Note: Happy Merry New Christmas Year!
Thank you, everyone, for your patience. I finally, finally managed to get some free time to write. Things should get back to a regular schedule now that the insanity of the holiday season is over. For those of you who have said that you would prefer longer chapters, consider this a belated Christmas present.
January 2001
"Will the contestants Kakusuriki Atsushi1 and Tokonomidori Haru please enter the field?" the proctor called.
Haru grinned as he walked onto the field that was both his battleground and his stage. Spectators from all nations were gathered in the stands to watch the fight between himself and the teenager from Stone. Up in the stands he saw a shock of blond hair peaking out under the brim of a Kage hat. Usually Kage didn't visit other villages for the Winter Exams, but his Ji-chan decided to make an exception in this case. It wasn't everyday one's nephew made it to the Tournament of the Chunin Exams.
Across the battlefield, his opponent was grinning broadly and taking excited peaks at the visiting Kage. Haru could count on the other to be giving this fight his all, if only to impress his personal hero. That was okay, he would be be leaving nothing behind either.
"Atsushi-san," he called, "Whatever happens, no hard feelings."
The other boy turned his smile on the younger boy. "Right, Haru-kun! I'll be coming at you with everything I have, so you'd better do the same."
Haru readied himself. He didn't know half of what Atsushi could do, but then again Atsushi didn't know half of what Haru could do either. This was a great chance to get to know his new friend even better. Who knew that such a strong bond could form over a few days in the wilderness?
December 2000
Haru shivered and jogged in place as he tried to keep warm while surrounded with snow. Being used to the mild winters of the Land of Fire was going to be a severe handicap for this next part of the Exam.
"All right you fresh meat!" their new proctor, Kigikan, called. She was a woman that reminded Haru a bit too much of Anko the few times he had run into the eccentric Jonin. "The area beyond this wall is Training Area 51, and it's filled to the brim with thousands of deadly little surprises for the unwary."
Haru glanced over what he could see of the area. The trees weren't as big, nor the forest as thick, as the Forest of Death back home, but the labyrinth of rocky crags and spires more than made up for it. Haru didn't want to meet any of the animals – or plants for that matter – that chose to make such an inhospitable place their habitat.
Kigikan got a feral grin on her face. "This will be your home for the next week, do try to make it back alive.
"You each will be given one of a pair of scrolls, indicated with matching colors. Your mission is to procure both scrolls and deliver them to the drop-zone written inside. Should you fail to achieve this in 168 hours,2 then you are disqualified. I'll be quite impressed if a full 16 teams pass, but chances are I'll be saying goodbye to more than that.
"I'm obligated, as your proctor, to inform you that you each will also be given a seal that will allow you to summon a Jonin on stand-by to yourself. If you choose to quit at any point before the week is up – whether due to injury or losing your guts – this is how you do so; anyone who activates the seal will be disqualifying themselves and their teammates. Supposedly this should prevent any unnecessary deaths and whatever."
Haru and his team got in line to receive their scroll and seals, as well as be told which gate to enter Area 51 by. His shivering now was less about the cold and more from reassessing his opponents. Of the 32 teams, only one other appeared to have anyone under the age of fifteen, with most consisting of sixteen-year-olds and a few even older than that. The older teams Haru wasn't too worried about – if they still hadn't become Chunin by now they probably wouldn't in this Exam either – but the rest were the perfect age for promotion, and of those the ones from Stone were the most dangerous to the young trio due to home-field advantage.
It wasn't easy to get a glimpse of the other young team, being separated by the height and breadth of the older teenagers. One looked like he was absolutely loaded down with knives and other mid-range weapons – which was most likely his preferred range of attack. Another was waiting by doing various basic exercises, like push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging in place – probably a heavy hitter with a lot of stamina. The last one Haru only caught a single glimpse of, and he was just standing there, assessing the Training Area; what really caught the boy's attention were the painted black stripes on his face, three on each cheek. Those could only be symbolic of something, but what was still a mystery.
Unfortunately, Haru couldn't continue his analysis due to entering the blind where they would receive their items. Their scroll was red and silver, and it was decided that Isamu would carry it and conceal the colors under a genjutsu so that no other team could tell what it was without their permission. With the scroll and seals stashed away, they were directed to Gate 11; there were 25 gates in all, and each was a mile apart.
