The metallic door behind the group shut and locked swiftly, a monitor displaying fifty hours was in their sights on the wall. A tiled room with no windows, soft carpeting, and legless-floor chairs around the sides of the room, with a table in the middle, a fridge next to the door a large bookshelf stacked, a television set, and a nightstand with a lamp.
'Least they thought to keep us occupied.'
Gon and Killua were already scouting the room for entertainment, Kurapika took to the bookshelf and Leorio rested on one of the chairs. There was not much of anything else they could do at this point but allow themselves to rest because there was an unspoken certainty that there wouldn't be a moment to spare when they came out of that room.
It could be considered astounding how much time had gone by in near-complete silence. Three hours and thirty minutes, the timer on the wall showed. Everyone seemingly settled, Killua was attempting to teach Gon how to use a skateboard, Leorio was lazing around and Kurapika was trying to read his time away with the material provided. Sakura was doing the same, only her focus was taken by one book.
The experience was something similar to reading a journal with far more accuracy on display. Even the feelings portrayed were revealed without her having to verify them. It truly was as if she had become a character in this story.
'I wonder what that means for everyone else and the rest of this story,' Sakura extended her legs across the chair, having sat cross-legged a little too long for her liking. She stretched out her arms before returning to her place in the book. She was just at the moment when they had entered the room for their penalty.
That's when she saw it.
Last x Test of x Resolve
During the Exam's Third Phase, which requires applicants to reach Trick Tower's base within seventy-two hours. Gon and his friends have incurred a fifty-hour penalty.
With Forty-seven hours and thirty-five minutes left for the group to wait. Killua was attempting to teach Gon how to use a skateboard. Killua handed the skateboard to Gon after flipping it into the air and catching it single-handed, warning Gon not to hesitate on his step.
Leorio looked at Kurapika, a somewhat hesitant smile on his face as he inquired about the time limit they were all going to have to get through the tower before stating that less than ten hours was going to be more than enough time to make it through. However, Tonpa who had been silent up until this point scoffed at the notion.
'Wait Tonpa?' Sakura frowned. So he was supposed to be the one that the other four were meant to be traveling through this tower with, but instead, Sakura had been with them during this time.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, holding her hand over her mouth, 'This proves it.'
It was clear now that Sakura would be able to read into the future of the chapters set like she had assumed, so long as she had some sort of reprieve of time before the next chapter was set to take place.
'If I can do this then….'
Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at the ink-spilled pages once again, the words began to morph again, this time changing to implement her.
'What's happening?!' Sakura looked at the time in the room and realized that it had come to the hours mentioned in the book. So she was now in the present of what was the future in the chapter. When attempting to read further, the pages remained black. Sakura closed the book.
'So, as long as I'm directly involved, I won't know the future of the story because I'm living it,' Sakura sighed before she started looking around the room. She watched Killua jump off his skateboard, flipping it into the air and catching it, then handing it to Gon.
"If you hesitate on the first step, you'll hurt yourself," he warned.
"Got it,"
Sakura then turned to Leorio and Kurapika on the other side of the room.
"Hey, Kurapika. Once we've spent fifty hours here, we'll have fewer than ten hours right?"
Kurapika faced Leorio, hand on his hip. "Yes, that's correct."
Leorio's nervous grin widened, "That's way more than enough time!"
"Well, our chances of reaching the goal within ten hours will depend on the remaining trials,"
Leorio's shoulder slackened, his gaze turning downward, "Yeah, that's true.'
'So….' Sakura looked at the cover of the book in her hands, 'They're all still on a set course, like a pattern, but if there is some sort of interference with the pattern…like me….'
"Don't dwell on it too much Leorio," Sakura told him, getting his attention quickly, as well as Kurapika's. "We're just going to have to be quick once that door opens again. It's not going to do any good to feel guilty. That kind of weight will just slow you down and like I said, we're going to have to move fast. So cheer up okay? We're all in this together,"
Leorio smiled after a moment's pause, "Yeah. Thanks, Sakura,"
The comfortable silence was interrupted when Sakura yelped, ducking her head down on the table feeling a slight breeze passing along with the solid object that had caused it, then a loud noise and Leorio screaming as Killua's skateboard flew past them. Sakura jumped up and glared at the two boys.
