The forest didn't seem so bad…

At least according to Kazuki. Yama made her way through, raising her awareness with each step, and Ayumi stuck close behind, hoping an attack wouldn't come from her side. She wasn't mentally prepared, even after her inspired performance the week before.

Her mother, a jounin, told her all the possibilities of battle. She didn't spare many details either, which is what wasn't sitting so well with the tiny genin. Her mother Asuya, despite her tiny size, easily completed the tests necessary to progress within Konoha's ninja ranks. She possessed amazing chakra control over her body, and could transfer it anywhere to her body when she needed it. It wasn't a skill Ayumi was so adept at right now.

Kazuki's mother had zero interest in being a ninja, and instead worked at a ramen shop in Konoha. It was on the border of the city, closer to the western edge of Konoha. Kazuki's older sister Shimabuya, was actually close friends with Ito's oldest brother, Kenicho. But, for some reason, after graduating the exams she left. Kazuki could never figure why, and every time he asked his mother, she'd deliberately change the subject to his progress during the exams. Eventually, he decided that asking was futile, so he focused on training.

Yama was spoiled from the start, whether it was by her family, or her aunt. Her cousin, Kichiro Watanabe wasn't so catering. He would frequently mess with her, go on missions with her, then purposely leave her in the middle of danger, even steal her food. But, when push came to shove, he was there for her.

The trio came to a fork in the road, and Yama checked the map.

"Yep," she said. "Something's wrong. There's no fork on this map. Especially one that leads directly to the tower."

"The tower is a lot deeper isn't it?" Kazuki asked. Yama nodded.

"We should turn around and – "

"Yama, put that map away," Ayumi said, backing into her. "We've got a guest."

The trio was face to face with a towering figure. He had very dark skin with braids in his hair and broad shoulders on a muscular frame. His protector had the image of a flame on it. He wore a white tank top with black shorts and black shoes. On his biceps, he had black bands. Ayumi shuddered a bit.

"I've come for your scroll," he said, holding out his massive hand.

"What?" Kazuki said. "There's no way we're just giving it to you. You'll have to fight us, and there's no guarantee you'll win."

"I was hoping for a fight," he said, grinning. "Urato!"

Kazuki felt a sudden force on his back, but it was followed by a crash.

"… Urato …" the tall person said disappointedly. Arising from the ground was a short young man with green hair in a mohawk. He had green eyes amd wore a red shirt and black pants. He finished off the outfit with white shoes that had flames across the sides. His protector was on his forehead.

"Hey Kenji, it's not my fault he's so fat," the young man said, rubbing his head. The Konoha trio looked back and forth at the duo.

"Back to the point," Kenji said. "We fight. If you win, you get our scroll. If we win, we get your scroll."

"Deal." Yama stepped forward. "We'll at least be occupied and not have to worry about another team trying to take it."

"And just to make sure the sides are even," Kenji said. "Hanako!"

A flurry of flowers circled the area, and in the midst of them was a pale skinned girl about Yama's height. She had long black hair tied in a bun and carried an unmbrella. She wore a red kimono with a white sash and wooden sandals. She opened her blue eyes, and gave a faint smile. Her protector was around her neck.

"You rang?" she asked. Kenji nodded, pointing to the trio.

"We have a scroll to get," he replied.

- - -

The Ito's strode through the forest, confident that if they were to run into the Kaito-led genin, an easy victory would soon follow. If they could find them anyway. Usagi sighed loudly, moving her neck from left to right. Rokuro silently swung his sword around. Even the focused Goro began to become a bit restless.

"I know brother told us to go for the weakest team, but we need something to do before we get too bored," Goro said. Rokuro sat down, and Usagi leapt into a tree, looking around for other teams.

"See anyone?" Goro asked. She swung her legs, shaking her head.

"How about behind you?"

"Yeah, how about – wait! Usa – " Goro tried to warn his fellow genin.

Usagi fell to the ground limp, with a fresh wound in her shoulder. She barely moved, holding her head back, trying to focus on something other than the pain.

"Brother … LOOK OUT!" Goro dove, pushing Rokuro out of the way, and taking an arrow to the back. Standing atop the branches was a figure who stood five foot five with long brown hair and emerald eyes. They wore a red shirt with yellow pants and yellow shoes. Their protector had the image of a flame.

"Too slow. One more down and I can get the scroll."

The arrow was pulled back, aiming for the only other Ito's heart. Usagi rolled over, forming hands seals, nearly yelping as she moved her shoulder. Her flag began to wave in a hypnotizing matter. The person pulling back the arrow began to rock back and forth. Soon, the bow and arrow hung limp at the their side, and they fell out of the tree, face first. Rokuro lay his brother up, and took the arrow out of his back.

