Chapter 2
Tatsuki and I launched ourselves to the left, Suma ran straight ahead. We leaped from tree to tree, making our way to the target. When we were only 200 feet from the target, we stopped in a large tree with lots of cover.
The radio crackled, "Jiriya, they're not here. Find them for me."
I scanned the trees in his direction. I found Suma, and I searched for the Sand squad. They hadn't moved. "Suma, they haven't moved from their starting point, check on them, but don't get seen."
"Roger."
Tatsuki took out her crossbow and began setting it up. When the bolt was in I started to say, "4 meters to the ri…"
"They aren't there! Just some form of clone!" Suma shouted into the mike.
"Tatsuki, hold, be ready." I started to scan the entire training grounds. They were nowhere to be seen. "They're stealth experts, we have no idea where they are, and they could pop up at any time. Great."
"Okay Tatsuki, 4 meters to the right, 2 centimeters up, pierce and area, just to be safe."
The bolt glowed a strange purple color, and she fired it. I followed its progress. It suddenly stopped in mid flight, then exploded.
"What happened?" Tatsuki asked me.
"They grabbed the bolt out of the air. They were waiting for us to make the first move, they were probably afraid that we were lying in wait. So they decided to do it and wait for us. When you fired the bolt, they saw where we are, and stopped so that it wouldn't hit the target. I had you infuse fire element chakra into the bolt so that if they did try something, it would explode in their face."
"Oh."
"Hear that Suma?"
"Yeah. I'll get over as soon as I can."
"We can count on one of them being injured but we don't know any of their capabilities, and we still can't see them. Just be ready for anything."
Tatsuki loaded another bolt, and I began preparations for casting a genjutsu, one of my most powerful.
"Advance slowly." We jumped to the ground and began a cautious walk towards the target. It was still about 200 feet away, but we didn't know where the opponents were.
"They are probably going to ignore us and go straight for the target. I'm going to make a break for it. Cover me." Tatsuki nodded. We may not get along very well, but when it came to battle, we never disputed superiority. I knew what was happening, she didn't. I was in charge.
I ran. I made it about fifteen feet when the bushes rustled. From the bushes to my right, something jumped out. I couldn't see it so I knew it was one of them. I stopped, clapped my hands together, and thrust them in the direction that the enemy was coming from. Something solid collided with my hands.
As an inheritor of the Byakugan, I went through all of the training that a member of the Hyuga family did. Using the knowledge of the Gental Fist technique, I developed my own style that used the technique to over whelm someone's chakra system and gain complete control over the opponents senses, chakra flow, and train of thought. This gave my Genjutsu a large variety of applications. The only disadvantage is that because this particular form, (I can also use normal Genjutsu, although it isn't as good), is that I need physical contact with the person I'm using it on.
The person I hit fell to the ground with a thud. His cloak disappeared, but I didn't stay to see what he looked like. He would be out of it for several minutes. I continued my sprint towards the target.
When I was within 20 feet of it, I heard someone shout, "You're too late!" A boy about a year older than me appeared out of nowhere. He had a kunai in his hand and he was bringing it up to slice through the dummy.
I heard something whizz past my ear, then a scream of pain. The boy had dropped his kunai, and there was a bolt imbedded in his arm. It glowed a faint a green color. I smiled. "Thanks Tatsuki!"
"No problem!" She shouted back. I ran up to the dummy, brought back my palm, and thrust it into the chest of the dummy. The siren blared again, and the match was over.
"Sorry about that." I said to the boy from the Sand. "You need to back to the base camp and have your arm fixed up. You won't be able to move for a while, and I don't suppose any of your other team members will either. Where's the one who got hit by the explosion?"
I saw the guys eyes dart to a point behind me. I walked over to that point and saw him lying on the ground; he was burned pretty badly. "Tatsuki, could you use your emergency flare." Tatsuki nodded and pulled out a small rocket. She lit it with a lighter she always kept in her tool kit. It flew up into the sky and burst into a shower of red sparks. With a signal set, we started worrying about bandaging up what we could.
Five minutes later medics arrived. By then Suma had caught up brought the one I had under genjutsu. I released him, and he assisted us with caring for his comrades. The medics brought stretchers and carried the injured out.
I walked over to last remaining Sand member. "Sorry about all that. We hadn't needed to injure anybody this entire time. And if you hadn't hidden from Suma, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"Don't worry," he said quietly. "It's part of the risk of these things. It's expected that you'll get injured. They knew this."
"Yeah but I still feel sorry for having hurt them so bad, and about you having to endure my genjutsu. By the way, what did you think of the endless maze?"
"It was interesting. The traps were annoying, but none of them would have been lethal. Why?"
"Because the purpose is stalling, not killing. It's supposed to distract a person long enough to get away."
"Oh."
"Well, good match but I gotta get going."
"Okay."
We went our separate ways. "So, let's get going." Suma and Tatsuki joined me and we headed back to the base.
Once we arrived the sensei's gave a speech about the importance of inter village relationships, they then congratulated us for winning, despite being first years.
When all of the ceremonies were done, the Sand ninja began their trek back to their own village and we walked out to celebrate.
"Ichiraku's sound good?" I asked the two of them.
"We go there all the time," groaned Tatsuki. "Anywhere else."
"Come on. It's a great place."
"I don't care. I know you're in charge while we're in battle, but right now we're back to square one. We go somewhere else, or we break now. Your choice."
After a long argument we agreed to go somewhere else. We went to a barbecue place that Suma liked.
When we had finished eating I said, "Well I'm gonna get going and break the good news to mom and dad. See you in two days when we meet up with sensei for our next mission."
"Yeah, whatever." Tatsuki was still miffed about the argument we had earlier.
"See you then," Suma said.
I ran off towards my house. I can't wait to tell them we won. I thought to myself.