"Are you crazy!?"
"Sorry," Gon rubbed the back of his head, chuckling dryly.
"Don't skateboard in such a tiny room!" Leorio exclaimed.
The boys just looked sheepishly at the two.
Exhaling, Sakura sat back down, her cheeks puffed out to prevent smiling, "Honestly you two….Let's do something that won't end up taking our heads off."
Killua shrugged, "Fine, what do you suggest?"
Sakura tapped her chin in thought, "I wonder….
Gon threw up his hand, "How about we play Rock-Paper Scissors?!"
Leorio grimaced, while everyone else held back their laughter.
"No way let's just watch a movie," Leorio said going over to the screen to search for something.
..
..
As the hours passed slowly, everyone had eventually grown tired of staring at the timer and attempted to catch some sleep. Leorio lay across the legless sofa cocooned in a blanket, Sakura used the bottom of the chair as a cushion but slept on the carpet, and Kurapika was doing the same on the other side of the room, a growing stack of books on his sides. Killua and Gon shared a sofa with cushions distance between them. After ten hours had passed, some of them started to rouse.
When Sakura woke all she heard was laughter and a patterned thudding, rubbing her eyes as she sat up right across from her Gon and Killua were wide awake tossing a pillow between each other. Kurapika and Leorio both seemed to still be asleep.
The pink-haired girl frowned, ready to reprimand them. "Gon-Killua, you two keep it down! We're still trying to sleep-ACK"
A soft material hit Sakura's face hard and she found herself nearly falling on her back, everything was silent again as the pillow slid down her face. Her nose was slightly red.
Killua stuck out his tongue, with a mocking gleam in his eyes. "Sorry, my hand slipped."
With shoulder trembling, Sakura grabbed the pillow in her lap and in one step jumped between Gon and Killua before attacking them with the pillow. "Let's see how you like it!"
Gon laughed as he was knocked back by the pillow, "You hit hard!"
"You're lucky I'm using a pillow!" retorted Sakura, raising her hand into the air with the pillow only to fall nearly right on top of Gon when Killua jumped on her from behind, causing the three to tumble on the floor as they quickly attempted to regain their footing. Though this was quickly becoming more of a game than anything else for them.
There was a heavy thud before the noise grew with the new voice added.
Gon and Killua laughed as Sakura smacked them on their heads with the cotton-stuffed fabric, and soon she was joining in as they managed to get a hold of their pillows to counter her attacks.
Leorio tossed on his side, calling out. "You three pipe down! Let me sleep some more."
The three stopped to look at Leorio and then heard him grumble a little too loud.
"Sakura, you might not look it but at least act your age,"
With a juvenile glimmer in her eyes, Sakura raised her arm with the pillow, holding a blank expression on her face as she tossed it at Leorio. Hitting him right in his face and hard enough to make him gasp and fully awaken. He jumped up, his face was slightly red from the throw.
"Don't mock my appearance old man," Sakura stuck out her tongue.
"HEY SAKURA WHAT WAS THAT-ACK!"
He was cut off when Sakura threw another pillow his way, hitting him hard enough to make him fall back. Sakura, Killua, and Gon broke out into a fit of laughter. Kurapika's shoulders shook as he gave a closed-mouth smile listening to them. Leorio grumbled sitting up again before grabbing the two pillows and running over to them.
"That's it now you're going to get it!"
Gon, Killua, and Sakura scattered around the room, laughing as Leorio chased them around, throwing the pillows about trying to hit each other. Leorio was adamant about finding a way to hit each of them, but they continued to dart around the room.
"Get back here right now!"
"Make us old man!" Killua mocked.
"You little!"
Kurapika sat up, very much awake now, watching the four run around the room chasing one another. He just smiled while shaking his head. He realized that this was starting to get out of hand as neither seemed close to a respite.
"Don't you all think this is going a little overboard?" Kurapika called, but his words were hardly heeded and he realized that all it did was draw a target on him when a pillow flew in his direction and hit him. The force was strong enough to knock him on his back.
