Chapter 6: When Luck is on Your Side

After fifteen minutes of constant hiding, observing, waiting and turning back, Yagura finally made it into his final destination - the main house. It wasn't difficult to discern the head building. A big kanji with the definition "head" was plastered on the door of the house, a trait others didn't have. Although he had never gone into any enclosed clan residence, he could safely assume that he was at the right place thanks to all the clues disseminated around the compound he'd managed to notice.

But despite everything going his way so far, he was still worried about the existence of any hidden traps he may have missed. He had disabled most of them dispersed in every corner he came across but a thought at the back of his mind kept bugging him about the possibilities of more traps awaiting him...especially in the main house. Normally, he wouldn't trust his intuition due to the many problems he had faced in the past when he did believe them, but now was an exception. Even his nose could smell trouble.

Another thing bothering his nose is the Aconitum flower that adhered itself to Yagura's shirt since he fell into the flower bushes. No matter how many times he tried to pull it off or loosen it with his chakra-natured water, it just stubbornly stayed. He doesn't remember the flower to be this sticky, but then again he never did go anywhere near his mother's flowers. But he did make a mental note to try getting it off with chakra water later again.

Meticulously, he tiptoed across the dim room to avoid waking up a sleeping baby in a cradle next to its mother snoring away on a matress. The purposely strewn books on the floor made it harder for Yagura to make his way to the second door, but with patience and nimbleness he managed to bypass every stack of books without waking the baby or the mother up. This was definitely a test of skill.

As he slid open the second door, he glanced at the baby and the mother once more before advancing into the next room.

Two children, a boy and a girl, were doodling on the wall with coloured crayons, backs facing Yagura. The girl was drawing purple flowers growing out of bushes with butterflies unanimously flying over them and a yellow sun on the top right corner, whilst the boy whom was about Yagura's age seemed to be drawing what he saw from his nightmare. He took the purple crayon from his sister and scribbled inorientedly over the drawings of the victims of his imagination. The girl scowled at him.

"You can't even draw a flower properly."

"So?"

Yagura inhaled deeply. This room was going to be difficult. The door to the next room was right beside their vandalising spot, and there was no way he could make it pass the room without triggering the children's attention. Any jutsu, even genjutsu, would be futile against them. So for now he could only wait until luck comes again.

Or maybe luck wasn't the card he is supposed to be playing now.

He glanced around the room, hoping to land his sight on another clue. Apart from the familiar seal on the ceiling, the only spot in the room that may provide him even the slightest hint is the children. Looking at their drawings, he tried to make the best out of them but they certainly weren't the best artists. The boy couldn't even draw better than Jinpachi, who once drew a kunai that looked like an object you would only find in adults' secret stashes.

Luckily the girl's art was recognisable. Nonetheless, some of the purple flowers crossed over to the boy's doodling section, being made into food by a stick man before used for poisoning people...and other things the boy's imagination could produce.

Yagura stared hard at their doodles. Nothing in his head clicked and he doubt it will ever. Just what is the examiner planning to do with him? Or maybe he wasn't shrewd enough to make out a clue? The doodles were screaming its hint at him but he still couldn't figure out the point. Purple flowers, being used by stick-bodied men, to serve as a meal to other stick-bodied men, who eventually pass out cold on the floor...?

The flower! Yagura exclaimed in his mind and praised himself. Why didn't he realise earlier? He looked to the Aconitum flower down on his shirt. He frowned. What was he supposed to do with it?

Their artwork gave no more hints to him. Yagura turned to look into the previous room while the children were still engrossed in their drawing. Books scattered across the floor. Carefully, he entered the room on the ball of his feet and scanned the books on the wooden floor. Every title, coincidentally or not, was regarding flowers and plants as well as their uses as herb except one book that was titled "The Most Dangerous Flowers". Yagura gently picked it up, hoping to find something about the one on his shirt. He glanced through the index until the word Aconitum was seen. He flipped to the page and glance around the room again before reading the content.

The Aconitum flower, also known as the Monkshood, have been used long ago for hunting wild animals. The poison powder in its pollen causes hallucination and cross sights despite its angelic look. Its petals can be made into arrow tips. If create contact with the mouth, the victim will also suffer from hallucination and eventually die from the blockage of blood vessels due to the penetration of its poison.