Yokazeha was muttering to herself something about how to most efficiently cover the 50 miles or so that made up the Training Area.3 Isamu and Haru exchanged grim looks. While it would only take a little over two hours to sweep the whole area, the same could be said about the other teams. This would be a free-for-all game of cat-and-mouse where the advantage would go to whoever had a better grasp of the lay of the land. There would be little time for rest since the small size of the area meant teams would be within minutes of each other at all times. If they didn't play this smart they would be on the run for seven days trying to find and catch their target, while escaping everyone else, and looking for their drop-zone.
Shinobi were good, but they were only human, and their team in particular were only Genin. At most each of them could go nonstop for about three, maybe four days in a pinch. The first thing they would have to do was find a place to hide, somewhere they could retreat to that no one else would be able to find. It would have to be in a 'centralized' location, so that it was easily accessible from all directions. And they would have to find and set up this safe-house while assuming most of the other teams were doing the same and hunting them… it was a daunting task.
A horn blasted, and the gate opened, and the three surged forward at a dead sprint. At the least they were a mile away from the next two closest teams, and assuming they would be moving in a mostly forwards direction at a run as well, it would take less than eleven minutes to meet in roughly the middle of the area, even less if one of the teams veered towards them. It would take about five minutes to set up a fully hidden and defensible base, which meant…
"We stop after eight minutes," Haru said. "We should be around the three mile mark, which is almost in the center. It will be cutting it close, but we should have just barely five minutes to make camp."
"Assuming we find a defensible spot right away," Yokazeha pointed out.
"We'll have to risk it," Isamu said. "We stop earlier than that an' we'll put ourselves at a disadvantage for the rest of the test."
"There's also a chance that the other teams will run into each other and give us more time," Haru said.
"Or they'll be thinking the same and stop to set up their own camps, which'll only give us more time," Isamu said.
Yokazeha grimaced then. "Or the opposite could happen and they decide to make an aggressive attack on the more defensive teams."
"We don't have that option," Haru said before anyone could suggest they change strategies, "we don't know this land well enough to go on the hunt without a place to retreat to."
"Not to mention we're already at a disadvantage against most of 'em due to the gap in years of experience," Isamu agreed.
"And if another team comes across us before we're ready?" the kunoichi asked.
"We'll figure it..." Isamu started, but Haru cut him off.
"Unfortunately we'll have to figure that out really soon." He and his teammates came to a stop in one of the larger trees – a scraggly thing barely thirty feet tall – and he immediately sat down lotus-style. He had learned how to keep his chakra and magic senses 'open' without flooding the area with chakra. The down side was he could only tell when someone was in the vicinity, not who, how many, where, or anything else important to know.
Trusting his teammates to watch his back, Haru let his magic search out the nearby people. It wasn't as traceable as straight chakra, and gave just as much information, especially if he mixed in a diluted amount of raw chakra.
"Three, a little larger than us, low Chunin level chakra development, headed roughly this direction, we can avoid confrontation if we move quickly enough, but… I think we should meet them. They aren't moving aggressively, more like with a purpose, I think the leader might have knowledge of the area. If we can bargain with them we'll end up on top in the long run."
"What're the chances they've got our scroll?" Isamu asked.
"Less than ten percent," Yokazeha answered, "I'm wondering what they will ask in exchange for their knowledge."
"Care to find out?" Haru asked. The other two nodded, and the trap was laid.
The other team, from Stone, became wary of their surroundings a second too late as Haru set off a wire trap that blocked off the area in a twenty foot circle – small enough to contain, large enough to fight. The Stone Genin jumped into defensive positions, but Haru frowned at the sloppiness of it – there had been a couple of near misses with trodden on toes and weapon placement. This was the other young team, the members looking to be only a year or so older than Isamu and Yokazeha. Still, they should be more graceful than a bunch of new Academy graduates.
Sticking to the plan for now, Yokazeha dropped down to stand near the edge of the clearing, while clones of Haru and Isamu dropped to form a triangle with the other team in the middle. The real Haru and Isamu stayed in the limited coverage of the trees where the younger could set off traps and the older could perform a genjutsu from a safe distance. There was a little more shuffling, and more proof that the Stone Genin were not a cohesive unit no matter how capable each was individually.
"We don't want to fight if there's no reason to," Yokazeha said, kodachi held loosely at her side. "What color is your scroll?"