"Oops," he heard a voice that was undoubtedly Sakura mockingly call. Oh, are you mad? I'm sorry, I don't know why I somehow expected you to be able to dodge such a slow throw."
Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika attempted to stifle their laughter watching Kurapika as he stood up with the pillow clutched in one hand; Sakura holding her hands on her hips confidently waiting for him to make a move.
"Do you think he's going to do it?" Leorio whispered.
"Those who react to puerile actions, lack restraint and discipline. Remember that." Kurapika stated calmly.
Sakura's raised her eyebrow "And those whose reflex rivals a toddler have no right to preach about the puerility of others."
Kurapika quickly snapped, what Sakura figured during his match was, however calm and collected he appeared, he had a short fuse and Sakura just lit it.
With his face turning red, Kurapika grabbed the pillow and tossed it back to Sakura, but she ducked which resulted in Leorio getting hit instead and retaliating. The room filled with laughter and raves.
Needless to say, no one was able to go back to sleep after that.
..
..
Sakura and her comrades were chipping at the time with leisurely activities such as napping, reading, and watching TV as well as the occasional unconventional prank influenced by all the free time they had. Which included Gon teaching Killua how to use a fishing pole and Killua hooking Leorio's pants and nearly yanking them off just for laughs.
lunch arrived through a slot that came straight from the wall with five trays in a shelf-life form.
"Come on Sakura," Gon called after grabbing his tray and sitting at the 'L' shaped table with everyone else. It seemed that no one was touching their food yet and waiting for her to join them.
Smiling slightly, she stood up. "Yeah, yeah,"
..
..
Sakura was looking at Gon and Killua on the other side of the room. They were still doing their hand-stand pushups. "You two do know eventually all your blood will rush to your brains right?"
Killua and Gon were still keeping pace with each other, despite the pinkettes warning, their bodies straight with their feet in the air and their hands keeping them up, they would push down together bending their elbows before straightening again.
"I use to do training way worse than this," Killua boasted, "I can keep going for two more hours."
"Me too!" Gon exclaimed.
"Let's see who can do more push-up's the longest."
"Okay!"
Sakura rolled her eyes before standing up and walking over to the boys, with her index fingers she gave both a small push causing them to lose their balance and fall on their backs.
"Ah no!"
Killua slammed his fist on the couch, "Hey!"
Laughing, Sakura clapped her hands, "It's a tie-you both lose!"
Leorio and Kurapika turned their heads to hide their grins, but their wracking shoulders gave them away.
"Let's do something else," Sakura said, shifting to sit cross-legged in front of the boys.
"Like what?"
Sakura paused, tapping her chin, then snapped her fingers when a thought occurred to her. "Ninja!"
Gon and Killua looked at her oddly, "Ninja?"
"Yes, it's a game that tests your reflexes." Sakura stood up and turned to the other two teens, "Leorio, Kurapika, come play with us."
Leorio pulled a face, "I don't know isn't this kid's stuff?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure you're not an old man?"
Leorio stood up grumbling and went to join in the circle Sakura, Gon, and Killua had made, then they all turned to Kurapika who had been innocently standing by reading.
"I'm not much for games," Kurapika stated.
"It tests your reflexes," Sakura told him, "Let's face it-you could use the practice."
Sakura grinned when she saw Kurapika's eyebrow twitch with irritation and he stood up.
Everyone waited for Sakura to explain what they would be doing and it was also going to be deciphering whether or not they were going to be playing.
Ninja was the name of a game played with four or more people swiping at each other's hands to eliminate them. Moving clockwise in turns, players strike a pose in one swift movement and slap the hand of the person next to them to get them out.
"So, we start like this," Sakura started, holding her hands in front of her, her fists closed and over each other. "Then we place our hands together after we count down from three and say, ninja, you can take any position you want to hit your opponent and player one has the first strike and you only get one strike. Turns are taken in a counter-clock motion from then on. While it's your turn, either attack or reposition-but you can't reposition two turns in a row or you're slapped in the head. Everyone with me so far."
"I suppose so…." Kurapika trailed.
"Yeah," Leorio nodded.
