Okay, first off, sorry for taking two and a half weeks instead of just two. I had a lot of trouble with the the test. I had several parts i knew to include, but not the whole. AS you know, there is an obstacle course, but i only knew the last part of it and the first part, thanks to several readers sending me their ideas! These readers will all be credited at the end of this chapter! YAY!
Also, i realized, thanks to a new reader, that when i replaced the first chapter with an update, that i'd also done it on the LAST chapter (chapter 9), so i think there's a few people that missed it since i made that mistake, so you might need to read the last chapter...hopefully not!
Anyways, this chapter is the longest i've EVER written for ANY of my stories! I wanted to get the whole test into one chapter, and it was longer than expected, but it was OH so much fun to write!
So, go ahead, see how our little friends do in their final gennin test! Read and review!
disclaimer- naruto not mine, kishimoto's etc, as well as scenes taken from the episodes 'fourth hokage's legacy'.
As it turned out, the first part, jumping the poles without getting knocked over, wasn't too bad…compared to the rest of what they had to do.
After the initial obstacle, they all ran down a path. Shika was a bit further ahead than Akashi and Cho, who were nearly side by side, Akashi slightly ahead, and running full speed. Both of them hesitated when they came across a fence.
"What the heck?" Cho caught up to her teammate.
"Hahaha, what's, ha, next?" He pointed to the fence.
"It looks like sensei wants us to go into this place, but it says it's forbidden!" Cho slapped her forehead.
"Great! Not only is he crazy, he's insane! We're gonna get killed!" stopped her antics as she noticed Akashi's intense face. "Akashi-kun? What is it?" He spoke as he continued to look at the area around the fence.
"Well, I was just thinking, this fence doesn't have a door, and yet the signs very clearly led us to this point. It's taken us about forty-five minutes to get this far, and there's no sign of Shika. Besides that," he said, bending to pick up a rock and toss it at the fence, "the fence is…" BZZZTTT!... "electric."
Cho simpley stared wide eyed at the charcoaled rock before stammering, "s, so wait, how are we supposed to get through this then?" Akashi scratched the top of his head angrily.
"Ah, that's what bothers me most; Look over there!" he pointed to a small stand off to the side slightly. It read, "take one: tiger scroll", but the slot was empty. Cho Akashi started to fume a little. "You see! She took them all! That was supposed to get us through the rest of this, but that darn girl already took them all, making sure that we'd fail!" Akashi continued to rant a little until Cho, who had been observing the fence, spoke up.
"Um, Akashi? What about that hole there?" Akashi stopped, mid rant, to see a gap in the fence, just big enough for them.
"heheh, well, would you look at that?" He steeled his face. "Well, anyways, we need to get moving as quickly as possible. The only way to get through now is to catch up to Shika and get that scroll!" Cho nodded.
"Right!" And so they took off again, careful not to touch the fence as they slid through…
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Feh, what is this gibberish? Shika was sitting down cross legged, reading the words over and over as she stood before a bridge. It looked a lot like a spider web, actually, but these lines from the scroll didn't make any sense, yet she felt innately that they would be important.
Close the blade and calm the heart? What the heck? She silently fumed , looking at the sky. A full hour had now passed. She'd been sitting her there for about ten minutes, and she was getting impatient. Still, Shikamaru sensei had taught her to be patient and to think things through, so she did. Of course, he also said that the best fighters take in their surroundings… she stood and began to observe the rock walls around her, before finding an almost totally worn away sign, carved into the rocks. "Tightrope Spider Bridge"…so there was a spider involved… it would have to be a big one…She looked down at the words once again. Close the blade, calm the heart… Well, it didn't make complete sense, but she'd see what happened. She was fast enough she could figure it out as she went.
So, she cautiously took a step onto the bridge, testing it. Ick, sticky…wait…tight rope? She looked back at the sign, then at the two straight strands on either side of what one would usually consider steps…and stepped on one. Hmmm, not sticky at all…is that the trick? Don't see what this has to do with the words at all…eh, whatever. And so she began to walk along the bridge, careful not to lose her footing, which she did almost do when she heard a shout.
"Hey Shika! Get over here you good for nothing cheater!" She turned back in surprise at her two teammates running up to the bridge. She smiled inwardly. They weren't going to take their time, and then they'd get stuck on the sticky webs. She turned to keep going, then faltered. Cheater? She turned around angrily.
