Chunin Exam Arc: The Meaning of Chunin

"How much longer do you think he'll be?" Mushiro was restless as he kept moving around the room. The three of them, Mushiro, Noriaki, and Yuina, were told to wait there by Inoichi, Hizashi. Kushina had left with her team and the others who hadn't made it to the third round.

"Whenever he's done greeting the Tsuchikage." Yuina sat on the floor meditating.

Noriaki leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and remained quiet.

Three out of ten Konoha participants made it through to the final round. All things considered, their ratio was pretty good. It was one of the many problems of the chunin finals. Sixteen spots from five plus villages. It wasn't a wonder why people were more likely to participate when it was their own village hosting.

"Shouldn't you two liven up a bit?" asked Mushiro. "We may be in the finals, but it's Hokage-sama we need to impress."

"With our performance," said Noriaki. "Greetings are formalities. Unless you say something so stupid that he questions your intellect, it won't matter."

"Are you nervous?" Yuina slouched forward. Her elbow pressed into her thigh as her hand cupped her cheek. She could understand. It was normal to be nervous in the face of power. In acknowledging something was out of one's control.

"Aren't you?" Mushiro whipped his head back between the other two, searching for any trace of anxiety.

Yuina couldn't openly agree. More than that, a pre-exam pep talk or smack down, whatever it was, wasn't exactly on her list of fears regarding the Hokage. She was already in the middle of an unreasonable mission and they were in a foreign land. It wasn't a prime scene to put her in a precarious position without incriminating himself. The Sandaime's presence still bothered her, but their allotted meeting was nothing. "Act how you normally would with him?"

"Normally?! How often do you think I see him?"

"Right."

"You hear that, Noriaki?"

Noriaki looked at him incredulously.

"What? Don't look at me like that."

Yuina took pity on Noriaki. "Did you already forget?"

"Forget what."

"Sarutobi Noriaki." Yuina was hoping he would catch on to save himself from his embarrassing mistake.

"Why do you have to say it like that? Life would be better if you let go of all that clan stuff." Mushiro shoved his hands in his pockets.

Even Earth was filled with nepotism. She had grown up where family lineage meant little to the average person and yet too many people still asked about parents and careers. Nepotism was still rampant and those with generational wealth also often had the power to influence politics and screw over everyone else. Yuina agreed that Konoha was too rigid, but it was the principles the village founded itself on. Clans were ingrained into politics and culture, and the clans themselves had no desire or reason to want to change that. As it stood, they believed they had already given up power to join the village.

"And what's the Hokage's name?" she urged.

"Uh… Hokage-sama?" He failed spectacularly.

"It's Sarutobi Hiruzen," said Noriaki, hoping to end the conversation.

Mushiro's cheeks pinkened. "So you're related?" he asked finally cluing in on the situation.

Yuina refrained from making a sarcastic statement, but felt bothered that there were people like him up for promotion. She took a deep breath. "Noriaki is his eldest son." She thought back to when they left Konoha. Noriaki had been in the chunin exams before but didn't pass. She wondered whether the Third was being tough or fair. It was odd that he hadn't been promoted yet. She was made genin at five. Kakashi was chunin at six. Surely, he could promote his son to chunin by his teens. It wasn't like he wasn't capable. Maybe it was a play to keep him away from more dangerous missions to further build his strength and only use him as needed? Did the Third even have time to train his children? She tried to recall if Asuma said anything about it back in the academy, but it had been a long time and he had always been closed off about his home life so nothing came to mind.

Everything was quiet for a moment as Mushiro processed her words. He tensed up before relaxing. "Ah, whatever. I meant what I said. Who cares about some stupid names?" He seemed less sure than before, but doubled down. "But, ah, if you have any tips to pass…"

Noriaki stared before giving a long exhale. He was given a tutor at a young age. He was originally motivated to prove himself as an individual, but seeing the arguments between his dad and bother had made him take a step back. To reevaluate what he was training for. Who he wanted to be. He still wanted to become the best he could be, but catering to the shadows instead of being recognized sounded better by the day. "Shouldn't you be asking Yuina that?" Noriaki had always been some of the highest ranking in his academy years. After becoming a genin he had been praised for the way he completed missions. Yet none of that compared to Yuina. His father would have had to approve her graduation, and while he wasn't privy to most of his father's thoughts, he could hear the whispers around town from everyone else.

Yuina looked at Noriaki consideringly.

"Her?"

"Yes, or have you already forgotten?" Noriaki's eyes flickered to Yuina.

"I didn't forget. It's just…" Mushiro's voice lingered.