When Sakura looked at Gon and Killua they both appeared to have steam coming out of their ears, so she quickly summarized the rules in a short and simple list. Being used to doing this sort of thing for Naruto who also didn't enjoy long-winded explanations. Sakura told them they could only move if attacked or if it was their turn and after attacking or dodging they must freeze, and only hitting the hand counted as an 'out', not the wrist, arm, or shoulder.
"Okay, you guys ready?" Sakura asked and after they all confirmed the game started.
"One," Killua counted.
"Two," Leorio continued.
"Three," Gon looked to Sakura,
"Ninja,"
Sakura moved her hand out of Gon's reach in time, without taking a step before swiping out at Killua who ducked his hand away in time before he turned to Kurapika, who managed to avoid his attack using their height difference and reach to his advantage before going for Leorio who also barely avoided Kurapika and almost tripped out his feet because he had to side step.
"I get it now!" Gon exclaimed, before looking again to Sakura, whose hand was in his sight. He moved to slap it but Sakura quickly stepped to turn and face her body to the next person.
"Nice try Gon," Sakura said sticking out her tongue.
"This might kill time," Killua smirked. This was a game that could show off skill and he liked the idea of that.
The game did turn out to be one based on reflex and agility, but with the training background almost everyone in the room had, the game lasted longer than expected. After the fifth try, Leorio was knocked out, and after a few more, Sakura managed to hit Kurapika out but Gon, Killua, and Sakura had lasted longer than anticipated and the first game had taken nearly a full half an hour.
Of course, no one had taken into account the one thing they all had in common, which was their competitive nature and stubbornness, which just made for long rounds. From time to time there were accidental hits, which included one slap by Killua to Sakura's chest (which earned him a slap on the back of the head), three slaps to Leorio's forehead by Gon and Sakura, one to Kurapika's nose, and one fall when Gon toppled over Killua in an attempt to jump out of the way and crashing into him. After five more rounds and two more hours, everyone had grown tired and decided to move back, except for Gon and Killua who wanted to keep playing.
Sakura chuckled as she turned away from the boys who were swiping their arms at each other and back to the bookshelf, Kurapika stood next to her. "They look like they're having fun."
"It seems so," Kurapika murmured scrolling through the books. "I haven't heard of that game before. Did you come up with it yourself?"
Sakura shook her head. It was a popular game at the academy, she and her classmates use to play it a lot. It was a training exercise as well to improve their reflexes and agility. "It was popular where I come from."
Kurapika paused, he was about to ask her where exactly it was she came from, but then realized that the chances of asking being a mistake and undoing their comradery were high. "I see."
"Did you enjoy the game?" Sakura asked, partially ignoring the titles of the book and waiting for Kurapika to answer.
The Kurta seemed to be ignoring her when he didn't respond for more than fifteen seconds, but when Sakura was just about to walk away he responded "I suppose so,"
Sakura smiled then, "I'm glad,"
Sakura was beginning to feel a little less clasped, with the knowledge that she did not have to look over her shoulder at the people she was constantly present with. She realized that Gon and Killua wouldn't question her abilities with suspicion so much as curiosity and she felt better knowing that Kurapika wouldn't either and Leorio didn't seem to be anything but stunned by what she had revealed by far.
..
..
After trying not to count the hours, it was finally time for them to return to the exam. So impatient that they waited in front of the door for nearly the last half hour just staring at it. Willing for the door to pen.
And when it did, Gon was the first to run out.
"Hey, Gon wait for us!"
..
..
Thirty minutes of running and the result was a disappointing reroute back to where they started in the arena area. They had been tossed into a maze with a lot of twists and turns and as usual majority rules were absolute, but it seemed that their intuition was lagging greatly. Sakura looked at the blank pages of her book and pouted.
'Wish it came with a map,'
"We should have taken those stairs," Killua deadpanned.
"Shut up! We all agreed on this route!" Leorio yelled at him.
Sakura held up her hands, "Calm down, we'll just go down the stairs next time."
To argue was to lose time and Sakura was trying her best to act as the mediator and prevent this but even amongst close friends, tensions were inevitable when it came to situations like this when the time was of the essence. Sakura herself was beginning to feel that tension and wondered just how much of an impact she was going to have in this particular chapter as they attempted to make their way to the bottom of the tower.