"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHEATER LOOSER!" Akashi and Cho were on the web now, and they took several steps before noticing the webbing slowing them down, but Akashi at least started to reply.
"YOU took all the tiger scrolls you piece of scum! You're trying to make sure we fail, aren't…you… Hey what's this?" Shika grit her teeth, slamming her foot down, forgetting about the web.
"You moron! There was only one there in the first place! It's not my fault if you two are to slow to keep up!"
"Ha! Liked I'd believe that! Now what's the deal with this web!"
"Umm, guys?"
"Humph! Like I'm gonna tell you! You'd be wasted as a ninja any ways!"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"Uh, guuuuys?"
"You're weak and you're a looser! You can't even bend chakra right! How do you expect-"
"Shika, look out behind you!" Shika stopped in surprise at Cho's outburst, almost not looked behind her, but her eyes widened and she jumped high in the sky as the spider struck, just missing her.
Woah! How did Cho see that coming and I didn't wondered Akashi. And how come Shika didn't know? Doesn't that scroll…
"Hey Shika! What's on the scroll!" Shika landed a few strands away using both feet and one arm to support herself, taking not of what was stick out on the rest of the web.
"Why should I tell you," she shouted back as she unstuck herself to dodge the spider again.
"Well, didn't it say something about the spider, or how to beat it?" She let out a short laugh.
"Ha! As if! It's just a bunch of gibberish! Like the first two lines: close the blade, calm the heart! It doesn't make any sense at all!" Akashi took a few moments to think as Cho began to shake.
"This is nuts! I don't care if I have to go back to the academy, this isn't worth it!" She started trying to run back to the cliff; just at that moment, Shika was in the air, and Akashi noticed that it never started to move again until she landed…but now it was heading for them!
Akashi's eyes flashed and he turned back to Cho and yelled.
"Cho! Stop running! Don't move! Shika, you either!" Cho stopped, turning to look at him confused, Shika giving him an incredulous look.
"What? Are you crazy! That think will tear us all to shreds if we don't move!"
"No! Close the blade, calm the heart! It's about movement and intention! We need to be calm and sit still! It only moves to where it can feel vibrations on the web!" Shika stopped moving, looking at him in surprise when she realized that the spider hadn't shown up until they'd started their argument on the web, and coming to Akashi's observation that the spider never followed her while she was in the air…
As she landed, she took out a small batch of kunai and three then at another part of the web, away from where she was. Sure enough, as soon as she had landed, the spider had been drawn to her, no longer feeling the vibrations from Cho, and assuming that its adversary had once again jumped…then jumped again. Shika sat very still as her kunai struck the web, causing more vibrations to occur away from her. The spider followed, rushing to the area, and trying to attack the empty space. When nothing was there, the three young shinobi carefully waited as the huge spider kept turning in circles, waiting for vibrations. Then it stopped.
"Do you, do you think we can get across now?"
"No," Akashi answered his team mate. "The spider's waiting to see if whatever was moving will start again, now that it isn't moving; we wait." A minute later the spider ambled to the edge of the web, crawling into a hole there. The three kids breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew! That was close…"
"No kidding!"
"Well, now that that's taken care of, I'll be on my way…"
"Hold it! If you start going again without telling us how to get across without getting stuck, you might have the same problem you did this time!" Shika glared at him before turning her head in disgust.
"Hmph; I could have figured out a way without you!" She turned her face to look at him, distaste still evident. "Still you did help out…this bridge is called the tightrope spider bridge, so to get across, use those strands on the side, and that's what will get you across without getting stuck. Just don't move around on it too much or we'll have to deal with that spider again."
Soon, all three were across, much closer together now, Shika only a little ways ahead.
"So, a mostly normal obstacle course, a huge spider bridge, what next!" Cho shook her head. "We really did luck out with our sensei, didn't we." Shika snorted.
"Heh; maybe. Mom said he's always been nuts like this, but also that his team were very close with the rookie 9; all twelve are Jounin now. He's insane, but for whoever passes, he'll make them strong, I'm sure of it." She gripped her hands together tightly. She needed to be strong, and if this man could do, then so be it, even if he was crazy.
"Hey, Shika, what's the next line say?" She just tossed him the scroll, which he almost dropped, she noted, and let him read it for himself.
"Offer a wild chrysanthemum? Eh?" She laughed.
"Yeah, like I said; nonsense. I'd guess none of this stuff is gonna make sense until we're in the situation." Akashi nodded, putting away the scroll in his bag.
