One week later, the third stage finally took place in Konoha.
There were a lot of people in the big stadium, and it made Kei feel somehow uncomfortable. Not that she was shy or anything like this. But she didn't like having too many people's attention on her.
Among all the people were Kurenai, her father, Gai, Konohamaru, her auntie and grandmother, Naruto, Akira, and Nami. Hinata, Himawari and Boruto were there too.
Her mother was with the other Kage, sitting next to the Kazekage.
Besides Mirai's team and her own, there was one from Iwa and the other one was from Kiri. Since Kei had never had the chance to observe them in battle before, she wasn't going to underrate them and take them lightly. It would be a big mistake.
The first spar match soon began.
It was a guy from Iwa against a girl from Kiri.
The spar lasted around thirty minutes. And the Iwa guy was the one to win in the end. At least Kei got to analyse his fighting skills which is a good thing.
The second spar match started quickly after the first one.
"Yamanoha Hotaka against Karatachi Kagura."
Mirai's teammate against another Kiri guy. She wondered whether Mirai or her would be next.
"Come on! Just beat his ass!" She could hear Mirai say with fiery determination in her voice.
She looked at her dearest friend as a smirk made its way on her lips.
Hotaka jumped down quickly after he nodded so the match could start.
"You can do it!" Mirai added as she pumped her fist in the air.
Kei just chuckled at her attitude before looking away from her to watch the match.
It was really intense, every second of it. Hotaka gave everything he had during this spar. But it wasn't enough. The kiri guy was much stronger than he was, so obviously he ended up winning.
Thank God she had the chance to analyse his fighting skills thoroughly. It could have been her instead of Hotaka.
"Damn, that Kiri guy is really something..." Mirai whispered, looking shocked, and of course saddened by her comrade's defeat.
Kei sympathised.
"Hey, cheer up. Whether it's you or me who will fight against him, we'll beat his ass; for Hotaka." she said a little bit too overconfidently as she put one hand on her arm; but it was only because she hated to see her best friend so distressed.
Mirai focused her attention on her, and it wasn't long before she grinned at her.
"He's lucky we can't both fight against him, otherwise we would have killed him!"
"Yeah!" Kei chirped back.
"Next spar: Suzuki Yori against Sasazaki Itsuki."
"Oh, I almost forgot that two genin from Konoha could have to fight against each other..." Mirai, said again in the same mood she had been in a few moments earlier.
She didn't know what to say to cheer her up this time...to her great dismay.
Yori and Itsuki were soon standing before each other.
Even if he was far from her, she could feel that he was anxious. And she guessed so did Daisuke. He could win. He wasn't a bad shinobi. He just needed to have more faith in himself.
And even if he didn't, it wouldn't be the end of the world. You could always learn from your mistakes and failures, over and over again.
Yori did his best, gave everything he had too, but just like for Hotaka, it wasn't enough.
"I feel sorry for him... It's hard to choose who you want to support when the two competitors are both people you know well ..." Mirai said.
"Yes, I know..."
From the corner of her eye, she observed Mirai who was staring down at the ground thoughtfully. She knew instantly that she was thinking about what they both feared. Having to fight against each other. But if it had to happen, then so be it. They were both shinobi. They had to fight, no matter what. It was part of the rules, and they had to play along.
"... against Ogawa Daisuke."
Her teammate fought against another guy from the Mist. Not as strong as his teammate, but he wasn't that bad. But Daisuke was stronger. And it didn't take him that long to beat him, thanks to his excellent strategy.
She internally cheered. Too bad he preferred drawing to becoming a shinobi, because he had everything needed to be a good one.
After that spar, it was Mirai's turn. Since there were only four teams, each one made up of three genin, this meant that she would be the last one to fight for the first round. And the only other competitor that was left was a girl from Iwa.
It was more difficult to fight against someone whose skills you had never seen before. But, it didn't matter. She wasn't going to let her win. She hadn't observed the winners' strategies, skills and abilities for nothing. More importantly she couldn't let a foreigner beat her and humiliate her when the people she loved the most were present.
