Crimson Stained

Chapter 60

The Forest

The forest was nearly pitch black despite the sunset they had last seen before entering the forest. Nikushimi and Tatakau's eyes adjusted far before Shogai's did and they had to help lead him as they made their way through the heavy foliage. Instead of hopping through the trees they collectively decided to save their energy and chakra to fight against whoever-or whatever-decided to fuck with them.

"This sucks." Tatakau complained as Shogai ripped one of several leeches they had encountered off the back of Tatakau's neck.

Tatakau scowled when he saw the size of the leech, "Correction, this really fucking sucks."

Nikushimi, who had killed several leeches already once they had attached themselves to her, watched with an amused expression. Both Tatakau and Shogai were covered in red marks and Shogai was concerned about the diseases the leeches could possibly be carrying.

"Look on the bright side. We're one third of the way done already." Nikushimi smiled, "And if the team we beat has more than one gem, we'll be done!"

"Ah, I see." Shogai hummed, piercing the leech with a kunai to make sure it stayed off, "They never said that one of the gems couldn't be from your own village. Good thinking."

It had been a couple hours and the trio had decided not to sleep. They would rather find a safe place to bunker down than make a camp that couldn't be easily invaded. None of them were particularly good sensors and every Genin in this exam was particularly dangerous.

"Who do you think we're going to run into first?" wondered Nikushimi an hour later. They stopped to eat Nikushimi's leftovers from her breakfast. Each of them was alert and ready for an attack at any moment. Every time there was a rustle in the leaves Nikushimi's fingers twitched towards her swords while Shogai's hands flexed into a hand sign.

It was several false alarms before the bushes exploded and a familiar boy shot out of it. Nikushimi dodged Wo's kunai and he sailed past her. She nicked him while drawing a sword and she stood with the blade partly sheathed, eyeing Wo as he landed and turned abruptly.

"What kind of attack was that?" scoffed Nikushimi.

"A good opening!" and like that, Tatakau was tackled by Kyutaro and the two sailed into the bushes and disappeared. Shogai dodged a wire and ascended into the trees after the female Iwa Genin while Nikushimi turned to face Wo. Wo glared at her with intense eyes and he pointed his kunai at her. His own blood dripped down his arm from the cut Nikushimi inflicted upon him.

There wasn't enough room for swords in the forest. There were too many trees and bushes that would get in the way. While Nikushimi was precise her swords were too large for her and she needed more room. So she sheathed her sword completely and yanked her battle fans from their holsters. She flicked them open gracefully and she smiled at Wo, "Shall we?"

Wo didn't waste any more time. He charged and their battle began. Wo was an easy opponent for Nikushimi as despite being part of the war effort he was clearly still Genin level. He fought with no Jutsu past substitutions and he only used shuriken and kunai. Nikushimi badly wanted to ask him why he sucked so much but she made the fight quick. She easily got behind him with a boost of speed from dropping her weights and she brought a closed fan down on the back of his neck. Wo went down and landed face first in the mud.

Nikushimi paused. Mud?

She dodged a stream of water that was coming from the female Iwa Genin. It was a rare chakra affinity for Iwa but Nikushimi rolled with it. The fight was very much in Shogai's favor already because he had a dual affinity for fire and earth. Iwa would think this to be Lava Release but no, the Garasu clan all had these affinities. It allowed their Kekkei-Genkai to work much smoother. While Shogai generally focused on clan techniques he was able to do easy D rank techniques with both affinities and now with Shogai's earth nature overpowering the water nature as well as Nikushimi's support, the girl went down easily.

They focused their attention on Tatakau and Kyutaro. Both were standing still, clearly locked in two sets of Genjutsu. Tatakau wasn't much of a Genjutsu user but his Sharingan was blazing and one look into it would capture anyone unaware. Really, Tatakau mostly used his Sharingan for prediction and sight as well as potentially copying someone's move.

Nikushimi walked up to Kyutaro and put a knife to his throat before Shogai broke the Genjutsu on him. He came to with a halted breath as he realized the predicament he was in. Slowly he raised his hands in a surrendering gesture, whispering, "We're in quite a situation, aren't we?"

