Chapter 20: The Never Ending Problem
Yuri's POV:
Pure darkness had been surrounding her. Nothing was bothering her and no one was coming up on her to attack her. She was at peace for once. Empty, but peaceful. Is this how it felt to not be hunted, and not worrying about everyone finding out about her secret. She could just hang out, she isn't in the middle of a deadly test.
Screaming, that is the first thing Yuri hears when she is opening her eyes. And blinding light… It's daytime. And Shikamaru standing over her.
"Quick! Everybody down!" Yuri groans.
Rolling towards Shikamaru so she can rest a little more. She doesn't want to be awake and she can feel her chakra is still low. Way lower than it should be. She used too much.
"He's too loud…" She mumbles.
"A drag is more like it. Want to tell me what happened?" Glancing up, Yuri shakes her head.
She looks at Shikamaru who helps her sit up. She groans when she doesn't want to be sitting, she knows she should. Her being on the ground could mean more trouble. Gently Shikamaru helps her up, even getting her to stand up. She only lightly needs to lean on Shikamaru, but she can feel a wave of dizziness coming over her.
"Naruto?" Yuri starts looking around and sees Lee being held by Ino.
Sakura and Saskue sitting next to eachother. She doesn't know why, but it annoys her a little that they are. Of course they are though… They are teammates after all. But she looks back at Shikamaru, a confused look on her face.
He only shrugs his shoulders. She needs the story though.
"You really are one of a kind. And I mean, the kind that gets on my nerves." Isamu puts his hands on his hips as he looks down at Naruto.
Yuri shakes her head. Of course Naruto is still being loud, and he sems to also be clueless as to what happened. It makes her feel a little better though. She isn't the only one clueless.
"No… you want to tell me?" Yuri looks at Shikamaru.
"A drag is what happened." Shikamaru lets out a sigh.
She notices Sakura's hair. "Sakura looks cuter with her hair like that."
She slowly leans less on Shikamaru, and she walks over to Sakura. She does like her hair like that, the long hair gets in the way, it's why Yuri's hair was always up and out of her face.
But then the girl from Lee's team comes down. She has the buns, and Yuri could not remember her name… and it bugged her a lot that she couldn't seem to remember them.
"I'll take care of him now, Ino." She says,
Isamu seems to see something and walks over just as the girl starts to shake Lee. Isamu grabs her shoulders with a wary smile on his face. What the hell happened to these guys while she was out? Why was team 10 here and Lee and his teammate?
"Oh I wouldn't! He… well he went through something hard that will challenge his balance for a moment." The girl looks at him and they two begin to talk.
Yuri looks at Shikamaru. "Sounds like a drag."
Shikamaru takes her over to Saskue and sits her down. She grimince a little at the pain and holds her side. Why the hell was she in pain? Right… she got thrown around a lot in that fight. Everything wasn't making sense to her and she needed to find out what was happening.
"It was. Those sound ninja sure had it out for Saskue. Kenji, Isamu and Sakura were all struggling with them." Shikamaru puts his hands in his pocket.
But Naruto is up to no good and Sakura punches him. Saskue had followed Sakura to where Naruto and the others were gathered. She couldn't be bothered to listen to them.
"I'm guessing no one has filled Naruto in on the… events." Yuri asks Choji.
Choji shakes his head. "Nope. He doesn't seem to want to know."
Yuri shakes her head. "Lame… and you guys protected us?"
She looks at Choji. "Yup. We tried to help… but it seemed they only wanted Saskue."
"Of course… Everyone wants to fight Saskue."
Yuri gets some help from Shikamaru trying not to show she still has some pain. But Shikamaru and Isamu notice it and Isamu lightly heals her while they move. Wobbling over to Lee and Tenten she tastes something sour in her mouth, looking up she sees Neji in the tree. So, he is here too? What kind of fight did she miss?
She doesn't pay attention to Lee talking. Or Ino saying she was going to fix Sakura's hair. Yuri needs to get the scoop and she should be asking her team about it. She knows they would tell her what happened. She tugs Isamu and spots Kenji a little ways off.
She goes to Kenji. "Run down?"
