Dusk settled over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. In the golden light, Karin and Yuzu carefully walked an unfamiliar route through an unfamiliar part of town. Neither girl had had much opportunity to explore the village after the first kidnapping attempt, so while the directions Naruto gave them were perfectly legible, the directions themselves didn't make that much sense.
Since they were off-duty, not that pre-genin were ever really on-duty in the first place, they were wearing civilian clothes. Karin sported a plain black t-shirt and blue shorts. She had also taken the opportunity to wear her favorite red sneakers—the most comfortable pair of shoes she owned but sadly useless for shinobi work. She also had a kunai holster strapped to her thigh because, after Ichigo's near disaster at the Hyuuga Compound, Karin had asked Sakura-sensei and, yes, shinobi were expected to carry weapons everywhere, even to friendly meetings.
Yuzu was a little less casual. She had on a pink sundress and matching pink sandals with a pale green shawl as concession to the setting sun. She wore her Quincy cross on a silver chain tucked out of sight below the neckline of her dress. Karin had argued that most shinobi wouldn't recognize the weapon, so Yuzu had also brought one of her sharpest kitchen knives, which was tucked away with a homemade cake in her shopping bag.
Karin glanced at their surroundings. Konoha didn't have streets signs, she wasn't sure if it was because Konoha was a Hidden Village or a sign of the times, but that meant finding any specific place was impossible without a least a little familiarity or a half-day of time to waste searching. She supposed they could ask one of their silent guard, but Ichigo had gotten a lecture from the hokage the last time he had tried that. Drawing attention to ANBU, unless they drew your attention first, was a bad idea.
"I wish Ichi-nii was here," said Yuzu. "It feels like barely got to see him at all."
Karin shrugged diplomatically. At least this time, they knew where Ichigo was going, what he was doing, and how long he would be gone. Not like back in Karakura Town, where they didn't even know that he was gone until he came back, wounded and broken. Really, right now she would have liked his ability to track spirit ribbons more than anything else.
"He had to train, and Kurenai-sensei really dumped it on him," she said instead.
The jounin instructor had renewed Team Three's training with fervor following the near-disastrous C-Rank and the revelation that Ichigo seemingly lacked an elemental affinity altogether. She had even gone so far as to assign the team homework showing up at the apartment to once give Ichigo supplementary reading.
"Ichi-nii's face when she gave him that stack of books!" giggled Yuzu.
The perfect combination of outrage and dismay, Karin remembered fondly. "I would have preferred to see the look on Kurenai's face when she realized he had read them all at the end of the week."
Everyone in the village compared Ichigo to Naruto, observed Karin. They were male, the same age, and Ichigo's habit for pulling off seeming unachievable tasks was apparently mirrored just as strongly in Naruto. (Though here in Konoha, Ichigo's reputation was mostly only rumors among the shinobi. Karin was getting lots of practice at not answering questions at the hospital, and Yuzu had given her some tips anti-interrogation techniques, which were surprisingly useful.) But for some reason, none of the shinobi had realized how smart her brother was.
Naruto, she had the impression, didn't like reading very much—for all that he was a sealing master and as hokage-in-training had to read all kinds of reports—and instead figured out solutions to most of his problems by physically working for the answer. Ichigo did that too, when he was under the wire, but he also loved to read and study theory when he had the chance.
(One of Karin's favorite memories after their mother died—one of the few from that time—was of Ichigo spending an afternoon reading A Midsummer Night's Dream to Karin and Yuzu. He had read from their mother's Japanese translation of The Riverside Shakespeare, which was too big for him to hold at that age. Half-way through the first act, daddy had come in and put Ichigo in his lap. Goat-face held the book steady, and all three of them listened to Ichigo read in a cadence he learned from their mother. For a little while, it had felt like she was back with them.)
Ichigo wasn't just a strong fighter. He was more like a genius. Learning the entire Academy curriculum—something that took average shinobi children six years—in roughly two months was only one example. Once the hokage figured out exactly what Ichigo could do and what he could be, Karin doubted he'd be able to retain his position as a relatively peaceful genin.
"You're right," agreed Yuzu. "That would have been funny. What were they all about, anyway?"
Karin blinked and mentally scrambled for the previous thread of conversation. "The books? Nature transformation mostly. But some treatises on Chakra Theory too. Kurenai was pretty determined to figure out what type Ichigo has. And she was trying to teach him how to sense chakra too."
"Oh," said Yuzu grimacing briefly. "That's hard."
Karin nodded her agreement. Unless a shinobi was a natural sensor-type, sensing chakra was a skill only gained over time by exposure to various sources of chakra. It wasn't that Karin, or Yuzu or Ichigo, was incapable of noticing chakra; she simply noticed reiatsu first. Obviously, there was a connection between spiritual power and chakra—probably related to Yin chakra, which shinobi considered spiritual energy—but they weren't the same thing. That meant the Kurosakis were sometimes blinded by tings ordinary shinobi noticed, and sometimes it was the reverse.
"Maybe we can figure it out before Ichigo," said Karin.
"Then we could show him when he gets back," said Yuzu brightly. "That would be great."
Karin smirked. Challenge accepted. She'd have to convince Sakura-sensei to advance her lessons. She could wait until tomorrow though. Tonight was supposed to be about fun.
"Is this it?" asked Yuzu.
Karin looked up at the apartment building. It matched the description Naruto had given them.
"I guess so," said Karin.
She eyed the stairs then looked at Yuzu. Her twin grinned. In a few leaps they had made it to the sixth floor. Ninja-training was awesome. And, Karin barely had to use any chakra at all. Her stamina and control were improving. She imagined the rush was a little like hirenkyaku performed correctly.
Ishida had explained the theory to Karin and Yuzu, and they had had one brief lesson in Uncle Ryuuken's secret room in the hospital—Ichigo had taken one look at it and started muttering unfavorable comparisons to certain shopkeepers under his breath, which Karin had privately agreed with—but the girls hadn't trained in Quincy techniques even as much as Ichigo had.
Soul Society seemed willing to overlook the fact that Karin and Yuzu were Quincy as long as they didn't show-off the fact that they were Quincy. What they knew was enough to hold off a lesser Hollow until help arrived, usually in the form of Ichigo, though after he left for college, other high-ranking officers rotated through the town, Rukia, Renji, and Toshirou mostly frequently of all.
Karin and Yuzu even had difficulty forming weapons with a focus half the time. Though, Karin had suspicions about her soccer ball, especially after her old one disappeared, and Uncle Ryuuken had gifted her a new one stitched together with silver thread. Ichigo had been able to identify to stitching as Ishida's work after one look.
The twins stopped outside the door. There was a murmur of happy chatter coming from the apartment. Karin could hear Naruto's excited yells followed by Sakura's outraged cries. There was a thump and entire floor shuddered.
"It sounds like Naruto-san is having fun," said Yuzu. Karin snickered.
The day after Ichigo left for Suna with Team Three, the last of Naruto's teammates returned to the village.
Uchiha Sasuke had been on a team with Naruto and Sakura-sensei as genin under Kakashi's instruction. He had left the village to study under a missing-nin to avenge the deaths of his clan at his brother's hand, which were ordered by the old village council as means to stop the clan from rebelling against the village, which only happened because some ancestor of the clan thought the Uchiha were sullying its name by allying with village, and Karin thought maybe Sakura-sensei had mentioned something about the moon being a giant monster that created chakra, but Karin had lost track of the action by then. It just made her glad that she didn't have to deal with all that clan stuff. The important part of the story, according to Sakura-sensei, was that Naruto had promised to bring Sasuke home when the Uchiha first left, and years later, he succeeded.
These days Sasuke and his new team, which he had acquired during his long absence from the village, gathered intelligence for the hokage and Naruto. Team Taka spent weeks away from the village at a time, but per Naruto's orders—and possibly Sasuke's parole—they had to send at least half of the year in Konoha. When in the village, Sasuke roomed with Naruto.