Yagura closed the book and placed it back to its original spot on the floor. He didn't have time to study the whole chapter and didn't feel the need to. He believed he had got all the info he needed.

With a hopeful feeling, he dripped some chakra natured water on the spot on his shirt where the flower was. This time, the flower came off his shirt as easy as pancake. He tore the flower apart and kept one half in each of his palms before stepping into the second room again. Approaching the children as silent as a cat, his heart beat faster in anxiety. When he reached the spot right behind them, they still didn't seem to notice his presence, still scribbling away on the yellow wall.

Swiftly, he swung his arms around them and covered their mouths with his hand, trying his best to force the flower into them. Despite grabbing his arms, trying to let out a scream, their strength still wasn't on par with Yagura's. The girl dug her sharp nails into his flesh but Yagura persisted. He didn't mind any pain or didn't care if his victims were innocent children. It was all only a genjutsu.

It took a while before the poison took effect. After half a minute, their bodies went limp and fell flat to the floor, eyes still wide open. Yagura found this scene so familiar, but he shook the thought off, reminding himself he needed to hurry.

Before he could reach the door to the last room, the seal on the ceiling dissipated. Yagura stared at it for a while before breaking into a smile. Advancing into the next room, he was greeted with a blade.

Before the edge could cut his head apart, he leaped past the man and gathered water in his palms from condensed air in the room. With a single blow, Yagura flung a powerful force of water towards the man, hitting him right in the abdomen. The man stumbled and fell backwards. Yagura gathered water again and threw the second shot, this time inflicting his head. For once Yagura saw his face, but the man wasn't who he expected, a stranger.

It was Reiko's father.

Taken aback by his appearance in the genjutsu, Yagura merely missed the next blow he almost landed on him. Yagura wiped away every other thought and focused on the impostor before him, assuming that the examiner was messing with his mind.

Yagura never got to fight against an adult opponent, so he now knew how overpowered he was.

Without warning, the man rained powerful kicks and punches aimed at his vital spots but Yagura dodged them all. He is small and quick, and that is the only advantage he has against him physical-wise. Swiftly, Yagura kicked him in the side but it landed no effect on the big man - his kick was not strong enough. The man caught his foot and pulled it forward, knocking him off-balance. Yagura pulled his foot free before the man could grab him again. Yagura scrambled to his feet and hopped back a few feet until his back met with the door again.

The man launched forward before Yagura could finish weaving hand signs. Pain stabbed Yagura's jaw and spreaded across his face, making his vision go black at the edges. His ears rang. He stumbled to the side as the room sways. Yagura moved away from him as far as the room allowed. He doesn't recall the man's fist coming at him.

Another foot attacked his ribs before he could regain his mind. Yagura had to move. The man was all close combat but no ninjutsu, which bought him another advantage. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain and slid across the ground, passed his obstacle to under the study desk on the other side of the small room. Seizing the moment, Yagura performed hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" In an instant a large reptilian shaped body of water rose up and crashed down onto the advancing man. The water managed to buy him enough time to crawl out from underneath the desk. The pain in his ribs and jaw still rang but the slight adrenaline rush in his body suppressed the pain for a moment.

The man recovered fast from Yagura's attack. Wielding his katana from before, he charged towards Yagura at high speed. The man crashed into the wooden desk, making Yagura roll out of the way. The pain in his jaw and ribs nagged him again, this time more irresistible that it could knock him out if the duration of this battle lengthens.

It seemed so real, the power of genjutsu. Yagura had to hurry.

He stood at the doorway, heart beating quicker. He watched as his opponent rose to his feet from behind the wrecked desk, knuckles whiting from just gripping his sword. Yagura began to calculate seconds. At the same time, the sequence for his next planned jutsu was playing itself at the tip of his fingers. He hasn't try this technique on anyone - yet. A new technique Saruki developed.

Yagura watched him. Just as the impostor's feet leap off the ground towards him, Yagura whipped out hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique. "

His illusionary opponent's eyes widened. An exact duplicate of him materialised from a mirror summoned at a feet in front of him. He didn't know how to react to a foreign technique, so he followed through with his attack.

Yagura watched in awe as the man stabbed his duplicate - only to realize that his duplicate mirrored his actions as well. Both swords shot through each other's owner. The man's mouth went wide, then his body met with the cold, wet floor. Pang. No more actions. Yagura smiled a little as the duplicate dissipated along with the mirror. His new technique worked. His mission completed.

