Tsukiko shivered lightly before sprinting forward to catch up with the sound team they were all supposed to stick together, when she and her team mates found the others Mizu was missing and the girl on the team was crying.
"Yume I'm sorry but your going to have to come with me" Asuma appeared behind the blue/red haired teen and covered her mouth with his hand so that she couldn't scream Asuma transported them to somewhere in the middle of the forest far, far away.
Yume spun around "Asuma-san what is going on" then she spotted Mizu sulking in a corner "Is this some kind of test to figure out how much pressure we can take" she sighed but sat down Yukimaru and Tsukiko would come for her and that she was sure of.
Asuma chuckled "Just wait here patiently your team mates will come along shortly" then he left through a door and it clicked closed, no matter what neither of them were going to be getting out of that room on their own.
"They won't come you know, my team mates no better than to abandon the mission and come looking for me" Mizu spoke up suddenly, he sounded extremely smug and Yume wanted to punch his face in but she remained silent.
Back in the forest Yukimaru was scanning their surroundings, so far two of their team had disappeared which meant that they were down to four people everyone except for him was chattering loudly and it was extremely irritating.
"Alright all three of you just be quiet" Yukimaru snapped and Tsukiko pressed her lips together, her heart was pounding in fear, why was someone specifically targeting them all the time "Now we have to figure out what to do" he sat down and motioned for the others to do the same.
Kasai huffed loudly "Whatever we are so not going looking for Mizu this is a mission and we have to complete it without Mizu" she turned her back on the others and took Wakai by the hand and tried to stomp off into the forest.
"Are you two idiots, this is no mission it's a test and besides if all three of you sound people don't show up they won't let you in to the next round" Tsukiko spoke up, she had read the rules of the chunin exam it was either you enter as a three man team or you don't enter at all.
Wakai groaned in horror and jerked his hand out of Kasai's "I'm sorry Kasai but I refuse to fail just because Mizu wants us to obey stupid rules, and for what it's worth Yukimaru I'm sorry about earlier you know about the fight" Wakai sat down.
Kasai sighed but sat next to her remaining team mate then looked to Yukimaru "Kanpecki can you pick up Yume's scent anywhere" Yukimaru turned his attention on his companion, when Kanpecki shook his head Yukimaru sighed.
"Sorry Master Yukimaru" Kanpecki leaned his massive head on Yukimaru's shoulder "A familiar scent is mixed in with Yume's though, that's all I can tell you" he focused his brown eyes on his masters face who looked happy about the news.
Yukimaru grinned, so that's who he had felt "I know who took our team mates, it was Asuma-san they are probably locked somewhere in this forest and that's the goal of the chunin exams" Yukimaru snapped his fingers, they needed to come up with an elaborate plan.
"It's a test to see if we can come up with an elaborate plan to get our team mates back from supposed danger" Tsukiko stood up and did a little victory dance, Yukimaru chuckled softly and she sat back down embarrassed about what she had just done.
Wakai sighed they would never get their team mate back with these two in charge before he could speak up Yukimaru started doling out orders "I think we should walk in that direction until night time" he stood and helped Tsukiko up.
"Hey your not in charge here we are" Kasai was totally not going to follow these two leaf genin it was their fault they were in this mess in the first place so for compensation she and Wakai were going to be in charge for the duration of this part of the chunin exams.
Tsukiko ground her teeth in frustration "Excuse me but who do you think you are, it's no wonder people don't like you, look at how you act you blame us but really we are only retaliating for what you do to us" she snapped out practically breathing fire.
"Not to mention STOP STARING AT MY BOYFRIEND HE IS MINE AND I'M IN AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE WITH HIM" Tsukiko shrieked then she took several calming breaths before starting in again with a lecture Sakura would be proud of.
"Look you want people to stop treating you badly then stop treating others the same way, do unto others what you want others to do unto you it's as easy as that make friends not enemies everything else will come easier after that" Tsukiko huffed out before turning away.
Yukimaru sighed it had only been a matter of time before someone snapped but it seems as if Tsukiko had gotten through to the two sound genin as they grew silent "Come on we want to find a good place to rest tonight" he took charge and led the others forward through the tree's.
Truthfully they had made to much noise and Yukimaru knew they were being watched and wanted to get out of that area, a couple hours later Kasai started complaining and Yukimaru swung around it was ridiculous why couldn't any of them be quiet.
"Stop your complaining and ride on Kanpecki for a bit but I swear if you make one more sound all of us could die, we are being watched, I don't know by who or why" Yukimaru hissed out and Kasai and Wakai quickly climbed onto Kanpecki like ordered and kept silent.
Tsukiko clutched Chisana closer, she had been left behind when Yume was taken, the poor usagi was shaking in fear, Tsukiko's senses were on high alert, thanks to Sakura-sensei's training she could keep that up all day and even some more.
Suddenly Yukimaru came to a screeching halt and the others stopped as well 'What is it Yukimaru-kun' Tsukiko sent the thought 'Yume can you hear me' she had an idea and sent a thought to Yume who replied a few minutes later.
'I can hear you alright and let me tell you I want to hit this arrogant jerk' Yume huffed in her thoughts and Tsukiko giggled softly 'But really we are alright, Asuma-san locked the door so we can't get out' Yume sulked and then the connection faded.
Yukimaru focused chakra into his eyes to see further what he saw made him hastily pull out his new weapon and it's darts, a dull thud sounded off in the distance and Yukimaru ran forward "It's just a gigantic bug" he kicked it in relief.
Kasai opened her mouth to scream but Wakai slapped his hand over her mouth "Let's just keep going this forest is freaky' a chill ran up his spine as he spoke and Yukimaru ushered the group forward again so that they could gain more distance.
'Oh Yukimaru, I contacted Yume through our mental connection, she said she's fine and that Mizu is with her' Tsukiko pushed the thought towards Yukimaru and he gave a small imperceptible nod to let her know that he understood.
