Test of power
'Why? Why am I teamed up with them? I've seen what they can do and it's not that impressive', Shippuu mentally complained. Kinneko noticed the look on Shippuu's face and tried to cheer him up. "It can't be that bad. Think of it this way. You have two females to yourself with no competition", Kinneko said.
"I don't care, Kinneko. If they're not strong enough, then all of our lives will be in danger. I'd rather stay alive than have either of those two as a girlfriend", Shippuu stated.
After about twenty minutes had passed, their sensei had finally shown up. He had brown hair like Kuyen and he had tattoos' all over his face. He didn't say any thing, he just pointed out the window to a roof with a bench on it. (The place where Shikamaru watches clouds).
After that, he used a flicker jutsu to transport himself there. Since Shippuu could use flicker also, he appeared there right after the sensei did and sat on the edge of the building. After ten minutes had passed, Kuyen and Shiden made it to the roof.
The sensei stared at his students and told them to tell there names, likes, dislikes, specialties, and dreams. "Why don't you go first", Shippuu said. The sensei grunted and said, "My name is Enryuu Hina. My likes are napping, bonfires, and my job. My dislikes are the cold, winter, and being forced to take students to teach. My specialty is fire jutsu's. My bloodline allows me to perform them without using chakra. My dream is for you three to quit being ninja or to become Jounin quickly so I can get back to my job as a ninja".
He pointed at Kuyen and she said, "My name is Kuyen Hina. My likes are bonfires, attractive boys, and my friend. My dislikes are my dad, (Enryuu), when he's being mean, and winter. My specialty is fire jutsu, but I'm not as good as my dad. My dream is to meet a nice, pretty guy to marry and become a Jounin".
Enryuu pointed at Shiden next. She stood up and said, "My name is Shiden Raiza. My likes are my friends, my family, and my village. My dislikes are war, battle crazy people, and perverts. I specialize in ninjutsu and traps. My dream is to become a Jounin so I can protect everything I like".
They all looked at Shippuu and Kinneko next. Shippuu didn't even look at them but he still said, "My name is Shippuu Arashi. My likes are my cat, Kinneko, my trainer, Anko, and the third Hokage. I have many dislikes, but my main one is people who judge other people by what there family did and not what they did. My specialty is taijutsu and ninjutsu. My goal is to become the head of the ANBU black ops".
Enryuu would never admit it out loud, but he liked Shippuu more than Shiden and his daughter, Kuyen (as ninja material, not as a child) , at that moment. He was the only one who seemed devoted. Kuyen barely seemed to care about being a ninja. Shiden looked like she kind of cared, but would probably quit once it got to dangerous.
"Tomorrow, all three of you need to come to Training ground 5 at seven' o clock. Come prepared to fight for your lives", Enryuu ordered before disappearing with a flicker jutsu.
Shippuu picked up Kinneko and walked towards the ramen stand since it was all he could afford. About halfway there he was stopped by his teammates. "Hey Shippuu, do you want to hang out. Since we're going to be on a team, we should get to know each other", Kuyen said.
"Sorry, but after I'm done eating, me and Kinneko are going to train. You two should do the same since we're most likely getting tested tomorrow", he said and headed towards the ramen stand for some teriyaki ramen.
Unsurprisingly, his teammates didn't show up. Shippuu headed towards the center of the woods to train. Halfway to his training spot, he heard yelling and barking. He knew there were no dogs or wolves in the forest, so he went to investigate. When Kinneko realized they were heading towards the barking instead of away from it, he jumped up onto the tree branches for safety. "Guess you don't like dogs much do ya, Kinneko", Shippuu joked.
"Come on, Akamaru. I know you can do better than that", said an incredibly dirty boy wearing an enormous coat. The dog he was talking to just yapped in response. "What are you doing here", Shippuu asked out loud. The boy and his dog looked at them, annoyed. "I thought I smelled a cat", he muttered and then yelled; "I'm training. Do ya have a problem with it"?
Shippuu mentally laughed at the boy. Something about him just seemed funny. "If you want to train, then how about you spar with me", he said. The dog boy smiled at the thought of a fight. "Fine with me", he yelled right before charging. Shippuu easily dodged the boy by jumping into the trees.
Shippuu pulled out his Kaze Mizu kunai and tried to stab the boy in the shoulder. The boy barely managed to dodge. Dog boy made a few hand signs and shouted
Chakra shot from the kid's shoulders and knee joints. Then he got on all fours and charged. Dog boy was much faster now. He was so fast that he managed to punch Shippuu in the face before he had a chance to dodge.