Anyway, for now she focused on Mirai's spar. She was truly amazing. Her father had told her that she had inherited both her parents' skills. She hadn't been surprised to hear that. After all, Mirai was the granddaughter of the third Hokage, the man who had sacrificed his own life to save the village. And the man who could master all five chakra nature. And his own son sacrificed his own life to save his team, and he had great skills as well. And her mother was a great kunoichi too. Her skills in terms of genjutsu were comparable to those the Uchiha had.
It didn't take that long to Mirai to beat her opponent. She was even faster than Daisuke.
Kei fist pumped the air as she cheered. She really was the best.
They bumped fists as soon as Mirai was near her again.
"I was sure you'd win."
"You'd better do better than what I did. Even though I must say it'll be hard."
They really liked teasing each other. It was a natural thing between them. Their smirks were the proof of it.
"Just watch and swoon."
With that being said, she stepped over the railing and jumped down to land on the spar ground.
The girl was already waiting for her. She approached her with slow steps and they observed each other silently.
"Go Kei-Chan!!! Show her what you've got!!!" She could hear Nami shout from above.
She smiled without even looking at her.
She was aware that the other opponents would watch her and try to analyse her fighting skills just like she had. So she had to be careful, and not give everything she had.
"Ready. Salute. Start!"
He had hardly said it that they were both already moving. They started with Taijutsu, and Kei managed to dodge and block all of her blows rather easily. Getting tired of defending herself after a little while, she decided that it was her turn to attack. She could see that the more blows she gave the more the girl was having difficulties to block or dodge them. She smirked to herself. She was doing good so far, not showing even one percent of her real strength.
She succeeded in punching the girl after a few moments of sparring , but with hardly enough strength to make her fall to the ground.
She could hear Nami cheering again. She could already imagine when it would be her turn to compete in the Chūnin Exams. Once you would let her down into the arena, it would be a real massacre. Well, she wanted to be the next Hokage, so she wouldn't let anyone get into her way.
The Iwa girl seemed to have much trouble to get back on her feet. But she really hadn't punched her that hard...she couldn't be that weak, could she?
Meanwhile Mai was observing her attentively.
"I'm sorry Kurotsuchi, but your girl won't win this spar."
"Don't speak too soon, you shouldn't underestimate Iwa shinobi," she spoke with a small smirk.
"I'm not underestimating them at all. I just know my daughter and what she can do. No matter how good Iwa shinobi may be, your girl is bound to lose."
The Tsuchikage now looked like she was pouting.
"Well, who could seriously expect the daughter of the Fifth and Sixth Hokage to possibly lose against anyone?" Gaara interfered, calm as ever as his eyes were focused on the two girls below, his hands joined and his elbows leaning on the wooden table.
The Tsuchikage only made a noise of indignation as a reply.
Kei tried to approach her again, to take this opportunity to attack her again; but she realised that she couldn't move...
What...what's happening...?
It was as though her feet were glued to the ground...
If only she knew how right she was. She soon realised it anyway as she looked down at her feet. She froze as she noticed what was actually happening.
Her feet were buried by the earth that was slowly attacking and covering her legs, petrifying them.
She had a sudden brainwave. She had actually pretended to have been hit powerfully by her blow, only to create some kind of diversion, and take advantage of it to launch her attack, and immobilise her...
What a fool she had been. Of course it had looked weird! It had only been the matter of a few seconds...
And what was she going to do now, if she couldn't move any longer? She was trapped.
No, wait. She could still use her hands to weave hand seals. But this wouldn't help her get free of the earth that was slowly going up her body...and if she didn't do anything about it she couldn't do anything at all soon...
Think, Kei, think. Fast.
It's not as if there were plenty of possibilities to get through this anyway. She had to take the bull by the horns, literally.
While she could still use her arms and hands, she rapidly bent down and punched the ground with all the strength she could muster. As expected, she was projected backwards with much force, but at least she was free now.
She quickly got back on her feet. Her punch had created a large crater in the ground. She could hear the noises of stupefaction around her. This was not how she had planned things to go. But she had had no other choice than doing that.
The other opponents had better take that as a warning.
She suddenly pounced on the Iwa girl, taking her by surprise due to her impressive speed. She used the body flicker technique, so she could truly take her by surprise.
As she was observing her, Mai couldn't help noticing how similar her way of using this technique was to Shisui Uchiha's own technique. Not as perfect as his, but it was still enough to be noted a more than impressive for a mere genin.
