Chapter 9

You and your fellow team members had met up before the big day. You felt a bit of anticipation, Megumi looked constipated, and Rin seemed determined. Which was as good of a start as any.

Kushina directed you to where you normally get mission debriefs. Of which they quickly logged the three of you in and shooed you off to training ground five. Upon going to it, there was an entire table full of booklets, pencils, and erasers. There were genin from the other villages around. You knew the big villages and some of the ones allied with Konoha, but there were some you've never even seen before. Some even had strange symbols, like three half circles or a music note.

All of their attention was turned towards a small line in the ground. A note near it said that anyone who passed the line would start the written portion of the exam. After your team had gathered their supplies, someone had finally gotten the courage to cross the line.

After nothing immediately happened, other's quickly began to funnel through. Which included your team as well. After everyone was in the same area, a jonin appeared out of nowhere. You didn't recognize him personally, but the scars on his face helped him strike an intimidating figure.

"This is the first portion of the chunin exams. The goal is simple. Finish your tests through whatever means necessary. Your entire team must finish, not just you. Any questions? Good. Begin."

It did sound easy enough. Or at least that's what you first thought before he started to throw kunai at everyone who had started writing. Forcing them to either dodge or get wounded. Even then you noticed he wasn't putting any real energy in his throws.

Your team quickly split up in order to force him to chose multiple targets instead of being entirely grouped up. He tossed a few at Rin as you started to focus on the first question. Easy enough-

It was difficult to react fast enough in order to not have a kunai embedded in your head. Thankfully living with Naruko has given you a sort of sixth sense for danger. Which allowed you to dodge it.

As he turned his attention to others, you proceeded to start tree walking, and using the tree to block his line of vision to you. You got through five questions like this before you realized it had gotten quiet.

Way too quiet.

You had been trapped in a genjutsu. It was easy enough to break, but it did mean you needed to answer the previous questions again. Thankfully the genjutsu hadn't changed the questions themselves which meant you just needed to rewrite it.

The exam continued much in the same way until you finished. You were the fifth to submit your test. Upon doing so you sprinted towards your other teammates who were wrapping up and attempted to keep them protected until they finished. Rin didn't need much as she had just about finished as you came by, but Megumi still needed about eight minutes before she was finished. Something that seemed to irritate her.

Regardless, a lot of other genin came back with slight wounds, grazes, and bruises. Other's came back in tears, their failure written on their face. Worse still were the teammates who had finished successfully, only to see their teammate arrive in failure.

Some reacted more volatile and less comforting than others.

By the end of the first part of the chunin exams, you had been cut down to fifteen different teams.

Then they informed you about the next part.

Each team received a flag. You could do whatever you wanted to with the flag except break it. The goal was to get your flag to the finish line. After passing through, you completed that part of the exam. The catch was, the flag you received couldn't be used to pass you.

Which meant each team needed to fight to get each others flag. Well, the proctor also implied that trading flags wasn't illegal, but your opponents were shinobi. They couldn't be trusted with such things.

Each team was thrown around the massive training field. Only when you got an enemy's flag were you permitted to leave. Though to do so you had to arrive back at the entrance, show the flag, and leave.

It sounded easy enough at least.

It wasn't long before you were given the signal with your team to start. Immediately it was agreed to go in a counter clockwise motion in order to get a flag as quickly as possible and then leave.

Thankfully your time had an advantage this time around. Namely you. There were few enemies that you saw out of all the contestants that seemed like they would be truly difficult to engage. You were confident you would be able to finish off most opponents before the rest of your team succumbed to theirs.

Not that you thought your team was weak or anything. By all accounts they were decently strong, you just didn't consider them quite on your level, by no fault of their own.

The shine of a kunai heading your way was the only indication you were about to be attacked. You blocked it with your own kunai and called it out. Noticing that the enemy's kunai had an explosion tag on it.

It wasn't long before your enemies made themselves known. By the insignia on there forehead they were from the village hidden in the grass. One of the opponents had a bunch of kunai's around their body for some reason, another was just…rather plain looking. But the final one…


…That was a grown ass man. Why was there a grown ass man in your chunin exams? Your teammates shot you looks for confirmation before you nodded your head. Each of you three going off to separate enemies.

You of course choosing the strongest looking of them all.

Tossing a few kunai and shuriken at him that were easily rebuffed. You were going to toss a few more, but he quickly closed the distance between you. Something that wasn't expected. All you could do was put up a hasty block as he slammed into it.

