+- Naruto: The Hidden Curse -+ ---[Starts!]

[Sworkill87]

Hyuuga Raizen and the Deathly Forest:


“We have to get it correct or we can never be chuunin?” Raizen asked himself as the terms for the 10th question were given. Everyone was looking around now, some people were leaving, and their teammates with them, but it seemed that everyone from Raizen’s academy class was staying. “Well if they’re all staying… But, what if Masato or Ushi get the question wrong…” Raizen glanced around again. “Okay, Neji’s staying, there’s no way in hell I’ll let my brother beat me here.”

And so Raizen stayed put until the proctor announced that the final question was all a test of character, and they had all passed. “Cool.” Raizen said with a slight sigh as a female ninja burst into the room and Ushi tackled him to the floor in the excitement of passing. “Gah! Get off Ushi!” Raizen eventually pulled himself out of Ushi’s death grip of a hug and they all followed Anko to the second part of the exams.

***

Raizen stood in front of the large gates leading to where the second part of the exams was to take place. “The forest of- “

“Death?” Masato finished. “This isn’t going to be all rainbows and kittens is it?”

“Oh but I like rainbows and kittens.” Ushi said looking a little disappointed as he was handed a Heaven scroll.

“Okay,” Said Raizen, “We’ve got the heaven scroll, and all we have to do is obtain an Earth scroll and make it to the tower in three days. At least it’s not complicated; we just have to worry about the other ninja.”

Just then the signal was given and everyone rushed in through their respective gates. “Raizen,” Masato said quite some time later, as team 15 leapt from tree branch to tree branch, “hold on to the scroll, nobody’s going to sneak up on you.” They stopped high above the forest floor so Ushi could hand over the scroll.

“Oh, I have an idea” He said, and with a quick note on his flute two more scrolls appeared, each identical to the original. “We might as well fool anyone trying to attack us.” Ushi said as he passed them out. “Now nobody will know which the real one is.”

“Hey, as long as we’re stopped I’ve been thinking.” Masato chimed in. “Why blunder around in a forest when Raizen can search it for us.”

“I was just about so suggest that myself.” Raizen said w/ a smirk. “Byakugan!” His vision now extremely enhanced Raizen scanned the forest. He jumped to other trees every once and a while, and after a few minutes smirked again. “I’ve found the perfect target.” He said. “They are approximately 50 yards southeast of us on the forest floor. It looks like they are planning an attack or something.”

“What scroll?” Masato asked immediately.

“Earth. And they have no idea we’re here.” This time all three teammates smiled.

***
Three shinobi sat in a small clearing amidst thick trees as they spoke quietly amongst themselves. One with long black hair and wearing his Grass headband around his neck seemed to command the other two. “And finally, if we place explosive tags at these four locations-”

“But…” Said a more timid looking ninja with sunken green eyes and a full arsenal of summoning scrolls. “If we do that we might hurt someone…”

“That’s not the point.” said the third shinobi. This one female with a wild look about her and holding a gigantic scythe.

“Yes,” said the leader. “The point is to obtain a Heaven scroll. And to do that-”

The long haired ninja was cut off as a two kunai sunk themselves deep into both his shoulders. Everyone looked up to see three Leaf ninja standing on a branch 20 feet above them.

“Nice shot Masato.” Raizen said as they hopped down to land a few feet from the Grass team. “Now,” He called out to the wounded leader. “If you three would hand over your Earth scroll, we’ll be on our way.”

“You think that we’ll just-”

“With your arms like that, you are in no condition to fight.” Masato cut in. “In fact, if I hit you exactly where my friend suggested,” He nodded at Raizen, “you shouldn’t even be able to wiggle your fingers.” Sure enough the leader of the grass team could not move his arms an inch.

“If you wanted to disable us you should have done it all at once!” The wild looking girl with the scythe yelled as she started to charge team 15, only to stop as she heard her other teammate give a blood curdling scream. She whirled around to see the sunken eyed ninja writhing on the ground, trying desperately to get away from something. “What are you doing Shinji?!” But it was too late; he had passed out, apparently from shear terror. It was then that Raizen and Masato appeared on either side of the scythed warrior. She took a swipe at Raizen who dodged in time to receive no more that a shallow cut on his cheek as Masato proceeded to disarm her.

“Eight trigrams!” Was the last thing she heard before loosing consciousness. The three of them then walked over to where the long haired leader lay.

“We’ll take your Earth scroll now!” Ushi said happily. Not having an option either way, the Grass shinobi was forced to watch helpless as Raizen dug through the sunken eyed ones arsenal of scrolls. “There we go!” Ushi almost squealed as he multiplied this scroll as well and handed a copy to Masato and Raizen in turn.

“Now you stay out of trouble.” Masato said as they got up to leave. “We don’t want you kids winding up lost in here.”


***
“Wow, we got lucky, that went way better than I’d hoped.” Raizen said as they hopped from tree to tree again. “I kinda wonder if they should have been in the chuunin exams.”

“Yeah, but did we have to be so cocky?” Masato asked. “Some of it just felt like too much.”

“Eh, maybe.” Raizen responded. “But we had to act overconfident to keep them un-nerved. And of course now we have a bit of a reputation.” He added with a smile. “By the way Ushi, what did you have that one with the summoning scrolls see anyway?”

They were carefully trying to avoid what looked like one of the ominous sound teams now.

“Oh, nothing special,” Ushi whispered with a smile that betrayed his words. “Just rainbows and kittens.”


(Wow, that was a long post, sorry. I hope nobody fell asleep reading it. ^_^)

[Silencer]

Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~

Everything seemed to move fast lately. In just two days, Soen and Kaito met up with their new sensei, Saruwatori Sai, as well as their new teammate, Leaf, and now they were already partaking in the second part of the chuunin exam.

At first this opportunity seemed so far away, but Saruwatori-sensei seemed to have it arranged that the genin could compete. Maybe Soens outburst helped, he wasn’t to sure about it. After the meeting, the newly formed team 17 spent the entire time before the chuunin exam to get to know each other. Soen and Leaf were mostly focussed on TaiJutsu, while Kaito focussed a little more on Ninjutsu, leaving the team with a handicap when it would come to ranged fighting. But that just meant that they would need to draw any enemy in close.

Nothing really hard happened during the first test, besides the mental pressure that the Instructor seemed to emit. A written exam that Soen had difficulties with, but with some insight he managed to copy the test of the person in front of him. Neither Kaito nor Leaf seemed to be bother.

After passing that test, all the remaining genin were instructed to follow a new Instructor to training area 44, the Forest of Death. The test would consist of an all out scroll battle. The goal was to steal a scroll from another team, whilst guarding your own. Two different type of scrolls were handed out and it wasn’t revealed which team would have which scroll.

Leaf, Kaito and Soen were given the Earth scroll which meant they would need to hunt down a Heaven scroll. As they were juming through the trees, Kaito spoke up.

“There seem to be several ways to deal with this test.”

“Do explain.” Soen added

Kaito looked at him with the message ‘I was going to’ clearly on his face.

“First, we could attack each team we encounter and hope they have the Heaven scroll. If they don’t it would be a worthless fight which could leave either side injured.”

“But,” Leaf spoke up, “if we take their earth scroll anyway, we could use it as a bargaining chip. Maybe we could even trade it for a Heaven scroll.”

“Yes, but we’d have to be extremely lucky to run into a team that would like to trade.” Soen added

“Secondly,” Kaito continued, “we could try to spy on another team, check out their scroll and measure their strength before we attack. Downside is, we could waste some needed time when chasing the wrong team and the danger of getting caught is always present.”

When there were no complaints Kaito moved on.

“We could also trap another team. Stay in a certain area and draw attention to ourselves as incapable genin but keeping some nice traps around to catch any attackers off guard. Our looks shouldn’t bother this plan to much, especially not Soens.”

“Haha… Still not over the fact that I graduated four years younger then you?”

The team stopped in a larger tree.

“I say we decide on what we do right now. We could probably use the full three days.” Leaf announced.

“It’s all good to me.” Soen said.

[Dr.McNinja]

“Crap…”, Raizen muttered as Team 15 sat quietly atop one of the almost ubiquitous branches that criss-crossed almost every inch of this forest. The young Hyuuga’s head hadn’t moved but it obviously didn’t have to for him to notice something amis. Masato whispered softly, “Are they coming?”

The Taijutsu user was talking about the Sound Ninja who had stationed themselves directly in front of Team 15’s route to the central tower. They could go around them but there were even more groups prowling around those areas according to Raizen, hiding and waiting for the Sound Ninja to move would be far simpler…if they didn’t spot them first. It had taken at nearly ten minutes for Masato to convince Ushi that running forward so he could finally ask his questions to the Sound girl from the first test was not the most intelligent of ideas. Raizen though did not seem too concerned about them for the moment, “No, we’ve got another group.”

Masato’s eyes widened as he shifted uncomfortably on the branch, “Should we get out of here? We could try to get through the other ways.”

Raizen hesitated a moment before responding, “No…if they meet up with anyone it’ll be those Sound Ninja.”

Picking random bits of foliage and dirt from his hair as they sat, Ushi suddenly looked up, “Maybe they will fight each other and clear the way for us!”

Raizen nodded, “And if they don’t finish each other off whoever’s left will be weakened for sure. Either way it'll be easier then trying to break through another way. ”

Masato stood up, his teammates giving him a curious look as he did. He gestured into the forest before them, “If we’re going to take advantage of the winners’ weakness we’re going to have to be closer.”

Pausing, Raizen gave a questioning glance to Ushi who nodded and produced his flute. Team 15 moved in.

-----

By the time they had made their way close enough to see the Sound Ninja, the other group Raizen had noticed was already there. The apparent leader, a lanky genin with a cocky grin and chains wrapped around his arms, stood ahead of his compatriots confronting the three Sound Ninjas, “Give it up you freaks! We can take it or you can give it to us, either way that scroll’s ours you goofy looking idiots!”

To the leader’s right the other male genin of the group, his watery eyes looking nervously at Daiko who had bared his teeth in a very animalistic snarl, shook his head as he raised his katal, “C’mon Katsuo, drop the insults and let’s just get the scoll."

A laugh from the final member of the group, a female with a mocking sneer, interrupted her compatriot, “Oh please Ichiro, look at them! That one looks like he hasn’t taken a bath in a year!”

Masato, looking for all the world like a patch of moss against a tree, winced as Daiko began flexing his fingers and taking deep, ragged breaths, his eyes darting back to the long haired one who was leaning comfortably against a tree, his sleeve wrapped around his body to avoid dragging it over the ground, “Can I kill them Taio? Please?”

Taio shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. The angry genin scowled, fury obvious on his features, and began pacing back and forth, glaring at the other group. The chained one laughed at his teammate’s remark, “Look at the girl too! Is she even awake?! What’re you gonna do with that kitty, snuggle us to death?”

As the genin laughed, despite Nein's complete lack of reaction, Raizen’s whisper emerged from a simple looking log lying on the forest’s floor, “They’re totally underestimating them. The Sound Ninja already have their two scrolls and they don’t even look like they’ve been walking hard to get here…maybe this wasn't such a good idea.”

Ushi, a boulder snuggling comfortably against the Raizen-log shivered as a chill ran down his spine, the girl’s kitten seemed to be looking at him again and his friend’s comment was making him severely uncomfortable, a feeling he wasn’t used to experiencing.

Daikowas shaking now, his eyes growing bloodshot as he shot glances back at Taio every few seconds. Taio just continued smiling. The girl’s mocking voice rang out again, “And what’s up with that one’s clothes? Did your mommy forget to dress you or something?!”

One of Taio’s eyes slowly opened at the girl’s comment, scanning the three in front of him as if noticing them for the first time. The three grew suddenly silent, their comments petering off pathetically. There was an quality in Taio's gaze that made them realize how little he really cared about their insults or their lives. The pacing genin stopped and stared at Taio, a hungry look on his face. Taio smirked slightly and closed his eye again, giving a tiny nod.

[Ultimate Charizard]

I take it there were teams from other villiages there too, not just sound and sand......

Leaf
----

"Wait! called out a voice. "Look what i found!"
3 Genin came to a stop in a small clearing. On the ground infront of them lay 3 other Genin. 2 guys and a girl. They looked a mess.
"Man someone really did a number on these 3" one of the Genin announced. The 3 new arrivals, who each wore the headband of the Hidden Mist villiage, stopped and made a quick observation of the surrounding area.
"Do you think whoever did this is still in the area?" asked one of them as he Approached the group.
"No way!" he exclaimed. "The girl, shes holding a scroll!"
"They killed them and didnt take the scroll?" asked the third.
"Looks that way, oh well their loss".
He approached the girl being carefull to look out for any traps. She was wearing a pale orange outfit. Typical Kunoichi style though an Orange Scarf trailed around her. He bent down to take the scroll from the girls hands but it was held tight. Her fingers not budging an inch. He stamped his foot down on the wrist and pulled hard but it wasnt budging.

"Whats taking so long?" one asked, getting nervous about staying in one place too long.
"It wont move! Its like shes got a death grip on the damn thing!" came the reply.
The first genin sighed. "Well they do say that happens just after death...what type of scroll is it?"
"Um....Earth i think" he said still pulling hard.
Another sigh from the same Genin "Then were wasting time. We already have the Earth Scroll, if it wont move then leave it"

The now panting genin grumbled as he failed to pry it from the girls fingers and kicked at her stomach in anger. Yelping as he almost broke hsi foot.
"Shes hard as a freakin statue!" he howled as his team moved off and he followed.

****
90 Minutes earlier

"I like the trap idea" Leaf announced "But it has to be something really good. Trip wires and pitfalls wont work, at least not this early. Theres been no time for fatigue to set in or even boredom in the case of the more easily distracted. Everyone is too on guard"
"So what do you suggest?" asked Soen

She smiled, the confidence returning to her now they were making a plan of action. "how good are you two with the Clone Jutsu?" she asked.
"Why?" asked Soen suspiciously "what are you thinking?"

"To use the Scroll as Bait. If i use my Jutsu, then hold the scroll in such a way that it cant be removed from my hand by force then it puts it on show to tempt other teams in" she beamed as if this was the entirety of her plan.
Soen looked skeptical "Ok...then what? Wheres the trap?"

"Well if i make it look like ive been beaten up, or maybe even killed and then to make sure noones suspicious there were 'bodies' of my two team mates near me.." she hinted as she made the rabbit ears symbol to stress the word 'bodies'.
Kaito smiled as he caught on. "They think theyve found a dead team and try to scavenge the scroll but cant, at which point...."
"...at which point" Soen interrupted "we find out that we've done all that and risked the scroll to end up with another Earth Scroll!"

"Well thats the point of putting our Scroll on display" Leaf countered. "If its taking too long to get, and they know theyre wasting alot of time for something they dont need then they will give up and move on. If they still keep trying they really want the Earth scroll which means they have a Heaven scroll for us!"

"What if noone comes along?" questioned Soen once more. "We could be stood still all day"
"Well yeah there is that" Leaf conceded "but at least it will give us time to think of something better and we wont waste energy chasing other teams around" she added enthusiastically.

Soen still didnt look convinced but in the absence of a better idea felt they may aswell try it, at least for now.

****

It was roughly an hour after the Mist Ninja left. There was another team in the clearing now along with team 17. They wore the Leaf villiage headband but Leaf didnt recognise them.
One was now prying hard at the scroll in her hand as his team mate came over and looked over his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked the kneeling Genin
"This team had an Earth scroll, this Kunoichi has it in her hands, if i can pry it out we have our set and can head for the tow..."

He never finished his sentence as Shuriken burst from the bushes to either side of them. The 'bodies' of the two male Genin on the ground exploded into smoke and the real Genin leapt from the bushes.

The startled Ninja tried to fight back but were overwhelmed by the surprise attack. The Genin that had been crouched over Leaf found himself on the receiving end of a powerfull kick under the jaw from what he had assumed was a dead body.

"That worked great!" cheered Kaito as he fished through the packs of the fallen Leaf Genin and found their heaven scroll.
"Better than i expected" added Soen and Leaf smiled sheepsihly. Glad that her plan had worked and not made her look like a fool lying on the ground for hours.

"Now we can head to the tower" said Soen as he stared at the unfortunate team at thier feet.

[Bulbasaur4]

The Deathly Not-So Musical Encounter
~*~*~*~*~*~

[Heavy Violence - Naruto OST]

As Taio gave his nod and relaxed his back against the tree, Daiko did not waste a single second to jump into action. He quickly hurled himself at the leader, not even bothering to make a plan or even collect himself for any form of Ninjutsu. The leap itself was so surprisingly fast that the leader didn’t have time to react. He was simply overwhelmed as Daiko’s fingertips instantly sprouted wickedly curved raptor-like claws. A cry of pain then soon followed as he grasped his hands about the shoulder of the Grass Ninja, tearing the flesh and severing a few tendons.

“GET OFF OF HIM YOU FREAK!” The girl shouted, charging at Daiko but she tripped by a seemingly invisible hair as Taio smiled a little too pleasantly.

“Oh come now, you’ll get your turn. See? Daiko’s almost done.”
Indeed, the leader couldn’t collect himself at all to form an attack of any sort. Daiko had dragged his claws and used brute strength to sever all of the tendons near his shoulders, preventing him from even raising a finger. That wasn’t good enough for Daiko though. He laughed madly- rather cackling and growling in the same manor to form some horrible sound that barely resembled laughter as blood flew around him.

“Kill… f*#$*#$ kill you! KILL!” Daiko roared, lifting himself upwards as he paused in the action, allowing the leader to open his mouth to plead for his life. Daiko only laughed a little bit more, grinning as he suddenly placed his foot upon the lower part of his sternum. Still crouched, Daiko then used that foot as a pressure point as he suddenly channeled glowing chakra into his claws.