A few hours later Yukimaru pulled the group to another stop, he scanned the surroundings before deeming the clearing safe "Tsukiko start setting up the perimeter and traps" Yukimaru ordered and Tsukiko disappeared into the forest.
"Wakai-san how good are you at catching fish" Yukimaru turned his attention on Wakai who grimaced, but Kasai waved her hand "Alright then, Kasai-san you go to the river over there and catch 8 fish, Wakai-san you go gather berries from that bush" Yukimaru sent them off.
He dug the fire pit before making roasting sticks soon the fire was blazing, Tsukiko came back, and he stood to go make sure everything was right before picking some herbs for the fish, when he got back Tsukiko had speared the fish.
Yukimaru sprinkled the herbs and then set the fish around the fire while passing around berries for everyone to eat until the fish were ready several minutes later they were cooked thoroughly and everyone dug in, when they were finished Yukimaru stood.
Tsukiko watched Yukimaru in confusion, that disappeared when she realized what he was doing "Ninja Art: Bat Summoning Jutsu" Yukimaru stated and slammed his hand on a tree five little bats appeared and Yukimaru started doling out orders.
"Kisa, Lira, Mana, Eiki, Asano" Yukimaru greeted "Kisa-chan I need you to trace this scent for me" Yukimaru held out the hair tie Yume left behind at his house once, the little bat scented the hair tie then flapped her wings and took off into the sky headed in the direction they had been going.
"Lira, Mana, Eiki and Asano will be night watch screech if anything happens" Yukimaru gave the others a different task "Tsukiko you will take first watch, then Wakai, Kasai and myself we'll trade off every 3 hours" Yukimaru finished.
Kasai wanted to complain she didn't want to be woken up in the middle of the night but she wisely kept silent and laid down on the cold hard ground, neither she or Wakai had a sleeping bag or a mat to lay on so they would freeze thankfully they had a fire.
Yukimaru was glad he had packed a few extra sleeping bags just in case "Here we need to put out the fire, bats don't like light not to mention anyone who's watching will have perfect sight of us if the fire is going" he explained and handed over the two sleeping bags.
Wakai felt ashamed, they had been nothing but cruel to these people and here they were going out of their way to help them "Thanks Yukimaru-san" he accepted the sleeping bag and curled up in it Kasai did the same and soon both of them were sleeping.
"Go on to sleep Yukimaru" Tsukiko placed a cover over her shoulders as she sat in her sleeping bag, she could handle herself for a few hours, Tsukiko kind of missed going out on a mission and sleeping under the stars but hopefully with the upgrade in rank that would happen more.
Yukimaru curled up in his sleeping bag, Kanpecki and Hoshi were huddled together while Chisana cuddled next to Tsukiko, he quickly fell asleep leaving Tsukiko the only one awake, it was creepy but it wasn't the worst thing that could happen.
"Is Mistress Yume truly going to be ok" Chisana spoke up for the first time that day, she was terrified that she was going to lose her mistress and be alone again, worst case scenario was that she would be eaten by horrible people.
Tsukiko tilted her head down "Yume is fine we just have to come up with a plan hopefully Yukimaru has some sort of plan" Tsukiko had complete faith in her boyfriend, she always had and she wouldn't start doubting him now, he would get Yume and Mizu back safely.
Chirping noises sounded throughout the forest and Tsukiko sighed in relief noise meant that no danger was around she had more than enough energy but really all she wanted was to get out of this creepy forest, why on earth did the chunin exams have to be taken in here.
A few hours later Tsukiko nudged Wakai awake "Huh what is it my turn already" he yawned but sat up and watched Tsukiko lay down in her sleeping bag to sleep 'This really freaking sucks' Wakai sulked in his thoughts.
In the small house that Yume and Mizu had been locked in neither occupants had gone to sleep yet, Mizu didn't trust Yume and vice versa "Oh this is ridiculous you know that right just get some damn freaking sleep" Yume snapped and curled up on the couch.
Mizu sneered but took the opposite couch to go to sleep, it was going to be a long few days that was for sure "Why are you guys so mean" Yume randomly asked from the couch she had taken, Yume wanted to get to the bottom of their cruelness.
"Why are you leaf guys so stupid" Mizu snapped back and tried to ignore her but Yume's question bothered him for the better part of an hour "Fine we came here to make amends but nobody wants to give us a chance" he grumbled out.
Yume sighed "You know respect doesn't come easy, you have to prove you want it, but by acting like you are it means you don't care one little bit about whether or not you make amends" she explained and flipped over to stare at the light green haired boy.
Mizu deflated at that "Is that really true" he peered at Yume who nodded "I guess we have been acting like jerks" Mizu admitted "Do you think your team mates will really find us" he asked again and Yume smiled brightly.
"I have absolute faith in Tsukiko and Yukimaru, and I would count on your team mates to because that's what being a team means never leaving another person behind" she stated and a weight lifted off her shoulder soon both of them fell asleep easily now.
Back at the camp Wakai was absolutely terrified he didn't want to be the one to keep watch it was scary and there was no one to talk to, Wakai almost turned to wake Kasai up but he took a deep breath to calm himself down, he would keep watch for a few hours no matter what.
Finally his three hours were over so Wakai quickly woke Kasai who grumbled under her breath at him "What the hell are you doing Wakai" Kasai got cranky whenever her sleep was disturbed but when Wakai explained she quickly woke up to take over watching.
An hour into her shift the flapping of wings registered in her ears and she turned to wake Yukimaru up "Hey I think your bat has come back" Kasai whispered to the sleepy teen, she briefly thought that he looked cute like that before she shook her head.
Sure enough Kisa landed on Yukimaru's out stretched arm and immediately began talking "Master I followed the scent to 30 miles, along the way I passed by numerous traps but Miss Yume and Sir Mizu are in a little house in that direction" Kisa reported before joing her kin.
