45 - To The Finals

"Here. Take it or shut up." Itera dumped a handful of berries in front of the group.

Hane was casting a healing jutsu to finish up on healing Haikei. Tsuretsu and Yozora discussed strategy, while Tomo sat around.

"I'm out of chakra suppressing seals," Daremo said, peeling off a seal.

"Trade for fever temperature seals?" the black haired one asked, holding up a fresh chakra suppressing tag. Daremo nodded. "Deal."

Tsuretsu picked up one of the purple berries, sniffing it a bit. "Yep, seems edible. I've seen it in a book. This type of berry looks similar to a poisonous type but the edible type has the scent of wood and a slightly more blue color, while the poisonous type smells like apple and is more pink. When put under sunlight, the color difference is pretty visible."

"As long as it's edible," Tomo muttered.

Once the genin had eaten up, they prepared to head towards the summit of the mountain. Despite the risk, Yozora settled for summoning a few star dragons to carry the two teams' proctors as well as the extra one.

They got there quick enough, dropping off the proctors.

Daremo and Areshiki let them into the next room, the former seeming glad it was over and the latter mumbling about cleaning up all the fake blood. The other proctor sighed, before returning to the mountain.

"You guys can rest up now, you have just less than a day before the finals," Areshiki said, leaving the six genin in what looked like a mash up of a hospital room, a restaurant and a clean living room. A few other genin teams mingled, minding their own business.

"Okay, I can do some healing jutsu on you guys too," Hane offered, turning to Yozora's team.

The purple haired boy glanced at his teammates, who collectively nodded. Tsuretsu gestured to a couch (a couch? Really?) at the side of the room. "Come on, we should relax and prepare for the finals."

As Hane cast some basic healing jutsu on the minor injuries and scrapes on the two teams, Modoru from Kai's team approached them. "So... you guys passed, huh? I'm just here to thank you guys for... is 'helping us' the word? Kai's just like that, don't get too offended."

"Nah, we're fine, thanks though," Tsuretsu replied dismissively. "Are you sure Kai's always like that? She hasn't said anything other than threatening to kill us and yelling lots of profanity."

"If she threatens to kill you, she's being friendly. If she yells at you, she's being friendly," Modoru explained sagely. "If she throws Earth jutsu at you, she's being friendly. You know she hates you if she actually tries to kill you on multiple occasions."

Haikei raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound 'nice.'"

"She's just like that," Modoru repeated. "Well, I gotta go now. Good luck in the finals, though I doubt it'll help you win."

For the night, the two teams rested in small rooms, until the next day when the finals would commence. Yozora's team and Itera's team shared a few sandwiches (the same type as the proctor sandwiches!) for dinner, until the next day.

"Good morning, finals today!" Tsuretsu greeted as the team gathered in the main room again. A proctor was fixing up a screen on the wall.

"Alright," the proctor called the attention of all the genin- only 18 in total- six teams. Yozora's team, Itera's team, Kai's team, the weird Kumo team who tried to steal their proctors, a team from Kirigakure and another Sunagakure team.

"The passers include Yozora Tsuyoku from Konoha, Tsuretsu Kigeki and Tomo Muri from Iwa, Kai, Modoru, Jimen, Katamaru, Sagi and Nokori of Kumo, Itera Yosane, Haikei Yubi, Hane Kakeru and Eto of Suna, and Umiki, Sango and Samehada of Kiri. That's five passing teams, plus Eto who's teammates fell off the mountain."

"Isn't Samehada a sword?" Tomo whispered, earning a shrug from Tsuretsu and Yozora.

"I hate my name," a gray haired boy nearby complained.

"The finals will be held on this mountain, terrain included. Here are the matchups." The proctor stepped aside, gesturing to the now lit screen.

'Yozora Tsuyoku vs Umiki, Haikei Yubi vs Nokori, Jimen vs Sango, Itera Yosane vs Modoru, Kai vs Eto, Tomo Muri vs Sagi, Tsuretsu Kigeki vs Katamaru, Samehada vs Hane'

"Oh..." Yozora blinked in surprise. "I'm fighting first."

Tsurestu glanced across the room, pointing at a girl with braided pale indigo hair, green eyes, a blue-gray battle kimono with wave patterns and bandages on her arms and legs that probably don't do anything because anime characters really like bandages for some reason.

"That's Umiki. Kirigakure. Strengths: speedy taijutsu and an analytical mind. Weaknesses: tendency to overthink, reliant on her teammates to distract while attacking, and a lack of ranged attacks. You'll be fine if you hop on one of your birds and stay out of range."

"Thanks for the tips," Yozora replied with a confident nod.

"Tsuretsu, what about my opponent?" Tomo asked, looking around in confusion.

"Sagi, that's the blonde girl who tried to steal our proctors," Tsuretsu replied, pointing at a blonde girl with green eyes, wearing a weird mix of armor and a dress colored dark turquoise. "Strengths: lightning and wind style jutsu and ranged combat. Weaknesses: hates getting dirty, overall weak physically. Since you're good at general fighting, you totally got this."

Tomo blinked, probably not understanding half of what his teammate just said. "Uh... thanks?"

Tsuretsu was on a roll now, analyzing every opponent.

"Haikei's opponent, Nokori." She pointed at the airy looking black haired boy, who wore dark purple robes that don't look too battle-ready. "Strengths: genjutsu. Weaknesses: slow and weak physically."

Nobody really questioned why she knew. Tsuretsu was a geek.

"Itera's opponent, Modoru." The bespectacled black haired boy gave them a brief glance. "Strengths: chakra thread-based physical combat. Weaknesses: long range. Itera can totally just snipe him with an explosive arrow or two."

"Kai's opponent is Eto." The brown haired boy sat in the corner, looking glum at his teammates having gotten thrown off the mountain. "Considering his name means 'um,' I doubt he can do much. Never really heard of him."

"Hane's opponent, Samehada, not to be confused with the sword. Strengths: moose summoning contract. I dunno where he got moose in Kirigakure. Weaknesses: getting confused with the sword, direct combat."

"Th-that's enough, it's starting," Hane called, waving at them from the other side of the room where everyone was crowding out of the room.

Tsuretsu halted, blinking sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, come on!"