Yagura was about to pass out from the increasing pain when the room around him started to blur and changed into another scene. His vision was still misty from the impact of the punch he received, but in seconds the ringing died down and the black spots disappeared from his field of vision. He took a good look around him.

Now he was standing at the very playground academy students like him hung out at during recess. He glanced around. Another genjutsu scene? No. The examiners were in his sight. The genjutsu was now released although he had no idea how the examiners managed to get them to the playground while their minds were wandering off in some foreign place, assigned to kill a man. Genjutsu sure is full of wonders. On the bright side, the pain was no longer there.

"Congratulations, you passed." the female jounin with a clipboard tucked in her arms unexpressively told him, but inside she was beyond surprised that the youngest candidate had passed the first phase of exam. In her other grasp, she jabbed the stop button on her stopwatch and scribbled the recorded time onto the clipboard as Yagura massaged his jaw.

After giving her his name, he scanned the area to see if anyone else had already passed the test. He didn't spot any other genin until a tall figure under a shady tree caught his attention.

"Kushimaru." Yagura uttered, a bit surprised to see his friend who wasn't in the hall earlier suddenly turned up. "Where were you? You...weren't in the hall just now."

"Yeah." He said, nonchalantly examining his nails. "I came late."

"You…passed already?"

Kushimaru looked up at him. "Yes.". His reply earned a rather surprising look from the younger child. Yagura found his astonishing accomplishment very unexpecting.

"So which room did you pick?" asked Kushimaru.

"Uhh…the one on the right."

"Oh." Kushimaru said with little interest in his eyes. "I took the one on the left. Mazes everywhere."

"Mine was a residential area. I had to kill a guy."

"Same." He replied. He looked distracted by something. "Ao."

Ao hobbled towards them with beads of perspiration dripping down from his forehead. He looked shaken up and exhausted but the joyful twinkle in his eyes almost proved it wrong. Yagura could tell that he was as relieved as he was to finally pass the first phase of the test. When he reached them only then Yagura noticed a new terrible scar on his neck. He must have accidently cut himself when his mind was under the illusion.

"Ahh my god. That was horrible." Ao managed to smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "I couldn't even use ninjutsu."

Kushimaru raised his eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You took the door on the right?" Yagura asked his newly arrived friend, his curiosity piqued at the mention of not being able to use jutsu. His question unanswered, Kushimaru just looked from him to Ao, puzzled.

Ao nodded. "We couldn't use any ninja tools or jutsu. How the heck were we supposed to get through the exam?" he whined, leaving Kushimaru even more confused. He was about to interfere when Yagura commented.

"You could use it in the last room though."

"What? Why didn't you tell me that?"

"There was an advanced jutsu-restraining seal in every corner of the place, but it disappears before you enter the last room." He went on. He recalled about the water that dripped down onto his head in the house after he escaped the bandits. He saw a water stain on the ceiling and unthinkingly tasted the next drop that fell. He had been in Kirigakure and training blindfolded long enough to tell the difference between rainwater and normal drinking water, so having rainwater on top of the house's slanting dark mahogany roof when there weren't any sight of puddles outside under the bright sun was strange to him.

He stared at the water stain before noticing that it took on a shape very similar to one seal Saruki specially liked to use during missions - the seal that turned any use of ninjutsu into just an otiose attempt. But the seal on the ceiling seemed to be an advanced version. It can nullify the use of weapons and ninja tools. It didn't take long for Yagura to realise that it wasn't a test on techniques, but a test on how to bypass obstacles unnoticed instead of putting up loud fights.

"Damn it!" Ao angrily stomped on the ground. Yagura could only smile helplessly. Kushimaru continued to watch them as Ao went on, "How did you get rid of those kids before the last room?"

"Flower." Yagura said, surprising both the boys. It wasn't necessary for Ao to know about the flower. In fact, maybe they were never expected to use the flower. It just so happened that Yagura fell into a flower bush. It just so happened that a really harmful flower got stuck on his shirt. It just so happened that he noticed a book on the most dangerous flowers on the floor and the flower on his shirt just happened to be one of them. It also just so happened that leaking rainwater dripped onto his head in the empty house he just so happen to walk into, and it just so happened that Yagura recognized the seal on the ceiling where the water was dripping onto his head.