“BYE BYE” Daiko chanted, as violently with one fluid motion he plunged his left clawed hand into the skin above the Grass Ninja’s collarbone. He then grabbed the collarbone and top part of the sternum all together, curling his fingers around it as blood spewed from the wound. As if that wasn’t enough to fill Daiko’s thirst for killing, he then used his planted foot to give him leverage as he simply pulled up and with a shocking show of strength and chakra, broke a few of his bones and ripped the sternum upwards in a bloody display of gore.

“Enough Daiko… he’s dead…” Taio commented, yawning as he glanced up at the trees for a moment. “Finish the other two.” Taio added, the girl’s eyes widening as she started to run away. Daiko laughed and didn’t take a second to get her before she made it into the thicker part of the forest. She shrieked in foreknowing her own outcome.


The other Ninja male- the one who thought they should move on- was trembling terribly. Seeing Daiko go into a frenzy upon his other teammate however seemed to jar him from his frozen position. Quickly he started to run away… but his route was instantly blocked off surprisingly by Nain. Her expressionless face stared him down, causing him to suddenly outburst.

“G-get… out of my way!! Or else I’ll-” But his voice was cut off as Nain reached up gently and pulled away the long strands of hair that covered her right eye. Instantly the remaining Grass Ninja’s eyes seemed to glaze over for a second, before an instant later his face contorted and he let out a blood-curdling scream of sheer terror. His body collapsed upon the ground as he began convulsing in sheer terror- a stream of blood trailing down his lips as he continued to scream. Nain calmly walked forward, letting her hair fall back over her eye as she unsheathed a kunai in her right hand (her left hand was still holding her stuffed kitten). As the boy wreathed on the ground, she merely bent over, slit his throat, and he was silenced.

Daiko came back, his upper body spattered with blood as he licked his lips and smiled his fanged-toothy grin, still hunched in his normal fashion. Nain calmly walked over to Taio as well, sheathing the kunai.

“Well Daiko, are you satisfied?” Taio asked, as Daiko smiled and nodded.

“Let’s take their scroll!!” Daiko echoed, scanning but Taio shook his head.

“I don’t want to bother. We already have what we need.”

“We’re gonna go straight to the tower… right… right? We got that scroll two days ago and I don’t want to waste another day looking at clouds like yesterday.”

“Clouds are interesting… but no, you’re right. We shouldn’t waste time and go to the tower already.”

The group moved on, Taio taking the lead as Daiko followed closely after. Nain hesitated for a second, turning her head so that her left eye gazed eerily at the rock, log and moss upon the tree. There was a pause, and then she simply turned and followed.

[Outlaw JT]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~

"Greeeeeeeen Acres is the place for me," Inakamo sang cheerily as the three Genin leaped from tree to tree.

"Inakamo, you know we appreciate your singing," Chiyoko chimed in suddenly in a less than convincing voice, "but, do you think.....ummm....."

"Perhaps now in the middle of a deadly forest surrounded by ninja teams trying to stalk us is not the best time for a lively chorus," Onitoge finished the thought in a completely flat tone that caught Inakamo off guard.

The clown ninja missed his footing and plummeted to the forest floor below, laughing heartily the whole way down. Chiyoko landed her footing but almost joined her teammate as she doubled over trying to fight back a laugh. Onitoge stopped, looked back at both of them and held his arms up like he had no idea what they were doing.

"Aaaw man Onitoge," Inakamo finally managed as he sat up. "You are the best straight man a comedian could ask for. Alright, silence it is."

Inakamo quickly rejoined his squad hidden high in the canopy and they proceeded forward with great speed. They had been traveling through the forest for hours uneventfully. This was in small part a relief but at the same time put them ever more on edge. For a place called the 'Forest of Death' everything had been eerily calm their first several hours.

"I don't know where we're going but we're making great time!" Inakamo whispered as the three flew smoothly through the trees with the breeze.

Suddenly Chiyoko stopped and held her arms out for her squad to halt. She turned her gaze carefully from side to side as if she'd heard something. A few moments passed, the three of them tensely frozen in place.

"There are two squads up ahead," she said quietly, motioning in the their directions.

"ooooooo What say we scope out the competition. Maybe we'll get lucky in pluck up our Earth scroll in the chaos," Inakamo chimed happily but with uncharacteristic quietness.

Chiyoko and Onitoge both looked at each other nervously but followed after their enthusiastic teammate. It took them only a few minutes to approach the two unknown squads. They discreetly circled for a clear vantage point without being noticed. Before them they saw a Rain ninja squad confronting the young Sand ninja squad with the fellow who slightly resembled Onitoge who had a huge gourd on his back.

The tension in the air was almost visible as the two squads spoke. Both seemed rather arrogant and at first glance both seemed to have right to be. This was quickly put to rest when the redheaded sand ninja stepped forward. Sand seemed to pour forward like a river in midair and in moments the cocky umbrella ninja was simply gone in a myst of suddenly red sand. His compatriots followed mercilessly afterwards.

The three Genin sat there in silence, stunned by what they had seen. Chiyoko's jaw hung open in horrific shock. Inakamo clutched his mouth to make sure he wouldn't let the slightest sound slip. Onitoge's eyes fixed firmly upon the ninja with the gourd, his face an angry abhorred expression displayed firmly across it.

His heart beat faster and faster as he gazed at the redheaded monster. How could a ninja do something like that? His blood began to feel heated as it sped through him. How could a ninja of this supposed level do something that powerful?

Onitoge's heart pounded in his chest till it was loud enough for his teammates next to him to hear it. His blood seemed to boil as he stared down the gourd ninja from their place in hiding. Slowly he could hear a voice calling from deep inside. 'battle Battle Battle BATTLE' the voice crept into his head, beckoning him forward.

Without thinking Onitoge took a step forward. A pair of sharp, smoothly curved horns slid out from his forehead like snakes preparing to strike. Another step and his teammates realized what he was doing. A third step was halted by the quick snaring of Inakamo's chakra strings. A fourth step pulls Inakamo off balance as razor claws slowly slide out from between Onitoge's knuckles.

"Onitoge, don't!" Chiyoko whispered fiercely as she threw her arms around him.

A fifth step as Onitoge lifted his leg forward but hesitated. The voice chanted through him loudly, in every heartbeat, echoing in every drop of blood. It called for him to charge forward. To challenge the strength of the ninja they now knew was called Gaara!

"Are you guys crazy?" a new voice whispered from behind.

"Not all of us," Inakamo said under his breath, struggling against Onitoge.

"Didn't you see what that guy just did?" Kiba whispered harshly as he came into view behind them.

The chanting continued to reverberate through Onitoge's being till he could hear only the voice of Gaara in the clearing ahead. His teammates and their fellow new squad talked hurriedly and hushed behind him but Onitoge could not hear them. He could feel the need for more, for true battle coursing through his veins. He prepared to take another step, the last one he could take in concealment when another voice broke in.

"Please Onitoge... get a hold of yourself! This isn't like you... this isn't the Onitoge we know, the Onitoge I know!" Chiyoko's voice suddenly broke through, pleading.

"That's....ummm.. that's not you Onitoge," a shy voice joined hers in unison with quiet determination.

Suddenly there were three faces before him. The face of his opponent, the cruel sand ninja Gaara. The face of his teammate, the kind and cheerful Chiyoko. The face of a former classmate, the shy and reserved Hinata. She had always seemed so kind but she spoke even less than he did.

Slowly he realized that several chakra strings were trying to hold him in place. His former classmates Kiba and Shino had latched onto either arm trying to pull him back. And before him, Onitoge saw that Chiyoko had gripped him firmly in a deep hug while Hinata gingerly held his right hand, looking unsure of herself.

Suddenly Onitoge's senses returned to him. He looked down to see the razor sharp claws of bone protruded halfway out. He felt his face and collapsed as he found the demonic horns upon his forehead.

"What was I......." Onitoge said in shock, tears streaming slowly down his face. "I'm.....I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He paused there, collapsed to his knees on the forest floor. He returned Chiyoko's warm hug and gripped Hinata's hand, trying to draw reassurance from both. He was shaken terribly by what he had almost done. Nevermind that he had put them all in danger from the sand ninja. He had almost risked becoming the very monster that maimed his closest friends in all of his nightmares since that first mission. He could have.......

"Thank you," Onitoge said after what seemed like forever as he got to his feet.

"That's great and all Onitoge, but if you're done with your little cry maybe we can continue this somewhere a little safer?" Kiba said sharply but quietly, eying the clearing behind them.

Onitoge nodded and the six Genin all began to move stealthily along the forest floor. They kept going for quite a ways before they all finally decided to rest. They had to make sure they were well clear of the sand ninja. There was no telling what the monster known as Gaara would do to any other ninja he happened to come across in this dark place.

[Heald]

Inakamo Yakusha

[Nervous - Naruto OST]

When the Genin thought they were a safe distance away from the Sand team, they let out a sigh of relief and stood up in a small covered clearing, hiding behind a couple of large trees.
"Man, those guys I definitely do not want to mess with," Kiba piped up. Akumaru was still in shock and trembling on Kiba's chest. Chiyoko and Hinata nodded in agreement, but were silent. This had obviously taken its effect on the kunoichi. Shino was as cool as ever, but his furrowed brow gave away his concern. Inakamo was still thinking about what had happened, not about the fate of the Rain ninja, but what Onitoge had nearly done. He stood there watching Onitoge as he tried to compose himself.

[Survival Examination - Naruto OST II]

Kiba made an attempt to change the subject.
"Have you got any scrolls yet?" he asked. Inakamo turned to Kiba and smiled.
"Nope! But the next ninja we find, we're taking theirs!"
Kiba grinned and held up both the Heaven and Earth scrolls. Inakamo stood open-jawed in amazement, and even Chiyoko briefly smiled. Shino growled.
"Kiba! Do you mind not advertising those to our enemies!"
Kiba laughed.
"What! You think this clown dweeb is going to take them from me? Ha!"
Inakamo snarled.
"Dweeb! I'll show you dweeb!"
He and Kiba bared their teeth at each other, forehead to forehead, in a fight that seemed more comedic than physical. Chiyoko let out a small giggle but Shino intervened, splitting up the clown and the dog trainer.
"If you haven't noticed, a large group of six Genin, two of which are loud-mouthed idiots, might give us away to a stronger, hidden opponent!"
Onitoge finally joined in.
"He's right guys. You three better get to the tower."
Inakamo grinned.
"Yeah! Before we change our minds and take your scroll!"
Kiba smiled and turned to Hinata and Shino.
"Come on guys. We don't need to slow these guys down anymore than we have!"
Kiba and Shino leapt into the canopy. Hinate turned to Team 13, gave a small bow and then followed her team-mates. Inakamo felt the other team leave and the eerie calmness of the forest returned. He was now worried, not about passing the test but whether Onitoge could calm himself so they could take the next scroll without too much trouble. Unfortunately, he had a bloodlust and I doubt the next team they found were just going to give the scroll to them. A direct fight would be unideal; sure, they could win, but what if Onitoge lost it...

"Another team is coming," Chiyoko said. Onitoge and Inakamo both looked up in the same direction and nodded.
"Do you think they know we're here?" Inakamo said. Chiyoko shook her head.
"They're not being very stealthy."
Onitoge frowned and added, "They're being cocky."
Inakamo gave a devilish grin.
"Let's set a trap; that is one of my trademarks, after all."
Chiyoko nodded in agreement and Onitoge stood still, but then turned to Inakamo.
"What do you have in mind?"
Inakamo told them his plan, and they all seemed in agreement.

One Grass ninja leapt into the clearing, scouted around, and then beckoned to his hidden teammates. Two more Grass ninja appeared. They all looked about twenty and were all male. Their leader was distinctly larger and better-built than the other two. They turned to each other and sighed.
"Looks like we just missed them," the scout whispered. The larger one frowned.
"Damn, we wasted too much time on those other dweebs, and all they had was an Earth scroll!"
The one that hadn't spoken yet had a rat-like face and twitched his face about.
"They covered their tracks. Think they knew we were following them?"
The leader nodded.
"I think they know we're here, since they didn't bother covering up their trail to this place, unless, of course,"
And with a huge grin he threw two kunai into the canopy.

[Bad Situation - Naruto OST]

The body of Inakamo fell out of the tree, clutching his stomach, and dropped against the ground with a thud. The leader smiled, saying,
"They never left in the first place!"
He reached towards Inakamo's belt to grab the Heaven scroll. As he picked it up, the guy with the rat-like face, who was trying to find the other two Genin, then turned to see the scroll and saw it spark.
"Boss! Drop it!" he yelled, leaping towards him and batted it out of his hand, however, it exploded quite close to them, knocking them back in a display of fire and smoke.

When the two of them got up, the smoke was clearing and when they could see, they saw that the scout had captured Inakamo, with a kunai held against his throat. The leader snarled and was about to punch him, before yelling,
"Where's the scroll? I see that your fake body didn't have it!"
Inakamo smiled.
"Who says this is my real body?"

[The Raising Fighting Spirit - Naruto OST]

Inakamo's body then turned into the carnival ball and smashed the leader in the face. As he stumbled backwards, the Scout then rushed forward with demon-like speed and kneed the dazed leader in the chin, before following it up with a punch to the face, delivered with bone shurikens in hand. The rat-faced ninja, completely confused, tried to run but found he was being held to the ground by a hand coming from the earth, leaving him to Onitoge, who had used a transformation jutsu to look like the scout, to hit him in the stomach and then in the face. Onitoge transformed back into his normal self and searched their bodies for the Earth scroll, finding it on the leader. Inakamo emerged from a nearby bush and Chiyoko appeared from the canopy, with the Scout knocked out and tied up.
"Good work guys! Especially you Chiyoko! I planned to give you a larger time window to take out the scout and get Onitoge in position, but they saw my deception a little too early."
Onitoge gave a brief smile, clutching the scroll.
"That was a good plan, but I wanted to do more than knock these guys out. I could feel it."
Inakamo frowned, then saw the bloody stains on Onitoge's fist and on the leader's face. It had been shredded by his punch and blood was pouring from it. Onitoge stared at the bloody face and his breathing got heavier. Inakamo couldn't help but stare at the blood either. His hidden eye began to throb and burn with desire.

He pulled away and grabbed Onitoge.
"So you got the Earth scroll, huh? Let's get to the tower."
Inakamo leapt into the canopy with the Earth scroll and put it in his carnival ball, before putting it back into its scroll. He yelled down to his teammates,
"Come on!"
Chiyoko put her hand on Onitoge's shoulder and whispered,
"Onitoge..."
He snapped out of it, turned to her and bowed his head.
"Sorry...I...lets just go, before they wake up."
The two of them joined Inakamo in the canopy and they headed off.

Inakamo couldn't help but think about Onitoge's mental condition, and then thought about his own. What if the whispers he heard at night, what if the burning sensation he gets when he feels the urge to destroy and maim, what if he lost control one day and became like him? And what if Chiyoko got caught in the crossfire? He owed it to both his teammates to keep his mark in check and make sure he never unleashed it.

[Silencer]