"Yeah, probably, seeing as how without the spider you'd have no idea what the first line meant." Cho nodded in agreement, choosing not to speak as she was getting short on breathe. So, they kept running, having used up an hour and a half now. There were only two and a half hours left to finish.
Soon they stood at the entrance to a giant building. The sign was worn off and the tree cautiously entered.
"Well, this place is big," said Shika, eyes darting around the room, taking it all in. There was a closed door on the other end, several pillars with small holes in them, some chains handing from the sealing, a small sign a few feet away from the door, and of course a huge depression in the floor with a hole in it.
"Akashi, make yourself useful and read that sign." He glared at her before he went to read it.
"Huh," he said. "It's says, depress button…"
"What? What button?" Akashi lifted up the paper the sign was on, seeing if perhaps the button was beneath, but no luck.
"Okay, so to open the door, we need to press a button, and there's going to be something about a chrysanthemum, which we don't have…you think there's one in that whole?" Shika shrugged. Good place to start. The three dropped into the hole, and almost immediately, from the holes in the pillars, a pink gas began to shoot out.
"What is this!" They all looked about wildly as the cloud of gas began to descend on them.
"It's only falling! It doesn't go up! It must be a heavy gas! Get up, get up!" Chi yelled. Shika jumped and grabbed a chain, as did Akashi, but Cho just stood there, despite her insistance.
"What are you waiting for!" Akashi yelled down.
"I, I can't jump that high!" Akashi looked down at her in shock. She couldn't? It wasn't that hard. She'd even been the one to say it. He looked at the cloud beginning to envelope her and jumped down.
Huh, a moron like him, I wouldn't have thought he could do that…most academy kids can't… maybe he's better than I thought. Won't matter if he get's caught in that gas, though.
At that moment, Akashi was bracing himself on the floor, holding out a his hands and motioning for Cho to run and use his hands as a spring board. She nodded, ran, and jumped, barely making it, gasping for air. Akashi felt himself getting weaker as he tried to hold his breath, but he knew he couldn't jump back up again, not with the small wiff he'd taken right when Cho had jumped. He looked around. There was still that hole…well, to be there, it had to be important. Maybe it would be safe in there…
Meanwhile, as Cho caught her breath, both of the girls were looking down, studying the floor. It was such an odd design…
"Akaskhi! Run for the…oh…" Cho realized he was already doing it, so yelled again as Shika smirked oddly. What was up with that?
"Akashi! When you get in the hole, see if there's something to help us!" Now Shika yelled down.
"Remember, that sign said to depress the button! Look for the button!" Akashi ran with all his might to get to the whole, barely hearing his team mate, but he get it just enough to wave his hand. He stumbled right before he got to the whole, losing his breathe, and insticivly taking another…on no…he tried to lift his head, but the whole world was rolling in…but he had to make it! He had to…
Outside the hole the gas was rising higher as it filled the rest of the room. Cho was looking fearfully at the hole.
"Do you, do you think he's…" Shika rolled her eyes. With our luck, that stumble of his knocked him out, and now we'll have to jump down and find it." She stared around them in anger. "I don't care how, but I'm getting out of here, and I'm getting my dad's things back; this isn't going to stop me!" With that she jumped down, bracing to take the impact without loosing her breath, but just as she landed, the pit depressed once again, and the gas was sucked out through holes at the edge of the raised area, also opening the door.
"Wow, he did it," Shika said. Cho landed next to her, wincing.
"Hey! Akashi kun is so cool! I knew he could do it!" Shika gave her a look that said, seriously? Are you kidding me? However, she didn't say anything, instead standing up and walking over to the whole, looking down.
"So, you alive down there?" Akashi coughed.
"Ha, barely, but I got it!"
"Yeah, you did, now hurry up! I might need more cannon fodder later." He laughed.
"Right, cannon fodder." Cho, meanwhile, ran up and jumped down in the hole, shooting glances at Shika and helping Akashi up. She really didn't like how there were talking… Still, they made it out, though Shika complained about Akashi slowing them down and being stupid for inhaling some of the gas, but soon enough, he was able to walk, and they literally saw light at the end of the tunnel.
"So, what's the next part," Cho asked, and as Akashi reached for the scroll, Shika answered.
"Be extremely nimble, show determination," she said without missing a beat.