Their cousin had invited Karin and Yuzu to the traditional welcome back party that Team Kakashi hosted for Team Taka after their longer trips away. Apparently, one of Team Taka's members, the other Karin, was also an Uzumaki from a different branch of the clan. Karin had asked Sakura-sensei about her once and quickly decided to never do so again.
In any event, Karin and Yuzu had been happy to be invited. Yuzu had even made a cake—Karin contributed by cleaning the dishes—but now Karin was feeling nervous. Everyone Naruto cared about most in the world was in that room.
"Are you going to knock? You don't want to be late."
Karin was never the jumping the sort, and honestly the ghosts haunting her brother as a child had trained that reaction out of her more successfully than any ninja-training could ever manage, but her heart might have jumped a little when Kakashi appeared out of nowhere. His reiatsu was strong enough that she should have noticed him too.
"Hello, Kakashi-san," said Yuzu. "Shouldn't you be inside already?"
Kakashi smiled blandly beneath his mask. "Arriving late is sort of my thing, and who knew where you'd end up if you followed Naruto's directions."
"Here, apparently," said Karin. She got it now. Kakashi had been following them the whole time as a guard. She must have already adjusted to his reiatsu.
The masked shinobi leaned over and punched the doorbell. All sound stopped from the inside, there was series of loud thumps and the door slammed open. Naruto was casually dressed in an orange jacket and black pants.
"Kakashi-sensei! You're… not late?" Naruto sounded honestly surprised, but Kakashi had shown up on time for the dinner at their apartment when Karin and her siblings first moved to Konoha.
Kakashi gestured wordlessly at Karin and Yuzu. Naruto's eyes brightened at the sight of them. "You made it!"
Karin found herself suddenly subjected to giant, spinning bear-hug. Then Yuzu suffered the same thing. Out of the corner of her eye, Karin saw the cake go flying, and resigned herself to a night of despair from Naruto and disheartened reassurance from Yuzu, but no, there went Kakashi. Cake rescued.
"Kakashi? You brought cake?" asked Naruto after setting Yuzu down.
"Yes," said Kakashi completely deadpan.
"That's not like you," said Naruto.
Karin quirked an eyebrow. Maybe Naruto was an idiot as Sakura-sensei often said. Between this and the thing with the Three-Tails, Karin was starting to sense a pattern. Yuzu hid a smile. Karin sighed. They were playing along.
"But here it is, in my hands," said Kakashi. "Aren't you going to invite us in?"
"Right," said Naruto. "I'll introduce you."
He grabbed Yuzu and half-dragged her into the apartment. Karin stared.
"Naruto gets excited whenever Sasuke comes home," said Kakashi. "He'll be back to normal in a few days."
"Days?" asked Karin alarmed.
Kakashi hummed and waved the cake at her. "Does Yuzu mind?"
Karin shrugged. "She'd have said something. She probably thinks it's funny. Or maybe it's on one of those lists Anko gave her." Anko had given Yuzu a list of mental intimidation tactics and tricks she was supposed pull off successfully. The list itself, when unrolled all the way, was intimidating on its own. "That's a torte, by the way."
Kakashi peered at the bag. "Oh?"
"No flour, very rich, serve in thin slices only," said Karin. She steeled herself. "I'm going in."
Karin strolled into the apartment, toeing off her sneakers at the entrance, and was confronted by a roomful of people. She recognized Sakura-sensei, obviously, and she saw Yamato and Sai. She remembered them less from that first dinner and more because they were the ANBU most frequently assigned to their protection detail aside from Kakashi and Ichigo's friend Neji.
Naruto grinned. "And this is Karin. Karin, this is Sasuke-teme," an otherwise grim looking man rolled his eyes, "that's Suigetsu," a pale man with shark-like teeth smile menacingly at her, a red-headed woman in glasses promptly hit him on the head, "that's the other Karin, she's an Uzumaki too, and that's Jugo in the back."
Jugo, in the back, was the largest person in the room. He wore a sheepish sort of expression, and oddly enough lacked any sort of spiritual presence, like a gaping void. Karin squashed her curiosity. The shinobi wouldn't understand her questions anyway. She could ask Sakura-sensei tomorrow.
Conversation started up again quickly, especially after Kakashi presented "his" cake. Everyone had to have a piece, and it was declared delicious, then Suigetsu brought up poison, which caused Yuzu's mask to slip for a moment as she glared at him, but that started a lively debate over which poisons would work on the assembled shinobi—the answer was "not many" especially given this group in particular—and segued into a conversation about the best way to assassinate everyone in the room. Conversations with shinobi were weird.
Karin found herself standing next to Sai, who was poking at his plate of party snacks with a look of intense concentration. Naruto had told her that Sai had a rough childhood and to ignore him if he was weird and correct him if he was rude. Sakura-sensei said he wasn't raised with the same social graces or expectations as other people. Karin had just stared when she heard that and asked her to point out a normal shinobi.
"You know, Sasuke looks a lot like you," said Karin. "Same coloring, I mean."
Sai raised his eyes from plate. "Most people say it the other way around. Comparing me to Sasuke."
"I met you first," said Karin simply. "That's how it goes."
Sai smiled at her. Karin studied the expression. It wasn't quite right, gentle in the eyes but too forceful in the mouth, but it was a good effort overall. Karin gave him a tiny smile in response.
"Which one do you think is better?" asked Sai quietly.
Karin blinked. "What? Between you and him?" Normally she would dismiss a question like that out of hand, but this was obviously important to the strange shinobi. Finally she shrugged, "It doesn't work like that. One person isn't "better" than another. Just different. Or at least, I think that's what Ichi-nii would say. He's better at figuring out that sort of thing than me."
Karin checked Sai's reaction. He was confused by that last bit and trying to smile anyway.
"Maybe you should pick one expression and then just make little variations," she suggested.
"I tried that, and Naruto said I looked creepy smiling all the time," said Sai.
"Not enough variation," said Karin.
"You mean like your brother scowling," said Sai. "Even I can tell what he's feeling these days."
Karin frowned slightly. "Don't shinobi usually study that sort of thing?"
Sai shrugged. "I was trained to recognize the changes. Not what they meant. Danzo-sama thought emotions were a weakness for shinobi."
"Ah," said Karin. She had heard Ichigo and Rukia arguing about that sort of thing more than once when it came to killing Hollows. "Well, in this case the important part is only do as much as you're comfortable with, got it? If you want people to like you, then you have to like you too. And if you're not comfortable with the expression you're making, then they won't be either."
"Fascinating," said Sai. He pulled out a notepad and started writing. "That sounds a lot like what the infiltration instructors say."
Karin shook her head and very carefully reached out to pat Sai on the shoulder. "It's not just shinobi."
"Oh?" Sai looked at her. Karin was pretty sure his default expression should be confused.
"You're mostly friends with other shinobi, right? So you expect them to act that way," she said.
"But everyone is trying to infiltrate society at the same time, even civilians and people who already have a place. That's what makes it so hard."
Understanding did great things for Sai's expression too. He started scribbling furiously on his pad. Karin waited but quickly realized her audience was lost. It was just as well because Sakura-sensei's arm settled over her shoulder like an iron bar.
"Apprentice, come meet the other Karin."
Sakura dragged her across the room leaving Sai taking notes in the corner. She stopped in front of Karin's red-headed cousin. Karin noticed that Naruto, Suigetsu, and Sasuke had all subtly moved out of range.
"Karin. This is my apprentice, Kurosaki Karin," said Sakura.
Karin gave the red-head a tiny wave. "Hello."
"Hello, cousin," she said. "I'm sorry we didn't get to meet earlier. The hokage dispatched my team on a mission around the time you arrived."
