Chapter 14

Fun fact, Yuzuki was written while listening to Puella Madoka Magica music. I think it was Puella in Somnio, I was waiting for this moment, and flame of despair. Each one had a different tune, but I think flame of despair and Puella in Somino suit Yuzuki as a somewhat tragic character, but are accurate to her growth.

The chuunin exam preliminaries will be around 3 fights a chapter!

14

"Is everything a riddle with your village?" Temari grumbled as the three kunoichi, who arrived to the tower early, went to stand with their teams.

The second part of the chuunin exams had been the start of a strange friendship between the three kunoichi. Temari didn't stand for Hinata's lack of self confidence and started to draw the shy girl out of her shell, and Yuzuki followed her example with ease. She wanted to see her cousin, in Ino's words, blossom. The girl had so much potential and she wanted to see it realized.

"Well, a shinobi village does have its annoyances," Yuzuki chuckled before tilting her head in thought, "Though I believe that it shouldn't be so cryptic."

They broke off with a wave and went to stand with their teammates and the others who had made it. Yuzuki ignored the looks sent her way. She gathered that some of the genin she graduated with genuinely thought she wouldn't make it. She almost smirked at the fact that she had broken a record. She wasn't going to rub it in, that was just an arrogant thing to do.

Ino stared at her cousin and blinked in confusion. Her clothes were impeccable and not a scratch could be found on her or her teammates. Just how long were they stuck in the tower for. She caught the girl's eyes and saw a small smile sent her way before the other girl looked away. Ino paused in her slight scrutiny and felt guilty. Her cousin was lonely, and she could tell due to how dull her eyes were.

Naruto stood closer to Yuzuki and her team and was glad that she had made it. She stared ahead at the Sandaime and took a quick glace at all the jonin. Hayate was standing in the area, as were Anko and Kakashi. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she took in Anko's pallor, she seemed a bit out of sorts compared to how she was when they first went into the forest.

"This is the end of the second test," Anko announced, "Congratulations on passing!"

"There's still too many people," Yuzuki muttered and Naruto wanted to ask what she meant by that.

He stopped when he noticed some of the jonin shooting them looks. Yuzuki was able to ignore them and he simply winced. She spared him a glance and her shoulders relaxed a bit. It didn't take long for them to tense up again.

The Oto-nin's sensei looked like Orochimaru. She spared a glance towards the jonin she knew and tried to get their attention. Hayate was trying to figure out why she seemed slightly panicked. When she caught his eyes she slowly motioned towards the Oto jonin. He looked at the man and tried to figure out what she was trying to get at. He looked back to her and noticed the expression on her face that meant she felt the need to hit her head against a wall.

It wasn't his fault that he wasn't a mind reader.

She couldn't use chakra at the moment and as such giving a mental message to someone was damn near impossible without being disqualified. She bought a hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. She didn't like the situation she was stuck in.

"Something seems off with your student," Kakashi said to Hayate.

"I think she has something to tell us, but can't make it obvious," Hayate muttered as he crossed his arms.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test," Anko told the genin, "So listen carefully!"

"There is something I wish to explain before the third test," The Sandaime announced, "It concerns the true reasons for these exams."

"True reasons?" Daichi quietly mumbled.

"Why do we have all the alliance countries taking the exam together?" The Sandaime asked, "To promote friendship among the countries and to raise the level of shinobi, I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning, this exam is merely a replacement for war among the allied countries."

Yuzuki's hand flinched and those that knew her seemed surprised at the first thing to faze her. Brining up war was enough to get a reaction out of her. The Uchiha almost let out an exasperated "finally" at the sight. He also felt a little confused as to why that would cause her to react, it wasn't like she had been in a war.

She had been, back in the Navy. The war on terror had still been going on and then relations with North Korea had started to fall. She had been involved in war before and knew it was one of the worst things in the world. War was never meaningless, but when innocents were brought into it she was bothered. When children, younger than her twelve-year-old form, were used it made her sick.

"If you go back in time the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule," The Sandaime continued, "In order to prevent wasteful fighting the stage that these countries chose for battle is the chuunin exams."

"Why the hell do we have to do that crap?" Naruto yelled out, "Isn't this thing for deciding who's a chuunin?"

"It is a fact that the exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a chuunin," The Sandaime informed him, "But on the other hand, this exam has another side where each country's shinobis risks their own life to protect their lands prestige."