"Eh? How'd you know that." She smirked at them over her shoulder.
"I memorized it," she said. "I mean, it was sitting there at the bridge for forever befoe you guys showed up, trying to figure out the clue, but it was, as I said earlier, useless, since the clue doesn't make sense until you get there. You had to see the spider and notice it was attracted to vibrations, and you had to see that the pit was shaped like a flower before being wild crazy enough to even think about going back into the center of that fog. So, this next part will probably be the same." Akashi and Cho nodded, Akashi now walking under his own power, but just then they all perked their ears up, noticing the sound of rushing water. Sure enough, right when they got out of the cave, they could see that river beneath them.
"Grrr, it still doesn't make sense… the challenge must be further ahead on this path."
"Unless the path is the challenge. Nimble could be referring to a rock slide or something," Cho said to her female team mate. Shika looked up at the sky.
"Well, we'd better be nimble and be quick; we have just under two hours left, and no idea how long the rest of this will take; it looks like we're just under half way, based on the clues we have left and what we've already gotten done." They nodded and began to jog down the path, keeping an eye out above them. After just a minute or two, though, they came to a raft.
"Well, there' nothing else here, so I guess we take the raft…even if we won't be able to steer it." Cho's face dropped.
"Great; somehow, I don't think I'm gonna like this one…" Akashi managed to chuckle.
"hey, I don't think any us have liked any of this so far; but if we hurry up we can still make it! And dad won't kill me," he muttered. Cho giggled, and they stepped onto the raft, sitting down to make it easier to balance. They sat in silence for a moment as Shika watched the river before Akashi spoke up.
"Hey Shika, why are you so different today anyways? Usually you're a total goof ball." She didn't even turn around.
"Well, let's just say people like to laugh, so I make them laugh. I don't care for it so much myself; now I get to be a real shinobi, and I'll finally be able to… make my dream come true. Now I have a reason to be serious…"
"Huh; okay, whatever," Akashi said, laying down. Cho hugged her knees. Oh, this was not going well… then she looked up.
"Hey, is the river moving faster?" Shika nodded. "Yeah, it's been slowly getting fast. I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner. There's probably a water fall ahead." She shook her head. "I think I know what the nimble part is about, but what about showing determination? Nimble will be avoiding the water fall, but why be determined about it? Akashi chuckled.
"Heheheh. Maybe we're supposed to jump over it, eh? Ahhh…this sucks." The girls nodded.
"Yup; but we'd better figure it out fast, cause there's the water fall!" Akashi and Cho both jumped up while Shika just slowly stood.
"Crap! There's a huge rock in the middle, and with the pull of the current being equal we're going to smash right into that rock!" Akashi turned to Shika. "Well, you're smart! What do we do?" Shika's eyes were moving everywhere, taking it all in. She noticed that rock had a miniature kage monument, though it only had the first four kage on it, but there didn't seem to be anything special about it… what was the answer? Then she turned as Cho gasped.
"What! What is it?" Cho pointed at the rainbow. "So?"
"Rainbow's only form from the spray rising above a falls…so why is it only on one side?" Shika's eyes narrowed.
"Alright Akashi, since it was your idea, you jump first! To the right!" Akashi's look of incredulity was priceless.
"Nani! I wasn't being serious!" Shika glared.
"Well, according to what Cho said, we should be safe, and if we don't show determination here, we'll be smashed into the rocks in about three seconds! Now go!" Akashi didn't hesitate, jumping to the right, followed by Cho, then Shika, right before their raft was smashed into the side of the rock…and the three of them landed in a head, Akashi on bottom.
"Ooooww…." Akashi moaned.
"I'm gonna kill sensei when we find him," Cho muttered.
"Well, I don't think it'll be too long. I see a building up ahead and no path behind it; looks like we'll finish in there, and we have about an hour and a half or so, so let's move it!
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And move it they did, running hard to get to the building, excited at the prospect over actually finishing and managing to do it with time to spare! They didn't even pause as they ran into the building, Cho breathlessly asking, "So, what, what's the next c,clue?"
"One is one, three is three, and all or none," she replied. "That's all that's left."
"N, nani?" Shika shrugged.
"We'll see," she said. "We'll see." And then there were in the building, but it had a rather strange build. Off to the sides it was as if it were a huge library, but in the middle there were three hills of dirt (fresh dirt, it seemed, for the ones to the sides; the dirt in the middle didn't look as fresh) with a huge boulder at the base of each, and finally a sign sitting before them. Cho leaned over, catching her breathe an Akashi went up to read it.
