A/N: I'm gonna have to throw out a couple of credits for this chapter. The first is for the idea of the "Jonin Trials"; a series of technical skill tests to see if someone has the ability to be a jonin. Credit for that idea goes to Xavon Wrentaile from his story A Growing Affection. I added my own twist to the idea, since I thought just testing a person's technical skills was a bit silly (probably the military in me talking). The rest of the trial is only mentioned in this chapter, but I plan to explore it more later. Go check out his story, though. It's good but long.
The other shout-out I need to do is for TwinTrouble. The way these sisters write Gai's dialogue in Unplanned Paternity had me rolling. I am mimicking it to a certain extent. That story in general is pretty funny and has the most well written child characters I've seen on this site.
That's it for crediting my fellow authors.
Hiroto nearly cheered aloud and gave away his position when he found what he was looking for. He thought it mildly amusing that there was a single chunin guarding it.
He doubted that the man, Kotetsu if his memory served, was even technically a guard. The spiky haired chunin was most likely just there to hand out what Hiroto had come to take. Simple things, really. Just a bunch of radio transmitter/receivers in a box. Except these were specially encrypted for a certain exercise.
The past five days had been a constant workout, as various specialists evaluated his abilities in everything from basic stealth and evasion to ninjutsu and genjutsu. It all came to one conclusion. He was barely skating the line between chunin and jonin in technical skill. In most cases that would land him a solid chance at tokubetsu jonin, but he had a slight problem. He was in no way, shape, or form a specialist.
He had tested at a high C-rank to low A-rank in everything, absolutely baffling his proctors with his lack of focus. There was more to being a jonin than skill alone, however. The jonin trials ended in a two day exercise designed to see how well the applicant handled a solo mission and how well they put their varied skills together. He was not about to fail that task. Which is why he was currently scoping out his chances of getting a hold of one of the radios the proctors would be using to coordinate their efforts in making his life hell.
The lack of a true guard on the radios meant that no one before him had the gall of attempting to lift one. He supposed the same impetus that caused his defection was driving his current actions. Konoha shinobi were oddly loyal, having less nukenin per capita than any other village. He supposed that no one had considered stealing from the village to improve the odds of mission success simply because they were too loyal to consider it.
He continued to watch the junior chunin for a chance to sneak in as his thoughts drifted, years of boring stake out missions allowing him to multitask fairly well. The man just wouldn't budge, though. He may not have been put in place as a guard per se, but he was as vigilant as any other shinobi. Hiroto needed a distraction.
At that thought, a new shinobi appeared. A chunin he often saw in the company of Kotetsu. He was wracking his brain for a name to place with the chunin who had his hair under the bandana of his leaf plate, when the man gave him the very thing he needed.
"Some people down the street have a box of kittens," the newcomer told his counterpart, "They are giving them away."
"Really!?" Kotetsu stood excitedly, "Where!?"
Hiroto had to hold his laughter. It was always odd seeing trained killers give in to their more normal wants and needs. Apparently Kotetsu had a soft spot for cats. The two chunin stepped outside for a moment so the spiky haired one could be directed to fluffy, adorable kittens. Now was as good as any time. Slipping in through the window he had been spying through, he darted to the box and quickly snatched his prize. He hesitated before leaving, though, and, after a second of thought, grabbed two more radios.
He was long gone before the clueless chunin came back in.
XxXxXxX
"You did what!?" the black haired kunoichi asked him, dumbfounded.
"I stole some radios from the proctors' stash," Hiroto told her again.
"Hmmm..." the other ninja present mused, his thick eyebrows furrowed, "A Most Unyouthful activity, Hiroto-san."
They were currently meeting on top of the Hokage Monument. The persistent early autumn breeze drowned out their discussion after a few feet, so Hiroto felt it was the best place for them to meet and not be overheard.
"Kurenai-san, what is shinobi rule number fifty-two?" the thief asked after a moment of consideration.
"Use any and all resources available to complete your mission," she answered almost automatically.
"Gai-san," he turned to the green clad taijutsu expert, "What is the continuation of that? Rule fifty-three."