You slid on the ground a few feet before deciding to engage him in Taijutsu. He had the strength advantage, and possibly the speed, but did he have the skill-

He was quickly upon you once more. His fist sliding out leading you to quickly dodge, but that only proved to be a feint. Which meant you ate a swift kick into your stomach. Bile built up in your throat as the force was enough to lift you off the ground.

He quickly grabbed your hand in the air, and started to swing your body. After a full rotation letting you go and letting you slam yourself into and then through a tree.

He seemed prepared to continue the fight while you were preparing to draw breath. This was certainly not a good look for you…

His attention quickly turned towards his teammates. Whatever he saw was enough to get him off your back.

"Let's pull back guys!"

He got a few confirmations before deciding to leave. You watched him leave from the ground position you were left in. It took a few moments for your teammates to help pick you up. Rin went over you to heal any fractured bones while Megumi simply gave you a smug smile.

Psh. You'd like to see how well she'd do against him. Maybe after a uh, small break.


*~o~*


Shame bit at you, which made you more than a bit bitter when talking to your other teammates. Megumi seemed happy enough to prod you occasionally, smirking to herself when reminding you of your abysmal failure.

Well, it wouldn't happen again. That was for sure.

The next time your team bumped into a group, you immediately went all out. Megumi having tackled one of them from the very tree that had been standing on. They didn't have much time to react before you slammed into the one on the far right, while Rin's fireball jutsu connected with the one in the middle.

Your opponent went to engage you in taijutsu, so you simply put him under a genjutsu. You weren't bad at genjutsu, but it definitely wasn't your strong suit. But it was enough to give you the time to quickly douse your opponent in kunai.

By the time they had came back, they had already been defeated. several kunai being located in each limb. Rin had just taken out her opponent while Megumi was watching on top of hers. Probably having taken him out with her first move.

Which was…impressive.

Perhaps…perhaps you had been too quick as to gauge the value of Megumi. She's been doing nothing but proving her worth here repeatedly. More often than not surprising you with her skill.

Your opponent was quick to notice his situation, and quickly seemed to surrender. Pulling a flag from his clothes.

"Here…I'll give you our flag if you let me and my team live."

Sweat pooled on the side of his face and despite the pain he must be in he didn't show it. You didn't have any intention of making early enemies of other shinobi or even clans themselves, so you agreed. Wasn't as if you planned to kill them anyway.

Rin even sweetened the deal, leaving a small portable medkit for them before leaving with their flag. You had of course checked the flag for any signs of trickery, but it seemed to be the real deal. Which meant all your team had to do was get to the exit.

"No breaks. Let's get out of here."

Your team gave agreeing nods before following your lead. It took about half an hour to get to said exit. You passed by three teams on the way. Two you had seen before they saw you, and in response had your team successfully hide from them. The third saw you and made sure to avoid your team as much as physically possible.

Finally you had arrived at the exit, turning in your acquired flag as well as the one you had been giving. You didn't have any intentions of just giving others a free win. Feeling the flag crumble in your hand as the other was given to the Proctor. He examined it closely for a few minutes for waving you on.

You had completed two thirds of the chunin exams. All the unknown elements were finally out of the way. Now was the part of the chunin exams everyone in Konoha knew about. Where you'd engage on 1v1 fights with your own village and others to showcase your talents. If your teammate falls here, your whole team won't be affected. Only that one specific teammate.

And the winner of the chunin exams tournament bracket usually got some sort of nice reward. You think the last one got a lesson taught to them by the Hokage or something. Well you weren't sure about talking to some old wrinkled man past his prime, but if he was willing to let go of a jutsu…

Well regardless.

This was the moment you would finally make a name for yourself. This was the time you'd distinguish yourself from your team. To show everyone that you were on a different level. To showcase your hardwork, training, and talent.

You'd make your clan proud.



*~o~*



It took a few days for all the other teams to finish up their part of the chunin exam. Meanwhile you and your team mostly just…played around. You weren't allowed to go back to your home or leave the area until everyone arrived.

Which meant you and a few others could only wait in silence as other teams completed the second phase of the chunin exams. Thankfully Rin had a pack of cards on hand which came in handy. No one wants to just wait with nothing to do after all.

You watched as teams from waterfall, rain, mist, grass, and cloud filtered in. There were also those from Konoha but that went without saying. The hokage was quick to make his introductions and explain the next part of the chunin exams with the 1 on 1 matches. That it didn't really matter whether or not someone won as long as a good enough showing happened.