"It says, 'to greet me at the top, push your boulder till it stops'…crap…" Shika, as he read, was looking up the hill. Right as he finished, she ran past him. "Huh.. Shika, what are you doing?" She didn't answer, but stopped at the crest of the hill and ran back down. When she made it back, Akashi questioned her. "What was that all about." She looked at each of the boulders and walked up to the smallest one before answering.
"Once you get a boulder to the top, there's a bit of a hill, then it falls and lands in a pit with a huge button. Obviously we each need to get this done in order to open our own door and get through to sensei, so get out of my way." With that she spit on her hands and began pushing the boulder. Akashi started before sharing a glance with Cho and they each picked their own boulder. Shika seemed to be doing well as first, but then she slowed down as it got steeper, and she couldn't find enough purchase in the ground to keep pushing, only hold it in place.
No, I can't end like this… I have get my dad's things back! She screamed in effort and managed to push the boulder again. Akashi, a few feet lower on the slope than her, stared at her ferocity, and grimaced as she was once again stuck on the slope. He was also stuck, and was trying to figure out the puzzle. Cho was even farther down the slope them then, huffing and wheezing, trying to come up with a better way to move the rock.
One is one, and three is three…all or none…well, each of us has a boulder, and there is three of them; one for each of us, so why bother to say that? And all or none is part of the next clue but still seems to fit with this one…hmmm…wait…what if… He groaned as he slowly walked his boulder back down the slope. Cho stared at him in shock, and Shika gave off another scream as she tried to push at her boulder further, but failed. Cho followed Akashi's example and walked her boulder down…or tried to, anyways. She slipped and her boulder rolled on it's own, stopping several yards closer to the door than it had started.
"Akashi-kun, what's going on? Did you figure out how to move them better or something? Or are the boulders a distraction?" he shook his head.
"No, and yes. The boulders are the point, but no quite the way we thought." He jerked his head towards Shika, and the jogged up to her. She was straining to even hold it in place now.
"Shika, I've figured out the clue," he said, She just glared at him. "What it means is not that each boulder is for each of us, but that each boulder is for the three of us. One person for each boulder can only do so much, but three people for three boulders, working together, well, that's what does it."
"Why-three," she wheezed.
"We have to get all three up there in time," he said. "It's a trick to make us think that we only need to do one each, but really, none of the three doors will open until all three boulders make it to their spots. All or none," he reminded her. "But in order to help you, you need to make room for us and not spread your arms out so much, then we'll push the boulder together."
"Don't-need-help," she said. He looked at her, head titled to the side, one eyebrow raised.
"Really?" She glared and kept trying to push her boulder. The clock continued to tick as the two battled wills and Cho nervously waited at the side.
"Shika, we're losing time. It's not so much that you need your help, but all need each others. Cho and I can't move our boulders without you, not all the way. We'll need you, too, to get them." Shika glared and grit her teeth, but braced herself, and screamed, moving all the weight of the boulder to her back as she took her arms off; for that split second it was pain, but then it lessened considerably as her teammates took a third of the weight, about, on each side of her.
"Now, let's get it done!" She nodded and, working together, they began to make progress, getting the boulder to slowly move up the hill. Inch by inch they pushed it up. They slid once or twice, but after just a few minutes they had pushed it up and over, and they fell over themselves as they watched the boulder fall into place. Sure enough, just as Akashi had predicted, the one boulder by itself did not open a door, thought they could hear the clicking sounds of the door's mechanisms moving. Akashi and Cho looked at each other and grinned while Shika just laid there catching her breath.
She was angry with herself. She should be able to do this alone! She shouldn't need anyone to help her, least of all the second guesser Akashi and the physically weak Cho. Well, she'd show them… She stood.
"Hey, Shika, you spent a lot of effort on that by yourself. We can take a break if you want." She looked over her shoulder as him as she walked down the hill to the other two boulders.
"Rest if you want; I'm fine, and we're running out of time." Akashi winced and stood, holding out his hand to help Cho up. He was looking down the hill as he did so, however, so he missed her blush. Soon they were once again pushing a boulder up, though this one seemed easier to move, likely because they didn't have to start it from a resting position part way up the hill like they had had to with Shika's. Another boulder went over, and then they repeated with the third, never taking a break. Despite her physical weakness, even Cho kept pushing through, never moaning and never giving in. Fate did seem to have a sense of humor for them this day, however.
