The Naruto concept is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. This specific story concept, and any original characters contained within, are my own.
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Previously on The Last Step: Inoka, Hana, and Asudai all completed the first part of the Jounin Exam. Now, Inoka and Hana need to work together with a mysterious Stone ninja, while Asudai is placed with a Sand nin and a Mist nin. Meanwhile, could the friendship between Shikashi and Kimiko be turning into something more?
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Last Step 8: Trials and Tribulations
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"If we told you that, it wouldn't be a test, now, would it?"
Those words echoed hauntingly through Hana's mind. He was going on an A-rank mission. This would be his hardest mission yet. He was confident that he could complete it.
And yet, he still had that shadow of doubt. It was that damn woman! Nara Inoka was one of the most irritating and obnoxious people Hana had ever had the displeasure of meeting. She signed a contract with, of all things, a giant elk. A skittish, timid creature. How would that be helpful in the fight? On top of that, the woman was just unimaginably horrible to him. She constantly had to do everything better or faster or just more than he did. He'd be happy to just be a ninja alongside her, one of the two best in the village. He never said they had to compete.
But for some reason, Inoka always had to be better than he did. She just turned every little thing into a damn competition. And Hana would be damned if he was going to let her prove to everybody that she was better than him. Especially since she wasn't.
It didn't matter. Hana knew that he could carry her part of the team, as well as his. He just hoped that freakish stone ninja would be able to work. Hana didn't have time to be playing babysitter to two different ninja.
Sighing, he began training again. Work always calmed him down.
---
The chill night air blew through the village. Asudai shivered, and pulled his vest a little closer to his body. He shifted position slightly, leaning against the pole on his roof.
Reaching into his vest, he pulled out his knuckle knife. Holding it loosely in his fist, he stared at the blade absentmindedly. Focusing his chakra into the edge of the knife, he willed the blade as sharp as he could make it. He delighted in the blue glow gathering around the edge and tip.
Retrieving a pebble from his breast pocket, Asudai flicked the small stone up in the air. As it began to fall towards earth, he lashed out at it with his knife. The two halves fell to the roof with a small clatter. Asudai reached out a hand and picked up the shorn piece of rock. Feeling the perfect surface with his fingers, he smiled and put the knife away.
The knife had been a present from his father, now in his fifties and just as active as ever. Asuma had devoted all the time he could to his son, perhaps to make up for the lack of a female in the family. Asuma and his girlfriend had never seen fit to get married, even when Asudai came along. Eventually, the girl drifted away from Asuma, and the kid didn't. Whenever Asudai felt lonely, his dad or a friend of his dad's had spent some time with him. Kakashi taught him some cool technique, or Gai trained him in some Taijutsu thing. When Asudai became a genin, his dad had given the knife to him, and spent over three months teaching him tricks to do with it. It was Asudai's most prized possession.
He'd spent the day training and doing exercises with the two other ninja that would accompany him on the mission. All three of them knew that they'd never be able to complete the mission if they didn't understand how to work together. By being paired up, they each had an obligation to do well, and succeed.
So he should probably get into his house and start sleeping. It was late out, and it was cold. Being sick or being tired would affect his performance in the second part of the test tomorrow, and then he'd be letting his teammates down. And Sarutobi Asudai never, ever let people down.
Sliding the skylight open silently, Asudai dropped into his room, burrowed into his nest of blankets on his futon, and began sleeping, his mind dreaming of pretty girls and glowing knives and the dark, jounin vest.
---
She actually woke up automatically, just a couple seconds before her alarm clock began whining shrilly. It was a talent that she'd discovered and spent time cultivating, the ability to wake up at a specific time, no alarm needed. It had been useful on many of her missions as a chuunin, and Inoka was glad to see it wasn't deserting her now.
Rolling out of bed, Inoka dressed automatically and began ambling downstairs, her thoughts occupied with her first A-rank mission, occurring later today. Would she have to go undercover? Retrieve something? Kill somebody? Inoka shivered at that last one. She'd kill if she had to, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Not like that Uchiha guy. She swore, that guy positively enjoyed inflicting pain on other people. It was creepier than that Shino person she'd seen watching over some Genin team.
A loud clap startled her out of her internal reverie. Inoka blinked owlishly at her mother, who happened to be staring at her impatiently.
"What?" Inoka asked, slowly coming to realize where she was. Ino sighed and indicated the boxes in her hands.
"Do you want waffles or pancakes for breakfast?" Ino asked. She could remember her own Jounin exam mission, and knew that she had been just as preoccupied as her daughter was now.
Inoka yawned and indicated a box with one hand. "Pancakes, please." She told her mother. Ino nodded and began mixing powder and water automatically, no longer bothering to measure. She'd done this so many times that she could make breakfast for her entire family while still asleep. Come to think of it, she had.
Shikamaru entered and sat down in a chair, his head drooping forward. On her way to the faucet, Ino rapped his head sharply with the spatula.
"Get up and say hello to your daughter, lazy-bones. She's going on the second part of the exam today, remember?"
Shikamaru glanced at his wife, then focused his attention on Inoka. "Remember what you've learned," he cautioned the girl. "You signed the contract. Don't be afraid to use it, if you have to. The deer are resourceful creatures, they can find a way to help even when you think there's nothing to be done. Even if it's only extending your shadow or distracting somebody for the Shintenshin, it helps."
The hissing noise of water on a hot griddle rattled through the kitchen, and Ino began pouring batter onto the oil-slicked surface. As the scent of good food began to fill the house, Shikashi swung the door open.
"Is Mom cooking pancakes?" He asked, sniffing the air. Inoka nodded at him, and grinned lopsidedly as he wandered over and innocently swiped a finger through the bowl of pancake batter. He licked his finger clean while Ino mercilessly battered him with the spoon, and both Shikamaru and Inoka smiled. He pulled his daughter close to him and whispered one last piece of advice in her ear.
"Remember the point of the mission. It's not about you, and it's not about Hana. You don't need to prove that you're a better ninja than he is, because that's not what the examiner will be looking for. As long as you show him that you can work with a partner or by yourself and get the mission accomplished at all costs, then you'll be just fine. And no matter what, you're my daughter. That alone is enough to make me proud of you."
Inoka smiled good naturedly and struggled away from her father. Playfully, he grasped her arm and hugged her fiercely, letting her go only when Ino set a plate of four perfectly browned pancakes in front of him.
"Let your daughter go and permit her to eat her breakfast. She needs to build up her strength for today." Shikashi grinned at her mischievously. Inoka recognized the signal and quickly slid her place setting to another part of the table.
"I'll only let her go if you agree to take her place!" growled Shikamaru fiercely. Snagging his wife by her apron, he pulled the shrieking and laughing bundle into his lap and began nuzzling her playfully, while at the same time, tickling her in the weak point he'd discovered after years of marriage: Her sides. As she called helplessly that she needed to cook breakfast for her son as well, Shikashi pointedly looked away and began cooking his own pancakes.
Inoka stood up from the table, walking over to the stove.. She gave her brother a hug and grabbed the syrup from the counter, then sat back down. He followed her, flipping two more pancakes onto her plate while preparing to eat two of his own.
Inoka grinned. "That's why I love you, little guy. You're always thinking of the person who matters." He smiled slightly.
