Monster: Chapter 6

Rio's POV:

Dad enlightened me some on the odd little 'test' we were supposed to have today. When he was my age, he'd also had to take this exam. His sensei, Sharingan Kakashi, exploited the theme of teamwork. His team, including mom, almost failed if not for Raiske's dad, Uchiha Sasuke. Dad talked about Sasuke like his friend….damn. Why the heck does it have to be Raiske's dad, of all people? Gee, and he had to be on the team with mom and dad too. I made my way towards the bridge feeling a bit ironic and depressed. The old team seven had the same meeting place…damn.

Kairiki saw me and waved. Inner Rio brightened considerably at her presence. At least somebody I like is also with me!

…and then, I saw Raiske.

Damn.

He sent me an inquisitive look, teal blue eyes too innocent for his own good. That was my trademark for getting out of class. I glared at him, and he smirked at me, almost taunting my eye color. Ha-ha, his eyes said. Mine's bluer than yours. Inner Rio placed in some retarded comments on how he must have worn contacts, and I smacked myself. I am insane, if I dislike Raiske so much I'm trashing his physical appearance.

"You okay?" Kairiki asked. "You've been really out of it since yesterday." She pushed herself away from the bridge rail, and I caught a glimpse of a long sword lying by her feet. She bent down to retrieve the weapon.

Holy fucking shit.

That thing had to be the MOTHER of all swords. It was almost two meters long, average width, and shone a brilliant blue light. The handle was a dragon turned towards the user, and its back claws and incredibly long tail wrapped around the end of the sword. Every scale on the dragon was defined, the beast itself seemingly made with jade. I felt my jaw click as it hit the ground. I looked towards Raiske.

The bastard just raised an eyebrow.

Kairiki saw my stare, and smiled apologetically. "I thought we might do a little fighting today, so I took this out." She twirled the weapon several times as if it were nothing, and dropped into ready stance. "This little beauty here is especially suited for the Dragon Styled Wild Cut."

She gave it a slight spin forwards, and the thing leapt forward like it has a mind of its own, missing my head by centimeters. I saw the tip of the dragon's tail whip upwards.

An image of that thing skewing Shikamaru sensei came into my mind. Shiro, please don't be too sad.

"Impressive, but too troublesome for today," came a voice from behind me.

Man, that sensei was early.

"Why didn't you just come out?" Raiske asked, the first oh-so-holy words he's said all day in that forty-year old guy's voice.

Just come out? He's been in hiding?

A pause.

"Too troublesome."

Another pause.

"So, sensei, how come you were early?" I asked.

Shikamaru looked at me in that lazy regarding way Shiro usually does. "I……camped out."

Man, those trees swayed like they have a hammock between them. I took a look around. The greenery was so thick, it was no wonder we didn't notice.

Suddenly, Shikamaru clamped his hands together, jumping from the railing onto the bridge. "Let's get started. Give me your headbands."

"Eh?"

"I need to inspect them first," he stated. Simultaneously, we took them off and handed it to him. He flipped each one over, smoothed the fabric, and tapped on the metal sheets. Satisfied, he gave them back, and watched as we tied them on. I was puzzled about this affair. Was it possible that he was checking the headband for defects? What defects?

Kairiki picked up her sword. "Sensei," she said, "Please explain the object of today's test, and why my sword could not be accepted." He tone was normal, but knowing her so long, I could feel a hint of curiosity and disappointment.

Shikamaru sighed. "I will guard your weapon for you."

Kairiki smiled, and nodded. Ok, so I don't know her all that well. I seriously don't get the way she talks sometimes.

"Today's test will be difficult, with a failure rate of 66," he said. "Only ONE of you will pass today."

I looked around sharply. Both Kairiki and Raiske's eyes were narrowed. I felt the pit of my stomach drop. One. Only one of us will become ninja.

Shikamaru looked at us again. "Uchiha, come here."

Raiske stepped forward, blue eyes void of any emotion. He was at an emotional peak, probably. It was the same with all ninja; we become unusually calm when we are excited.

Shikamaru picked Raiske's weapon pouch off. I saw him tense. Shikamaru sensei obliviously opened the pouch, and flipped through its contents. He sighed.

"Oh well," he said, "It's not there."

"What's not there?" Raiske demanded sharply.

Shikamaru waved. "Ah…just thought you have a cheating object in there, no worries."

I could tell that Raiske longed to punch him. Suits Shikamaru right, accusing somebody like that.

He waved it off, and pointed at the forest instead. "My earring's lost over there; find it by noon."

I felt a question bubble up.