As they once again pushed a boulder over the summit, the last one, they all fell over again from their efforts. Cho, however, fell further forward and was watching as the boulder hit and the door opened. Shika and Akashi missed this, however. Like two unfortunate boys many years before, they found themselves in an akward position. Not only had they fallen over, but one of them had tripped, grabbing the other to try and stop the fall. They were so shocked by the result that neither of them would ever be sure who did what, just that all of a sudden, their faces were mashed together.
"YES! We did it! The door's opened guys! Isn't that…GAAH!" Cho screamed in frustration and surprise as she turned around to see her teammates kissing, not caring that they immediately got up the moment she saw them (which happened to break them out of their state of shock), or that they both made barf noises and were wiping their mouths out like crazy. Cho just stared at Shika in anger, letting off an amazing killer intent. I was supposed to be Akashi kun's first kiss! Oh I'm gonna make Shika pay for that one!
"So, um, I guess we'd better get going," Akashi said, pointedly not looking at Shika as she did the same for him, arms folded and scowl on her face. They all began walking down the hill, Cho thinking of all the horrible things she would do to her teammate for stealing Akashi's attention from her, the latter two trying to forget what had just happened.
In this state they entered the doorway and walked up the stairs to find an open space at the top of the building.
"Eh? What are we supposed to do now? There's nowhere else to go." Akashi's teammates shrugged, but then Cho pointed out the stand behind them on the other side of the stairs.
"Well, maybe he wants us to read that scroll there." The other two turned to look at it before they all walked around to the other side.
"Alright, let's see what it says…what?" Akashi was very confused, as were his teammates, as he opened up the scroll to see a seal. But what kind of freaky seal with this? Of course, in a poof of smoke, his question was answered. Before them now stood their sensei, Lee, smiling widely at them.
"Well done," he said to them. "You have made it here with forty-seven minutes to spare! This is good as you will need them to complete the final portion of your test."
"NANI!" This came from just Akashi and Cho while Shika got her trench knives ready. She still wanted to hurt him for taking her father's things, and she was ready.
"Yes; you see, this whole course has been a test, which I shall explain upon the completion of your test, but I am the final part of your test." Crap was not an uncommon thought right then. "In order to retrieve your precious things, what you will have to do is tag the symbol on my back. Unlike the boulders, in this case it does not matter who touches it, but you must decide now what level of effort will be put into this task." Shika whipped her arms to the side to bring out her father's trench knives and then brought them back to be held in front of her, arms crossed.
"All the effort that can be mustered will be used," she said, and Lee smiled while the others gulped, sensing somehow that they weren't going to like what was about to happen.
"Very well then! This is a most youthful decision. Allow me to prepare and we shall commence in five minutes but not a second sooner." With that he sat down and took off his leg warmers. Shika, too, sat down, albeit roughly. She had been wanting to pounce on him right then and there, but she was maintaining a fine balance in her mind over the need to get her father's things back, and also the need to graduate so she could accomplish her goal. She was impressed with the weights that her sensei wore, but besides ridding his legs of protection, it's not like they would actually do anything for him. Akashi and Cho were hoping the same thing, but then Lee walked to the edge of the building and tossed his weights to the ground.
"I do not want them to get in the way as we battle," he said simply, sitting down to mediate. A couple seconds later the weights hit the ground and even Shika rushed to the side in surprise at the cloud that was made from the impact.
"Wow…do you really think that was…"
"His weights…yeah, unfortunately." Akashi pointed. "See in the center of that crater? You can barely see the gleam from the mettle, but that's his weights alright!" Cho groaned, and Shika grimaced. It was getting harder than expected. Cho, however, chose not to just sit there.
"Lee sensei!" Lee opened an eye, showering her she had his attention. "I, I don't think it's really fair. I mean, we've spent the last four hours doing all this crazy stuff and we're super tired and you're completely fresh! This doesn't make any sense!" Lee smiled, relaxing out of his meditative stance and opening both eyes.
"The point here is that you must learn to be stronger today than you were yesterday. Perhaps it might seem unfair, but one day you will need to apply this as a shinobi." He lightly thumped his chest with a fist. "There was once a day, when I was working with Hokage sama, that I was required to be strong not just than I was yesterday, but stronger than I had been just a few minutes before. It was by doing this that I won the battle I was in, as well as my sensei and my two teammates. I have faith in you, Cho, Akashi and Shika, that you will be able to be stronger now than you were a few minutes ago.