Soen

~~~***~~~***~~~

As Team 17 was jumping from tree to tree again, night started to set in. It didn’t seem that they would make the tower before it got to dark and in this darkness, the danger would increase. Soen halted the team.

“I think it’s best that we set up a camp now. If it gets to dark, we might run into a trap more easily. And we are a prime target now that we hold the two scrolls. No team would back off.”

“Agreed, we should use the remaining light to set up traps for our own protection.” Kaito expressed

Leaf nodded to.

The konoha genin team spend an hour or so to secure their position, they always had some one on look out. Just to be sure they wouldn’t get attacked while they were setting everything up.

After everything was done, the team set themselves down in a dense part of their area. Most of the traps would just notify them of intruders, just some would actually attack.

As the moon was rising into the sky, Team 17 got alerted. Several traps activated. This was clearly some one that wouldn’t be bothered if he or she was found out. As stealthy as possible, the team moved in on the intruder.

Standing high in a tree was their instructor. She had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“That is my job, right Orochimaru?” Anko spoke up.

Kaito, Leaf and Soen couldn’t see who she was talking to, but Soen recognized the name.

“Orochimaru? The defector of the three Sannin?” He whispered.

“What? A Sannin? Here?” Kaito responded.

“What’s going on?” Leaf asked, the same question went through all of their minds.

But even before they could figure it out, Anko had drawn several kunai and launched an attack at a tree. The assault was blocked by something that resembled a gigantic tongue. With all her strength, Anko pulled and dragged a body out of the tree. She pinned her own hand and the one of Orochimaru onto a tree. The Instructor started to perform seals together with her captives hand.

It seemed that Anko would take down one of the biggest criminals right in front of Soens eyes, but before the jutsu was completed, Orochimaru disappeared into a cloud. A shadow clone. The two high level shinobi had a little conversation but Anko seemed to get exhausted just in the presence of a former Sannin. Soen couldn’t believe the difference in level. He could almost feel Orochimarus presence, even from the distance between them.

Orochimaru just left after the conversation, while Anko was in terrible pain. With Orochimaru gone, Team 17 slowly stepped out of their cover and slowly approached Anko, terrified by the thought of the possible return of Orochimaru.

“Are you alright, Anko-sama?” Leaf asked when they were close enough.

The instructor was startled, but relaxed after seeing the genin team.

“Don’t worry, I’ve instructed some ANBU to come assist me. They shouldn’t take to long anymore.”

As on cue, a four man squad appeared. All their faces were hidden behind masks. They jumped down and supported the injured Anko.

“You kids should probably take cover again, a strong team is coming this way.” Anko said before she and the team disappeared.

“She tells us this after she destroys so many of our traps.” Soen sighed

“Guess we’ll have to alternate between guard duty now.”

[Shadow Djinn]

Shiro - 12 - Genin
-

"Sounds real fun, doesn't it? Forest of Death?" Shiro said in a cheery tone as they entered the forest. The Heaven Scroll was in Hiro's possession at his waist, and while it was plainly in view to possible enemies, this fact could also be used to the team's own advantage.
"To be honest? Not really." Hiro replied as they leaped along the branches. To Shiro's surprise, Selekis was managing to keep up with Shiro and Hiro despite the pace; he had assumed the boy was somewhat unworthy of physical combat, preferring to lurk behind with tactical battles instead. Hiro was, he had surmised, somewhat like him -- he had seen his manipulation of wind, but noticed the chakra was unrefined, but he too was also mainly a physical fighter.
"Oh sure it does." Shiro said amicably. "And with our great team, it's not like we'll die or anything."
"Do you sense any nearby groups?" Hiro questioned, ignoring Shiro's comment. The unkempt genin only then realized the entire conversation had been carried out in whispers, and he could hear the scuffle of footsteps up ahead. He dug his feet in as he landed on the next branch, indicating with a bony hand that there were shinobi up ahead. Brief alarm seemed to flash along Hiro's eyes, but he nodded. Selekis scribbled something along his piece of paper in rapid, frantic strokes, before passing it to Shiro, who read it in a single, hasty glance.
Should we hide?
Easy question. Shiro immediately shook his head.
...Then he noticed Hiro nodding, and they eyed each other with mixed expressions, unsure of who to follow. Silently, they then both turned to Selekis for the final decision. The pale boy seemed conflicted, and amongst their wordless argument, they had failed to notice the sudden absence of footsteps. Selekis was the first to look up, and his face seemed to get even paler. Despite the fear coursing through Shiro, he turned to glance ahead as well, and managed a thin smile as his eyes fell on three lanky shinobi.

Their eyes seemed to be cold and calculating, while the lead shinobi, his black hair cut short, had a feral grin, as if he possessed a lust for bloodshed. Strapped to his back was a greatsword, glinting in the meager sunlight that pierced the forest canopy. A hand, wrapped in cloth, gripped the worn hilt in preparation. He was the tallest of the three, and, Shiro assumed, the strongest. Behind him was a raven-haired pony-tailed girl, who surveyed the three Leaf Genin emotionlessly. She was garbed in a nondescript blue robe, with a variety of pouches lining her waist. A small glint in the light gave away that she held needles in her left hand. The smallest of the trio, Shiro could hardly analyze, as a black strip of cloth obscured his mouth. His jet black locks were spiky, and he possessed the same stare as the girl, emotionless and calculating. A black cloak guised his person, leaving only his arms visible. His left arm was, to Shiro's slight shock, encased in metal from the elbow downward. At his hands, the metallic fingers were extended into jagged claws. All three of the genin, however, bared a headband at their forehead, decorated only by four lines, with two adjacent to each other, and the remaining ones right below them.

Well, damn.

The gaze of the two teams met, and slight fear brushed across the faces of the genin on both sides. Hastily masking their own, the Leaf Genin glanced at each other again, unsure of what to do.

"Leaf ninja, eh?" The girl said quietly.
"That's interesting." The boy bearing the clawed hand commented. "What should we do, Daizuro?"
"They look weak." The sword wielder, assumed to be Daizuro, replied. The shinobi seemed to be uncaring or oblivious to the fact that the Leaf ninja could hear the entire conversation.
"They do." The girl interjected again. "And look -- they have a heaven scroll."
"Ah, we need that." Daizuro's grin widened. His gaze finally focused entirely on the three Leaf ninja, who seemed paralyzed by nerves and fear. Shiro urged his body to move, but he seemed to be unable to bring his hands forward, to clench them into fists, to leap into the air and pummel these shinobi with so many blows that they would regret even the notion of attacking them...
"Okay, you lot." Daizuro said loudly. "We'll be taking that Heaven Scroll."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Hiro retorted. There was a slight tremor in his voice, but it was hardly noticed.
"What makes us so sure?" The clawed boy snickered. "We're freakin' Mist Nin, you brat. You know what they call our village? The Village Hidden in Bloody Mist. Any clue what that means?"
Shiro could even feel his own face paling as he took in these words, but managed to put a hand to his waist, fumbling for a kunai...
"That boy's going for a kunai!" The girl said sharply, her cold eyes catching his movement.
"Trying to be sneaky?" Daizuro laughed. "Not with us, you brat." A kick of his powerful legs sent the lead Mist Ninja into the air, unsheathing his greatsword in a fluid movement. As the shinobi raced forward, Shiro hastily glanced at his allies, with the question in his gaze evident.

Should we run or fight?

[*Duke*]

All things considered Masato was not looking for a fight, though the forest of death seemed appropriate name for where they were now, as he watched the Sound Ninja confront the Grass Ninja. There was something about the genin with the yellow hair and the slight hunch that un-nerved Masato. He had the appearance of a wild beast that at any moment might attack if provoked, his eyes fierce held back. Yet it was at that very moment the ninja became a blur as he charged head first at the ninja in front of him. A chunk of flesh flew in the opposite direction of the falling Grass Ninja as the wild Sound Ninja seemed to have sprouted claws. The hairs on the back of Masato’s neck stood up as he continued to focus on keeping himself concealed hiding the sheer horror of the animosity he had just seen.

It wasn’t enough that he had disabled his victim the sound ninja seemed more obliged to tear apart every shred of flesh from the Grass Ninja’s body, howling at the blood that splattered across his face; his eyes no longer the showing restraint but pure and utter joy of the kill as he plunged his hand into the fallen Ninja. Masato couldn’t close his eyes as the sight of blood seemed to fill him with a feeling he couldn’t quite describe. It was like every nerve in his body had become electrified as a slight shiver ran through him. Deep in his own thoughts Masato wanted to fight this…Daiko, he had herd one of the Sound Ninja call him. He wanted to fight this beast and show the amount of pain it had just displayed ten fold, showing the creatures black heart before it died, twisting its fallen body until the blood rained down upon Masato. That sudden thought frighten Masato as he realized the other two Grass Ninja were now dead.

Tests, Class D missions, all of that didn’t seem to mean much right now, as he watched the ninja fall so easily; staring back down he could see the obvious difference between them. From what he had just seen, even the best of his training didn’t seem to compare to them. Nothing seemed to matter to the Sound Ninja bellow them, except raw and uncontrollable power. The Sound Nina began to continue on one hesitating seeming to watch the rock Ushi was hiding against, yet like the others took off following behind. Like the end of a hurricane the Ninja had come and gone and all that was left were the bodies of the fallen Grass Ninja.

After a few minutes Raizen emerged from a log giving a nod to where Ushi and Masato where hiding. Descending quickly he could see that both of this teammates seemed to have the same look of shock and horror.
“This was a slaughter, those weren’t ninja those were monsters…” Masato seemed to say, his hands shaking as he clenched them into fists.
“Perhaps we should, take care of the bodies?” suggested Ushi, his face calm now and focused.
There was silence for a few minutes as Raizen spoke up: “No,” he said, “We don’t have time we have to make it to the central tower, those Sound Ninja could return at any moment.”
Ushi and Masato nodded as they all collected themselves and continued onwards towards the tower, springing from tree to tree making sure as to not draw any attention to them.

[Roy Karrde]

Oh God I completely forgot about this, I am so sorry everyone, I have had 4 weeks of finals and really no time off.

Iokawa, Hiro
~*~*~*~*~ We’ll fight the powers that be just don’t pick our destiny~*~*~*~*~

”Trying to be sneaky?” The sword boy asked. “Not with us, you brat.” He launched off with inhuman speed, unsheathing his sword in one beautiful almost majestic motion. That was when the entire world seemed to explode; my once frozen legs seemed to move on their own as I got into the way of the shinobi’s attack.

Shiro glanced in my direction, the unspoken question traveling between us with just a glance. Should we fight or should we run? I shook my head as I grabbed a Kunai. If we ran we would just be hunted and placed in the unfavorable position of retreating with three very fast Shinobi on our tails. Shinobi’s that if they had the speed of the lead one, would quickly over take us.

“Mighty Spear of the Wind.” I channeled chakara into the attack, sending it out in one long wind spear angled at the charging Shinobi,

“Don’t humor me.” He laughed, swinging his mighty sword as the spear raced toward him. In one clean sweep he split the wind spear in two with out breaking a stride. In a mere blink of an eye he was upon me, swinging the sword around to cut me in two.

His attack would have struck if I hadn’t back flipped just a moment sooner, as I spun in the air I grasped two more kunai and flung them in his direction. There was no way those would actually strike, but I had to try, if for anything, it would provide me a extra millisecond to distance myself.

“Running would be suicide.” I called out toward Shiro, pivoting to the right and rolling along the ground as the Shinobi slammed his sword into where I had once stood just a second earlier.

“Staying here is suicide.” The Shinobi laughed, sweeping his sword low to try and cut me in two as I rolled.

I moved into a forward roll, my legs coming up and pushing me into the air as I leapt over the sword strike. As I landed I turned my attention to the sword, balling my fists and sending several quick wind punches at the sword, to my dismay they didn’t even dent the steel.

“Crap.” I mumbled, doing several flips backwards to avoid the swings, I had to thank whatever God or Gods were watching over us that he was just using his sword at the moment and saving his chakara attacks. I flipped one last time; my head ramming into something hard that caused my ears to ring as my body slumped against it.

I glanced back and found myself against a tree; I had to curse myself for not even watching my surroundings. I pushed the strength up into my legs and leapt into the air to try and reach a tree branch.

It was then I heard an ear splitting rip of cloth, skin, muscle being ripped and torn, blood being splashed into the air, and for a moment I thought that one of the others had been hit. It was then pain rushed up my leg, stars filled my vision and suddenly I became very very dizzy. I glanced down to find the large sword stuck inside of my leg, so deep it looked as if it had cut through at least a few tendons, but not enough to reach the bone.

He withdrew his sword and I fell to the ground, my left leg going numb. The Shinobi picked up his sword, wiping the blood off with a cloth. He angled it at my head and pulled it up in a chopping motion.

‘Hikari.’ I whispered, images of her playing in my head as I closed my eyes.

I could hear the wind splitting as he swung the sword down to cut me in two. “Hikari.” My arms shot out with out even looking, catching the sword between my two hands as wind rushed through my finger tips, the amount of force catching the sword and suspending it just inches from my face.

“Some one kill him now.” I screamed out, a mixture of urgency and pain in my voice as the chakra and wind flying from my fingers were beginning to blister and crack my fingers, skin chipping away and blood flying out as I tried to keep his blade from ripping me in two. Some one help me now… please.

[Shadow Djinn]

Yagyu Shiro - Genin
-

What kind of genin are these people?

As the swordsman leaped forward, swinging his blade downward, Shiro leapt away from his teammates, watching a beam of sunlight reveal a barrage of needles whisking toward him, hastily adjusting his location once more to avoid the deadly tips. The smallest of the Mist Nin snickered, blending into black before appearing before him, his claw racing towards Shiro's chest. Hastily ducking under the blow, the genin caught Selekis racing toward the female Mist Nin from the corner of his eye, and the wariness of dealing with two Mist Nin now departed from his worries. Extending a bony arm, he grasped his opponent's armored limb before unsheathing a gleaming kunai, swiftly plunging it into his assailant's side, only for the weapon to plummet through the forest canopy. The spurt of blood stained the wood beneath them, unnerving Shiro, and the dark shinobi hastily retreated, placing his free hand on the wound. Though the blood sickened the Konoha genin, Shiro continued his assault, lashing outward with a sweeping kick, immediately retracting the limb as his blow was parried, his left arm shooting forward and colliding with the Mist Nin's stomach. Expecting the shinobi to stumble away, Shiro automatically reached into his pouch for another kunai, only to realize the Mist Nin was still standing as claws ripped through his gi and raked along his chest.

The stinging pain was indescribable, and Shiro felt tears come to his eyes from the burning feeling that ebbed at the wound. The dark shinobi raced forward to catch the retreating Konoha genin with another glancing blow, but Shiro managed to bring one of his bony arms upward to grasp the armored claw again, yanking the Mist Nin forward, and taking advantage of the momentum that stunned his assailant, Shiro unearthed another kunai in a fluid movement, slashing in a wide arc along his adversary's chest.

The Mist Nin's eyes widened as more blood spurted out, and he fell to his hands and knees, panting for breath.

Finish him.

Shiro panted heavily, the kunai loose in his hand from his moist, sweaty palms.

Just one stroke and you can end this.

I'd be a killer.

The genin could hear the rasping breaths of his enemy, the one who had tried to kill him...

If you were in the same position, he would kill you.

And despite this truthful fact, why couldn't he kill this shinobi?

DO IT!

The Mist Nin began to ran, and torn apart by the mental debate, Shiro relented, raising the bloody kunai to deal the final blow...

"SOMEONE KILL HIM NOW!"

The kunai fell from Shiro's hands as the shinobi whirled around, and immediately claws bit into his exposed back, inciting another surge of searing pain. Eyes widening as he realized his adversary had recovered, Shiro lashed out with his arms, hoping to catch the assailant with a paralyzing blow. A grunt confirmed that Shiro's blow had connected, and the genin leaped away from his opponent, focused on the scene before him...

Daizuro, struggling with the resistance from his fellow Konoha genin, Hiro, who grasped the sword with only his brute strength and the hissing wind, fighting with the overwhelming pain that was tearing away at him...

"Hiro!" Shiro roared.

Immediately the Konoha genin was a streamlined zephyr, blending into ebon streaks, appearing before the Mist Swordsman before, overwhelmed by sheer rage, knocking the shinobi away with a sweeping kick, hastily pulling Hiro to his feet, only to notice the grotesque wound that impeded his ally's movement.

"You're dead, you bloody Leaf Ninja." Daizuro whispered as he rose to his feet.

Shiro retreated several steps, only to hear the almost silent footsteps of the clawed Mist Nin behind him, sweat drenching his frame as his assailants approached.

You should've finished him when you had the chance.

Becuase now you're dead.

[Outlaw JT]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~

The sound of crickets stirred Onitoge from his brief and disturbing slumber. He was still a little shaken from their near miss encounter with the sand village genin. Thanks to Chiyoko and Hinata he had come to his senses but he had almost put them all in such danger!

"Morning sunshine!" Inakamo's beaming smile suddenly appeared before him. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Fish?"

Inakamo thrust a nicely toasted fish on a stick into Onitoge's face. He smiled back thankfully and took it. He felt bad he hadn't contributed to breakfast but Inakamo didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you both for breakfast," Onitoge said between bites as he surveyed their makeshift camp.

"Who said Chiyoko did anything?" Inakamo feigned being insulted.

"I've had your cooking before Inakamo and this is most thankfully not it," Onitoge smiled jokingly.

Both Inakamo and Chiyoko burst out laughing. They both also quickly stopped, realizing they were still in the middle of a dangerous forest filled with genin who might be stalking them to steal their pair of scrolls. Chiyoko smiled warmly as she got up, having just finished her own fish.

"It's good to see you in good spirits, Onitoge," she said happily.

"Thank you," he replied before finishing the last bite of his own fish.

"Well, if we're all done I suggest we pack up and hit the road again," Inakamo finished his sentence in song.

"Right. We only have two days to reach the tower now and we still have to avoid all the other genin squads," Onitoge said quietly.

Without another word the three young shinobi quickly broke down their makeshift camp. It took them only a few minutes before they were on the move again. Yesterday had been both harrowing and rewarding as they had managed to secure their second scroll. They still had potentially two more days in this dark place, however, so they moved on quickly and in silence.


ooc: not my best work but someone needs to move this thing along and sometimes filler can be fun.

[Outlaw JT]

Time to give this old gal a jump start. If you wish to post your final progress through the Forest of Death portion of the exam by all means do so. I, however, am posting a universal post to get things moving pronto! Hopefully we'll see a few of you Leaf Shinobi return to take up the call.

Exam 2 - Complete
Semifinals are go

Many young shinobi look forward eagerly, observing the three proctors, their sensei, even the Hokage! Many youths who just survived and completed a task designed to test and break the strongest and most clever among them. After several grueling days in the wild they've all arrived by one means or another to compete for the esteemed promotion to Chuunin.

"First off, for the second test, congratulations on passing," Anko started off with her cocky confident smile at the young shinobi. "Hehe. Among the 99 participants, 39 of you remain. I said I'd cut them in half but I was expecting single digits. The third Hokage will now explain the third test so listen carefully. Now, Lord Hokage, please?"

"Yes," the third Hokage answered, taking a pronounced step forward. "For the coming third test.....but before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam. Why do we have all of the allianced countries taking the exams together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is.... a replacement for war among the allied countries."

"What does that mean?" a shy young voice suddenly escaped the assemblage of young ninja.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies," the Hokage continued as if no one had spoken. "Enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for battle......That is the origins for these Chuunin selection exam."

"Why the hell do we have to do this crap?" Naruto suddenly burst forward shouting. "Isn't this thing for deciding who's a Chuunin?"

"It is a fact that this exam decides; which shinobi's have what it takes to become a chuunin," the third Hikage replied in stride through his pipe. "But on the other hand, this exam has another side.....Where each country's shinobis risk their own life to protect their land's prestige. Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi. And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'Our village has this much power.' So it will send a political message to the outsiders."

'Yeah, but why? Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?!" a sharp mischievous voice chimed from among the young shinobi.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength is born only through life-risking battle," the Hokage answered resolutely. "This exam is a place to see each countries strength and to show off your own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And thats why those that have come before you have fought in the chuunin exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why .... why do you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'?" another youthful voice chimes in.

"I said it in the beginning, I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this," the Hokage's voice grows deep and serious. "By losing life and establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of shinobi. Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test. This is a life-risking battle. With your dreams and your country's prestige on the line. I'd like to now explain the third test but....."

"Actually *cough*" a new voice speaks into the momentary pause. "I apologize Lord Hokage. From here on, as the referee, will you allow me?"

The new shinobi knelt before the Hokage and the sensei, coughing to break the silence. His face pale, his body slender and sickly, he waits patiently until the Hokage nods approval.