Yukimaru sighed and laid back down, Kasai resumed her watch, then two hours later after nothing else had happened Kasai once again nudged Yukimaru awake, there was only a few hours left until daylight so he would be taking the rest of the watch.
"Master Yukimaru" Kisa landed on his arm again "Some of the traps were extremely dangerous what are you going to do" she questioned, there was no way these genin were ready for the type of traps that had been set up.
Yukimaru tapped his lip and then looked over Kasai and Wakai "I'm going to take a week training these two in various things as we head in the direction you said" he admitted "We need to proceed with caution" Yukimaru gulped softly this was turning out to be a tricky situation.
Soon the bats went back to their home and Yukimaru went about the camp setting up a fire and catching breakfast before waking the three teens who felt well rested "Alright Kisa got back last night, she found where Yume and Mizu are being held" Yukimaru started once he was finished.
"Kasai-san, Wakai-san you need to walk all day today Tsukiko can heal your sore muscles, the point of this is you need more stamina, Kisa-chan has said that there are very dangerous traps ahead" Yukimaru gave the order taking charge again.
Next he addressed Tsukiko "You will be the medic on the team, monitor each of us for the next week and make sure to take care of yourself, and if something happens all of us need to protect her, she's the only who has medical training" Yukimaru laid down some rules.
"Everyone needs to remain alert to the best of their abilities" he finished before cleaning up camp, this was to make sure whoever was watching them couldn't follow their tracks easily not to mention it was so ingrained into Yukimaru's being that it was just habit to do so.
Back at the little hut, Yume and Mizu had woken, but when they looked around the hut they found no food, before they could really start complaining the door clicked and Yume jumped in front of Mizu to protect him, a second later she relaxed when Asuma came through.
"I brought breakfast" Asuma chuckled upon seeing the two in a corner when they sat down at the table, he set their food before them "Now I'll be back with lunch and dinner but otherwise you'll be alone with each other" Asuma warned before slipping through the door and locking it.
Mizu slumped in his seat "What exactly is that" he poked it with his chopsticks "Whatever it is, it looks disgusting so I think I'll just stick with the bread" Mizu picked up the dried bread and started eating it like a starved person would.
Yume rolled her eyes "It's fish" she mumbled around her bite as far as she was concerned Mizu could have all the bread, she would take fish over it any day "You should try it, fish is very healthy you know" Yume teased and he snubbed it again.
In the tower "Your brats are damn amazing Sakura" Anko whistled, so far they hadn't cried about being alone, they had made haste in the direction their team mates were being held and Yukimaru had taken charge each time a situation came up.
Sakura smirked "I trained them to be prepared for any situation, that training is now paying off" she quipped and Anko rolled her eyes at her "Plus Yukimaru has been trained since he was little so he knows a little more than the others" Sakura continued.
"What exactly have you been teaching them" Madara eyed Sakura warily, was there no end to the amount of things this woman could do, when Sakura just gave a smug smile, he let the question drop, Madara would probably find out some other time.
Anko sighed, Sakura had taken training to a whole new level, the pinkettes brats were much stronger than anyone could have guessed, Yume was a genjutsu mistress, Tsukiko had been given the title of Tsunade's apprentice, Yukimaru had been given a place at T&I headquarters.
Back in the village Shikamaru had arrived to pick up Mitsubachi for her first day of school "I am so ready otou-san" Mitsubachi pumped her arm in excitement before following Shikamaru out the door and down the street the academy wasn't to far away from the Kamizuru compound.
Shikamaru chuckled "Ah I remember when Yukimaru was still in the academy, he always acted like such a big kid but really Yukimaru was just a fraidy cat" he remembered most days Yukimaru would run through the front door and clamber into Sakura's arms.
Mitsubachi gulped was the academy that scary, she didn't have time to question Shikamaru as they entered the academy yard "Later otou-san" Mitsubachi took a deep breath and charged forward, she wouldn't be a scaredy cat.
In the forest in the two hours they had been awake Yukimaru and the three others had made good distance and were nearing the first trap "Alright what we should do is check the area around the trap before coming up with a plan" Yukimaru pulled the group to a stop.
Kasai and Wakai dropped to the ground they were exhausted, they weren't use to walking for miles upon miles, Tsukiko joined them and Yukimaru hopped onto Kanpecki, he shook his head those sound genin were nothing like he, Tsukiko and Yume.
Several minutes later the two stood and Tsukiko stood as well before they moved off into the forest, Kasai stumbled across the first problem "Uh Yukimaru-san you might want to come look at this" she waved him over then pointed at the so called trap.
Tsukiko's jaw dropped in horror and Yukimaru sighed, the trap was a ton of wires crisscrossed over bomb tags "Okay check every angle, I want to find out if this trap has an opening" Yukimaru took charge again and sent the three forward while he poked and prodded at the trap himself.
20 minutes later they regrouped to get details they may have missed from each other, Wakai started "It covers at least 5 miles" he supplied, none of them had known that so it was new information to all of them.
"Oh there is a small path that we can get to so long as we are careful" Tsukiko remembered suddenly and pointed to the low wires, you'd have to be extremely flexible to get through, or you'd trip the wires and get blown up in the process.
Kasai thought for a moment before adding in "We could trip the wires and oh" she trailed off when Yukimaru shook his head "I guess that idea wouldn't work very well huh" Kasai admitted sheepishly before scuffing her shoe in embarrassment.
Yukimaru ran over all the information his team mates had given before coming up with a plan "Alright we are going through that path one at a time, Wakai will go first, then Tsukiko, Kasai and then myself" he gestured to the path and Kasai and Wakai stared at him in horror.
"Why are you going last we'd get blown up first and you'd have a better chance at escaping" Kasai panicked and pulled out a kunai to throw it at a wire, only to be stopped by Wakai and Yukimaru "I'm sorry it's just horrible not having Mizu here" she cried into her team mates chest.