Yuina thought about it. What did it mean to become chunin? She could demonstrate pure power, but that was the bare minimum. Accepting reality and doing what needed to be done was within the job description of a genin. How much power separated a genin and chunin? How much skill differentiated them? Being comfortable and having the fortitude to navigate were essential. The village had many eyes, but they only had so many tools. When out of the village, the person in charge was trusted to accomplish the mission. They were on their own. A chunin was someone that could be relied on. Someone proactive who could make good decisions and could adapt as needed.

There were plenty of chunin who filled vital roles in the village. Chunin were allowed to have roles in Konoha's institutions. Chunin could teachers at the academy, which was putting the future in their hands. They were put in positions of surveillance: at the Gate, Konoha's walls, and Information & Receiving among others. They worked with confidential information, like the Intelligence Division, the Research Centre, and the Hokage Tower. It was more than completing jobs. It was trust to serve the village and ensure its protection and growth.

Yuina thought it was a huge jump in rank. She didn't know too much about the intricacies of military rankings on Earth, but there had to be more than four rankings. It meant that becoming chunin was a big deal. It was night and day different, like the difference between being considered a child and an adult.

She remembered the jeers made towards Dai, but he was hardly the only adult genin, though some may be attributed to transitioning into another profession. Society liked to shame people who didn't consistently cross a certain threshold.

All of this would explain the low acceptance rate out of chunin exams. She wondered how many received field promotions. Those statistics could be interesting. With that in mind, the fact that so many youth and young teens were competing suddenly made sense to her. That would be the group most desperate to prove themselves, even if they weren't ready.

"You are or you aren't," said Yuina. "It's not a speech you can memorize. It's not a play you can act out. Act how you normally would. You'll either pass or you'll have time to reflect."

Yuina swallowed hard, but her throat was still dry. She had been busy, but she had been stupid. It wasn't the first time she thought she needlessly gave herself work for no reason. She was one person. Still a genin. It didn't need to be her, but because someone dragged her into it, she wanted to be the one with power for once. How stupid. She was as much of a cog as anyone else. Any independence she thought she gained, that was all part of the system too.

Yuina quickly stood up and got into position as people approached the door. People entered before Mushiro could question her abrupt movements.

Noriaki had followed suit. He wasn't a strong sensor like his father, but he could at least detect him and his attendants approaching when they weren't trying to hide. Considering Yuina's movements, she must have been the same. Just what he needed. Another comparison.

The meeting was short and to the point, which they quickly got through before heading to the arena.

"Hey shorty!" Yuina felt ticked as she remembered the voice that called her the same thing before in the victory room of the second round. It belonged to a blonde Kumo-nin.

"What?" Her voice was dry enough to cut through wood. Yuina wouldn't let it cloud her judgement, but she was tired of people commenting on her height or age. She was within the expected height range for her age, even a little on the tall side, and she couldn't control her age.

"Shut up." Zabuza said at the same time with a bit of bite.

Yuina and Zabuza turned to look at each other. Ah, right. He was there too. She had been a little too delirious by the time he arrived. Shoving all the victors in one room and zero privacy really had put her on edge. Some of them were annoying and others she didn't trust to not strike her down at the first opportunity.

"No need to fight over it. You're both shorties." The Kumo-nin, Otona, said. The tips of her sun-bleached hair brushed against her shoulders as she rested her hand against her hip.

"You shouldn't be causing fights before the tournament even starts," said Ureshi, another Kumo-nin. He was the kind of person to bend over backwards to help another, or so Koromi had said when Yuina had been gathering information about them.

"You're just saying that because he's your first opponent." Otona jabbed her thumb at Zabuza.

"I'm right here," Zabuza said ticked that people always underestimated him. It made things easier, so they could believe what they wanted, but he couldn't say it didn't grate him.

"Yeah, and it would be better for you to back out while you still can. Ureshi may be slender but he won't hold back even if it is a kid."

"Cause you're such an adult." Zabuza crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

Otona's lips twitched downwards as her eyes darkened. "More than you."

Was that it? Why even call her-? Him? out in the first place? It only made Yuina believe the exam was more of a political farce that no one could back out of anymore less it be used as an excuse that they 'no longer want to cooperate'.

"Those kinds of assumptions will get you killed." Yuina's voice was hollowed. Was it so wrong to say that she understood the Kiri finalists the best? Even above the other two from Konoha. She wouldn't have wanted to grow up in that wetland, but while the stories from Kirigakure were wild, at least they were straightforward.

