Chapter 9

Haku's Loyalty is Tested

A woman entered the room shortly after the man had left. She had a fierce look to her and somehow didn't seem like an Anbu. Her hair was a fiery mane of bright orange striped black. Her eyes almost glowed yellow. The way she prowled back and forth reminded Itachi of both Haku and her companion Kasai. Her eyes flicked across the room to each team and lingered briefly on Itachi. A lump formed in his throat at her slight attention. She knew him.

"As some of you may have guessed, I'm not an Anbu agent. I merely am the guardian of your survival testing ground." A smile flashed white fangs at the group. "And I will be the one to retrieve what's left of the." she paused for affect. "Failures." A chill ran down Itachi's spine. She fully expected some of them to die on this mission and was completely alright with that. "Now let's move out." The tiger woman lead them out of the village and to a small training facility located out in the forest.

The training ground was known as the Forest of Blood. The woman explained that their objective was very simple. They would have to survive a full week inside the forest with only enough supplies to last a day. She then passed out a flare to each team.

"If at any point you wish to withdraw send up this flare. You will have to stay close to where you set it off. I will then come get you, but know if you set this flare off you fail this exam."

Another chill swept down Itachi's spine he could see Shi get a little queasy next to him. The flare if was needed would be a signal for not only the instructor but for anything that hunted them. Itachi had no illusions about what roamed those woods. The fence that surrounded these woods were three times as high as the one around the Forest of Death. He could even see the fence was electrified.

"Alright maggots get your flare and head to your assigned gate, the test is about to begin." Itachi picked up the flare and the gate number was fourteen. Twenty minutes later the gate flew open and Itachi's group ran through and in to the trees.

Haku flew low as Itachi ran through the trees. His team followed his lead as they wove their way through the forest until they reached a tree with roots that created a small cave. Rain started to steadily pour out over the forest. It soaked into the three men as they moved swiftly. The rain started to come down harder when Itachi finally said,

"This is where we will camp." Haku perched on the branch. She wished she could take out her flute play. The music would go a long ways toward lighting the mood and it would keep her from being bored. She instantly discarded that though. She didn't want Itachi to think she was helping him and therefore cheating. So she would just have to be patient.

Itachi and his two other teammates began setting up defenses. One went to get fire wood. Another strung a small trap over a few roots to create a makeshift camp under the natural cage. They organized a watch to take place and finally started making a early dinner.

The last bits of daylight couldn't even penetrate the thick canopy so it became darker on the forest floor much sooner. But it wasn't until true night fell did things start to creep out. During Shi's watch something large moved around their camp. He never caught sight of it, only the places that it had been. A branch would swing back, or a bush would move. Whatever it was it was large and very unfriendly. Shi woke his twin and Itachi. With the Sharingan mirror eye Itachi was able to see the creature. It was a tiger. But this beasts was very unlike Haku's friend Kasai. This monster was easy twice Itachi's height and was stalking them.

"Back to back." Itachi whispered. His teammates didn't even hesitate to do as he asked. Each team member drew a knife and held it had the ready. Itachi tracked the creature's movements through the trees and relayed its position to Monshi and Shi. A few more steps and it would step into his trap. He just prayed it would hold.

Haku watched from the safety of the branch as the giant tiger circle Itachi. She wished she could take her human form and communicate with it and request it to leave. But she had promised to let Itachi do this on his own and win on his own. She clenched her jaw in the bird's body.

The trap was triggered as the giant cat came bursting through trees at Monshi. Razor wire formed a shinnying web in front of the charging tiger. The impact of tiger hitting the wire caused blood to splash across Monshi. The wires ripped through the trees they were wrapped around and cut them to their hearts. Each tree fell with a resounding crash shaking the forest. The tiger laid down and moaned in pain. The sound sent a pain knifing through Itachi heart. He quickly moved to his pack and retrieved his medical supplies. Shi must have realized what he was going to do and grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Itachi we should kill it before it can get back up." Itachi shuck his head no.