"Not really. We'll be taking any real gem you have." Nikushimi said quite cheerfully.

Kyutaro chuckled, "Why, I still have your friend in my Jutsu though. We both have hostages, don't we, cutie?"

Nikushimi blanched. Not deterred, Shogai collected Kyutaro's two teammates with his Kekkei-Genkai and hung them in front of Kyutaro. He observed their unconscious forms before sighing.

"All right, Kina's is real." Kyutaro informed them coldly. Shogai pulled said gem off her forehead protector and held it up to the light. It was indeed real.

Shogai stuck it on the inside of his own forehead protector before he dropped Kyutaro's teammates. Several glassy spikes were suddenly prodding into his skin uncomfortably and with a glint in his eyes, Shogai ordered, "Release Tatakau."

Nikushimi gaped at the sudden chill in the air. Shogai had never seemed scarier than in that moment where he cut into Kyutaro's skin as good warning that should he not let go of their teammate, he would regret it. When Kyutaro didn't immediately release him Shogai pierced straight through his arm in a nonlethal area. Hissing, Kyutaro released Tatakau.

The Uchiha's knees buckled and he fell to his knees. His Sharingan immediately faded and glossy black eyes slowly came back into focus. Shogai stood over his best friend with his bangs over his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Shogai inquired. He coughed into his sleeve and wiped his face with it.

Tatakau's wide eyes observed Shogai before he rasped, "Yeah, I'm better than alright, actually."

Something seemed to flash between the two of them and Shogai held out a hand. Tatakau accepted it and allowed his friend to pull him to his feet. Shogai steadied him before he turned to Kyutaro. Without remorse Shogai's glass pulled him down into the ground up to his waist. Shogai could have gone deeper but gave some mercy and once they were gone his teammates would eventually wake up and rescue him. Until then Kyutaro could somewhat protect himself. Then the Leaf Genin left them there and Kyutaro's eyes burned with anger.

Moyasu was sipping some fine alcohol he smuggled into the forest's central watch tower as he watched his Genin leave the Iwa team behind. The TV crackled a bit and changed to another Genin team whose fight was beginning. Minato sat beside Moyasu and was grinning at the fiery man. He elbowed Moyasu.

"Pretty good for their first fight, huh?" Minato asked

Moyasu hummed, "I guess so. I'm worried about who they'll run into next. That team's only danger is the Usame boy and he got put against an Uchiha which negated his usefulness."

"True. Hopefully they don't run into Iwa's Deathly Hallow or Kiri's little psychopath. I should have let them check a bingo book before leaving them." Moyasu rubbed his face and took a deep gulp of his drink. Minato rolled his eyes as the screen changed again to a fight between a Sand team and a Mist team.

"Speaking of the psychopath, he's about to slaughter another team." Minato announced. Moyasu eyed the black and white picture as Korosu and Natusko's teammate charged an entire team of poor Suna Genin. It was a quick fight that ended with all three of the Suna Genin butchered and in several pieces each. Minato signaled for one of the observing Jounin to mark down that spot on the map for a cleanup team after the exam ended.

"That's his fourth team. He got two of our teams so far and that's his second Suna." remarked Moyasu.

Minato sighed and nodded, "We can't tell if he's prejudice or just mindlessly killing but it seems to be the latter."

"What about the Deathly Hallow?" questioned Moyasu.

Minato shrugged, "That team has had it's fights already. They split up but hopefully they don't run into the Deathly Hallow. She alone killed one of our teams and the other two probably eliminated a Suna team but at least that team is still alive."

"These exams are brutal." moaned Moyasu, "I hate that my team had to participate in this one."

"What do you expect? It's the post-war exams. The war came to an end and these Chunin Exams are a political battlefield. While the war is technically over these exams are the final battle. Whoever comes out on top here shows their strength as the strongest nation to come out of the war. The Kage will convene and whatever country has the least deaths or the most kills, wins and promotions comes out as the political victor." Minato retorted.

Moyasu huffed, "Don't patronize me. I'm fully aware of all of that."