Once she was near the girl, she punched her hard enough this time to send her flying into the nearest wall, making a hole in it.
"Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" she heard Nami shout victoriously.
She could hear her auntie cheer too. She smiled again before she stared at the girl she had just defeated. She couldn't get back on her feet anytime soon.
One less opponent.
"The winner is Kei Hatake!" The man, Rock Lee, announced.
She had always thought he was her godfather's son, Maito Gai's son, because they were dressed so similarly and looked very much alike. But the older man, her father's eternal rival as he loved to call himself, had always denied it.
She quickly joined Mirai who was waiting for her with the same smirk as earlier.
"Well done!" she winked at her mischievously. "You ended the fight faster than I did!"
They fist bumped once again.
"Time for the second round now," Kei winked back at her.
They waited for the next spar match to start.
"The next fight will be: Ogawa Daisuke against Sasazaki Itsuki."
"The matches will be over soon if they don't last too long, since there are only four teams... It's surprising, actually. I expected the last part of the Exams to have more teams.... There isn't even one from either Suna or Kumo..." Mirai noted.
Kei was watching thoughtfully as her teammate was moving forward on the field.
"It's not that surprising. From what I heard, less and less youths aspire to become shinobis nowadays..."
She glanced at Mirai who was looking at her.
"And all the other teams were not skilled enough to become Chūnins."
This time, Daisuke had much more trouble to defeat his opponent. But this wasn't really surprising. Itsuki was a very good shinobi too. Not as good as Mirai in her opinion, but still quite skilled.
The match dragged on, and it was more than intense. It was spectacular. They both gave everything they had in their guts, and it seemed that neither of them could make a move that would defeat the other and end the match. It looked like they both had equal strength and skills and that it could never be decided who the winner would be.
And that's what actually happened in the end, because they were both out of stamina and strength, they were both declared losers. So officially since none of them could defeat the other, they were both disqualified. But at least they really did their best. And they had offered a wonderful sparring match to everyone present. So they could be proud of themselves.
"The next fight will be...
Kei could feel her heartbeat speed up wildly in expectation. It could either be the Kiri or Iwa guy; or Mirai...
...Sarutobi Mirai against Hatake Kei."
Why couldn't have they met in the last round?
They had already had plenty of occasions to spar against each other, just the two of them, to decide who was the best kunoichi, but just for fun mostly (A/N: pretty much like Itachi and Shisui ^^). And now that they had to fight in the Chūnin Exams, it took a much more serious dimension that made things different.
"Well, may the best Kunoichi win," Mirai told her confidently as she extended her pinkie towards her.
Kei stared at it before she looked up at her, and offered her a soft smile. Their pinkies were quickly intertwined.
"Please, don't go easy on me; you can use all of the strength that's in your blood. Just be careful not to destroy the whole stadium. We are not alone," the Sarutobi girl said playfully.
Kei smirked at her.
"It will be an honour to lose against you."
"The feeling's shared."
They quickly joined the battle ground after that, aware that this wasn't exactly the best time to chat casually.
"Ready. Salute. Start!"
Their gazes fixed into each other, they moved simultaneously in the other's direction.
They had fought against each other so often that they knew each other's moves by heart. They could easily foresee every of their attacks. So there would be no surprise in it. But this didn't mean it couldn't be good.
As expected, Mirai used her blades, the ones she had inherited from her father. She loved to use them to fight. Kei used a kunai since she had none.
Their weapons clashed and clattered vigorously under the silent gaze of the crowd. This was the only sound that could be heard. They all seemed to be mesmerised by the way they were sparring.
Kei knew how Mirai's blades were sharp and powerful and how devastating they could be. She had no wind affinity unlike her, but they had both lightning. And her kunai wasn't just any normal kunai. It was one that had been made specially for her, and that her godmother had offered her as a gift for her tenth birthday. It was said to be the most resistant kunai that had ever been made, and there was no reason that it'd be false.
With much effort, training and time, she could infuse lightning chakra in her blade, making it practically as deadly as Mirai's blades.
Their moves were precise, fast, graceful. They could remain sparring like this for long minutes, even hours before they get tired. It was just their thing. Seeing that they were able to block the other's attacks just made them want more to try again and give everything they had in their guts just to make a successful move.