"You're the one taking the test today. You'll need all the energy you can get. I'm probably just going to go out training with Kimiko. That's really only a one or two pancake activity."
Inoka's eyes lit up. "Is this martial training," she asked, keeping a straight face, "Or marital training? The difference is important." Looking up, she grinned at him and Shikashi threw a pat of butter at her face.
"Oh my god! Inoka, you need to be heading out the door right now!" Ino, face flushed from the bonding with her husband, slid the pancakes out of her daughter's reach. "If you eat before strenuous activity, you'll throw up. Go."
Inoka sighed and kissed her mother on the cheek. "I'll see you later, then. I'll come back when I can." She hugged both her father and her brother, quickly bolting out the door.
Ino sighed, watching the door swing shut. "Do you think she'll be okay?" she asked, worry obvious in her voice. Shikamaru pulled her back into his lap and held her tight.
"She'll be fine," he whispered in her ear. "She's your daughter, after all. Have faith in her."
Ino nodded, biting her lip. As Shikashi began eating his pancakes, Ino shrieked once again.
"Gah! I was thinking! You can't do that while I'm thinking!"
Shikamaru snickered and resumed tickling his wife.
---
"If you're not here by now, then you're disqualified. Above all, a ninja should be prompt. If you're not on time, then you or your comrades could die."
As Naruto listened to Neji lecturing the chuunin gathered in a mob at the gate to the village, he snickered to himself. "Kakashi should come and take this exam again, in that case. He wouldn't pass in a million years."
Although the comment was to himself, Hinata was sitting next to him and the sound drifted into her ears. She laughed softly, and he grinned at her. "No, seriously." He said quietly. "Kakashi was never on time for anything. He came up with these crap excuses every time."
Naruto began reciting excuses Kakashi had used. "I got lost on the road of life. I helped an old woman across the street. My almanac said today was unlucky. A black cat crossed my path."
With each sentence, Hinata's laughter grew more and more. She had her hand stuffed in her mouth to keep from giggling out loud, but Naruto continued, smiling broadly. "Once, we all just cut practice, just to give him a taste of his own medicine. He showed up at our houses in the middle of the night and dragged us out to train. That was the worst night of my life."
Hinata couldn't hold it back anymore, and she laughed loudly, her cheeks blushing. Instantly, Neji stopped speaking and glared at the duo, his pale eyes accusing. The group of chuunin began laughing as well, and Neji quickly transferred his glare to the lesser ranked ninja. They all shut up in a hurry, and he continued his speech.
"Dipwad." Naruto muttered, eliciting a stifled giggle from Hinata. Neji pointedly ignored them, and Naruto smiled. Leaning back in his chair, he began to listen to whatever it was Neji was droning on about.
"…team will be given their own mission. Each team will also be accompanied by a jounin proctor, who will be examining you and watching you. He will not come to your aid during the mission, no matter what. If you will die unless he helps, then you're not coming home. Jounins do A-rank missions all the time. If you don't think you can handle it, then raise your hand now. I'll fail you and you can try again next time the test comes around."
Pausing, Neji swept his eyes across the crowd. Several hands slowly floated into the air, and Neji waved at them dismissively. "Get out of here," he said. "You and your team fail the exam. Try again next time."
Nine people departed from the crowd, leaving only four teams of three remaining.
"If you're still here, then I assume you want to attempt the mission. I'll read out your team, your mission, and your inspector. The teams will begin the missions immediately."
Neji paused for a moment, then began listing the teams.
"Team one, with the examiner of Uzumaki Naruto, will be retrieving a scroll from a yakuza den. Leave now."
Naruto stood up, an easy grin on his face. "That's my cue, I guess. Good luck on your own assignment, Hinata!" She blushed and nodded. As Naruto and his team exited the village, Neji continued with the assignments.
"Team three, with the examiner of Aburame Shino, will be escorting a foreign dignitary through the countries of Fire and Wind. Leave now."
Without a word, Shino left with his team. Asudai tried to strike up a conversation with him as they began to leave, but his attempt fell flat.
"Team four, with the examiner of Hyuuga Hinata, will be assassinating a corrupt government official. Leave now."
Silently, Hinata stood up and exited the village, her team in tow.
"Team six, with the examiner of Hyuuga Neji, will be rescuing a prisoner from a rogue group of ninja. Leave now."
Rolling up the scroll, Neji walked towards the exit of the village, Hana and Inoka following him, the stone ninja just behind them. Quietly, Lee watched them go.
"So who do you think will pass?" He asked after Neji had passed out of hearing range. Tsunade shimmered into view beside him.
"You knew I was there, huh?" She asked, grinning slightly. He turned to face her.
"Of course I did. You didn't exactly make it a secret that you were watching."
Tsunade signed, gazing at the horizon. "I like to watch the chuunin taking the exam. I want to see the jounin of the next generation. I watched you become a Jounin, Lee. I remember thinking that you wouldn't make it, that you didn't have the ability. And I was wrong."
Lee looked from her face to the horizon, and back. "So do you think you're wrong about who will be promoted, this time?"
Tsunade turned away, and began walking towards her office. "Nope. I know exactly who's going to pass." With that, she exited.
Lee laughed. "She couldn't be bothered to tell me who?" He muttered. As the breeze swept through the clearing, Lee went off to practice his taijutsu, clearing his mind of the exam.
---
The clouds drifted by, and a rock bounced off his head.
"Hey, watcha doing?"
Shikashi looked at his teammate, and blinked some dirt out of his eye. "Thinking." He responded softly. Closing the conversation, he looked back at the clouds.
Another rock bounced off his head, and Kutsu stooped to pick up more. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asked.
Shikashi glared at him. "Nothing that involves you. Stop throwing rocks at me."
A third rock bounced off of his head, and Kutsu snickered. "You're feeling friendly today. I thought you were going to be training right now."
Shikashi snatched a pebble from the ground and hurled it at the infuriating boy. It flew straight into Kutsu's fingertip, and he yelped, dropping the rest of the stones in his hand.
"If you don't have anything to do besides bug me, then go train with Naruto or something. I'm thinking. It's not exactly a spectator sport."
Kutsu sat down next to Shikashi, sucking on his finger. "Naruto's gone. Left to do some stupid test with the jounin exam, or something. He told me to come train with you if I wanted to get better." He took his finger out of his mouth and examined it. "So here I am. Train me. Mold me."
Shikashi's eyebrow twitched. God, this kid was annoying. "I don't have anything to teach you. Go talk to one of the people still here, get them to train you. I doubt all the jounin are gone."
Kutsu closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of the breeze washing over his face. "Can't. All the jounin are busy with the exam. They're all gone." An acorn fell onto his forehead, and he sat up abruptly. "Hey!" He stated indignantly. Shikashi laughed at him.
"I didn't do it. And besides, you had it coming." Shikashi picked the offending acorn up and rolled it between his fingers. "Anyway, some of the jounin will be here. It's unlikely that all of the chuunin decided to advance within the test, so some teams have probably already failed. Ergo, some jounin proctors are still here in the village. Go find one."
Kutsu snorted. "Why would anybody bow out of the exam? They're just doing a mission, right?"
