26 Unlucky Pick

"I've just received word from the proctor of the first test," said Baki. All of us gathered around him in the small apartment we had been given. It hadn't been even two hours since we had left the first part of the exam. It seems they had already found a solution to having too many genin pass the first exam.

"They are adding on an elimination phase. Teams were randomly picked to participate in the elimination and unfortunately, you are one of them," said Baki distastefully. A scroll with instructions laid out in front of him. It had been delivered moments earlier by a messenger.

"You're saying that only a select few teams have to participate in this elimination? That's so unfair," complained Kankuro. I had to agree with him, this seemed very unusual.

"Not every mission will be fair," said Baki bluntly. We all nodded, it was pointless to argue about something you can't change.

"Does it say anything about the details of this elimination phase," I asked him.

"No it simply says for you to return to the location of the first exam to be given instructions," said Baki. He then looked at us each with an observing gaze.

"I'm very proud that the three of you made it past the first part of the exam. Make it past this part and keep going," he said encouragingly.

"Thank you," I told him. Temari and Kankuro also voiced their gratefulness.

"Get going, I wouldn't want to hold you up," said Baki. Each of us then went and gathered our equipment. Unlike the first test when I had an idea of what would happen, this elimination phase would be a mystery. We leaped from our apartment across the Leaf Village with haste. Being late might disqualify us and that was not an option. We arrived at a record-breaking time, huffing and puffing from exhaustion. Kankuro fell to his knees and Temari leaned on her iron fan.

"Did we have to run so fast? I know you don't want to be late Gaara but that was ridiculous," whined Kankuro. I didn't pay him any attention, I was too busy looking at our competition. Waterfall genin, Rain genin, and Lear genin dominated the teams here. I only saw one other Hidden Sand team and I didn't even know them. Dosu and his team weren't here either, nor were any of the Leaf rookies.

"This is strange, why all the Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Rain genin? This seems kinda biased," said Temari. I agreed with her there, this didn't seem right.

"Listen up everyone I'm only going to say this once," barked a voice. Everyone turned to look at who was probably our proctor. I was surprised to find it was two people, Asuma Sarutobi and Might Guy. I wouldn't have thought they would be allowed to proctor any of the exams because their genin were participating. I guess since neither of their teams had been picked for the elimination phase, they wouldn't be biased.

"I will be your proctor today along with Might Guy. My name is Asuma Sarutobi and you all have been selected at random for this elimination phase," said the jonin with a cigarette in his mouth. He paused to inhale and exhale, enjoying his cigarette while we all waited.

"This will be a group examination. There will be two groups of genin, protectors, and attackers. Defenders will be given someone to protect, all of which are volunteer Hidden Leaf chunin. You will escort them across the village within an hour without harm to them. Attackers, your job is to either capture the person the defenders are protecting or get them into a position that would prove fatal to them," said Asuma. Everyone was talking among their team, probably working out strategy. They didn't even know whether they would be an attacker or defender yet so it was kinda pointless.

"We will be watching carefully to make so no lethal force is used," shouted Might Guy as he gave a thumbs up. He seemed as cheesy as ever, which was a little annoying.

"What would you want to be Gaara, defender or attacker," asked Kankuro. I thought about it for a moment. My skills were good for defense because of my Ultimate Defense, I could stand there and protect our Lear chunin. Kankuro and Temari could be more mobile and handle any attacks that might have the potential to get through my defense.

"Defense, with my abilities and you two running interference we would easily win," I told him. Kankuro nodded in agreement, having thought it over himself.

"Send someone from your team up here to receive a number. One's will be the attackers and two's are defenders," said Asuma while gesturing to a table with several boxes.

"I'll go get our number," I said to Temari and Kankuro. I walked through the crowd of genin and got up to the front. I noticed there weren't just two boxes so they must be trying to stop anyone from knowing what number they would get. One Hidden Waterfall kid walked up to a box and pulled out a number one card. Immediately after that, a kid rushed up and pulled a card from the same box only to have pulled out a number one card. The kid who had rushed up looked surprised and angry not to get the number one card.