"Naruto said something like that," said Karin. She really wouldn't mind talking to a female cousin for a change—Kukaku was technically their cousin, but the Head of House Shiba wasn't exactly easy to relate to—but this probably wasn't the place for that sort of thing.
"So, cousin, Sakura-sensei tells me you're a rival," Karin could feel her bones start to creak as Sakura's arm turned rigid, she quickly added, "professionally."
The other Karin smirked. "I guess you could say that."
Sakura gave a full body twitch, which was enough for Karin to wriggle free. She glanced around for an out, and found the others, barring Sai, who seemed to be reviewing his notes at this point, huddled together as far away as they could manage and still be in the same room. Yuzu wrinkled her nose and gave a tiny wave.
Karin tried to circle around the clashing women, but each one latched on to her shoulder to hold her in place. They turned eerily similar smiles on her.
"Sakura says you're studying as a medic-nin," said the red-head her glasses glinting. "I also serve as the medic-nin for my team."
"That's cool," said Karin.
"Unfortunately, Karin's knowledge of medical jutsu is limited," said Sakura.
"Oh," said Karin. "Then how do you…?"
"It's a special ability I have as a member of the Uzumaki Clan," said the other Karin proudly.
"Oh?" asked Karin curiously.
"I will, of course, be teaching you the Strength of a Hundred Seal once you achieve a significant level of control. A technique that Tsunade-shishou, who is also a member of the Uzumaki Clan, developed," said Sakura tightly.
"My ability doesn't require years of training and works ninety-nine times out of one hundred," said the other Karin.
Karin was skeptical. "That sounds a bit too good to be true."
The other Karin pulled back her sleeve to show a series of scars. They looked like bite marks. "When people bite me, I can use my chakra to heal and reenergize them completely…"
Karin lost the rest of her words in a fuzz of horror. During his lectures, Ishida had explained a lot of how Yhwach's powers worked and what his intentions were, as if he needed to justify betraying a man who would have killed Karin and her sister without regret for being impure Quincy, and the other Karin's technique sounded disturbingly like the First Quincy's healing technique—the one that killed everyone he used it on.
"Are you okay, Karin-chan?" asked Sakura-sensei quietly.
Karin came back to herself. Her sensei and cousin were staring at her in concern. She realized she needed to say something, anything, that wouldn't involve killing people by healing them.
"I think I'll stick with Sakura-sensei's techniques," said Karin. "With Hollows running around screaming they'll eat you, the whole "biting" thing loses its appeal."
The other Karin's face fell slightly while Sakura-sensei's sharpened with suspicion. That wasn't the reaction Karin wanted from either of them.
"But you're a sensor-type too, right?" she asked hurriedly. "Yuzu and I are having some trouble sensing chakra. Maybe you could give us some tips later?"
The other Karin perked up while Sakura's expression went flat.
"Hear that, hag? I can be useful too," crowed red-headed Karin.
"As long as it doesn't interfere with her regular lessons, wench" growled Sakura.
Karin expected them to slip into a cat-fight at any moment. Knowing Sakura-sensei's strength that could very well involve bodies flying.
Karin ducked away and avoided the grasping hands this time around. She ended up next to Yuzu, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"Apparently, Kakashi-san, Sasuke-san, and Suigetsu-san all specialize in swordsmanship," she explained brightly.
"Oh?" asked Karin. "And none of you are accused of being from the Land of Iron?"
"Yuzu-san mentioned something like that," said Kakashi. "But plenty of shinobi use swords and so do brigands. I can't imagine why everyone thought your brother was a samurai."
"Maybe it's his personality," said Karin only half-joking. "Too serious for his own good."
"That's what I said," muttered Naruto. "He never smiles. It's almost as bad as you, bastard."
Uchiha hummed noncommittally. Suigetsu, the one with the shark-teeth, snorted in amusement.
"What style does your brother use?" he asked.
Karin shrugged. "Whatever works, I guess."
"Daddy taught him kenjutsu though," said Yuzu.
It was Karin's turn to snort. "Yeah, four years after he started using a sword. And Goat-Face uses an iaido-style. It's not like Ichigo can use that with Zangetsu."
"So is he any good?" asked Suigetsu.
"He took out this chunk of the forest and three shinobi in one hit," said Naruto helpfully.
"He wins more than he loses," said Karin.
"I'll have to try fighting him when he gets back," said Suigetsu smirking.
Karin rolled her eyes. People always wanted to fight her brother, like that crazy captain from the Eleventh division or the blue-haired Arrancar they weren't supposed to talk about. It had been a nasty surprise the day he showed up on the clinic's doorstep calling out Ichigo for a fight. Luckily, the clinic's wards had hidden his reiatsu just as easily as theirs. Unfortunately, Ichigo had already moved into the dorms by then and giving directions to a Hollow—no matter how evolved—was an exercise in frustration, a lot like giving directions to a shinigami, now that Karin had time to think about it.
"Well, Ichi-nii has been feeling better lately, so maybe he won't mind so much," said Yuzu after a moment.
"He's used to people attacking him out of nowhere anyway," said Karin. "It's Goat-Face's doing."
"Goat-Face is your father?" asked Uchiha curiously. Karin and Yuzu nodded, and he continued, "And he doesn't get upset when you call him that?"
"I call 'em like I see 'em," said Karin.
"Daddy's can be a little silly sometimes," said Yuzu.
"But you said he uses an iaido style," continued Sasuke.
"What? You think someone's fighting style reflects their personality?" asked Karin.
Everyone's eyes slid to Naruto, who looked over his shoulder and glared at them when he looked back around. A few gazes strayed to Jugo, who didn't seem very interested in the topic, but was staying with them to avoid Sakura and Karin's conversation.
"I guess it doesn't have to," said Sasuke eventually.
There was a piercing shriek from the other side of the room, and Karin felt a sudden pressure on her head. Kakashi pushed her and Yuzu down while the rest of the shinobi ducked. The table that had held all the food went flying over their heads and crashed into the wall.
"Crap," muttered Naruto. "And everything was nice and clean too."
"You could try cleaning up after yourself once and while," muttered Sasuke.
"Yeah, but it's so boring," said Naruto cheerfully. "And this way I know your home."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, but Karin could tell he was touched. He turned a glare on Naruto. "You're still helping me clean this up. You're the one who thought having both of them over at the same time was a good idea."
"They lasted a whole thirty minutes longer than usual," protested Naruto. "And I think, Sakura misses having someone to fight now that she and Ino aren't rivals anymore."
Sasuke groaned quietly. Karin honestly couldn't see the appeal. Her brother brooded and was cool about it, but he wasn't too cool to have fun with them either or to smile once and then.
"If Sakura-sensei and Karin-san do this every time they get together, why do you have parties indoors?" asked Yuzu.
"If they're outside, then Sakura tends to destroy the ground," explained Yamato quietly.
Kakashi glanced up. "Looks like Sai made it out. He used the window."
"Bastard, I knew there was a reason he was standing in that corner," muttered Naruto. "Okay, Sasuke and I will cover you. You guys make a break for it."
The group ran out of the apartment, barely stopping to grab their shoes, and headed for the stairs. Just as Karin realized that no one else would actually need the stairs other than her and Yuzu, Yamato scooped her up and jumped into the night air. Karin beamed as they landed. She couldn't wait to be able to do that on her own. Kakashi appeared with Yuzu half a second later. There was a crash loud enough to be heard at street level and the entire building seemed to shudder.
"That must be rough on the neighbors," said Yuzu uncertainly.
"Ah, all the apartments around Naruto's are used as temporary lodgings for shinobi like yours was," said Kakashi. "And everyone in the building is a shinobi, active or retired."
"What he means is Naruto and Sasuke are just as noisy as those two," said Suigetsu. "Especially in the mornings. They must fight over the bathroom like a pair of women."