Shikashi chucked the acorn at him, drawing another yelp. "It's not just a mission, you idiot. It's an A-Rank mission, and the jounin need to do it with two partners that they probably haven't worked with before. If they screw up, they'll die. Some people get this far and decide they're not ready, so they just fail themselves. They'll try it again next year, and that'll be that."
Kutsu looked at him, rubbing the forming bruise on his forearm. "You sure know a lot about this exam. What's the deal?"
Shikashi sighed softly. "My sister's taking it right now. So I've been hearing a lot about the exam from my parents."
Kutsu was silent, lending support to his teammate.
"Ano…Shikashi-kun?" The soft voice broke through the lull in the conversation, and Shikashi looked over his shoulder. He smiled involuntarily, and Kutsu turned around to see the speaker.
"Hey, Kimiko." He greeted lazily. She nodded a greeting to him, and turned her attention back to Shikashi.
"Um..You said we could train together again?"
Shikashi nodded, and stood up to leave. Kimiko looked at Kutsu, now. "Uh…I'm sure it would be fine if you came with us, Kutsu. I mean, if you want to…"
He smiled and waved her away. "Nah, I'm just about to go find a jounin, anyway. You two go off and do your training thing, I'll see you all when Naruto gets back."
Whistling, he walked down the path towards the village, and Kimiko turned to her training partner. "Should we go a little further into the woods, then?"
He nodded, and they walked into the forest, hand in hand.
---
"So, you'll need to be on the watch for enemy ninja. Can you do it?"
Asudai grinned. "Of course we can. We're…well, we're almost Jounin. We'll protect you with our lives, don't worry."
The dignitary nodded. "You guys aren't Jounin, yet? I thought…" Shino broke in quietly before the sentence was completed.
"I myself am a jounin, but I won't be participating in the mission. I'm simply here as an observer. I will not aid anybody during the mission, it's up to the three chuunin from here on out."
Again, the dignitary nodded. "Fair enough. Anyway, you guys can call me Hideki. Shall we set off towards our destination?"
The sand ninja and Asudai nodded. The mist ninja just smirked and leaned over to Asudai and the sand nin. "Does anybody have a change of clothes we could loan this guy?"
Shino faded out of view, and the sand nin turned to Hideki, throwing a bag at him. Hideki caught it, startled.
"What's this?" he asked curiously. As the sand nin began running through seals, the mist nin stopped and explained what was going on.
"Since you're the target, we're going to apply a little misdirection. The bag is a change of clothes that you should put on. There's a handkerchief in there for you to cover your face, so you'll look like one of us. And to replace you, Maki here will use a quick henge to alter his looks a bit…"
A puff of smoke swirled, and a copy of Hideki stood there. Hurriedly, the actual Hideki began throwing on the new clothes. As that went on, Asudai took over the explanation.
"If we meet up with enemy ninja, they'll target the person who looks like you, because they hope to catch us off guard. Maki will be paying attention, and he'll dodge whatever they throw at him. You and I will fight together, and I'll help you pretend to loose. They'll take Maki, and he'll transform and kill them when they're not expecting it."
Hideki quickly put the handkerchief on to cover his face, but Asudai thought he saw a hint of paleness. He clapped the man on the shoulder. "Don't worry. It probably won't come to something as brutal as that. We'll most likely only have to fight for a couple minutes, then they'll run away. But it takes most of the risk off of your shoulders, see?"
Hideki nodded, and began walking, Asudai at his side. Maki went between them, and the mist ninja got in front. Turning his head, he introduced himself as Haruze to Hideki, then continued walking.
Crouching on a branch in a tree, Shino pulled out a notebook and made a couple marks, noting their plan and the execution of it. Stealthily, he jumped away to follow them, intent on seeing how their idea turned out.
---
"The prisoner is kept in the eastern wing of the area, in an underground room room that is guarded day and night. You must retrieve him and bring him back to the village alive. Under that condition, you must complete this mission by yourselves. If you fail in any way, then you fail the exam and will be kept a chuunin for another year. And you have two days to complete the mission, else the target will be killed by the enemy."
On that cheerful note, Neji faded out of view.
"He's got a stick up his ass," snorted the stone nin. Inoka hit him quickly.
"You idiot, he's still here, even if you can't see him. He's going to be seeing how we do on this mission, remember?"
Coolly, the stone nin lit a cigarette and lifted it to his lips, inhaling softly. "I know. But you've got to agree, he could have been a bit more supportive just now."
Hana picked the cigarette out of the ninja's fingers and crushed it under his heel. "He's not here to be supportive, and he's not here to watch you try to look cool by smoking. He's here to watch us complete a mission, so let's get on with it."
The stone ninja glared at Hana. "You owe me a cigarette." Hana pointedly ignored him and began walking towards the direction that Neji had indicated. The stone nin fell into step with Inoka and whispered in her ear, "I made a mistake. /He's/ the one with the stick up his ass."
Inoka tried to muffle her snicker, but she didn't quite succeed. Hana angrily wheeled and glared at the two of them. "Unlike the rest of you, I actually want to be a jounin, that's why I'm taking this stupid test. I'd appreciate it if the rest of you didn't screw this up, thank you very much."
His tirade finished, Hana resumed walking and the two ninja on his team joined him. "Whatever you say, flower-boy. I'm Boushi, by the way."
Hana flushed and didn't respond. Hidden by genjutsu, Neji made a mark on his sheet and began following the Chuunin.
---
A bird whistled loudly, and Hideki started. Asudai clapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry. Us three are here to protect you, and we don't intend to fail." Hideki nodded, but his face was still pale.
"Here. Want some water?" Haruze offered a water bottle to Hideki, and the man took it. Gulping some water gratefully, he handed the bottle back to Haruze just as an arrow arced its way through the bottle. Hideki dropped it quickly, and fell automatically into place beside Haruze and Asudai, in a triangle surrounding Maki. No less than twelve archers faded into view around the group, and a bandit stepped up to talk.
"We've got you surrounded by archers. We didn't need to miss with the water bottle. Give us the man you are protecting, and we'll let you live. Or, we could fill you all with arrows, and then take the man. It's your choice."
The bandit was eloquent and straightforward. Asudai noted that curiously, even as he was silently sending Maki forward to be taken. Hideki began to shake softly, and Haruze placed a calming hand on his arm. "Don't worry," Haruze whispered. "We're in control of the situation."
Maki walked forward, doing his best to quiver like he was afraid. Hideki watched him, doing his best not to quiver like he was afraid. The bandit leader watched them both, doing his best not to quiver from anticipation.
Nobody was really succeeding.
"C'mere, now. We promise this won't hurt a bit…" One of the bandits ushered Maki forward just a little more, then drew his sword, the ring echoing through the clearing. "I'll make it fast, see?"
Because a ninja needs entertainment, Maki dropped the Henge before attacking. The look on the bandit's face was priceless as his neck was slashed, Maki reflected. He wheeled and buried a kunai in another man's forehead before leaping back to the group. The bandit leader slashed his hand through the air, a prearranged signal, and the archers all fired in unison.
Asudai quickly swept Hideki's feet from beneath him, then pulled him down, out of the way of the arrows.