Shippuu used substitution jutsu before dog boy could land another hit. "Nice move dog boy", Shippuu said from the branch of the tree above dog boy. "The name is Kiba Inuzuka. Remember it", he yelled and threw some shuriken. Before Shippuu dodged the shuriken, he used his Hemigan on Kiba's jutsu.
After Shippuu had put some distance between him and Kiba, he started working on a way to complete the incomplete four legged jutsu. He tried to perform the jutsu, but it didn't fully change his joints. Instead of changing his joints enough to make his normal stance on all fours, they only changed enough to make his normal stance look like he was crouched. It made him faster and stronger, but not as much as Kiba's jutsu did. An idea came to him that he could add a transformation to the jutsu to intimidate opponents.
By the time he mastered his new jutsu, Kiba had caught up. "You can't run away from me, cat boy", he yelled.
Shippuu made some hand signs and yelled out "Demon form jutsu". Chakra shot out of Shippuu's limbs and bent his bones. Then a pair of ram horns grew out of his skull, his eyes slit, his teeth became fangs, he grew a dragon tail, and a pair of skeleton wings popped out of his back.
Kiba was so surprised that he lost his balance while running and fell, but he didn't hit the ground because Shippuu punched him with his new strength, sending Kiba flying into a tree. "The name is Shippuu Arashi. Remember it", he said and dispelled his jutsu.
"How did you do that", Kiba asked while Shippuu was helping back to his feet? Shippuu explained his bloodline to the dog ninja. "You're not that bad. If you every need a sparring partner, then come find me and Akamaru. I'll be prepared for your surprises next time", he said before he and Akamaru walked back towards town.
Shippuu checked the sky and saw the sun setting. He grabbed Kinneko and headed home. When he got home, he set his sword on the shelf and his Kaze Mizu kunai on the nightstand. After a quick shower, he and Kinneko went to bed.
The next morning came really quick. Shippuu put on a baggy brown shirt, baggy brown pants, and an emerald green, musketeer style tunic (Anko gave him this outfit so he could have some camouflage on missions) and tied his head band around his neck. Next he strapped his sword to his back, put on his belt with a pouch to hold scrolls, kunai, and shuriken, and tied a special pouch to his ankle to hold his Kaze Mizu kunai. Then he put on his ninja sandals, woke up Kinneko, and left for training ground five.
When he arrived he noticed his teammates were already there. Kuyen was wearing standard ninja sandals, a (kind of) baggy long sleeved brown shirt, and a brown skirt that reached her knees. She was wearing her head band around her forehead like Enryuu did. She didn't appear to be carrying any weapons.
Shiden, on the other hand, was wearing standard kunoichi shorts, ninja sandals, a long sleeved, blue shirt, and three pouches of ninja weaponry. She wore her headband on her head, holding her hair back (like Sakura does). She looked the more prepared of the two.
"Why are you two here so early", he asked them? "We could ask you the same question", Kuyen said with an irritated tone. "Not really. You two look as if you've been here for a while. I just got here", he said before find a place to sit.
After waiting for three hours, Shippuu was about to leave. The other two looked like they wanted to leave also, but didn't want to be the first to quit. "Want to head home, Kinneko? It doesn't look like he's gonna show up."
Kinneko kept sunbathing and said, "He'll show up right after you leave". Shippuu chuckled and said, "Yeah, that's how the world seems to work, doesn't it". Kinneko looked up at him and said, "No, I mean he is waiting for one of you to leave. He's hiding in that tree over there. He's testing your patience".
At first Shippuu was mad at Enryuu, but then he realized how clever the test was. If he wanted to continue with the other test Enryuu had planned for them, he would have to walk off. But if he did, he would fail the patience test. 'I'm going to have to trick one of them into leaving', he thought.
"Do either of you two want something to eat", he asked? His teammates looked stunned. They didn't think Shippuu was the kind of guy who did favors for others. "Why? What would you want in return", Kuyen asked suspiciously.
"I don't want anything. I just thought that if you two wanted something to eat, I'd go get you something", he said as convincingly as he could.
"How do we know you wont just use that as an excuse so you can go hang out with your friends", she asked?
"Why would you ever think that? I would never do that to my new teammates", he reassured her, unconvincingly (he hoped).
Kuyen stood up. "No thanks. I'll go get my own food", he said, "Do you want anything Shiden"
Shiden didn't say anything. She just stared off into space. "Fine then, I won't get you anything", Kuyen said and started walking towards town.
Suddenly Enryuu was standing in the center of the three. "Three hours and ten minutes", Enryuu said, "Although you didn't break the record, you three lasted longer than I thought you would".