"Is that a threat?" Otona was still upset that Yuina hag gotten to the victory room before her. She didn't show the same hostility to Monga though, so she likely saw her as an easy target to let her weird complex.

"Merely an observation. Shouldn't you at least know that if you want to become chunin?"

Mushiro inched closer to Yuina and whispered, "We aren't supposed to start anything?" He wasn't sure she would listen now. She did what she wanted their whole time there. Still, he felt he needed to give the warning, as Otona's taunts turned to fury. What worried him most at how calm Yuina was. His ears strained to hear the short inhale of breath from Yuina. With renewed energy, she smiled. No, it was more like a vicious grin as her eyes narrowed on Otona. As contradictory as it was, that was preferable to the eerie sharpness from before.

"Too bad I won't get the chance to make you to eat your words." They were in separate brackets so unless they both made it to the finals they wouldn't fight.

"You're right. Someone like you could never make it to the finals," said Otona.

Kibi joined Ureshi in trying to calm Otona down to no avail.

"The first match will commence shortly. Hatake Yuina and Ishii approach."

Ishii took the stairs while Yuina jumped down. She hadn't had many opportunities to gauge many of their full abilities. She knew Tazuka from the first round, but that only revealed that he was observant and quick-witted. She wasn't up against any of the Kumo-nin she had collected information on. She spent a week after the second round sleeping and the rest of the time was mostly spent on other endeavors. She caught a little, but only a few pieces of a puzzle – meaning not enough to get the full picture. She'd been too preoccupied with Iwa as a Hidden Village.

Yuina looked up at the crowd and easily spotted the Kage sitting in a row with the other leaders before looking to the other side of the arena where Ishii took his starting spot.

Yuina's stomach clenched as her innards felt like a hallowed pot as she waited for the match to commence.

To become chunin.

To be a ninja.

This was the world they lived in.

No mercy.

She needed to get back to Sakumo and Kakashi.

The match began, and both took immediate action. Yuina grabbed a scroll with her left hand as she reached for a kunai with her right, prepared to deflect the two shuriken thrown her way in the off chance her dodge failed.

Ishii made a few hand seals as soon as he released his weapons.

There was a good chance that it would be an earth jutsu between the tiger seal, snake seal, and his status as an Iwa-nin – earth jutsu being the most prominent alignment much like fire was most common in Konoha.

Yuina narrowly dodged sharp, spear-like rocks that reminded her of the time she nearly died. She unraveled her scroll and flooded it with chakra after ensuring it was angled for the widest reach. Out came a large splash of clear liquid.

Poor boy. His efforts to dodge saved half his body but some must have splashed in his right eye, which burned. That needed to be treated if he didn't want to go blind, and not with water. Cold water was regularly used to clean wounds and warn water was used to treat heat derived burns and combustibles. In this case, either would irritate it, and cold water would ensure chemical burns – though burns were the least of Ishii's concerns. It was only natural. It was a highly corrosive chemical.

Without wasting time she attached an explosive tag to a kunai and aimed for the ground a little under a meter away as she created a lot of distance between them. A far enough distance that Ishii should consider the kunai a miss even in his agony. He still made an effort to move away as a hand rested over his eye as if glued there. He didn't have anything to negate an explosion, so dodging was the only option. His jaw clenched and then he felt heat. It didn't register at first. He heard the explosion. He was well aware of the functionality and reach of a standard explosion tag.

So why?

Ishii tumbled down and couldn't understand why as darkness quickly took over.

Yuina watched as smoke clouded the area and boulders and pebbles splattered as the explosion was several times the size of the average tag and fire flickered across the acid previously released. Some small flames remained as the solution continued to fuel it even with a stone stadium. The solution itself wasn't combustible, but it was an incredibly strong oxidizer that enhanced the combustibility of other substances – or in this case the explosive tag. It was only a shame there wouldn't be a display of how acidic the acid truly was. Any effects would only show long after he would be removed from the stadium.

Never mind, it was fantastic that it was all lit up. It would be horrific if there was enough residue for it to be replicated.

Yuina unsheathed her tanto and was prepared to stab Ishii through the heart to end his pain when the match was called and an Iwa-nin who wasn't the proctor stepped in between them.

Three medics rushed to Ishii's side. Two lifting what was left of him face down. His breath was shallow. Blood ran from his head from impact with debris. Severe burns chewed into his flesh. Fourth, perhaps fifth degree burns – in all honesty, she wasn't quite sure the difference. Chunks of flesh were missing and exposed his arteries and veins. It was gruesome compared to the neat slice and stabs she had grown used to.