Of course, you didn't plan to lose at all.

Which is why when they orchestrated the first fights you were surprised to be up against a cloud ninja named Yugito. Her reputation as the carrier of the Two Tails preceded her. Something that made you instantly wary.

It was a known fact that tailed beasts amplified the powers and abilities of their holders. You weren't certain what the two tails could do but you knew enough to know not to underestimate them. It wasn't long before the two of you met in the tournament ring.

It was a wide outside stadium within Konoha. A public spectacle in order to catch the eyes of prospective ninja and civilians alike. You heard light cheers as you were introduced. Likely just being given to you because of your affiliation for the leaf. Though you think you could hear Naruko's voice in there somewhere as well.

You and Yugito gave slight bows to each other.

"May the better man win."

She stated, already getting into a fighting position. You gave a slight nod in agreement as you got into your own stance.

"Indeed."

The proctor of the fight gave the signal to start.

All of a sudden your opponent stepped back when you assumed they would rush forward. Giving you time to throw a few kunai at them while running sideways. They were quickly erased by the flames of some sort of fireball jutsu hybrid.

As she took aim at you once more you were forced to pull up the ground with an earth jutsu in order to block. You braced and felt the shudder from the wall upon being hit. Your eyes narrowed as you felt two more shakes before they suddenly stopped.

A hole suddenly appeared within the wall that quickly housed a fist, and then you accompanying it as you were violently pulled out. You fumbled with attempting to break her hold, leading you to eat several knees to the stomach. She then threw you back and started to run through hand seals again.

Your attempts to evade the attack were in vain as some sort of mud stopped you from moving. It took precious seconds to realize it's a genjutsu before you were able to break it. But not in time to dodge several fireballs heading towards you. You were forced to take several head on. The resulting burns being scattered across your forearm and palms.

She was…

Pushing you really hard wasn't she? She was still completely fine physically and didn't even seem all that winded despite all the chakra she's thrown around. While you were already wounded and almost fighting on fumes.

You had to start using your best jutsus in order to win it seemed. If winning was even still on the table…

You watched as her silently watching figure disappeared in a puff of smoke. Realizing that it was a decoy you looked around until you found her quickly closing the distance between you two. She was intending to end this with Taijutsu it seemed.

You of course wouldn't allow her to do so. You pulled out your hand signs in order to use-in that very moment, you came to the realization that you had messed up. In your haste you had slipped up your hand signs. Which meant your jutsu wouldn't work.

But Yugito was simply too close to stop and try again. It was very likely that even if you continued nothing would happen as you had did it wrong, but there was an off chance that maybe a different jutsu would help in it's place. It was incredibly unlikely, risky, and probably a dumb move.

But it was all you had.

You finished the jutsu as she closed the distance between you. Her fist and then her elbow digging into your face as she smacked you away. As she attempted to close in further, the ground started to shake. Said shaking interrupted your attempts to get back to your feet, forcing you to stay on one knee.

No, it wasn't just that. You felt exceedingly weak. Your chakra felt almost nonexistent. Somehow the jutsu you failed to use had sucked up the large majority of your chakra. It was becoming increasingly obvious that you were about to fail in the first fight of the-

The ground around Yugito burst open, revealing strange blocky tendrils of wood that proceeded to slam into her and carry her skyward. You watched as hundreds of tendrils slowly started to join together with the centermost one. Growing it's length and width at an astonishing rate.

Fragments of stone smashed out of the ground because of the wood. You could do little but simply endure as they cut against your face. It was already taking enough effort to simply kneel on one knee. The wood had grown massive in minutes, yet the jutsu simply continued to expand.

Currently a third of the stadium had been overtaken. Even now your jutsu seemed to slow it's growth rate, but it still seemed to keep going. You looked at it with a sort of fascination.

In it's place was a massive tree stretching up into the skies where you assumed Yugito had been carried away. You thought your eyesight was pretty good, but even you couldn't see where Yugito was. From…wherever the top of the tree was.

…You really hope that she doesn't come back from this or you were going to be in a really bad situation.


*~o~*

Yugito PoV



You hadn't been expecting a lot from this fight. Especially not when the ground had started to shake. Your opponents skills hadn't really been anything spectacular in your opinion. Most of the entire fight had been going heavily in your favor.

Hell, you hadn't even used your tailed beast cloak!

…not that you were actually allowed to, but that was besides the point. You had recently been able to master one tail of your beast cloak. Doing so made you so much stronger and faster physically. You were certain not even a chunin could deal with you in that mode.