Hideki's shriek at the unfolding events captured the attention of the bandit leader. He glared at the group, his mouth curling into an ugly frown. "Clever trick, you four. You made it a fun game, but I don't like losing!"
Drawing his sword, the leader charged the group of ninja. He had technique, made obvious by the way he was moving, the way he held his sword.
"At least you know what you're doing," yawned Asudai. "But you're still playing jan ken pon." He buried a kabuto-wari [1] in the man's head, and grinned at the falling body. "Come back when you're ready to play some shogi."
After their leader fell, the rest of the bandits continued the attack haphazardly, but they were far too nervous to really do anything. Hideki hissed softly as an arrow buried itself in his thigh, and Asudai quickly stepped in front of him, shielding him from more danger. He blocked three more arrows while the other two ninja made short work of the remaining bandits.
"Here. Let me see your leg." Haruze used a kunai to slice away the fabric of Hideki's pants, and exposed the wound. Reaching into a pouch on his back, he withdrew some bandages and a small tube. "This might sting a little," he cautioned before rubbing the paste from the tube into the wound. Hideki sucked in his breath, but refrained from making noise. With that done, Haruze began wrapping the bandage around the wound, quickly and competently. Tearing it with his teeth, he cinched the wrap one last time, then tucked the loose end underneath the coils.
"Try walking on it now," he told Hideki. The man got up and began stumping around the area.
"It feels pretty good," he said. "A little stiff, but it doesn't hurt. I should be able to walk to the next town."
Haruze smiled and began packing up his supplies. Asudai stretched.
"So, that didn't seem too hard. I'm surprised this is an A-rank mission. I mean, fighting bandits like that is a C rank. The addition of protecting Hideki should only make it a B, at the most. What's up?"
Hideki looked at him nervously, still walking around and loosening up his leg. "Well, that was just an incidental fight, I think." He confessed. "The real problems will happen when we get to the town. See, I don't have any sort of object that's valuable. But…" He tapped his head. "I know some things that certain people would kill for. Or kill me for." He trailed off, looking nervous again.
Maki laughed. "C'mon. We're almost jounin, and there are three of us. We should be able to take on some stupid street gang, or whatever it is. I'll do anything I have to to make sure that you get to where you need to be, Hideki."
The person in question smiled faintly. "Thanks. I'm doing something very important, so it's nice to know I can count on you."
---
"So there's the building. We've only got 18 hours left to get in there, find the prisoner, and get out again."
Boushi snorted. "Only? I believe you mean still, man. How long do you honestly think it's going to take to get in there? We know where the guy's being kept, right? What'd that white-eyed proctor guy say, again?"
Inoka chose not to take sides in the argument, electing to be the devil's advocate. "Hana's right. We should be taking this a little more seriously, Boushi. The target is being kept in the eastern wing of the complex, in an underground room. So first we need to get inside, then we need to find our way to the basement. Then we need to get out again. It could take us a while."
She glanced up at the sun, then down at the complex. Pointing, Inoka indicated set of buildings. "That's the wing we want. Anybody know how we get there?"
Hana looked at the area she was pointing at. "If that's where we need to get to, then we can just traverse across this cliff face. It'll be slow, but we can get there in time."
Boushi shook his head. "Too slow, too open. I got a contract with a bird in the last part of this test, I could just summon something big enough to carry us over there. It's much faster, and people probably won't notice us."
Hana's disbelief was obvious in his voice. "You think people won't notice a giant bird landing in the middle of their fortress??
Boushi shrugged. "Who's going to admit to themselves that they saw a giant bird flying over their place? And besides, we'll be killing everybody in the area we land in, anyway. It doesn't matter if they see us."
---
"Look, over there! It's the town, see?"
Hideki glanced up, and nodded. "Yeah…That's where I need to go." His face was beaded with sweat, and Haruze looked at him, concerned.
"Hey, you okay? Is your leg bothering you or something?"
Hideki shook his head, but he stumbled on a rock and fell, revealing the red stain on his bandage. He grinned weakly at his body guards. "It hurts a bit, but I'll be fine. Let's just keep on moving, it'd take too much time to try and bandage it again."
Maki looked concerned, but he didn't object. He picked Hideki up and looped one arm around the man's torso. "Put your arm over my shoulder, I'll help you."
Hideki started to complain, but Maki tapped the wound with his foot, and Hideki grunted. "As long as you react like that," Maki stated, "I'm going to help you walk. It's my job to make sure you get to wherever you need to be, so shut up and let me work."
---
Boushi slowly went through the seals, making sure each one was correct before moving on to the next. Biting his thumb, he slammed his palms into the ground, calling out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" as he did so. Blood-red characters streamed from his hands, and grew to become a giant hawk.
The raptor stretched and spread its wings for a moment before opening its eyes and looking at Boushi.
"Oh, it's you. Geez, if I had known you'd actually be able to do this whole summoning thing, I'd never have signed with you. What do you want?"
Boushi stood up, tottering slightly from the summoning. "We need you to fly the three of us over to that area." He said, pointing at the location. "And then if you could stick around for a bit and kill anybody who goes outside until we come back, that'd be fantastic. And I'll catch you a big deer or something when I get home, I promise."
The hawk looked at him, then at the building. "Yeah," the bird said, "I can do that. And I'll hang around until you come out, too. It's not like I've got anything better to do, and besides, not having to catch my own food would be nice. It had better be a big deer, though."
The raptor dropped one wing, and the three chuunin climbed on, sitting up on the bird's neck. Quickly, Neji grabbed onto the bird's foot, and the flying creature took off, winging due east.
---
"So, now that we're almost here, I feel like we might want to know…" Asudai had been pensive for the past several miles, thinking about the mission. "Who exactly wants you? I mean, you said that the bandit fight thing was just incidental, right?" Pale, Hideki nodded. Asudai continued, thinking hard. "Well, who do we need to be worrying about, then? Is it some sort of gang? A rival company or something? What are we up against?"
Haruze nodded, obviously wondering the same thing. Hideki shifted slightly, trying to stop, and Maki slowly eased him down onto a large rock.
Taking a deep breath, Hideki wiped his face free from sweat before explaining.
"Okay. I know some things that certain people don't want me to know. So I'm trying to get to a place that can help me stay hidden while I compile the information, right? And then…"
Asudai interrupted. "It doesn't matter what you're trying to do, sir. Just tell us who we need to fight, and we'll do it." His teammates nodded, agreeing.
Hideki sighed, the stress of the circumstance showing on his face. "Put simply, Boss Taka wants me to go away."
Asudai had been expecting something of the sort and managed to control his reaction. Haruze didn't do quite as well.
"You mean, /the/ Boss Taka? The big one?" Haruze gaped.
Boss Taka was a notorious yakuza boss. He wasn't a ninja, and he didn't employ any, either. But the people he hired were those with no compunctions about killing, and the people he kept employed were those who did their jobs well.
"…that'd make it an A-rank mission, I guess." Commented Maki slowly. Hideki nodded, biting his lip nervously.
"I'm sorry, you guys. I thought you knew when you started the mission. After the bandit fight, I was hoping that we'd be able to sneak past Taka's goons, or maybe he wouldn't be expecting us. But I guess it's only fair that you know what you're getting into."