"Prestige?" Ino quietly asked.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi," The Sandaime continued once again, "And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients, and conversely if seen as weak they will lose clients."

Yuzuki could feel the mounting tension and closed her eyes for a few seconds. It really put into perspective how many of her peers didn't realize this was what it meant to live in a militaristic state. She opened them again and shared a look with Hayate before looking back towards the Hokage. The man wasn't being forthcoming with his information, but she understood that most shinobi weren't. She was feeling annoyed at how many riddles she was being forced to solve. The Professor her ass, the man was more like the Riddler.

"This will signal to potential enemy countries that our village has this much power," The Sandaime continued, "So, it will send a political message to the outsiders."

"Yeah, but why!?" Kiba yelled out and Yuzuki sighed, "Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?"

"Are you a shinobi or not?" Yuzuki asked him, "You risk your life with each mission you go on, you signed up for it the moment you became a genin. We shinobi are the strength of the village."

Iruka looked towards the preteen and sighed. He was right, she understood their way of life far too well. He wondered when she had received the scar across her face. It was still a dark red, meaning it had finally closed and was fully healing, and stood out against her pale skin.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village," The Sandaime reiterated in a more extensive manner, "The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi, and a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle. This exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength, it only has meaning because lives' are at risk and that is why those that have come before you have fought in the chuunin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why say such nonsense about it being for friendship?" A girl with twin buns on her head questioned.

"I said it in the beginning I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this," He answered, "By losing life and establishing balance, this is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi."

A few of the genin let out sounds of disbelief and surprise. One of the main perpetrators of this sound was one Haruno Sakura. The pinkette looked towards the old leader and then towards the one girl who had said something similar. She felt anger rising in her along with a distinct need to prove herself. She felt as though she was looked down upon by the taller girl, and needed to make her see differently.

"Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing, "The Sandaime got everyone's attention, "This is not just a test, this is a life-risking battle with your country's prestige on the line."

"I get it," Naruto chuckled to himself.

"Oh, well done," Yuzuki softly told him with a tiny smile.

He gave her a blinding grin and she shook her head in slight amusement. Leave it to him not to be bothered by the idea of combat. He truly was excited to be a chuunin. He was one of the genin she hoped passed, along with herself.

"I'd like to now explain the third test but…" The Sandaime trailed off as a cough went through the area.

"I apologize for the interruption, Hokage-Sama," Hayate said as he bowed before the man, "From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me to start?"

"By all means," The Sandaime agreed with a short nod.

"Hello everyone, I am Gekko Hayate," Hayate greeted the genin and he saw some horrified looks from them at his disposition, but the smallest of smiles came from Yuzuki, "Before the third test there's something we must first do, a preliminary for the final test to decide who gets to participate in it."

"A preliminary?" Sakura asked.

"Preliminary?! What do you mean?" Shikamaru yelled.

"There's too many people for a final test," Yuzuki huffed as she put her hands into her pockets, "He'll figure it out in a few seconds."

"Sensei, I don't understand this preliminary," Sakura piped up, "Why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?"

"The first and second test may have been too easy this year, we have too many people remaining," Hayate answered with a deadpan that shut the genin up, "According to the chuunin exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test."

"Oh no," Sakura grumbled.

"As Hokage-sama indicated earlier there will be multitudes of guests at the third test, so the fights could take too long," He continued, "We are limited in time, but for now those who are not feeling well and those who feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now since we will be starting the preliminary immediately."

"What!? Right now?!" Kiba yelled.

Daichi and Eiji raised their hands and gave Yuzuki a meaningful look. Hayate made a mental note when they did a handshake as a sign of understanding. He called out their names and they left. Naruto turned towards Yuzuki and noted that she didn't seem surprised, but sympathetic.

"I'm going to quit," Kabuto announced as he raised his hand.

"Kabuto-san, why?" Naruto questioned.

"You may leave now," Hayate informed him as he coughed, there was an edge to his voice that barely betrayed how angry the silver haired teen made him, "Anyone else want to retire? For now on it will be individual battling, you may raise your hand based on your own judgement."

"Kabuto-san, why are you quitting?" Naruto questioned.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but my body is all beat up," Kabuto said, "I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear from the time when I got attacked by the oto-nins from before the first test."

"Right," Naruto softly muttered.