They should have let her finish the job. She doubted even some fancy medical jutsu could save him now. She gave Ishii a few minutes to a few hours at most.

Yuina turned to face where the explosion had detonated. It had left a giant crater, and the field looked more attuned to a mess she would expect from an unstable mine.

She walked towards the stairs.

This was the world she lived in.

So why after all these years did it seem like she was still trying to convince herself. This wasn't her first crime and it wouldn't be her last.

Yuina recalled a story. A story of tragedy. A story of pain. How her bio mom had older relatives affected first hand by the atrocities in Manchuria under Japanese occupation. Experimentation. All without scrutiny or judgement from the international community and courts as a deal was made with the American government to dismiss claims in exchange for the research results. How that trauma had shaken her family and affected them generationally. Enough that her mom sought a life in another country where she could create distance between her family and history.

Was she becoming like the people who destroyed the family she never knew?

Even if she was, what was she supposed to do? She had limited power. She didn't have influence. She wasn't the type to inspire people. She wasn't a revolutionary. She just wanted to exist with minimal scrutiny, spend time with those she wants to, and do things she likes. Besides, what could one person do against an ingrained system? The benefits of progress and safety she had once known had been a result of millennia of change, and even then there was a bunch of shady activity from the government, corporations, organizations, and organized crime. A happy illusion beneficial depending on one's associations and luck of birth.

Yuina was already in knee-deep. There was no turning back. It wouldn't change what she had done nor would it prevent others from attacking her.

She reached the top of the stairs, earning some stares.

What?

To come this far meant they should have been acquainted with injury and death. Wait. She did give a small show of what science could do. She wanted this reaction. It merely felt odd when the eyes were on her and not the devastation below.

"It was a large explosion, but nothing to get worked up over," said Kisame. His bracket was last, so he had to sit through everyone else's matches first. He was getting a better idea of what the village meant of toughen up or become soft-hearts incapable of anything.

Zabuza didn't care about the explosion and stared at Yuina's sheath. It was short, but he still would have liked to see it in action.

The next match was called for Tazuka and Rito.

"Eh? Even with that crater?" Rito leaned over the edge.

"Is that enough to hinder you?" asked Tazuka.

The matches proceeded.

Yuina understood not needing to use everything at one's disposal for every match, but she was beginning to see a trend. A decent to solid base. Knew a specialized jutsu or two. Things she had accomplished by the time she graduated out of the academy.

Tazuka defeated Rito.

Enki defeated Kousei. It certainly was a sight to witness to see a wind jutsu shatter rock.

Asa defeated Otona. Yuina thought she had it coming. Talking up a big game but Otona couldn't even get past the first round. Though Asa's metal technique was of interest. Another proof that chakra wasn't bounded by wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning.

Yuusei defeated Kibi with a bloodline limit. How fitting that someone from Suna had a mirage genjutsu technique like the light refractions in extreme weather.

Noriaki and Mushiro were preparing for their fight.

Yuina went back to her thoughts in between fights. She knew her understanding of the world hadn't matched reality back then, but she was confused. Back then she blamed Kakashi and Sakumo for her skewed expectations, but what was it this time?

No. No. This was a political farce. Averages here weren't representative of the greater chunin population. Especially seasoned chunin.

But Orochimaru wasn't exactly average either.

No, the exact parameters for chunin didn't matter. Kakashi was allowed to be chunin.

But then what about her explanation that chunin exceeded a certain threshold to be responsible with positions requiring rank clearance? It wasn't that she thought Kakashi was stupid or weak. He wasn't, but was he ready to be involved in such ways? Willingness, yes, but ready?

Why couldn't there be some easy guide to follow? Nothing ever made sense regardless of how much logic applied.

Though, what else did she expect from a military state? Wave power around and make up rules where they want sounded like a child's explanation, yet was it wrong in this case?

Noriaki and Mushiro were much more evenly matched than expected, but ultimately Noriaki won.

Zabuza won against Ureshi, using the condensation of the high altitude to perform his mist technique.

The most intensive match, however, was certainly Kisame against Monga. Monga was easily the oldest in the group, and Kisame only had about a year and a half experience. A battle of experience against talent. They were both highly capable. Either of them against someone else probably would have made them both victors by now. Even from a distance, she could see them grow restless from being unable to defeat the other, but it certainly entertained the crowd. Both used plenty of explosive tags, destroying the arena more. Kisame's strength, speed, and large chakra levels allowed him to push on longer to which Monga eventually conceded to his lost.

Their match was more aligned to what she expected from the tournament, which only further confused her.

What did it mean to be chunin?

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