"Nice try but that won't work," said Guy with a smirk. The boy grunted in frustration and angrily shoved his way back into the crowd. I walked up to the box and pulled a card from it. Two, just as we wanted. I emotionlessly walked back to Kankuro and Temari. I had reapplied my sand armor mask right before we had gotten here. It was a nice way to intimidate our competitors if I never seemed worried or emotional.

"We are defending," I said as j walked up to Kankuro and Temari. Both smiled at getting our desired option but something caught my eye. Several figures were standing on the roofs around us, all of them looking to be genin from the exam. I noticed one thing they had in common and that was they hadn't been picked for the elimination phase.

"What are they doing here? They weren't picked for the elimination," said Temari as she followed my gaze. Kankuro also turned to look at them with distaste. I understood the reason they were here, I would have done the same thing. Being selected for this phase was far worse than I had thought.

"They are going to watch us battle. It's so they can gain an idea of our abilities and learn how to counter them," I said bitterly. Almost no one was supposed to know about my ability to control sand until the elimination phase after the Forest of Death section of the exam. All three of us would be put at a disadvantage by participating in this phase.

"We will just have to deal with it. We need to pass this phase and we can't worry about revealing our powers because it might hurt our performance, "said Temari. She was right but I still didn't like it. I saw Isori and his team staring down at me with a malicious grin. He knew exactly what he was doing. Migaki gave a friendly wave which I returned. Isori immediately took notice and looked to berate her. Migaki meet smiled at her brother's shouts. The other boy on their team, Toziwa, simply gave me a mysterious look. I notice he wore goggles and was very pale, I hadn't really noticed before during the written exam. This kid was a bit of a mystery, I wonder what Jutsu he has up his sleeve.

"Gaara, it's time for us to go," said Kankuro with a gesture. I looked over and saw there was a large group of genin gathering under a sign with the number two on it. There was a similar setup on the opposite side of the grounds for ones. I followed Kankuro to the number two group. Asuma stood in the middle on a small podium with several Leaf chunin. Each chunin was holding a clipboard, probably to take notes on our performance.

"Please line turn over your card and look what number is on the back in the corner. That number will decide when you will go," said Asuma with a puff of smoke from his mouth. I turned the card over and almost died of frustration. One. We would be going first out of all the teams currently here. Temari and Kankuro curiously looked over only to get expressions of annoyance when they read it.

"Can we get any more unlucky," said Kankuro with frustration. We moved to the front of the crowd and handed our card to Asuma. He smiled and looked us over before walking away. A Leaf chunin wakes up to us with a smug smile. He seemed to be enjoying his current position.

"You'll be escorting me to the top of the Great Stone Faces. If anything happens to me then you are failed," he explained. We all stared at him blankly, we didn't need another explanation. Telling us where the finish line was located was more than enough.

"What about the villagers? This could get pretty messy," I asked the chunin. He smiled as if I had asked why the grass grows.

"We've marked a path for you to travel on. All villagers are being kept out of the way," he said as if he was talking to a little kid. I was starting to hope this guy would get hurt.

"Group one line up," shouted Guy from a distance. The four of us walked through the crowd to where Guy was standing. He stood at the beginning of a street that had yellow tape on the sides of it. It was barren of any traffic or people so I guess they really had cleared a path.

"Where are the attackers," asked Kankuro. I also wanted to see who we were up against, hopefully, none of the mainline characters. I was pretty sure none of them had been selected but I could be wrong.

"They were sent on ahead to prepare to ambush you," said Guy ferociously. Couldn't he say anything with a normal tone?

"They'll have the advantage Gaara, we won't know where or when they are gonna attack. We also only have an hour to do this so they could win by stalling us," said Kankuro grimly. Our enemies certainly seemed to be starting on better footing than us but it didn't matter to me.

"One more thing! You must follow the given path, so no cutting across the village," said Guy. That made sense because the villagers would be exposed to too much fighting then. They couldn't shut down all these busy streets just for the exam. All three of us lined up at the starting line. The Leaf chunin stood behind us, ready to follow.

"Are you ready," said Guy with a yell.

"Yes," we said at the same time.

