Okay, chapter 2. I have the first few prewritten, so this should get updated pretty quickly.
I don't own Naruto.
'Alright, now I just need to fail these genin so I can get back to sleep,' The Hokage may have the power to force him into testing a genin squad, but he couldn't make him pass them. Of course, his 'pupils' couldn't find out. This was his third year with a squad. Each year he gave them the same task. Last year, his squad almost finished, but, as he explained, almost doesn't work on an actual mission.
They had been nearing the training ground that he had reserved for the test. Training ground 12 was, from the outside, a forest. It was practically perfect for his test. He turned to face the genin when they reached the entrance.
"Alright then, I suppose I should explain what is going on." He started this while they were still walking up. "When you passed that last exam, you were given your hitai-ite. Now, it's time to actually earn the right to be a ninja." The group was staring at him. Clearly, this wasn't what they were expecting. "The point of this is to prove that you can actually turn those skills you learned at the academy into success on an actual mission. Fail, and I get to personally send you back to the academy."
"But that's not fair!!! We passed the exam, we obviously have the skills we need!" Said the girl who, minutes before, had been daydreaming. The other two seemed to agree with her statement.
"What is your name?"
"Maeno Hideko."
"Well Hideko, while you did pass the exam, sometimes people slip through the cracks. These people then get themselves killed on a mission that they never should have been on."
She seemed satisfied with the answer, but her teammates did not.
"The exam was one student working on their own with two teacher's grading them. There isn't much opportunity for someone to 'slip through the cracks.'"
"Your name is? In fact, why don't I just get both of your names, since you seem to be in agreement."
"Ushiba Shiori."
"Rokusho Shinsuke."
"Well, that's exactly the problem. They test that you can work separate in the exam, while this test is that you can work with other ninja." It looked like he finally had them all in agreement. "Well then, now that that's out of the way, lets get back to the important part. For this exam, somewhere inside of the training area is a scroll that you need to recover. There isn't any decoy scrolls, so you'll know it when you see it. Your mission is to get it and come back in under three hours."
Etsuya knew someone would question this. Someone always did. "Okay, that sounds way to easy. How does this involve us working together at all?" Asked Shinsuke.
"Well, I guess you'll know when you enter. By the way, the time starts…now."
The group approached the training area slowly. They were positive that something was waiting for them. The area was nowhere near big enough to justify the time limit.
"You know what, that's probably it," Said Hideko. Shiori and Shinsuke glanced at her. "Don't you two get it? There's nothing there! The time limit tricks you into moving slowly so that you fail!" Neither of her teammates were convinced, and it took all of Etsuya's training to stop him from breaking into laughter. "Look, I'll show you!" At that moment, she broke into a sprint towards the woods. About ten feet in, she realized her mistake. Their was nothing that she could do as the rope that was under her feet had completely wrapped around her legs and hoisted her into the air. "Okay, maybe I was a little bit off. Still, at least I found out what the hard part of the exam was!" Both of her teammates were staring at her. "Are either of you going to help, or am I just stuck here?"
Shiori was the one to finally say something. "You know, the way towards you is probably trapped, also."
"Of course it isn't!!! How would I have gotten over here if it were trapped. Besides, you can't just leave me here." Her teammates actually agreed with her on that. They would need the help if they were going to pass.
"Fine, just hold still." Shinsuke then launched a shuriken toward the rope, slicing it in half. Hideko fell down and landed on her back.
"GOD that hurt! What is wrong with you!"
Shinsuke just shrugged. "I guess it's my sense of self-preservation. Now get up so we can look for that scroll and get out of here." Hideko got up as her teammates walked forward. Cautiously. The last thing they wanted to do was trigger another trap. Moments later, they reached her successfully, and then headed deeper into the area. They decided to fan out, but remain in sight of each other, so that they could cover the largest possible area while still watching out for each other. Which had turned out to be entirely necessary. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't avoid everything. All of them had, at some point, tripped off something. The worst traps were, by far, the explosive tags. They were difficult to spot, and getting away usually triggered other traps. If they couldn't see each other, then they would have gotten stuck long before. They had wasted over an hour and were already dead tired, and seemingly no closer to finding the scroll then when they had started.
Shiori was the one to notice. "Hey, is it just me, or is the forest getting less thick?" She turned to her teammates.
Shinsuke spoke first. "Yeah, it looks like it. We must be getting near the edge. Hopefully we didn't pass it."
However, it turned out to be some form of clearing. In the center of it was a small shack with no windows and only one entrance.
The group walked toward the structure. Hideko was the one to finally say something. "Wow, this isn't a completely obvious trap."
"Well, I guess that we won't know 'til we open it," Said Shinsuke. Despite his statement, he seemed no more willing to actually enter the building than the rest of his group. Shiori decided to act on this.
"Then open the door. We aren't going to gain anything by just waiting here." He looked directly into her eyes. She was completely serious. He turned to his other teammate, but she cut him off.
"You're the one to suggest it. You should be the one to open it."
He took a step forward. They could hear him mutter something but couldn't quite make out what. "Dammit, why did I have to say that." He reached toward the door. He touched the handle. Nothing happened. He gave it a slight pull. Nothing happened. He pulled it all the way, standing to the side. Nothing happened. He peeked through the doorway. Yep, the scroll was definitely in there. But that was the last thing that he noticed. 'Holy crap, why is this even part of the exam! No one would ever guard something like THIS.'