"Trust me." Shi looked like he might argue more but something held him back. Itachi had no way of knowing that Shi had seen a determination in him that he had never seen before. Itachi moved cautiously forwarded. One of Haku's lessons rose in his mind. The most dangerous animal is one that has nothing to lose. Itachi did his best to make soothing noises and to make no sudden movements. Once Itachi was close enough he laid a hand down on the tiger's face. It growled and snapped weakly at Itachi. Itachi didn't flinch merely waited for the big cat to grow accustomed to him. Then he started cutting the wire away from the animal's face and neck. He applied healing cream to the smaller wounds. Then he stitched up the deepest ones around the neck.

The tiger shuttered under the pain of the needle punching in and out of its skin. It twitched and growl softly but didn't try to bite Itachi. It sensed something about the boy as it approached. The human child spoke the language of the great spirit. Though it was nonsense it soothed and comforted him. Maybe he would leave these ones alone, after all there were others to hunt. Once Itachi was done stitching the him up the tiger got up and limped off. No more animals stalked them after that.

The next two days and nights went without incident. It was on the third night that they felt something creep up on the camp. Haku was the first to feel it. She took flight and went looking for the evil that stalked her friend. She found a group of contestants circling around Itachi's camp. Haku was about to turn back when the female of the group spoke, but with a man's voice.

"Why do I have to be the girl?"

"You picked the squad which means you don't get to pick a host form." snapped the taller boy.

"Would you both shut up! Orochimaru gave us a job, he wants the Sharingan." Haku flew back and took her human form in front Itachi.

"Run!" She screamed. Itachi blinked at her but did as she asked grabbing Monshi and Shi. The group rushed into the clearing just Itachi, Monshi, and Shi left.

There was something about these three that rang as foul to Haku. She could hold them off but if they one slipped away he would over power Itachi. She would not let them take him.

"Wait you are after the boy Itachi for his Chakra's ability right?"

"What's it to you?" The younger one asked

"What if I could do it?"

"Then we would just take you instead."

"You have a deal but you must leave Itachi and his group unharmed." Haku shut her eyes and opened them. The Sharingan rose briefly in her eyes before it disappeared. It was hard to maintain any of the kekkei genkai for any length of time without the stone to bolster her strength. It was only through the Medeina she could do that and it took a drastic toll on her chakra and she had been holding the transformation for two days. She was swaying with weakness and couldn't even dodge the fist that slammed into her face. She fell to the mud and one of the men landed a vicious kick to her ribs

"Well, well, well seems we have what we came here for." the man tied her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Let's go." They ran through the woods tell they reached the camping site under the roots. Itachi had come back to look for Haku. He noticed a muddy foot print on her chest, and her breathing was faint. Anger burnt the air around him and he charged blindly forward. A man slammed the butt of a knife into his stomach and punched him squarely across the temple. Itachi fell to the ground and struggled to see as the men started to leave.

"Don't take her." he pleaded

"Sorry kid, a job is a job." Itachi's eyes blurred

"Remember my promise Itachi." She managed to whisper before being hauled away. Itachi lay there in the mud floating in and out of awareness. A muzzle poked at him.

"Itachi are you okay? Where is Haku? What happened?"It was Anubis.

"I'm sorry Anubis. I could nothing. They were here for her." Sobbed Itachi.

"It's alright it was not your fault." Breathed Kasai who appeared out of the woods.

"Itachi she traded her freedom to save you we will watch over you for the rest of the exam."

"No, you must find her." Rain started to drip down through the trees.

"Anubis and Megami have gone to see if they can follow Haku's scent." The rain steadily grew harder and Kasai kept close to Itachi, insuring he stayed warm. After what seemed like eternity the two wolves returned with their heads down, tail between their legs, and coats spattered in mud.

"We lost them." With a mournful cry Kuki took to flight with Saru on her back.

"Wait where is Kuki and Saru?" asked Itachi.

"They are off delivering a letter to Isora about Haku's kidnapping." Answered Anubis

"Itachi, she knew bad things would find her after a while and she wouldn't have wanted you to get in the cross fire." Explained Megami as she helped Itachi to sit up. Behind her was Monshi and Shi entered the clearing. Itachi tired to comprehend what had happened but he still couldn't wrap his mind around it. Kasai stayed with Itachi and his friends while Anubis and Megami tried tracking Haku again. On the last day of the test they returned with their heads down and their tails between their legs. Itachi knew they hadn't been successful and his heart sank.