It really seemed that it was just the two of them, just like they were used to in the grass; the whole world was fading away. They were both confident in their capacities and each other.
After sparring with their blades for quite a while, they finally stopped, taking this chance to catch their breaths.
"What about we change fighting style?" Mirai suggested.
"Yes, of course. Seeing the same thing for too long can get tedious."
Mirai put her blades away, and so did Kei with her kunai.
Mirai gave her a smug smile.
"There's something new I'd like to test, if you will allow me."
"Sure, Whenever you want."
Mirai's smile only widened at her answer. She jumped a little bit backwards before she took a lighter out of her pouch. The lighter that used to belong to her father. She had already showed it to her. She had told her her father used to smoke. Obviously, she was going to use the fire element.
Kei got ready to counterattack while Mirai threw the object in her direction. Kei jumped backwards as well as she started weaving hand seals. Mirai did the same. They were really synchronised.
Fire Release: Flint Yagura
Water Release: Water Formation Wall
Water clashed against Fire, and of course Water was stronger, unlike lightning with wind.
The clash created a thick mist of vapour. It soon dissipated. But Kei couldn't see Mirai anywhere. She couldn't have...
She sensed the area around her, and turned around just in time to block her surprise attack.
Yes, she could.
Kei smirked. She was taking things quite seriously. They went on with Taijutsu, but with or without weapons it was still the same. Neither of them could land a blow on the other.
After a few minutes, Kei ended up moving back to avoid the spar dragging on too much. And to make things more interesting instead, she jumped in Mirai's direction and punched the ground hard, but dosed out the strength in it. Mirai's words echoed through her mind as she did so.
Please, don't go easy on me; you can use all of the strength that's in your blood.
All this strength she had in her and the adrenaline of the fight; this made her feel alive. She just loved it.
It wasn't enough to destabilise Mirai, but enough to create another large crater in the ground. Of course, it wouldn't. Mirai was Mirai.
If anything, Mirai ran towards her, and they were back again with Taijutsu.
The spar dragged on for much longer than the previous one. But there was no rule about the length of a spar, right? It's not as if it were too late in the evening anyway.
Kei suddenly wanted to test something new too, but not in terms of ninjutsu. It could be a good (or bad...?) surprise and spice things up a little bit.
She stepped backwards again with incredible speed only to jump back in Mirai's direction high enough. She delivered a kick that was so fast and so powerful that Mirai could neither dodge it, let alone block it.
Sorry, Mirai...she couldn't help thinking.
Said girl was projected backwards and hit the wall brutally. She hadn't meant for her to land into the wall...
She rushed to be by her side.
"Mirai! Are you okay? I'm so sorry..." She said before she helped ehr get back on her feet.
"It's okay, don't worry about that," she told her with a soft smile. "That was a great move. Very impressive."
In a flash, the Sarutobi girl unexpectedly kicked her in the stomach, with enough strength to make kei fall to the ground. Next thing Kei knew, she was pressing her foot on her stomach.
"But you drop your guard too easily," Mirai said with a cheeky grin.
Kei returned it.
"Oh, really?"
She grabbed Mirai's ankle before she could even react or say anything else and sent her to the ground. She stood up rapidly before she weaved hand seals.
Mud Release: Bottomless Mud Hole
The earth under Mirai quickly turned into mud in which Mirai became trapped. It was like quicksand in a way.
"Okay, okay! I give up! Just get me out of here!!! That's all I'm asking for."
Wait. She what...
She released her technique and rushed in Mirai's direction once again. She helped ehr get out of the pit mud she had just created.
Well, she couldn't use Wood Release like her mother and forebear, but at least she could use this technique. And she found it pretty cool.
"Wait...you can't give up..."
"Of course I can. You showed everyone here you were stronger, but that's alright. We'll have plenty more occasions to train together," she winked at her as she finished. "Remember," she then started whispering into her ear. "One of us has to kick that Kiri guy's ass; and I'd rather you be the one to do it."
Kei couldn't help smirking at her.
"It's really an honour to lose against you," she said as she held out her pinkie finger. Kei's smirk turned into a warm smile as she wrapped hers around it.
"It was really an honour to have you as my opponent. By the way, I'm sorry, you got quite dirty because of me..." she said as she scratched the back of her head.
