Scarlet Justice - ep. 33
"Curiosities"
[Chuunin Exams: Third Round Preliminaries]
The next 239 hours are ours to spend freely. A wonderful reward for our hard work. There are a few rooms set up here and there for short stays, canteens, and other amenities for modern life. I find a shower and quickly start to wash, ignoring the biting cold as I scrub away the filth from the past three or four hours.
Food is predictably bland. I cannot wait to get back home and eat Luna's cooking. There's not much in the way of milk, either. But I can survive for a while longer. We can't leave the tower until the five days have passed, and it's on to the last stage directly from here. Who knows what the future holds...
There was a commotion when we arrived, as things were not yet set up for participants once they got here. With the previous record being four hours, they assumed they had much more time. It was fortunate then that it was just the three of us.
But as I comb my hair in the comfort of my shared room, I hear more mutterings of disbelief. Another team has arrived. I flick my tongue at the air and pick up a familiar scent...blood.
"So it's them, then."
The three children from the Hidden Sand, featuring Gaara of the Desert, the boy with overflowing murderous intent. I check the time piece on the inside of my wrist and nod.
97 minutes.
"Quite a feat. Those three didn't look incredibly mobile, either. I wonder how many they killed on the way here...or rather, how many he killed." A point of interest, to be sure. But also something I can worry about later.
"Apparently the other teams are meeting up downstairs," Shino tells me the next morning. I have myself a large helping of eggs and breakfast cereal, adding spice and sugar as needed. How shinobi can put up with this quality of food is beyond me. It has nothing to do with me being spoiled, I can tell that much from the reactions of others as I move around the facility.
"That's fine. I have no interest at this time. What about you?"
"I might walk around some more to collect data."
"I see. While you're downstairs, pick up some of those fruit bars, and a few candy bars from the machine they have," I instruct while handing Shino my coin purse. "Never mind the cost. And get as much as you want for yourself."
"On it, Boss. Anything to drink?"
"If you can carry a few sodas as well, that would be nice."
He nods and heads off. I finish my breakfast before rolling back into bed. Not much I want to do with the next round looming, and thinking too hard about the possibilities ends up being stressful. Shino returns with my things and coin purse. I set them aside for later.
A few teams at a time filter in. I have a feeling that this was not what Anko wanted or was expecting, with the brutality of the competition and the training ground itself. This sort of thing seems to be far from normal on any mission, though it works well to test out possibilities. Anyone who breaks down at this point is probably unfit to be a shinobi...but I wonder about that. Preparation for extremes is a good thought, but it's not as if a significant minority goes through these sorts of conditions more than this one time. It seems like a good test for those who intend to become jounin, but as part of the regular forces, with all of the possible positions one could end up in...it's something to ponder, at least.
I end up desiring extra warmth during one of our off nights, just to have a little taste of my normal routine at the least. With Shino out of consideration for many reasons, including my reluctance to develop an insect fetish, I decide to see if Hina will accommodate me.
"Hina?" I call to her.
"Lili. Are you alright?" she calls back from below me.
"There's nothing wrong. I just had a request of you."
"What is it?"
"I would like to sleep next to you tonight."
"That...sounds fine."
"I hope you're not feeling pressured because we're friends," I say as I hop down from the top bunk. "It's perfectly fine if you feel uncomfortable."
"Well...I do worry about you sometimes...because...you know."
I look at Hina, lying on her side. "What?"
"You're definitely a bit...dangerous around women," she says with a small smile. "So it's not a stretch to say I might become a victim of your charms."
"I wouldn't..."
"Oh? You wouldn't?" Is...is she teasing me? Goodness. How far we've come...
"I know that you like Naruto," I say, fidgeting despite myself. "So...unless something drastic happened..."
"So you would."
"Yes. If the time was right...I would take you away, Hina," I say with a blush. She pats the empty space beside her, and I slip under the sheets to lie by her side. Our faces are nearly touching, and she looks happy.
"I just wanted to hear you say it."
I puff up my cheeks playfully. "You've developed a bit of a mean streak. Bullying me all of a sudden. Terrible, simply terrible."
"I'm not sure what else I should have done...asking me to share my bed with you is a lot." She giggles. "But I've been very happy these past few days. All of this...it's beyond anything I could have dreamed of. Around this time maybe a year ago, I felt like a failure. But now...I'm a few steps away from becoming an important member of the village. And it's not something that my father, or anyone in Hyuuga can take away from me. No matter what they might try."