"Suigetsu, there are girls present," admonished Jugo.
"What?" demanded Suigetsu. "They ain't offended, right?"
Karin shrugged. If Jinta had something like that, she would have decked him. But Karin was pretty sure that Suigetsu would kill her if she tried, and unlike some people, she could pick her battles. Yuzu could shake off stuff like that no problem. If he underestimated them because they were women, then it just made it that much more likely a woman would kick his ass one day.
Instead, Karin turned her attention to Jugo. Naruto had only said a little bit about the members of Team Taka other than Sasuke, but he mentioned the big guy was a berserker rather than a proper shinobi. He hadn't mentioned anything to explain the gentle giant's complete lack of spiritual pressure. Now that Sakura-sensei was all worked up, she probably wouldn't feel like answering questions.
Carefully, Karin stretched out a tiny thread of her own spiritual power and poked at the blank space that was Jugo. The spiritual energy disappeared like a bit of fluff sucked into a vacuum. A second attempt produced the same result. Karin had never met anyone with no reaction to spiritual energy at all. The third time, she gave him a solid poke.
Jugo jerked up and turned toward her. Half of his face was turning grey and one of his eyes was yellow-on-black, disturbingly similar to a Hollow's. He let out a furious roared and lunged at her. Distantly, Karin heard the rattling sound of chains and wondered if he was living with a corroded Chain of Fate. However, Karin had more experience fighting weaker Hollows than anyone ever should. She knew what to do. She raised a hand.
"Bakudo Number One: Sai!"
Jugo's arms snapped behind his back, and he stumbled slightly but kept charging. Karin moved sideways and mentally shifted gears to perform the first hakudo spell. When he turned, she could knock him off balance. Before that happened though, Jugo suddenly crashed to the ground. Yuzu had hooked her chains around the nearest lamppost and used them to tangle his feet.
"What the fuck just happened?" demanded Suigetsu. "I didn't feel any chakra surge."
Kakashi knelt down next to Jugo, who was still thrashing on the ground. "Hey," he barked garnering the berserker's attention. He did something and suddenly the air was heavy with the feeling of death. It was the sensation of killer intent that Sakura-sensei had mentioned. Karin kept it at bay with her own spiritual pressure, but something about it seemed to effect Jugo because the transformation started to recede.
"You done?" Kakashi asked.
"I think so," said Jugo mildly. "I don't know what triggered it in the first place."
"Um," said Karin. "What just happened?"
"Jugo's Clan has the ability to absorb natural energy," explained Yamato. "This gives them a lot of strength, but if it's not channeled properly, then it leads to an imbalance. Naruto can use natural energy too, as part of his training as a sage, and he's been working with Jugo on control."
"Natural energy?" murmured Karin. "It, uh, might have been my fault. Sorry about that."
"You? You didn't use any chakra," snapped Suigetsu.
Karin winced. "No, but he doesn't have any reiatsu. And I might have poked bit too hard with mine."
"Rei-what?" asked Jugo from the ground.
"It's an energy Naruto's cousins use that seems to be similar to Yin Chakra or perhaps natural energy, too," said Kakashi.
"Does this mean I can let go now?" asked Yuzu.
Everyone looked up and stared.
"What's with the scarf?" asked Suigetsu.
Yuzu had flipped her shawl up over her head and wrapped in around her face in a sort of make-shift mask. To be frank, it looked ridiculous, but she was starting to look twitchy.
"Kushanada attack escapees who use their chains without a mask," Karin told Kakashi quietly. "Yuzu had few close calls the first few times she used her powers."
"She didn't have a problem in the dango shop with Anko," replied Kakashi.
"That was indoors," said Karin. "So there was a little protection. And Ichigo doesn't think they can track her here anymore than the shinigami can track the rest of us, but better to be safe than sorry."
Kakashi nodded. "Plenty of shinobi wears masks," he said completely deadpan. "We can find her one too." A little louder he said, "It should be fine, Yuzu."
The chains abruptly fell off of Jugo's feet, whipped around the lamppost, and disappeared under Yuzu's dress. She took the shawl off her head and resettled it on her shoulders. Her hair, unfortunately, was a little worse for wear. Jugo tried to push himself up and failed.
"Why can't I move my arms?" he asked.
"Oh, I used a binding kido," said Karin. "I can remove it now."
"Please," said Jugo.
Karin snapped the kido with a twist of her will. Jugo breathed a sigh of relief. He sat up and immediately started rubbing at his shoulders. There was a clatter from the stairs and Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and the other Karin all dropped down from the sixth floor.
"Is everything okay?" demanded Naruto. "Karin said she felt something."
"It seems Karin accidentally triggered Jugo's sage transformation," said Kakashi. "She and Yuzu handled it quite well."
"What? How?" asked Naruto. "I mean, good job. But, seriously, how?"
Karin blushed slightly. "I shoved at him with my reiatsu. I didn't know that would happen. But it might have helped if someone had mentioned there was a third type of chakra."
Naruto looked a bit sheepish. "Well, you really have to train to use natural energy. It doesn't come up all that often."
"Seriously," said Suigetsu. "Reiatsu. What the fuck is it? And why the fuck did it set Jugo off? And how the hell do we avoid it? Because I was perfectly happy without the sudden bouts of murderous rage."
"I can't describe it really well," said Karin. Mostly because their history was still a secret to the shinobi community, but partly because shinobi used similar words to describe completely different things.
"Could you demonstrate?" asked Kakashi. "Do to the rest of us what you did to Jugo?"
Karin frowned. "You've all got a lot of spiritual pressure." She tried not to side-eye Naruto, or Sasuke, who had almost as much. "I'm not sure you'll feel it."
"We can try together," said Yuzu. "That'll be a lot more."
Karin nodded. She looked at Jugo. "You might want to move."
The man nodded. "How far?"
"I have pretty good control," said Karin. "So as long as everyone else moves closer you won't have to go too far. You come here too, Sai."
The final member of Team Kakashi appeared out of the night. Naruto frowned.
"I thought you took off already," he said.
"I did," said Sai. "But there are only so many ways to leave your apartment."
He held up a large drawing pad. There was a rough sketch of the six of them jumping off the sixth floor landing—the four shinobi with Yuzu and Karin holding on to their rides. It was a surprisingly good sketch. Karin could almost feel them jumping off the page.
"You could have left with us, Sai-san," said Yuzu.
"But then I wouldn't have been able to see your expressions," said Sai.
"Can we get this show on the road?" demanded Suigetsu.
"Right," said Karin. "Circle up."
The shinobi formed a loose circle around the twins while Karin took Yuzu's hand. Unspoken among the Kurosaki family for fear of listening ears, Karin took after their mother while Yuzu took after their father in terms of spiritual ability. Karin was more sensitive to and better at manipulating spiritual energy while Yuzu generated more raw power. It was part of the reason why Karin spent so much time at Uncle Ryuuken's hospital while Yuzu helped at the clinic. The wards in the hospital were designed to hide Quincy while the ones around the house hid shinigami. For this Yuzu would send her energy to Karin, who would channel their joint spiritual power at the shinobi.
"How strong are you guys, exactly?" asked Naruto. "Because I don't think you've ever said."
"Dunno," said Karin. They had never tried to flare their reiatsu before. It attracted unwanted attention. "Not as powerful Ichigo. Not as weak as a regular…civilian."
"That leaves a lot of ground to cover," said Sakura drily.
"We'll find out," said Yuzu. "Ready?"
Karin closed her eyes and concentrated. She raised their combined spiritual pressure in one swift burst. One or two of the shinobi cursed. She quickly dropped the pressure, unable to sustain that level for too long.
When she opened her eyes, all of the shinobi looked wide-eyed and windblown. Kakashi's eyes were fading from red to black. Same for Sasuke though one eye was red and the other was grey. The other Karin was blinking spots out of her eyes.
