"Yeah, I gotcha. Good luck!" With that said I turn and start the jog back to my team. I listen for her begrudging 'You too,' but this time it doesn't come. She must be really nervous about her leg.
...
I make it back to my team after passing by a few Iwa nin and their dirty looks, and find a set of familiar faces chatting with Team 7. "You guys made it!"
Team 9 looks just like it always does. Lee is still perpetually smiling and bouncing on his feet from excitement, no doubt tickled green by the opportunity to fight two tasks back to back. Neji is as stoic and pristine as ever, with a sneer on his lips and not a single luscious hair out of place on his head. And Gai is still, uh, pretty much Gai.
"Yes, Naruto!" Lee cheers, pumping his fist. "And so have you!"
"You're all one step closer to showing the whole world the roaring flames of your youthful springtime!" Gai bawls. "I could not be more proud!"
"Two steps, Gai," Hatake corrects him lazily, orange book in hand.
I inch away from the two jonin as Gai begins another one of those rival spiels he's so fond of, sizing up my fellow Konoha genin some more. "I'm guessing you guys had no problems with the first task, huh?"
"My partner was from Iwa," Neji says, the contempt dripping from his voice.
"And I was paired with a most unyouthful Kumo shinobi," Lee adds.
"They both tried to sabotage us." Neji's eyes narrow. "They failed."
"My partner attempted to strike me down while I was asleep," Lee explains, and he seems more disappointed than angry. "I had to knock him out for the remainder of the task. It made finding a second scroll very inconvenient." I don't bother asking if he'd been woken up from a nightmare as well, because I don't really want to talk about my own dreams. Especially not when Hyuuga Neji, douchebag extraordinaire, is within hearing distance.
Besides, he probably just beat his partner up while he was still asleep. I wouldn't put it past him.
"My partner attempted to turn on me when we encountered a pair of Iwa nin," Neji says. "So I paralyzed him from the neck down until the end of the task."
"Oh." That's not unsettling or anything. "Well, uh, nice job. And good luck in the next task."
"We will not need it."
I take a deep, calming breath. "Alright, fine. Good luck, Lee."
"Thank you, Naruto," Lee says seriously. "I will do my best to make you and Gai-sensei proud."
Neji scoffs. "Your best is more than any of these failures could ever hope to handle, Lee. Just stay focused."
Sasuke steps into the conversation, a dangerous glint in his coal black eyes. "I hope by 'these failures' you mean the other villages." Neji just smirks, and I ready myself to break up another fight between Sasuke and Team 9. But before anyone can make a move, a booming voice goes up from the sunken platform in the middle of the stadium.
"Alright, kids, gather around!" Neji's smug expression melts back into the chilly half-glare that seems to be his default, and he brushes past us towards the railing. Sasuke follows him with hard eyes.
I bump him with my shoulder and shake my head. He scowls, but stalks over to the railing nonetheless.
The present genin press in on the circular railings from all around the stadium, looking down at the empty arena that suddenly isn't so empty anymore. There are five shinobi standing in the center of the thing, jonin by the flak jackets and proctors by the different headbands each one is wearing. One from each Great Hidden Village, just like the first task. I squint at the sickly Konoha jonin, but can't put a name to his gaunt face.
The jonin from Kumo clears his throat once we've all gathered around, and speaks again. "First of all, I'd like to congratulate all of you for making it this far in the exams. Not many do, as you can see, so getting this far is an accomplishment in and of itself." He gestures at the stage beneath his feet. "I'm afraid you've still got one task to go before the tournament I'm sure you all have heard about. Down here is where you'll be taking it."
"Wait!" A shinobi from Kusa shouts, leaning over the railing in outrage. "We just got done taking the second task- we're exhausted! And you're going to make us take another one right after?"
"Damn right, brat!" The proctor from Kiri calls back. "You didn't think we'd just let you have such an easy task for free, did you? You didn't even have to win the second task, as long as you scored high enough. Of course there was a catch."
