Infinite Time
Chapter Three: Munchies
By Ame Rokugatsu
Disclaimer: What the hell is wrong with you people! How many freaking times do I have to tell you I don't freaking own it! Unless I manage to get into a poker game with right people and win the rights of the show, then I never will!
Warnings: Some shonen-ai in this chapter. Don't like it? Deal.
Jinko looked at his students. It was breakfast and therefore a bit of a circus. Well, at least it was before they sat down to eat. The chaos was only in the rush before breakfast.
They were like any semi-functional family. Therefore as the older brother/mentor figure he felt that it was his duty to prepare them for the second test they would be talking today. Damn, he would miss the brats.
"There is something you need to know about the second test," he finally said.
The trio looked up at their teacher curiously.
"I don't know the specifics about the test. They change them every year. However there are two constants. The second test takes a full week to get through and the third test is always battling."
"So we don't get to see you for a week?" Kotori asked sadly.
"I'm afraid so," he said dropping a hand on her head lightly.
Hyo, ever the practical one, asked. "How does a test take a week?"
"They'll probably lock you away somewhere and give you a certain objective you must achieve within that time period. The objective probably won't be an easy one. Sorry I can't tell you much more than that. I took the Chuunin and Junnin Exams at my home village and chances are they won't be the same as the ones I went through."
Kaida blinked. "Well, I guess the only thing we can do is eat a big breakfast and hope for the best."
Kotori nodded and went back to eating, her smile sad.
Hyo lightly smacked her upside the head. "Hey, brat. Don't look so down. It's only a week and you'll still have me and Kaida. It's not the end of the world."
Kotori smiled and dug back into her breakfast with a new enthusiasm.
The Time Gennins showed up ten minutes early for the next test all but two of the remaining teams were there. They stood around. One of the teams from Leaf shuffled nervously. A female Gennin from Mist was being a real bitch towards everyone in general, but she seemed to be targeting that team specifically. What was her name again?
The violet haired girl lashed out verbally. "You pathetic excuse for a Gennin! What do you mean you don't know what the next test is! It's your home town! If I find out you're lying I will make your life a living nightmare!"
"Mana," one of her teammates butt in, looking scared to do so.
"Shut up Shorei!" She screamed at the black haired boy. "Don't you dare tell me what to do! I rank you! I've been on the team for three years! You only joined last year. Mind your own business!"
Shorei gulped and backed away nervously. He slightly hid behind his other teammate, a boy with blue hair. The other teams were surprised she would treat one of her own teammates that way, though it seemed kind of silly that he was scared of her. He was taller than her by three inches, but not the tallest on the team. Unknown to the other teams he had a reason to be scared.
Most teams start out with three member and they enter the Chuunin Exam all together. As Gennins they wouldn't get anything higher than a B level mission. A level B mission really wouldn't be that dangerous so really they should have all of the team members and not two and the new one. After all a teacher would do his best to keep his students from being killed on any mission should it turn dangerous. What had happened to the original third member of the team was…disturbing to say the least. Shorei shivered.
Mana advanced on them. "Stop hiding behind Kanan! You're acting as pathetic as them!" She gestured wildly at the team from Leaf she had been tormenting. The last two teams had shown up at this point and watched with wide eyes.
Mana reached out a hand to grab Shorei, her eyes burning with fury. "I won't accept pathetic losers on my team!"
Shorei flinched.
Kanan's hand snapped out. He caught Mana by the wrist. "That's enough Mana. You should remember that I outrank you. One my teammates died on a previous mission and you got transferred to our team. You would do well to remember that. Now leave Shorei alone."
Mana glared at the blue haired boy. Oh he would pay for that later, especially for humiliating her in front of the other teams.
There were five more minutes before the next Examiner showed up. It would be a tense five minutes. The other teams made a mental note to stay away from the crazy bitch.
"She's mean," Kotori observed.