Yukimaru frowned to much pressure and some people cracked like an egg on a hot day "I'm not going last because of that, it's so that I can direct you at the back I have a better chance of seeing oncoming wires" he finally explained.
Wakai sighed, Kasai had jumped to the wrong conclusion "We understand Yukimaru-san, thank you for explaining it to us" he thanked the pale green haired boy, before taking his spot at the small opening one wrong move and they would all be dead.
"Step high and lower your head" Yukimaru called out as Kasai and Tsukiko went through one by one until it was his turn, 5 miles, that's how long this freaking trap was, everyone was trusting him to get them through and that's what he would do.
Tsukiko turned her head to the right on Yukimaru's command then lowered her shoulder before grazing passed a tree, next she hunched her back and slid under a wire, her heart was pounding and she was sweating horribly.
Yukimaru took a shaky breath "Wakai, Kasai raise your arms" he breathed out it was taking everything he had not to screw this up "Tsukiko lift your leg slowly and lean back like you were about to do a cartwheel" Yukimaru called out next.
Tsukiko bit her lip but did as Yukimaru had ordered and she stepped underneath a wire she hadn't seen she clenched her hands into fists and followed after the other two who were ahead of her, Tsukiko thanked her lucky stars that Yukimaru was here.
5 miles later Wakai stepped through the last of the wires and helped Kasai through, then Tsukiko and finally Yukimaru, it hit him just then "We Did It" Wakai cheered before doing a victory dance "In your face you stupid wires" he stuck his tongue out at the trap.
Yukimaru smirked, he had realized 3 miles back that none of the exploding tags were real, but he had kept the information to himself, the others needed to learn how to figure out things by themselves, if they said something though then he would tell them.
Tsukiko wiped her forehead and took a swallow of her water "That was tough, I can't wait to see what the next trap will be" she grinned when Kasai and Wakai stared at her like she was crazy "Trust me our sensei is unbelievably tough on us" Tsukiko giggled softly.
"Come on let's eat lunch, I've got some honey combs they will tide us over until dinner" Yukimaru didn't want to make camp just to cook right now, they had to keep moving the more ground they covered the closer they got to getting their team mates back.
Each person got three honeycombs each "Hey Tsukiko-san, my legs are kind of sore would you heal them please" Wakai felt like crying, his legs were on fire, a few minutes later Tsukiko was pumping healing chakra into the muscles before doing the same to Kasai.
"So how the heck are you two still standing" Kasai bit into the honey comb, it was absolutely delicious "And I think I just found my new favorite snack" she grinned before devouring the rest of her first honey comb, she stowed the others in her storage pouch.
Tsukiko and Yukimaru snickered but Tsukiko was the one to answer "Well like I said our sensei is extremely tough on us, she made us run laps and do all kinds of other things" she smiled, Tsukiko couldn't wait to get back into the swing of training.
Wakai sighed, their sensei was so easy on them that probably babies could give them a run for their money "Do you think your sensei will teach us some things when we get done here" he questioned, Wakai really wanted to improve.
"Sorry our sensei is pregnant so she's probably at home resting, our temporary sensei probably won't be here either" Yukimaru sighed, it was going to be an extremely long month, forget about long days, unless they got their captured team mates back it was going to be quite the ordeal.
Kasai perked up "Oh I love little babies they are so cute" she giggled "But they don't like me very much I hate babysitting cause they never listen to anything I say" Kasai sulked and continued walking forward, Wakai sniggered at her and she whacked him over his head.
Yukimaru grinned "I have a little sister and she's adorable her name is Mitsubachi, also our sensei is my Kaa-chan and it's not one baby she's pregnant with it's four so in a few short months I'm going to have four more siblings" he was so excited about having siblings.
Wakai groaned, siblings absolutely sucked, it made him glad that he was an only child "I don't know how you can be so happy with knowing that your sister and other siblings are going to invade your privacy" he questioned suddenly.
"My little sister is special, she and I were both adopted into the family by my mother, Mitsubachi's 5 almost 6 and she's never tried to invade my privacy before" Yukimaru explained in confusion, Mitsubachi was an extremely well behaved little girl.
Kasai giggled "You must be one of the lucky ones then" she almost fluttered her lashes at him but then Kasai remembered that Yukimaru belonged to Tsukiko and sulked "I wish I had a boyfriend" she stated suddenly.
Tsukiko sighed "Well you can't have Yukimaru, why not go after Wakai-san or even Mizu-san surely one of them have secret crushes on you" Tsukiko enquired, sure enough Wakai's cheeks darkened in a flush but Kasai missed it as she dismissed the idea immediately.
After that Kasai took the lead, Tsukiko discreetly sped up to stand next to Wakai "Don't give up on her" she stated softly "I had to wait forever for Yukimaru to even notice" Tsukiko stuck her tongue teasingly out at Yukimaru who gave a light chuckle.
"I've liked her since we got teamed up" Wakai turned sullen and trudged after his sole female team mate "But she always goes after the cool guys and what can I do, absolutely nothing" he slumped his shoulders and sighed softly.
Yukimaru shook his head "You know we are only 14, I already know what I want in life but some people just have passing infatuations, do you really like Kasai or is it something that's expected of you" he questioned kindly.
Wakai paused at that "I don't know, Kasai-chan saved me once so maybe it's just oh I don't know I think I really like her Yukimaru-san" he finally admitted, Yukimaru and Tsukiko shared a secret smile they both knew what they were going to do.
Suddenly Kasai reappeared "I think I found the second trap" she stated and led them back through tree's and to the second trap, Yukimaru groaned, Tsukiko stared in horror and Wakai swayed on his feet suddenly feeling faint.
The ground was full of trap holes that were filled with water and poisonous fish, up above were more trip wires but there was nothing in between "Ok search around find out how far and how wide this trap goes" Yukimaru doled out the orders again.
