-1Episode 2: Strength of the Pack
The three Genin Stare up at Hayate Sensai from the ground making sure that they heard him right. As if on cue Hayate Sensei addresses them again. "You aren't hearing things. You have another test. Through this forest is a mountain, on top of the mountain is a lake. You will all be on the shore of that lake three days from sunset, or you will be stripped of your title and not be allowed to retake the Genin exam. After all the strength of the pack lies in the wolves." With those words Hayate walks off into the woods and disappears.
"Well what are we waiting for? Lets get moving!" Ayame exclaims trying to jump to her feet to only fall back down from the extra weight. She tries to hide her embarrassment "On second thought, We can wait here for a while until you guys feel up to it."
Hiding his laughter Komaru stands up. "Well we aren't gonna get to the mountain sitting here. C'mon Ryo to the mountains we go."
"Fine, but can I finish my breakfast first?" Ryo says nonchalantly reaching into his pocket to pull out the rice balls from his mom.
"You brought food?" Ayame says feeling hungry after her initial shock passes. Her stomach realizing she skipped breakfast for the first time.
"I think what our fearless leader is saying is…. Can we have some too? Please?" Komaru says with a big smile and giving Ryo the puppy dog face making the boy feel uneasy.
"Sure I guess, but you two should really plan ahead more." Ryo says handing his teammates a rice ball each.
After eating the three ninja feel refreshed. And start off into the woods. Ayame and Komaru continue talk and joke around, while Ryo walks and enjoys the nature around him and lets his mind wander. Ryo comes back to reality as he hears Komaru's voice break out in excitement.
"Ryo, Ayame come check it out someone left a backpack out here. Ryo looks up to see Komaru running towards the backpack. A sudden void opens up in the pits of both Ayame and Ryos stomach and before either of them can yell to Komaru he picks up the backpack and a spherical cage of wood snaps around him.
"Nice one genius, now we have to waste time trying to bust you out of this thing." Ayame says walking up to the cage. With a look at the cage she thinks it doesn't look to strong. The young Genin brings her hand back and tries to chop through the cage only to be stopped as if she were hitting stone. The young girl lets out a scream of pain and curses the wood as Komaru laughs from inside the cage.
" Shut up or I will leave you in there." Ayame says shaking her fist at her skinny friend.
"I think I prefer the cage to dealing with the crazy girl." Ryo says walking up to the cage and searching it for weak points.
"If we weren't on such a time constraint I would make you eat those words, but right now help me pry one of these things away from the center so he can get out.
"I don't think we can just pry one of them open…. We need some leverage."
"I got your leverage right here." Ayame says focusing inward and making hand signs. "Channel Spirit of Fire." The young Genin says under her breath and a red aura starts to form around her body and a red symbol begins to appear on her forehead. The symbol flares red and becomes the symbol for fire. She reaches out and starts to pull on one of the sections of the cage and it starts to bend outward. "I may be a lot stronger, but I could still use both your help."
As Ryo begins to focus his chakra Komaru braces himself against the opposite side of the cage and uses his feet to push out on the cage. In a flash Ryo's right hand extends and the bandages blow off of it as it glows orange. The section snaps and is pulled from Ayame's hand and smacks against a tree. Ryo drops to his knees gripping his hand in pain. The pain shoots up his arm, and he waits for the pain to subside. Komaru now out of the cage walks over to his companion to see what is wrong with him.
"You all right Ryo."
"I need a minute." The boy pauses "Can you hand me my bandages from my left cargo pocket.
"Sure" Komaru says reaching into the pocket and handing Ryo the bandages. As Ryo reaches for the bandages Ayame walks up to the two of them and as she looks down to see what they are doing she sees Ryo begins to cover up a scar on his hand that is fading from glowing orange.
"What's that symbol mean? I couldn't get a good look at it." Komaru asks Ryo finishes wrapping his hand.
"I don't want to talk about it. Now lets get moving." Ryo replies standing up and flexing his hand to see how it feels.
The team walks the rest the day until well after sundown. They decide to stop in a small clearing. The day had been filled with dangers, trees falling around them, and not to mention the various cage traps they had to avoid. While Ryo goes about gathering wood and skinning a couple rabbits he snared with kunai knives. Ayame and Komaru sit and talk about the day laughing at the dangers they faced together. Nursing the few minor wounds they received throughout their perils. Ryo quickly has a fire started and the rabbits skewered over the fire, and within an hour they are finished eating and relaxing before sleeping.
"So what do you think that scar on his hand is for?" Ayame questions Komaru as Ryo is away gathering more firewood.
"If he wants us to know he will tell us, its obviously not something he is proud of. Besides it looks like when he uses that Jutsu he used that scar hurts him pretty badly. I say let him tell us if he wants, if he doesn't than he doesn't. Either way we respect him for him." Komaru replies.
"You know sometimes with all your screwing around, I forget how smart you actually are." Ayame says laying down to sleep.
The next day is filled with more of the same. The three Genin start to move faster through the forest. Getting used to the weights that were slowing them down. The dangers seem to increase the further they go, cages are replaced with pitfalls that are then replaced with pitfalls with spikes. The Genin start to get better at finding the traps and by the end of the day they are able to run through the forest without so much as a thought to where the traps are, as they could already tell where they were and set them off long before they came up on them.
Sitting around the campfire that night the three Genin hear weird noises in the dark around them. As they sit down to eat a bear suddenly roams into their line of sight and starts roaring at the three ninjas. All three freeze in their seats and Ayame lets the piece of berry she was eating drop right out of her mouth in shock.
"This is soooo not good." She whispers to her teammates.
"Relax, I got this one handled." Komaru says as he smiles and is starting to make hand signs. The bear deeming the hand signs a threat lumbers towards him. Suddenly it stops as an image begins to form in front of him. The bear stares at itself standing in front of him. The new bear reaches out and swats it in the nose and the bear at a loss runs away in horror.
"Gotta love the doppelganger Jutsu. It is my best." Komaru says with another big smile.
"wouldn't it have been a lot easier to just use your fear genjutsu?" Ryo asks nonchalantly.
Laughing Komaru sticks his tongue out and lays down for bed.
The next day the excitement grows as the three Genin make the trek towards the now visible mountain.
"We keep up this pace we will be to the mountain by mid day. Seriously, that mountain isn't even that tall, we will be able to make it to the top in a couple hours, that means we will be a full day ahead of the exam limit." Komaru says barely containing the excitement in his voice.
"This hasn't been that hard actually, what was the big deal about this whole…" before Ayame can finish her sentence a whip through the air is heard as Ryo barely ducks to avoid a shruiken that graces his cheek. Blood starts to build up and trickle down his face. Suddenly two figures emerge from the forest.
"Hideoshi Ryo this is as far as you go…. Its your time…. TO DIE." The taller of the two shadows says.
Hey readers, Komaru here. Next time we get our first battle. Only problem is I have no clue why these guys are only after Ryo, they let me run right off…. No I wasn't scared…. Well too scared. Ayame sends me off to find Hayate sensei while she tries to help Ryo. Those two guys look pretty tough…. I hope I can find Sensei in time.