Asudai stood up, stretching. "Well, we might as well get going. We're not going to give up of the mission, and it won't get finished while we just stand here. Let's start moving, again!"
Maki helped Hideki again, echoing Asudai with a resounding shout. Haruze followed the trio, agreeing weakly with the idea of completing the mission.
---
"So where do you want me to drop you off?" asked the giant hawk as he circled the buildings. Boushi pointed towards an open clearing.
"If you could put us there and then just kill anybody who comes out from that area until we get back, that'd be fantastic."
Wordlessly, the bird of prey folded his wings back and plummeted towards the ground, centuries of experience telling him when to snap his wings back out and decelerate. He landed softly, allowing his passengers to get off before winging back into the air.
"We'll be back in an hour at the outside," shouted Boushi. The hawk screeched acknowledgement and dived at an unsuspecting passerby who had just exited the building. Inoka looked away as the curved beak ripped into the man's stomach, but Hana was busily flashing through hand seals, performing some sort of jutsu.
He thrust his hands into the ground, calling out, "Doton: Surudoi Ishi no Jutsu!" [2]. The ninja felt around under the earth for several moments before withdrawing his hands and pointing at a building. "The room we want is underneath that building," he said, already running towards it. He shouldered a man out of the way as he went through the door, and Boushi quickly cut his throat with a kunai before following Hana. Inoka looked away as she went through the door, not wanting to watch the hawk devouring the new corpse.
Hana ran down the hall with kunai in his hands, indiscriminately killing anybody he came across. He burst through a door and interrupted some sort of business meeting, nicely dressed men all sitting at a long table with papers in front of them. All conversation ceased as the men attempted to fathom why a heavily breathing ninja with two bloody kunai had entered the building. Inoka and Boushi came up just behind him, breathing a little more easily and with significantly less bloody weapons.
Of everybody in the room, Inoka reacted the fastest. Channeling her chakra quickly, she called out, "Mokudon: Shibaru Mokuzai no Jutsu" [3], zeroing in on the person at the head of the table.
He gaped as suddenly his wooden chair began to grow again, thick branches curling around his arms and legs. Slowly, the chair itself began to warp and grow, turning itself into a framework that surrounded him, the wood dictating his movements. Jerkily, he stood up and began walking towards the three ninja, obviously trying to fight the jutsu he found himself captive to.
"There's a room underneath this building that we need to find," Boushi said quietly. "And until we get there and out again, we'll be taking this man with us. And we're not patient people. Unless you show us where to go and quickly, I'm not going to be able to guarantee that this man will be returned in the condition we found him in."
Recognizing her cue, Inoka moved her chakra a little and the man screamed. Slowly, his arm came up to reveal the fact that his little finger was being steadily bent backwards. Inoka shifted again and it stopped, although it remained in the same uncomfortable position.
Finally, one of the men sitting at the table spoke, nervously. "I'm afraid we don't know what you're…"
/crack/. The man screamed again, and another finger began to bend backwards. Hana glared at the collection of people around the table. "After we finish with all his fingers, I'm sure we can find other things to play with. And when we're done with him, we'll just have to move on to one of you. Now, I'm fairly positive that this man is somebody's boss. If you want him to still work when we're finished, I'd recommend you stop wasting our time and show us where to go.
The man sobbed softly from pain. "For the love of god," he cried, "Just show them where to go! Please!"
A man wearing a blue tie stood up warily and addressed the ninja. "I think I know the room you're talking about. Um…Should I take you to it?"
Hana looked at him blankly. "Unless you want your boss broken, then I'd say that'd be a yes."
Without a word, the man walked past them, giving all three a wide berth. Inoka twitched her chakra once more, and tied everybody in the room into their chairs, as well. "You people just stay here for a little while. I don't want anybody running around and doing something stupid."
The quintet exited the room, and one final shift grew the door into the frame, sealing the entire room shut.
Hana walked in front, casually killing anybody who came up to them. Boushi walked next to their guide, his hand resting casually on a kunai. The implied message was clear, and the guide spent much of his time swallowing nervously and sweating profusely. Inoka walked next to her hostage, keeping his finger in the same uncomfortable position.
The guide stopped next to a door, and called after Hana, "Sir, this is the door we want." Hana wheeled back, and opened the door for the man.
"Why don't you go first," he said, voice dripping with sugar. "Just to make sure everybody remains safe?" Hana pushed the man down the first step, making clear the fact that argument wasn't an option. Swallowing again, the guide began to walk down the stairs, keeping a hand on the stone wall for support.
The ragtag group walked for several minutes before coming to a cell door that had two guards posted in front of it. They both gaped at the procession just a little too long, allowing Boushi enough time to bury shuriken in their heads. They slumped down against the door, and Hana shouldered them out of the way. He fiddled with the door for a moment before slamming a fist into the frame in anger. "We need a key", he said. "Can anybody bypass it?"
A finger of wood began to delve into the bosses' pockets, eventually coming out dangling a ring of keys. Inoka handed them to Hana, who quickly started trying each of them in the lock. A quiet /click/ echoed through the hallway, and the door swung open, screeching in protest.
A gaunt figure looked up from the corner, blinking in disbelief. "Are you ninja?" His voice cracked from disuse, and he cleared his throat noisily. Inoka pulled a water bottle from her pack and offered it to the man. He accepted it gratefully and gulped down several mouthfuls of water before handing it back.
Hana picked him up by the forearm and set him on his feet. "We're here to get you out", he informed the prisoner. The captive tottered on his feet, and Hana slipped an arm around his torso, supporting him. Quickly, the group of six began to navigate their way out of the prison.
---
Maki tapped Asudai on the shoulder, and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "You know we're being followed, right? And I don't think it's the group of local toughs." Asudai nodded.
"Think it's worth getting into a fight over it?" He whispered back. Haruze joined the group, adding his own two cents.
"We might as well. Boss Taka's probably got hundreds of guys to throw at us if he really wants Hideki to disappear, we're better off fighting small groups of five or six than large groups of ten or twenty."
Hideki coughed, trying to enter the conversation. "If you can get me to a specific building," he said, voice shaking, "then I'll be safe. They have defenses there that can stand against Boss Taka. If you can get me to that building, then we'll be safe."
Asudai stopped walking. "We might as well take out this group before we do anything else. After that, we'll take you to whatever building you need to go to, Hideki."
Hideki nodded, sitting down weakly. Haruze and Asudai ambled towards the thugs, Maki stayed with Hideki.
Without a word, Asudai punched one of the goons in the face, forcing him backwards into the arms of his cohorts. Quickly, Haruze ran through some seals, calling "Mizu no Nodo no Jutsu" [4]. Clouds of mist began to gather around the goons, condensing into water around their faces. Sweat dripped down Haruze's face as he held the jutsu, keeping the water in place. As the last brute slid down and died, the jutsu released and water began to collect in a puddle on the ground. Wordlessly, the two ninja joined their partner and Hideki began to direct them to his destination.
---
The group of six opened the last door and stepped into the outdoors, into the clearing littered with bloody bones. The giant hawk looked at them, meat dripping from his beak.
"You said it was okay for me to kill everybody who came outside, right?"
Boushi nodded, and began helping the gaunt man he had rescued onto the back of the large raptor. The voice of his guide stopped him.