Yuzuki gave a quiet yawn and Temari shot the girl an annoyed look. Seriously, how could she not be fazed by anything that was happening. The girl turned around and gave her a slight wink before returning to how she had been. That caused the blonde to give a slight snort. She was either crazy or confident in her skills. It was most likely the latter.

"There are no more participants retiring, right?" Hayate questioned.

"Please quit, I'm afraid," The words that Sakura spoke floated over to Yuzuki and her expression turned sour.

Whatever was said between team seven was quiet enough that no one else heard, but the tears the pinkette were crying was enough to tell everyone that the Uchiha said something that hurt her feelings. Naruto looked at her with a slight frown as he tried to figure out why she acted like she did.

"I don't understand girls," Naruto muttered.

"Now let's begin the preliminary," Hayate announced, "This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting, you will basically fight as if in a real-life confrontation. Since we now have exactly 21 entrants we will conduct ten matches with a tie breaker between the final entrant…the winners will advance to the third test."

"Finally," Yuzuki huffed.

"There are no rules, the fight continues until one of you dies, is knocked out, or admits defeat," Hayate continued, "If you don't want to die than quickly acknowledge your defeat but when I decide that the winner has clearly been established the fighting stops, we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses. The object that controls your destiny is this electric score board that will show the match-ups for each battle, let's announce the first fight."

All eyes turned towards the screen and watched as yellow letters of everyone's names cycled through. It eventually landed on Uchiha Sasuke against Akado Yoroi. Everyone except the two participants went onto the upper levels to watch the fights pan out. They were joined by the jonin sensei's and the atmosphere was completely tense. Yuzuki took up a spot against the wall next to Kakashi.

"Now what was it that you were trying to tell Hayate?" He murmured.

"The oto-nin's sensei looks like Orochimaru," She huffed, "I might be mistaken though, I don't know his chakra signature to be certain."

"Still, you took the initiative," A man in a green spandex suit informed her and she realized that she had been heard by him, "Don't worry, we'll make sure to keep an eye on him."

She got a blinding grin and blinked in complete confusion. She looked towards Kakashi and noted that the man wasn't going to be much help. She gave a slow nod and went to take a spot next to Ino and her team. She felt a bit better after informing a superior that could possibly do more in this situation. She couldn't help but wonder how an S-Class criminal had been able to enter the village in the first place.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate questioned the two boys.

"Yes," They both confirmed.

Hayate gave a curt nod and moved away. He knew how this fight would go, the Uchiha boy would pull a victory over Yoroi. He looked towards his student and noticed the uncomfortable manner she was standing. She was stuck next to the fangirl Yamanaka, but every so often she would look at the Oto-sensei. She was sharper than even he gave her credit for. She looked down at him and he gave her a look. She blinked and nodded her understanding.

She didn't look at the oto-sensei anymore.

"I know Sasuke-kun can do it," Ino cheered.

"Something seems off, just what happened in the forest?" Yuzuki questioned and team ten looked at her with wide eyes, "What?"

"Just when did you get to the tower?" Choji questioned her.

"In under two hours," She answered.

"What day?" Ino pressed for answers her hands on the other girls' shoulders.

"Oh, the first."

Team ten collectively hoped that they wouldn't have to face against her. She wasn't even boasting about being the first to the tower, she just stated it like a fact. Ino looked behind her head and noticed the jealous glare sent her way by Sakura. She couldn't help but worry about her cousin, even she knew about the temper the pinkette had. If Yuzuki had been like everyone else in the academy and pursued Sasuke, that jealousy would have already been hatred.

"She hates me, you know," Ino heard her cousin quietly say, "She thinks that everything I can do was handed to me simply because I'm the product of two clans, it's petty and childish and I will have no part in it."

"I don't think you have a choice," Ino chuckled, "But team seven was attacked by a strong nin and was hurt pretty bad, that's why Sakura's hair is so short."

"Huh, I hadn't even noticed," Yuzuki muttered she then looked towards the shorter blonde, "Y'know if you ever cut your hair short, I'd do the same right?"

"Why?" Ino questioned, "It's so pretty long."

"Because you love your hair and it's important to you," Was the answer.

Ino stared at her for a few seconds before a touched smile appeared on her face. There was a companionable silence between the two as they turned their attention to the two boys who were just standing there, not moving. They were sizing each other up, to see who would act first.

