Blood drenched the ground at his feet as he cried and whimpered tears of pure pain.
"You're done." Kimimaro said softly, marching up behind him, Ryoko's arm over his shoulder.
The boy hissed glaring over his shoulder. "You...cheated!"
The soft spoken boy shrugged. "You made your alliances. So did we."
"Don't feel bad because we're just better than you." Ryoko taunted.
"Ohhhh my head." Naruto groaned rubbing his skull as he sat himself straight up. "Ohhh...Sakura-chan you're losing your touch."
Both of his teammates raised eyebrows.
Sakura-chan?
"Ahem." They turned to look at the proctor of the exams. "While choosing to ally yourself falls within the parameters of conduct and tactics that are allowed within the chuunin examinations; I'm afraid there can only be one winning team to this part of the exam." He reminded pointedly.
Kimimaro disentangled himself from Ryoko, letting the girl fall back onto her rump before letting go of her hand and marching across the grounds towards the limping Haku, Kyofu marching past him to check on her own teammates.
-0-
'A' huffed out a breath. "An alliance." He turned his eyes towards Oro and Kisame. "You two were the ones here. You orchestrate this?"
"Partly." Kisame laughed as several med nin used the lull in the fight to start collecting the injured. "They're the ones that took to the idea so much though."
"Bitter that your teams didn't think the same? Perhaps if you or Iwa had cooperated before the exam things could have been different."
"Seems to me that your team was the one that got the most out of it though." Onoki snarled. "With the Yuki girl saving that Uzumaki and Kimimaro saving the girl. Kiri's two eliminated my gennin from the competition only to do nothing more than secure their own weakness and the strength of their adversaries. This is why no alliance is worth it."
"You sound bitter Onoki." Orochi chuckled. "Perhaps we'll ally with you and hand you your victory next time to make up for it."
The Sandaime's features darkened.
They'd soon see how smug the serpent could be with this...victory.
-0-
"How capable are you for battle?" Kimimaro asked.
"Not very" Haku winced with guilt. "My chakra is low. Another minute at best with my dome. And I can't walk or jump very well right now. My speed will be affected inside the mirror's as well. "
Kimimaro hummed in thought. He was running on nearly full reserves. His bone armor didn't require chakra once it settled, his bones only needed chakra to be moved and grown.
Still with Haku like this it would be one against three.
Two of those with a wind element.
More than that, he hadn't seen Naruto's skills, which must have been considerable seeing how he managed to defeat four gennin.
If he was still relatively unharmed, that was bad.
Kyofu was also reserved in her fight and was most likely in the best condition out of the three.
The only one of the three he would have been able to disable quickly was Ryoko, and even then, she still had a wind element. He'd never pitted his bones against the impossibly sharp blades and one kunai from her might be enough to injure him.
He took a breath, faced the proctor and bowed at the waist.
"We surrender."
"What!" Naruto shot straight to his feet with that.
"Kimimaro-san." Haku protested.
"A ninja risks his life every day." He intoned, standing straight again. "But that risk is a measured one, based on information, preparation and planning. Not on blind luck and the hope that sheer force can overwhelm the position." He looked to Haku. "Victory is too uncertain as such, the words of our Ni-daime must hold true. Pull back to push back."
"This...this feels...I kinda feel like crap." Ryoko muttered. "You guys helped us...and lost because of it."
Kimimaro nodded, if he regretted offering aid they couldn't really tell behind his placid face.
Haku offered a sad little smile. "Its ok."
"Doesn't feel ok." Naruto muttered looking over towards the proctor. "Can we surrender instead?"
-0-
It was a chuunin that shunshined onto the platform informing them of the Kiri gennin's surrender.
Before anyone could get another word in edge wise, Onoki stood up from his chair marching over towards the front of the platform with quick, determined strides that set off alarm bells in the sannin's head.
Ryoutenbin cleared his throat. "Congratulations to you three that have won this part of the examinations. Now we move towards the final part."
The serpents hackles rose.
Do your scales tip too far Ryoutenbin? He wondered.
-0-
Kurotsuchi blinked as her father started walking out onto the field. "Dad?"
"Don't worry Kuro-chan." He smiled over his shoulder. "I'll be back real soon. Aka, make sure she stays put."
"Yes sir." Her big friend nodded.
She felt a nervous sliver of unease settle in her stomach.
-0-
"In the battles of a Shinobi. Not all factors can be taken into account, not all threats can be known beforehand. You must adapt accordingly to surprises and unexpected conditions. These conditions will rarely be favorable and rarely will your enemy fight you on even terms." Onoki continued, watching as his son, a man on the level of Konoha's white wolf, Hatake Kakashi, made his way onto the field as the medics cleared it out and the proctors pulled back the Kiri gennin, leaving his three targets on the field.
"You will find enemies in this world that are stronger than you. And at these times retreat will not be an option. As such you must defeat him, or endure him for three minutes. These are the conditions you must adapt to-"
"I object to this." Orochimaru stepped forward, a scowl on his features.
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