Before I start, sorry for the delay on this, a lot of things happened during the last days and basically I just couldn't find enough time to submit this.
But I also got some news that may make you feel a little better: Jackyl is coming back, so basically this is probably the last chapter I'm managing. Starting with the next Jackyl will be responsible for this fic again.
Well, besides "what Tenten has in stored" sort of questions, there wasn't much more you wished to know in your reviews, so basically the chapter itself is the answer to that. With that said I believe I can get on with it. Hope you'll enjoy:
Chapter #28: Second Exam! Welcome to the Forest of Death
Title Page: Urusai is writing something on a huge scroll, using extremely big paintbrush
"What is this place?" asked Gaki as he looked at the massive trees located on the other side of the wall with a sign: 'RESTRICTED AREA'.
"This is training area 44… your battleground…" replied Tenten with a tiny smirk. "It's also known as the Forest of Death… and soon you'll find out where that name came from…"
Hisaki wasn't really listening. He seemed a bit depressed.
"What's wrong, Hisaki-kun?" asked Hinako with concern in her voice.
"First examiner was Choumura's mother…" replied the Hashira heir. "Now it's Isseki's mom… how come they're the only team that has advantage here?" and with that he grabbed his head in annoyance.
"Lady!" yelled Urusai, pointing at the female jounin. "Don't try to scare us, because you won't be able to! We're not afraid!" and before he knew it, he heard a clang right before his face. As he looked up he noticed a boy with short, brown hair, wearing a green dress with grass headband on his forehead. He didn't seem much older then the blonde.
"You shouldn't anger the examiner…" he said smiling to the Leaf gennin. "It may cause you dead…"
"Kamoku-kun!" came a female voice and as Urusai turned around he saw a kunoichi with short, blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress. She was also a grass-nin. "You shouldn't interfere with other participant's business!"
"Renge has a point…" nodded their teammate, a man dressed in jet black robe, wearing an anbu-like mask that covered his face. "That brat is none of our concern…"
"Yeah, I'm sorry…" announced the grass-nin who deflected the kunai that was heading at the blonde. "Keep it down, my friend…" he whispered to Urusai before leaving to join his teammates.
"That examiner is creepy…" thought Dajaku as he turned his eyes to the grass-nins. "Not to mention those guys… he was actually able to react so fast… that's above gennin level!"
"Before the second exam starts there's something you need to fill…" announced Tenten as she gave way a stash of papers. "These agreement forms…"
"What the hell is that for?" asked Homura a bit suspicious.
"Well…" began Tenten. "There most likely be deaths during this exam… and without you signing it I'll be held responsible…" and with that she gave the gennins a huge smile, making them realize that she's more concern about that responsibility part then their lives.
"And she's my mother…" Isseki sweat dropped. "How embarrassing…"
"I'll explain the rules of the second exam now…" announced the weapon mistress. "You may sign the forms afterwards and then each team will check it at the booth behind me…" and so she pointed at the stand covered with curtains all around it.
"Just start already…" hurried Kai, not showing any emotions.
"That blonde sand-nin reminds me of someone…" thought Tenten, looking at the ninja with the gourd, but soon she continued with the rules: "To put it simply this will be a survival test…"
"Survival?" wondered Kei's female teammate. "I don't like this already…"
"First let me tell you something about the area this exam will take place…" and with those words Tenten unrolled a big map. "Around the area there are 44 gates. There are 90 people, which makes thirty teams exactly. Each team will get into the area by one of those gates. As some of you noticed there's a tower in the center. From every gate to the tower is about 10 kilometers. Your mission will be to get there in five days…"
"That's sounds easy and boring…" announced Kigahen, making his teammates laugh slightly.
"It would be, but in order to pass this exam you'll need to do more then just get to the tower…" replied Tenten, showing a tiny smile on her face. "You must complete a certain task with any weapons or jutsu you have available…"
"So what's the task?" asked Chisoku a bit annoyed.
"You will need to bring there…" Tenten made a dramatic pause. "…two scrolls, which you'll gain in the Scroll Battle…"
"Scroll Battle?" repeated Hisaki. "Couldn't think of a dumber name?"
"You will fight over these, two scrolls: a heaven scroll…" with that she held out a white scroll with a kanji symbol for heaven on it. "… and an earth scroll…" this time she held out a black scroll with kanji for earth.
"So how are we supposed to get these scrolls?" asked Hige. "They'll be scattered over the forest or something?"
"Not exactly…" responded Tenten. "There are 30 teams so half so them will get the heaven scroll and the other fifteen teams will each get an earth scroll. In order to pass this exam a team must reach the tower with both scrolls in their hands…"
"So basically half of the teams will lose their scrolls and will definitively fail…" announced Ayame. "Then the other half which will gain the scrolls will pass…"
"It is not that simple…" smirked Tenten. "As I said there is a time limit: exactly five days…"
"What the hell am I going to eat during that time?" Choumura was now officially devastated.