Tsukiko eyed the trap before slowly moving around it, when she looped back Tsukiko found the others waiting "It goes on for miles both ways, but I would say at least 10 miles" Kasai sighed, where they seriously trying to kill them.
"I saw a path we could try to go through but it's not really reliable" Wakai shrugged, if they all didn't have very good balance then they were going to be screwed, then he turned his attention on Tsukiko who had yet to relay her information.
Yukimaru grinned, Tsukiko had figured something out for them "I can call up a wall of vines and have it travel for 10 miles" Tsukiko admitted and fidgeted nervously with her dark pink skirt, they would probably have to stop every 2 miles so that she could call up more vines.
Yukimaru breathed a sigh of relief they could crawl over the holes and under the wires "That's a good idea Tsukiko-chan, make sure they are low enough for us to crawl on, we might have to camp out on those vines" he instructed.
Wakai and Kasai watched in fascination as Tsukiko formed hand signs "Plant Style: Vines" she slammed her hands on the ground and poured her chakra into it, a few seconds later tons of vines rose up, formed a half wall and then shot forward faster than they could blink.
Tsukiko smiled proudly she had contributed "Good job Tsukiko take a chakra restoration pill I know that using your clan jutsu's are draining on you" Yukimaru let her take a moment to dig through her pouch before cutting a pill in half and popping one piece in.
"I'm ready now" Tsukiko stated a moment later and led the way up the half wall, 2 miles later, they all had to stop so that she could call up even more vines, this time it was a little more difficult because all she had was the other vines to call up even more.
3 hours later, Yukimaru noted the location of the sun "Tsukiko, Wakai, Kasai we'll sleep here on the vines tonight, I don't think anyone is watching so we can all get a good nights rest" he handed out some banana chips, nuts and dried venison for everyone to eat.
"How did you pack all of this stuff in the little bag" Kasai spoke up when Yukimaru turned to stuff something back in his bag, he had so many things in that bag, but it was impossible because some of those things were huge.
Yukimaru held up a magenta scroll with his name engraved on it in pale green "It's called a storage scroll, you seal whatever you want in them and just stow it in your pack or pouch" he explained when Wakai and Kasai stared at it in confusion.
Kasai grew jealous "Where did you get that cause I want to buy one" the minute they were finished with this chunin exam, she was going to go straight to the store that Yukimaru had gotten his from and buy all of the storage scrolls they had.
"I didn't buy it, my Kaa-chan did and this is custom made I only have 10 of them, I've had these storage scrolls since I was 7" Yukimaru shrugged and continued putting it back in his bag, the vines were comfortable so they should all sleep easy tonight.
No one talked after that, as the teens all crawled into their sleeping bags and instantly fell asleep after the long day they had, had they were all exhausted, the next day would bring even more challenges for the four teens.
In the tower "What do you mean you lost them 6 miles in, it's impossible" Sakura was terrified what if they were all at the bottom of a hole trapped with those fish or worse they had gotten blown up by all the trap wires and exploding tags.
"Calm down pinky, they cleared the first challenge can you think of anything those brats of yours might have done to get through the second trap" Anko couldn't stand seeing Sakura upset, it really pulled at her heartstrings.
Sakura took several calming breaths and leaned back into Shikamaru who had come to check up on her "Tsukiko might have used her clan jutsu, she can call up vines that might be why you lost them" she explained in remembrance.
Anko sighed in relief those brats were probably napping on the vines in the middle of the trap and that's why they never appeared on the other side "Stupid brats" she cursed softly, Anko disliked the feeling of fear it reminded her all to well what could happen to her girls.
"You should go get some rest Sakura" Shikamaru gave her a chaste kiss before transporting away, Sakura bid the others goodnight and headed to the guest wing she and Madara had been assigned when they showed up in the tower.
The next morning Tsukiko woke up, Yume was sending her a message "Hey thought I'd check in Mizu and I are doing alright but we are about to go stir crazy I don't like staying in one place and being lazy" Yume was a little huffy.
"We are coming Yume we only have like 10 more miles left before we reach you" Tsukiko sent back before going around waking her team mates "Come on guys wake up, we are half way there just a little further" Tsukiko huffed.
Slowly the three teens came awake, Yukimaru stretched his arms before passing around some food 'You got a message from Yume-chan didn't you' he questioned Tsukiko through their mental connection, she had seemed awfully chipper.
Tsukiko took a moment to respond 'Yeah, she said that she and Mizu-san were doing alright but that they were about to go stir crazy' she sent back with a fond giggle, Yume had never liked sitting still in one place, it was probably something that had rubbed off on her from Sakura.
Yukimaru released a chuckle "Alright, we have 4 more miles to go on this trap before we get out of here" he got down on his hands and knee's and started crawling after Tsukiko who had hurriedly stowed her things away to start moving.
They stopped for lunch and then continued onwards, Tsukiko let out a soft shout of victory, they had made it all the way through the second trap "Oh yeah we so did it, in your faces" she cheered causing Yukimaru to chuckle but join in.
"We've got a sighting on the four genin" Ibiki called out and Anko sighed in relief, she could tell Sakura that the kids were fine and she didn't need to worry anymore "I swear those kids are nuts but they are good at remaining undetected" Ibiki smirked he couldn't wait to teach Yukimaru.
Back with the four teens "I thought we were going to be goners" Kasai dropped to her knee's in exhaustion, she was extremely tired even though all they had done was crawl it felt like her entire body was on fire.
Yukimaru was the first one to spot the third and final trap "You might want to save your words until after we get out of that one" he pointed his finger at the swaying bridge, down below were craggy rocks and the raging river.
Beyond the bridge was a raging fire, after that was a gigantic wall of earth anything that came after was probably even worse, Kasai grew pale, they were screwed, Mizu was the only person on the team who knew water jutsu.
This set the others off and they almost ran right off the river edge and into the water if it hadn't been for Yukimaru hastily unwinding his ribbon and sending it after his team mates, it wrapped around each of them and he pulled the three to safety.