"Excuse me. You didn't think that we were going to let you just walk out of here, did you?"
Hana glared at the man, obviously not understanding why this was an issue. "We went over this already, pinhead. If you don't want your boss to be the proud new owner of some injuries that are incompatible with life, you'll let us go."
The guide sneered and patted his chest. "Funny you should mention that. I'm feeling just fine."
The man tied up in wood whimpered softly, and Hana got it. The doors and windows were all flung open simultaneously, revealing very angry looking men, all armed with weapons looking decidedly sharp and dangerous.
'oh shit', thought Hana.
Hurriedly, he threw the prisoner on the hawk, and Boushi climbed on as well. Inoka was already fighting with men who had charged, but without a weapon, he didn't know how long she could last. Inhaling deeply, he ran through a string of hand seals while calling, "Katon: Karyuu Endan!" A large fireball engulfed the thugs who were fighting Inoka, and he pulled her back, trying to keep her safe.
Inoka turned to run towards the bird, but she stumbled on a rock and fell to her knees. A leering man with shaggy hair darted in, sword raised. Quickly, Hana interposed himself between the man and his comrade, blocked the blow with the metal plate on his glove. Two swift kicks knocked the aggressor out of commission, one kick to go down and one kick to go out.
Grabbing Inoka's arm, Hana practically threw her on the bird. The hawk was understandably nervous, and flapping his wings, ready to go anytime. Hana frantically climbed up behind everybody else, holding onto to feathers to stabilize himself. The hawk began to take off, the powerful wing beats knocking men down like toys.
Through the powerful gale, a lone arrow fired as a parting shot managed to pierce its way past the winds. As the hawk began to fly away, the arrow /thudded/ into Hana's shoulder, and knocked him off the bird. Shocked by the pain, he fell to the ground with as much control over himself as a rag doll. Immediately, soldiers descended on his body and began to carry him down to the prison he had only recently vacated.
If she hadn't been so high, Inoka would have thrown herself off the bird to try and rescue her partner; she may not like him, but he was a ninja of the leaf, just like her. And besides, he'd rescued her when she was in trouble, so he couldn't be all bad, right?
As it was, she was forced to watch her fellow ninja get captured, knowing that she had to leave him there.
---
It was getting dark, Asudai noted. They'd been walking through the city for the better part of three hours, obviously taking a roundabout path to the safe-house that Hideki needed to get to. That was wise, probably. If Boss Taka wanted this guy gone, he'd be guarding as many ways to get to the building as he could. And being Boss Taka, he could guard a lot.
"Turn left here, down this alleyway." Hideki's voice was strained, his leg was hurting. There must have been something on that arrowhead, something that Haruze didn't fix with the paste that he put on.
Maki turned down the alleyway and stopped. About thirty-five feet further down, there was a large crowd of people who looked decidedly un-friendly. One of them looked up and smiled. "Well, well." He said casually. "Look who decided to join the party. It's a pleasure to see you all, truly, it is."
Hideki tugged at Maki's collar urgently. "There's another path we can take. We don't need to fight these guys, if we run fast, then we can beat them."
Maki shook his head. "No good," he said. "There are too many, they'll chase us down. One of us will have to stay here and keep them occupied while the others take you to the building."
The mob began moving forward and Maki glanced at Haruze quickly. "Can you stay and keep these guys occupied? It'll only be for a couple minutes, I think." Haruze shook his head frantically.
"No way!" He exclaimed. "That's a suicide job. I like living just fine, somebody else can stay here!"
The other two ninja paused, trying to fathom what had just happened. Haruze had just balked at fighting these guys? Yeah, it was probably suicide, but they were ninja. Dying was a part of their job.
Asudai was about to volunteer to stay, when Maki thrust Hideki into his arms. Hideki stumbled slightly, and Asudai caught him automatically, unconsciously assuming the same position that Maki had taken.
Withdrawing a kunai, Maki hurriedly gave some instructions to Asudai. "Just follow his directions to the building, but when you get there, just drop him off, if you can. Then come back and help me, I'm sure that I'll need it."
He turned and flung the kunai into the mob; a man dropped and he withdrew another. "Hurry up, dammit! I'm not playing around, here!"
Quickly, Asudai, Haruze, and Hideki ran back down the alley where they came from, turned, and disappeared into the darkness. Maki smiled, gearing up for the big fight.
"If you guys think you'll be getting past me, then you're about to learn that you are very, very wrong."
The mob charged, and Maki began to fight.
---
"Stop here! Please, land the bird!" Inoka implored. Boushi leaned forward and shouted something in the hawk's ear, the hawk wheeled and began to fly down towards the cliff face that he had been summoned at.
Clouds of dust flew up in miniature whirlwinds as the giant bird flapped his wings, but Inoka ignored them and jumped off. Boushi reached for her, not understanding what she was doing.
"You go back to the village," she told him hurriedly. "Return the guy we rescued, that'll clear us for the completion of the mission. I'll stay here, I can't leave Hana behind. I'll go in and rescue him, and then use my deer summon to get back to the village. Just make sure you tell the exam proctors what's happened, so that they don't fail us.
She began flashing through hand seals, when Boushi stopped her. Placing his hand over hers, he looked into her eyes. They were nervous, and a little upset.
"Good luck," he told her softly. She patted the side of the bird, and told him to get going.
"You need to get back to the village, remember? Just don't forget to let people know what happened."
Boushi nodded, and the bird took off again. Inoka began contorting her hands one more, then nicked her thumb and slammed her palms into the grounds, calling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A giant deer grew into existence in front of her, and it nuzzled her palm softly. She hugged it for a moment, then leapt on its back and explained what had happened. Nodding, the deer ran down the side of the cliff and began to sprint back towards the fortress.
---
"Thank you, thank you so much. I can't tell you what this means.." Asudai uncharacteristically interrupted the lady thanking him, telling her that he had something he needed to go do. Normally, he would never break into somebody else when they were speaking, especially if they were thanking him or otherwise stroking his ego.
But right now, there was the life of a ninja at stake, and that took precedent over anything else, not counting the completion of the mission. He darted past Haruze, who tried to stop him, tried to explain what had happened, but Asudai didn't listen. He didn't have time to spare for people who weren't willing to do their jobs.
Running down the alley, he practiced a technique his father had taught him, channeling chakra to his feet to elevate him just a little, using his feet to skate, never losing speed to friction from the ground. It was a method of running that was extremely tiring, but the speed boost it gave you was unimaginable. He kicked off the wall to turn a corner and nearly ran over the man he was looking for.
Maki was sitting on the ground, one hand tucked inside his bloody shirt. His face was cut, and blood was dripping into his eye, but he didn't bother to try and blink it out. He looked at Asudai blearily, recognition finally dawning in his mind.
"Hey," he said, weakly. Asudai crouched, tried to pick him up and carry him like they had both done with Hideki. Kicked a dead body out of the way, he jostled Maki's arm, and the man hissed with pain. Looking at it closely, Asudai saw that it was broken.
"Did you get him to the safe-house?" Maki's voice was soft and sounded like there was fluid in his lungs. Asudai nodded, tearing off a strip of cloth from his shirt, using it to bind the broken arm. Carefully, he picked his comrade up, checking for any other wounds.