Yagura was just damn lucky. That was something he had and no one else did.

"Flower?" Ao quizzed. Yagura shrugged, indicating that he didn't need to know. But Ao's knitted brows and Kushimaru's curious glance caused Yagura to cave.

"I fell into some bushes and this particular flower glued onto my shirt. It wouldn't come off until I tried in the room with the baby. Then there was this book on the floor about dangerous and poisonous flowers and the one on my shirt was one of them. So yeah."

Ao raised an eyebrow. "So yeah what?"

"So...I used it on the kids."

Ao looked as if he was to blow up. The odd looks from his two friends calmed him a little just in time before speaking. "I swear to Kami-sama, Yagura, you are one damn lucky kid to have gotten all that..."

Kushimaru who hadn't been speaking for a while finally did. "More like observant." Yagura smiled at the indirect compliment, but in his mind he knew Ao was right. Luck did him a huge favour.

"How about you?" Yagura averted the attention onto the neglected Kushimaru. "How did you make it through your maze without using jutsu?"

Kushimaru blinked. "We didn't have a restraining seal."

Both Ao's and Yagura's eyes widened. The older genin of the two spoke. "Huh. No wonder they called our route 'Enter and you will die with regrets'. Regret that we didn't take the other route."

"But our route had too many assassins waiting to kill us." Kushimaru said. "Every one of them took on the faces of people we know. It's like they were trying to use our emotions against us."

"But it's just a genjutsu." Yagura said. The image of Reiko's father flashed in his mind. "So I guess it's fine."

"Yeah. The master dude was my sensei." Kushimaru said and snorted at someone behind Yagura. He turned to look. Jinpachi sauntered over to them with an exasperated expression. Clasping his chest, he was welcomed by Kushimaru's remark. "Let me guess, you took the left route and got stabbed right through the heart by the master?"

Jinpachi growled and dropped onto a grassy spot next to Ao. "Don't test me."

The corners of Kushimaru's lips curled up. "Chill. Who was your assassination target?"

"My brother." Jinpachi said. "I like it. For the first time I actually get to pummel him."

"It's just a genjutsu." Kushimaru hushed him, an effort Jinpachi didn't appreciate.

While the bickering was taking place, Yagura couldn't really wrap his finger around the fact that there was something all of their assassination targets have in common - people they knew. No doubt that the examiners were testing them on the second ninja rule - to not let one's emotion interfere a mission. As real as it may seem, knowing that everything is just an illusion wouldn't make any emotional effect on them.

Half an hour later, the playground was starting to get more occupied with candidates who successfully made it through the first phase. Lucky candidates just appeared from a blur once in a while - another genjutsu transporting skill of the jounin, Ao guessed. Ameyuri came out of a swirling portal like everyone else twenty minutes after Jinpachi did in the same condition - hand clutching her chest - snarling at the boys who got there earlier. But immediately after that, she seemed quickly distracted by her surroundings, like she didn't know where she was.

"How did we get here?" she queried, taking in the sight of nostalgia. Yagura and the other boys wistfully enjoyed the scenery while Ao tirelessly explained to Ameyuri about a certain transportation technique through the genjutsu.

Half an hour later when the clock struck twelve at noon, the examiner gathered them together. At this point there were only fifty six of them left - half of the original number of candidates. Domestic chunin exams usually had only fifty candidates per round, but this time the number doubled. Kushimaru reckoned that it was because war had just erupted and everyone was being rushed by their fellow teachers to take the chunin exam and get shipped away to their own deaths. The way Kushimaru described it seemed like one of his frustrated thoughts.

"Alright!" the jounin roared. "Things will get more complicated from here. The second phase would be a test of individual skills, but instead of facing it alone, you would go by groups, which means it's teamwork. Your group members will be the candidates who were in the same classroom as you previously and had passed the first phase. Your first task now is to find those people and stand with them. Move."

Yagura was immediately jerked back unceremoniously by Ameyuri who was already standing near another two boys he recognised from the classroom. Although he didn't really appreciate the effort, at least he didn't need to squeeze his way through bigger kids to look for his group. Before he could ask if they were all that was left, the spectacled boy said, "Raiga is the only one left. Where is he?"

At this moment, the brawny teen reluctantly dragged his feet to the four of them. Scanning them, he growled. "Great. So my teammates consist of a female, a baby and a thin nerd?"