"Hello everyone. I'm Hayate," Hayate began, turning to face the gathered hopefuls. "Umm....before the third test there's something I'd like you to do. Umm...it's a preliminary for the third test....to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"Preliminaries?!" another sharp voice from the hopeful young ninja. "What do you mean?"

"Sensei," a softer voice, "I don't understand these preliminaries, but.....why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test?"

"Umm....Because the first and second test might have been too easy this year," Hayate resumes, his eyes sharpening. "We have a bit too many people remaining. According to chuunin exam rules we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Lord Hokage indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test. So the fights could take too long, we are limited in time. Umm.....Besides, even with a preliminary there will be too many participants in the third test this year. Umm....so anyway.....Those who are not feeling well. Those who feel like quitting after the explanations. Please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminaries immediately and now is the only time to back out before the matches begin."

Silence greets the young chuunin hopefuls as they absorb everything put before them. Hard days put in with no chance for rest and already another grueling obstacle is placed in their path. This time, however, the obstacle is unavoidably each other! A few are too tired or wounded to proceed but 34 remain to face the challenge. And the challenge begins as their names are randomly pulled to test their skills against each other with no preparation. And the first match: Tenten versus Leaf!

[Ultimate Charizard]

I would be up first lol...

Leaf
-----

'This is cruel' thought Leaf as she absorbed the information given to her. Fortunately her team had recovered their scrolls relatively quickly and spent alot of their time simply travelling and avoiding other teams though she still felt weary and couldnt help but noticed a number of the other Genin looked in even worse shape.
She was still looking around as she heard Hayate call her name and it took a moment to realise what he was calling her for.

"Im first?" she gasped. Looking around as the rest of the Genin and their Jounin headed for the spectators balconies. She smiled weakly as she was given encouraging waves and calls from her own team. Her expression turned serious when she noticed her opponent.

Leaf took up her position across from Tenten. Each of them staring at each other, attempting to gauge each other simply from their stances. Leaf already knew that Tenten was an excellent marksman with weaponry and slowly moved to draw a kunai from her belt. Her opponent smiled slightly and Leaf wondered whether Tenten knew that this action was simply as a guard and that Leaf herself was so bad she'd have trouble hitting the ground if she was standing on it.

Quick as a flash Tenten moved to the left though not before releasing a handfull of Shuriken which Leaf just managed to block with her Kunai, only to be forced to dodge a further 2 volleys from new directions as Tenten moved.
"Your pretty quick" said Tenten as she leapt into the air to launch yet another projectile attack, this time a handfull of Kunai.

It was true, thought Leaf. She was pretty quick thanks to her Taijutsu specialisation but she was having touble working out how she was going to get through Tentens attacks to press an attack of her own. Every move met a new assault of seemingly endless projectile weapons. It felt like trying to run through the rain without getting wet.

In the background she could hear the increasingly loud support Tenten was getting from her Sensei and one of her team mates, though from this distance which was which was hard to tell. She cursed under her breath as she felt something slice into her arm. Reprimanding herself for letting her concentration slip for that second and focused her attention back to her opponent.

She looked up in time to see a double sided attack heading her way. Quite how Tenten had managed to launch both attacks from seemingly different deirections she didnt know but she did know she wouldnt be able to avoid them all. Thinkiing fast she reached into her bag and dropped a smoke pellet, surrounding herself instantly with thick smoke.

Multiple loud clangs could be heard within the smokescreen and Tenten paused for a moment, waiting to see what emerged as the smoke dissipated. Leaf stood in a crouched position with 6 Shurken lying scattered around her.

Tenten briefly wore a look of confusion though Leaf noted knowing smiles on the faces of her team.
"How did you do that?" asked Tenten slightly panting. "You didnt dodge them I could here the impact, and theres no way you could have blocked them all"
Leaf had a sly smile on her face, pleased that she finally had Tenten slightly confused.
"That was my special technique, i just didnt want you to see it just yet" she said softly.

"Well lets see how good it is" announced Tenten who leapt high into the air after launching a pair of Kunai which were too fast for Leaf to dodge. They were aimed low and pinned the loose parts of her outfit to the stone floor.

Leaf looked up, half in panic at being trapped as Tenten began to unfurl a scroll around her. This was Tentens ninja technique, a mini armoury of throwing weapons began appearing from the marks on the scroll and each was then launched with deadly precision at Leaf.
Unable to pull free Leaf realised she had no other way to defend herself and focused her Chakra. Her body flashed a stone grey for a split second and then she was still. She could still see the approaching projectiles and hear the gasps and concern from the spectators but as the deadly rain began to hit and bounce harmlessly off her hardened skin the gasps of worry torned to amazement and confusion.

Tenten landed looking more confused than anyone though Leaf remained in her crouched position, remaining in her defensive Jutsu. As predicted Tenten produced another scroll and launched yet another hail of sharp and pointed death which again had no effect.
Leaf knew that Tenten was a very skilled fighter though it seemed she relied almost exclusively on her projectile attacks and these scroll techniques were eating up her Chakra. Stoneskin would soon do the same to Leaf however and she had to do something fast.

As soon as the lethal rain ended leaf broke from her defence, pulled out the Kunai that had her pinned and sprinted hard at the wall, jumping high and planting her feet, using her Chakra to find purchase and sprint up the wall before once again leaping, this time getting some height and moving towards Tenten from above, landing a number of fast kicks that Tenten found herself slow to react to.
Both Kunoichi were falling back to the arena floor while trading close combat blows which suited Leaf much more and as Tenten lunged with a punch Leaf caught hold of it and pulled Tenten into a hugging grip.

"Let go" she screamed as she tried to wriggle free but her oponent had a grip like stone and the realisation of what was happening struck her with fear. She looked at Leaf and realised she wasnt moving an inch, she had used her Stone defence Jutsu in midair and both were falling to the floor. Leaf would be fine and Tenten realised that she wouldnt be.
Not many people were after falling to a stone floor in the arms of a Statue.

The impact was huge and Leaf regretted having to resort to such a drastic measure to win but she was here to prove herself just as much as any of the other Genin.
She released the Jutsu and stood long enough for Hayate to declare herself the winner before moving over to the unconcious Tenten and making sure she was ok.
She could already hear her team mates cheering though the rest of the arena seemed eerily quiet and Leaf began hoping she hadnt gone too far as she made her way over to the balcony stairs.

---------------------

I enjoyed that. Hope it wasnt a bit of a sudden victory though in fairness it was little bit nicer than what happened to her in the Anime lol.

[Prof. Jb Wolf]

Inuzuka Hige
String and Fang Duet

Even as he watched the first match of the preliminaries, Hige's couldn't help glancing over at Team 7, notably the ever-popular Uchiha Sasuke. Team 14 had stumbled across the group and seen the confrontation of the Sound Nin and Leaf Nin. They had even been about to contribute their end as well when the Uchiha dispatched the team dispassionately with a strength that was frightening to watch. But what unsettled both him and Ginmaru the most was the smell that had emanated from him. A shiver went up his spine. "He smelled...wrong...tainted, as if something was twisting within him...Something that was trying to get out." Those were the words that he had used to explain to his teammates.

Though Sasuke had returned to normal and seemed as if nothing was amiss, Hige was certain that had not been a one time deal. The thought of having to face him in that form left the normally arrogant Inuzuka shaken. If Haru or Kukai has to face that, they might not come out alive...hell I don't even know if I would survive something like that...

*GONG*

Hige snapped to attention as the scoreboard displayed the names of the next combatants.

Inuzuka Hige Vs Kankuro

All thoughts of tainted power and demonic ninjas fled from Hige's thoughts as he bared his fangs in a feral grin. "YOSHA! Ready partner?" He looked down at Ginmaru who only barked an affirmative.

"Ganbatte, Hige-san." That was Haru, quiet as ever.

"Be careful and do your best Inuzuka-kun." Miharu-sensei's smile was all serene beauty as she clasped her hands together.

Kukai merely told Hige to 'hold still' before poking him in the forehead. With a few deft strokes of her finger she made the kanji for 'luck' on his forehead. "You always seem as if you could use a little more of it." She said at his questioning look before doing the same to Ginmaru. "In any case, try not to get yourself beat up too badly. What would Ayame-san think if you came back covered in bruises?"

"'tch, at least she'll be a lot nicer 'bout it." With that he and Ginmaru leapt over the railing. Landing in a crouch he removed his hitai-ate and wrapped it around his brow.

"A kid and his dog?" Kankuro's painted face was contorted in an arrogant smirk. "This won't even take me a minute."

"Don't underestimate us." Hige growled as he curled his fingers, chakra already flowing through his body and awakening his bestial side. "You might just live to regret it."

Ignoring Hige's heated glare, Kankuro just moved the bandaged bundle on his back to his side. "What's that? All I heard was a little pup yapping." He pantomimed a dog with his hands. "Arf arf yip yip!"

A bass growl rumbled in Hige's throat, echoed by his partner, barely contained rage seethed in his eyes. As he opened his mouth to respond, a quiet cough interuppted him. The Jounin proctor, Hayate, gave both a level look with his shadowed eyes. "I can see both combatants are ready." Coughing again, he raised a hand. "Round two of the Preliminaries....begin!"

The word had barely left his mouth before Ginmaru sprang forward like a silver rocket, slamming his head into Kankuro's belly. Winded, the Sand shinobi staggered backwards as Hige appeared, claws bared, having swapped places with Ginmaru. "TSUUGA!" Howling he began to spin, catching Kankuro in a tornado of claws, fists, and feet. Both fighters airborne, Hige used the momentum from his spin to deliver a powerful kick to Kankuro's sternum sending him bouncing across the floor in a heap.

Breathing slightly harder than usual, Hige grew tense as he warily eyed the limp form of his opponent. He was surprised at how furiously he had attacked the Sand ninja. He'd let his emotions get the better of him while in his primal state, perhaps killing Kankuro if not severely injuring him. A shinobi should be in control of himself... He mentally berated. Padding up next to him, Ginmaru gave him a sympathetic 'arf' and a paw to his leg.

With a jerk, Kankuro rose. Strangely, he remained limp as ever and as he got up, his whole body seem to float as if held up by invisible strings. Something drifted off his face (pieces of flesh? Blood?), but he kept his head down, chin tucked down on his chest. A rattling sound filled the air as his head suddenly jerked upright and Hige gasped. Cracks traced lines against part of his face, like some sort of spider's web, but that was not what had elicited his surprised response. Paint and clay seem to have shattered the other half of his face, revealing a lifeless unblinking black eye and the carved features of a puppet.

"What the..."

"Heh heh, not bad dog brat, but Karasu here is a lot more durable than that." Kankuro's disembodied voice did not echo, but seemed to come from everywhere at once. The rattling sound filled the air again and with a sudden jerk Karasu surged forward arms spread. Cloth ripped away as as another pair of arms burst out from where its ribs should be. Blades sprang out from their hidden compartments as it neared Hige, ready to give him a deadly embrace.

The duo threw themselves sideways as the puppet came jerked to a halt where they had last stood. "Pretty fast." Karasu spread its lower arms to either side, wrists bending back as a pair of blades popped out of them. "But how about this!"

The puppet's arms lashed out like a pair of striking vipers. Leaping back, Hige barely dodged it, the blade cutting through his pants and leaving a long gash along his thigh before embedding itself in the floor. Grimacing, Hige probed the wound with one hand. It's not too deep, it shoul-. He stumbled back as Karasu turned towards him with its whirling blades flashing in the light. Only Hige's well honed reflexes allowed him to dodge the brunt of the puppet's assault, though two more gashes appeared on his his arm and stomach. I can't keep this up all day, and we'll get nowhere fighting the puppet. We've gotta get the puppeteer!

Throwing himself back in a roll, Hige dipped a hand into his pocket and barked. As Karasu lunged forward, his hand came up the kunai flicking through the air. It thunked into the wood of Karasu's body as the explosive tag tied to the end of it came to its end. The resulting explosion enveloped the area around them in smoke. Karasu burst through the cloud first, flitting through the air around it ready to skewer Hige as he came through. A low pitched howl presided the Inuzuka's attack as he spiraled outwards in a Tsuuga that took the puppet in the chest. Another form burst from the smoke, rushing low against the ground towards Kankuro's abandoned bundle.

Bandages swirled through the air as they came undone forming a flimsy barrier. With quick slashes of his dagger, the barrier was gone revealing a grinning Kankuro. "So you knew where I was, eh dog brat? Looks like you know how to be in two places at once as well."

Hige grinned slightly as he pressed his attack. Kankuro backed away slightly, his fingers wriggling as he continued to control Karasu even as Hige pushed him back. Soon enough though, the Inuzuka fighter's furious assault abated and hsi movements became somewaht sluggish. The hell....my body....it feels so strange. His vision blurred as Kankuro's smirking face seemed to gain a twin. Wha....what? Wai...it can't be...

"Oh, I see you finally realized it." Kankuro's smirk grew all the wider. "Karasu's poison is beginning to take effect, slowly paralyzing your body until your unable to move."

"You che-"

"All's fair in battle dog brat!"

Kankuro leapt away as he tugged his hands down. As Hige tried to clear his blurring vision something impacted against his back sending him sprawling to the floor. Ginmaru toppled over next to him as he reverted back to his canine form with a puff of smoke. Gathering his feet as best he could, Hige shakily got to his feet with a grimace. "You okay, Ginmaru?" His partner gave a weak affirmative as he got his paws under him.

"Heh, look at you! You can barely stand up dog brat!" Kankuro stood a few feet away, Karasu before him its blades retracted. "Just give it up, you can't win."

Hige bared his teeth in defiance even as his vision began to swim and his muscle lock up. "Never." He began growling slightly and Ginmaru's ear twitched ever so slightly.

"Then its time we brought an end to this play." Karasu jerked slighlty before revealing its blades again. "Say g-ARGH!"

Ginmaru, with a rush of chakra, had leapt up and clamped on to Kankuro's head. As the puppeteer raised his hands to rip him away, the silver furred dog released a burst of urine into his face before leaping off and back to Hige's side. Kankuro clutched at his face in agony as Hige forced his hands to make a series of hand seals. I can't keep this up much longer. Gotta finish this in one shot.

"JUJIN BUSOU!" (Man Beast Armament) Ginmaru leaped up onto Hige's shoulder as chakra swirled around them both. The swirls of chakra swirled mainly around Ginmaru and Hige's right arm.

Rubbing away at his eyes, Kankuro could make out the blurry form of Hige and could faintly see the flows of chakra manifest around him. "I was going to go easy on you dog brat, but now you've made me mad! KARASU! KILL HIM!" Rattling like a nest of cobras, Karasu jerked forward all four blades presented.

Smoke enveloped the pair and Karasu disappeared into it. A few moments later, the puppet came crashing out, arms shattered and torso broken. Kankuro's eyes widened even as the smoke cleared revealing the kneeling form of Hige. His whole right arm was sheathed in a silvery metal that shined dully in the lights of the arena. His right hand was three times its normal size and all five of his fingers terminated in sharp claws. "Sorry I had to break your friend, but you were right about one thing."

Kankuro's eyes widened as Hige blurred away only to appear in front of him. "This play is over! GETSUUGA!" (Moon Fang)
The large claw ripped its way into Kankuro's chest and thrust him backwards to crash on his back.

Breathing heavily Hige, collapsed to one knee as he cradled his right arm to his chest. In a burst, Ginmaru reappeared as his arm returned to normal. Cradling the exahusted pup in the crook of his arm was all Hige could do, the poison having taken its toll on his body. "Kuso..." Closing his eyes he could feel himself start to fade into unconciousness. "No...not yet..."

Faintly as his concious mind drifted away he could hear the proctor. "Winner...Inuzuka Hige!"

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Blinking as regained conciousness, Hige sat up gasping. "Nani..." Something bopped sharply on the head. "Ite....Oi, I'm injured!"

"That was for pulling a fool move Inuzuka Hige-san. If Miharu-sensei and the medinin's had not gotten to you, who knows what kind of trouble you'd get yourself into." Kukai admonished, fists on her hips. "Honestly, are all the males of Inuzuka clan as hard headed as you and your cousin?"

"'tch..." His eyes widened. "Oi, what about Ginm-"

"He's alright as well." Kukai stepped to the side showing Haru holding the ninja dog in his arms, bandages already wrapped around him.

"Yokatta..." Hige gingerly got to his feet. He felt as weak and drained as a baby. "So, did I win? And how come I'm not in the infirmary? And where's Miharu-sensei?"

Kukai rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes you won. Miharu-sensei was able to convince the medinins that you would be fine under her care and then left to examine the poison that puppet guy used on you to make sure there were no lasting effects. She thought you would like to see the rest of the matches."

"'ow long was I out?"

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. The next match was just about to begin." She eyed Hige as he clutched the railing. "Maybe you should go to the infirmary..."

"No, I want to see this through." He smirked slighlty. "A good shinobi should always take time to study his opponents before battle right?"

"And where was this insight during your fight?"

"...."

Huh, only took me a week. That's a record. In any case, sorry I was overdramatic, OOC with Kukai, o rmade Hige come out too powerful.

[Dr.McNinja]

Hiro studied Ushi in the moments before Hayate officially began their match, shifting his weight idly from foot to foot on the stone tile floor. The strange genin was a genjutsu user and he must use that katana at his side in combat, but beyond that he really didn’t know anything about him.. Hiro was wary of genjutsu; even though Saruwatari-sensei had trained him and the others to dispel illusion techniques he worried at what he might get pulled into. Saruwatari-sensei’s words echoed through his head, ”Do not give them an inch, genjutsu takes focus and concentration, give them neither.”

Ushi flashed Hiro a bright smile and a wink, but the genin did not let what he assumed to be an attempt at distraction to unnerve him. For his part, Ushi was slightly offended by Hiro’s lack of manners. The Hokage gave a slight nod to Hayake. The examiner coughed slightly before raising and lowering his hand with a muted, “begin...”

Immediately Ushi began raising his flute to his lips, his eyes fluttering shut as he prepared to weave his genjutsu. He should have enough time before Hiro got close enough to do anything, and by the time he di…

“MIGHTY FIST OF THE WIND!”

Ushi’s eyes snapped open in shock as Hiro drove his fist forward, weaving his chakra into the motion and blasting the force of his punch through the air at Ushi. Turning frantically, Ushi still took the force of the attack on his shoulder, spinning him all the way around and leaving teetering off balance. Pain shot through his arm as he moved it, but at least it was still working after that blow…

Seeing Ushi raising his flute again, Hiro allowed himself a smile as he threw out his fist again, forcing the genin to dive to the side, barely dodging the oncoming blast of wind. It was working! Gritting his teeth, Hiro began a true attack, driving his fists out again and again, sending blast after blast of wind at the frantically dodging Ushi. Where Ushi managed to get out of the way, the wind slammed into the walls of the arena, cracking the stone. Where Ushi did not manage to move fast enough, wind was knocked from his lungs and painful sounding crunches emerged from his slight frame.

Ushi coughed painfully, twisting aside from yet another attack and falling heavily to the ground due to the awkward motion. The attacks were driving up massive amounts of dust, stinging Ushi’s eyes as he struggled to find his feet again. Rolling quickly to the side, he managed to spring back up and turned to Hiro, his hand on the hilt of his katana, braced for the next blast. Hiro was looking elsewhere though, and suddenly Ushi realized that with the dust and debris and his own fall, Hiro had lost sight of him. He had to use this advantage to get closer, the pure ferocity of Hiro’s attacks at this range were just too much…and all this dust was simply ruining his nails!

Ushi took a running step forward, locking eyes with Hiro as he did. It wasn’t until Hiro turned and fired out yet another powerful wind blast that Ushi realized that locking eyes meant that Hiro could see him too. He half-drew his katana before the blast hit him, literally lifting him from the ground and slamming him into the arena wall even as the impact rang his blade like a bell.

This is it!, Hiro thought as he stepped towards Ushi, pounding the frail genin again and again with his Mighty Fist of Wind jutsu. The genjutsu user was pinned against the wall, unable to recover long enough to make any more desperate attempts at escape. Hiro slammed blast after blast into him, cracking the wall all around Ushi’s body and finally letting him slump lifelessly to the ground like a broken doll, blood streaming from his mouth. He had done it! Without even a scratch he had…

Up in the viewing area, Saruwatari-sensei sighed disgustedly, “Idiot…never assume with a genjutsu user.”

Somehow, maybe he had heard the soft fluttering of Ushi’s clothes, or maybe the sibilant noise his blade made as it left the sheathe, Hiro turned in time to just avoid Ushi’s thrust. A kunai appeared in his hands as he backpedaled frantically, batting away Ushi’s slashes with barely inches to spare. Selekis started slightly next to Saruwatari-sensei, “H-how did he? Hiro wasn’t letting him get anywhere near that flute of his…”

Saruwatari-sensei shook his head, his scowl ugly enough to intimidate a rock “He knew that Ushi uses music to weave his genjutsu, but he never thought twice about playing the kid’s katana like a damn xylophone!”

Hiro didn’t have time to ponder his mistake however, Ushi had managed to close the gap and now it was suddenly Hiro who was at a range disadvantage against Ushi’s katana. He was still off-balance, backing off and sidestepping just to stay away from the slashing edge of Ushi’s blade. He had won…and now any second he was going to lose…that quickly. Sensei was right, Hiro mourned, he was a one note shinobi and robbed of that note Hikari probably would be doing better than him right now…

Hikari

Hiro’s backstepping foot planted itself, and his kunai lashed out with enough force to stop Ushi’s swing dead, stopping the gleeful genin’s flurry of attacks cold.

How can I go to Hikari and tell her that I couldn’t even make it past the second test?