"Are you going to tell us what is there or not? Is the scroll there, or do we leave." He didn't answer. Shiori repeated the question, this time with more annoyance in her tone.
"Yeah, it's definitely in here."
"Then grab the thing so we can go!" It was Hideko who asked this time.
"I can't."
"Why, is it trapped?"
She had no idea. "You could say that." Shiori, now curious, walked toward the doorway. She had been expecting some form of trap, but nothing like THIS. The entire inside was filled with tripwires. The walls and ceiling were completely covered. She couldn't even see the other wall. In the center of the room, on the floor, was a scroll. She understood what Etsuya had said perfectly now. She definitely knew it when she saw it. And it scared her a little. "Hideko, come over here, your smaller than either of us." The girl walked up. She was obviously getting agitated.
"It's a room. How hard could this possibly b-oh GOD! You can't expect me to go in there, can you?" Of course, she knew the answer before either of them said anything.
"Well Hideko, like Shiori said, your smaller than either of us. You're the only one with the slightest chance of success. So… good luck."
"Huh, thanks for the pep talk. Now I DEFINITELY feel like I'm not gonna die." Despite these protests, it was obvious that they weren't going in there, and one of them had to. She grudgingly entered into the mess of wires, carefully sliding under the first set. She kept going, carefully weaving her way through the mess of wires. Miraculously, she made it to the center, where the scroll, and a small, empty area was. She let out a deep breath.
She could hear Shiori shout from the doorway. "Alright, you're there, now toss the scroll through so that you can get out."
"WHAT? How do I know that you two won't just leave me here?"
It was Shinsuke who answered the question. "Hideko, did you completely forget what this mission was for? We're supposed to complete this as a team. Why on earth would we leave you here?" He was right, and she knew it. Carefully, she picked up the scroll, took aim, and launched it. However, near the end, it hit one of the wires dead on. The trio stared at it in complete shock.
"I really hope that I didn't just slide my way through this mess of wire for no reason."
"Well Hideko, if I had to guess, then yes. Yes you did."
"Wow Shinsuke, way to kick me while I'm down." Then, Hideko took out a kunai and started chopping down the wires in her way. The other two did the same. Soon, they had grabbed the scroll and left back toward the woods. "So, does anyone know how much time is left?"
This was, by far, the worst part of the entire process. Etsuya hadn't realized this after his first group, who, after a short time, gave up on the exam. They had said that they wouldn't risk their own lives trying to break through the shack, and had failed. They never did join a squad. The second group did better. They had actually gotten through to the scroll. However, they were late by ten minutes. Despite this, they had come to close for his comfort. He couldn't risk someone passing, which is why he had shrunk the time span by an hour. There was no way a group of genin could actually succeed in only three hours. He checked his watch. He still had half an hour before they failed.
"Dammit Shinsuke, if your gonna carry the thing, watch where your running!!!"
"Well then, Hideko, Why don't you carry it!" True, he did trigger that last trap, which flung a kunai directly in her path, but he still felt like defending himself. They were almost out of time, and if they didn't hurry, then they were sure to fail. Besides, as Shiori had said, the traps were meant for people heading in, not out. The timing on these was too far off to hit the person who triggered it.
"Shinsuke, I realize that your anxious and all, but if you could avoid hitting every trap, we would appreciate it."
"What Shiori, you're the one who said that we should go fast."
"Yeah, but I don't think that you could run this fast carrying either of us."
He slowed his pace a bit. She was right. While he was one of the fastest genin in the village, he couldn't always keep track of what he was doing at speed, and his teammates were having a hard enough time keeping up with him without dodging sharp objects. "Sorry."
"Oh yeah, slow down for HER."
Only ten minutes left until they had failed. Just ten. Of course, he would have to wait here while they came out, but he still kept track. His nerves wouldn't completely calm down until they had officially failed. Not that they would pass, but he like to make sure. At that point, he thought he had heard something from the area. He turned toward the forest. To his relief, it was just his imagination. Of course it was. They couldn't have finished by now. They might have found the shack, but they would never have gotten the scroll out in time. He looked back at his watch. Six minutes left.
"Hey, I think we're getting close!"
There was no way that he had heard that. No possible way. Still, he had to check. Just to make sure. What he saw shocked him. The rookies not only made it out in time, they did it with the scroll.
"There, here's your scroll, be sure not to lose it again," said Shinsuke, who was holding out the thing that he couldn't possibly have. There had to be some kind of trick to it. He took it and opened it. Inside of the scroll, the words he wrote were staring back at him. Congratulations. He had written this, meaning to himself for getting through another year without a squad. Now, however, the words echoed in his skull. There had to be some loophole, but he couldn't think of anything.
"Well, it looks like you finally got a squad, Etsuya." These words chilled him to the core. He turned around. Standing behind him was the Hokage himself. "I thought I should see how this year's squad had done. It would appear that they had passed." He had hoped that he could find some technicality to write these genin off on, but no chance now.
"Yes. These genin have proven themselves worthy of joining the ranks of Konoha."
"Well then, with that, I believe that I shall head back to the my office. I need to add the new graduates to Konoha's active ninja list." With that, he turned and left. Etsuya decided to address his squad.
"Okay then, since you have all passed, we are done here for the day. We will meet back here tomorrow." 'Of course the Hokage shows up, why wouldn't he. After all, he didn't show up the last two times.' However, he knew that there was no loophole, no way out. He was now trapped, stuck with a squad.
Done again...bit longer than before. So...Read and Review.