The issue now came in with the majority rule as it was difficult to debate and properly discuss which path they would agree to take without wasting time, and usually when it turned out to be a bad decision, it was obvious that frustrations were increasing.
Already the five nearly ended up falling off a railway in a cart because they took the 'O' track instead of 'X'. The traps didn't stop there, they had to follow along a collapsing floor to get to a door a quiz fitted with electric shocks on a mined life-sized backgammon board, and even outrun a giant boulder, a common classic, and many more traps.
..
..
By the time they came to the next door down a brick hallway, there was little more than an hour remaining and a single door in front of them, and they were unable to go back the way they came because a giant boulder was now blocking the turn-off to the next hallway. They needed to vote on whether or not to open the door and the choice was obvious. Although the result surprised them when it came out, four 'O's' and one 'X'
"What the heck!?" Leorio exclaimed, "Who pressed X?"
Gon chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry, Leorio that was me. I accidentally pressed X"
"Be more careful Gon," He said.
"Let's just move on," Sakura said.
Sakura opened the door and stepped in, everyone followed in shortly after and took in the interior of the room in complete awe.
A churning feeling entered Sakura's gut as she looked around the tiled room. There was a neat lineup of casings hanging on the wall with a variety of weapons, ranging from swords to spears, axes, machetes, and even kunai, shuriken, and throwing stars. Then on another side, there were two pairs of shackles hanging on the wall.
'I don't like this,'
On the opposite side of the door, there was a statue of a woman from her torso with spikes coming out of her arms and head, beside either arm that hung above were two doors, one marked 'X' and the other 'O' in red paint. There was also a message plastered between them.
"This will be the last decision made by majority rule. Are you ready? Choose 'X' or 'O'."
Everyone hit the buttons on their watches simultaneously, getting a perfect choice of 'O'. The red dot on the statue's forehead became brighter and they heard their examiner's voice project around the room.
"Please select a path. There are two choices. One allows all five to pass but is long and difficult. The other path allows only three, but is short and easy."
The blanket of tension was suffocating, everyone felt themselves grow stiff under its crushing influence. Their breathing became softer and shallow as they tried to keep their eyes from prying on the others.
"Incidentally, the long and difficult path requires a minimum of forty-five hours. The short and easy path leads to the goal in approximately three minutes. Press O for the long and difficult path, and X for the short and easy path. If X is selected, two people must be secured to the wall with handcuffs before the door will open."
Sakura glanced back at the side of the wall where the shackles hung, her forehead beginning to sweat in anticipation.
"Two chained members will be unable to move until the time limit expires."
Killua observed the room more closely as it became evident what the weapons were for. "The examiner certainly came prepared huh? I think they have every weapon under the sun here."
"So now what?" asked Kurapika, "We're supposed to fight to decide the three that pass?"
Leorio stared at the two doors, "Let me make this clear. I'm going to press X. But I have no intention of staying behind. I'll do whatever it takes to be one of the three."
"So what? You're going to fight?" Killua asked casually.
"If I have to,"
Sakura bit on her bottom lip. There was no way they would make it through the long and difficult path and at the same time, she didn't think it was right that two of them had to stay behind just so that three could pass.
'Do we have to fight each other? Is this how the book goes as well? Two of them stay behind?'
She was completely against the idea but that was only because she had been in a similar predicament like this before.
When she had become a genin and her first assignment with her teammates was to get the bells from their sensei, but the catch was that there were only two bells and three of them. They were given the impression that one of them would be sent back to the academy if they failed to get a bell. But during that trial, they had been taught a very important lesson.
With determination burning inside, Sakura spoke calmly. "Well, I'm going to press O."
Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio looked at Sakura shocked, but Gon nodded with the same determined gleam on his face. "So am I."
"Hey you two, we can't do that!" Killua said.
"We have less than an hour to get through the tower. We can't take that path." Kurapika stated.
Sakura frowned, "I don't care! I'm not going to choose X,"
"We made it this far by working together. I want us to pass together." Gon told them. "Even if it's a big risk. I want to give it a shot."