"Yes, I sure did. And because of this you'll have to buy me new clothes," she said as she punched her arm lightly. "And by this, I mean expensive clothes," she teased her.
"The winner is Kei Hatake!" Rock Lee announced, putting officially an end to the spar.
They quickly went back to their previous spots near the railing and watched the next spar silently. And without much surprise, the Kiri guy won in the end. And it didn't take him that long, around ten or fifteen minutes maybe.
"The last match that will close this last part of the Chūnin Exams will oppose Hatake Kei from the Hidden Leaf against Karatachi Kagura from the Hidden Mist."
The spar soon started. Of course, the guy chose to keep fighting with his sword. It's true that shinobi from Kiri were renowned for their exceptional mastery of swords. She wasn't an expert in Kenjutsu, but she still had her kunai to fight. Kei knew how to defend herself with it and could block his attacks.
Unlike his previous matches, this one lasted much longer. He eventually managed to make her drop her kunai thanks to much effort and his great skills. He looked quite angry, she noticed. He was probably annoyed that she had been able to resist for so long.
She had to jump backwards to avoid the blow that could have hurt her. She took several shuriken out of her pouch and threw them in his direction; but he changed their courses thanks to his sword. He charged at her with full speed and she froze momentarily as she saw the killing intent in his eyes. He didn't look like a merciless killer though...
He took advantage of this to stab her deep in the gut. He remained silent as she felt the blood rush into her temples and the taste of it in her mouth.
"Kei-Chan!!!!!" she could hear Nami shout in horror.
As he withdrew his blade, her knees collapsed to the ground, not able to bear her weight any longer.
She looked up at him only to see cold, impassive and cruel eyes staring at her. He was ready to finish her off, she could feel it. She tried to back away, but it hurt more than anything else. She could never be fast enough to avoid the death blow. She tried again, in spite of how vain her effort was. She closed her eyes as fear was now overwhelming her. Her body wouldn't follow the command of her brain anymore. She was way too weakened to move any more.
She couldn't die now...
She waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. So she opened her eyes only to see a familiar head of blond hair right before her.
"Kei-Chan!!!"
She recognised that voice. It was her auntie's.
"Na..."
She could feel herself get weaker and weaker.
Shizune caught her just in time before her whole body collapsed on the ground.
"It's okay. You're going to be alright," the older woman told her softly, yet concerned. "We're going to take care of you," she said before she immediately started healing her to stop the bleeding.
Her mother and grandmother joined her at the speed of light, and surrounded her with their concern and love. As for her father he arrived at the same time as Naruto and was holding back the other genin from behind.
The Mizukage quikcly joined them as well, visibly shocked by what had just happened.
"I lost..." Kei managed to trail off weakly.
"No, no...you didn't sweetheart," Tsunade replied.
"It's okay, it doesn't matter," her mother interfered as she caressed her cheek lovingly. Tsunade held her hand and squeezed it.
"You did your best. And you were really amazing," The matriarch assured her.
Kei's lips twisted upwards to form a tiny smile, but she could quickly feel herself drifting into unconsciouness.
Maybe sweeter dreams were waiting for her.
*******
Hey everyone!!!
So I know it's been ages since I updated this story, but I'm finally back again :)
I guess it's pointless to apologise for my lack of regular updates...again, a lot of things have happened... 😕 2020 is definitely not a good year...
Also, I've been working on my first original work for a few months now, and it's already taken a lot of my time and energy. But as I may have already told you, I really want to finish this story, so I will, no matter how long it'll take me. And now that I think about it, there are so many stories that I started and that I'd like to finish...but unfortunately, I can't create shadow clones to help me with everything...
Please, do not hesitate to comment to let me know you're still here. Comments are what keeps me going ❤️
As for the chapter itself, I really wanted to write something interesting, and start with some drama, so I really hope it was. I know that Kagura is supposed to have had developed a strong PTSD after killing some of his classmates at the Academy, making him unable to draw a blade of any kind, but I really needed this for the plot. So please just bear with me and my inconsistency.
Thank you so, so much to everyone who will still be reading this story, I love you guys so much 💕💕💕💕
Lots of love, please stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones ❤️❤️❤️