It's time for us to get moving and to finish our 2nd exam.
Since we don't plan on letting Karin return to Kusagari we'll just leave her hiding in this place until the exam is over and we can sneak her out.
As for getting some legal permits for her, we'll either talk with the third Hokage about her or wait for Tsunade to take power. Either option will go a lot smoother if we let Kusagakure think Karin died.
I leave behind a shadow clone to keep her company for the next days and to help teach her.
We brought several basic texts and knowledge to impart to Karin, in preparation for living in Konoha, starting with Konoha’s history and finishing with basic Academy jutsu and a couple of manuals Anko managed to find on fuinjutsu, the sealing techniques which the Uzumaki clan were famous for exceeding in.
Between her studies, my clone shared the story of every person in her new family, topping it off with the vision and how we wanted her help, everything she needed to know for when she moved in.
With the morning of the 3rd day of the exam having arrived, we made our way to the tower.
With us, we bring six scrolls, three of each kind, heaven and earth.One scroll we started with, one we got from Karin and the last four scrolls Sakura beat out of weaker teams.
Our goal now was to reach the tower, scouting close to it for any important team missing a scroll, and if not we could just go inside and rest there until the end of the exam in another 2 days.
With Gaara predicted to have arrived at the tower in less than a couple of hours, we’re not afraid of any other team.
This just leaves making sure the rest of the teams passing the exam match as close to the vision as we can.
‘Ino, we’re heading to the tower, are you there yet?’
‘Yes Yami, I'm waiting for you.’
‘Good can you tell us which teams are missing?’
‘Just your team, Naruto's and the two Orochimaru teams.’
‘We’ll be there in less than an hour, Team Kakashi won’t arrive until the last day along with Kabuto, and Otogakure can’t finish without Kin so there will only be one team for the snake.’
‘I miss you Yami.’
‘We’ll be there soon Ino’
When we reach closer to the tower I leave another shadow clone behind and hand it the extra scrolls. Its job is to make sure everything goes well with Naruto and prevent other teams from finishing if they make it there.
We take our pair of scrolls and head inside the tower.
In an open room, we see nothing but a brushed message hanging on a wall, but my Byakugan shows Kotetsu Hagane hiding behind a wall.
Sure enough, it’s the same not profound at all message as in the anime which can be summed up as “If you’re dumb study, if you’re weak train so you can do missions”.
Opening both scrolls and throwing them onto the ground they release smoke while Kotetsu, the Chunin examiner who tried to fool us with the fake classroom at the start, body-flickers into the smoke.
Have I mentioned how absurd it is that the visions sometimes shows ninjas being summoned and reverse summoned?If that were possible everyone would just use summons to travel around... also the cases of 'we are under attack'... just summon a Kage and he'll turn the fight around by himself.
Kotetsu, with his cross-shaped scar on his face, always reminds me of Hidan, as he was with Shikamaru and Asuma when they were defeated by him in the original vision, 3years from now.
After congratulating us and telling us we had passed the second exam we were led upstairs, to await the for the 120hours to pass which will mark the conclusion of the second exam.
The tower has many floors and installations, often being used for group training and possesses the installations required to have over a hundred people living within.
Under heavy vigilance, by every Jonin teacher and a couple of hidden Anbu, every team keeps to themselves and out of trouble.
The first thing I do is look for Ino inside the residential floor while Sakura and Hinata go meet up with Anko and get some food on a different floor.
I soon find Ino as she runs happily and kisses me. Shikamaru stood further back in the corridor while holding onto Akamaru in his arms.
Something doesn't feel quite right with his sharp look in this situation.
Breaking from our kiss, Ino's face turns a bit sadder.
“Hey Ino, how did it go?”
“I’m sorry Yami…”
“Hmm?”
“We’ve been eliminated.”
“What happened? Did you open the scroll or something?”
If she was lacking a scroll she knew we had extras…
Shikamaru approaches us and answers, anger in his face
“According to the rules. Teams which are missing a member can’t pass…”
That’s why I was finding something wrong here, I look closer at Akamaru, the puppy looks tired and not at all like its usual energetic self. And since Shikamaru is holding him, that means…
“Kiba…”
Shikamaru clenches his teeth in anger.
“Yes… Kiba was killed...”
Shikamaru looks at Ino who keeps avoiding his gaze and staring at me.
“I’m sorry for your loss, you must all be in great pain…”
Ino reaches closer and hides her face in on my chest before starting to sob.
“I’ll take good care of Ino… goodbye Shikamaru.”
"Good luck with the exam Yami, we'll be leaving later today."
I take Ino with me and head inside the room assigned to my team which was somehow the room Ino had come out from to greet me.
As I close the door behind us, I pay attention to make sure we aren’t being seen by anyone, before turning to Ino.
‘You’re a horrible liar Ino…’
Ino looks up at me, unable to hide the wide smile on her face.
‘Why are you so happy?’
‘Because… I’m finally free, no more Team Asuma, I can finally just be with you Yami.’
‘You could have just quit the exams before the next one Ino, or opened the scrolls to get eliminated, why go this far?… in a couple of months you know I’ll be leaving Team Anko for Anbu…’
‘It’s not just that Yami… I couldn't take it any longer, I didn't want a single day more of being taken away from you, stuck in that miserable team.’
‘It was still too far Ino…’
Ino’s voice in my head goes softer. But as her tirade keeps going her voice grows louder in my head.
‘He deserved it Yami, time and time again, Kiba kept disrespecting you and insulting us, calling me a bitch in heat and saying you were nothing more than a weakling and that he was so much better than you… he just wouldn’t shut up, always loud and obnoxious, and the smell!! I had to take a bath every single time before meeting you just to get rid of that disgusting dog smell wafting from their mouths!'
I kiss Ino to stop her thoughts.
‘I love you Yami~~’
‘I love you Ino, I really do but you know this was wrong.’
‘Why does it matter Yami? he wasn’t a real person anyway.’
‘Ino… what do you mean?’
‘You, me, this entire world, is it nothing more than a story written by someone, why should we care?’
‘How do you know that Ino?’
'Heh heh heh~~~ I was listening.’