"Whew, what a rush," said Naruto. "You were right Sakura, killing intent without killing intent."
"I told you it felt weird," said Sakura but she smiled reassuringly at Karin.
"Real weird, but good weird," said the other Karin. "Your chakra flared at the same time. Ice and Lava. Strange."
She started muttering to herself. Karin tried to listen but it was all about chakra theory that she didn't understand. Instead she found herself suppressing a yawn.
"We should probably be going," said Yuzu looking a little rough around the edges. "We have class in the morning."
"I'll walk you back," said Sakura.
"I can wander over that way," said Kakashi.
They gave their good-byes and started on their way back. Sakura lived in their building, but Karin suspected Kakashi was there for another reason. She was proven right about a block away from their apartment.
"So," he said. "How strong are the two of you?"
Karin looked Yuzu, who shrugged unhelpfully. "Together I guess we're about a twentieth seat."
"That's pretty good then," said Sakura. "Since you said, the seated shinobi are the strongest ones."
Karin shook her head. "It's good, but it's not really good. A twentieth seat can put up a good fight against regular Hollows, but a captain can crush an entire division including the lieutenant."
"And Ichigo's a captain-class fighter?" asked Kakashi.
Karin hid a wince. They hadn't wanted to tell Kakashi that much just yet. "He's strong. The more you fight, the stronger you get. And Ichigo's been protecting us too."
Kakashi hummed to himself. He and Sakura let the twins make it to their apartment alone. Karin had never been so grateful to go to sleep in her life. Flaring her reiatsu like that was exhausting.
"Karin-chan, we have a guest," said Yuzu quietly from the kitchen.
Karin straightened in alarm. Who could get past Ichigo's barrier without a key? She rushed into the kitchen and froze.
Shinigami-sama was sitting at their table.
"Hello, honored ancestor," said Karin automatically. She joined Yuzu in a bow.
"YOU MAY RISE," intoned Shinigami-sama.
Karin and Yuzu both straightened. The three of them stared at each other for a long moment.
"Would you like some tea?" offered Yuzu. "I can put on the kettle."
"NOT AT THIS TIME. THANK YOU," said Shinigami-sama.
"May I ask what prompted this visit?" asked Karin.
"I FELT YOUR POWER," said Shinigami-sama. "AND SINCE I KNOW YOUR BROTHER IS ON HIS WAY TO THE CHUNIN EXAMS, I FELT OBLIGED TO STOP BY."
"Thank you, honored ancestor," said Karin. "We didn't mean to trouble you."
"I WAS NOT TROUBLED," said Shinigami-sama. "I WILL BE GOING NOW."
"Please feel free to visit again," said Yuzu. "And I know Ichigo would like to see you again."
Shinigami-sama paused to evaluate her sincerity. In Karin's experience, Yuzu was always sincere about that sort of thing, no matter the guest.
"I MAY DO SO, LATER," agree Shinigami-sama. "HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, YUZU, KARIN, ISOBU."
There was pathetic little splash of water from the fountain. Karin and Yuzu bowed again. When they looked up, the Shinigami was gone. They stared at each other. Finally, Karin looked away.
"I'm going to sleep now. Hopefully, that's it for the guests," she said.
From the living room, Sandy burbled in sullen agreement. Yuzu gasped in dismay. Karin whirled on her feet. Her sister's face was a sorrowful mask.
"Oh no! Kakashi-san still has my knife!"
-0-0-0-0-0-
Suna was hot and bright and as empty of wildlife as Konoha was full of it. Konohamaru half-wished that he had skipped the Exams this year if only to avoid the heat. Konohamaru adjusted his scarf and recanted almost instantly. He would pass this year and so would Hanabi.
Konohamaru had planned ahead this year, switching from his usual tan coat and wool scarf to a tan linen coat and light blue scarf to protect his face from the sand. Even his beloved goggles had made a reappearance. Hanabi, likewise had sacrificed her usual blacks, for more traditional light gray outerwear and pale violet scarf. She insisted it was a gift from her sister to deal with the sand and not an attempt to emulate Konohamaru's style. She had her own set of goggles which doubled as sunglasses, still much less awesome than his, tucked away in a pocket.
Ichigo hadn't bothered to change his clothes at all, except to switch out his bright orange sash for a dark red one. He had a matching dark red scarf courtesy of Yuzu and resting on top that were his own set of eye protection. But Konohamaru had only caught the occasional glimpse of his clothes since Ichigo had decided to wear a full-length cloak with a hood on their journey to the desert. He didn't seem too bothered by the heat, so Konohamaru wasn't going to say anything. Kurenai had seen them all with their scarves the day they left and joked about borrowing one of Kakashi's face-masks for herself to complete the ensemble.
Konoha had sent three teams this year in addition to Konohamaru's team, two of which were participating for the first time while the last was a team of mixed genin. Due to the kidnapping situation—Ichigo's not Hanabi and Konohamaru's—Tsunade had assigned them an unobtrusive ANBU guard to the border Wind Country. No one mentioned that the mysterious group had managed to take down three teams of ANBU and leave no trace. But they had made it to Suna unscathed, and after spending the night at their designated hotel, were ready to begin.
Konohamaru was too dignified to jump with excitement as they approached the Exam hall, but it was a near thing. The younger Leaf genin were looking to them as examples, after all.
"We're looking for room one hundred thirty," said Hanabi after they got inside. "Right or left?"
"Down," said Ichigo. "We entered from a terrace. This building has a floor underneath this one at street level."
Konohamaru looked around. "Stairs are to the left."
It was a simple trick, but every Chunin Exam had a similar set up to weed out the truly helpless genin. Regardless, there were still dozens of candidates in the exam room. Konohamaru and Hanabi were some of the oldest genin there. At age twenty, after graduating at age twelve, there were only two more years before their ten-year-minimum contract was completed. Konohamaru and Hanabi both intended to be career-shinobi and would keep going, even if they failed to advance this year, but honestly the situation was getting out of hand.
Ichigo looked around curiously. At twenty four, he was probably one of the oldest people in the room, including some of the exam proctors.
"You guys have been genin for eight years?" asked Ichigo.
Hanabi made a disgusted sound. Konohamaru nodded. "That's right."
"And there's an exam held every year?" he asked.
"Two a year," said Hanabi. "Except during wartime."
Ichigo looked at them. "How many times have you actually tried?"
"Six," said Hanabi.
"Seven for me," said Konohamaru. "I went to an Exam in Kumo that Hanabi didn't."
"Huh," said Ichigo. He added quietly, "I'm pretty sure you two are stronger than the rest of the genin here. But we may have a problem if we're relying on me to sense any opponents."
Konohamaru, Ichigo, and Hanabi had done a lot of training to avoid another ambush. That meant hammering out the details of how Ichigo's sensing ability worked. It was a lot more like echolocation than Konohamaru had expected.
Ichigo's own spiritual pressure, and he never clarified what that was exactly, ran up against other sources of reiatsu, usually people though there were apparently exceptions, and if the source was strong then Ichigo could sense the collision. Other people could also throw their reiatsu against Ichigo's and grab his attention that way. Unlike Team Taka's Karin, the ability wasn't automatic, especially since Ichigo tried to reign in his reiatsu most of the time, though most shinobi threw out spiritual pressure unconsciously.
Konohamaru had actually gotten pretty good at noticing when Ichigo was stretching out his reiatsu though apparently he kept the amount he released very, very small. Sometimes, Konohamaru thought he felt something similar from Naruto on occasion, but he could never seem to pin down the feeling.
"You've got me too," said Hanabi.
Hanabi was still forbidden from using her byakugan for another two weeks, but Kurenai had them all practicing sensing chakra, and Hanabi had proved to be highly adept at the skill, even without her dojutsu.