"The catch, in this case, is also the lesson," The Iwa jonin speaks up, annoyance at her colleague bleeding into her tone. "As a chunin, you're going to be expected to lead missions for your village, and make decisions that will affect more than just yourself. The ability to pace yourself and your teammates is crucial in being a successful chunin, as you never know whether or not the enemy you're fighting will be the last."
The Kiri proctor grins up at the genin that spoke out. "Don't blow your load early."
I let my face fall into my propped up hand, muttering to myself. "Is there anything in this exam that doesn't come with a shitty twist?"
Hatake chuckles, ruffling my hair. "There isn't anything in this world that doesn't come with a shitty twist, Naruto."
"Does anyone else have an obvious question they'd like answered?" The Kiri proctor asks. Nobody bites. "Good."
"As Akita-san was saying," The Suna proctor says, grabbing the stadium's attention. "This will be the third and final task before the tournament which will decide your promotion. It will consist of a series of randomized team versus team matches, whose winners will advance to the finals."
"And before you ask," The Kiri proctor calls. "Yes, that means if you lost one or both of your teammates in the previous tasks and you go up against a full team, you're out of luck."
The Konoha proctor coughs, then, and takes up the reigns of the explanation. "The matches will be won upon elimination or forfeit of one side. Killing is not against the rules, but we'll do our best to intervene before it goes that far, and if you forfeit we'll bring you to safety immediately. Leaving the battlefield during a match is not permitted, and will result in disqualification. You are allowed to alter the battlefield however you see fit."
Another hacking cough tears through his thin frame. How is this guy a jonin? "Oh, and once your team is called for a match you have a minute to report down here for it, so don't drag your feet."
"And that's it for the rules!" The Kumo proctor, Akita, booms. "Now for the speech. Osamu-san, if you'd be so kind?"
'Speech?' I mouth to Sakura. She shrugs helplessly.
The jonin from Kiri rolls his eyes. "Okay brats, listen up, because I'm only saying this once and I won't be answering any questions when I'm done. We're not going to hem and haw and tell you the purpose of this test after you're all done and in tears, because that's stupid. Also, we won't be giving you any kind of advantage by telling you, so it doesn't really matter."
He throws an arm out in a grand sweeping gesture. "None of this, not this task, not your potential promotion, not the whole exam- none of it is about any of you. Nobody in charge of the Chunin Exams could possibly give less of a shit about the genin competing, because you aren't the point. As individuals, you don't matter."
Sasuke and I share a look. 'Do you know what he's talking about?' I mouth. He shakes his head.
"The point of the Chunin Exams has never been to promote genin." He continues. "Want to know what the five Kage were thinking of when they first thought it up, decades ago?" He smiles, baring sharp teeth up at us all. "A substitute to war."
"Back then the Elemental Nations were still reeling from the Second Great Shinobi War, and everyone was looking for an alternative. So after a lot of political posturing and a few dead liasons, the Kage decided to invent the Chunin Exams. Their purpose would be to give each village a chance to showcase their potential to clients without risking the wide-scale property damage that a theoretical Jonin Exams would entail.
"This way, villages were given a means to compete for business without resorting to actual battles and declarations of war. Which was a pretty spectacular plus, given that a Third Great Shinobi War would ruin pretty much everyone involved." He snickers. "Unfortunately, the Chunin Exams back then were a lot different than they are today.
"Instead of happening once every two years, they were held every six months. And instead of being located in this majestic wonderland of a village, they were hosted by each of the Great Hidden Villages in rotation. I'm sure most of you can guess how enemies of the host village fared in these exams.
"But despite the clear and horrific bias practiced by each village, it looked like the system would hold. It made for a consistent cycle of good business and bad business, at the very least, and though everyone involved hated it nobody was willing to break the peace." He hooks a thumb at the Iwa proctor. "And then the Yonbi no Satori decided to burn down half of Iwa.
"So Iwa was in some serious need of funds to rebuild following their Bijuu attack. Perfect opportunity for the Chunin Exams to do their job and drum them up some business, right? Well, as it turned out, Iwa had just hosted their exams two cycles ago, and guess who was next in line to host?" He crosses his arms. "Go on, guess."
...
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