"You may communicate with each other, which is highly recommended, and whoever gives it back to me wins." He leaned down. "Killing is permitted."

I gulped. Raiske was eyeing me.

Shikamaru pulled a timer out of his pocket. "Three, two, one…"

I dashed into the trees.

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Kairiki's POV:

I gripped my fist tightly. Something was fishy about Shikamaru-sensei, even though it wasn't a bad intention. I felt the trees starting to thin out, and a flash of blue caught my eye.

"RIO!"

He stopped, looked back, and saw me. "Kairiki."

I looked around. "Rio, we need to work together." I felt my own ego bruise, but it was necessary. Rio looked at me, about to protest, and then grinned.

"K……but fair game when the time comes."

I smiled. "Fair."

I jumped down. The trees were so thick, it was impossible to find a tiny earring. I looked around. Normal, normal, normal…

Rio suddenly stood on alert. "I know……."

I looked at him.

"It's somewhere we wouldn't expect." I looked at him again.

"Rio, this forest is so large; I doubt that we would expect it to be anywhere."

Rio grew more excited. "No no no, I mean, we expect it to be in the forest, but it's not in the forest."

"Shikamaru sensei said…" I tried to interject.

"No, he said there, and pointed in that direction. The forest may just be in the way; we might just be wasting out time."

I thought for a moment. "However, if we are trying to be too smart, we'll end up wasting our time and looking like idiots."

Rio sighed, and kicked the trunk of a tree. "So what do we do? This is an earring we're talking about; it will take us much longer than half a day to find it, and on top of that, we're gonna have to fight each other for it after that!"

I closed my eyes. It was times like these that I wished I had the Byakugan. I took several deep breaths, and thought. I could feel Rio looking at me, probably itching to hear what I have to say.

What do I have to say?

"Let's go find Raiske."

"WHAT?" he shouted. "You've got to be kidding me!"

My eyes snapped open at the last statement.

"Excuse me, but joining up with him improves our rates of success," I said indignantly. "I don't understand the full extents of his sharingan; but his bloodline limit might be able to help us find the earring."

Rio had the look of a man doomed to die on his face. "No. He's…I don't trust him."

I sighed. "What don't you trust about him besides what your own consciousness tells you?" I kneeled, plucked a blade of grass, and stood up. "We can't wait here and search thoroughly this entire forest if Raiske could find it right off."

Rio frowned. "IF his eyes could tell him where it is, he's already found it by now. Besides, he wouldn't want us tagging along anyways."

I scowled, feeling something in my stomach turn cold. "We don't have another plan, Rio."

He shook his head. "It's hopeless."

My head snapped back. "It's WHAT!"

He looked up, "I said: THIS IS HOPELESS."

I felt my head droop with the weight of our situation over our head; Rio was telling the truth. Clearly, Shikamaru wanted to eliminate us all, or favor a bloodline. I bit my bottom lip.

"If only I had the Byakugan," I said softly.

Rio looked at me through misty aqua eyes, and pushed himself off of a nearby tree.

"Let's go."

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Raiske's POV:

It was times like these I wished I had the damn Byakugan. Sure, the Sharingan could copy attacks and see through genjutsu, but it couldn't FUCKING. SEE. THROUGH. TREES.

That said, my triple-wheeled eyeballs are of no use here but as decorations. I growled. How does the sensei suppose we could find a tiny piece of jewelry, in a dense-as-shit forest? His earring gives off no chakra, makes no sound, and has a scent so vague that it was damn near impossible to track.

Wait.

If he actually wears it, then it should smell like him, right? I twitched my nose, and brought it around the area in a scanning motion. I'm no dog, but I could feel a slight scent that is different from what the plants gave off. It was close to that aura Shikamaru gave off, like desert sand and water. It was somewhere near…

…crap.

It was on me. I should have known. He inspected both my forehead protector and my pouch.

I punched a nearby tree in frustration, nearly throwing myself off balance from the one I was kneeling on.

"THIS TEST IS DAMN FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE!" I yelled, ignoring the splinters in my hand. "Fucking shit."

A slight pause. I flipped through the leaves around me, making sure no earring was in sight.

This test IS impossible.

Noon came despite my best efforts.

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Rio's POV:

When people speak of ninja exams, they think about fire and fighting and lots of blood. For us, it was laughable. My ancestors are probably turning in their graves right now. For the past four hours, Kairiki and I did nothing but search the trees like kindergartners. We were PATHETIC, NOTHING like what dad had described. His exam was full of fighting his own sensei and breaking traps. Of course, our sensei might just be lazy. He's probably dozing in the trees somewhere right now. Stupid.

Though, he did say that one of us would pass…?