Yoroi attacked first and tossed shuriken at Sasuke. They were returned to him, but the Uchiha flinched in pain. With a quick activation of the byakugan pale eyes widened. Something was on his shoulder and siphoning his chakra. Just what the hell happened in the forest of death? He hit the ground and she clenched at the railing. It bent under her grasp.

"Woah, go easy on the railing," Ino teased, "He'll be fine."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Yuzuki stated, "There's something siphoning his chakra."

She didn't mention his shoulder, which was the main focus, but she noticed that there was another point where it was leaving him. She studied his chakra's movements and watched as it went back to Yoroi. She deactivated the byakugan and relaxed her hold on the metal in her hands. There was an indent where they had been. There wasn't much to worry about, if he ran out of chakra then Hayate would end the match.

"Huh, how?" Ino questioned.

"Yoroi has a kind of jutsu that allows him to absorb chakra," She answered with a slight shrug, "I've never heard of one that worked like this."

"What'd you say, Yuzuki-chan?" Naruto questioned.

All eyes on the fight were wide as her proclamation of chakra siphoning started to show evidence. Sasuke was on the ground with Yoroi holding onto his forehead with a single hand. He was struggling against the hold, but was losing his strength. He seemed to realize what those spectating had; his chakra was being stolen.

"Hey, Senpai," Yuzuki called towards Kakashi and got a hum in response, "Have you ever seen this type of jutsu before?"

"No, it's new to me as well," Kakashi quietly answered.

"Why do you call him senpai?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Because it pisses Genma off," She chuckled.

Quite a few of the jonin in the area had been subjected to Genma's special brand of blackmail and gave the girl a quiet blessing to continue the good work. Anyone that messed with him was okay in their books. A scream came from the boy on the ground and everyone watched with a frown on their faces. Even when he freed himself with a well-aimed kick.

No one wanted to be subjected to that kind of jutsu.

"Are you really Uchiha Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled out, "Is that the best you can do?!"

Sasuke looked up towards the blonde with wide eyes. Hayate narrowed his eyes slightly at Yoroi as the man charged up his attack and sprinted towards the preteen. He received a kick to the jaw, his momentum making the attack worse. A boy with a bowl cut tensed and let out a surprised sound. It was his turn to grip the railing hard enough to dent it.

"That's Lees…" Naruto said before trailing off.

Sasuke seemed to pause in the air as marks began to cover his skin. Yuzuki let out a sound of surprise, she had no clue what the hell was on him. Fuinjutsu was her weakest subject, which she made a mental note to fix since she knew Genma of all people, and she didn't have the knowledge to recognize the marks. He flinched before the marks receded and finished the move by kicking the man to the floor multiple times.

"Impressive bit of taijutsu there," Yuzuki couldn't help but comment on that.

He didn't immediately get up and she wondered if that was the best he could do. The Uchiha was slightly disappointing if it was, but she understood. He was going up against a man who had a few years on him and a strange jutsu. Hayate checked on Yoroi and let out a slightly relieved sigh, the man was still alive. He had to play the part of unassuming proctor; he didn't trust any of the men who had been with Kabuto. Sasuke slowly stood up to his feet, his legs shaking.

"I'm stopping the fight here and that makes the winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate announced.

Naruto let out a loud whoop as the dark-haired boy went back down. He hit Kakashi's leg and looked up at the man in surprise. Kakashi took the boy out of the arena as the medical team rushed in. The rest of the genin looked up towards the screen to see who was next. Zaku Abumi was against Aburame Shino.

"This is over before it started," Yuzuki stated and Shikamaru gave a slow nod in agreement.

The Aburame clan specialized with bugs. Their bodies were hives for the insects that fed on their chakra. To look at one of the members with the byakugan was terrifying, especially if it wasn't expected. Yuzuki had heard of them, but had been taken aback by the sight. She couldn't help but liken it to ticks on an animal.

"We will now begin the second match," Hayate said as the two teens face each other, "Please begin."

"I hope Shino-Kun will be all right," Hinata softly said as she moved closer to the railing, effectively standing next to her cousin.

"His opponent is weakened," Yuzuki quietly said, "Plus, the Aburame is perfectly matched."

Hinata seemed surprised that she had such kind things to say, but realized she was talking on a strategic level. Yes, on paper Shino was more likely to be the victor of the match since Zaku was injured. It was a grave mistake to underestimate one's opponent, but she didn't know if that was what she was doing.

"Look at the chakra paths in his arms," Yuzuki told her, "You'll see what I mean."

