Alright, is everyone ok with the plan?" She checked between Takeshi and Tsumi and waited for them to nod. After that, she made three clones disguised as the team. Upon her signal, they jumped out into the clearing and confronted the enemies.
Immediately upon landing, they were forced into dodging kunai and getting some distance from the team. Now both teams regrouped and stared each other down. Before long, the lighting ninja pulled out the Earth scroll. Yuuki's clone eyed her and pulled out the Heaven scroll. The girl before them sighed. "Team Seven, huh? I was hoping to face you three in the tournament, but I guess there's no avoiding it now." She looked back to her team with a serious face. "Tegun, Hoshido, what do you say?" The first teammate punched his fingerless gloves with a determined face and a confident stance. Hoshido, however, seemed to be pondering about something. Finally he answered.
"What if we trip on a branch? Then we may leave an opening and get seriously injured, possibly crippling ourselves. That would make life quite difficult." It took no time at all for Tegun to smack him.
"Let's give this everything we've got, Lili!" She turned back to the team, but quickly reacted to a clone spawned in front of her with a spinning kick. Lili tucked the scroll away and smirked.
"It'll take more than some fancy tricks to catch me off guard. I'm well aware of the rumors around your team, but we have a strong reputation in our village as well. Prepare yourselves!" Her team dipped down and prepared to attack. To her surprise, Takeshi and Tsumi advanced on them and she prepared a jutsu. Lili signaled her team and began a jutsu herself.
"Suiton: Kokuun!" Black clouds appeared over them and began raining oil. Yuuki smirked from the brush as Takeshi prepared his jutsu. With a collaboration of this magnitude, the match will be over before it began. The teams met and the clones dispersed a smoke that masked the origin of Takeshi's fire ball.
"Katon: Goenkyu!" The massive fireball began creeping in over the area. The reaction with oil made a violent and intense heat coat the area. Takeshi began sweating himself. This is too much! The whole forest is going to burn like this!
"Suiton: Mizu no Tatsumaki!" Suddenly, a massive water tornado encircled the enemy team and the fire and oil were doused immediately. It followed through to reach even team seven from the great distance. Lili stood tall as her teammates wiped their foreheads in relief. "These guys are dangerous alone, but even more dangerous in a team. We have no choice but to split them up. This better work, Hoshido…" Her team quickly split up and Yuuki sprang up.
"Shoot." She pondered for a moment as her team awaited her plan. "Takeshi, I want you to go after fingerless gloves guy. He looks like a man with good taijutsu. Tsumi, I think you should handle thinking guy. Press the attack; don't let him catch you off guard. I'll tail the girl, there's something I need to confirm about her. Got it?" Takeshi bolted off with a smirk and Tsumi followed her orders, leaving a clone. The clone responded to her strategy.
"Are you sure we should be fighting on their terms? I mean, they just took the momentum, didn't they?" Yuuki began running forward, prompting the clone to follow.
"I have a suspicion they're trying to split up and cross paths to catch us off guard. Specifically, they have no guarantee we'll split off separately. Tegun looks like he's looking for a fight with Takeshi, but Hoshido will try to stick to the plan. They won't be prepared for you to know shadow clones as well. Trap him, and I'll handle Lili. I'm pretty sure she has a kekkei genkai. When you think Hoshido has led you far enough away, turn back to help me. Then he will have to chase you." The clone sighed before giving her a smile.
"I've got some of your smarts, but it looks like you've retained the advantage in that category. But I'm not about to let you fight her alone. I'll be sure to finish this guy in a hurry." Tsumi winked and released the clone. Yuuki turned forward and scoped out her opponent. Rough team compared to the others. I can't let them down.
OoOoOoOo
"An Uchiha huh?" Tegun stood with his arms crossed and a grin on his face. "I've heard a good deal about you, Takeshi." He was taken aback by the guy's familiarity. Tegun scrunched his body up and put his fist high. "It's not like I have a grudge or anything! Let's have fun with this one, right?"
Takeshi balanced himself out and prepared himself, only to take several body shots followed by a blow to the face. Takeshi took a step back. What the? He closed the gap and got eight hits in already? Takeshi did not hesitate to activate his sharingan. Tegun chuckled, starting a short hoping motion. I've got to be careful with this guy, those punches weren't light either. Now several strikes came flying out. He closed in with several jabs, worked in hooks, and went for an uppercut. Takeshi managed to evade every blow and grabbed Tegun's arm. Takeshi took advantage of the shock and twisted into a kick to the face. Tegun flew to the floor. However, it didn't take long for him to get back on his feet. "You've got some solid fist there. What kind of style is that?" Tegun spit out blood and smiled with excitement.
"It's called boxing. I fight in tournaments all the time. I've first got to give you credit for not getting knocked out by the first combo. Next, for catching me off guard and knocking me down. Rules dictate that the match is lost if you go down three times in a round. That means I've only got two more, huh?" Takeshi felt his blood pumping harder and a smile grow on his face. Looks like he's putting lighting chakra into his body now. He's got an ace up his sleeve. I doubt he's prepared to deal with the sharingan though.