Mana whipped around and walked over to the Time Gennins furiously. "What was that you little brat?"
"I said you're mean. I know street scum that wouldn't treat their fellow gang members that way," Kotori said looking her straight in the eye, refusing to back down.
Mana's grey eyes burned furiously. "Watch your back little girl. The Chuunin Exam is no place for the likes of you. Why don't you go home and play with your dollies? But don't stay up too late. Little girls like you need to be to bed by seven," she hissed.
"I may be young, but I came here to win. But being as old as you are," Kotori began, knowing full well that Mana couldn't be a day older than fifteen. "Shouldn't you start getting up earlier? You know, so you have enough time to put on your anti-wrinkling cream?"
Kanan's lips twitched suspiciously as though he was trying not to laugh. Hyo and Kaida shook with silent laughter. There were a few muffled giggles and snorts of laughter from the remaining teams.
Mana's face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You're on my shit list brat. I suggest you watch your back or you might walk up one morning with a kunai in it." She raised her hand to slap Kotori.
Hyo's hand lashed out and he hit her wrist with a sharp crack. Mana shrieked in pain. She could barely feel her hand. It wasn't broken, but it hurt. A lot.
Kaida glared at her. No one, but no one hurt her imoto! "A ninja," she hissed out, "is supposed to be disciplined and rational. You are neither."
Mana glared at them. Oh she was going to have to take that team down. This could not be tolerated. The black haired boy had dared to hit her, the redheaded bitch had dared to put her down, and the little blonde bitch-brat had dared to insult her! In public no less! Oh they'd pay! They'd all pay! She was the only one here worthy of being a Chuunin and she wasn't going to let anyone stand in her way! She growled and stalked off to her team, Shorei quickly ducking out of her way.
The teams all stood on edge until their next examiner arrived in a poof of smoke. The smoke cleared away to reveal a tall blonde woman. Her green eyes stared at them with a slight glare as if to say 'how dare you waste my time.'
"Alright, listen up kiddies because I'm only saying this once. I'm your examiner for this test, my name is Rikku. You have ten minutes to get from here to there," she waved her hand in the general direction of the forest, on the other side of town. "Move! Now!"
The teams promptly shot off like deranged monkeys on crack. Some took to the streets weaving in and out of traffic and running into street vendors who would curse and throw things at them. Some tried to run along gate top surrounding the village only to have the guards push them off. And a few, including the Time Gennins, took to the roof tops with no troubles at all except for dodging the occasional laundry line.
They all made it on time and dropped to the ground panting. Rikku looked down on them from her perch on a boulder. "Now then, this is the Forest of Death."
Several teams cringed at this.
"This is where you'll be taking your next test. I'm locking you there for a week. This test is about food. Your goal is to make it through the week without dying of starvation or food poisoning." She gestured to the tower behind her. "The tower will open on the seventh day at noon and not a moment before." She paused. "Out in the real world you may not be able to buy rations, it might not be to your advantage to carry food, or you may run out. The idea is for you to learn to feed yourself from the things around you."
The Leaf Gennins looked at her horrified. "B-but Rikku-sensei—" One of them wailed.
"You Leaf Gennins have been spoiled by always having rations given to you. I think it's about high time you learned to fend for yourselves. I came up with the test and Hokage-sama agreed with me, so don't you 'Rikku-sensei' me. Go!"
The gates opened and the teams took off separating themselves from the other teams, the Leaf teams a bit behind the other ones after a last ditch effort to get Rikku to change her mind. She threatened them with failure. They took off knowing that the other teams would likely have the advantage.
Lots of countries came to Leaf for their ninja's, so Leaf had plenty of money to spend on, and spoil their teams. Some of the other villages ninjas had to rely entirely on what they could hunt and forage. They were so screwed.
Kaida took the lead for her team. She knew exactly what kind of area she was looking for. Of her teammates she really was the only one who could cook let alone know what should not be eaten. Ah! The perfect spot!