"Also, through reasons of my own, I actually had to change that part, putting in two more boulders, after this test began. I just finished piling it up a few minutes before you came in, so I am not in my top condition right now either." He stood. "It has been five minutes; let us," and he dropped into a stance, one arm forward, one resting on the small of his back as he faced his students, "begin."
Shika jumped up and charged him recklessly. To her shock he was suddenly no longer in sight, then she felt his foot on her back and she went flying into a pillar. Akashi came next, throwing a few kunai as Cho backed up, surprised by all the sudden movement, having forgotten to pay attention to the time as it was passing. Akashi's stars were hit away with a bare hand as Lee charged him, disappearing once again, and Akashi went flying, not even sure if it was a foot or a hand that had hit him.
Cho was now by herself as she looked back and forth between her stunned teammates, though Shika was starting to shake it off. Come on, you can do this, she thought to herself, concentrating. She breathed, then ran at her sensei. She was met with a straight on kick, but it passed through her and her clone disappeared as she jumped at her sensei from behind…only to be slapped down and to the side, though not as hard, it seemed, as her teammates. Ow! Still, I got close… Shika was up once again, but now she was slowly calculating, thinking about how to approach this.
Frontal attack, that was stupid. We already knew he was fast, and with those weights gone he'll be a lot faster. Lee sensei specialized in taijutsu, but I doubt that any of us have advanced enough ninjutsu, or even genjutsu to take him on…though from what I saw it looked like Cho using a clone almost worked. Maybe he's too straightforward for his own good! And so, Shika attacked once again, trying to be more cunning than last time, but time and again, each of the three were knocked away.
With less than ten minutes left, and many bruises all over their bodies, the three all sat recovering by the edge of the stairs.
"Can you believe it's not even noon yet, and we're already more banged up than any whole week back at the academy," Akashi said, not excepting anything but a chuckle.
"Phah! This sensei's a jerk; he wants us to already be at Jounin level, but the only way one of us three might be able to beat him is by tricking him…" Shika continued but Akashi's mind caught on something… or somethings rather. One is one, three is three…those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash…
"Wait a second!"
"Huh?"
"What?" Akashi looked over at Lee as he stood waiting for their attack. "Lee sensei, you used to hang I with the rookie nine, right?" Lee smiled.
"Ah yes, we are still very good friends."
"And you knew my dad, right?" There was a twinkle in his eye.
"Oh yes; Kakashi sensei is very dear to all of us; he has taught us many things over the years that have made us into splendid shinobi."
"Right," Akashi muttered, "so that's how it is." He looked at the sky as he teammates asked him what was going on.
"We already forgot," he said.
"Well, hurry up and tell us!" Before he could, Cho spoke up.
"Wait…what Shika said a minute ago… the Tiger Scroll…one is one, three is three! We need to start working together to beat him instead of the individual attacks we've been doing." Shika rolled her eyes in frustration. Who she always have to use other's to get what she wanted? But Akashi nodded.
"Exactly; my dad always said, talking about Shinobi, that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He looked over at Rock Lee. "We've all been so focused on getting back our possession, that we keep forgetting that we're a team! That's what we have to do is work as a team, or we'll never stand a chance against Lee sensei." Lee smiled broadly as he heard them speak, but did nothing.
"Alright then, what's the plan genius?" Akashi thought for a second, but again it was Cho who spoke up first, but all in whispers, and Shika kept looking at the sun, gauging how much time they had. It was down to less than five minutes, she noted, as they finalized their plan. This had better work or these two are dead!
"Alright, let's go!" Akashi jumped up and ran around Lee to the right, while Shika did the same to the left.
"So, what will you do, genin of the leaf?" Each wore a determined expression as they raised their hands and made the seal.
"Clone jutsu!" Lee moved his head as he saw that he was now surrounded by copies of his students numbering up to 17. Apparently they each had a different level of close they could make. They were all running around, too, not straight charging him. Very good, he thought, now let's see… ah! And Lee dodged a barrage of kunai and stairs that shot out from the moving images. He jumped to avoid them and it was then that they all charged him.