"Sounds interesting. I think I'll cooperate with the rules. Just don't get too worked up when I knock you down again!" Takeshi widened his base and let his face show his confidence.
OoOo
We're pretty far now. I think it's about time to test her theory out. Tsumi stopped in place and summoned four clones. Hoshido stopped and groaned. "Damn, you figured out what we're doing, didn't you?" Tsumi stuck her tongue out with a smile and turned back towards Yuuki. With impressive speed, she took off and left her clones in Hoshido's way. He sighed as he rubbed his head. "Oh man, I really screwed up, huh?" He pulled out a scroll and planted his hand on it. Within no time, the clones had already forced him to jump away from it. But rather, he was bracing himself for what was coming. The clones looked down to find he had summoned pre-activated bombs of sort. As they braced for the impact, Hoshido used the chance to quickly evacuate the area. The bombs lit of a tiny hiss, only to make the clones attempt to run themselves.
"Crap!" Before they even knew what hit them, the clones were paralyzed in place. "A two part paralysis trap. We can't release either."
OoOo
This should be good. Hoshido will be here in a few minutes. Lili stopped and faced Yuuki. "That's enough running now. I'll give you credit for using ninjutsu even though you have the byakugan. However, without your team around, I am the one at the advantage." Yuuki split herself into a dozen clones and crossed her arms. Lili wouldn't show it, but her heart felt a hint of fear at the sight.
"Just give me the scroll and be on your way. At least that way, you can try to get two scrolls. There are two and a half days left in this trial." Lili laughed at her resolution.
"My, aren't you the arrogant one. I wonder how long that will last!" Yuuki's clones used several kawarimi and advanced on her. Lili broke out in sweat as she rushed several hand seals. Yuuki looked at the unusual seals and awaited the outcome. "Storm release: Webbing lightning!" A chaotic, yet somehow precise series of lightning arcs jumped from her hands and took out her shadow clones in one fell swoop. Yuuki herself was forced to dip back several feet to avoid the attack. Lili clenched her fist in entertainment. "How's that! You're not the only person who has a blood line limit!" Yuuki rose and brushed her hair aside with a grin.
"That's pretty cool! But what are you going to do about these guys?" Yuuki pointed her thumb behind her to reveal dozens of clones. She growled in anger, seeing more charge her. I heard shadow clones are supposed to severely drain the users chakra. Why isn't she even sweating? Half the charging clones stopped mid-range from her as the other half continued to charge.
Lili began frantically piecing more hand seals out. It's like she's controlling a platoon! "Storm Release: Elegant thunder!" Now a thick bolt of lightning that flowed like a water dragon began dancing to her hands command. It was making quick work of most the clones, but a couple managed to get in on her. Lili dropped the technique and went for another jutsu, only to feel her right arm get stung several times from behind. As the arm went limp, she caught the back of its head with her heel. At once, the clones blew up into a powerful pocket of air. Crap, they were wind clones? With her good hand, she quickly made seals. The clones at midrange now spewed out fire jutsu.
"Fire style: Small fire!" The handful of clones released the weak jutsu and it intensified as it neared Lili.
"Suiton: Hahonryuu!" Lili cast out the vortex water and overpowered the midrange clones. Yuuki was shocked by the one handed performance. She quickly retreated to high ground as her last clones launched their jutsu.
"This is it! Water release: Giant wave crash!" Lili's heart stopped and her eyes widened at the sound of the jutsu. Not just that it was A ranked, but that a dozen people were using it at once. I can't compete with her at all! In unison, the jutsu was released and a five story tidal wave was commanded her way. Lili braced as much of the shock as she could with the water twister she used earlier before she was engulfed in a sea of water. The whole forest could feel its force.
OoOo
Naruto pumped his fist in the air screaming as Garaa shared the shock of all the other teams on the monitor. "That was freaking epic!" Garaa narrowed his eyes at him, making Naruto cough some composure back into himself.
"She's not even tired! How much chakra does your daughter have!" Naruto shrugged at the question and looked over the monitors. It was true; every team in view was frozen in fear at the sight and sound. Even Datsu stared in disbelief himself. Naruto looked at Takeshi and Tsumi, both staring at the origin of the ocean.
"Maybe she went overboard…But she won't do it again. I'm pretty sure that's the first time she's used that jutsu in multiple quantities. I've heard that justu was powerful enough to push Killer Bee back in eight-tales form by itself. I guess if you consider multiplying it..." They watched as the water calmed itself and finally revealed a barren path of fallen trees.
OoOo
Takeshi lowered his guard and watched Tegun's jaw return to normal. The guy was a mess. Takeshi had been smashing his face and ribs in the whole time. Takeshi himself had went down once, but after his eyes adjusted to him, Tegun was getting a one way beating. "What do you say we call this one? I'm not sure who's that was, but I'm just as concerned with my team as you are."