Ushi withdrew his blade and aimed a second attack at Hiro’s head. Shifting his torso, Hiro caught the katana on his kunai yet again, sliding it down the blade in order to take a step in towards Ushi. His other hand lashed out in a punch which forced Ushi to leap back before straightening his katana and coming in for a double-handed thrust.

I can’t let Hikari down! No matter what it costs me!

Hiro twisted Ushi’s blade aside with his kunai and began to shift his weight for his own attack. Ushi released his right hand from the hilt of his katana however and, using the momentum of Hiro’s parry, let his sword arm swing back and twist around behind him where his free right hand was now waiting. Taking the blade in a backhanded grip, Ushi continued whipping the katana around his body toward Hiro’s side. Hiro didn’t have time to shift his weight back to defense, not now that he had already started his attack. He had to follow through, and he had to make this strike count…or else he was finished…

Hikari…this is for you.

“MIGHTY SPEAR OF THE WIND!”

Chakra and air whirled around Hiro’s kunai as he thrust for Ushi’s shoulder. The genin’s katana came within an inch of Hiro’s side when, with a crack like thunder, the wind spear exploded from the kunai and into Ushi. Both shinobi were thrown back by the sheer force of the blast released at such close range. Even those safely in the stands had to shield themselves from the blast of wind or risk being struck by flying debris. Hiro cried out as he felt the backlash of his attack rip up his arm, tearing muscles and shaking bones. Such was the price of using such an attack at close range. Ushi fared far worse however, driving into the wall with enough force to crack the stone, a hole punched in his shoulder from which blood poured freely. A harsh clanging rang through the arena as Ushi’s sword, thrown from his grasp at the moment of impact, landed a few feet from Hiro. Hiro scrambled to his feet painfully as Ushi took a few wobbling steps away from the wall, dazed. Beginning to stride towards Ushi, Hiro felt a lurch in his stomach as he saw Ushi reaching for his flute with his working arm. Not this again!

Hiro’s hand found the hilt of Ushi’s dropped sword. Pulling the blade up, Hiro streaked at Ushi who had only just managed to pull the flute from his waistband. A rising cry rose from Hiro as he charged, bringing the katana up in a thrusting position. Ushi looked confusedly at the charging Hiro, the hand holding the flute rose as if he believed pointing the instrument at Hiro might stop him dead in his tracks.

Up in the stands, Neji glanced over to Raizen, “He’s barely conscious…this isn’t going to last much longer.”

Raizen though seemed less than worried, a small smile forming on his face, “No it’s not…poor Hiro.”

It was at the moment of his thrust, the blade aimed for Ushi’s midsection, when Hiro suddenly noticed the odd markings on the genin’s flute come alight. Still, he might have continued with his attack if behind that glittering instrument he hadn’t suddenly seen the flashing amusement ignite in Ushi’s formerly dull eyes. The blade shot from the end of the flute, stopping a fraction of an inch before Hiro’s wide eyes. His own blade hovered some distance further from its target of Ushi’s stomach. Held at the very end as it was, Ushi’s flute-blade had just that much more reach than his other sword. Pain was evident, even behind the amusement in Ushi’s eyes, and his shoulder wound continued to bleed steadily even as he smiled at Hiro, “Oh do be careful with that sword…it means a lot to me.”

Hiro gritted his teeth as he took a cautious step away from the waving blade in front of his face, “A shinobi shouldn’t have such attachments, they’re just weaknesses in battle…”

Ushi seemed surprised at Hiro’s statement, so surprised that even the pain of moving his injured arm was not evident at all as he lifted Hikari by her hair and shifted his flute-blade to lie against her throat, “Oh my…then I suppose this little gambit of mine is not going to work as well as I had hoped…”

Hiro gagged at the sight. Hikari!? How had he…no…it had to be an illusion especially considering his opponent. Hikari couldn’t be here…she was safe back in the village. Even so, even knowing that it was an illusion, Hiro could feel his stomach churning, “That’s not going to work Ushi…you’re just trying to get me off guard…”

Blinking a few times, Ushi nodded empathetically, “Yes, yes I was. But apparently you’re far too smart for me! Oh well, no need for this anymore…”

With that, Ushi dragged his blade across Hikari’s throat, a fountain of blood spraying into the air to rain down morbidly on both Ushi and Hiro. Hiro felt a chill run down his spine as he felt the droplets hit his face…he shouldn’t be able to feel anything, shouldn’t be able to taste the faint metallic tinge of the blood, especially if he was aware of the illusion…what was going on here?

Yukiso covered his eyes with one hand, “This is going to get ugly…”

With a quick shove, Ushi pushed Hikari at Hiro, “I do believe this is yours…seeing as how I have no use for her anymore.”

The sudden and unexpected weight of Hikari forced Hiro to drop Ushi’s katana and stumble back a few more steps. Warm blood spilled on to him as Hikari’s slashed throat continued to bleed profusely. Weight? Warmth?…Hiro’s mind was racing in confusion as he looked down into the rapidly clouding eyes of his sister. A small hand reached up weakly and brushed lightly against Hiro’s face.

“Nii….san?”

The hand fell away and Hikari’s body went limp.

It was real…she was real. The body in his hands, the blood sprinkled all over him…even the fading feel of her touch…it was all real. Hiro’s mouth opened but no sound came out. The body dropped as he jerked his hands away from it, not wanting to believe it. Was this even possible? Fevered eyes darted to and fro, suddenly landing on the smiling Ushi who looked on with apparent curiosity at Hiro’s state.

He…killed Hikari…he joked about it…he smiled as he killed her. She was everything, she was why I tried my hardest…for her. Now she’s gone and…and…

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

Hiro lashed out with his kunai, the spear of wind jagged and unfocused as he lost his tenuous control of his chakra under the stress. The spinning chakra cut into his own arm even as the spear shot out. Ushi leapt over the incoming projectile, seemingly splitting in two as he did so that an Ushi landed on either side of Hiro and dashed in with slicing blades. Screaming incoherently, Hiro grabbed a second kunai with his free hand and stabbed his arms out to either side. One spear caught an Ushi who vanished in a puff of smoke, the other missing by a hair as Ushi leapt aside. Chakra began spinning around Hiro as he continued to rage at Ushi, tearing uncontrollably at his body even as he shot wild spears of wind over and over at his sister’s killer. Blood dripped from dozens of tiny cuts caused by his lack of control but the pain was as nothing to him as his anger and hatred for Ushi drove him.

Neji looked confused, even as he activated his Byakugan, “That body…it’s not real but it’s definitely more than an illusion…what is that?”

Raizen stepped up next to his brother, his own Byakugan activated as well, “It’s Ushi’s Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu…he uses his chakra to make his genjutsu real enough to touch. But now that Hiro kid’s just gone ballistic, what’re you going to do now?”

Ushi, perched on the railing of the stands played one last lilting melody with his flute and then lowered it and gave a pained chuckle, “Well he certainly cannot tell illusion from reality anymore! Which means he probably will not notice this either.”

Small, floating embers of chakra began to spring into life between Ushi and the arena below, like tiny blue torches hanging in the air. Masato spoke up with sudden understanding, “Shukuchi…”

Ushi turned to Raizen as he prepared to leap back to the arena floor, almost losing his balance as one of Hiro’s attacks struck beneath them, “Make sure to watch me Raizen dear!”

Neji glanced askance at Raizen as Ushi leapt, “Dear?”

Raizen closed his eyes, relaxing his Byakugan as he did so, “Don’t ask…”

Neji sighed heavily, “He’s that obsessed with you?”

Opening his eyes again, Raizen watched as Ushi landed lightly on the arena floor, “He lives in my closet Neji…”

Neji was quiet for a moment before he responded, “…do we need to talk?”

Ushi braced himself, standing upright and taking a few deep breaths before he made his next move. Through the fluttering balls of charka he could see Hiro, surrounded by his own out of control chakra, practically foaming at the mouth as he tried his best to slaughter the illusionary Ushi. He was in line, it was time. Ushi put his hands together, forming them into a shape much like that of a blooming flower. Then he let the illusion drop.

Hiro seemed confused for a moment as Ushi suddenly vanished, but a quick turn brought the murdering bastard back into his view. His vision was so bloodshot and misty from his tears that even if he had been in control he may not have seen the floating field that lay between him and Ushi. His breath was ragged as he spoke between teeth so tightly gritted it was a wonder they did not break.

“I’ll…KILL…YOU!”

Hiro moved both arms together, letting lose a Mighty Spear of the Wind from both at once, the wild chakra slicing deeply into both arms and lancing back to strike at Hiro’s chest as well. The wildly spinning spears of wind rushed at Ushi whose voice was almost lost in the screaming of wind.

“Ushi-bakuha no Jutsu!”

With a loud popping noise, Ushi exploded into half a dozen smaller versions of himself, the spears rushing through the space he had once been in doing little more than throwing about the mini-Ushis’ hair and digging another hole into the arena wall. The stereo voice of the mini-Ushis rang out again.

“Mousetsu-tai no Jutsu! Shukuchi!”

The field of hovering chakra exploded, the individual lights blooming like tiny flowers before vanishing as the mini-Ushis blurred and flew through the field, appearing once again behind Hiro. Before the genin could move, the two Ushis on the ground turned and slashed into Hiro’s calves, slicing muscle and tendon with their small blades. Though they didn’t cut all the way though, it was enough to cause Hiro’s legs to give out, sprawling him backwards. Lights flashed in his eyes for a moment as his head struck the ground, only to fade and reveal two things: Hikari’s body lying in a puddle of blood some distance away, and a small yet extremely pointy katana hovering in front of his eye. The blade grew as did Ushi as the small clones gathered together once again. As for Hikari’s body, it wavered for a moment like smoke before dissipating all together. Hiro looked up at Ushi, tears and blood gathering together under his head.

“It…it was…”

Ushi smiled at the fallen shinobi, though the amusement was gone from his eyes, before finishing Hiro’s stammered statement.

“…just a dream.”

The blood loss from the dozen upon dozens of self inflicted wounds began to overwhelm Hiro. It really didn’t matter now though, he had lost the match as much as he had lost control of himself. He was almost happy to slip into unconsciousness, even as Hayate’s soft voice reached his ears.

“Winner: Ushi.”

[Bulbasaur4]

Chiyoko VS Ino

Chiyoko's heart was pounding when the monitor flashed her name along with Ino's.
"Don't worry Chiyoko... you can do it!" Inakamo said, patting her on the back as she began to head down. Onitoge nodded to her as well, both of her teammates boasting confidence.
Chiyoko gave them a weak smile, but in truth her demeanor had been shaken from the fights that had taken place before.
Flashes... bits of memory for their last mission still echoed in her mind. How she had tried to help- tried desperately to help them. Then how she was flung into a tree, the blackness enveloping her. Could she really do this? Could she really get anywhere with the tournament... let alone as a ninja?

"Ready?" Hayate asked, as Ino smirked at Chiyoko, assuming a battling stance.
"You're going down, little Rain nin. Don't think I've forgotten about where you really come from. I don't trust you one bit... " She sneered, causing Chiyoko's confidence to further sink within herself.
"Begin!"

Ino didn't hesitate to charge at Chiyoko with a kunai, and by sheer instinct Chiyoko took a kunai and met Ino. Ino's face was filled with sheer determination however, as she put all of her force and weight behind the kunai. The feroicity within her was unsettling to Chiyoko, who was still doubting herself even in the midst of battle.

"Her head isn't in the fight..." Onitoge commented from the stands, as Inakamo nodded.
"What's gotten into her?"

Ino could have laughed as she took one of her hands off of the kunai and suddenly aimed a keen punch at Chiyoko's chin. Chiyoko's eyes widened for a split second before the impact of the punch caused her to stagger backwards, her hand slipping off the kunai. A slash rippled through the air as Ino slashed Chiyoko in the gut, causing Chiyoko to stagger backwards again.
"This all you got, Rain girl? Man... you're just as pathetic as your obnoxiously cheerful face presents." Ino laughed, this time taking out another kunai and charging Chiyoko again.
"Come on Chiyoko! You're better than this!" Naruto roared.
"Chiyoko!" Onitoge called, as Inakamo insulted Ino from afar.

Stop doubting yourself... it is really unbecoming of an Okami.

A voice within her echoed, causing her to freeze for a moment. The voice... deep from within her it resided, but although it startled her it somehow filled her with confidence.
She had helped them through the forest... her team HAD done exceptionally well. Their Sensei, Takumi, had said that they all were special. They all were worthwhile.
"That... includes me..." Chiyoko whispered, realization suddenly filling her eyes.
Two kunai met Ino's, as Chiyoko suddenly gritted her teeth and put her own weight into countering Ino's weight.
"Oooh, so you're actually gonna try? Little Rain gonna give it her best?"
"I'M NOT A RAIN NINJA!" Suddenly Chiyoko roared, pushing Ino back with all her might as Chiyoko leapt into the air, backwards.

Chiyoko's wits and mind suddenly came to her as she licked her lips. She was not useless- she was just as capable as any of the other Genin. She had to be- if she wanted to aspire to her dream to be a Jounin, to return to the Village of the Cloud, she had to advance. She had to stand out and prove she was worthy!
Chiyoko brought her palm backwards as the air around her condensed a little, forming a small bead of water within her palm. Ino seemed taken aback for a moment, unknowing what to say. Unseeing of Chiyoko's palm, she snarled as she charged at Chiyoko once again.
The water within her palm began to swirl about, rapidly growing in size until it had reached the size of a thick, watery volleyball. Waiting patiently for Ino to come within range, Chiyoko waited.

Ino's steps seemed to be in slow motion as she stepped within range of Chiyoko's arm thrust, and she had no time to react to something she did not suspect.

Chiyoko hurled her arm forward and smashed the ball of water into Ino's chest. The water had condensed and smashed into Ino's chest with the force someone would have if they bellyflopped into a pool. Ino coughed as she dropped her kunai and was sent hurtling into the ground several yards away.

"You bitch!" Ino caughed, slowing getting to her feet as she narrowed her eyes. Chiyoko breathed heavily as she stood, adrenaline surging through her veins. "I'll get you!" Ino said, suddenly bringing her hands in front of her.
"Ino! No!" Choji yelled, but Ino was dead set on trapping Chiyoko in her jutsu. Chiyoko had not encountered Ino's jutsu before, but she did not care. Bringing her hands together, Chiyoko focused upon Ino.

"What is she doing?" Onitoge questioned, standing next to Takumi-sensei. Takumi explained to those around him that Ino had the capability to throwing herself into another ninja's mind. However, it was quite difficult and left her own body helpless in the process. If she missed, it would leave her completely vulnerable.
"Chiyoko, move!" Inakamo yelled, but it was too late. Chiyoko's own prepared jutsu caused her to not move, and Ino had done hers first, fueled on pure anger.

Silence echoed through the stadium... until suddenly Chiyoko's face contorted into the same sneering smile as Ino.
"It's over, Rain Girl." Chiyoko's voice said in an unnaturally cool tone. A few gasps escaped the stadium, for it seemed apparent that Chiyoko had lost. Hayate was ready to signal the winner to Ino for leaving Chiyoko vulnerable, but he hesitated as Chiyoko/Ino suddenly gasped and coughed.

Get out before I devour your soul and then eat your body for principle.

Chiyoko/Ino's eyes widened as her face paled- as if she had seen something horrific. A curdling scream echoed the arena, transferring to Chiyoko and suddenly spreading to Ino as she was returned to her normal body. Chiyoko's eyes blinked for a moment, as her concious was restored and Ino's knees began to shake with fear.
"You... you... monster!" She screamed, and Chiyoko's face filled with confusion. "No one... no one has forced me out before and you... you didn't do it! You... you ..." Ino continued to stammer.
Chiyoko was filled with confusion, but her quick mind was swift to piece together what had happened. She knew that Ino had taken over her concious, but somehow... Ino was forced out. This left her vulnerable, especially since she seemed to shaken up about it.
"I have no idea..." Chiyoko said with true innocence, bringing her hands together swiftly as she formed a few seals. "... what you're talking about."
"Like hell you do-" Ino began to say, but suddenly Ino's body went stiff. Her body was stuck in position. Onitoge and Inakamo clapped happily, as Takumi grinned.
"What's that... the same as Ino's...?" Shikamaru thought, but he knew it couldn't be that. It was some type of paralyzing jutsu...
"Way to go Chiyoko!" Naruto crooned.

Chiyoko knew her paralyzing jutsu was far from perfect, so quickly she began to gather up another ball of water.
"I have to finish this battle..." Chiyoko thought, concentrating hard upon the churning ball of water. "Condense... condense... condense..." her mind chanted.
This is more the Okami way. A voice viberated in her head, but Chiyoko only nodded as she suddenly threw the ball of water straight at Ino. It flew through the air with considerable force, for Chiyoko, and it hit Ino straight in the chest...


"No... no way..." Chiyoko stammered, as silence once again seemed to spread through the stadium. The ball of... water, had hit Ino but the end result was far different from before. Its force had caused Into to fall into the ground... but it was not water that remained. Ice, not water, had hit Ino... and in doing so, it seemed to explode about her- freezing her to the ground in a wrap of ice, spread neatly upon the ground.
"Ice...?" Onitoge questioned, as Takumi looked a bit surprised.
"When did she learn THAT move?" Inakamo questioned, "I've never seen ice used before..." Inakamo questioned.
"It's a clan trait... " Takumi said quietly, "But I've never heard of an Okami clan... "
Takumi's eyes narrowed slightly, although he held his composure. "I thought she was just a girl from a regular family... but apparently her last name implies a lot more than I thought..."

"The winner of the match is... Chiyoko!" Hayate announced, and a small roar of applause followed. Chiyoko was still in a bit of shock, but the realization that she had won seized her and she blushed with embarrassment at the attention that victory caused.

******
"Chiyoko... shouldn't you get that wound healed?" Inakamo asked after he and Onitoge had congratulated her. Chiyoko beamed, shaking her head.
"I'll be fine. Besides... I wouldn't want to miss my teammates' matches!"




(I had to make Ino somewhat useful... XD )

[Sworkill87]

Hinata vs Raizen:


“Neji, that was a great fight!” Raizen called out to his brother as he walked back from the arena. “I knew you couldn’t lose, but to actually disarm her? Awesome.”

At his brother’s words Neji cracked a small smile. “Yes, she was a formidable adversary, but without her fan she is nothing.” Neji then walked on to stand a few steps away from his own team and to stand next to Raizen. “I’ve proceeded to the finals brother,” He almost whispered. “Now see that you do the same.”

“No way am I going to lose to you here,” Raizen almost whispered back, smiling a little as well. “Not after all that training.” It was then that the next match was announced: Ushi vs Hiro. “Alright, you’re up, give him hell Ushi.”

***
“You know Ushi,” Raizen said as his teammate came back to the upper level. “When I said give him hell, I didn’t mean it literally.” Ushi merely smiled and sat down next to Raizen. “Though it sure worked well.”

***
Raizen’s pupil-less Hyuuga eyes failed to hide the shock from seeing what the sand ninja Gaara was capable of. “Well,” he thought to himself. “Glad I didn’t fight him. Let’s see who’s ne-”

Raizen stopped short for a moment as the screen showed the next two opponents: Hyuuga Hinata vs Hyuuga Raizen. He cracked a slightly wicked looking smile, quite uncharacteristic of himself, as he turned to face Neji.

“Fate has smiled upon you brother.” Neji said, showing if anything, slight anger on his face as he looked over to where Hinata was standing.

Raizen could hear Rock Lee explaining the Hyuuga family tree and its controversies to Naruto as he made his way to the fighting level. Hinata was already there, having just returned from checking on her teammate Shino.

“Hello… Raizen.” She stood in the middle of the floor looking more timid than ever. And it wasn’t without cause; Raizen’s smile had disappeared and had been replaced by a glare unmatchable by any other than a Hyuuga.

“I want to let you know right now Hinata.” Raizen said. “I will not be holding back. You should give up.” Hinata’s eyes widened a bit, and she opened her mouth to respond, but Raizen continued. “You were never meant to be a shinobi. You are far too feeble and timid for combat, and always avoid trouble. You didn’t even want to take the chuunin exams did you?” Hinata stood in silence, so Raizen went on. “You were perfectly okay with being a genin, accepting missions that would avoid controversy. You would never have to fight for real; never have to… kill, if necessary. But Kiba and Shino wanted to be chuunin, and you just went along with them, you just couldn’t let your teammates down.”

“No, that’s…” Hinata began. “I wanted to, change myself, and that’s… that’s why I… I…”

“You really are spoiled… Hinata.” Raizen shot at her. “People cannot change their natural tendencies. Personality, relative strength, these things cannot be overcome. A failure will always be a failure.”

There was a short pause during which Hinata gulped and many in the crowd began to dislike Raizen. “You cannot change that,” Raizen said, pointing at his forehead, “Just as I cannot change the fact that I am a branch family member; destined from birth to be a servant!”

At this point Raizen got visibly angry. “Byakugan! You cannot hide anything from my eyes.” Raizen said, quoting his brother Neji. The veins around his eyes swelling, Raizen gave Hinata a piercing stare, not just seeing her, but seeing through her. “Your body language gives your true feelings away. I can tell from your hands in front of you that you do not wish to fight me. And I can see in your eyes that it is because you see yourself loosing… badly.”

Hinata gulped again. Throughout Raizen’s massive speech Hinata was growing more and more visibly afraid, to the point where her breathing was becoming quite labored. She wasn’t the only one growing steadily unstable though; by now Naruto was gritting his teeth and looking murderous. He opened his mouth to curse out Raizen, but was beat to the punch.

“Hinata!” It was Onitoge. “Are you just going to stand there and listen to him like that!?” A few people looked around, Onitoge was usually quite reserved, and no one seemed to be expecting that from him.

“Yeah, say something back!” Naruto called out.

“Naruto… Onitoge…” Hinata thought to herself as everyone stood in silence for a minute. “Thank you.”

“Her eyes have changed.” Raizen thought. “They now have the will to fight.” Then he looked around in mild confusion as someone had started playing cool music in the background.

“What?” Ushi asked as he paused on his flute. “It seemed appropriate.”

“So then, does that look in your eye mean you’re not going to give up?” Raizen asked. “Alright then, but remember, I will not hold back.”

“Byakugan!” Hinata exclaimed as the veins around her own eyes swelled. “Naruto… Onitoge… I’m not going to run away anymore!” She thought as she took the stance of the Hyuuga’s gentle fist style. “Come Raizen, let us fight.”

***
It was a blur of strikes coming from both Hinata and Raizen. Each blow sending blue waves of chakra from the palms of their hands. It was amazing, not only was Hinata fighting on Raizen’s level, but she seemed to have put him on the defensive.