"Gooooooooo, enjoy the springtime of your youth," shouted the jonin. It was hard to believe this was a full-grown man yelling like this. He would be the one Madra Uchiha recognized as the greatest taijutsu user he had ever seen. But here he was, spit flying out his mouth and shouting like a little kid. Whatever, it didn't matter now because we were off at a sprint. The Leaf chunin lagged a little behind us, playing the role of a civilian obviously.

"Temari you cover our rear. Kankuro and I will run point on the front. You can back us up with your long-range wind style and if the chunin comes under attack I will protect him with my sand," I barked to them. They hastily followed my instructions silently. We continued at a sprint for quite some time before I spotted a figure in the street ahead of us.

"Gaara."

"I see him Kankuro."

The boy wore the garb of the Hidden Rain, our supposed opponents then. I didn't know too much about what they could have up their sleeve because this guy wasn't part of Shigure's team. He did wear a similar outfit to Shigure, a large hat and flowing cloak. I motioned, all of us slowing down to a walk.

"Kankuro, clear him out. The other two are probably waiting for us to do something to trigger their plan. Be cautious," I advised him. Kankuro nodded and Crow shot out of the bundle on his back. The puppet shot forward at lighting quick speed, blades jutting from its palms. The genin in the road didn't even move, as if he was totally oblivious to the danger he was in.

"Something's not right," said Temari. Right after she said that Crow's palm blades stabbed right into the boy. A puff of smoke enveloped Crow and suddenly there was a log in place of the boy. The log had paper bombs all over it, glowing as they were about to explode. Kankuro whipped his arms and Crow shot backward to try and escape the blast. It didn't work, a huge explosion rocked the street, and Crow was sent crashing into the ground at Kankuro's feet. A Substitution Jutsu, one where the substitute had been riddled with paper bombs. Sand shot from my gourd and raised a wall in front of me without my command. I felt dozens of kunai hit my sand shield, the reason for its automatic deployment. With its signature rattling sound, the damaged Crow threw itself towards a seemingly barren side of a house. It unleashed a fireball at it, confusing me even further. What was Kankuro doing?

"Gaara, get ready for them to run," shouted Kankuro from behind me. I readied my sand to attack even though I had no idea what was happening. Then, when the fireball neared the wall of the house it began to distort. To barely visible figures were running down the side of the building. I launched a massive wave of sand at them but I wasn't fast enough. Just as the fireball was about to hit the house a blur of a figure slammed into it, making it fizzle out.

"Try to keep the damage to a minimum," shouted Guy as he leaped back out of view. This exam sure was strange. Turning my attention back to the two barely visible figures I found them racing towards Kankuro. Crow unleashed a hail of poison needles from its mouth which was directed at the two distorted figures. Both of them pulled umbrellas from their backs and opened them as the needles reached them. It seemed that all of the needles had been stopped but one of the distorted figures suddenly came into focus. It now looked like a short Hidden Rain genin that was dressed in long robes. A poison needle was lodged in his shoulder, explaining his sudden appearance. His Jutsu must have been deactivated from losing concentration.

"It's a camouflage Jutsu. They aren't invisible but they are hard to see," said Kankuro. So that is what he had seen. I had to admit I hadn't even noticed it but at least someone had. I launched a wave of sand at the two Rain genin huddled behind their umbrellas. The one who still had his camouflage Jutsu going leaped out of the way but the one with the needle embedded in his shoulder sat there and let me grab him. I picked him up and gently put him off to the side of the street. No lethal force was allowed and Kankuro's paralytic poison would immobilize him for quite some time.

"Gaara, I need help," shouted Temari. I whipped around and sent my iron sand shooting towards Temari without even looking to see what was going on. Looking closer, she was using her smaller fan blades that had been gifted by the Hidden Artisan Village. A boy who looked exactly like the genin who had used Substitution Jutsu earlier loomed over her. He wielded long combat claws in each hand, sending devastating swipes at Temari's left and right. She wouldn't hold up much longer at this rate. Luckily, my iron sand was already upon the two of them. I formed it into a hand that was slightly bigger than a horse and tried grabbing the Rain genin. The Rain genin had been in a forward lunge but somehow he threw himself backward instantly to dodge.

"You're going to have to try harder than that. Those attacks won't work on me," said the boy. Overconfidence seemed to be his flaw.