Killua held out his watch, showing the remaining time, "With less than an hour, there's no way we're going to make it. There's only one choice if you want to pass this exam."
Leorio looked at the two who had gone silent, "There you have it,"
"Now, we have to decide how to choose which three passes," Killua said, blinking softly. "Well, I'm planning on the three being you, me, and Sakura."
The air grew harder to inhale as everyone stood still in their position in the circle the five had formed.
"Hey, I said I'm not going to be left behind," Leorio said.
"Don't you think you should consider the fact that you're the reason we lost all those hours?" Killua pointed out and then looked at Kurapika who seemed to be silently contemplating. "Or the fact that you couldn't finish your match because of your doctrine?"
"Fine then," Kurapika threw his back off. "If we fight, then let's set some rules for the match so that this doesn't get out of hand…"
"Fine by me," said Leorio
"Me too." Killua shrugged.
"Hey…" Gon held up his hands, looking worriedly between them.
"Don't do this," Sakura said, her grip tightening around her as she held her arms crossed against her chest. But the three chose to ignore Sakura and Gon's pleas. They were fully intent on fighting one another, so long as it meant they had a chance at passing.
"Since we're pressed for time. We'll go with a simple one hit system-just like when we played Ninja." Kurapika said. "If you're first or second to get hit by someone-it doesn't matter who. Then you're one of the two that has to stay behind."
"Guys…." Gon trailed.
"Don't be stupid, are you three going to do this?" Sakura asked in disbelief. It wouldn't matter if she and Gon pressed O if the others were going to go with X.
"Gon, Sakura. This is the only way." Killua told him. "You're both outvoted in this case."
"Alright," Leorio went to get a spear hanging on one of the stands. Killua raised his hand, allowing his nails to grow into sharp pointed claws. Kurapika got out his wooden swords as well.
"On three…." Kurapika trailed. "One…"
Sakura's fists clenched at her side.
"Two…" Killua held up his hand.
Leorio swallowed before voicing, leaning down slightly to get ready to spring forward "Three!
They never reached each other.
All Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua felt was something swiping across their cheek, but the impact was so powerful that they were each sent into three corners of the room, barely missing the walls. Gon watched with unblinking eyes as Sakura stood in the middle of the room, holding the spear Leorio had taken in one hand and the double swords Kurapika used in the other.
Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika picked themselves up from the ground, facing the kunoichi.
"What the hell Sakura!?" Leorio exclaimed.
Killua touched his cheek, he felt the throbbing but he didn't react to the pain, although he was thoroughly annoyed. "What was that for?"
Kurapika silently stared as she opened her mouth, speaking in an eerily calm tone. Although dark waves were rolling off of her. "Listen here; if either of you takes another step to attempt to attack each other, or me I won't hold back."
"You can't be serious," Killua frowned, taking a step forward. "If we don't do this, then we're all going to fail!"
"SO WHAT?"
The outburst made everyone take a step back, as they felt a shift in the air again. "Those who abandon their mission are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum" Furiously, Sakura raised the spear and slammed it into the ground, cracking the tiles. Her grip on the handle was so hard that the wood had broken in two.
Gon narrowed his eyes on the spear sticking in the tiled ground, but everyone else was preoccupied with the person who put it there.
"You idiots honestly want to become hunters like this? By abandoning your friends? Don't you think that we can make our way out of here together? It's one thing to fight each other, but abandoning is a completely different matter!" Sakura hissed, "What happened to 'there's always next year?' There will always be another chance, but if you think it's worth destroying the bonds you've made…..then you'll have to get through me. And trust me," Sakura's sharpened glare seemed to pierce through Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua. "You're going to regret trying."
Again, complete silence filled the room, no one knew what to say after Sakura's declaration. All of them had felt something stirring inside of them when they looked at the pink-haired girl. Her eyes were glaring strongly but there was a familiarity that shone in them as if she had been placed in a situation like this before. It was obvious she was adamant about not letting them fight but they knew that with the time they had spent in this room now.
'I won't let them do it,' Sakura knew that her actions were irrational. She could have easily knocked two of them out and left, allowing the story to continue, but she just couldn't do that. This idea of abandoning her friends, caused a searing pain to spread throughout her entire body. She didn't want the four to shred their bonds after everything they had gone through.