You wish, inner Rio sneered.

Kairiki was besides me, her head hung low and feet dragging across the branches. We didn't talk on our way out of the forest.

Shikamaru-sensei looked up. Raiske was already besides him, looking as though he'd…nothing. Damn that bastard. Did he find the earring with that Sharingan of his?

"Being ninja isn't all what you think," Shikamaru drawled as soon as my feet touched the earth.

I bowed my head shamefully.

"But this exam was not meant to be all fight," he continued. "In fact, I was glad that Rio and Kairiki had worked together, however pitiful the results may be."

I stiffened, and saw out of the corner of my eye that Raiske scowled.

"Most young ninjas could think of nothing but themselves as they fight. They would destroy their teammates as though they have not known them for so many years. My attempt at baiting you to attack each other has failed. I am proud of that."

Could we….would we…

"However," he said, and I felt my heart sink. "None of your hearts' were actually in the goal. Kairiki and Rio's ideas were shot down by each other, and your negative attitudes made it all in all impossible to accomplish your goal." He paused, and pulled a small radio out of his pocket.

"Remove your headbands," Shikamaru commanded.

Taking Raiske's, he plucked off a tiny chip in the etching of the Leaf, and dropped it into an opening on his radio. There was a sharp click, and then fuzzy silence.

"THIS TEST IS DAMN FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE!" came Raiske's voice.

The bastard's face darkened.

With no expression of evidence on his face, Shikamaru took my headband and repeated the process.

"I said: THIS IS HOPELESS," I heard myself say.

Shikamaru looked at us coolly. "Raiske, hold out your weapon pouch." Scanning each of our faces, he retrieved a tiny green stud from the folds of Raiske's pouch, and attached it to his ear.

"Mission accomplished," he said. "If I am not wrong, Raiske's IQ should be high enough to figure this out."

Raiske bowed his head, his mood once again unreadable.

Shikamaru's look became distant. "The Rokudaime Hokage worked his way up from garbage. He never gave up in any mission, no matter how impossible. When Sasuke left the village, it was him who never stopped looking, and eventually dragged the other back." Stopping, he gave a hard look to Raiske. "You owe your entire existence to that."

Raiske was chewing on his bottom lip, and I kind of feel sorry for him.

Shikamaru sensei leaned down and looked into each of our faces. "The most powerful ninja is one who will never give up. All of you have FAILED. Eat lunch, and go home."

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Raiske's POV:

The entire world was crashing around me. Me, the top rookie of this year, was not even good enough to become a ninja. What will Tameo think? Worse, what will I do from now on? A series of crazy ideas flashed through my mind. I had not even considered another career other than ninjahood until now. Shikamaru was definitely taunting me.

The rice tasted bland and rubbery as I chewed. I leaned against the side of the bridge heavily, resisting the urge to roll over and puke into the water. The other two didn't seem to be enjoying their meal much either. Kairiki looked to be in shock, and Rio glared at me darkly, his food barely touched.

Shikamaru, strangely, had not yet left, as he was supposedly to have done. Instead, he loitered a fair distance from us, watching loosely. A part of me wanted to scream at him. Yet, the more sensible side suggested that he may be waiting. Waiting for what?

I put my lunchbox down.

"How do you feel?" Kairiki suddenly asked me, taking me by surprise.

"How do I feel?" I echoed hollowly. She was staring at me unblinkingly with moss-green eyes. Rio also turned his attention to her.

"Yes. How do you feel about giving up your dream?" she asked, still staring.

"I…"

"I don't want to," Rio interjected. "I know I don't."

Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded.

"So, is there something you can do?" she asked, still staring at me.

I swallowed. "Why do you ask?"

At this, Kairiki shrugged. "You have the look of a dead person." She gave Rio a pointed glare as well. At first, nothing registered in my mind. And then…

Kairiki stood up. "The most powerful ninja is one who will never give up."

Rio suddenly looked as though he was struck by lightning. "I'm not going to give this up," he declared. "I am going to be a ninja."

As though in a dream, I felt myself follow them towards Shikamaru sensei, who had a lazy smile on his face.

"Shikamaru sensei, we ask that you give us another chance at the genin exam," Kairiki said.

Here comes the dream part.

Shikamaru sensei smiled, and passed ALL of us.

My first mission is tomorrow.

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AN: (author bashes head against wall) I hate this chapter. No thought, and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE! Besides that, it took FUCKING LONG! And it sucked!

Sorry about review replies. I'll try to answer to the signed ones from now on…I apologize.

Next chapter will hopefully incorporate team five. Team six will wait for a while.

Again, I am so sorry.