"Worse than I thought," he said, seeing that the arrow was actually metal. Usagi's shoulder had the arrow's result, and she struggled to right herself so she could sit up.

"Who is that?" she asked. Rokuro pushed the face down person, seeing the features. It was actually a guy. He had a wound in the middle of his forehead, and didn't make any sounds as Rokuro began to search him. With a satisfied smile, he lifted something out of the young man's pocket – the scroll.

"We have another scroll," he said, rolling the person back over.

"What do we do with him?" Usagi asked. Rokuro looked around for a moment, finally noticing some vines. He threw the scroll to Usagi, who caught it with her good arm and placed in her pocket. She lifted herself up and walked over to Goro, who was beginning to show sings of life. He stretched a bit before looking down the culprit.

"Good thing I decided to wear that armor huh?" he sat up, watching as Rokuro leapt down from the trees.

"Nice to see you back," he said, tying the brown haired young man up to a tree.

"The forest can take care of him," Goro said. "Usagi, how's the wound?"

"I can manage. I have some bandages," she said, lifting her pants leg, ripping some material of her leg, and transferring it to her shoulder. She moved it around, still flinching, but knew that it would take some time to really return to normal.

"Which scroll did we get?" Goro asked.

"Hell, the same as we started out with," Usagi said. "Well, we at least have a bargaining chip."

"Yeah, we can hide out for a while until we get a team with the Heaven scroll," Goro said.

As Goro placed his hand down, he felt something on the ground. For some reason, it felt … familiar. A faint glow came from a string on the ground. Goro smiled, knowing exactly who it was.

- - -

Hideki and Gonnoh had trouble keeping up with their partner, Riyoka, who obviously was onto something. Hideki activated his Byakugan, trying to looked ahead to see what she saw.

"Only two people, obviously lost. Pefect targets," he said. Gonnoh laughed, rubbing his hands.

"Hey you two! Let's use the Jaws technique!"

"Got it," Gonnoh said, giving her the thumbs up. He and Hideki split into different directions, with Riyoka going straight ahead.

- - -

"Saburo, Nobu hasn't returned yet. Think we should go out for him?" the pink-clad girl asked. She wore a pink short dress with pink pants and pink shoes. Her protector was on her forehead. She had white hair and grey eyes. On her arms were metal protectors, and her legs as well. She stood five feet two inches.

"I'm … not sure Momoko. He's always shown himself to be fairly reliable, but this is a much different situation," Saburo replied. He was a sturdily built young man with black hair and black eyes. His face always had a scowl, and he always carried his sword around. He was apart of Hidaeki clan, a clan which specialized in the protection of nobility. He stood five foot nine, but his crouched style of walking made him seem shorter.

"I'm pretty sure we should go for him. I have a feeling we're being watched," Saburo said. Momoko looked to her left, seeing a white-eyed boy making his way toward the duo.

"We may have to fight after all," Momoko said, getting into her fighting stance. "They're closing in fast."

"Three?" Saburo said, standing at full height, raising his sword.

Riyoka threw in two smoke bombs, while Gonnoh and Hideki closed in like an animal jaws on the duo. Momoko smiled.

"Good, the girl just gave us a way out. No way they can see us now." Momoko said. She and Saburo both crouched, running out of the smoke clouds – only to be met by Hideki.

"You really can't escape my Byakugan," he said. Saburo quickly gathered his chakra into his feet, leaping over his head. Momoko kept running, passing Hideki with a deft slide under the Hyuuga. Hideki simply stopped, not moving to give chase. Gonnoh and Riyoka, whose attempts were fruitless, began to run, but Hideki put his hand up.

"It's useless running after them," he said. "They didn't have the scroll with them. Even if we defeated them, it would be a waste of energy."

"Darn," Riyako stomped. "I was kind of looking for a fight."

"Kimiko said to form the Tri-formation if we are to travel farther into the forest," Riyoka said. "Who takes the point?"

Hideki walked forwad, not caring to look back.

"I guess that's our answer," Gonnoh said, flanking Hideki's right. Riyoka smiled, liking the initiative Hideki took. It didn't hurt that his Byakugan gave them a major advantage in terms getting the jump on groups.

The path they began to walk began to bend off to Riyoka's side. Riyoka was the newest genin, in place of Shizuna. She was five six with an athletic frame. She wore pink compression shorts with a black dress. She had black knee high socks with pink shoes. Her leaf protector was on her arm, almost like she was carrying it. The trio loosely stuck to the winding path, and Riyoka stayed off to Hideki's left, leaping across the tree branches. She suddenly stopped, stifling a scream.

The scene wasn't pretty.