"Necessary resources are to be obtained by any means," Gai answered, "I see your point, Hiroto-san, but I do not believe the Hokage would approve of us stealing from our Own Village. That would open The Door to Chaos."
"Gai-san has a point, Hiroto-san," Kurenai agreed, "Besides, this is a test of our abilities. Not a mission."
"We're shinobi for crying out loud!" he nearly shouted in exasperation, "The radios were not properly protected. I was able to take three after only a few hours of searching and waiting."
"They were really that easy to get?" Kurenai asked hesitantly.
"Look..." the bland chunin started, running a hand through his short, brown hair, "You don't have to take them. I just thought I would try to help a couple of comrades."
"Why us, though?" Gai queried, "There are plenty of other Youthful Participants."
"True," Hiroto agreed quietly, "but more than this would have been too noticeable, and you two are some of the few people that treat me as if I belong in Konoha."
Kurenai frowned, "I appreciate the thought, then, but I will try to get by without this," she smirked at her junior, "Maybe if I had thought of doing it myself. In any case, I won't turn you in."
Hiroto nodded thankfully at the red eyed beauty, then turned to Gai, "How about you, Green?"
The Green Beast made a show of considering once more, rubbing his chin for effect.
"I, too, must decline," Gai finally said, "My Eternal Rival did not have this advantage, and neither shall I, but, like Kurenai-san, I will not turn you in. You are just being a shinobi after all."
"Then good luck tomorrow. Both of you," Hiroto told them as a farewell, and walked off.
XxXxXxX
"Alright, quiet the hell down," Shikaku drawled as he entered the briefing room carrying a large scroll, "Let's get this troublesome business out of the way so you can get ready for tomorrow."
The jonin commander ambled into the room and took an empty place amongst the ten jonin hopefuls standing around a large square table. He placed his scroll on the table and rolled it, unfurling a map of a circular training field. He smirked when he heard groans from a good portion of the chunin.
"That's right," he confirmed, "Back to the 'Forest of Death.'"
"Your objectives are simple enough," he began explaining, "Reach the tower at the center undetected. A positive ID on you counts as failure. Find your scroll within the tower. Steal it, and make it back out of the forest while evading capture."
"Does this mean after we have the scroll, stealth is no longer an issue?" Kurenai asked.
"Good question," Shikaku answered blandly, "After you have your scroll, we'll know. At that point, speed and evasion will be your best friends."
"Each of us has a different target?" another chunin asked.
"Yes," their commander confirmed, "You are not in competition with one another. In fact... sabotaging your fellows here will reflect very poorly on you."
"Expected opposition?" Hiroto queried.
"Well..." Shikaku thought, "We wouldn't send you in on a normal mission completely blind. There will be patrols and other detection measures. The tower will be guarded. I wouldn't put it past the proctors to set up some nasty traps, either."
"How will we recognize our target?"
The Nara patron pulled a stack of cards from his pocket and, after a quick shuffle, passed them out, "Flip that over... whatever color you have is the color scroll you want. Any other questions?"
When nobody voiced anything for a few seconds, Shikaku continued, "Alright. Operations commence at midnight tonight. You may enter the forest at any time after that, but you must bring your scroll back within forty-eight hours of that time. Understood?"
A chorus of assent was all the scarred jonin needed, "Dismissed."
XxXxXxX
Hiroto waited patiently, listening in on his pilfered radio. It was just about to hit midnight, and he planned to be in the forest no later than an hour after that. Others might have said that going in right as the operation started would be a little foolish, but he was counting on that sentiment.
He could tell from his eavesdropping that there were eyes on the approach to training field forty-four. You couldn't be picked off until you crossed into the exercise area, but the proctors had spies warning the patrols inside about incoming challengers. It was downright devious, but Hiroto planned on not being seen.
As soon as he heard the signal for operation commencement over the radio, he moved. He had scoped out the surveillance and determined the best way in was the river that flowed into the training ground. His normal clothing and equipment were carefully packed into a small, watertight pack on his lower back, and he wore a skin tight, black wetsuit. He would need to swim almost a kilometer downstream before he was at the boundary, but it would be worth it to get in unnoticed. Slipping his radio into his waterproof pack, he came to the riverbank.