"We'll do okay," said Konohamaru. "We need to get through the first part of the exam before we really start worrying about that sort of thing."
"You said the first part usually involves information gathering, right?" asked Ichigo.
Konohamaru nodded. "Yeah and working under pressure. It's an important part of being a shinobi. T&I usually runs that part in the Konoha Exams. Every village has a different take though."
The doors to the Exam Room slammed shut signaling the close of the registration period. Konohamaru looked to the center of the room, where the proctor had appeared. Blonde hair done up in twists with a massive fan strapped to her back, she was instantly recognizable.
"That's Temari," he whispered to Ichigo. "She's the Kazekage's older sister and Shikamaru's girlfriend."
"Oh?" asked Ichigo. "The Alliance between Suna and Konoha must pretty stable then."
Konohamaru nodded. There wasn't time to explain the relation between Naruto and Gaara, and Naruto could probably do it better when he came for the final part of the exam anyway.
"Listen up," said Temari. "When you turned in your registration form, each member of your team received a cloth binding. Get it out now. If yours doesn't have writing or isn't the same color as your teammates', go to an examiner and get a matching set."
Konohamaru, Ichigo, and Hanabi all had white strips of cloth. Konohamaru's read: speak, Ichigo's read: hear, and Hanabi's read: see. A handful of genin teams rushed to the examiners scattered around the room.
"You will notice there are five different rooms adjoining this one," continued Temari. Five pairs of doors swung open. "When I am done speaking, your teams will proceed to one of these rooms in an orderly fashion. No one room is superior to another, so don't fight to get to one in particular.
"When it is your team's turn, an examiner will give you a piece of code and release you into a small maze. You must find your team in the center of the maze and communicate your code to one of your teammates, who must then recite all three pieces aloud. You have a maximum of ten minutes to complete this task.
"You may not use the method of communication printed on your strip of fabric," said Temari. Over the rising babble, she added, "From this point on, if you switch tags, you are disqualified. Do not lose your tag. If you do, you are disqualified.
Konohamaru glanced at Hanabi. If she had been able to use her dojutsu, loss of sight would have been a huge disadvantage. As it was, she was better prepared for this task now than she ever had been before. She gave him a slight smile in reply.
"The exam begins now," declared Temari.
Konohamaru and his team walked to the closest door. The other Leaf teams were all heading to different room. This would be a long exam, if all the teams in the room had at least ten minutes to complete their task, even if five teams could go at a time. Maybe they were testing hurry-up-and-wait this time too.
Just inside the door, there was a partition with three different openings. After a nod from the chunin, Konohamaru went down through one while Hanabi and Ichigo entered the other two. A short jaunt down a corridor had Konohamaru wondering exactly what Suna used this building for normally. He understood that Gaara's ability to manipulate sand was extensive, but this was ridiculous.
At the end of the corridor, there was another door and another chunin. This one stopped Konohamaru.
"Give me your cloth, and I'll tie it around your mouth," he said.
Konohamaru handed over the strip of fabric reluctantly. The sand-nin settled the binding over Konohamaru's mouth and tied it with a simple bow.
"In addition to being unable to talk, you are not allowed to write or use hand-signals," said the chunin. "Do you understand? Grunt once for yes."
Konohamaru grunted but there was no sound. He looked at the chunin in surprise.
"Had to make sure it worked," he said. "Nod if you understand."
Konohamaru nodded. He could still do that at least.
"Your code phrase is: And persimmons."
Konohamaru stared at the man, who shrugged. "I didn't pick it, kid. Your ten minutes starts now."
The last door rattled open with a crash. Konohamaru launched himself into the maze. He had to locate the center, find his teammates, and figure out a way to explain his phrase without speaking, writing, or signing.
Finding the center of the maze was the first step. Konohamaru zoomed through the twists and turns. He would have to meet Ichigo and Hanabi there. He paused at a fork, which way to go? One corridor was clear. There was a slight hiss from the other. As Konohamaru watched a grasping hand of sand shot out of one side of the corridor and crashed into the opposite wall. Konohamaru reached back and touched the giant bow at the back of his head. That could be a problem.
The harder way was often the right way. Konohamaru launched himself down the corridor. By using the sound, Konohamaru knew when to duck or dodge. The only difficult part was predicting where the bow would move to make sure it wouldn't be caught.
Konohamaru dodged the last grasping hand and burst into a round, circular room. It was clearly the center of the maze, but Ichigo and Hanabi weren't there yet. Should he go look for them? But the others were more likely to be able to find him than the other way around.
How long had it been? Konohamaru wasn't entirely sure. He started counting seconds. A minute passed. Then another. Then a third. Ichigo jumped out of a corridor. Hanabi was clinging to his back and looked green.
"Konohamaru!" shouted Ichigo. His cloth was strapped over his ears like a headband. Obviously, he couldn't hear a thing. "What's your phrase?"
Konohamaru gestured at his mouth. Ichigo stared.
"Think of your phrase and punch me really hard!" he yelled.
"Let me off first!" yelped Hanabi. She slid off his back and stumbled blindly over to Konohamaru. "Just do it. I tried, and he got it right."
Konohamaru concentrated. Chanting "and persimmons" over and over in his mind, Konohamaru aimed a punch at Ichigo's shoulder. It was like hitting a rock. Konohamaru worried that he had broken his hand.
"Sorry," grunted Ichigo. "Consider me/As one who loved poetry/And persimmons."
"And what is the significance of this phrase?" asked Temari.
Konohamaru didn't see her anywhere, but that didn't matter. He had no idea what the significance was. Hanabi jabbed Ichigo's other shoulder.
"It's a poem!" shouted Ichigo. "It demonstrates the importance of communication in bridging otherwise unfathomable gaps of understanding over space and time! Even a cultured poet who lived centuries ago still liked persimmons!"
Konohamaru stared. He was sure Hanabi was staring too beneath her strip of cloth. There was a long pause.
"You pass," said Temari. "Move to the center."
Konohamaru and his teammates clustered together. A hole formed in the ceiling, and the genin were lifted through it on a platform of sand. The ground reformed beneath their feet. They were on the same terrace they had walked across to enter the Exam building. Gaara was a striking, solemn figure in the middle of the plaza, but there was a hint of amusement at the corners of his mouth. Other genin teams were huddled together around at the edges.
"You can take off your bindings now," said Temari. "But keep them for the next part of the test. You'll need to stay on the terrace until it starts."
Konohamaru gratefully undid the bow and took a deep breath, but Temari didn't move on to the next group just yet. She waited until Ichigo could hear again.
"All you really needed to say was that it was a poem," she told him drily.
Ichigo flushed and scowled in embarrassment. "Oh. Sorry about that."
Temari chuckled. "You did manage to guess why I chose poems for the exercise. A good shinobi can see underneath the underneath."
"Oh," repeated Ichigo looking surprised. "Thanks."
Temari nodded and walked away while the team moved over to the side to wait.
Konohamaru perched on the railing and looked at Hanabi. "Are you okay?"
"I got caught in a spinning trap," she explained quietly. "It completely destroyed my balance. Ichigo had to find me."
Konohamaru grimaced. No wonder Hanabi looked so ill earlier or why she was so unhappy now. If Ichigo hadn't been there, they would have been out of the Exams again. Konohamaru glanced at their teammate. Ichigo was completely oblivious to the conversation. Instead he was poking at his length of cloth.
"How do you think this works?" asked Ichigo when he noticed Konohamaru's gaze.
Konohamaru shrugged. "Suna's famous for Cloth Binding Techniques. It's a type of merged fuinjutsu and ninjutsu. Naruto might be able to tell you more."
Ichigo just hummed to himself. They were joined by one of the rookie-genin teams from Leaf and later by the mixed team. The other rookie team never appeared. They must have been eliminated altogether. Roughly an hour later, Temari announced the conclusion of the first test. Exactly eighty teams had passed.