"Calm down all three of you I have a plan" Yukimaru carefully wound his ribbon around his arm again to the fascination of Tsukiko "Now we need to tell each other our chakra natures" he hoped that each of them had something different.
Kasai and Wakai shared a look before Kasai spoke up "I have fire nature it's my special ability some people call it the hottest fire on earth" she was proud of her fire, Kasai could do anything she wanted with that nature.
"I have earth and Mizu has water" Wakai explained for him and for their missing team mate, unless one of the two left had water nature chakra then they were never going to get through that fire it would be impossible.
Tsukiko went next "I have wind style, I have a fan that helps me make my jutsu's a lot stronger and Yume has lightning style" she took the time to explain how her jutsu's worked and then told them what Yume's nature was.
"And I have water and snow" Yukimaru sighed in relief, it was just possible that this last trap had been designed specifically with their natures in mind "I've got the plan each of you need to listen closely" Yukimaru stated a few seconds later.
Kasai, Wakai and Tsukiko nodded their heads and he began "Alright Kasai with your fire style melt the bolts of the bridge in place it should give us some time to get across" Yukimaru started but held up his hand to hold off the questions.
"In the case it doesn't work I want vines wrapped around that entire bridge so have your jutsu ready" Yukimaru addressed Tsukiko next "I'll get rid of the fire with my snow jutsu" he continued before turning his attention on Wakai.
Yukimaru took a deep breath "You have to be the one to get us up and over that gigantic wall then we'll take a break to evaluate what else needs to be done" Yukimaru finished, his team was trusting him and he wouldn't let them down now.
Back in town, it was a Saturday so Shikamaru was taking Mitsubachi to the store, she had requested to get her own style of gloves so that she could train and well Shikamaru couldn't say no to her and thus they had headed to the store.
"Otou-san, when Onii-sama gets out of the forest can we go see him please" Mitsubachi didn't want to wait a whole month, she was positive that Yukimaru would be out of that forest within a week give or take a few days.
Shikamaru's lips quirked up "Sure Mitsubachi now do you want the blue gloves or the purple gloves" he held them out to her so that she could inspect them, eventually Mitsubachi ended up choosing the purple ones with blue tempered metal on the back.
"I want a dark blue lily with a light purple stem and my initials, M. K." Mitsubachi described what she wanted put on her gloves and Shikamaru quickly relayed the information to Tenten who took the gloves and headed into the back to get started.
20 minutes later Tenten emerged and handed over the gloves "Here you go sweety" she smiled at the adorable little girl that Sakura had adopted, it had been quite the shock to learn that Sakura had gotten pregnant even more so that it was with quadruplets.
"Thank you Tenten-chan" Mitsubachi hastily pulled on the new gloves after she had taken the other pair off, the next time she saw Madara she would give them back to him, now that she had her own, Mitsubachi didn't need them anymore.
Tenten grinned but gave her a wave as they headed out of the store, Tenten loved her job and she got to meet such cute little customers like Yukimaru or Mitsubachi and soon she would have even more cute customers.
Back in the tower "Those brats are alright, they crawled out of there this morning, but now they have stopped moving it's almost as if they are planning something" Anko jerked her thumb at the screen that showed off the four teens.
"Oh thank god I was almost about to call this test off" Koe breathed a sigh of relief "I really must thank you for teaching your students how to handle themselves out in the wild" she turned to Sakura who was smiling at the screen fondly.
"Yeah those genin of mine have really improved and it sucks that I haven't been able to train them lately, I don't regret getting pregnant, but there was still so much more I could have taught them" Sakura sighed and sat down in a chair next to Anko.
With the genin they had been resting up before trying to work out the plan "Alright Kasai-san, use the hottest fire jutsu you have" Yukimaru called as the red haired girl took her spot by the bridge and started forming hand signs.
Kasai inhaled deeply "Fire Style: Melting Steel Jutsu" she breathed out before spitting her flames out at the bridge the bolts immediately melted and stopped all movements "Did I do good" Kasai asked tiredly, that jutsu had taken a lot out of her.
"Here it's half a chakra restoration pill and half a energy restoration pill" Tsukiko held out the two pills for Kasai who quickly ate them, then she pulled a face of disgust and nearly spat them out "I never said they tasted good" Tsukiko helped the girl to her feet when she swallowed.
Kasai grimaced and took a swallow of her water to get rid of the nasty taste "Let's get across, and remember Tsukiko have your jutsu at the ready" Yukimaru took charge and led the way across the bridge to the fire that got larger and larger with every step.
Wakai dropped to his knee's this time as they got off the bridge "I can't believe we made it" he panted out in exhaustion, it had taken them a total of 40 minutes to cross that bridge but all four of them had managed it without falling off.
Yukimaru shook his head, they weren't even halfway done, he gestured with his hand for everyone to take a step back "Kanpecki" Yukimaru whistled and the canine/wolf skidded to a halt beside his master waiting for Yukimaru's command.
Yukimaru hopped onto Kanpecki's back before forming several hand signs "Snow Style: Snow Jet" he poured his chakra into Kanpecki who shot out a stream of snow it hit the fire and sizzled but didn't put out the fire.
Tsukiko cringed that hadn't worked at all "Now what are you going to do Yukimaru-kun" she called over the roar of the fire, as he headed in their direction, it looked like he was contemplating something as he walked.
"Well all the snow did was feed the fire so it has to be a large amount of water" Yukimaru trailed off and eyed the river then he took note of how much chakra he had before sitting down to go through some of his water jutsu scrolls.
Kasai sighed "We are never getting through that fire at least not without Mizu, this is impossible" she flopped down on the ground, she had never been very good at figuring out puzzles and completing challenges so Kasai was ready to give up.
Yukimaru remained silent as he read through the scroll he had gotten from Kisame "Aha I got it, maybe the point is not to put the fire out but figure out a way to go around it" he grinned and held up the scroll that had the jutsu they needed on it.