Raizen was striking very little, being quite limited to blocking, dodging, and counter attacks that never seemed to make in past Hinata’s forearms. Many people looked surprised by Hinata’s offensive, and Raizen’s defensive. But three shinobi watching varied from the rest: Masato and Neji wore expressionless faces, while Ushi had simply changed to and energizing battle theme on his flute.

“Way to go! Hinata!” Onitoge and Naruto glanced at each other, having both spoken at the same time. They looked back quickly however, as a loud crash announced Hinata slamming into a wall.

“If that’s all the main branch has to offer,” Raizen said, “I repeat my advice to give up, just stay there.”

“…n, no.” Hinata sputtered as she staggered back to the center, a trickle of blood running from her mouth. “I’m going to… to prove myself… that I won’t go back on my word.” She glanced up at those watching, and charged Raizen again.

His counter was swift and brutal this time though. Raizen grabbed Hinata’s hand, outstretched for an attack, and pulled her in. With one fluid motion he struck her forearm with his fingertips, twisted, and flipped her over his shoulder, and onto her back. Raizen stood over Hinata as she coughed up a little blood. “I told you I would not hold back. You really have no chance of winning.” He reached out and grabbed Hinata’s hand, pulling her gently to her feet.

Raizen held her hand as she smiled up at him, only to then pull back Hinata’s sleeve and show multiple red bruises all along her forearm. “Do you see?” he asked, as Hinata gasped a little. “You cannot even use your juuken attacks anymore.”

“Amazing,” A few of the Jounin thought, “He blocked the chakra points in her arms. None of us imagined that the younger brother would have such a mastery of the Byakugan as well; it’s almost frightening.”

“You don’t have to continue in your suffering Hinata; cursing your own weakness even though you are from a ‘superior’ line of the family. Just accept your loss.” Raizen said before turning away from her. “Proctor, this match is over, she can barely stand.”

“No…” Hinata sputtered looking at the others again. “It’s not over yet. And you’re wrong cousin… I can tell you and Neji are suffering far more than I.” This last comment turned Raizen around, and he looked angry.

Onitoge pumped the air with his fist, and Naruto gave a yell of encouragement as Hinata came in for one final attack. “Oh no!” Hayate, the proctor said, “He’ll kill her with another one of those counter attacks.

“We’ve got to stop the match!” The leaf Jounin thought as one.

But before Hinata took another step in her attack, Raizen crouched slightly and disappeared from sight, only to reappear seconds later holding Hinata’s arm painfully behind her back. “Enough!” Hayate called out as Hinata coughed. “The match goes to Raizen.”

Raizen let go of her and began to walk back to his team, but found both Naruto and Onitoge in his way. Onitoge was giving Raizen quite an accomplished death glare, and was surrounded by a chakra that Raizen didn't quite understand, but it felt... pointy. Naruto had dipped his fingers in some of Hinata’s coughed up blood, and appeared to be making a vow. Raizen de-byakuganed, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down.

“You know that can’t be sanitary Naruto.” But Raizen’s words did not reach the two furious genin. They both opened their mouths but were cut off by the medical team examining Hinata.

“She’s in really rough shape.” The first one said.

“Yeah, but it could have been a lot worse.” His partner responded

“Huh?”

“Weren’t you watching?” The second one said as they put Hinata on a stretcher. “I bet that kid could have killed her if he wanted to.” Ignoring their anger for the time being, both Onitoge and Naruto, rushed past Raizen to see Hinata.

“You’re faster than I remember, but you held back.” Neji said as Raizen returned to the upper level.

“Shut up.”

[Emotional Faun Chiko-sai]

Yes omg PJBW finished his post before I even started mine... what a record indeed. I’m pretty sure there’s a problem, probably many problems with this post…

Shodou Kukai vs Haruno Sakura



実像を見せてよ

The announcement, impassive on the flickering screen, did not overly worry anyone in Genin Team 14, least of all Kukai. Compared to the some of the things they'd seen today (cousins nearly killing cousins, nigh incurable poisons, murderous intent to the point of insanity, among others) Haruno Sakura was... normal. She had been normal enough to begin with, and she seemed even more so now.

Kukai could not exactly say that she was relieved. A strange feeling welled up inside her; it was part resignation, for she respected Sakura's intellect and would have much preferred an all-out debate with her rather than the fist fight that was to follow; part anticipation, although only a very little, because everyone knew though Sakura had talent with her chakra, her teacher had been too otherwise occupied with her fellow teammates to bother much about her; and part - guilt? Guilt for what? Guilt for what she was about to do to Sakura's chances of advancing in the chuunin exams...?

Damn. Inuzuka Hige's confidence is contagious. Disinfectant! I need disinfectant!!

"Oh well," said Hige, "at least you don't need luck for this."

"In other circumstances I would have questioned your will to live, Mr Inuzuka Hige," she replied with a huff, "however, I will return to the topic at hand when time permits."

Haru gave her a nod, Miharu-sensei a smile. Then she shouldered her brush and straightened her shoulders, and headed to the pit.

There was a little moment before Sakura met her at the centre. The audience seemed to have settled back with a sigh, as if not expecting much of the outcome of the fight. It was only two girls, after all; granted, two girls who were competent and did their missions well enough, but neither had mind-blowing special powers, or stood out enough on their own to attract attention. One was going to inherit her family's paper mill, and the other stood to inherit a textile business, if she so chose. Girls of good background.

Hayate gave them the signal to start. They both began the match conventionally, circling each other with kunai till one of them broke the rhythm by darting forward faster than the eye could follow - this was Sakura, and she had evidently trained on her own, to be able to perform chakra-enforced stepping that well. Kukai was ready for her, using her oversized brush as a parrying weapon.

They went through all the motions. The older girl had her own reasons for doing so; she wanted to see what Sakura was really capable of when making her own strategies for a fight, as well as the range of her abilities, and did not launch any offensives beyond what was really necessary. She did not think it was fair of her, and wondered how long it would take Sakura to notice. Oh, she should really beat the other girl down, it should be the way, show no mercy; if not to advance to the next level, why was she here at all?

But Kukai liked to think that nothing mattered except justice and the truth. She was idealistic still. Perhaps it was better that she had not been matched with any of the more violent genin.

It was two or three minutes later that the other kunoichi said, during one of their innumerable, textbook thrust-and-parries:

"You're not going all out, Kukai-san.”

Kukai brought her brush down on Sakura’s shoulders in a one-two-three stroke combo. Sakura responded with a quick substitution jutsu, and only the first blow managed to connect. “No, I’m not. Are you?”

“I… don’t know. But if we keep on like this, we’ll eventually wear ourselves out. And there’ll be no winner.” The pink-haired girl flung a trio of kunais at her, which she fended off with the handle of her brush.

“If I go all out, will you?” Kukai was not about to waste her breath on stretching her sentences out, as she usually did. In fights, brevity in remarks was essential. “Have you thought about why we’re here?”

“I…” Kukai suddenly pushed forward in a brutal movement, rushing against Sakura and pinning her against the wall by her neck with her brush. The other kunoichi struggled, but Kukai was at the moment putting almost all her chakra into the deathgrip.

“Sakura-san, I’m here because I want to see justice done in this world, and I want it done my way. Why are you here?” Her eyes, black and intense and flaring with an inscrutable gravity, bored into Sakura’s own. “I don’t want this to be an unfair fight. That’s why I’m asking you this. You must have some kind of motivation to have come this far. Where is it now?”

“I- I wanted to be with – Sasuke-kun-“ The words came choking out, as Sakura tried, even then, to see what her teammate was doing. At the revelation, she appeared to somehow lose hope, and stopped flailing against Kukai’s brush. “He’s been – different lately. Different from the Sasuke-kun I knew…”

“Oh?” Kukai’s features melted into a smirk, almost a grin, and she loosened her hold on the brush abruptly; Sakura fell to the floor, taking a moment to clutch at her throat, but in that moment Kukai had already written a seal in the air, and rammed it seemingly onto her head. “I do believe I’d almost lost my hold before you yielded as you did, Sakura-san, but you caved just in time. Thank you for showing me your inner feelings. Shodou Sealing Jutsu Level 1: Reverse!”

The kanji for reverse shimmered in the air a moment before embedding itself on the back of Sakura’s head. When the other kunoichi stood up, there was an alien glint in her eyes.

It was Sakura, but ultimately a fiercer, more determined Sakura. A very angry Sakura, with her brows so furrowed that the wrinkle produced threatened to be permanent. Her hair seemed to be on edge, along with the rest of her person. Small flames of chakra convulsed up and down her arms.

”You’re pissing me off, calligraphy bitch.”

Kukai bowed. “Pleased to be of service.”


From the sidelines, Hige yelled: “The hell ya doin’, woman?!”

“I am merely leveling the playing field, Mr Inuzuka Hige. Shall we begin again, Sakura-san?”

”You bet, you bitch. You made me confess in front of the whole arena. Shannaro!” This last ejaculation was uttered just as the new Sakura laid a punch at Kukai, the latter dodging it just in time, to have the tiles shattered where it fell.

“Now we’re cooking with charcoal,” said Kukai, with a smile that looked like a snarl. “Always show your true face, Sakura-san – oooh, close one there, you are really quick on your feet, aren’t you - OUCH!”

She was knocked to the opposing wall as one of Sakura’s punches connected with her stomach. She got up again, and parried a kunai thrust, much more violent and uncontrolled than any previous, retaliating with a vicious kick to the jaw that at least got the irate kunoichi off her back for more than five seconds.

Sakura looked up, wiping the blood off her chin, grinning. ”Not talking so much now, are you? Ran out of breath?”

“No, Sakura-san,” muttered Kukai, performing hand seals, for she knew very well what was coming directly the other girl got up. The blow came, only this time Sakura was returning what she got and what would have been a very painful drop kick was averted by her preparatory hand seals. Sakura’s sandal came down hard on nothing but floor. “Just… preparing.”

…To Kawarimi no Jutsu. Till your chakra runs out. And it will run out, Sakura-san, at the rate you’re using it. And I don't think you're calculating any more; your calculative, always proper outer self is gone for now.

Hige, who had leaned forward to watch ever since Sakura had started showing her true colours, settled back in his seat, grinning, and then wincing a little as the hard plastic chair hit him in a soft spot. “She’s gonna run like crazy after this. It’s settled.”

Haru, who had guessed it from the moment Kukai stopped talking, for he knew the thought processes of his friend almost as well as she did herself, tapped his ever present pencil to his nose in an expectant manner.

To be sure, Kukai didn’t always manage to get away. At the very end of the tournament, when she was still standing and Sakura was doubled over in a corner, gasping for breath as the last reserves of her chakra winked away with the remnants of her inner self, the girl’s hands and feet bleeding freely because dirt is hard and hurts when you punch it without properly controlled chakra, and concrete is even harder, Kukai was thinking she would definitely need a bandage around her head, as Sakura had caught her with a totally unexpected headbutt; and it felt like one of her arms wasn’t doing so well. Her ankles were decidedly wobbly. Her brush, some parts of its length broken in, dangled loosely from her hand.

“Winner: Shodou Kukai.” Hayate let go of Kukai’s arm, and she nearly fell. She hadn’t noticed she’d been relying on his grip to stay upright.

Sakura slumped to the floor, exhausted. She smiled up at the ceiling. “Thank you for the lesson… I think.”

Then she remembered where she was, and what her purpose was, and the weight of it set in on her and she had to bite her lip to keep the sobs from coming. Naruto railed at Kukai, and shouted ineffectual curses. And up in his seat: Sasuke, straight-faced, not smiling, not frowning, not seeming to care for anything but himself.

[Heald]

I figured after all that excitement, we could use a bit of a comic relief battle. Send in...the clowns.

Inakamo Yakusha

*BONG*

The scoreboard lit up with two names, one of which caught the attention of all of Team 13.

Yakusha, Inakamo

versus

Nara, Shikamaru

Inakamo immediately leapt up onto the railing in glee, ready to pounce into the arena.
"Finally, some action at last!" he exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles and neck satisfyingly. Before he could leap onto the battlefield, Onitoge spoke up.
"Don't be too hasty Inakamo; have you even seen who you're fighting yet?"
Inakamo craned his neck up to the board, having not even noticed the other ninja's name.
"Shikamaru huh? No problem! I'll beat that shirker, no problems!" he yelled, putting a thumbs-up to his team-mates and grinning at them. Onitoge remained less enthused.
"Just...watch it. Shikamaru might be lazy, but he is a genius, although you probably never noticed. This match will be tougher than you imagine."
Inakamo was visibly confused and squinted at his team-mate. His sensei, Takumi, spoke up.
"Basically, Inakamo, Onitoge is saying that your opponent is more likely to guess your every move and able to counter it. However, if anything, this is a perfect match for you!" he grinned.
Chiyoko turned around with an inquisitive look on her face.
"But Takumi-sensei, if Shikamaru can predict what Inakamo is going to do, how is that good for him?"
Takumi folded his arms and chuckled.
"It's because Inakamo...", pausing for dramatic effect, then opening his eyes as wide as possible, "is one of the most unpredictable ninja I've ever met!"
Onitoge briefly smirked, which Inakamo noticed as it was quite uncharacteristic and this reassured him somewhat.
"So Inakamo, if you're going to win this, you're going to invent a whole new bag of tricks," Takumi smiled, and then closed his eyes. "I'm sure you'll have no problem with that."
Inakamo grinned even more widely and assuredly said,
"Gotcha sensei! Get ready for the one-of-a-kind battle of your lifetime!" and with that he leapt down onto the floor below, making a perfect landing. He looked up to the stairs opposite where Shikamaru was lazily walking down the stairs, his hands in his pockets, and he let out a big yawn.

The two Leaf genin faced each other with the proctor in the middle.
"Looks like I get the clown. Oh man, this is such a drag," Shikamaru whined. Inakamo grinned and said,
"Hey Shikamaru, whoever wins, no hard feelings, eh?"
Shikamaru was somewhat surprised by this remark, and then smiled and prepared himself in a ready position.
"Well, if anything, this is going to be interesting," Shikamaru smirked. Inakamo gave a devilish smile. Shikamaru had no idea just how interesting this fight was going to be.
The proctor looked each way and then gave a small cough.
"Well since we're done with the talking, combatants ready...and begin!"
Shikamaru immediately drew a kunai and prepared to defend himself from an onslaught of ranged attacks, as he knew those were Inakamo's speciality. Inakamo, however, didn't move. Not a muscle. He just looked blankly at Shikamaru. Shikamaru frowned and drew two shuriken, throwing them at Inakamo. Inakamo dodged each one at the last second and proceeded to utilise the chakra strings technique to catch them and returned them to Shikamaru with full force. Shikamaru was somewhat surprised at this as he was already throwing his shadow at Inakamo, and had to dispel his jutsu in order to draw his kunai again. Shikamaru deflected each one with his kunai and then saw that Inakamo had leapt into the air. Shikamaru braced himself for Inakamo's retaliatory kunai or perhaps his trademark carnival ball. Inakamo did indeed reach into his bag and pick out a scroll and released the seal on it, the summoning producing a cloud of smoke. When Inakamo emerged through the smoke, the entire arena was amazed by the sight before them.

"What the heck?!" Shikamaru exclaimed. Inakamo was heading at Shikamaru at full pelt into hand-to-hand combat, both hands above his head holding not any kind of weapon, but a fifty-pound largemouth bass fish!
"One fillet-o-fish coming riiiiight up!" laughed Inakamo and he swung down on Shikamaru's aloft arms with the huge fish. As he made contact with the fish, it exploded in a cloud of organs, blood and guts. Inakamo kicked himself off the astonished Shikamaru and leapt up towards the ceiling. Shikamaru was still reeling from the fact he was now covered in fish giblets.
"Wha...wha...are you insane you idiot!?" Shikamaru yelled up towards Inakamo. Inakamo was still laughing and he proceeded to pull another scroll out from his bag.
"What is it going to be this time? Trout? Salmon?" Shikamaru pondered aloud, and Inakamo completed the summoning. This time, it was an anvil weighing half-a-tonne, which proceeded to plummet towards the young ninja. He gulped and rolled out of the way, the anvil missing him but hitting the floor with earth-shattering momentum, knocking him onto his rear in the process. Shikamaru sat up and shook his head.
"Man, this is such a drag, how the hell am I-woah!"
Inakamo had now launched his carnival ball into play and Shikamaru rolled out of the way again as the carnival ball hit the ground next to him, barely missing him. Shikamaru backflipped onto his feet and realised it was now a game of cat and mouse; Inakamo kept his distance and kept Shikamaru on his toes and thus unable to throw his shadow by chasing him with the carnival ball. Shikamaru knew he was in trouble and would have to figure out how to turn the tables.

Asuma was leaning over the barrier, both hands clenching the bar and biting down hard on his cigarette.
"How did Shikamaru let himself get into this situation? He has an I.Q. of over 200! Surely this clown can't be outwitting him!"
Takumi began chuckling and spoke up.
"Your genin may be a tactical genius, but tactics are meaningless when you can't predict what your opponent is going to do next!"
Asuma nodded. Choji began cheering from the gallery,
"Come on Shikamaru! Don't let this clown take you for a ride! Take him down, I know you can!"

Shikamaru ducked once more as the carnival ball whizzed past him once more and he made a hand sign, summoning two clones of himself. Inakamo smiled and recalled the carnival ball, then jumping up on top of it, maintaining perfect balance. Shikamaru smirked and said,
"I guessed that'd throw you off...if you attacked one of my clones, the real me would attack you undefended! But you were smart enough to figure that out, huh?"
Inakamo ignored him and stepped off his carnival ball, and opened it up, pulling out a scroll.
"New game," Inakamo said blankly. Shikamaru was puzzled by this remark.
"New game? What do you-" but before he could finish his sentence, Inakamo summoned another carnival ball, much to Shikamaru's surprise.
"You keep two of those things?" he asked with an astonished look on his face. Inakamo laughed.
"Not just two. It's worth having a few spares. Plus this one is special," Inakamo explained and he used his chakra strings to activate its mechanisms, which forced several tiny blades through slits cut into the surface of the ball. This development did not sit well with Shikamaru. Furthermore, Inakamo used the transformation jutsu to turn his balls into clones of himself.

"Now the fun begins!" Inakamo grinned and he launched both balls and himself in the air, and then each one dived at a different Shikamaru. Two of them phased straight through, destroying the clones and one connected hard. Shikamaru tried to hold it back, and the Inakamo exploded, revealing itself as the original carnival ball, rapidly spinning against Shikamaru's arms. The tension was too much and Shikamaru was knocked back against the wall. He quickly recovered and noticed that both carnival balls had revealed themselves, so he threw his shadow at the one remaining Inakamo while his guard was down. Inakamo noticed the shadow coming, however, and leapt up to safety. Shikamaru smiled and recalled his shadow, and then prepared to throw it as Inakamo landed again. However, this did not happen, as Inakamo touched the ceiling with his feet and used his chakra to stick to it.
"Sorry Shikamaru, but I'm afraid it is time to end this game!" he laughed and began manipulating his hands. Both carnival balls on the ground began spinning with great velocity and began encircling the kneeling Shikamaru.
"Ninja art! Carnival Ball Duet!" Inakamo yelled and both balls were moving too fast for Shikamaru to escape, and were now encircling. Shikamaru realised the only way out was up, so he drew two kunai and leapt up out of the circle. He had anticipated that Inakamo would launch both balls towards him, but now that they had turned so quickly, they had lost their momentum and thus Shikamaru could deflect each one easily with his kunai. However, as he turned around to face Inakamo, he was horrified to see that Inakamo had already stopped controlling the balls and had detached himself from the ceiling, wielding nothing other than his trademark frying pan. Shikamaru could not move his arms quickly enough to stop the attack and the clown ninja swung the pan at full force around Shikamaru's face.

*PANG*

"Urghnt..." Shikamaru grunted before being sent crashing back down to the floor, and Inakamo landing on top of one of his carnival balls. Inakamo began to pant heavily; it had taken almost every bit of his chakra to remain mobile enough to avoid Shikamaru's shadows and having to resort to close combat more than once, not his preferred style, had taken its strain also. The proctor briefly examined the fallen Shikamaru and then shook his head.
"The winner of this round is Yakusha, Inakamo."
The arena was somewhat quiet, but then some of the Leaf genin began cheering and some of the Jounin began to clap as well.
"Yay! Well done Inakamo!" Chiyoko cheered from the balcony. Kiba chimed in,
"What a match! That has gotta be one of the craziest things I've ever seen!"
The Sound and Sand teams were visibly unimpressed with the performance, but Inakamo was lapping up the praise from his fellow Leaf ninja. As he turned towards the stairs, the proctor coughed and grabbed Inakamo by the shoulder.
"Kid...before you go...do you mind cleaning up this mess?"
Inakamo turned around and noticed that his anvil and carnival balls were still out, plus there was a puddle of fish giblets to consider. He grumbled as he began to seal each item back into their scrolls. Once he had finished, he leapt up onto the balcony in front of his team, greeted with the familiar smile of his sensei.
"Great work Inakamo, that match was one-in-a-million! Heck, you even took me by surprise at moments during that match! Now just you to go Onitoge!"
Inakamo, Takumi and Chiyoko all turned to Onitoge, who looked back at each in turn, stopping last at Inakamo.
"Was that fish the one you caught on day one in the Forest of Death and we never ate, so you decided to seal it for later?"
Inakamo grinned and began scratching his head.
"Yeah, I was hoping to eat it, but it's been dead for a few days, so I figured it would be starting to smell. Anyway, I remembered what Takumi said about being unpredictable and when looking for a weapon scroll, I remember I had the fish one stashed away, so...well you know the rest!"
"Speaking of smell..." Onitoge began. Chiyoko began to sniff and then giggled.
"Eww! Inakamo, you're covered in fish guts!"
Takumi laughed and grabbed Inakamo around the arm.
"Okay soldier, enough chatting, you're not watching any more matches until you have a shower!"
Inakamo's eyes widened in panic.
"What, sensei, no! I wanna see the next match! What if I miss Onitoge, or I need to watch my next opponent! Come on, this is..."
Chiyoko was giggling and even Onitoge briefly smiled as Takumi dragged Inakamo by his hair towards the back.
"The quicker you get clean, the quicker you get to watch more matches! Now stop fussing and get to the washroom!"

[Silencer]

Soen