"The sound ninja from the first round attacked. They said something about Saskue, killing him. And we had to defend you, they gave us a run for our lives though. Lee showed up, and then team 10. Their attacks are strong, the one that attacked Kabato, Dosu, doesn't need to touch people, he controls sound. The other one, Zaku, uses sound waves to blow people away. But Saskue had a bunch of rage and broke one of their arms." Yuri's eyes widened.
"Not to mention… They were sent by Orochimaru." Isamu chimes in.
Yuri pauses. They need to get out of here and lick their wounds on their own. More importanly, they need to be able to talk freely and plan things out themselves. If they stay with team 7 she might let it slip to Naruto about her powers, not only that, but team 7 seems like a magnant for bad luck. Something they don't need.
Asami sensi told them to get away from bad luck as quickly as they can.
Of course… Yuri put them in this position. But now they needed to get away. While she was glad Kenji and Isamu were here to help Sakura, they needed to leave now.
"We need to separate from team 7… they might get us killed." Yuri whispers.
Kenji nods his head. "Agreed. We've saved them, we have to find a heaven scroll."
Yuri presses her lips together, she's still weak, but she feels she made a good choice. She didn't tell them about how she stole team 7's scroll. And she didn't want to say it outloud. No way was she going to do that. So long as they had one of the scrolls she didn't feel bad about taking their heaven scroll.
Kenji notices and is about to bother her about it when Shikamaru heads over.
"Yuri, what happened? Why are you guys with Team 7?"
She lets out a sigh. "Fine. We encountered that chakra that terrified me. We battled him and me, Naruto and Saskue got knocked out. I'll tell you more later. Now isn't the time though."
He narrows his eyes at Yuri. Right now isn't the time to have this discussion, it would be wasting all their time. If anything, later would be better so she can focus on getting to the tower and give Shikamaru motivation to get to the tower as well.
"After this, we are having a discussion." Shikamaru stuffs his hands in his pocket.
Yuri nods. Shikamaru knew her, and knew she wasn't going to give in.
Shikamaru and his team head off, she turns to Saskue and his team, seeing Lee and Tenten are gone. Since everyone else was leaving, now would be a perfect time to leave with her team. They had a lot to talk about and Isamu healing her a little would help them put as much distance between them as possible.
Team 9 needed to get to the tower and team 7 needed to figure out what they were going to do. If they were going to rest, so be it. They would be able to do it.
"Listen, we should split. We need to find the other scroll for us." Yuri puts her hands in her pockets.
Saskue nods his head. "Right. We'll see you at the tower."
Yuri goes off with her team. They move fast, with Yuri setting the pace and heading back towards the tower. With both the scrolls, they were able to do it.
Once they are far enough away from team 7 Yuri slows them down, she still needs to rest and she could feel she didn't have enough chakra to do much of anything. With her being far away from team 7, she feels better talking to her team. She couldn't keep that speed up for long and they might have only traveled for 10 minutes in silence. She should have filled in her team, but she needed to rest. But it might be better to get to the tower to rest than to be out in the open.
"Why are we slowing down?" Isamu asks.
She looks at the boys. "Sorry. I'm still tired."
"We can pause if you need Yuri." Kenji says.
She shakes her head. "Let's keep moving slowly. We need to get to the tower so I can fully rest."
They slow their pace and Yuri pulls out the heaven scroll. Showing it to the boys, she can see Isamu's eyes widen. Releasing the hold she had on the other scroll, she hands it back to Kenji.
"I… I might have stolen team 7's when Saskue threw it. Orochimaru burned one of the fakes." Yuri smiles softly.
Kenji and Isamu only stare at her. And it's a long pause. Isamu takes out the earth scroll and releases the illusion on it and Kenji does the same thing as they move through. Staring at the scrolls. Yuri takes out the Earth scroll and tosses the extra one to Kenji.
They had their scrolls and now is a good time to tell the boys. They could make a beeline to the tower and recharge there for a few days.
"As much as I want to scold you… they kind of owe us for saving them…" Isamu shakes his head.
Kenji nods. "It's smart. They don't even know we have it so we can make it to the tower on the second day."
Yuri stops, putting her hands on her knees. She pants a little. The sharingan must have used way more chakra than she thought. She still hadn't recovered. That is something she will have to handle later, she might need a little more sleep and some food. Which reminds her. She pulls out a rice ball and munchs on it.