Tegun didn't respond to Takeshi, but was quick to rush to the forest line. "Lili, are you alright?" Takeshi turned and dropped his jaw. The girl was battered and severely beaten. Tegun grabbed her and sat her down. She looked up to him as she pulled the scroll out.
"Take it…and run! We're no match." Tegun grabbed the scroll in anger and threw it.
"Are you kidding me? You're supposed to be invincible. Why do you look like shit!" He chuckled and held back his tears.
"You look like shit too. Maybe I…just wanted to see your reaction." She laughed and coughed up more water. Yuuki arrived on scene with Tsumi and crossed her arms.
"You're not going to die are you? I tried to warn you, you know?" Yuuki gathered chakra in her hands and assessed the wounds.
Lili laughed in response. "Fuck you, beast." Yuuki smiled at the insult and put her hands on her hips. Tegun looked at her in confusion.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at medical ninjutsu. I can at least diagnose that she has a few fractures, but nothing serious. She's going to be in pain for a while until she gets medical treatment." Takeshi and Tsumi dropped their jaws. Just how much was too much? Hoshido arrived now and startled Tsumi.
"How'd you get passed all the clones?" He glanced at her and looked back to his defeated teammates.
"Paralysis gas. I guess we lost, huh?" Hoshido walked over to them and knelt down to them. "We really wanted this exam to go well, but there's always spring term. Take our scroll, we'll be ok from here." He pulled out a small first aid kit and began tending to his comrade.
Yuuki grabbed the scroll and gathered her group. She looked back to Lili and rubbed her chin. "There's one thing I couldn't quite grasp about our fight. How did you cast jutsus with a single hand?" Lili looked up at her with a smile.
"It's not something normal ninja can do. I can combine lightning and water elements to form the storm release. Luckily, I use my right arm to manipulate lightning and my left arm to manipulate water, so my good arm could still throw out that last bit of protection." Yuuki seemed to jolt, looking at her arms and clenching them. Lili narrowed her eyes. "You have to have a kekkei genkai, Yuuki."
She knelt down to her and got close. "How did you learn to use yours? I have an Ice release, but I don't understand how to use it!" Lili could see her desperation and could only smile. So she has that too? I think I'm in front of the strongest ninja on the planet.
"I'm sorry, I was taught by my father. Even then, each release is different. You have to understand the nature itself inside and out. I always practice on stormy days." Yuuki lowered her head and stood back up.
"I hope our paths cross once more. Next time I'll be sure to compete with your storm element." Yuuki grinned at her, making Lili roll her eyes.
"Start trying to use jutsus with one hand. That's all I can offer you advice-wise. What are you in such a rush to get so powerful for?" Yuuki turned and made sure everything was securely fastened. At this question, everyone listened closely.
"I'm not going to let anyone get hurt by Hell's Phoenix anymore. If someone feels like they can make a difference, do they not act upon it?" Takeshi nodded as he checked himself. Lili didn't understand the whole situation around them, but she didn't ask any more questions.
Tegun shot his head back to Takeshi. "We're not finished with that spar, Uchiha Takeshi! Next time, I'll come at you even faster!" Takeshi looked back his way and smiled.
"And I welcome you to try!" Hoshido and Tsumi looked at each other and shrugged. Apparently they didn't really have much an inclination to rematch.
"Become stronger, we need ninja like you to help counter this threat. We'll end this evil that's coming once and for all." Team Seven departed and left the lightning ninja to staring. Lili pushed herself up and held onto Tegun.
"I wonder if we're going to be able to stay for the tournament. Something makes me want to believe what she says."
OoOoOoOo
"Looks like that's everyone, huh?" Garaa shifted his eyes from the monitor that once had Shikamira's team. Naruto blinked a couple of times and sighed.
"We missed that fight? Man, so much for all this innovation!" On the primary screen, they saw the Jonin report to Kiba. He looked up to the screen and signaled it was over. Naruto rose up and checked the time. "Oh come on! It's only been eight hours! That's faster than when Isami went through." Garaa patted himself off as he rose as well.
"I guess we should head down there and call it. So few teams this year…I wonder why?"
"I'm not sure, but I hope we can all meet up soon. After the Chunin exams are over, I want to hold an emergency meeting of the Kages. It's been too long, and it's only a matter of time before Hell's Phoenix moves again." I think I need to talk to Yuuki about her training. She's going too far.
-A/N-
There's chapter fifteen. No, Yuuki won't know medical ninjutsu. I have plans for the characters, and she's covering the basics I feel most jonin should know. I'm sorry if this felt a bit rushed, but I've been keeping the chapters longer than I'd like, and the story was moving a bit slow. Expect some good fights coming, and expect to truly understand the story in the near future. Keep your eyes open for context clues in my writing. You'll find I enjoy leaving them.