The second proctor stepped forward. He wore the standard jounin outfit for Suna-nin, except part of his turban was unwrapped to hide half of his face. The visible cheek bore two red tattoos.
"That's Baki," whispered Konohamaru. "He's an elite jounin on Suna's Council."
"All of you that have passed the first stage will follow me to the gates of the city to begin the second part of the exam," he announced.
All of the genin followed obediently to Suna's main gate where they clustered around Baki in order to hear the instructions for the stage two.
"To pass the second test, the entire team must survive the next five days in the desert and return to this gate at noon on the fifth day. If one team member reenters the city before the appointed hour, then the whole team will be disqualified. Also while in the desert, each individual team member must acquire an entire set of the cloth bindings you received during the first test. There are three different colors: red, black, and white. No members of a team with the same color ties can pass," explained Baki.
Ichigo frowned. "Doesn't that mean that one member from every team can pass?"
"Yeah, but the whole team still has to complete the test. A lot of teams will implode if they can't find two other sets before time is up, and more will be disqualified if someone is injured," said Hanabi. "The field is so large, most teams probably won't be able to acquire enough for every member."
"Ishi-Team Two, Konoha-Team One, Kusa-Team One, Kumo-Team Three, Suna-Team Four, step forward," said Baki.
In the village, Konohamaru's team under Kurenai was called Team Three. However, for the purposes of the Exam, they were the first registered team from Konoha. Kononhamaru saw Ichigo wrap his strip of fabric over the bandages on his arm, and Hanabi's had disappeared from view. Konohamaru slipped his into his pocket, and then the team made its way forward.
"These five teams completed the first test the fastest," announced Baki. "So you will be granted a thirty minute head-start. Use it wisely. The second test begins now."
Konohamaru glanced at Ichigo and Hanabi. "Body Flicker?" he mouthed. The other two nodded. All three shunshin'd through the gate and out into the sands. The other teams did something similar.
They stopped on top of the nearest dune, but before they could go much further Ichigo asked, "How often do you two fight on sand?"
"Konoha-nin don't take many missions around Suna territory since the alliance," said Konohamaru. "Why?"
Ichigo looked down. Konohamaru followed his gaze. There were three trails in the sand. One, Ichigo's, was the faintest of impressions and already being blown away by the wind. Konohamaru and Hanabi's were deep lines leading directly to their positions.
"Damn, I forgot," said Konohamaru.
"I was too excited about getting to go first," admitted Hanabi.
Ichigo looked back to the gate. "You're not the only ones."
In addition to their trail, there were three other sets of foot prints. The Suna team was probably the ones to hide its tracks.
"What do we want to do?" asked Konohamaru. "Do we set up a trap for the teams that come through later? Do we move on and wait?"
"Why don't we follow one of those teams?" suggested Hanabi. "They probably wouldn't expect an attack just yet."
"Sounds good to me," said Ichigo. "The Sand team had white too. So it's probably just as well we can't see their trail."
Ichigo tugged up his scarf and goggles to cover his face. Konohamaru and Hanabi did the same. If they were moving at speed through the desert, they would need the protection.
The group agreed to track the closest team and took off. Once they found the trail, they followed it from a parallel distance for about ten minutes. Then Hanabi signaled them to stop.
"The trail keeps going," whispered Konohamaru.
"I think it's a genjutsu," said Hanabi. "What do you think?"
Ichigo frowned and presumably reached out with his reiatsu. It took him several minutes, but eventually he nodded. "You're right. This team set up an ambush."
"So let's ambush them instead," said Konohamaru. "Where's the farthest one? If we can do it without breaking the genjutsu, then they won't know what hit them."
Ichigo was elected to take the furthest of the hiding shinobi, since he could sense past their jutsu with his ability. Hanabi took the next one. Konohamaru took the closest. Now that he knew there was a genjutsu over the area, he could see the places were the sand didn't look quite right. They couldn't signal each other without the other team noticing, so everyone took two minutes to get into position.
At the two minute mark, Konohamaru tossed a kunai at the concealed genin, who yelled and broke position shattering the genjutsu. Konohamaru pounced on the unlucky genin, knocking him out in a single punch.
At the same time, there was burst of lightning from Hanabi's position. An unconscious, slightly charred genin tumbled out of a sand dune. There was an explosion directly across from Konohamaru and a body came flying across the sand. He rolled out of the way, and there was a second explosion as the unconscious genin hit the ground.
Konohamaru checked for a pulse. Still alive. Then he checked the forehead protector.
"Can you believe it? It's the Sand team!" he said.
Hanabi, dragging her target along behind, and Ichigo joined him. Ichigo looked disappointed. "Guess this was a bust then."
Hanabi and Konohamaru looked at him, then at each other, and simultaneously shook their heads.
"This is a simulated war, Ichigo," said Hanabi. "We're taking their bands too. That means it's less likely we'll have to fight with them later."
"I see," said Ichigo.
Konohamaru was already going through their pockets. "What did you do to this guy anyway?"
Ichigo drew his bokken from under his cloak in one smooth movement. "He noticed me. I had to hit him harder because he had braced. I didn't expect him to go flying like that."
"Most genin won't have the same sort of taijutsu experience as me and Konohamaru," said Hanabi.
"We should take their water too," said Ichigo.
"Don't you mean food?" asked Konohamaru. "We can always use jutsu to make water, but hunting will be scarce around here."
"Didn't you just say the other teams were less experienced than you two?" asked Ichigo. "How many will be able to convert chakra to water? And still have enough to fight with after? These guys are from Sand. They'll probably be okay, but not all of the teams will."
Hanabi smirked. In the privacy of his own mind, Konohamaru could admit the expression terrified him, just a little bit. "Now you're thinking like a ninja."
Konohamaru stood up. "Alright, I've got their water." He waved a handful of bottles and gourds. "And who wants white?" He waved the three strips of cloth.
"We'll all take one for now," said Hanabi. "That way if someone loses theirs we won't be in bad shape."
Konohamaru tossed them each a piece of fabric making sure to give them different words too. He slung the water bottles around his neck.
"Do we want to use their trap?" asked Konohamaru.
"How much time until the rest of the teams leave Suna?" asked Ichigo.
Hanabi checked her watch. "Three minutes."
"That's not enough time to clean everything up," said Konohamaru. "Do we want to keep moving? Or head back to the gate and try to track another team?"
"That's seventy-five teams," said Hanabi. "Chances are someone will spot us."
"Let's get some distance between us and the other teams," suggested Ichigo. "When night falls, we can start hunting again."
"Sounds like a plan," said Konohamaru.
The team moved out and away from Suna at the start of arc that would eventually lead them back to the walls if they went that far. Every so often they changed direction until Ichigo stopped without warning.
"What is it?" asked Konohamaru.
The third member of their team was staring out at the horizon. "Remember how I talked about natural interference with my ability to sense reiatsu?"
Konohamaru tensed. The last time something interfered with Ichigo's ability, he and Hanabi had been kidnapped by missing-nin wanting revenge on Konoha.
"Yes," said Hanabi. "Is there something like that out there?"
"Yeah," said Ichigo. "It's really far away though. We just tripped into the edge of its range."
"Maybe we should make camp and see how it effects you," said Konohamaru.
"Okay," said Ichigo. He didn't look concerned, but he couldn't seem to draw his gaze away either.
"Let's use that dune," said Hanabi pointing at one of the larger ones in the area.
That drew Ichigo's attention. "Hm? Looks good. Hey, which side is leeward?"
As Konohamaru demonstrated the super complex jutsu for testing the direction of wind—licking a finger and sticking it in the air—Ichigo took off his cloak and shook it out. Then he unfolded it. And unfolded it again. And he could have unfolded it again, except he wanted to use part of it for the floor of their temporary tent.