"What did you get Yukimaru-kun" Tsukiko asked in confusion, it had only been a few minutes since he had sat down to figure out a new plan and already Yukimaru had figured something out, it must be full proof otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned it.
"It's called Water Shield, it's a barrier of water that go around our bodies, the fire isn't to wide so we should be able to walk right through" Yukimaru explained before giving them a demonstration of what he was talking about.
Yukimaru walked right over to the fire "Water Style: Water Armor Jutsu" he willed water to form around his arm then he stuck his hand straight through the fire to Wakai's horror, several minutes later Yukimaru removed his hand.
The water armor was still there and his arm was burn free "That is so cool" Kasai grinned Mizu had never done anything like that before so it was a shock to find out that this boy had more advanced water jutsu than her team mate did.
"Line up we'll go through one at a time" Yukimaru gestured his hand and all three of his current team mates quickly lined up, the first one to get the water shield was Wakai, he took a deep breath before it went up before hurrying through the fire.
Yukimaru waited "I'm on the other side and I think I can see the little house Kisa-san mentioned in her report" Wakai called and Yukimaru sighed in relief, he had been right again about how far the fire was, next Kasai went then Tsukiko and then himself.
Back in the tower, Anko swung around to pin Sakura with her brown eyes "What the hell have you been teaching your students, those four should have given up by now but no they are still going" she grumbled under her breath when Sakura gave her a smug smile.
Sakura held up her hands "I didn't teach them anything they didn't want to learn" she explained to everyone's confusion "Trust me I don't think we've seen all they have yet" Sakura smirked and pointed at the screen where Wakai was doing hand signs.
With the teens "Earth Style: Earth Steps" Wakai called out and slammed his hands down on the ground the earth rose before going higher and higher until it reached the top of the mud wall "Hurry I can't hold this for very long" he shouted a moment later sending everyone scurrying.
They all made it just as the steps started crumbling "Can we take a break and eat something" Kasai panted out, she was pretty sure the chunin exams weren't supposed to be this hard it was absolutely ridiculous what the proctors expected them to do.
Yukimaru nodded and passed around some berries and nuts "Break up some of the honey comb and pour the honey over the nuts and berries it will taste 10 times better" he explained before doing as he had suggested, honey was his favorite snack after all.
"We are going to get to eat real food tonight right" Wakai pointed at the sky, the sun was going down quickly, not that Wakai had a problem with nuts, berries, fish and other things, it's just that he was starving because of the amount of walking and work he had done.
"Yeah a healthy dinner but first we have to get down off this wall and get our team mates back" Yukimaru gestured to everyone as he stood "We are going to jump" he explained to their horror, he really hoped that what he had in mind worked.
Tsukiko gulped and carefully leaned over the edge "I trust you Yukimaru, but that's awfully far down" she gasped and took a small step back to clutch onto him, the reason was she had almost fallen and then where would she be most likely dead on the ground.
Yukimaru took a deep breath "Hold onto each others hands and on the count of three we'll jump together, One, Two, Three, Jump" he shouted on the way down, Yukimaru willed the sand around his wrist to cushion their fall.
Kasai clenched her eyes shut, the ground was coming up fast and then slam multiple thuds, she slowly opened her eyes, she was alright Kasai hadn't broken any bones and nothing hurt at all then she looked down "Sand" Kasai whispered in awe as she ran her hands through the sand.
"Yeah it was a gift from Lord Gaara" Yukimaru coughed and spat out a mouthful of sand and took a drink of water "Got it for my 14th birthday and that was the first time I had used it" he stood up and the sand swirled around his wrist again.
Wakai slumped to the ground in relief "I'm not moving another inch" he raised his hand, to be honest they were all a little exhausted, the jump had taken more time than they had imagined so Yukimaru started making a fire and then took out a couple cans of venison stew.
It was a home made can so there were no preservatives or sugars in it that would make it bad to eat, not to mention the stew was frozen, Yukimaru carefully poured both cans into the pot several minutes later he deemed it ready to eat.
After that the kids didn't waste any time in curling into their sleeping bags and going right to sleep, they hadn't set up any traps, Yukimaru had explained that unless someone was extremely determined then they would be safe for the night at least.
The next morning Yukimaru unsealed a cooler and took out some chilled fish, two for everyone before sealing everything else back up, then he stoked the fire before sprinkling some herbs on the fish and setting them up over the fire.
Tsukiko sat up before Yukimaru could wake her and several minutes later Wakai and Kasai woke up simultaneously "Morning" Kasai yawned, she wasn't use to going to sleep so early or waking up so early so her sleeping patterns were all out of whack.
Wakai let out a loud yawn prompting the others to do the same before they all ate the fish that had been cooked by Yukimaru while they had all been still sleeping "Good Morning" he mumbled several minutes later when he finished.
Yukimaru smiled "Alright Tsukiko time to put your wind nature to the test, I know you've been practicing that one jutsu, Sakura-sensei told you about" he turned his attention on Tsukiko who nodded and unsealed her fan from her own custom made scroll.
Tsukiko swung her fan experimentally a couple of times, she needed put as much chakra into her jutsu as possible, then Tsukiko formed a bunch of hand signs and took up her fan again "Wind Style: Slashing Wind Jutsu" Tsukiko gave a powerful swing of her fan.
Yukimaru's eyes widened in surprise, then willed the sand to cover them and pull Tsukiko back away from the falling logs and towards safety "Good job Tsukiko-chan and look there, that's the little house" he pointed out to the tired girl.
Tsukiko looked up and smiled tiredly "Thank goodness I thought we were never going to get through" she leaned her head against Yukimaru's shoulder as he carried her on his back, he took a step forward and led the rest of the way to the little house.
"Is she alright" Kasai asked in concern how much chakra had Tsukiko used to produce that much wind, Yukimaru didn't answer her as they approached the house that held their abducted team mates "Got a plan Yukimaru-san" Kasai asked again.