Kaida leaped off her tree branch, her teammates after her. "This is where we're going to stay for the week." She told them.
The spot she found was a small grove of trees. The trees here grew in an almost perfect circle and growing into each other, forming a low wall at about shoulder height. One of the trees was a dead one with a large hole at the base, the space under it dug out deeply. It was an abandoned den for a rather large animal and would suit their needs perfectly.
There was a berry bush growing to one side of the grove, thick with thorns, and a few edible greens as well. On several of their trees was shelf fungus. They were a bit bland but perfectly healthy to eat, as well as a few ground mushrooms at the bases. Listening carefully they could hear a stream near by. A stream meant water and fish or at least waster cress. (1)
Nearby there was a dead fall of branches which could be used to make comfy beds when covered with leaves and fire wood. Quickly directing her teammates like the leader of an army, Kaida shortly had them comfortably set up to live out the week. Then she sent them out to forage for food stuffs, for dinner. They would make a lunch of the berry bush, or at least a good portion of it. They were going to cut off several of the thorny branches to lay over the semi hollowed out tree to discourage predators and other teams that may try to take their things or place.
That night they had a dinner of roast rabbit and mushrooms. Then they went to bed to get a good rest. Being very comfortable with each other, there was only one large bed. It was large enough that they wouldn't hit each other in the night but would be close enough that they could share body warmth and not freeze in the night.
Other teams were not so lucky. The three teams left from Leaf were cold, hungry, and miserable. They didn't have their blankets, they had no idea what was safe to eat, and they had no idea where a good camping spot would be.
The team from Sand and the remaining team from Mist were doing fairly well. The team from Mist had problems in finding a good spot to stay in and didn't manage to get quite enough food before sundown, but other than that they were okay. They were a little cold and a little hungry, but generally okay. The team from Sand were fine in the shelter department but were rather hungry. As they were from the desert they had to have their rations given to them and were not as sure as to what was or wasn't edible.
The two teams for Rain, well, how to put it? One team, Kei, Ashura, and Pikara, were doing so-so. They had shelter and a dinner of fish. The problem was they only knew what meats were edible, but not the plants. In order to stay healthy one needs to have a balanced diet. So, for the night they were safe, but the rest of the week was uncertain.
The last team from Rain, Kanan, Mana, and Shorei were all on edge, mainly due to Mana. They found their shelter in a cave and they knew what could be and couldn't be eaten. What they weren't, was relaxed or happy.
Mana was furious and an angry Mana was a bad thing. Shorei was scared out of his wits by Mana and every time she got within three feet of him, he would get up and move, making sure to have one eye on her. Kanan was tense. He was waiting for Mana's impending blow up. And when it came it was as glorious as the fires of hell.
"You're pathetic!" She screamed at Shorei when Kanan went out to get water. "You barely qualify to be a ninja! You're the reason we were just barely allowed to come!" She went into a rant that mostly involved swearing at Shorei. "You're going to guard our camp all night. Do you hear me! And don't you dare ask about taking shifts!"
Shorei nodded rapidly, wishing that Kanan would get back soon. "Um, Mana?"
"WHAT!"
"It's only the first night; I don't think we need to set up a guard tonight. Tomorrow would be a good idea but I don't think tonight will be necessary-"
Mana's eyes narrowed and she slapped him across the face hard enough that he lost his balance and hit the cave wall. "Don't contradict me! Your watch starts now!" She stalked into the back of the cave to sleep.
Shorei shivered and set himself up at the entrance of the cave. He sat in such away that when Kanan came back the bruising on his face wouldn't be obvious. Shorei knew he was the weakest on the team, but he didn't want to embarrass Kanan further. It was bad enough that Kanan had to protect him from his own teammate in public. He sighed and pulled his knees into his chest, looking down.
Kanan came to the cave, looked at Shorei curiously, but walked past him and didn't say anything.