After unsealing a coil of rope, they had entirely respectable low tent to keep the sun off their backs and the sand out of their mouths. Konohamaru and Hanabi gratefully crawled under the shade. It wasn't much, but it was much better than outside.
"I thought you were crazy for wearing this cloak," said Konohamaru.
"I have my moments," said Ichigo.
Konohamaru unslung the water bottles he had collected earlier. "What should we do with these?"
"We should toss them," said Hanabi. At their looks she added, "They're from a Suna team, so at least one is probably poisoned. We still have our water."
"Tossing them it is then," said Konohamaru.
"Bury them here when we leave," suggested Ichigo. "That way no one can track us with them."
Konohamaru nodded. "When will we leave? I mean, what is the plan?"
"We should start looking for the other teams while there's still some daylight left," said Hanabi. "That will make things a little easier."
"We'll look for a while tonight, then maybe take another break around midnight?" suggested Konohamaru. "Then we can keep going until it gets really hot in the morning. And start over in the afternoon."
Hanabi and Ichigo nodded their agreement.
"What are we going to do once we find all the tags we need?" asked Konohamaru.
"You mean, are we going to find a place to bunk down or keep tracking down other teams?" asked Hanabi.
"Yeah," said Konohamaru.
Ichigo looked at him. "You said this was a fake war, right? We'll keep going. Besides, this is supposed to be the strongest team in the exam. Let's prove it."
"Hell, yeah!" said Konohamaru. "Now I'm too excited to sleep. I'll keep first watch and you guys get some rest. I'll wake Ichigo up in forty minutes, okay?"
Two hours later they were on their way. By the next morning, each of them had a full set of bindings plus the extra white set from the Suna team. At the end of the second day, they had beaten every team they encountered (and stolen their water) except for the rookie genin team from Leaf, who they had had lunch with then sent on their way. Just as evening set on the third day, Konohamaru found the water of their most recent victims.
"Leave it," said Ichigo absently. "Let's find them some cover."
"What? Why?" asked Konohamaru.
Ichigo was staring at the horizon again. Konohamaru peered into the distance. It was already twilight in that direction, but he thought he saw something moving.
"Is it that source of interference?" asked Hanabi curiously.
Ichigo shook his head. "Different kind of interference. It's a sandstorm."
"Shit," said Konohamaru.
"There's a rock formation about two hundred meters that way," said Hanabi. "We can drop these guys off there and keep going."
"Sounds good," said Ichigo. "It looks like it's a few hours away. We can find our own rock formation by then."
Konohamaru and the others each grabbed an unconscious genin and raced for the rocks. Konohamaru was prepared to dump them, job done, but Ichigo made sure all of their faces were covered, and even went so far as to tie them to each other at the wrists, so they wouldn't lose each other in the sand. It was above and beyond the necessary concern even allied shinobi showed for each other, and these guys were from Iwa, but aside from the occasional bout of brutal violence, Ichigo was a soft touch.
The team agreed to head in the direction of Suna's nearest wall rather than in the direction of the gate. A sandstorm wasn't enough to cancel the Chunin Exam, and they still had almost two full days of competition left. Fortunately, they found another rock formation slightly closer to the village, and Ichigo was able to set up the tent well before the storm hit them.
Instead of lying down, the three Konoha genin were huddled against the leeward side of the rock. Ichigo had them tie most of the edges of the tent together, but none of them had taken off their goggles or scarves since Ichigo spotted the leading edge of storm.
When the edge struck, the force of the storm physically rocked them, and it felt like they were all but buried in sand. Konohamaru knew it wasn't true, he could still see sand flying past the only, tiny slit they had left in the tent, and if they were buried, he knew enough earth jutsu to get them out. But oddly enough, after the initial blast, everything seemed to calm. Konohamaru was honestly surprised they hadn't been flooded with sand.
"What the hell is this thing made of?" asked Hanabi poking at the cloak-turned tent.
Ichigo face was mostly hidden, but Konohamaru thought he was smirking at them. "It was made in Soul Society for tracking Hollows in Hueco Mundo, which is essentially a giant desert. Hollows can sense reiatsu a lot better than the average shinigami, so the cloak dampens spiritual pressure. It's absorbing some of the force of the storm."
"Nice," said Konohamaru.
"Will it interfere with our ability to sense chakra?" asked Hanabi.
Ichigo shrugged. "I'm not sure. But we'll need to move in a few hours anyway. I don't think this storm will blow over any time soon."
"Did you spend a lot of time in this Hueco Mundo place?" asked Konohamaru.
"Some," said Ichigo. "More than most."
"That's such a weird name," said Konohamaru. "Hueco Mundo. Does it mean anything?"
"Hell World," said Ichigo.
Konohamaru stared at him. Hanabi punched Konohamaru in the arm. "What did we learn about asking Ichigo questions?"
"Don't do it," said Konohamaru. "I remember now."
Ichigo was proven right though. The storm was still raging hours later. The team broke cover anyway and headed toward Suna. They repeated this pattern for the remaining hours encountering only a handful of other teams on the way. The last group they met, Kusa-nin but not the team that received a head start at the beginning of the test, had lost their tags and were just trying to make their way back to the gate. Ichigo had pointed them in the right direction—he really was a soft touch—and they waited until the team was out of range before continuing.
At noon of the fifth day, they passed through the gate and into the arms of waiting Suna-nin. The examiners led them to large hall where the other teams were gathering. The room had a double set of doors and no windows to help keep out the sand.
Konohamaru waved at Aunt Kurenai as soon as he spotted her. She had found a dust mask of her own, which looked more like a surgical mask than anything else. Kon was perched on her shoulder wearing a miniature scarf over the lower half of his face too. Ichigo assured them that it was entirely unnecessary, but Kon seemed to like it. Approaching with Kurenai was Baki holding clipboard.
"Konoha Team One," he read. "Members: Hyuuga Hanabi, Kurosaki Ichigo, and Sarutobi Konohmaru. How many did sets do you have?"
Konohamaru pulled out his red bindings. "Twelve."
Hanabi waved a handful of white cloth. "Seventeen."
Ichigo held up a black braid. "Fifteen."
Baki looked startled. Kurenai just beamed at them. "I think that's a pass for all three," she said.
"The only team that managed it so far," he said. "I wonder why. I'll take those to verify their authenticity, but congratulations on making it to the third stage."
Kurenai didn't stop smiling, even as Baki walked off. "Congratulations. You did it! I'm so proud."
Hanabi eyed her suspiciously. "You won money. Didn't you?"
"Every jounin instructor in the room owes me one thousand ryo," she said. "I'm so proud."
Kon jumped from her shoulder to Ichigo's and patted him on the hair. "I knew you could do it. A little desert like that? Has nothing on Hueco Mundo."
"Hueco Mundo?" asked Kurenai.
"Don't ask," said Konohamaru and Hanabi in depressed unison.
"What happens now?" asked Ichigo.
"We wait to see who else made it to the third stage," explained Kurenai. "Then you'll pick your opponent for the first battle. And then we have a month to prepare."
"But maybe before then, a bath?" suggested Hanabi.
"Yes, please," said Konohamaru. "I'll train as much as you want. Just let me get clean first."
"You might regret making a promise like that," said Ichigo quietly.
Konohamaru studied his aunt's steely-eyed grin and considered the amount of grit in his clothes. No, he was pretty sure he wouldn't regret it at all.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A messenger hawk landed on Tsunade's window. She recognized the bird as one from Suna's eyries. Setting down her brush, she reached out and carefully withdrew the tiny scroll from the message capsule on its leg. At his desk, Naruto was holding his breath.
Tsunade read the scroll and set it on her desk with a sigh. Naruto let out a tiny gasp of dismay.
"Shizune!" she barked.
The door burst open. "Yes, hokage-sama?"
"Break out the good sake! The whole team made it!"