Yukimaru nodded "Yeah we wait for Asuma-san to show up then we jump him together and no killing him, maybe knock him unconscious or at least incapacitate him" Yukimaru found a good spot to sit it was almost lunch time again so Asuma should be coming soon.
"As for your question I'm alright, just used a little more chakra than I intended" Tsukiko spoke up from her spot cuddled into Yukimaru's side, her cheeks were red in embarrassment indicating that she felt sheepish over what she had done.
A couple hours later Yukimaru felt the incoming chakra of Asuma "Everyone hide" he pressed his finger to his lips and everyone scrambled to find a close by hiding spot, several minutes later the man appeared and Yukimaru readied his ribbon.
Asuma looked around, he had been told to expect the four teens but they were no where in sight "I think your information is wrong" Asuma spoke into the communicator and gazed around again, for genin they could hide exceptionally well.
'You be our back up Tsukiko, get your plant or hair style ready' Yukimaru silently communicated with Tsukiko through their mental connection 'And hang on Yume, it's about to get loud' he grinned and carefully signaled the other two to get ready.
Asuma felt eyes on him and he spun around to catch the person in the act of spying on him but there was no one there, of course this is what Yukimaru had wanted as he sent his ribbon forward to wrap Asuma in.
Next Kasai followed by jumping forward and deftly tying Asuma's hands behind his back and carefully making sure he couldn't create hand signs, Wakai tied Asuma's feet together and Tsukiko wrapped several vines around him anchoring him to the ground.
"Sorry Asuma-san" Yukimaru stepped out of the bush, and Asuma stared in surprise, these genin had actually gotten the jump on him and he hadn't done anything to prevent it, Asuma was supposed to have put up a much larger fight than that but now he couldn't.
Asuma sulked "It's alright Yukimaru" Asuma grinned next and disappeared in a puff of smoke, it had been a smoke clone, though what he wasn't prepared for was that Yukimaru had anticipated his move and promptly found himself caught again.
"We need the key for that house and I know you have it Asuma-san, I also know that it was you who took our team mates on the first day" Yukimaru sighed and sheepishly started pilfering through Asuma's pouches only to come up empty handed.
Asuma puffed on his cigarette and tossed a scroll at Yukimaru, when the boy unsealed it he groaned "Your task is to figure out which key is the real key" Asuma patted the kids on their heads and disappeared in a puff of white smoke leaving them alone.
Kasai screeched in frustration "Damn it, that is just not fair" she pointed at the various keys, there was no way they would ever figure out which key was the right key, Kasai flopped down on the ground she was entirely done with this sham of an exam.
"Sometimes life will be unfair that's why there are loopholes" Yukimaru grinned "Kanpecki come here and tell me which key has been recently used by Asuma-san" he gestured to the pile and Kanpecki started carefully sniffing through the metallic scents.
In the tower "I can't believe those genin got the drop on me" Asuma was sulking again, Sakura had really trained her kids well, and now they were teaching other genin how to be discrete as well it was just to freaky.
"Well Yukimaru is pretty smart always has been so I wouldn't be surprised if it had been his idea" Sakura shrugged unconcerned so long as her genin and the sound genin make it through the forest to this tower then however they accomplished that task wasn't her concern.
Asuma sighed and rubbed a hand down his face "Oh Yuuki had wanted to come visit you but she got sick with the flu" Asuma rubbed his neck when Sakura smiled fondly, the pinkette had always loved children and now she was going to have four more.
"Hey Asuma how long did you say it would take them to sort through those fake keys" Anko snickered out suddenly soon several other people started laughing and pointing at the screen that showed what was going on with each of the genin.
Asuma ran over to the screen and groaned of course those kids would find a way passed his test "It was supposed to take them at least a couple of days" he sulked again and then slumped down in a chair, those kids were to much.
Back in the forest Kanpecki had nosed through more than half of the keys but still nothing "Just give him some time" Yukimaru noticed the impatient expression on Wakai's face "I don't usually have him track scents" he explained as Kanpecki pushed another key out of the way.
"So where did you get that big dog" Kasai thought Kanpecki looked absolutely adorable and wanted a dog just like him, Kanpecki obviously didn't like what she had said and snapped his jaws at her though "I'm sorry Kanpecki-san" she apologized.
Yukimaru sighed "He's not a dog Kasai-san, Kanpecki is a wolf and I didn't buy him at any store, he's been my companion since I was 7 my Kaa-chan gave him to me, he was supposed to be the runt of the litter turned out he wasn't" he explained for the others benefit.
"Master I've found the key" Kanpecki gently grasped the rounded key in his teeth before dropping it in Yukimaru's hand, he got a pat on the head from Yukimaru and a promise of treats later after they had all eaten dinner.
Tsukiko stopped Yukimaru inches away from the door "I want to be the one to unlock it, Yume was really the first friend I ever made, you were the second" she bit her lip "I know now is probably not the best time to demand anything" Tsukiko looked at her feet shyly.
"You don't have to ask Tsukiko, though do me a favor and close your eyes" Yukimaru had spotted a problem on the door, Tsukiko did as he asked and he quickly removed the electrical current before handing over the key.
'We are coming Yume-chan' Tsukiko sent the thought just as she inserted the key and unlocked the door, a moment later the door swung open and Yume jumped into Tsukiko and Yukimaru's open arms, she was followed by Mizu.
Yume sighed in relief "Told you Mizu that they were coming for us" she poked fun at the boy who rolled his eyes, he had learned a lot over the few days they had been trapped in that house together "Come on let's beat this test" Yume pumped her arm in determination.
"Hang on there Yume, why don't we rest for the night here, I've got the key so we will be safe" Yukimaru yawned and climbed down the ladder everyone else followed, they quickly ate dinner and then all 6 teens fell asleep scattered about the room of the tiny house.