"Sorry, let's just watch and see how your team's next fight goes." Moyasu conceded. Both turned their eyes to the screen and Moyasu waited with bated breath as the screen kept changing between fights.

As Team Moyasu used the trees to get far away from Kyutaro's team, Nikushimi eyed Shogai. Something had changed in him, she realized. Had the war affected him that much? Or... what had Orochimaru done to him?

They didn't get much of a break because they ran into their next fight rather easily. They stumbled upon two Iwa Genin complaining to each other.

"I can't believe Kuki fucking ditched us in here." grumbled a blonde girl as she picked at charred fish they had evidently caught in the nearby river.

Her teammate hummed, "At least we have a Suna gem already and she will likely bring back several from each village."

The teammate held up a green gem and the blonde girl snatched it. She eyed it, cooing that it was so pretty and that she wanted a necklace made from it. Nikushimi shared a bored look with Tatakau. It was when she looked away the two in the camp made their moves. There was a sudden bright flash that caused Nikushimi to grab at her goggles and she wheeled backwards off the branch she was perched on. She landed on the floor beside Shogai and they blinked away the dots in their vision. Their opponent was the boy.

He was an older Genin and built large, much like Chimu. His hair was a thick mane and a darker ginger that reminded Nikushimi of a lion. His eyes were a muddy hazel that wasn't too notable but his ability was certainly a problem. From the ground several golems emerged with rocky armor plates and muddy limbs. Each had a different personality in its appearance but the boy merely bowed to them with a calm look.

"My name is Murre. I will be your opponent. Please surrender before you are injured."

Stunned by his politeness, Nikushimi and Shogai shared a look before Nikushimi spoke, "My name is Ketsueki Nikushimi and this is my teammate, Garasu Shogai. We will not back down."

"Then let our fight be fair." Murre nodded and the golems sprung to life. Nikushimi gaped at how fast the hulking monsters were as they charged. It was almost like Murre created his own army and Nikushimi dove to the side to avoid one. Murre's army had a total of ten golems and they split with five going after Nikushimi and five after Shogai. In the distance Tatakau was engaging in simple taijutsu against the blonde girl.

Nikushimi flipped backwards and pulled her fans out while she hardened her blood. She clashed with a golem and it stung but her arms held as she reinforced them with her iron blood. Ducking under the golems arm Nikushimi charged Murre and dodged several attempts from the other golems to grab her. Nikushimi only had a few precious moments of speed left before she knew she'd lose it from how heavily she was filling herself. These golems were heavy and strong, easily able to break through bones.

In the background Shogai was breaking apart the golems with heavy glass shards but there was a visible toll being taken. His body was shaking with effort and his skin was clammy and sweaty. He was wracked with a constant cough that nearly caused him to take a hit several times. Nikushimi caught sight of his state and hurried towards Murre.

Meanwhile, Tatakau was exchanging in Taijutsu against the blonde. They were pretty evenly matched with him being able to predict her movements but she being much more flexible and faster than him. It was a well balanced fight and so far neither had resorted to any Jutsu. In fact, after several exchanges Tatakau just reached forward and ripped the green gem off the girl's Hitai-ate that was hung around her neck. She sputtered in shock as he eyed the gem with his Sharingan.

"I got a real gem guys!" Tatakau shouted, backing off from the fight into a tree. The girl, spitting and hissing, flew after him but Tatakau avoided her and called to his teammates. Shogai, as soon as he heard Tatakau, joined him in the trees and they hurried over to above Nikushimi.

Nikushimi was locked in a grappling match with Murre. As amusing as it was to watch Nikushimi get sat on by someone twice her size then squeeze out of it exactly because of how small she was Tatakau dropped down with a spinning roundhouse kick aimed towards Murre's head. His teammate tackled Tatakau and she plucked Tatakau's gem off his headband.

"Oh hell no!"

Tatakau was reduced to grappling with the girl. Tatakau was actually a good grappler despite his focus on frontal assault and he broke the girl's elbow in an arm bar and snatched back his gem. He, childishly, pulled an eyelid down and stuck his tongue out at her while she screamed and grabbed at her arm. Tatakau grabbed Nikushimi as she squirmed out of Murre's attempt at a back choke and he lifted her into the trees. They took off with Nikushimi hitching a piggyback ride from Tatakau.