"You thought that was it," I said with a skeptical tone. The boy twitched as a shadow enveloped him. He swiveled around but it was already too late. I had summoned the rest of my sand while he had been distracted, sealing the fate of this poor kid.

"Sand Prison."

A huge wave of sand slammed into the Rain genin and swallowed him up. He didn't even have time to scream or try to get out of the way. I forced the sand to give him a small pocket for him to breathe in. Two down, one more to go. I looked at our Leaf chunin to find him fine and unbothered.

"I lost sight of the other one Gaara. I don't know where he is at because of his damn camouflage," growled Kankuro. Daggers and needles from Crow littered the ground and walls of the buildings around us.

"It's fine Kankuro we took down his two teammates," I said to him. I took the Rain genin trapped in my sand and tossed him into the air. He was too shocked to even scream and flew over several houses and buildings. I heard a crash a few seconds later which meant he would probably be too injured to come back.

"Gather up around the Lead chunin," I ordered. We each put our backs to the chunin and looked around for any distortions.

"How much time do we have left," asked Temari. She sounded more out of breath than she should be so I glanced at her in worry. Her shoulder was coated with blood, long cuts from the Rain genin's combat claw gushing blood.

"Temari you're injured," I said with concern. I went to go over and help her but I paused. I couldn't abandon the mission but at the same time, Temari needed help.

"Kankuro, pick up Temari and carry her on your back. She's in no condition to be walking," I said to him.

"What about protecting the Leaf chunin? There might only be one guy left but that would mean you have to protect all three of us," argued Kankuro. The Lead chunin looked at me with interest, waiting for my answer. I didn't meet either of their gazes, I was too busy looking for a distortion.

"We aren't losing anyone. Now do what I say before I knock all three of you out and carry you myself," I told them sternly. Kankuro hurriedly put Temari on his back while I picked up Crow with my sand. On short notice I could toss Crow to the ground to defend or attack, I couldn't do the same with Temari. I couldn't worry about her getting hurt while I fought which was why I wanted Kankuro to carry her. With Temari on his back, we got on our way again at a run. We weren't bothered for quite some time before I noticed it. The sky was getting darker, a powerful Jutsu was at work. I found it hard to believe that a Rain genin could have such a powerful Jutsu but it was possible.

"Looks like you are in trouble desert rat," laughed an all too familiar voice. Isori was sitting on top of the building ahead of us, his Sharingan activated. He obviously saw something we didn't see, his Sharingan could see chakra movements.

"Pick up the pace Kankuro, we need to get to the top of the Great Stone Faces," I said. We only had about half an hour of time left. It would take about twenty minutes to get up there but if the Hidden Rain genin interferes with us we would never make it.

"We aren't going to make it," said Kankuro doubtfully. He was exhausted from carrying Temari who was now unconscious. I heard a crack of thunder and rain began to fall. I retracted all of my regular sand back into my gourd. I then recalled any of the regular sand that had been in a scroll, leaving just the iron sand. It was impervious to water so it was my only weapon in this case. I tossed Crow to the ground and stopped.

"Kankuro, get the Lead chunin to the top of the Great Stone Faces. I'll hold this guy off," I told him coldly. He wanted to argue but he saw the look in my eyes. He didn't want to leave me behind but knew he needed to go.

"Let's go," he shouted to the Lead chunin. The chunin peered at me with interest before leaving with Kankuro. I began spreading out my iron sand particles, replicating my Sand Particle Sensor with iron sand. If this guy tried to sneak pay with camouflage he would be caught by me. The rain only poured on, even more, soaking me head to toe. My regular sand was nice and dry inside my gourd, hiding my secret weakness from Isori. I hoped he wasn't smart enough to figure it out but I wasn't going to hold my breath on it. He was smart, arrogant but smart.

"You look to be in a bit of a bind there," chuckled Isori. I didn't dare look at him, I needed to focus on my Sand Particle Sensor Jutsu.

"Leave him alone Isori. He is in the middle of his exam," said a cold voice. Now, this I had to see, I glanced up and smiled. Isori no longer sat on the roof of the building, he now stood at attention with his mother in front of him. She exuded a cold and dark aura that would make any shinobi flinch.