~~~***~~~***~~~

First and second round to easy? Soen thought to himself. Not likely, it seems we have a nice crop of ninjas this year

Soen couldn’t stop having a small smirk across his face. The excitement to fight these ninjas just couldn’t be held back.

After the speech, all the genin up for the challenge made their way to the upper levels except the girl on the older Hyuuga’s team and Leaf. While Soen was walking up, he felt slightly worried. Leaf had used up the most of chakra of the squad. Hopefully she had recovered well enough.

But as the battle advanced, Soen’s worries seemed unnecessary. Tenten was just a bad match for Leaf’s Stoneskin jutsu. With a loud bang, the fight ended. Soen gave a small applause for his team mate, while Kaito and their sensei where rooting louder then Soen thought necessary. But Soen couldn’t help think about how many people had discovered the secret of Leaf’s techniques now.

-----

Battle after battle took place in front of their eyes. Soen and Kaito awaited their turn nervously while Leaf, who was rather relaxed after her bout, focused on recovering herself. Finally Kaito’s match was decided, it was against one of the Sand-nin. His other teammates were already beaten but something felt different about this one. And there was another thing bothering Soen. During the previous fight, Soen felt a familiar chakra but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

While lost in his thoughts, Soen was quickly forced to put his attention on the match again. Kaito was already breathing hard just a couple of seconds in the fight, while the Sand-nin hadn’t moved an inch.

Each of Kaito’s assaults got blocked by a wall of sand and if he tried to get close, the sand became part of a fierce attack. Kaito’s chakra was depleting rapidly from just dodging the attacks. This was impossible. Kaito, who was of pretty high level, was being toyed with?

Wave after wave of sand based attacks tore through Kaito, who refused to stay down. Until finally, he was caught in it. Pressure seemed to build up around Kaito and he let out a terrifying scream. Just before he would have been killed several sensei stopped the sand and the opponent from delivering the final blow.

Declared the winner, the Sand-nin made his way to the stands as medical ninjas rushed to Kaito’s side. One thought crossed everyone’s mind. This guy is a monster.

-----

Soens mind was rambled during the next three fights, of which he was grateful they dragged on a bit. Around the middle of the Rock Lee–Shiro battle, Soen had recollected himself and it was just in time as his own battle was about to start.

He started to make his way down but was stopped when he passed by a Sound-nin.

“Sorry, but I’d like to forfeit this fight.” He declared. “I was hoping my chakras would have been replenished during the fights but that doesn’t seem the case.”

Soen knew it was just an excuse but at the moment he didn’t really care.

As the referee accepted the forfeit, Soen made his way back to his team mate and sensei. He sat down and absentmindedly followed the rest of the match ups. For some reason he thought about the time when his team was formed and a clear image was formed of him, Kaito, Emi and Daku…

What would they have done if they knew what would happen to them? Soen thought as a small tear ran across his face.

You know, this RPG is really tough on my char...