Isamu puts a hand on her back. "We should stop, let you-"
"No. No, we need to get to the tower. I can't rest out here in the open."
Kenji and Isamu exchange a look and she knows it's going to take them a while. But they know she is right. Reaching into their own packs they grab their own food.
"We pause to eat and then keep moving." Kenji states.
Eating in silence, Yuri finishes her rice and grabs another one. She is hungry… and she isn't used to it. After another 10 minutes of sitting there, Yuri gets back up and lets out a sigh.
"Let's go."
And they continue to move. They have to pause every half hour though to give Yuri a break. She even starts to eat some of her food pills to keep her energy up. At one point she nearly fell from the trees. Isamu forced them to take a longer rest though, one that lasted an hour and even made Yuri close her eyes for a moment.
It annoyed her… but it helped her a lot. They would do the thirty minutes and five rest, ten at a slower sleep. Keeping a steady pace to ensure they get to the tower before people attack them. She didn't think they would survive any of those. And with her being able to taste people, she could steer them away before they ended up in a fight.
A fight was the last thing team 9 needed.
By night time or could be close to daybreak on the morning of day 3, they make it to the tower. The tower where Yuri promised she would sleep off whatever was happening to her. That was to keep them moving and to help them get to this place. Once they open the doors Yuri is about ready to find a bed and crash when they are in a room with something on the back.
Reading the riddle, Yuri realizes she doesn't have the brain power to figure out what any of it means. Thankfully Isamu and Kenji can figure it out and they open the heaven and earth scroll. And who is to appear before them? But Jelly!
Okay… Yuri needed to learn his name. She can't keep calling him Jelly.
"Congragulations, you have passed the second exam! And at the start of day 3 as well." He crosses his arms and gives the trio a smile.
Yuri falls onto her butt and lets out a breath. They managed to make it through the whole thing. And alive. That was good news to hear.
Though they barely made it out alive. It was something that they should mention. Especially about the fight with team 7. The adults needed to know about that, and hope that they would do something about it. She doubts that it was part of the exam though. Having a person like that attack one team isn't right.
"We passed? Thank you!" Isamu smiles and goes to hug Jelly.
"Hey Jelly, what is your name?" Yuri asks.
With Isamu coming after him and Yuri asking the question he looks so confused. She always forgets people aren't used to the dynamic of team 9. They always think Kenji would be the one asking all the questions, not Yuri. Kenji watched and remembered and Isamu was the go lucky one to throw people off balance.
"Kotetsu Hagane."
Before she can say anything else, she can tell Kenji turned to her. And she stares back at him. He knows she is setting up for this. It was something they liked to do and only Asami sensi could see through their bs.
"Yuri, what are you planning?" Kenji asks.
"We have to tell him…" Yuri mumbles.
This causes Isamu to pause and put his arms down. Understanding the situation, he knows they would need to eventually. Isamu processes the information and Kotetsu looks between the three of them, looking a little more confused, but with the change in atmosphere, his own expression becomes a little more serious.
"Is it wise? I mean… what if he comes back?" Isamu questions.
Yuri lets out a sigh. "It's why we should. His chakra levels were too high to be a genin."
There is a silence as Yuri and Isamu stare each other down. Yuri knows deep down they should tell someone else about it. Even if it means the exams will end. But she knows it's deeper. She just doesn't know what. If they don't report it and are found to have known about it, it could mean they all get in trouble and they are taught to try to protect the village.
Kotetsu looks between the three of them. "What are you three talking about?"
"We were attacked." Yuri stands up.
"Welcome to the exams." Kotetsu crosses his arms and scoffs.
"No… not by a genin or a creature in the forest." Kenji interjects.
He balls his fist up and Yuri puts a hand on his shoulder.
"We were attacked by a man from the Hidden Sound. His name is Orochimaru. Well… technically he attacked Kakashi's team, wanting Saskue. If we didn't show up they might have been toast." Isamu comes and stands next to Yuri.
She was tired, yes… and needed to rest. But she had to report back to the leaf. If Orochimaru was here… it might be bad. They needed to know a man who helped to wipe out her family was in the village. What if he decided to go after another family? Or worse, attack someone who kept the village together?
For once, this wasn't a childish thing. This was going on beyond the exams, their lives could be in danger. They all needed to work together. And telling Kotetsu was her way of making sure the village could get ahead of this.