Moving slowly so as not to jostle anything that would hurt, Asudai began to carry Maki back to the safe-house. Maki shifted position and moaned from pain, so Asudai set him down. Summoning up his chakra, he worked a minor genjutsu, whispering "Shizuka na Suimin no Jutsu" [5]. Maki fell into a deep sleep, breathing softly and quietly. Asudai picked him up again and brought him to the safe house.
---
Inoka wrapped her arms around the deer's neck, it being the only way to keep herself in place. The deer was charging down the plain, coming at the wall at a speed in excess of what Inoka really felt comfortable with. Without warning, the deer tensed its muscles and leapt, easily breaching the false security that a wall gave to an area. The deer landed masterfully in the clearing that Hana had been captured in, and Inoka dismounted. She hastily whispered some instructions to her summoned creature, who nodded and leapt away.
Inoka strode purposefully towards the building she had grown to hate, throwing the door open like she belonged there. A man who had been walking down the hall stared at her, not used to so many intrusions in one day. She walked up to him and took his sword. Before he could react, she stabbed him twice through the chest, then wiped the bloody blade on his shirt. Pausing for a moment over the dead body, Inoka mentally retraced her steps through the building on her previous visit, then hurriedly walked towards where she knew the door would be.
---
Boushi squinted into the distance, hoping to see some sign of the village he needed to get to. Noting some lights off in the distance, he tapped the bird and pointed; the hawk nodded and wheeled over towards where the village must be.
After several minutes of flight, the giant bird dived towards the ground, expertly snapping its full wingspan open to stop the rapid descent. As soon as the raptor touched ground, Boushi leapt off and set about helping the skeletal prisoner he had rescued off the mount he had been put on.
Neji phased into view beside him, watching the ninja struggle with the rescued. "Here. Your mission is complete, all three of you pass. I'll take this man up to the hospital, you can go rest."
Boushi nodded gratefully, stumbling slightly as he walked. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted a large group of people and ambled over towards them. One turned and noticed, him, and alerted the rest of the group to his presence.
"Hey, everybody! Somebody else is back!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. Looking at Boushi, Naruto asked a question that was lost in the murmur of the group.
"What?" Boushi said. He hadn't quite heard the question, and Naruto repeated it patiently.
"What group are you from? Who are your teammates?"
Boushi nodded sagely. "Hana somebody and Inoka somebody. I don't know their family names."
A woman with pink hair bulled her way to the front of the group, a man with black hair close behind her. "Did you say Hana? About your height, short black hair?"
Boushi nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Looking at the woman, he decided that this must be his mother. She looked like the sort of person who would name her son flower.
Hope shone in her face, and she looked around excitedly, trying to find her son. "Where is he?", she asked, "He came back with you, right?" She focused on Boushi's face, not yet ready to accept what he was about to say.
Boushi reminded himself that this was part of being a ninja, being the bearer of bad news. "We completed the mission requirements, but Hana was captured as we were making our escape." A tear began to leak its way down Sakura's stony face as Boushi continued. "He took an arrow in the shoulder, but I left Inoka just a short distance away. She said that she was going to rescue him and then come back. When they do, we'll all have passed."
Sakura turned to her husband, trying to put on a brave face. "Did you hear that, Sasuke-kun? When Hana comes back, he'll…he'll have passed…." She embraced Sasuke, burying her face in his chest to hide her worried tears. A man placed his hand on her shoulder, and she turned to look at him, red already beginning to stain her cheeks.
"If my daughter's out there, then I'm sure that together, they'll be able to come back, Sakura. They're the two strongest chuunin of the village. They'll make it, I'm sure."
Sasuke nodded his thanks to Shikamaru, and the man withdrew his hand. Boushi began to walk towards the house he was staying at, knowing that the only thing he could do now was get some sleep.
---
Hana sat up, noises echoing in his ears. His hands had been bound, but not broken; they were apparently waiting to torture him until they could do a proper job of it. They'd even cleaned the arrow wound, apparently wanting to break him from peak condition.
Yes, that was definitely the noise of a swordfight going on upstairs. Had that bastard Neji come to rescue him?
The door slammed open, and the dead body of a guard fell down the stairs, coming to rest in front of Hana's cell. Breathing heavily, Inoka shut and bolted the door, using her sword to brace it shut. After a moment heavy blows began to rain on the other side, but it looked like it would hold for several minutes. Inoka ignored it and stepped over the guard's body, reaching into the pocket for the ring of keys. Without a word, she unlocked the cell door.
Hana held his tied hands out to her, and she severed the leather cord winding around his wrists with a quick swipe from a kunai. He flexed his fingers; they were stiff, but usable. "What are you doing here," he asked as she walked down the hall. "You should have gone back, we need to complete the…" Inoka whirled to face him, her eyes burning angrily.
"For your information, Boushi is flying back to the village right now, so don't worry about that. The mission will be finished just like it's supposed to. And if you expect that I'm some sort of a shabby leaf ninja who doesn't come back to rescue her partners, then you don't know me at all." She paused, and Hana waited, taken aback by the outburst that he hadn't expected.
She huffed and turned again, heading back down the hallway. "The door won't hold for very long, we should find another way out."
Wordlessly, Hana followed her, still thinking about what she had said.
---
The nurse didn't even blink an eye at the injuries Maki had, she simply took his body and hustled it expertly to where he could be given medical treatment. Asudai let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, as Shino leaned against the hallway wall, arms crossed and head down.
"The two of you passed," he said quietly. Haruze looked at him, surprised. "The two of us? Why not Maki, as well?"
Shino glared at Haruze, somehow making it show even through the dark glasses he wore. "You misunderstand, Haruze. Both Asudai and Maki passed. You failed."
Haruze gaped at him. "What? How did I fail? What did I do wrong?"
Asudai knew, but he didn't say anything, leaving it up to the proctor.
"Ninja are often called upon to do jobs which they might not survive. In situations like that, refusing the job is not an option. You do what is required to the best of your ability, even if it costs you your life. That is what Jounin do, and you backed down."
Haruze stared at Shino incredulously. "But look at Maki! He's got a broken arm, a punctured lung, and god knows what else is wrong with him! How can you expect me to do that to myself?"
Shino closed his eyes, tiring of the conversation. "Maki did." He said simply. "And now he's moving on through the exam. You didn't, and you're stopping here. If you can't understand that, then you don't deserve to be a ninja at all."
Haruze looked to Asudai for support, but Asudai turned his back. Together, Shino and Asudai walked down the hall to find Maki.
Angrily, Haruze kicked the wall and left the hospital.
---
A shaft of light illuminated the floor, and Inoka stared at it. A shaft of light meant a window. A window meant access to the outside world. And that meant that she and Hana could go through the window and escape.
Looking up hopefully, she began to scale the wall. Disappointment was audible in her voice as she called back, "The window is blocked by bars. We can't get through."
Hana thought for a moment. "Are the bars metal?" He asked her. She called back an affirmative.
"Then you might want to get down from there", he said, already knowing what to do. She dropped from the wall, questions in her eyes, but he ignored them, focusing on the jutsu he was trying to perform.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" he called, summoning a giant salamander. The reptile opened his eyes and looked at Hana, exhaling a smoke ring contentedly. "Yeah? Whaddaya want?" He asked, his voice rough like that of a lifelong chain smoker.