She just wished there was a solution to this.
Gon suddenly started walking towards Sakura, she watched him silently as he stood in front of her. Though she gasped and took a step back at his next statement.
"Sakura, we're all not going to fail."
She frowned, "What do you mean Gon?"
Looking back at the spear, he pointed, "I have an idea…We're going to get to the base of the tower. All five of us together."
"Now what are you saying Gon?" Killua asked
"If you all trust me and press O, I'll tell you." Gon said, "It'll be okay, I promise!"
The room was silent.
..
..
Sakura stared wide-eyed looking at the scene in front of her. Her hands were tightly held at her sides. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio standing at the start of the long and difficult path's hallway, but they weren't advancing. Instead, the four were standing on the inside, with weapons in hand trying to break through the wall separating the X and O path from each other.
She had been so stunned by Gon's plan to break through the wall using the weapons, that for the last five minutes she hadn't moved. She was amazed; that Gon had come up with an idea like this right on the spot when things seemed impossible. While Sakura was strongly focused on ensuring that no one would be left behind, she had all but given up and admitted that even she had been narrow-minded in terms of this test, not nearly as creative as Gon.
'He's thought around our restrictions,' Sakura smiled, 'Wish Naruto could meet him,'
"Hey Sakura if you're done crying, we could use some help over here!" Killua called out before dealing another blow to the wall. The stone was dense and thick, so they were going to have to put all their strength in to break through if they wanted to make it down the tower in time.
"I wasn't crying!"
"Yeah, yeah, come help!" Killua called, that was the partial reason they were doing this in the first place; as well as their faith in Gon. By far each has had an experience that gave them a reason to trust the wide-eyed boy. There was no reason not to trust his judgment.
With a thorough stride, Sakura stepped into the hallway, watching for a moment more at everyone swinging the axes at the wall, stones crumbling at their feet.
"Everyone, get out of the way."
The four stopped to look back at her with questioning expressions, she didn't even have any weapons on her to chop through the wall.
"What are you planning Sakura?" asked Leorio. "You need a weapon to help break through this wall. Come on you were the one saying we needed to get out of here together. So let's work together to break down this wall."
"Gon's got the right idea, but we're going to have to speed this up." Sakura cracked her knuckles on each hand as she spoke.
Killua tilted his head curiously, "What are you thinking exactly?"
"Just trust me and stand back."
Everyone cleared out of the way as the pinkette requested. Sakura stepped forward and did a quick scan of the wall, before drawing back her fist, feeling the warmth of her chakra pouring in and concentrating it, she spread her feet further apart and pulled back her arm.
Kurapika frowned, recognizing her stance, "Sakura, you're not going to try and-
"CHA!"
She threw her fists forward, hitting the wall in an undamaged part but it did not remain that way for long. Cracks formed and started to spread out like spider webs all along the wall, and the sound of breaking stones ran through all of them.
Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika's jaws dropped as they watched the wall in front of them crumble as easily as glass under the girl's punch, spreading around the opening they had managed to make with their weapons and starting to open right up. They could still feel the vibrations running through them from the impact.
Sakura exhaled softly, looking at the opening she had created on the other path. The hole was a little bigger than she intended but they would all be able to go through it. And with time to spare.
"Whoa…." Killua whistled.
"D-Did, she just….?" Leorio trailed in disbelief.
Gon nodded "Yeah…"
Kurapika just stared silently with wide eyes. 'To have accomplished this kind of strength…'
Sakura turned back to the gaping males and smirked, putting her hands behind her back and cutely leaning to the side. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
..
..
When the examiner Lippo told them that the short and easy path would only take them three minutes to get down, no one had taken into account how that was possible when the long and difficult path would have taken over forty hours. Turns out that at the end of the dark hallway on the short and easy path, there was a giant slide that took them straight down to the bottom of the tower. No one had expected it, so for the first few seconds, everyone had been rolling around and bumping into each other until they finally managed to get themselves upright and slide down the rest of the way properly. But with the momentum, they all still ended up falling on top of one another at the end of their ride.