The two kunoichi stared at Enryuu trying to figure out what he was talking about. After they did, Kuyen got upset about it. "You tricked me!" she screamed at Shippuu. He laughed and said, "Yeah. It was easier than I thought it would be".
Before his daughter could attack her teammate, Enryuu spoke up. "Now it's time for the real test.", he said and pulled out two bells. "You three have two hours to take these bells from me."
"But sensei, there are only two bells." Shiden noted. Enryuu cleared his throat and spoke again. "That is correct. Only two of you will pass this test. The third will be tied to a post for the rest of the day and then be sent back to the academy".
The two girls were shocked by this news, but Shippuu was only thinking about which girl he'd give the second bell too. As long as he had Kinneko, an experienced strategist, to help him he would be guaranteed victory. Right before Enryuu disappeared, he shout "BEGIN"!
All three of them went a different direction to find Enryuu. "So what's the plan, Kinneko?", Shippuu asked. "Your on your own", the cat yawned.
"What do you mean, I'm on my own? You said you'd help me if I ever needed it", Shippuu almost yelled. "this is a test for you to figure out on your own. If you cant do it, then even I wont be able to help you later on. You need to be able to function without help, because one day you will inevitably be without it", the cat said explained, "But if you can figure out the true meaning of this test, then I will offer a little bit of help".
At first Shippuu couldn't believe he'd been abandoned by his cat. But he understood what the cat was talking about. He had only known Kinneko for a few days and he already relied on him to much. 'But what did Kinneko mean about the true meaning of the test' , Shippuu wondered.
Shippuu sat down and analyzed his situation. He had to get a bell from a high level Jounin without help from both of his teammates. But they were more likely to work with each other than fight over who got to team up with him. What he didn't understand was why there were only two bells.
'Why would they teach us how to be ninja if they are going to fail one third of the students'
Soon Shippuu remembered the patience test they were given. They had passed it by doing something they weren't supposed to do. Maybe it worked that way in this test also.
Shippuu ran off to find Kuyen and Shiden as fast as he could. After ten minutes of running, he still couldn't find them. He was about to give up looking for them for a while when he had an idea. "Kinneko, you said that you were the cat clan strategist. Is there a tracker cat in your clan?", he asked the cat. "Yes there is. I actually hadn't thought about help from another cat. Try and summon one.", the cat suggested.
Shippuu pulled out his water wind kunai. (Mizu Kaze). And cut his thumb. He made the hand signs and slammed his hand into a tree. There was a big puff of smoke the revealed a silver kitten standing by his foot. "Hello. My name is Ginneko (silver cat). How may I help you", he asked.
Shippuu examined the pure silver colored kitten and wondered how a four inch tall kitten could be a tracker. "Um. Are you any good at tracking people?", he asked Ginneko.
The kitten purred. "Of course. I am the best tracker/scout in the cat clan", he boasted, "tell me what they look like and I'll find them".
Choosing to go on faith, Shippuu described his teammates. As soon as he was done speaking, the kitten went searching for them. After five minutes of waiting, Ginneko came back screaming, "I found them. Follow me!"
Him and Kinneko followed Ginneko to the spot his teammate were resting. They looked like they had already tried to beat Enryuu. "Are you two ok?", he asked, genuinely concerned. They were both bruised in various places, Shiden looked like she had taken a blow to the stomach, and Kuyen looked like she couldn't sit down anymore.
"What do you want?", Kuyen asked, voice full of hostility. "I came to ask for you two's help", he answered.
"Why? So you can take one for yourself and send me or Kuyen back to the academy? We'll pass", Shiden yelled.
'And here I thought that Shiden was the quiet one', he thought to himself. "No. you two can have the bells.", he said. They both stared at him. "Your going to give us the bells and go back to the academy?", they asked.
"Don't you two get it", he asked, "This test is meant to trick you into abandoning your teammates. It's to see if you can over come your own interests in exchange for the teams interests. If we work together, we'll pass."
Shiden looked slightly convinced, but Kuyen had one last question. "What if you're wrong", she asked. He looked directly into her eyes so she could see he wasn't lying. "In that case. I'll go back to the academy and you two will become full fledged ninjas. In six months I'd be on a different team with more experience to help me pass the next exam. It's not like this is the team I wanted anyway", he answered.
They both believed him now and agreed to help him. Without Kinneko's help, the three came up with a plan.
thirty minutes left
'I wonder if they gave up? if they did, then I could go back to being a jounin that goes on S-rank missions. i don't want to train these three. it would be a pain. maybe I'll take a nap. its so peaceful right now. the sun is shining, the grass is green, and the air is filled with sleeping powder. Wait...What!