The one who looked the oldest, who happened to have black face paint, started to say, "Yel..." but was cut off with a grunt as the weapon-loaded one elbowed him.
"Why should we…?" he had the wind knocked out of him by the third member.
"You're not the leader," the third said in a loud voice. Then he punched the 'leader' in the arm, "And you stop being a pushover and letting this guy..."
Stripes, as Haru decided to call him, slapped a hand over Loud-mouth's mouth. "You aren't the leader either," he said, then glared at the other, "And there's no harm in letting them know, if it'll avoid a fight. You don't have to be hyper paranoid."
Yokazeha caught Haru's eye, and he gave a signal. "You don't have our scroll anyway," she said, "Neither of our colors is yellow."
"And you'll just let us go?" Weapons asked, skepticism heavy in his voice.
"For a price," Yokazeha said. "Tell us everything you know about this area."
"Absolutely nothing," Loud-mouth grumbled.
The kunoichi startled a bit, then collected herself. She brought her kodachi up. "You were moving with a destination in mind, you know something about this area."
"Well I don't," Loud-mouth said, "but..." Weapons all but tackled him.
"Shut Up!"
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"Stop it, both of you!" Stripes yelled. He sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them they were honed on Yokazeha like a predator. "As you can see, we're not a decent unit. We were thrown together with the leftovers of teams who had two of their members promoted. You three obviously are a natural team: used to working with each other and all the more dangerous for it despite your age. In a straight fight, I'd say you would be on the winning side most of the time. But this terrain is our territory, and we have the option of fighting in a more round-about manner. You would eventually wear yourselves out trying to stay ahead of all the Stone teams that can use this place to the best advantage."
"You're proposing an alliance," Haru said, from the trees. The Stone trio jumped and glanced around warily. Still hidden, Haru signaled Isamu to stay put, and dropped down to take the place of his newly dispelled clone. "You're saying that even with a full verbal recounting of the area, we would never be on the same level as someone who actually had experience here – which is true. However, if we join forces, we cover each other's weaknesses. We can fight the battles a new team would struggle with, and you can guide us to places a foreign team would never know about. We will collect the scrolls, and you will find the drop-zones."
Stripes grinned, startling Haru for a second – he had only ever seen Naruto-jichan smile that wide. "You catch on quick, Shorty. Guess there's a reason you're in the Exam so young."
Haru crossed his arms. "The name's Haru, not Shorty, Stripes."
"Then call me Atsushi," he replied. "Do we have a deal."
Haru glanced at Yokazeha then Isamu, each gave a signal and he nodded. "Lead us to a safe place for six to camp, and we'll hash out a proper alliance then."
A few minutes later saw the group of six at the base of one of the many cliffs. This one had low shrubs clinging to the side and some trees scattered at the top and bottom. About eight feet off the ground there was a crack in the stone, just wide enough for a person to slip through. Atsushi pointed at it.
"Through there is a small cave system: four chambers, an underground spring, and another exit about half a mile east that comes out near a winter-berry patch. If this place hasn't been chosen by another team yet it's our best bet."
"Haru, anyone in there?" Isamu asked. The other teens watched curiously as Haru felt out the caves with his magic – not that they knew that.
Finally he shook his head. "All clear. Secure both exits, I'll prep a barrier seal."
"You know barrier seals!" Loud-mouth, who had introduced himself as Nobutoshi, asked.
Haru scratched the back on his neck. "A few, Ji-chan is teaching me, but it's slow going. I think I'll be able to put up a Six-point Barrier with everyone's help."
Weapons, AKA Katashio, frowned and asked, "Why six? I don't know a lot about seals, but I do know that Five-point Barriers are the ones known for being impenetrable."
"It's because Five-point Barriers are impenetrable that we can't use them," Haru said, pulling out his paper and calligraphy set. "True, no one would get in, but we wouldn't be able to leave either. Four-point Barriers are nearly as strong, and have the added bonus of the seals being inside the barrier field, but six is our best bet for two reasons.
"First, a Six-point Barrier can only be overpowered by several A-rank jutsu, or removing the seals. The neat thing about Six-points is their inherent stability: once erected, they won't collapse unless four or more of the seals are removed. The seals are outside the barrier field, but that's where the second reason comes in. Three, Six, and Nine-point barriers lend themselves to partnership with genjutsu. Usually a barrier will reject a genjutsu, or it will not blend well, making them very noticeable. But a Six-point Barrier can be used in conjunction with a genjutsu to make it all but invisible to anyone who doesn't know it's there."