Which is why you hadn't panicked when the ground started to rumble. Why would you? Your red haired opponent had been on the receiving end this entire time. Anything that he could throw at you could be take-

A wooden stick had come out of the ground in order to slam into your midsection. If it hadn't been blunt at the top, you were certain it would've pierced right through you. The blow was enough to take the wind out of you as it carried you up and off the ground.

After a few seconds you realized the limb was starting to widen and grow. Your body still being pushed up and into the air. You quickly wrapped your hands around the offending limb in order to maneuver yourself off of it, only to come to a horrifying realization.

It was sucking out your chakra.

With that stunning revelation you redoubled your efforts, only to suddenly be lashed with several intertwining limbs interlocking themselves with your hands and feet. Attempting to tie you to the top of this quickly growing jutsu.

Your fear was great enough that you were forced to go into your tailed beast cloak to rip off the offending tendrils. Just doing so felt like something was pulling on your stomach directly. A mix of vomit and blood coming out of your mouth.

As you removed the last tendril, The tip that had been imprinted into your stomach suddenly blossomed out. Shooting leaves and different greenery in each direction with a drastic amount of speed. The movement having blasted you further in the air. Your only comfort being no longer having the wood pressed into your stomach.

It was with a start you realized your tailed beast cloak was gone. It must have been immediately consumed by the tree. Was that why it suddenly blossomed leaves? You had only been cloaked for a few seconds…

This jutsu was monstrous…

It wasn't long before your body started to fall. Flipping through the air your mind found itself scattered. Distracted and even…

You woke with a start. Having fallen unconscious in the air while falling. The ground of the stadium coming up on you. A part of your mind considered the luck of still being able to land in the stadium and not blown clear out of it. Another part of your mind shook such thoughts away. Who cared about being disqualified or not? You were more focused on simply living.

You connected with the ground a second later. Your legs smashing into the ground in one second, and your hands doing much the same in the next. You coughed up in pain as you struggled to get your breath back before finally throwing a look to your opponent.

He simply watched you with narrowed eyes on one knee.

…shit, you weren't sure if you could even stand at this rate…

What a fucking guy.


*~o~*

Kushina PoV



You blinked as Aoki had somehow came back from the brink of failure with MOTHER FUCKING WOOD RELEASE. You pinched yourself to make sure you were seeing right, but the massive tree in front of you didn't seem to brook any arguments.

You shot a glance to Hirzuen and the other kages. Hirzuen's lips were split slightly wide as his pipe had fallen from his mouth and onto his robe. His eyes and head slowly lifting up as the tree grew bigger and bigger in size.

The Raikage next to him was much more collected. His narrowed eyes watching the scene unfold. The only thing that showcased his emotions were the new dents his hands were making onto the chair. The other kages from lesser known villages had similar levels of shock, with one having even fallen over from his chair.

You gave a light smirk at that.

The entire audience had gone completely quiet. Simply basking in the raw power of a giant tree sprouting in their midst. Even the civilians that knew nothing of the first hokage must be feeling the atmosphere change caused by everyone else.

Naruko watched the tree with an open mouth awe filled look. When she felt your eyes on her she turned towards you with the same look before looking back at the tree and gesturing. You gave a small smile as your hand found itself onto her head.

Oh yeah.

You helped raised that boy.



*~o~*



Aoki PoV

You watched as your opponent rose shakily to their legs. Well you certainly wouldn't allow them to out do you. You matched them, despite your limbs screaming out in protest. Ignoring the cries of your body in order push on.

Putting on your best poker face as you walked over to Yugito. She struggled, seemingly almost falling over, as you calmly regarded her with each step.

Until finally, you were both mere steps away from each other. Yugito took a few steps forward and punched. In response your felt your own body move. A sudden burst of strength that saw you swivel with your own punch. Slamming into Yugito's face and causing her to slam into the ground so hard she bounced slightly.

And then it was done.

You breathed heavily as the crowd erupted in cheers. Your ears felt like they'd almost fall out and your arms quickly followed as the Proctor lifted your own arm to your victory. You winced and slowly started to close your eyes…

No. You couldn't fall asleep just yet. You needed to…meet with your family. The proctor whispered something to you but you couldn't focus enough on what he said. Which lead him motioning a few others to take you to the infirmary.

Throughout it all, you were still standing. You made sure of that.

Had you made your teammates proud?

Had you made your clan proud?

…Was mom proud?