"I'll tell you right now that it's nearly impossible for 15 team to pass this test…" stated Tenten. "Days will go on and the distances will become farther. Enemies will be everywhere, so you won't get much sleep. You can fail by not only losing the scroll, but also due to dying of harshness…"
"This is going to be a pain in the…" figured Hisaki after hearing her words.
"Now I'll talk about what disqualifies the examinees…" announced Tenten. "First: those that won't make it to the tower within time limit and with both scrolls. Second: those who lost a teammate or allowed him/her to die. Once you enter the forest there'll be no such option as quitting. You'll spend there five days. And lastly: you're not allowed to look inside the scrolls before you reach the tower!"
"And what if someone takes a pick?" asked Urusai.
"Then that someone will have a time of his life…" replied Tenten with a smile. "As a chuunin you'll deal with classified information. This test is also to show your trustworthiness. I think that's it. Exchange three forms for one scroll. Then follow a chuunin to your starting gate. Good luck… you'll all need it!"
"This will be hard" figured Jun. "We won't know which team gets what scroll… nor who's carrying it. If we get into a useless fight with a team carrying the same scroll as we do or that carries none, we may end up dead for nothing. It's just like Ino-san said: information can save our lives. Everyone's an enemy! And since they're so confident, there'll be killing!"
GATE 12: Hisaki, Hinako and Kumo
"Hinako, are you sure you'll be fine?" asked Kumo with a concern in his voice.
The blue-haired girl only nodded as a 'yes'.
GATE 23: Homura, Isseki and Choumura
"Finally we'll see some action…" smiled Homura as she looked around at other teams.
GATE 27: Kyoudai, Hige and Dajaku
"When it comes to survival no-one can match us…" announced Kyoudai and then turned to his teammate. "Just don't slow us down too much, Dajaku!"
GATE 4: Urusai, Jun and Ayame
"Yeah, just come closer…" thought Urusai with a warrior face as he acted like training boxing. "I'll kick your ass big time!"
GATE 42: Kigahen, Fuka and Kenbu
"We're going after the brats first, right Kigahen?" Kenbu gave his teammate a questioning glare and a smile creeping on his face.
"That's obvious…" replied Fuka. "That's what we came here for…"
GATE 31: Kai, Nibai and Saboten
"An enemy's an enemy, but spending five days with Kai… now that's a challenge…" Saboten thought to himself as he looked at his teammate.
"Just hope he won't go crazy this time…" begged Nibai, looking at the blonde.
GATE 29: Chisoku, Hagetaka and Kugutsu
"This should be easy…" thought Kugutsu with a smile.
"Chisoku, I know you wanna go after Kai, but leave him for the time being, okay?" asked Hagetaka, looking at the redhead.
GATE 18: Toge, Fushi and Wooku
"Now I'll get to have some fun…" Toge smiled under his nose.
GATE 9: Kei, Gaki and Ibuki
"Lee-sensei, we'll make you proud!" promised Kei to himself.
GATE 36: Kamoku, Renge and Irakusa
"Let's get this over quick…" said Kamoku with an ordering tone.
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As time flew the alarm finally rang and Tenten's voice was carried by many loudspeakers placed all around the area:
"The second test of the Chuunin Selection Exam begins NOW!"
"Let's do this then!" yelled Urusai as him and his teammate ran into the Forest of Death.
---to be continued---
And that's it for now! Hope you liked it.
Well, no jutsu were used during this chapter, so the only thing left for me to do is to place another character profile. I think it's only fair to give another rookie and since the "main" team was done completely and I placed one of my "creations", I guess it's Shikamaru's subordinate time:
Name: Akimichi Choumura
Name origins: Akimichi means "condolence note" and as for his name, every male member of his clan has 'chou' in it, which means "butterfly", so basically in his case –mura was just added to that
Age: currently 13 years old
Birth Date: 2nd of April
Blood Type: AB
Height: 142,2 cm
Weight: 59,1 kg
Favored style of fighting: taijutsu mixed with ninjutsu
Current rank: gennin
Village: Konoha (Hidden Leaf)
Team: cell led by Nara Shikamaru; his teammates are Uchiha Homura and Hyuuga Isseki
Family: as you probably all know, he's parents are Akimichi Chouji and Ino (no siblings so far)
Bloodline limit: none, but his clan specializes in body enlargement techniques
Techniques: none yet
First appearance: 25th chapter
And that's that. Hope you liked it. Since I probably won't be managing this fic anymore, I just wanted to say "thanks for reading" and see you around. Shang out.
Bye.