[Hyūga Shigure]

"new rommies". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." NEW ROOM, NEW ROOMMATE After arriving in Kagamino no Shi, the Genin were directed to their new dormitory. It didn't look much different than the other one, but it was definitely a tad bit fancier. It was still laid out in a similar fashion, with plenty of kitchenette for them to cook their own food and they were separated in rooms for two. Initially, Shigure assumed they would be keeping the same roommates from before, and he was indeed looking forward to seeing the young Gure, he wondered how he fared during the first two rounds, and although they were not close enough to be called friends, he still considered the guy a close enough acquaintance he personally cared about. To his surprise, when he arrived at the room he saw that the name beside his own was not of Okingshi, but that of Suzuki Taru. Well, that was a bit surprising, but not in a bad away at all. A subtle smile appeared in his face; he did like the shaman girl, and was actually really looking forward talking to her. The scores for the second round were not up yet, but she did fare really well during the first round, scoring higher than Shigure. She was definitely a strong contender in these exams and to have more time around her would be interesting to say the least. The Hyuuga would be the first to arrive in the room, so he just randomly chose one of the beds and put his luggage on top of it. He looked around the room for a second while stretching, so he could start putting his clothing and tools on the closet on his side. Hopefully Taru would be arriving soon, he was really looking forward talking to the girl. "I wonder if the Kowai ever showed up that day." he thought to himself, chuckling lightly. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Between Round 2 and 3 Shigure and Taru's Room [Suzuki Taru] [317 words]

[Suzuki Taru]

The trip from Mizu no Tera to Kagamino no Shi had been a treacherous one. She had been anticipating it, as the lands between those two cities at least came in slight proximity to her home. She'd never had to wander that area before, and she knew the forest was more dangerous than anything outside it, but it had still ended up more troublesome than she'd anticipated.

She was going to have to do a lot of work to prepare and get ready for situations like that in her line of work. Because of taking care of Asahi, their team had not been able to make it to the finish line in time. It was a sacrifice she had been willing to make because the survival of her teammate was well worth more than the swift delivery of a blank scroll. Asahi had gotten medical care and, hopefully, was going to be alright. 

Lugging her things to her new room, she was prepared to see Koume again. Instead, she was greeted by a new roommate. Shigure! That young man from the leaf she'd had the fortune of meeting before. This kind of thing had kept happening to her over the course of the exams. It seemed that the forces of fate really were culminating on this event strongly. 

She ducked into the room with her bags, which were packed lately, and beamed at the sight of him. 

"Hi again!" She called as she dropped her bag on her bed and flopped down. She was exhausted and would unpack later. 

"We both made it! Fortune smiled on us. Was your trip rough, too?" She was still healing from a few burn injuries from her own leg of the journey.

[Hyūga Shigure]

"new roomies". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." TOUGH ROAD Not long after he made himself at home in the room, Taru showed up, with a beaming smile that quickly rubbed onto Shigure, who smiled from ear to ear in return. The girl greeted him as she dropped her luggage on top of her bed, showing signs of being tired. Well, all of them were, truth be told, the road from Mizu no Tera to Kagamino no Shi was far from easy. "Taru-san! I was happy when I saw you were going to be my roommate!" he responded in a rather enthusiastic tone, which was quite the norm for the young Hyuuga heir. Taru was happy they both made it to the third round and he nodded in agreement, it was challenging, but they were succeeding thus far. "Indeed, I'm happy! This is the furthest I ever got in a Chuunin Exams, so I can definitely say I'm happy!" he admitted, chuckling lightly. "The road was tough... But my team was great. We didn't allow our differences to get in the way of our goal, and although we didn't finish the route in time, I think we did fairly well." he explained, moving on to sit on his bed as he was also beat from the trip. "How about yours?" he returned the question. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Between Rounds 2 and 3 Shigure and Taru's Room [Suzuki Taru] [220 words]

[Suzuki Taru]

Shigure described his experience on the road and she was glad to hear that it was much the same as her own. It would have been nice if more people had finished the trek, but hearing that other people also hadn't finished it was something of a selfish relief. It meant that her own team probably hadn't scored too badly.

Dragging her fingers through her messy hair and trying to tame it somewhat, she answered,

"It was really hard. This is the farthest I've ever made it, too, and I wasn't quite ready for it. We decided to take the dangerous road because we had a medic, but it was even worse than I'd expected. We were attacked by a shinobi a lot stronger than us, and a large boulder almost crushed us on the mountain," she sighed. "I got burned and Asahi was stabbed. We had to carry him the rest of the way here."

She propped herself up slightly to look at him.

"I think we did okay, though. We managed to capture two rabbits before going up the mountain and we got water. We even made alright time. I think we showed that we could work well together," she said.

[Hyūga Shigure]

"new roomies". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." EXCHANGE INFO "We were almost hit by a boulder too!!" he exclaimed the moment she mentioned that, just briefly interrupting Taru. He was well invested in the conversation, paying attention to her description of her journey. He nodded at the end of her explanation and then he started his own. "My team also chose the dangerous route. Myself and another were capable trackers, so we assumed we could anticipate threats. We did grab some food, a couple rabbits and fish, and managed to get water. And although we didn't face anyone, someone came and gave one of my teammates a message, saying one of us was a traitor. We managed to talk it out and work together in the end, so I think we did well in that regard." he said. His tone was not brimming with confidence, for he wasn't sure how they would determine the score, but as far as things went, they cooperated rather well. "Now... This Round is giving me some anxiety. I don't know nearly enough about my potential opponents, save for a few. And we won't know who we will be fighting until the very last minute. I hope I can perform well enough to get that promotion." he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "Any thoughts on the final round, Taru-san?" he asked. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." Between Rounds 2 and 3 Shigure and Taru's Room [Suzuki Taru] [225 words]