"You've become so strong, Hina," I say.
"I guess...in these secret moments with you, I can be the person that I want to be," she says. We press our hands together and slowly mesh our fingers. "I feel so strong when I'm near you."
"I'm glad that I could help you."
"You saved my life. I remember that moment...there's a picture that I treasure above all else. The moment when I stood up, and found myself. I...remember what you looked like, Lili. You were so happy, and you looked at me like I was an angel. Like I was the most beautiful person in the entire world. I'll never forget that...how you made me feel wanted, and special, and loved above all else."
"..." I think about the question I want to ask. "Hina...what about the other side?"
"That...yes. The woman with glowing eyes. I first saw her in the desert. And she sometimes appears in my dreams. As a distant shadow, I would say. She's...calm. And she looks at me with kindness. That Lili is a fierce protector to me. Someone who...makes me tremble with the power she radiates, but also gives me comfort."
"Even if that's the wrong thing in the end?" I ask.
"Even then. There isn't a part of you that I will turn away from, Lili. You mean too much to me."
"Thank you, Hina."
"Yes."
She holds me in her arms, against her body. I close my eyes. I feel safe like this. These moments are precious, and...they won't stop being precious, even when the time comes for Hina to show her true self to the world. I love her, and I want the best for her.
The days wind on. Shino checks in with me, and I spend the next few nights sleeping together with Hina. I exercise, meditate, and make sure my body is in good shape. The food from the canteens is excellent for that much, even if it is terribly bland. One more team makes it in under the limit; I have yet to see who aside from the Sand trio has passed, but there are mumblings about the amount of people. As I thought earlier, this might be problematic for the exam organizers.
So it's not terribly shocking when I hear that we're not leaving the forest yet. The shocking part is the reason for it.
"It's downstairs?" I ask Iruka. We meet in one of the open areas while he sips his coffee.
"Yep, right downstairs. Plenty of stuff here, including the arena. It was always part of the plan that if there were too many people, they'd have a preliminary round to weed out the weaker entrants until there was a suitable number reached."
"Exactly how many teams were they expecting? I know that Mitarashi-sensei was complaining about seventy eight being too big a number, but after this...less than thirty nine people, or about thirteen teams," I say.
"Anko was expecting...three to five teams."
I frown. "Is the test that brutal?"
"It's supposed to be." Iruka shrugs. "Apparently our guy threw the numbers way off in the first round, and it was all downhill from there. And you rookies smashed through expectations up to this point, I mean you're all here from what I know."
"You don't say...so he made it," I say with a smile.
"Barely. But you know how he is, right? Anyways...I have to get back to the village proper. Paperwork and everything."
"Right. I wish you could have stayed to watch, but...I understand. You'll get your chance to watch me in the finals."
"Looking forward to it."
The time finally comes and we head downstairs, our equipment ready and minds cleared. We all line up together and I can see everyone present. The rookie ten from our class, meaning Kiba's team has come along too. Rock Lee's team is here also, with their extra year of training paying off. Fifteen people already. Kabuto's team adds to the mix. Altogether, there are eight teams and twenty four people remaining. Far more than Anko was expecting, I'm sure.
Let's see what happens from here on.
The Hokage is here, and he starts to explain things to us as we line up in front of him and the other examiners. The Chuunin Exams are not just examinations for promotions. They're war games. Displays of military might. They're meant to show off a village's assets to the world at large, and risking life and limb in battle is the ultimate way to do so. Pain, power, and pride. All these things are present.
The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of its shinobi. And the true strength of a shinobi, of any human being...is revealed in the heart of battle.
Dreams. Lives. Prestige. Everything on the line, for the sake of the world. To preserve a fragile peace.
I see. So all that I have to do is live up to my namesake. I'll drench myself in blood and devour all the prey ahead of me. That is what I was meant to do here. No matter what.
A sickly-looking man steps up to announce the third round properly. Hayate Gekkou, the referee for these upcoming fights.
"Because of the number of participants, we'll be starting things off with a preliminary round." Just as Iruka said, then. "We need to cut down the numbers further before proceeding to the final stage."
"A preliminary?" Sakura asks. "Are there really that many of us?"
I assume they want a final round of eight. That means about sixteen of us will have to go by the time this is said and done. After that, a properly formatted tourney will be able to move forward smoothly.
"Those who feel like quitting, please come forward now. We want to start the preliminary rounds as soon as possible," Hayate says.