About four hours later Shorei was shivering uncontrollably with cold. He didn't make a sound, knowing full well that waking up Mana would be bad for his health. Besides he didn't want to bother Kanan. Kanan had his hands full in dealing with Mana already and he didn't want to make it worse by having Kanan semi baby-sit him. Shorei looked up at the full moon with sad eyes.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Shorei jumped and made a little squeak. Another hand covered his mouth. Shorei tensed ready to lash out in defense. He felt a warm puff of breath on his ear.
"Hush," came Kanan's voice. "You don't want to wake up Mana."
Shorei could feel his face turning red in embarrassment.
Kanan removed his hands and sat next to the shivering boy. The sixteen year old looked at him curiously. "Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Mana wants me to guard tonight," the fourteen year old replied, not making eye contact with his teammate.
Kanan's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "When does your shift end?"
Shorei ducked his head. "It doesn't."
Kanan scooted closer to the younger boy. He reached a hand out and cupped Shorei's chin and jaw. The boy squeaked, his head jerking up. Kanan used that to his advantage to turn Shorei's face to him. He had his suspicions, but he hoped that he was wrong.
He wasn't. On Shorei's left check was a magnificent bruise of dark blue and purple. The moonlight helped soften its appearance but the harsh sun would show just how much damage had been done.
Kanan frowned slightly. He lightly ran his fingers over the bruise causing Shorei to flinch. "You shouldn't let her hit you, you know."
Shorei tried to duck his head and mumbled something.
Kanan sighed. Thanks to Mana, Shorei had no self-esteem. Not to mention he felt like ice. Mana hadn't even given him a jacket to try to keep warm. Kanan reached out and wrapped his arms around Shorei, lifting the boy into his lap.
Shorei made a noise that sounded like a strangled whimper.
Kanan pulled him back against his chest, leaning against the cave wall. He tucked Shorei's head under his chin, wrapping his arms tightly around the young boy, trying to warm him up.
"You're too cold," Kanan said quietly. "Try to get some sleep okay?"
"But Mana," Shorei began, unconsciously snuggling into Kanan's warmth.
"If you don't get some sleep you won't be able to keep up tomorrow," Kanan cut him off. "Don't worry. I'll take the rest of the watch. I'll wake you up before Mana gets up. That way she won't be mad with you. Sleep now."
Shorei sighed quietly and curled up in the older boys arms, resting his head on Kanan's shoulder. Within minutes he dropped off, his shivers almost gone.
Kanan looked down at him with soft eyes. He dropped a light kiss on Shorei's forehead, smiling slightly as the boy twitched and pressed his face into the side of his neck. Kanan settled in to take his watch, warmer now than he had been. (2)
Review damn you! And no, Ichigo you don't count.
Ame
(1) Water cress is an edible plant that grows in rivers. It's kind of like lettuce. Oh, and don't eat wild mushrooms. Chances are better than good that you'll end up poisoning yourself.
(2) Yay for shonen-ai fluff!
Name: Mana
Age: 15
Sex: Female
Looks: Short, above the shoulders violet hair, grey eyes. The shortest of the team.
Name: Shorei
Age: 14
Sex: Male
Looks: Short black hair, blue eyes
Name: Kanan
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Looks: Just below the shoulders light blue hair, red eyes, the tallest.
TEAMS- 8
Leaf- 3
Rain- 2
Mist- 1
Sand- 1
Time- 1
LEAF
1) Yuzu(F), Mizu(M), Shogu(M)
2) Ito(F), Shinku(M), Gincho(F)
3) Mushu(M), Nikko(M), Aki(M)
RAIN
1) Mana(F), Shorei(M), Kanan(M)
2) Kei(M), Ashura(M), Pikara(F)
MIST
1) Ryuchi(M), Meiri(F), Sachi(M)
SAND
1) Isumi(M), Setsuna(F), Michiko(F)
TIME
1) Hyo(M), Kaida(F), Kotori(F)