Enryuu snapped out of his day dream and performed a jutsu to blow all the powder away. "wind style: vicious gust jutsu", he yelled right before a ridiculously strong wind blew the powder away. Next, a swarm of exploding kunai filled the air. Enryuu made more hand signs and shouted, "earth style: mud wall jutsu". dirt shot out of the ground making a wall the kunai couldn't break through.
He turned around and saw Shippuu charging at him. Shippuu made a hand sign that looked a lot like the cross hand sign used to make shadow clones, but this hand sign seemed a little…jagged. Shippuu yelled out, "Lightning clone jutsu", and two more Shippuu's cackled into existence. The main Shippuu stopped running, but the clones still charged. With one hand, Enryuu batted them out of existence.
'part one complete', Shippuu thought to himself, smugly. Enryuu was about to make more hand signs when he realized his left arm was completely numb.
"Shiden, your turn", Shippuu yelled into the woods. Shiden ran out of the woods and made some hand signs of her own. "illusionary art: earth destruction jutsu", she yelled.
Suddenly the sky turned red, the grass burned, and the earth cracked. Meteors started falling from the sky. 'Heh. A genjutsu. It looks pretty realistic, but this cant harm me', Enryuu thought to himself. Shippuu and Shiden screamed, "Kuyen, attack!"
Enryuu let out a string of curse words when he realized their plan.
' first they distract me and paralyze one or both of my arms, then they cast a genjutsu and make it look like fire is flying everywhere, and last they use fire jutsu and i wont be able to tell the real fire from the fake'.
Enryuu, unfortunately for the genin, wasn't going to quit. He had an original jutsu that would work perfectly in this situation. Enryuu held out his right arm and used his fire blood limit to call Kuyen's flames to him. All the real fire went to his hand and formed a fire ball. Since Shippuu seemed to be the mastermind of this plan, he became Enryuu's target.
Enryuu charged at Shippuu to take him out. Shippuu knew he couldn't avoid this attack, so he raised his sword to block. Enryuu thrust his fire ball and screamed. "Nova Burst!"
Shippuu was sent flying through the forest. The little baseball sized fireball had had more explosive power in it than a grenade. He finally stopped flying when he crashed into a tree. On top of the incredible amount of pain he was feeling, he noticed that Enryuu's Nova Burst had broken his sword.
After he had gathered enough energy to stand up, he headed back to the battleground.
Despite having Shippuu blasted halfway across the training ground, Kuyen and Shiden were still trying to get the bells. And they were failing. although Shippuu was in pain, he decided to attack one last time.
He made his jagged cross handsign and created eight lightning clones. 'now for the final touch'. his clones made a series of handsigns and shouted, "Demon Form Jutsu"! All of them grew demonic horns, wings, and claws. "Charge"!
(enryuu's p.o.v.)
Now that Shippuu was no longer fighting with them, the two girls started repeating the tricks they used the first time they attacked Enryuu. 'How much longer until this stupid test is over. they obviously arent going to pass, so why bother continueing. that boy shippuu was the only challenge', enryuu thought to himself while deflecting the kunoichi's attacks.
after throwing Kuyen and Shiden to the ground again, he heard a roar behind him. he turned around to see eight demon shippuu's charging at him. but he destroyed them all with a fire jutsu before they reached him. Suddenly he was tackled from behind by the real Shippuu. he was now lying on the ground with shippuu on top of him holding waterwind to Enryuu's throat. at first he thought that shippuu was about to kill him until Shippuu passed out. Enryuu pushed Shippuu off of him and checked his watch. "Times up and you all fail", Enryuu said with a big smile.
The reaction he saw from the girl wasnt what he expected. the girls were smiling back at him. "What are you two so happy about"? he asked. they both stretched out there arms and opened there hands to reveal a bell in each of there hands. "HOW DID YOU GET THOSE BELLS", he screamed.
"Shippuu gave them to us. when he tackled you he grabbed them and tossed them to us before he put his kunai to your throat" shiden explained.
Enryuu stood there amazed. An orphan whose grades were average in the academy had figured out the meaning to this test. if he hadnt then he never would have worked with the girls or given them the bells. just to be sure he asked the the girls and they both told him that his theory was correct.
"Thanks to Shippuu, all three of you pass the test. before you go off and celebrate i want you to know that i will not take it easy on any of you. your training will be tough and each day after training you will barely have enough energy to walk home". Enryuu told them. as soon as he finished talking he looked at Shippuu on the ground and realised that they had better take him to the hospital before he dies.