"I'm sorry mother," said Isori shakily. I smiled at his shake only to realize something. My sand mask was falling off my face. I had completely forgotten about it, I hoped no one was paying too much attention to me right now. A sudden twitch made me whip my head. My Sand Particle Sensor Jutsu had been tripped, something was steadily moving right on the edge of the street. He was obviously trying to go around me. I wasn't going to allow that though, all of my iron sand shot at the location of the Hidden Rain genin at my command. A sudden distortion happened as the genin lunged out of the way, falling to the ground. His camouflage seemingly vanished to reveal a large boy. He had a shaved head, large muscles, and no shirt. He only wore tight shorts and had a bundle of umbrellas on his back.

"Nice try," I told him as I send my iron sand straight at him again. He effortlessly dodged and lunged for me, one of his umbrellas from his back now in his hands. I now realized my own error, I had sent all of my iron sand to attack and now had none left for defense. My sand in my gourd could probably protect me for a minute tops with the rain still pouring down. Good thing I was resourceful, I slammed my hands to the muddy ground and sent chakra flowing into it.

"Earth Style: Simple Stone Barrier."

A stone wall that was very simplistic shot from the ground right as the Hidden Rain genin got close. I heard a crack as he slammed into it which caused anxiety. My nervousness was well-founded as the whole wall crumbled. I leaped back as what looked like a rotating water drill slammed into the spot I had just been standing in. It dug into the ground, mud, and dirt flying everywhere. I took this moment to bring my iron sand back to me. The genin walked out of the hole, umbrella in hand. From what I could tell he was using a Jutsu similar to Kiba's Fang Over Fang. He was using water from the rainstorm he had made to rotate violently around the umbrella. The genin sprinted at me again with water gathering and rotating fast at the top of his umbrella. Using my iron sand I formed a Monstrous Sand Arm which I brought down on the street. The earth beneath me crack and shook as the street split from the force. The Hidden Rain genin fell into one of the cracks with a yelp. I then used my iron sand arm to reach down into the crack. It dug through the earth and latched on to the Rain genin among all the soil. I brought him up, dropping him at my feet. He was bruised and bloodied from falling as well as being roughly handled by my iron sand arm. His umbrellas were crushed to pieces yet he attempted to get up.

"Stay down. You've lost this fight," I said to him. No need to fight anymore and risk serious injury for no reason. The Rain genin paused before his head dropped and hit the ground. The sky suddenly began to clear as the Jutsu he cast no longer received any of his chakra. I heard a splash behind me from someone walking in the puddles.

"You passed kid. Your team made it safely over the finish line a few minutes ago," said Asuma. I nodded and began to walk toward the Great Stone Faces. I needed to check if Temari and Kankuro were okay. I had t even walked a few steps though before a figure landed in front of me. It was Migaki and Isori's mother, a cold aura radiating from her still.

"I'm Kiruno Uchiha," spoke the woman emotionlessly.

"Gaara of the Desert. I need to get going, is there something you need?" Her eyes looked at me and squinted and a feeling of daggers going into my chest appeared. This woman was not one to mess with in any scenario.

"I want you to steer clear of Isori and my daughter Migaki. I understand you and Isori have a bit of a feud going on but I don't care. If you initiate anything with them you will pay," she said sadistically. I gulped, what was this lady's problem?

"I can't stop myself if they get in my way. You should stay out of their business as well as mine," I said coolly. Where had that come from? Was I trying to get myself killed? Her eyes narrowed and veins twitched in her forehead. Her one eye suddenly flared to life with her Sharingan, piercing straight into me.

"You shouldn't insult someone you don't understand. You're out of your league," she said. Kiruno proved herself right, her eye began to change and mold into something new. My blood ran cold and my hair stood on end. I felt like I was staring into the eye of death, the killer of all good in this world. A triangle pattern now showed in her eye, the same as Baru Uchiha. The Mangekyou Sharingan, almost the pinnacle of absolute power in the Uchiha clan.

"Leave before I do something that'll make you scream," she said brutally. I didn't hesitate to quickly leave, running past the cold woman. Why was she doing this? What reason could she have for needing me to stay away from Isori and Migaki?

Kiruno was a much bigger issue and danger than I could have thought possible.