"Which means they'll have a time of it just finding one of the seals in the first place, let alone four of them," Nobutoshi said. "That's freaking awesome!"
"You can pull off a genjutsu like that?" Katashio asked.
"Not him, but I can," Isamu said. "I've been training under the Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai for over eight months; no one will know we're here."
Atsushi nodded, "Let's go with that. Haru-kun, let us know if you need anything for your seals. Isamu-san, stay with him until the barrier and the genjutsu are up. Yokazeha-san and Katashio-san, guard this entrance until the barrier is up; Nobutoshi-san and I will be at the other one."
"Before you all go," Haru said, hurriedly fishing a pre-made seal from his bag. "Can you each channel some of your chakra into this? I'll use that sample to key you into the barrier seals so that you can exit and enter at will."
One by one they all did as asked, the writing on the seal steadily glowing brighter and brighter as more chakra was added. Then they all dispersed to their jobs. It took a little more than five minutes to set everything up, but the results were worth it – especially when a team from Wave passed by seconds later with no indication that they noticed the barrier or people inside at all.
"Now for business," Atsushi said sitting down in the largest of the caves, a rough dome that could hold about ten adults comfortably.
"We should have a way to guarantee we don't double-cross each other," Katashio said, leaning against a wall with one hand resting on his tanto.
"Why would we?" Nobutoshi asked from where he sprawled. Both Katashio and Yokazeha rolled their eyes.
"It's shinobi nature to take as many advantages as possible," the kunoichi said, sitting near the exit and polishing her twin sai. "Even if it means stabbing their temporary allies in the back."
"You plan to do that?" Nobutoshi asked, sitting up with a growl.
Isamu rolled his eyes. "Of course not."
"Then what's the problem?"
"The problem, Nobutoshi-san," Haru said as he sat near Atsushi, "is that you cannot and should not trust our words without proof – at least until you get to know us. And we have to do the same for you. It's the only way to make sure we all stay safe. And I suggest we start by swapping scrolls."
Atsushi hummed. "That could work. The Jonin documented who had which scroll, so when you get our other scroll you wouldn't be able to take our scrolls to our drop-zone. Meanwhile, with us holding on to your scroll you can't just skip off to your drop-zone because you need both. On the other hand, we can't just skip off to our drop-zone because you have our scrolls, and we can't go to yours for the same reason you can't go to ours."
Atsushi opened his satchel and pulled out a scroll that was colored yellow and blue. He set it down between himself and Haru, but kept a hand on it. Haru nodded at Isamu, who released the genjutsu on their scroll and handed it to the younger boy. He set it down next to the other scroll, also keeping a hand on it. Maintaining eye contact, both Haru and Atsushi released their holds and moved to grab the other – each movement was slow, meticulous, and mirrored by the other so that there were no gaps in advantage.
Haru released the breath he didn't know he was holding when he finally was able to take hold of the yellow-blue scroll without incident. He quickly handed it off to Isamu, who disguised it again. Atsushi tucked the red-silver scroll into his satchel and grinned, obviously happy the tension was over.
"We'll have to work out a plan for finding and taking on two different teams," Haru said.
"Your ambush tactic should work the best, and I can show you a few good places," Atsushi said. "I've trained in here twice so I have a general understanding of the lay of the land."
"Then you should be able to identify our drop-zone," Haru said.
Atsushi nodded. "Most likely, I already figured out ours."
"We can assume that the teams carrying our scrolls are going to want to locate the drop-zones quickly as well, so if you show us the locations we can plan our ambushes for anyone who enters the immediate areas," Haru said.
"We'll also need basic info on everyone's abilities so that we can coordinate our assault," Atsushi added.
"Basic information only, though," Haru clarified, "None of us are ready to spill our darkest secrets to each other."
Atsushi laughed, and the others smiled. Maybe 'positive relations between villages' wasn't as impossible for Chunin-wannabes as Haru had assumed.
"Might as well start," Isamu said. "I'm thirteen, high chakra control, skilled in genjutsu, good at taijutsu, mid-range fighter, and I tend not to think like a shinobi right off."