"What the hell did you do to get so heavy, fatty?!" Tatakau huffed twenty minutes later when they were sure the Iwa Genin wouldn't give chase.

"A Jutsu." Nikushimi retorted hotly, smacking Tatakau upside the head for calling her fatty. He rubbed where she hit and Shogai was gasping for breath and leaning against a tree.

"I'm exhausted." Shogai whined. Staring at Shogai, because Shogai didn't whine, Nikushimi offered him an energy bar from her pack.

"Why do you have everything?" wondered Tatakau as he eyed Nikushimi's scrolls in one of her pouches. Nikushimi was covered in straps at this point because she had the belt holster for the swords, straps that connected to that and came down around her legs for her fans, and then a back pouch nearly hidden by her flowing hair that contained her scrolls and her usual thigh pouches.

Nikushimi shrugged, "Don't complain about a good thing."

Tatakau supposed she was right. Instead of messing around they headed straight for an exit now that they had three real gems. They did encounter another Konoha team that almost challenged them out of desperation but gave up when they saw Team Moyasu was much more equipped for a fight than them. When they reached a gate the three booked it out of there and the gate closed behind them.

Almost immediately hands clamped down on Nikushimi's shoulders and Chikyu leered at the boys from over Nikushimi's head. Fauru gently guided Chikyu's gaze towards them when she was a bit too far to the right with her sightless eyes.

"I can feel you three have the right gems!" she announced, "Let Fauru see them."

Shogai and Tatakau presented the green, red and brown gems they had collected. Fauru observed each carefully before nodding, "Good to go. Be back here at dusk in two days."

Fauru and Chikyu left them after that while Team Moyasu basked in the sunlight that was peeking over the trees at them. The Forest of Death had been a cruel place in the night and they hadn't even known it was daytime due to the thick cover the trees provided. They went home and slept good and rested because before they knew it they were back outside the Forest of Death.

Only six teams had passed the test and each were huddled with their respective village. Two Konoha teams had made it, two Iwa, one Kiri, and one Suna. Team Moyasu had made it, Kyutaro's team and Murre's team, Natsuko and Korosu's team, and the friendly Suna team that consisted of Jakotsu, Oko and Maki. However of the Konoha team there was only a single girl present and she honestly looked ready to forfeit right then and there.

The final exam was always an exhibition tournament where civilians and visitors from other villages could spectate. They needed an even number for this because a first round pass would be boring and Nikushimi suspected that the poor girl who was alone had only barely passed with her team and the other two were injured in the hospital.

"Alright everyone, if you'll look here we have tournament brackets!" called Chimu as he held up a large board with their names and pictures at the bottom. Nikushimi skimmed for her name and then Tatakau and Shogai's.

Garasu Shogai vs Kiritsugu Kizami.

Uchiha Tatakau vs Tamaki Kiremi.

Ketsueki Nikushimi vs Usame Kyutaro.

They each looked at the picture of their opponent to size them up. Tatakau grinned confidently, his opponent was the blonde girl from Iwa who he had fought in the forest. Nikushimi was confident against Kyutaro but she would definitely be doing some research on his ability. Finally, Shogai was against the most difficult opponent.

Garasu Shogai vs Kiritsugu Kizami, otherwise known as the psychopath from Kiri.

Shogai mustered up his strength and took a deep breath. He could do this. No, he would do this. A gleam came into his eyes that Nikushimi shared as both had the same plan. They would study their possible opponents as detailed as possible.

Team Moyasu would win this tournament no matter what.

AN:

Is everyone following this still interested? I tried rereading recently, and I'm horrified by the abysmal beginning. Of course, Crimson Stained was started when I was in middle school and I'm graduating high school. I really want to rewrite, but that's about thirty-forty chapters I'm not happy with. ;-;

Fun Fact- If I made Nikushimi as a Sim, in Sims 3, her traits with all expansions would be: Hot-Headed, Friendly, Loner, Never-Nude, and Genius.

Thanks to the following for reviewing (:

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