Orphans of Time Chapter 14

"Interesting."

"What was that Haku senpai?"  Chojuro asked having only picked up half of what Haku had  said.

"Nothing Chojuro," Haku lied, "look, the next match is starting."  Haku had heard the conversation between Zabuza and Orochimaru, a stray ice cube in Zabuza's pocket had picked up the sounds.  Experimenting with the technique had made it a very useful for spying, a perfect supplement to his ice mirror's visual surveillance.

Turning his attention back to the arena, two new fighters stepped up to battle.  As they began to face off, Zabuza appeared through a side door and entered the underground stadium again.  He waved off the guard simply saying "bathroom" and walked up to the balcony.

"Did I miss anything?"

"No, they're only now starting the next match.  An Aburame bug user against one of the young Sound Nin."

Zabuza's eyes appraised the fighters as they began.  The Sound Nin had one arm in a sling and was making a brave show in contrast to the Aburame's calm demeanor.

"Zaku is it?"  Zabuza half asked looking at the board on the wall.  "Some people should know when to give up."  The fight did not last long, ending with an explosive conclusion, one of the Sound Nin's arms lying on the ground.

"Gruesome."  Chojuro held a hand to his mouth.

"Take a lesson from each fight kid.  This fight is about keeping your cool.  Zaku, one-armed or not, could have won this if he had stuck to his attacks and not been distracted by his temper."

Haku did his best to focus on the fights, but the next couple were rather boring.  A Konoha genin lost to a Suna puppet user, two Konoha kunoichi (one a mind transfer user) fought each other for an hour before a double knock-out, and another fight between kunoichi weapon users ended poorly for the Konoha genin against the girl from Suna.  Chojuro did his best to come up with likely lessons from each fight to please Zabuza, but it was clear after the long fight between the two girls from Konoha that he simply stopped caring.  Truth was, Haku could hardly blame Zabuza, this part of the test was incredibly uneventful but willowing out the nonessential fighters would make for a better final exam for all the nobles and others in attendance.

"The next fight is Nara Shikamaru versus Tsuchi Kin."  From opposite sides of the arena stepped down the next fighters.  Haku had heard of the specialty of the Nara Clan, but had never seen it in action.  The other fighter, the girl, interested Haku.  Perhaps it was the novelty of seeing the jutsu of the fighters from the Hidden Village of Sound, maybe there was something about the way she carried herself.  Still, Haku's training tugged at him.  To always see beyond a confident exterior, to be real confidence it has to be backed up by strong skills and a solid sense of self.

The fight played out well enough.  The girl, Kin, made a good show of herself.  Her bells, needles, and invisible wires made for a tricky combination.  Unfortunately her aim was weak and she didn't finish off the Nara boy quickly, allowing him to use his shadow ability to great effect.  The final part of the fight was a great bluff, and the shadow imitation dodge knocked the girl out.

There was a sad sense of loss on Kin's face when she finally came to and left the arena; a dark sort of disappointment that Haku could not put his finger on.  Remembering the information they had learned about Orochimaru and the Sound Village, he decided to make a point to look further into the Sound Team and their intentions for being at the Chuunin exams.

"Our next fight will be between Chojuro and Hiyama."  The announcer Gekko coughed and waited for the next competitors to come down.  Haku stole a glance towards the shinobi on the opposite side of the room making his way down to the ground floor.  His head was wrapped up with more cloth than the Sound Nin Dosu; truth was Haku wondered how he managed to see through the cowl.  There was no other loose clothing on his body; everything else was covered by a skintight black jumpsuit.

"Don't let his look psyche you out.  Trust in your strengths and when in doubt charge."  Zabuza's tone still carried a hint that he didn't like Chojuro, but he was far more tolerant than he once was.

Keeping the Hiramekarei wrapped on his back, Chojuro faced down his first opponent who had his hands together in the boar seal.  Haku ran through a list of jutsu he knew of that began with the boar seal, for some reason the Summoning Technique struck him as being likely.  The bandaged thumb and dark spot on Hiyama's arm strengthened the impression. On the signal of begin, Chojuro charged with his sword as soon as Hiyama's hands went to the next seal.  Sure enough, Haku was right and it was a summoning jutsu.  Chojuro's sword flew straight and Hiyama's dodge was instead him placing his hand to the ground to finish the jutsu.

A cloud of smoke filled the arena, but Chojuro's missed attack was a feint.  The over lunge with the sword was meant to be a diversion; the real attack was a powerful kick using the weight and momentum of the sword to alter the direction and strength of the kick.  Kicking straight at where Hiyama was, and made contact.  Hiyama flew back and landed as best her could.  Jumping through the smoke, Chojuro brought his sword up in a downward strike, intending to end the match, but the sword was nearly torn from his grip as one of the bandages was pulled backwards.

Landing on the ground Chojuro found himself between Hiyama and the revealed summon beast.  It was an incredibly colorful, two meter tall chicken.  Smoke rose from the nostrils on the creature's beak, and with a roar that was part cluck it breathed fire in a thin stream that stayed on the floor as it lay.  The fire did burn the end of the bandage, freeing the Hiramekarei and allowing Chojuro to dodge.

"Basan.  Now that is an interesting summon."  A Konoha jounin spoke to another from across the room, Haku read their lips.

Hiyama stood up and made seals for a wind technique.  Combined with a potential fire breath from the Basan had the potential to create a problem for Chojuro.

"Futon: Joushoukiryuu."  The wind technique blew forward and was combined with a breath of fire from the Basan.

"Heh, he's got this."  Zabuza said.  Haku had become an expert at reading Zabuza's expressions under his mask, he was smirking at Chojuro.

Sure enough, before the massive jet of fire hit Chojuro his sword was glowing brightly with incredible chakra.  Raising it over his shoulder she stepped towards the flame and swung his sword.  A giant hammer of pure chakra formed and cut through the fire.  Not only did the Hiramekarei act as a shield, protecting him from the attack, but the force of the attack caused a feedback that sent a backlash towards Hiyama and the summoned beast.

The shockwave knocked several of the genin to their feet in the resulting explosion.  The floor tiles were darkened and some were cracked by the force.  The ones surrounding Chojuro in a circle were pristine in comparison.  Walking forward, he didn't wait for the smoke to clear.  Placing the sword again on his back, he walked toward the staircase and rejoined Haku and Zabuza.  The medics rushed in to find Hiyama on the ground, unharmed but unconscious.  The Basan had protected him from the brunt of the counterattack.

"Burned out?"

"If I didn't know you better Zabuza senpai, I'd almost think that was a pun."

Haku did not expect what happened next.  Zabuza laughed.  Slapping Chojuro on the back she said, "You know what?  You're alright kid.  Keep that attitude and you might turn out just fine."

A fifteen minute recess was called to allow the arena to be cleaned.  While Chojuro went off to find more wrapping for his sword and Zabuza argued with Ao about leaving after Sasuke's match Haku decided to disappear for a bit.  He had a bad feeling in his gut between the conversation with Orochimaru, talk of the cursed seal on the Uchiha boy and the two members of the Sound Team in the infirmary.  Something was wrong, and he wanted to find out what.