Man... 10 reviews for 5 chapters? Come on folks, that just hurts :(. Ah well, maybe if I changed my summary it'd help. We shall see.
Thanks to Third and Iruka and anybody I forgot who keep coming back to review me even if you ARE the only guys reading this. I appreciate the time you take to read and review, it really does mean quite a bit to me.
Also thanks to Crow and Prime Minister, a couple big shots who stopped by my humble little fics to leave their two cents, it's fun to have a guy (or girl) with 760 reviews on his 26 chapter fic tell my little drabble was depressing enough to make him reread the part where the character I killed off didn't die in the actual manga :P
Just to let those who care know, I might let this fic end. I don't want to, I love the story, but posting a story on a big website just to read it myself seems rather silly :/
Ah well, enough of all that, new chappy time! I'm not exactly sure how it's going to go, but I came up with a pretty creative Survival revision, so we'll see how it works out :).
Tracing the Clouds
--------
Chapter 6: Life Expectancy
--------
All three Leaf nin stared at their instructor intently, who held out an arm, three tiny silver bells dangling from it, looking quite content. "ALRIGHT," He began, jingling the bells as he looked each of them up and down. The two chuunin looked puzzled at the extra bell, wondering what it entailed, while the rough-headed gennin looked lost altogether. 'Perfect,' Kakashi thought deviously to himself, 'They'll never see it coming.' "The new rules are as follows:..." Kakashi slowly marched up to Iro, bending down and fastening the silvery globes to the boy's belt. He grinned mischievously under his mask at the sound of two jaws clanking to the floor. A muffled "what the hell?" could be heard coming from Naruto, and Sakura quietly nodded her agreement.
"Okay. The Rules are as follows: There are three bells. Sakura, Naruto, your job is to hunt Iro down and take one, or two, or all of them. Basically, just get a bell, you may take a bell either from him or yourselves. My job is much the same, except I may take one from any of you. Iro, the same applies to you, your job is to run away, using stealth and cunning to keep a hold of all your bells. Should you lose any, you may take them back whenever you like, from whoever is holding it. You all have until noon exactly to get, or keep a bell. Anyone without a bell gets no lunch, and is tied to one of these logs while the others gorge themselves in front of you." Iro began to sweat profusely, trying in vane to ignore the malicious grins his teammates cast in his direction. This was going to suck.
"Iro, the only way to succeed in this is to proceed with intent to kill. Do you understand?"
Iro looked up then, startling Kakashi with a hardened expression. 'This kid...' Kakashi pondered.
"Yeah."
Alright, you have one minute to hide before I let these two loose. I suggest you—" Before he could finish his sentence, the young man was gone.
Kakashi grinned.
"Alright you guys, go get him." The two chuunin glanced confusedly at their sensei, speaking their question with their eyes. Kakashi simply shrugged. "eh, I lied."
Two more poofs were heard as the chuunin went in search of their prey, Kakashi's mask-shrouded grin growing ever larger as he watched them go. This was going to be a lot of fun.
Sakura was the first to find him, Naruto having headed off elsewhere, suspecting their new target to have hidden in the twisting system of caves the riddled the mountain. She had barely noticed him, had the ring of gold upon his katana's sheath not caught her eye, she probably wouldn't have seen him at all. And yet, there he was, perched on a large branch in a candlenut tree, leg dangling as he seemed to wait boredly for the day to pass. With all the stealth she could muster, she made her silent ascent, hoping against hope that nothing would happen to draw his attention. She smiled evilly as she worked her way towards him, but nearly fell out of the tree as he suddenly spoke up. "I was hoping it'd be you first. 'Makes my life so much easier, you know."
She stared wide-eyed at the back of his head, replaying the last fifteen minutes of her careful approach in her mind. After deciding that beyond the slightest doubt she had made no mistakes, she found the courage to put some defiance into her next question. "How did you know?" The young man stood lazily, balancing easily on the swaying branch. He looked her slowly up and down, giving her a small smile. Breathing in deeply, he sighed, making a point to display his utter lack of worry at her presence, and began to explain her fatal error. "Ah, fresh country air. Been a long time since I had any of that, you know. Go on, breathe it in, can you smell it? Can you feel it?" His grin grew a little as he watched her inhale deeply, and give him a puzzled look. "What on earth are you talking about?" Iro sighed, relaxing to rest his weight on his right leg. "You folks really don't know how great you have it, to be able to live and breathe free...the air here is so pure..."
Turning serious suddenly, he sped forward. Unable to react to the sudden outburst, Sakura could only hold still, clenching her eyes tight and waiting for the blow to fall. When it didn't, she risked peeking through her eyelids, and fell backwards on her rump as Iro's face loomed into view, mere inches away from hers. "But you know, sakura trees don't grow anywhere in this area, so why would the wind smell of cherry blossoms?"
Sakura's eyes widened considerably. Shit! Why had she chosen today to use that scented shampoo?! Seeing no other options, she pulled out a kunai and charged.
Iro easily evaded, bring a blow to center on her right temple, which was parried by the kunoichi's free hand. She made a glancing slash at the boy's neck, missing entirely, and fumbled a little as an unexpected blow met her stomach, knocking her breath out. Regaining her composure, she feigned another swing at his neck, and when it was avoided she returned the favor, a satisfying squishing noise meeting her ears as his insides protested at the intruding fist. He gasped, stars filling his vision as he tumbled backwards, out of the tree, the hard ground rushing to meet him. He lay prone for a moment, taking ragged breaths, struggling to uncross his eyes. Managing to regain a clear line of sight not a moment too soon, he rolled, narrowly avoiding the kunai that imbedded itself in the dirt where his eye socket had been.
Panting, he stood, looking for her in the trees. As quickly as it started, the fight ended. Suddenly she was in front of him, a kunai lodged deeply in his abdomen. She wore a shocked expression, looking down as her hand became wet with his blood. Looking back up into his eyes, she began to feel extremely sick. "I...I thought you'd dodge it..." He merely grinned weakly, clutching her hand on his wound, seeming to take comfort in the small gesture of remorse. "It's okay..." he murmured through clenched teeth, his breathing becoming more and more forced, "to the victor..." With this, he reached out, handing her a silver bell with shaking hands. She grimaced, looking at him with deep concern, but taking the bell.
Suddenly, she felt cold steel graze her neck, the sharp edge of a long, deadly blade resting against her Adam's apple. "...go the spoils." She felt hot breath against the nape of her neck, and heard her assailant inhale as he breathed in her scent. "...The hell?!" The bleeding Iro before her shot her an apologetic smile before becoming a small puddle on the forest floor. She thought to turn and cuff the jerk for his frightening behavior, and for sneaking up on her, but feeling the grip on the katana at her throat stiffen in unison with her muscles, she thought better of it, relaxing. He meant business. "You know," he muttered into her hair, causing her to shudder at the intimacy their situation entailed, "they say the best defense is a good offense..." She felt him chuckle silently against her neck. "I'm gonna have to agree with them."
As he tied her to the tree, he handed her a plain-looking pebble. "Hang on to this for me." With that, he was gone. She muttered something colorful as his departing comment met her ears. "You really should invest in some unscented shampoo."
-------
Hope you liked this chapter! I had fun writing it :) Please R&R!