Hana indicated the window with his thumb. "We need those bars melted," he said. The lizard nodded and scaled the wall, sticking to the stone through some sort of mysterious magic that Inoka couldn't hope to fathom.
Inhaling loudly, the lizard coughed for a moment, then exhaled a burst of flames that made Hana sweat even from his position on the floor. Melted slag ran down the wall in red-hot rivulets, pooling on the ground like lava from a boiling volcano. The salamander walked down the wall, apparently unhurt by the scorching metal that he trod on so carelessly. "I assume youse guys wants to go through that window, right?"
Hana nodded, and the lizard turned around. "Then hop and hang on, cause there ain't no way you can climb through there right now. Just watch your heads, 'kay?"
The door shattered, far in the background, the noise startling Inoka into action. She leapt onto the back of the lizard that Hana had summoned, and he scuttled up the wall like it was a horizontal plane. Scooting through the window, Inoka rolled off his back and looked around for guards while the lizard went back for Hana. In a moment, Hana was standing beside her and the lizard disappeared with a /pop/.
Slamming her hand into the ground one last time, Inoka called up the deer and climbed on its back, Hana behind her. Quickly, the deer leapt away, over the wall and over the plains, towards home and family.
---
It was late when the deer reached the village. Hana had fallen asleep, his head resting on Inoka's shoulder like a child. She could have waken him up, but something stopped her. She rationalized it to herself, thinking that he'd had a hard day and could use the rest.
The deer padded up to the gate of Konoha, and the guard swung it open without question. The pause in motion awakened Hana, and he sat up, blinking blearily. "Where are we?" he asked, tiredly. Inoka looked back at him; there was something kind of…cute…about the way he was blinking, the way his hair was mussed up from being pressed against her shoulder for so long. She almost smiled, then thought better of it and settled for informing him that they were home.
The deer walked purposefully through the village, guided by whispered directions given by Inoka. After several minutes, the deer came to the clearing where you were supposed to meet your proctors and clear the mission with them.
Inoka leapt off and stumbled, placing a hand against the deer to steady herself. Hana just tumbled off, and she did her best to keep from laughing at him. He grinned at her from his upside down position on the ground, and extended a hand to her.
She pulled him up and helped him hobble to the group of people lying on the ground. She kicked one awake, recognizing it as her father. "Dad," she said softly, "I'm back."
As Shikamaru blinked himself awake, Sakura was already up and hugging her son, whispering things into his ear, motherly words of pride and love. After a moment, she released her son and embraced Inoka as well, to the surprise of most of the people there.
"Thank you for bringing my son back," Sakura whispered in Inoka's ear. Inoka demurred, insisting that it was what any good ninja would have done, but Sakura would have none of it. Looking Inoka straight in the eye, she said, "It is what any good ninja would have done, but that doesn't change the fact that you did it. Besides, he's my son and I don't know what I would do without him. So thank you."
As Sakura began checking her son for injuries sustained during the mission, saying proper mother things about each wound, Inoka woke up Neji to inform him that she was back.
/oh, that must have hurt/
"I'm back, Proctor."
Neji opened his eyes and sat up drunkenly, adjusting to his surroundings.
/you're going to get that checked at a hospital/
"Oh, you're here? Good. The entire team passed, then." Inoka smiled, and helped her father to stand up.
/I don't want any buts. You're going straight to a hospital, that looks infected/
Inoka and Shikamaru supported each other as they walked home. Sakura stopped with a call, she had one last thing to say.
"Inoka! Don't forget! Anytime you want to come over, just stop by! You're always welcome in our house, okay?"
Hana protested irritably, and Sakura ruffled his hair. "I'm just trying to be friendly, Hana-chan. She helped you get home, and she deserves dinner whenever she wants it. Now, let's get you to a hospital. You've got one more test to go through, and you want to be in prime condition for it."
---
The next morning, all the participants of the exam who had passed the second test gathered in the general meeting place, the proctors ready to meet them. Boushi was still in the hospital in a neighboring town, but Shino inform him as to what happened during the meeting. Asudai had been transported by a giant flying bug back to Konoha.
"All of you gathered now have passed two out of three parts of the Jounin exams. There are eight of you left. During the exam, two ninja failed and two ninja died."
There was a brief moment of silence for those who died, then Neji continued. "The final part of the exam will be held in one month. It would be a tournament. The exact rules will be explained when the tournament begins. Until then, you can rest, read, play games, do whatever. I suggest you train. If you have injuries that need healing, report to the hospital and you will be given aid."
And with that, the meeting disbanded. The seven ninja there talked amongst themselves about what they thought would be the final part, but none of them really knew anything. One by one, the ninja all drifted away, going to do their own thing.
---
On top of a roof, Naruto and Hinata sat next to each other, watching the crowd disperse.
"Two of them died? That's sad." Commented Naruto idly. Hinata didn't respond, and he glanced at her, concerned.
"They were on the team that I proctored," she whispered. Naruto nodded, understanding why she was upset. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his chest, a long tear making its way down her face.
After a moment, he smiled. "Hey. Why don't we get some ramen, and I'll tell you about my group? It'll cheer you up, I promise."
Hinata sniffed and wiped her face. "Sounds good," she said softly.
Standing up, Naruto began jumping towards Ichiraku Ramen, Hinata close on his tail.
---
Next time on Last Step: Now that the jounin are back, Kutsu needs to find somebody to train him, and it won't be Naruto. While Shikamaru and Kimiko are out training, they meet somebody who looks familiar, but they can't quite place him. Has an old enemy of the village come to call?
---
Author's note: [1]: Helmet Splitters. Small metal objects that ninja can throw at people's heads, with enough force to crack metal helmets. Good for using against samurai.
[2]: Earth Element: Searching Stone Technique.
[3]: Wood Element: Binding Wood Technique
[4]: Choking Water Technique
[5]: Dreamy Sleep Technique
hah. Whoops. I'm sorry, guys. When I said that I would get this out on Friday, I didn't know that I would be gone all day Thursday. So I spent all day Friday writing to make up for it, but it got to be around 2 in the morning, and then I discovered that Hana had just been captured. I figured that getting this out Saturday afternoon would be just as good as getting it out early Saturday morning, so I went to bed and got some sleep. If it's any consolation, this chapter is much longer than all the others. The other chapters have usually been in the range of 4000 words of content, this one is almost 12,000. It doesn't make up for it, but hopefully it'll take the sting out.
Anyway. I generally like this one. I think the quality goes down a little in the last five or six pages, but it's nothing too bad. Did I do a good job describing the action? I know how everything happened, it's all pretty much a movie to me, but I'm not sure if I did a good job telling the rest of you guys how everything went down. Hopefully, you understood it. If you've got any questions, just mention them in a review and leave your email, I'll get in touch with you. Sorry for the Naru-Hina stuff at the end. It just felt so right. I'll do my best to keep it to a minimum, and write a separate story about it for those who want it.
And finally, the obligatory ending comments: Gemin, you rule. If any of you reviewers want to get in touch with me for whatever reason, then just add me to your AIM buddy list and give me a ring. I'm always happy to talk to a reviewer.