"Okay," Sakura groaned, near the bottom of the pile "Whoever's hand that is I'm feeling, better remove it before I break it."
"Sorry, Sakura!" Gon exclaimed and Sakura felt the hand move away. After what he saw, he was sure she could break his hand.
"And how about you get off of me, you're not as light as you look!" Killua exclaimed, wanting to push Sakura, except he would be in a similar predicament to Gon if he did; considering where he was positioned.
"Okay, whose foot is trying to dig out my spleen!?" Leorio called at the bottom of the pile-up.
"The same person who wants you to get your foot away from their face!" Kurapika called back attempting to untangle himself from the group.
Sakura cringed again, "Gon, I thought I told you not to put your hand there!"
"It's not me!" The dark-haired boy replied.
She heard an awkward cough and the small weight lifted again, "My apologies," Kurapika said.
Eventually, the five managed to come untangled from their difficult positions and distanced themselves a little after their unexpected previous proximity.
"Well, that was unexpected," Kurapika sighed, getting up and dusting himself off.
"Ah, my butt hurts," Killua complained, rubbing his back. "Didn't expect a slide,"
"You're telling me," Leorio grumbled, standing up and looking around for his case before finding it with everything tossed out.
"Look!" Gon pointed to the end of the hallway, where a lightly lit stone door was visible. "That must be the exit!"
Gon, Killua, and Kurapika ran ahead, while Sakura stayed behind with Leorio to help him quickly gather up the belongings he had dropped. Then they too made their way to the exit. There was a plain circular room with multiple closed doors around it. Several other exam applicants were standing or sitting by them, a few observing the group as they made their way out. Sakura did a glance around at the other applicants that had made it out, especially noticing Hisoka, the two applicants Sakura had knocked out on the airship, and a few of the other applicants Tonpa had told her about (she also noticed that he wasn't present)
'I guess that means he didn't make it through,' Sakura wondered what this would mean for the story considering Tonpa was supposed to get through this round.
"Kurapika, applicant #404, is the twenty-second to pass." A voice echoed around the room.
"Gon, applicant #405 is the twenty-fourth to pass."
"Killua, applicant #99, is the twenty-fifth to pass."
"Leorio, applicant #403 is the twenty-sixth to pass."
"Sakura, applicant #402 is the twenty-seventh to pass."
Leorio grinned, feeling as if a weight had lifted once he came through those doors. "Well, we all had a lot of problems but we managed to clear the tower. All thanks to Gon and Sakura,"
Gon and Sakura laughed bashfully, "Well I think Sakura helped us more than anything; I only realized we could cut through the walls using the weapons-but she's the one who got us through it."
Sakura shook her head, "Honestly Gon, I don't think I would've been that clever. If it wasn't for your idea, we might have all ended up failing because of me. I was too stuck on the rules, I didn't think to find a way to bend them,"
"No, Sakura." Kurapika said, "You were right to stop us, if you didn't we might have ended up doing something we would regret."
"Yeah, thanks for knocking some sense into us and breaking down the wall!" Leorio laughed ruffling the pinkettes hair.
Sakura snickered, "I hope you'll all remember this the next time you want to call me my age,"
The five broke out laughing, oblivious to the eyes that had fallen on them when they made their appearance.
'I'm so glad,' Sakura thought, looking around at the snickering males. 'I was able to do something like this, for them.'
Time went quickly in the remaining minutes left when the time had ended officially twenty-six applicants had made it through the tower. The doors then opened to the outside, sunlight hitting all of them for what seemed to be too long. And while this was usually a sign of good fortune, the fact remained that the Hunter Exam was far from over and that this budding comradery was about to face a great storm in brutal individual battles.
That's all for now but you know the drill, there is a schedule and can keep up with me on Tumblr, and my other social platforms which I hope to get more invested into in the future. But I'll let you know more on that when the time comes.
Schedule:
For members now:
-Kunochi amongst Heroes chapter 37 & 38
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter 5 & 6
Publich update December 30
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter 37
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter 5
Members update 30 December 15, 2022
-Kunoichi aomngst Pirates chapter 6& 7