"Damn. I had a whole speech planned out. But it looks like I should report this. Please make your way in and wait for further instructions." Kotetsu motions for them to leave before vanishing himself.
"Well, Yuri, you need to rest. Come on." Isamu drags Yuri to the area.
Isamu though… doesn't know where he is going. They end up wandering around and since Yuri had been saying she would rest at the tower, her body doesn't want to take another step. She stumbles along with Isamu, not knowing where they should be going.
But she tastes blood. But then she tastes so many others.
Until she tastes someone familiar! Hinata and Shikamaru!
"Wait, Hinata is here. So her team is here. And I think Ino's team is here as well."
Yuri steers her team towards the others, knowing they are in the same area. Neither boy protests though, as she knows all three of them are tired. Upon finding them she sees they have six bunks. She has to resist them, she should fill everyone in about what happened to them. But… They look so good!
Yuri walks over to one and doesn't realize Shikamaru and Ino are sitting on it.
She crawls into the bed and curls up around someone, not realizing that it's Shikamaru she is curled up with.
"Still tired?" Shikamaru asks.
She shoots a glare at him. "Of course. We tried to get here quickly."
She doesn't even notice the red on his cheeks. She doesn't care either, she just wants to rest and get through this. She needs to replenish her chakra. And sleeping would help her.
"Wow. I have never seen you tired, Yuri." Ino comments.
But Yuri glances at Hinata and narrows her eyes. With a quick glance she sees Akumaru is curled up with Kiba, which is strange. Akumaru and Kiba are similar in the fact that few things scare them both. And they seem shaken up.
She doesn't move though as her eyes drift back to Hinata.
"What's up Hinata?"
"I… we… we watched that sand… sand team murder someone… a whole team." Hinata mumbles.
Yuri bolts up and hits her head on the top bunk. Shikamaru exclaims and moves his hand to Yuri's forehead. Even making her lay back down. She pouts at Shikamaru but he shakes his head.
"Slow down Yuri!" Isamu sits by Kiba. "You need to sleep more than anyone. Who knows when the next test will be. We need you at full strength."
"He is right." Kenji comments.
Shikamaru nods his head and kind of pins Yuri to the bed. He knows she will try to get up and move around. And judging by Shikamaru's look, he knows he can overpower Yuri in this instant. And she knows it too. So she settles into the bed.
"But." Shino begins. "She should know. That sand team can crush us like a bug."
If Shino is scared…they all should be. Team 8 launches into the fight they watched with Gaara and a team from the Hidden Rain. And to say Yuri is also scared is an understatement. She sees Kenji looking at her and nods his head.
He knows her so well.
After team 8 finishes, Kenji and Isamu start to tell everyone about their fight with Orochimaru and team 7. Even Shikamaru seemed shocked, but she notices him leaving out some important details that everyone who knows about Yuri would put together. But Kiba seems to be clueless.
"Hold on!" Kiba stands up and looks at Yuri. "How the hell was your team able to pull that off? I know you are all chaotic but you aren't that good!"
Isamu lets out a sigh. "Drop it Kiba."
This causes Kiba to look at Isamu. She knows this would only mean Kiba would start poking around. And they had been planning on telling him. Might as well tell him now.
"It's okay, Isamu. Might as well tell him." She motions for Kenji to watch the door. He gets up and does so.
Shikamaru glances at her. "Are you sure Yuri?"
"I am." She looks at Kiba who is only looking at her. "My clan has the ability to taste people's chakra. Not only that but I can absorb and copy other people justu. Even clan specific abilities."
No one says anything for a moment. Kiba looks at Hinata and Shino who aren't shocked by this and begins to rant about not being told. Isamu gets him to calm down a little. But not before he storms off and Hinata and Shino follow him.
"Get some sleep Yuri." Shikamaru says.
She looks up at Shikamaru who tries to undo her hair and play with her hair. He only knows to do that since they napped together and it made Yuri sleep. With that Yuri closes her eyes.
Notes: Hello! I am back! I got sidetracked with other things. Please enjoy this chapter though! I am finishing editing the last parts of this story as well! Please look forward to those chapters, and enjoy the rest of the Chunin exams. If you like the story, please leave a comment and follow the story.