Chuunin Exam Awards Ceremony

The Chuunin Exams had certainly been eventful. Days of triumph melded with days of gloom. Victories were claimed and losses suffered. The beginnings of legends forged, or even the origins of a Kage. Konohagakure had been teeming with visitors during these exams, life bustling throughout the busy streets with trinkets representing their home villages and their affiliations for the exams. Civilisation at its finest. Inside the stadium was no different to the outside aside from the congregation of powerful figures. The kage or their representatives were now positioned where they needed to be with three podiums erected in the center of the stage that had once been an arena in the classic gold, silver, and bronze lineup.

Kirigakure had once again claimed the prestige of a Mist-only finale, the male in first place having even managed the same feat in the last exam. Hayate Seiteki. A name he'd have to remember. Xyxer stood with his hands lightly clasped before him alongside the other leaders or their representatives, roughly 10 meters before the podiums. The audience in the stands called out the names of the victors to be remembered in time as the winners of a new tradition. Xyxer was silent, awaiting the arrival of Hayate, Nero, and Masashi to take their rightful places on the podiums that elevated higher from 3rd to 1st place.

[Feel free to make an observation topic if you didn't get 1st-3rd place to be involved in this one]

"A ceremony? Don't mind if I do.".

When Nero answered the courier, he thought it was an exaggeration, something optional, maybe even a joke. What he expected certainly wasn't... This. After waiting for Hayate to go first, he stepped towards the podiums, his eyes fixated on the one clearly made for the second place. This was almost worse than losing altogether. To be presented in front of the multi-national crowd, as a loser. The runner-up. His expression, fortunately, wouldn't give anything away, as he took his place on his place, the "pedestal".

It would have felt undeserved if Nero indeed thought this was a positive thing. The height of his stand, as opposed to Hayate's, begged to differ. Nero, on his spot, looked down at his feet. It seemed that the judgement has been made. Hayate was a better ninja exactly by 18 inches. Give or take the length of his... Character. Dagger. Development. Head. Nero looked up to Hayate. Surely that would have been easy enough. The Yuki then turned his gaze to the Mizukage and waited.

Fittingly, the ceremony was to take place in the same arena where they had spilt their blood and sweat. It was a grander affair than last time, even accounting for Hayate's perspective as a participant instead of a sideliner. But this time there were all the villages present and even several Kage's, not just a Kiri and vassal affair, so at least a little pomp and circumstance was to be expected

His right hand unconsciously and idly shifted to rub the bandages around his left wrist, which extended over his entire left hand. He had been banged up pretty bad last time too, and not just physically, but mentally as well. He spared a glance at Nero. He hoped Nero didn't bear him any ill will. Hayate had gone a bid hard in the finals, but only to showcase for Kiri, not out of any spite for the boy. But last time things had gotten weird with Asami.... which was just before he came to meet nero, come to thing of it. And all Hayate knew was that he and nero thought completely differently, so trying to predict him was a fools errand.

Hayate shook of the thoughts as the organizer ran through everything with them one last time, releasing his other hand and preparing to head out. Dressed in his freshly cleaned and meticulously pressed Kiri gear, minus the facemask and heavy armor, he and the group made their way out in front of the Kage in order and took their places on the appropriate steps.

It felt odd, being at the top, with all the faces looking at him. He didn't particularly like it, and wished it would be over soon. Hayate stopped scanning the crowd and focused on the esteemed figures in front of him. Hopefully he wouldn't have to bear this for long.

The final fight in the Chuunin exams were over and the top three Genin had been decided. It was all worth it in the end. Masashi had managed to finish third overall, so he made his way to the middle of the arena once more to collect his award. The other two shinobi had already taken their place, so Masashi would do the same, making his way onto the 3rd place spot. A man was standing to one side of the podium. Masashi could hazard a few guesses, but would simply wait until the man introduced himself. He expected that since the top three were here, the ceremony would begin soon.

'Third place, huh?' The Power of Hoshigakure would think to herself, as the winners made their way to their position. Perhaps the Deputy Kage should of been disappointed by the fact that her village only placed second overall among the villages in the first joint chunin exams. That being said seeing how only one shinobi of Hoshi was able to enter this exam, Hikari felt very proud of how well her village did.

The Nova captain would take her place at her designated location with the rest of the village leaders wearing her formal attire. As the woman waited, the Lady of Light would sense a dark chakra presence in the stadium, could it be that a Jinchuriki was in the stadium? Well, this was another shinobi village after all, so it made sense that one or more may be here.

From her position with the rest of the village leaders, Hikari would turn and look at the Mizukage, waiting for him to start the ceremony.

Everything was beginning to line up while the victors took their well-earned spots, elevating themselves above the rest. Different segments of the crowd cheered for them, the final day of the Chuunin Exams seemingly bringing fervor to the civilians that had the privilege of witnessing the event with their own eyes. A modern gladiatorial battle. His eyes diverted towards the official proctor of the exams, standing a few meters from the Kage, next to a table with the rewards distributed according to position. Two Chuunin flak jackets proudly held the symbol of Kirigakure, the third holding the new and upcoming emblem of Hoshigakure, a village that had proven it's not to be underestimated. A single glance down the line of Kage showed that he was essentially the only Kage at the prestigious event. He'd have to express how unacceptable that was in future discussions.

Stepping forward from the line of Kage, a light smile on his features while he addressed the hushed crowd, "Here we all stand on the precipice of a new era. The four major villages united after years of distancing and no communication, here we stand together." Xyxer once more looked down at the line of the representatives, "Inspiring a new generation of hardworking shinobi. Leading our villages and people to a brighter horizon where we need not stay segregated in our own villages. Where we can instead explore one another's culture in their village without fear." The Mizukage finished, allowing the initial flavour of the speech to carry itself through the crowd.