Hinata was still at the level where she needed hand signs for the byakugan, so it wasn't as discreet. Still, she looked at the chakra paths in Zaku's arms. They wrapped around a long metal tube that went from his forearms to his palms. Just what the hell did he do to himself. She brought a hand up to her mouth in slight horror.

"N-No wonder you seem so confident," Hinata said.

It made sense; it really did. A few bugs inside those tubes and he was done for, his shinobi career would be over. A small hand pushed a long strand of hair back and a huff was heard. Her hitai-ate didn't do diddly squat to keep her hair out of her eyes. She removed it and quickly tied it under her hair to try and stop it from getting in her eyes.

"One arm is enough against you!" Zaku yelled at Shino.

He charged and went to hit Shino, but his arm was blocked. He yelled and a sudden cloud filled the arena and out of it they all saw Shino on the floor, but he got up to his feet. His cheek was scratched but instead of just blood there was also bugs falling from the open skin. It was a creepy sight, but also incredibly interesting.

"That's so creepy," Ino and Sakura muttered at the same time.

"Those are destruction bugs," Yuzuki huffed, "It's cool."

"You tomboy," Ino informed the taller girl.

She got an amused grin in response. She couldn't help but be in a good mood. So far two of the ten rookies had passed and had done so in a way that was still hiding their top tricks. Shino wasn't even using the bugs to the fullest yet, he was creative in a way that she lacked. She was good at finding creative ways to use traps along with her genjutsu, but he was able to use his family ninjutsu in a way that she couldn't possibly understand and attempt.

"Don't mess with me!" Zaku yelled and everyone wondered what had been said, "You should always have a trump card right?! Here!"

"So, he can use his right arm too?!" Kiba yelled out.

Whatever jutsu he was about to perform backfired and his right arm fell off. Yuzuki hadn't been expecting that and her brows raised as a few of the genin around her murmured in shock. Even one of the jonin seemed surprised by what had happened. It wasn't every day someone blew their arm off.

Shino finished him off with a punch to the face. He didn't move, but he did groan. Hayate knelt and checked to see if he was still alive before looking towards the arm. There was no hope to reattach it, Zaku's days as a shinobi were over. He stood back up and nodded slightly.

"This match is over, the winner is Aburame Shino," He announced.

Shino gave a very curt bow and headed back to the other genin. He went to stand next to his team to wait through their fights. He was surprised at the nod sent his way by the tallest of the rookies. They had never interacted before, but there was a respect on her end that he hadn't noticed before. It was nice having a girl, who wasn't his teammate, not be afraid of him.

"Welcome back, senpai," Yuzuki quietly said as Kakashi appeared once again, apparently finished with what he had to do.

"I think we should go on to the next match," Hayate announced.

Tsurugi Misumi against Kankuro. A puppet master against someone who's moves she didn't know. Yuzuki wasn't going to discount either, that would be a mistake. She felt that Kankuro had more of a chance to win than Misumi, something about her fellow Konoha-nin rubbed her the wrong way. A slight chill went down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Yes, there was something very wrong with him.

"We will now begin the third match," Hayate told the two.

Kankuro had pulled off the wrapped bundle from his back and Misumi sprinted forward. Within seconds, Yuzuki knew exactly why the man disturbed her, his body seemed to turn into rubber and wrapped around the Suna-nin. He kept squeezing and telling him to give up. He squeezed until a loud crack filled the area.

Hayate hated the sound, but didn't react like he did the first time. He knew that the boy was fine, a puppet master at their finest. He looked up towards the genin and noticed that Yuzuki had a blank look on her face, but her eyes were far away. His student wasn't taking the imagery of a neck snapping well, he felt the urge to go and comfort her, but he had to remain in the arena and not show any favoritism.

Instead Kakashi was the one to bring her out of it with a slight tap to the shoulder. She sent him a slight nod and he back up and returned to his spot next to his students. He sighed and decided to call the match, seeing as the other nin had given up.

"The battle cannot be continued, the winner is Kankuro!" He announced.

Yuzuki ran a hand through her hair in thought. She could strategize different attacks for who ever she would have to fight against, she was hoping it was Sakura since she was annoyed at the pinkette and she had been given the green light by Genma, but such strategy would have to be revised for the final fight. The suna-nin's were insane with their skill level compared to the rookie ten, they should've been chuunin before now.

Just what were they planning.