Before Yagura realised what he was being referred to, Ameyuri exposed her sharp K9 teeth at Raiga. "Do you have a problem with a female?"

"They are weak, indecisive, useless and slow." Raiga said, not one bit bothered by her rage. "But maybe, I can work with you."

"If you can work with me, you can work with them." Ameyuri gestured to the other three boys. "If our teamwork goes haywire, it would be because of your ego."

"What if it's their inability to hold a dagger instead?" Raiga mocked. Yagura could feel the spectacled boy shaking and red with anger already. His aura was a deep shade of red. Rage. Yagura shuffled uncomfortably away from him like he was a time bomb.

"You're gonna make a bad shinobi." Ameyuri snapped but Raiga had a smug on his face. Was he actually enjoying her scoldings?

"Whatever. Just don't expect me to come running to your rescue." he turned on his heels and walked away.

The spectacled boy glared at Raiga and turn back to them."I don't like him."

"Just ignore him, Kai." Ameyuri said. "He's always like that, all high and mighty."

"But he called me a thin nerd! I am a highly efficient-"

"Hey." The other boy tugged him back. "At least you actually got recognized. He basically left me out."

Before they could speak any further, the jounin cut them again. "Stay in your groups and move out. Follow me."

Soon they were exiting the school compound and out onto a deserted pathway. Although Yagura wasn't much bothered by what Raiga had called him, he had much more pressing matters to attend to. "The second phase of the exam is taking place now?"

"Yeah." he heard Jinpachi replied beside him. "Trying the drain us out, basically."

"But I thought lunch break came first."

"Lunch break? In the real shinobi world, there ain't gonna be lunch breaks anywhere." The older genin started to lecture. "In the second phase, it's all about stamina, teamwork, and survival skills. That includes looking for your own lunch."

Yagura looked at him. "How did you know all that?"

He shrugged. "My brother told me."

And suddenly Yagura wished he had a brother.

Yagura looked behind him to see if his teammates were catching up. Raiga was nowhere to be found whilst Kai and the other boy were briefly chatting to kill time as the candidates continued to move forward to an unknown destination. His eyes searched for Ameyuri. Through the gaps of moving bodies, he spotted her all the way behind the group, sniffing at the air while displaying an unpleasant expression. Kushimaru, who was walking beside her, asked her something. Then the both of them stopped. Ameyuri nodded.

Out of curiosity, Yagura squeezed his way through the crowd and move towards his two friends. Once he steered out of the crowd, he called out to his two friends who just stared at him in response.

"What are you guys doing? Why did you stop?"

Kushimaru and Ameyuri exchanged looks. Ameyuri looked as if she was appealing to his authority, to which Kushimaru shrugged. Then she turned to him. "We suspect there might be an invasion going on in Kiri at this moment."

"I was late this morning because some guards were talking about an attack about to take place and were strengthening security, so I stayed back to eavesdrop. I asked Ameyuri to sniff it out." Kushimaru continued.

"And?" Yagura asked. Ameyuri sniffed hard at the air like an experienced bloodhound once more and concluded. "A large group, probably a clan, heading towards Kiri from south. Bloodline users, I suppose."

Yagura was still confused. "How does that bother us? The guards know, so they must have already informed the Mizukage, so won't they handle it?"

"Yeah, but if there is an invasion going on, taken care of or not, shouldn't our exam be dismissed and postponed at this point?" Ameyuri stated, pinching her nose bridge.

"Maybe it's just a small invasion? One that wouldn't disturb our exam?" Yagura suggested hastily, eyeing the spot where their crowd was last seen. The crowd had already walked into the mist and out of their sight. Even though they have Ameyuri who could sniff out directions and people, Yagura was still apprehensive. "We should get going."

"Not yet, Yagura." Kushimaru grabbed his arm. "This is a test. Remember? And you should know by now that Kirigakure is a merciless place where they make kids kill each other, make kids fight in warzones and make kids target distractions just to be killed off to buy comrades time."

Yagura tries to free his arm from his friend's grip. Fear started to creep up on him as Kushimaru locked his eye contact with his. "I... I don't understand."

"Yagura." Ameyuri said as she tapped onto Kushimaru's fingers as a gesture to let his arm free. "I did say they were heading here from south, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, we are heading south."