"Leaf hurricane leg spin!" Lee spun around to keep himself from getting hit, then shot out an arm to knock away Akashi as he jumped from above to try and touch his back, then at Cho who came from beneath at the same moment. They were both thrown to the side as he landed, then realized that they had both been holding ninja wire and were now holding him tightly as Shika jumped for one last attempt. Lee smiled and used his strength to drop to floor, despite his students attempts to try and force him up, and Shika went sailing over his head.
"You're time is up," he announced as Shika ran into a pillar once again. Lee stood up as fear began to build on his other students faces and Shika began to quickly stand, ready to charge him again to save her things, but Lee gave them a thumbs up and proclaimed, "You pass!"
"NANI!"
"Yes, you pass! You have completed all the objectives that I sought to test you on! You are now official genin of Konohagakure!" Shika eyed him wearily, Akashi with disbelief, but Cho with confusion, and she was once again the one to pose the question.
"But sensei, what are you talking about? We never managed to touch the symbol on your back?" Lee smiled.
"As I said before, I would tell you the purpose of the testing." He sat down once again, now free of the ninja wire. "As you noticed, most of my tests made you work very hard to accomplish your goals. This is because, even though someone may be a genius or very talented, you must never let that get to you in battle. Assuming your enemy is better than you is deadly."
"But sensei, how are we supposed to beat someone like that?" Lee looked up.
"As I said, it is through hard work. Naruto, Hokage-sama, is like me. He was not a genius, nor was he talented, and yet, through his hard work he went from being dead last to the most powerful shinobi in the world. He never let someone walk over him, and time and again proved that hard work can beat genius and talent.
"Also, the course you did today is somewhat different than any other run through this course has even been! You see, I changed it so fit my last statement, but also, as I observed you three from the beginning, I could tell that I had misplaced my beliefs that you would realize one important aspect of being a shinobi."
"Heh; and what is that, sensei?" Lee faced Shika, eye's connecting to each other as he stared into her soul…at least, that's what it felt like.
"Team work; as Akashi said, it is team work. Most of us would not be hear, not even Naruto-sama, if it were not for team work making it so. It is the most important lesson Kakashi sensei ever taught us. It was painfully obvious that you three lacked it, so I changed the end of the course to make you learn the importance of it. That is why there were three boulders instead of one, and why I even added in sparring session with myself. Above all, trust in team work, and you will make it through." And saying this, Lee stood.
"Team 6! You have the day off! Your only orders are to report to Sakura-chan at the hospital to heal your bruises for tomorrow when we will begin training in full! Yosh! Let youth energize you, and tomorrow we begin our journey together!" And he jumped off to collect his weights, his three students staring off after him.
"Ummm… I feel like he forgot something…" Shika gritted her teeth at Cho's comment.
"Oouurrr stuuufff….." she growled, but almost as if to prove them wrong a tile shifted in the ceiling and three scrolls fell down, each with one of their names on it.
"Or not," Akashi said, relieved that his father would be getting his book back… he hoped. Not that he had long to wait. Shika immediately grabbed hers and opened it. Sure enough, it was a storage scroll, and her father's belongings fell out. She fell to her knees and held them tightly.
"Thank goodness," she whispered, a few tears falling from her face before she wiped them away and stood, sticking them into her pack. "Alright, let's get moving. The sooner this Sakura lady heals us up the better. I don't know about you, but I've got plenty of other things I want to do today." And with that she started walking down the stairs while her teammates shrugged and followed, smiling with joy. Team six had graduated!
So, there it is! Yeesh. That Shika girl is pretty angry, huh? Man that girl has issues! lol, but hey, i warned you she did! Don't worry, though, i WAS inspired on the last bit for her, so i already have the part written where she resolves her issues. Akashi's issues will display more in the next chapter.
But i've delayed long enough! Time to give credit where it is due!
To imouto12345 goes credit for both the use of the obstacle course and the risk of loss of their precious possessions (though, as they said to me, I WAS the one who picked the possessions)
To Shinigami Miroku goes credit for the use of a spar between Lee and his students, as well as a reminder of being stronger one day than they were the previous day.
To raw666 goes credit for the three boulders and Lee thinking that teamwork is obvious.
Also notwworth is zentary, a loyal reader of several of my fics, for which i am very grateful, for the insistance that it be something physical and and involving teamwork.
I thank you all for sharing your ideas. Without you four, i don't think this chapter would have been HALF as easy to write.
Anyways, i want to talk to my girlfriend, who lives on the other side of the country, so please review for me, and have a good one!