[Outlaw JT]

Onitoge
~~~~~~~~~~~

Onitoge watched the preliminary matches unfold. A few of them held mildly surprising results but the biggest surprise was the sudden withdrawal of a couple of the foreign shinobi when their round was announced. With few genin left Onitoge just sighed when his turn finally came.

"Inuzuka Kiba vs Onitoge!" Hatake called out.

Onitoge's expression remained blank as he made his way down to the arena floor. Kiba seemed to have a grin plastered across his face. Numerous people could be heard cheering for them. Most of it seemed directed towards Kiba but a few select people called out support for him.

"Be easier on both of us if you just gave up now cry baby," Kiba prodded, obviously an attempt to unbalance Onitoge.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate called as they stared at each other.

"I'm not going to surrender," Onitoge said quietly as he stared down his opponent.

"GO!!" Hayate shouted as he disappeared from the arena floor.

Kiba and Akamaru were off like a shot. Onitoge easily jumped back out of the way but still under the warmth of his cloak he didn't open enough distance to mount a counter-attack. Kiba stayed on the offensive, swiping at Onitoge while Akamaru continually moved around to try catching him between them. It was clear the two were more than adept at working together. They didn't seem to need to communicate together at all to coordinate their efforts.

It became clear quickly that he'd never be able to attack as long as he wore the cloak. To make a turnabout truly effective, though, he had to time his actions carefully. Slowly he let their attacks edge closer and closer as if he was unable to stay ahead of them. Truthfully he was for a prolonged period of time under the weight of the cloak. He had to let them get a little closer without rousing their suspicions, however.

"You honestly think you can beat me like this?" Kiba chided, almost a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"No," Onitoge replied suddenly as a smile crossed his face. "I think I can like this, though."

As Akamaru lunged at him from behind Onitoge suddenly flourished to the side. In one swift motion he twisted out of his cloak and let it fall. Unfortunately for the ninja pup Onitoge's timing was nearly flawless and collapsed on top of him, pinning the little dog to the ground with only his head exposed.

"Akamaru!!" Kiba shouted as Onitoge effortlessly vanished from in front of him.

Before he could even turn his eyes Onitoge was behind him. A single sidekick slammed into Kiba's back and sent him flying. He rolled across the floor from the force of it, coming to an unceremonious stop. He coughed once as he got to his feet. Surprisingly he had a broad grin on his face.

"Guess Akamaru and I don't have to hold back then," Kiba said cockily as he fetched a handful of stuff from his pouch.

He threw something and it quickly got snatched up in Akamaru's jaw. He popped something else into his mouth and his smile deepened. Akamaru's fur rapidly changed color to red and somehow the cloak began moving as the little pup shifted it off of him. Whatever they'd taken seemed to have made them much stronger.

"Here we come, Onitoge," Kiba said enthusiastically.

Akamaru jumped across the arena and landed on Kiba's back. As Kiba threw the last thing he had in his hand Akamaru suddenly changed in a puff of smoke to look exactly like Kiba. As the projectile landed at Onitoge's feet it burst into a massive cloud of smoke. He couldn't see anything but he could hear and he prepared himself for whatever their attack was going to be.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba shouted.

Suddenly Kiba and Akamaru began spinning in a blaze of speed like a pair of horizontal tornadoes. They drilled their way through the air across the arena into the cloud of smoke. The pair dove in and out of the smoke cloud repeatedly slashing at Onitoge. Whatever happened in the smoke the onlookers couldn't see, though.

Without warning the crowd could hear Akamaru let out a yelp. No more movement could be seen and everyone waited patiently as the smoke cleared. When it did everyone could see Onitoge standing there with Kiba and Akamaru at his feet. Even though they had been the ones seen slashing violently away into the smoke it looked like they had been on the receiving end of a thousand slashes. They were both still breathing easily but lay otherwise still and silent.

"Winner, Onitoge!" Hayate exclaimed as the medical nin swarmed in to help Kiba and Akamaru away.

Onitoge walked over and picked up his cloak out of it's small crater. He slid it back on and sighed relief as it's warmth pressed down on him again. He had wanted to win but hoped he would do it through his normal skill or techniques. He was relieved he had been able to control this new technique of his but distressed he had to use it. It still made him nervous, that which he could do and no one else could. At least he had learned to exercise some control over it.

[Outlaw JT]

Prelimnaries Complete
Chunin Exam Part 3 Is Go
Commence Training

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With two matches left the remaining genin watched on anxiously. First was the match between Selekis and Haru. It was fast and intense and ultimately for their comrades unsatisfying. In a blinding final strike by both competitors the smoke cleared to two unconscious forms in the arena and a mutual elimination. Last was a match between Shiro and Rock Lee. Early on it seemed that Shiro held a noticeable advantage but a couple of minutes in when it seemed hopeless for the energetic Lee he removed his leg warmers which seemed to be weights that hit the ground with almost as much force as Onitoge's cloak. From then it wasn't long before Rock Lee's speed and strength overwhelmed the unprepared Shiro. When they cleared the arena floor the Hokage and Hayate stepped forward.

"With this, the preliminary trials for the round three test have been completed," Hayate announced loudly, hiding a slight cough with his words.

The winners, whether by victory or default to withdrawals, were signaled down to the arena floor. A couple of them were absent as their wounds had excused them for medical care but most of the sixteen gathered together in two rows before the Hokage and Hayate. Their eyes scanned the winners one by one, taking in the full measure of each before proceeding.

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the third round test in the chunin exam," Hayate quickly covered his mouth as another cough escaped, "a couple of you are missing, but, congratulations to you all. Sixteen is an unprecedented number of candidates at this stage of the exams. Ah, well, Hokage-sama, if you would please?"

Hayate took a step back as he waved for the Hokage to step forward and proceed. The chunin prospects all looked on eagerly as they waited to see what would be asked of them next in their pursuit of advancement. The Hokage took that step and cleared his throat as he once again examined the young shinobi before them.

"Yes. Well, now I'd like to explain the main test," he began somberly with a proud smile on his face. "As we mentioned before, in the main event, your matches will be watched by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

"We're not going to do it here? Right now?" Naruto suddenly shouted.

"Yes! I seek to prove myself a worthy shinobi now!" Rock Lee added quickly.

"This break, you can say, will be for preparations," the Hokage's smile broadened. "In other words, in addition to informing all the country Lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event. And this is also the preparation time for you examination students. Basically, it's the preparation to get to know yourself and your enemy. It's the time period where you will calculate your chances of winning by analyzing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The battles up till now had you fight as if you were in an actual combat situation with the assumption of fighting an unknown opponent. However, the final trial will not be like this. There are those who showed all they can do already to their rivals. There were those who competed and were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance and improve yourselves. Of course, it'll be fine to rest your bodies as well. Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but there's something that has to be done for the finals before I can do that."

"what the hell is it? I've got to train now!" Naruto again suddenly shouted out of turn.

"Well now, don't get so excited," the Hokage chided as he motioned Anko forward with a small box. "There are pieces of paper inside the box Anko is holding so each of you take one piece."

"I'll come around so wait your turn," Anko said forcefully to calm the anxious genin.

One by one the genin all took their slip of paper from the box. As they each unfolded them the small sheets were blank except for one thing. Each had a number printed on it in a large plain font. When the last piece was handed out Anko stepped back to let the Hokage continue.

"All right. You all took a piece. Now I'd like you to tell the number on that paper in order, starting from the left," he said calmly.

One by one the genin announced the number on their slip of paper. They each exchanged looks as they took their guesses at the significance of the numbers. Some would be surprised but it was simple enough for others to figure out before the Hokage spoke.

"All right. Now I will reveal to you the final tournament," a few of the genin shouted out in exasperation and surprise, others remained silent and nodded. "Now Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki the first exam proctor walked down the line showing them a tournament bracket with all their names scrolled on it. Each looked and saw who they would be fighting and in what order. With sixteen names it was not a small bracket, which the proctors seemed slightly miffed by. Perhaps they felt they hadn't properly done their job for so many to make it this far.

Rock Lee versus Gaara
Uchiha Sasuke versus Hyuuga Raizen
Uzumaki Naruto versus Leaf
Onitoge versus Chishio Soen
Yakusha Inakamo versus Inuzuka Hige
Shodou Kukai versus Kurama Ushi
Okami Chiyoko versus Kazuma Masato
Hyuuga Neji versus Nain

That was to be the order of the tournament bracket. The order and array of when and who the sixteen would fight. They all looked at each other again, taking in their future opponents carefully.

"Well then, you're free to start strategizing or resting as you like. With this I dismiss you all. I wish all of you luck in your preparations," the Hokage nodded proudly at them before the sensei and proctors dispersed.

OOC: everyone will have a little free/downtime. Most of you will want to touch base with the sensei that will be training you in the month before the Chunin finale. As no one from Saruwatari Kazuki's team made it I plan to have him training Onitoge. Hara Takumi will either be training Chiyoko or Inakamo. Kuroda Miharu will be training Kukai. Kakashi Yukiso will be training one of his team (Raizen, Masato, Ushi). Saruwatari's sister (forgot her name, it is either on page 2 or 3 of the rpg) will be training Leaf. Everyone else, feel free to invent a Jonin to train you (if you are still in the Chunin competition) or use one who no longer has a genin in the running (like Asuma).

[Heald]

Inakamo Yakusha

Inakamo was none too happy to be taken away from the action, especially since he could be missing Onitoge's fight. However, he knew it was useless to try and struggle against his sensei, although that doesn't mean he wasn't trying. They finally reached the wash-rooms that looked like they hadn't been used in a while, considering this was a tower in the middle of nowhere. Inakamo just hoped the water was hot.

Takumi threw him in and dusted his hands off.
"There, get clean! I don't want you coming back to the arena until you get all that fish off your clothes!" he laughed and he walked off.
Inakamo grumbled as he disrobed and turned on the shower. Thankfully, the water was piping hot, just the temperature he prefered it. As the steam began to accumulate, he looked around, knowing no one was around, but he always checked, before removing his mask and leaving it on his folded clothes.

He stepped into the showers and faced up towards the jet of water blasting onto his face, closing his eyes. He began to relax his muscles and felt his energy slowly restoring; that last match had definitely taken its toll. Shikamaru was a tough opponent, and Inakamo had to use everything he had just to stay one step ahead of him. He sighed and turned around, putting his back against the wall and running his fingers through his hair. He slowly began to slump against the wall and fall onto the ground in a sitting position, head looking down. He was pretty exhausted.

He began to hear whispers. He looked up and slowly opened his eyes. At first all he could see was steam and droplets of water, but slowly a shadow began forming in the vapour. As the shadow began to take a more opaque form, the whispers became louder and faster. He could not make out any of the whispers, but knew they were all in his head. He began to slowly stretch out his hand, reaching to touch the shadow, when his eye began to burn. The suddeness of this flare in pain caused him to reflex and grab his face and close his eyes for a split-second. The pain disappeared and the whispers stopped. When he reopened his eyes, the shadow had gone. He sighed and looked down, only to be incredibly surprised.

Between his legs laid the mask, facing back at him. This wasn't the first time the mask had seemingly moved by itself, but it was nonetheless disturbing whenever it happened. He picked up the mask and stared at it intently.

He had no idea how long he sat in that shower staring at the mask, but he finally snapped out of it and realised he might be missing Onitoge's match. He leapt up and shut off the shower, quickly drying off and dressing. He put his mask back on the returned to the arena, running all the way.

Inakamo arrived back at the arena and noticed Onitoge wasn't standing with Chiyoko or Takumi.
"I haven't missed it already?" he asked downheartedly. Chiyoko turned to him and smiled.
"No, he's fighting right now Ina-oh my! Your hair!"
Inakamo could see Chikoyo was giggling. He forgot to dry his hair thoroughly in his rush to return to the arena, and given its length, it was hanging down to his shoulders. Chiyoko found this quite amusing, and Inakamo quite embarrassing. He bit his lip and have a sheepish grin.
"Yeah...well...wait! Ontige's fighting?"
Inakamo quickly leapt on top of the barrier to watch the fight in anticipation.

---

As the tournament concluded, Takumi gathered his students in front of him.
"You three have done superbly! I knew you three would all get through, but I see your time in the forest has really caused improvement!"
Chiyoko and Inakamo were both grinning from the praise, and even Onitoge managed to crack a smile. Takumi then put on a more serious face.
"Now, in order to prepare yourselves for your upcoming matches, you're going to need some serious training and preparation. This won't be like normal team-training; teamwork won't matter, only honing your own skills. Therefore, I have decided I will only train one of you."
They all waited in anticipation for his answer.
"Chiyoko, I will be dedicating myself to your training."
Chiyoko have a brief celabratory leap, whereas Inakamo was far more down-hearted. Takumi turned to Onitoge.
"I have asked Saruwatari to train you Onitoge. He accepted, and frankly, I think he is the best Jonin to train you."
Inakamo was growing impatient.
"What about me sensei? Who is going to train me?"
Takumi gave a sheepish grin and Inakamo suspected the news was not good.
"Well Inakamo, I'm afraid I haven't found anyone who could deal with your...unique ninjutsu I'm afraid, but as soon as I find an available sensei, I'll send him your way."
Inakamo folded his arms angrily.
"On the other hand...this could be a good opportunity for you to meet some of the Jonin in the village. After all, I know there are plenty of decent teachers out there, and I'm sure you can find one before I do."
Inakamo gave a devilish smile.
"Fine Sensei, I guess I'll find my own trainer!"
"Good lad!" Takumi replied, ruffling up Inakamo's hair. Takumi then spoke up again.
"Now, I've got to head off to meet with the other Jonin. Important meeting, but you three just concentrate on getting a good night's sleep: tomorrow, the road to the final round begins."
And with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The three Genin looked at each other and nodded; they knew what road lay before them, and they had to be prepared for anything.

[Roy Karrde]

Iokawa, Hiro

It was unusually hot today, even for this time of year it was hotter than I imagined. Or maybe it was just my imagination. Either way I was on the roof of the hospital, having abandoned my room the moment I was able to figure out how to get my self out of the various things hooked up to me. The nurse had told me that Hikari had been waiting for me in the lobby. I just told her to send her away, that I would be home by nightfall.

In my mind’s eye I played back the battle over and over in my head, every move, every jump, every dodge, every painful hit. The end result was always the same; I would lose and end up waking up in the hospital and wrapped in bandages. “Maybe there are some battles I just can’t win…” I closed my eyes feeling a stray breeze wash past my body, stirring the loose bandages.

The sound of tiny footsteps reached my ears, some how Hikari had found my room and decided to check the roof once she couldn’t find me. For a minute I considered to get up and hide, as bandaged as I was, I didn’t want her to see me in this condition. It only took a sharp blinding pulse of pain down my stomach as I tried to rise, to kill off that idea.

“You can come out…” I called out after a few minutes when the footsteps stopped just a few more steps from reaching the roof. Out of the corner of my right eye I could see the top of her head, and two small eyes peeking out from the edge of the roof. “If you want to be a ninja you are going to have to be stealthy.” I fought back pain, even gulping down the urge to cry out as I moved to a upright position.

“The doctor said you almost died Hiro-ne.” Her voice was faint, and a bit scratchy as if she had been crying for hours and now was just too worn out for tears.

I balanced my arm against the wall as I rose to my feet, using the wall to support my weight. “I won’t die, and besides ninjas get hurt all the time, its part of being a ninja.” I explained.

This didn’t seem to calm her; instead it did the opposite effect, her little fists balled in anger, her eyes filled with rage. “But you almost died! And if you died! I would be all alone! You didn’t think of that you idiot!”

I shook my broken arm free of the sling, making a fist with it. “I didn’t die!” I slammed the fist into the wall, only to be rewarded with a fresh shot of pain, and the sickly crack of breaking bones.

Moments seemed to pass as I took in deep breaths of warm air to try and calm the pain that was coursing through my arm. “If something had happened to me, Chiyoko would have made sure you were okay.” Instead of answering me she just rushed forward, throwing her arms around my waist and embracing me in a deep hug.

I hated when she did that, because it reminded me that arguing with her, was another battle that I just could not win.

[Dominus]

Name:Akimoto, Akira
Gender:Male... when he feels like it
Age: 13
Appearance: Standing a little above average for his age, Akira normally looks rather lean but muscular, bearing green eyes and black hair of average length. In fact, overall, he looks almost freakishly average, nothing about him stands out in one way or another most of the time. Clothing-wise, he wears rather baggy unisex clothing, pants and a shirt, both lined with protective materials on the inside, in a green/gray combination of colors. He wears his forehead protector as a choker around his neck, feeling it's better to protect the neck than the forehead.
Personality: on the surface, he is rather amiable, you can rarely find him without a smile on his face, and he shrugs off adversity readily, but underneath, he's sneaky and often seeking out the secrets of others, something ingrained in him by his family. Those he truly considers friends, however, he will willingly fight and die for. Additionally, he has some unique viewpoints as to his own self identity, due to his bloodline.
History: Born into the Akimoto family means he was born into a family focuing on stealth and spying, centering on finding the secrets of others. He was raised with this in mind, being drilled on the family arts since he could walk, with additional training to increase control. However, unlike most of his family, he has pursued greater knowledge of Taijutsu, feeling one should be able to do more than just sneak around.
Notably, he has, throughout his time in the Academy, has kept tabs on everyone's grades and records by impersonating the teachers to gain access to them.
Main Jutsu: Taijutsu, with Genjutsu a close second.
Special Abilities: His family's unnamed bloodline is rather unique, enabling them to harness their own chakra to permanently alter their physical bodies as a form of permanent and complete, shapeshifting. Small changes like length of arm or leg are easy and require little to no concentration, but full-body changes, as well as gender changes, take a lot of focus, and can take as much as half an hour to complete.

Additionally, he has worked his shapeshifting into his taijutsu, enabling him to, for example, lengthen his arm or leg while punching or kicking, or bend his body to avoid a near hit. He has not come up with a name for this art yet.
Hobbies: He likes adding people's secrets to his 'little black book' which otherwise just looks like a ninja's bingo book.
Relations: Open
Other: Note, pronouns will be relative to whatever gender Akira happens to be at the moment.

Akimoto, Akira

Akira frowned to 'himself' as she walked along the Konoha streets, having been practicing with the family bloodline the previous night and not wanting to burn the chakra necessary to return to male, having settled with shifting just the face and throat to that of her normal male self, trusting her baggy clothes to cover up the difference. She'd heard that some of her fellow Genin had gotten pretty banged up in the Chuunin Exam, and felt it would be a good, charitable thing to pop in and offer some encouragement. Stopping by a couple shops, she bought some flowers and sweets and things, knowing full well how terminally boring hospitals could be.

As she strode into the lobby of the hospital, she mulled over who to visit first, looking over the list before settling on Hiro. Heading to the appropriate room, she knocked on the open door, calling out in her usually masculine voice, "Hello, visitor here to see you!"

Hiro looked at her for a moment a bit, clearly trying to identify her, before asking, "Do I know you? Or did Sensei send you to check up on me?"

Chuckling a bit, she replied, "Name's Akira, I believe we may have met a couple times at the Academy, just saw that some of my fellow Genin had gotten banged up and thought they might need cheering up."

He shook his head, replying, "Thanks, but... I don't need cheering up."

Akira waved that off, stating, "Nonsense, you're trapped here in this hospital, and everyone knows they're terminally dull. Here, something to help out a bit." She then walked over, placing some chocolates on the bedside table.

He smiled at that, which pleased Akira as he replied, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, anything else I can help with?" She inquired.

"If you could come back with some food this evening for my little sister and myself that would be great" He answered.

She nodded at that, it was reasonable enough, "Sure, that'd be fine, what would you like?"

A little banter back and forth later, she left the room, waving bye as she headed to the next person.

(Tag to whoever feels like it.)