Hm. No time to rest, then. Unfortunate for those who just came off the back part of the Forest of Death. My team has had a few days to relax and is feeling quite fresh. Naruto on the other hand was one of the last to make it out with his team, so they might still be fatigued. Still...I can't underestimate anyone here, especially if they've worked to make it this far.
"Sorry, I'm going to quit here."
I look over at the first person to leave. That man...with the glasses. Shino mentioned him...yes, that's Kabuto. He looks quite worn out, but...I'm not sure he's telling the truth. The suspect look that the Hokage is giving him doesn't help. Naruto and Sakura are concerned that he's leaving...they must have gone through something together. That, or he helped them make it to the tower in the first place.
"Right...these are individual battles. Your forfeit will have no effect on the standing of your teammates," Hayate says. That answers the question on my mind. It means that our destinies are in our own hands from here on. Just a flat out fight to the finish. I can live with that.
Shikamaru starts to raise his hand but Ino angrily slaps it down. I hear his oppressive whining as a result.
I hear something else in the meantime. Mutterings about Sasuke. Something about...removing him from the exam? He keeps touching his neck for some reason. Is it in injury? No, I don't think so. A neck injury would be worse, and there's already someone from the Sound standing around with his arm in a sling. He isn't being forced out, or leaving.
There's something going on. I don't like it.
And of course, because it's just that kind of day, there's another irritation. The Hidden Sound has their sensei here, and...I keep getting a familiar feeling. A distortion, more like. He feels like...I can't remember. But I know that I've felt this somewhere. Where? It's so bothersome.
I sigh and put it aside. Time to focus in on the tourney again. So Kabuto leaving puts us at the odd number of twenty three, which I'm sure will cause all kinds of fun. Hayate seems resolved to move on.
"Alright, since we have-"
"Your pardon, sir. I will withdraw as well."
Kiba wheels around as Akamaru barks. "O-oi! Erika?" The chocolate beauty from earlier, with the spiked collar around her neck. She looks like she hasn't even been through the last round, with not a scratch on her. But she's decided to quit at this stage...
"Getting you this far was my true mission. Be proud of your accomplishments, and aim ever higher. As for me...I have no further objectives at this time. Kiba, Akamaru, Dark, Eddie. I wish you health and safety."
"My, Erika...are you sure about this?" a sickly-sweet voice calls to her.
"I am, sensei. My apologies." The sensei she speaks to is wearing a pink miniskirt, along with a black shirt that's entirely too tight around her obscenely fat chest. Her forehead protector is tied around her waist, like Ino's is. She has long, smooth brown hair. And she wears netted stockings up to her thighs like high socks.
I don't know what this woman is. But I cannot stand looking at her.
"Another target for your ogling?" Shino asks casually. Her eyes are light blue. She's put together like some sort of anime character.
I narrow my eyes. "Not my type. At all."
"Rare," he quips.
"Quite. I didn't think it possible myself until today. Do you know who she is, by chance?"
"Kosugi, from what I can recall. She substituted a few classes at the Academy the year before you arrived."
"I see," I mutter.
"Hey, Kosugi-sensei! What's going on?" Kiba asks. "How come Erika's quitting like this?"
"Erika...she's made her decision. I don't know her reasons, but...as her sensei, I want to respect them. This will not be the end of her path, I know it. I will remain with her as long as she will have me," Kosugi says.
"Thank you, sensei. I'll take my leave...good luck to you, gentlemen." Erika waves and disappears in a swirl of leaves.
"Unbelievable," Kiba mutters angrily. More mysterious happenings...annoying on my end, too.
Hayate lets out a sickly cough. I'm amazed he can stand up. "Well...that leaves us with twenty-two remaining. We'll have a series of one on one matches, with participants fighting as if they were in a real life confrontation. At this time, eleven matches will be conducted. The winners will move on to the true third test as a result. Fights are simple...no holds barred matches, fought until one side surrenders or is killed. So if you don't want to die..." He coughs again. "Please do us a favour and quit. However, if I step in and decide the match is over, you'll have to stop where you are. We don't want any unnecessary corpses."
How courteous.
Hayate nods to Anko. She speaks into her mouthpiece, and an electronic board is revealed in its space on the far wall.
"This electronic board will be what decides the matches...at random. We'll announce the first two names for this round when they appear. Please be ready."
And so, the first of the matches is set to begin.