Stepping backwards into the line once more, Xyxer nodded his head to both the official and the Hoshigakure ambassador, indicating that it was her time. The proctor took the flak jacket of the village into his hands as well as the pouch of ryo, waiting for the girl.

As soon as the Mizukage finished with his speech, the Nova Corps operative would make her way toward the proctor. Once she arrived, she would take the Chunnin Flak jacket and the bag of ryo from the man, and with a quick word of thanks would turn and make her to the Uzumaki. As he approached him, a warm proud smile could be seen on the Lady of Light’s face.

“'Masashi Uzumaki,” The woman would address the boy, loud enough for all to hear. “'Hoshigakure has many proud brave young gennin. For personal reasons however, none of which were able to make the journey from Haven to the land of fire in order to compete in these exams besides you. Dispite knowing none of your comrades would be there to support you, you proudly decided to carry the pride of Hoshigakure and the Royal Family on your back by yourself and participate in these exams. This alone should earn you respect, but you did not stop there. No, you showed the world your skills, not having lost a singles match in this entire tournament. You bring honor to our village.”

With that, Hikari would unzip the jacket she held in her hands and start to put it on the Uzumaki, as she did, the girl spoke once again, her words softer this time. “Once upon a time not too long ago, you told me that you felt your greatest accomplishment was becoming a doctor. While that is a triumph that you should never forget, I believe you may have just topped that feat.” The words were not meant to be heard by everyone, but the kunoichi knew that many, if not most of the attendants, would hear these words.

Once the jacket was firmly on she would offer the bag of ryo to Masashi and raise her voice again so all could easily hear her. “Masashi Uzumaki, by the power invested in me by the Royal Family and the Hogokage, I hereby promote you to the rank of Chunnin. Congratulations!”

With that the Akari would offer her hand out to offer a handshake with the newly appointed Chunnin. Whether or not the man would take it made little difference to her, but once he did or made it obvious that he was not going to take it, the blonde would turn and walk back toward her designated waiting position. As she did, the woman would turn her head toward the Mizukage and give a slight nod, making it clear that the stage was now back in his full control.

The Mizukage started things off with a small speech, after which the proctor grabbed the vest with the Hoshigakure emblem on it, along with the pouch beside it. Hikari would then step forward and provide a slightly lengthier speech. He’d done his village proud for being the only Genin here from Hoshigakure, and his efforts had been rewarded. “Thank you.” He would say to the deputy kage as he put on the vest. He accepted the bag which contained the monetary prize for finishing third overall. Upon accepted both, he would accept the outstretched hand and shook it. Hikari would then return to her spot and like her, he would wait for the other two shinobi to be similarly honoured. The tournament had given him ideas and he wanted to get back home so that he could put those ideas in motion.

WC: 142
TWC: 253

The ambassador of Hoshigakure handled the situation nobly, highlighting the Chuunin so that the crowd had more to recognise him by. Wishing to become a doctor was an ambitious goal, one that put others before themselves. That alone was worthy of respect, but to go further and learn the arts that could prevent others being damaged in your presence all together was truly the greatest step he could have taken. The crowd once more cheered for the victor, some voices in the background even calling out his name as he inevitably became an idol in their eyes.

"Nero Yuki." Came the voice of Xyxer as he stepped forward, projecting across the stadium. He took short steps towards the holder of second place, the proctor stepping close by with the jacket and ryo on hand. To be so close to first, and yet to only be recognised as the second hurt more than any wound ever could. "You represented Kirigakure boldly. You came into these exams confident, with composure to match. Now we see why. You had no qualms getting close to your enemy and your usage of weaponry was inspiring, especially how you cut off your opponents avenues of escape. You went through the brackets of this tournament and you claimed victory after victory as if you were born to do it, and in the end, only a fellow shinobi of Kirigakure was able to stop you."

There was a pause for a few seconds before he continued on, "Yet to lose a match is not a failure. To lose and to fail to learn why you lost, to vehemently reject any desire of self-improvement would be failure. The traits you have displayed throughout this event show you are not one. You always found a way around your opponents, to attack them from areas of advantage, even to work in hand with a brother from the Mist." Xyxer spoke, seemingly solely to Nero even though he was surrounded by so many people, yet his voice remained audible.

He nodded his head towards the proctor who now handed him the jacket, which Xyxer spun around to exemplify the symbol of Kirigakure proudly resting on the center of the shoulders. After that, he'd slid the jacket over the arms of the Yuki so that it was fully on "I am glad that you represented Kirigakure so dominantly. It is with great pride that I now declare you, Nero Yuki, to be a Chuunin of Kirigakure, and well deserving of the title." He now took the pouch of ryo from the proctor, handing it personally to Nero. A desirable reward for a victor.

Nero stood silent, taking the Mizukage's words in with pride, but also a bit of disappointment. The Mizukage was presumably going to talk to Hayate next, and Nero couldn't help but get distracted by that.

"...and in the end, only a fellow shinobi of Kirigakure was able to stop you.".

Nero took a big breath, then slowly let it out.

As The Mizukage helped him get into his fresh Chuunin jacket, Nero couldn't help but flash an awkward smile for a brief second. From their position at the time, the Mizukage would have failed to catch that. When Nero was in his new jacket, he nodded in respect. He was then announced a Chuunin. This time he bowed, slightly lower than his previous nod. He wished not to interfere with the man's words. And finally, he took the payment his Kage offered him, taking it with both hands as was custom in his traditions, bowing low at the same time. He hoped that would be enough to show his gratitude, and no words were needed. He watched the Mizukage to see what he would do next, listening to the words he was going to speak, closely.

[EXIT with others, Chuunin Rank, appropriate rewards, 374/2000 for Weaponry Spec]