"You a civilian kid too?" Nobutoshi asked. "I am, and I still suck at the sneakier stuff even after almost two years."
"That's just you, regardless of background," Katashio snarked.
Nobutashi stuck his tongue out. "Anyway, I'm fourteen, skilled in taijustu, and I can do some ninjutsu… oh! And I like getting close to whoever I'm fighting."
Yokazeha shrugged. "I'm short-range as well with my kenjutsu, though I'm strong in ninjutsu so I can also go mid-range. I'm thirteen, and I have a wide array of combat knowledge, but I can't improvise very well."
"I also work best when a plan is stuck to with few variations," Katashio admitted. "I'm fourteen, short to mid-range, and I have a kekkei genkai – all you need to know is that it's similar to Jiton."
Eyes turned to Haru and Atsushi, and the younger boy squirmed a little at the sudden attention. "Ah, um, I'm ten and a half, I don't have a specialty between short, mid, or long-range fighting; I'm really skilled at traps, and good at both taijutsu and ninjutsu, and… I guess I have a kekkei genkai? Not sure, really."
"How can you not be sure?" Katashio scoffed.
Haru blushed a little. "Well, my parents were civilians as far as I know, but they were killed when I was a year old. I've been raised by shinobi since then, and I've had training in chakra control beyond what they teach in the Academy for years. I can… manipulate my chakra in ways that most people can't. I'm not sure if it can be classified as a kekkei genkai or not."
Atsushi laughed. "Either way that's seriously cool, and there's tons of kekkei genkai that only started existing in the past two or three generations, it's not that weird. Did you know that people are wondering if they should classify the Hokage's kids as having a kekkei genkai?"
"Seriously?" Haru asked. "Minato and Hiruzen are six, and Kushina is only three. They're not even in the Academy yet!"
The oldest teen's eyes lit up. "You know the Hokage's kids!? Where and when did you meet them? What're they like? Did you meet Naruto-sama? When? Where? What was it like? What's he like?"
"Shut Up, Atsushi!" Nobutoshi yelled. "Yeah, yeah, you're in love with the Hokage, we get it. You still haven't introduced yourself."
Atsushi blushed. "I'm not in love with him," he grumbled. "Anyway, I'm fifteen, I'm a mid-range fighter, and I'm skilled in ninjutsu; I've been doing exercises to build up my chakra coils and reserves for years, so I can use quite a few big ones."
"Yeah, so you can be just like your precious Hokage-sempai," Katashio said.
"Uzumaki Naruto-sama is probably the greatest hero in the entire history of the world! My parents saw him in action during the War. Well, a shadow clone of his, but it's practically the same thing. He's done the impossible so many times that our perceptions of reality have been single-handedly redefined by him. I would give anything just for five minutes of his time. Anyway, you've got to answer my questions," Atsushi said, rounding on Haru.
Haru glanced at Isamu and Yokazeha, but the two traitors were poorly hiding their laughter and not offering assistance. With a sigh he said, "I've known Minato, Hiruzen, and Kushina since they were born. They're like little devils, always getting into trouble of some kind. The twins have already caused four new ANBU recruits to retire early for their mental health after a few pranks got out of hand, and Kushina is following in their footsteps. And I don't remember my first meeting with Naruto-jichan because I was only a year old when he, Sakura-basan, and Sasuke-ojisan took me in."
If it wasn't for the barrier, Haru was sure Atsushi's squeal could have been heard all the way back in Leaf.
Ending Note:
Sempai (-sempai) is a term of respect used to refer to someone who has seniority, such as an upper classmate or a coworker who was hired before you.
1. Kakusuriki is the combination of "kakusu", meaning to hide or to conceal, and "riki", meaning strength or power; Atsushi can either be written with the character meaning "pure" or the character meaning "Kindness, honesty". I will be giving his teammates full names, and their translations, at a later date.
2. Equal to 7 days of 24 hours, I decided that "7 days" was far too open to interpretation (is the cutoff at sunrise, noon, sunset?).
3. All the math checks out: a circle with a circumference of 25 units has an area of roughly 50 units (and a diameter of 8 units). Bonus: in the previous chapter the Genin were able to sprint at roughly 22.5 mph, if they can hold that speed they will be able to cover the total area in a little over two hours, or cross in a straight line in about 21.3 minutes.