He placed a breathing apparatus, a lucky trophy from a Kiri nukenin complete with goggles, over his face and silently eased himself into the gentle flow. The water wasn't too deep, but silty, hampering his vision. It did, however make him just about impossible to see following the current to his infiltration point.
Forty-five minutes later found him at a chain-link barrier. It most likely served to discourage the dangerous wildlife in the training field from getting out, but proved to be an annoying obstacle for the aspiring jonin. He didn't have ready access to a cutting implement, so he risked using some chakra to burrow through the muddy riverbed underneath the barrier.
He continued down the river for another twenty minutes before surfacing. He had exhausted his air supply, but the device had done its job. He could hear no warnings of his arrival over the radio.
He changed quickly into his gray uniform, and, using the various reports he heard as a guide, made his way deeper into the forest.
XxXxXxX
Ren sat back and looked at her work. The seal array she had painted out had taken the better part of a month, working at least three hours a day. She smiled as she pored over it, checking and rechecking the symbols.
Her clan, before the attack, had not been known for its fuuinjutsu, but had three very important seals unique to them. The first was the Shinfuuin that was placed on all newborn members of the clan. The second was the Doushifuuin placed on that newborn's chosen companion. The two seals tied them together and had one other added benefit.
The creation of that bond attracted one of the many strange cosmic spirits associated with their clan. The spirit's power caused the aging process in the feline to slow; it increased the time for maturation but lengthened their lifespan as well.
The most benefit for the clansman/cat pair was achieved through the final seal. The Keiyakufuuin. The third seal called forth the spirit to suggest a true binding. If it accepted, it would meld with the soul of the feline and the two would become something more.
She remembered well the Yuugure no Seirei agreeing to the deal and fusing with her solid black feline. The spirit had been nothing more than a portion of twilight sky in the shape of a great cat, and had turned her feline from an adorable house cat into a fierce panther with the power to make illusions.
She finished her accuracy check satisfied with her work. This ritual would make or break Osamu. He could barely mold enough regular chakra to activate the array, but he could do it. The real question was, would the spirit he called agree to the binding?
XxXxXxX
Hiroto cursed under his breath, as he narrowly avoided yet another patrol. The sun had risen, and he was only about halfway to his goal. Whoever was commanding the patrol groups had a keen understanding of infiltration and was using it to direct the paths of searching shinobi into probable areas of hiding. He had heard two groups report catching a jonin hopeful each. The patrols got denser near the tower, too. At the rate he was having to move to avoid detection, he wouldn't even make it to the tower before his time was up. He needed a new plan.
To help facilitate that process, he proceeded to climb the tallest tree he could find. He popped up above the general canopy and got a good feel for his distance and direction to the tower. When he tried to climb higher to get a better view, though, the top of the tree began to bend under his weight. A wild and extremely dangerous idea popped into his head, but he figured if he could pull it off, he could arrive at the tower before anyone there figured they would need to be alert.
He spent a good half hour working the numbers, and figured it was possible. The main variable would be if he could implement the wild idea before anyone found him. He reached for a storage scroll and unsealed its contents; a great deal of rope. He silently thanked Kumo for all of those days of climbing training as he tied a complex and sturdy knot around his tree. After he was done with that, he played out a good length, and then jumped directly away from his goal.
Finding a strong secondary tree proved quite easy. He hammered in a series of kunai about the tree as a guide for his thin, but strong, chord. Threading it through made a makeshift system to ease along the next part. Despite this, he soon realized he needed far more strength to accomplish the required tension.
"Kuchiyose: Tora Kagai," he whispered after a few hand signs.
His tigers appeared lounging on various nearby branches. They almost gave him a bright greeting, but quieted as soon as they saw his finger over his lips.
"I need your help," he whispered, counting on their keen feline hearing to pick up his words, "We need to pull this rope until that tree," he pointed to his original perch, "is bent enough for my needs."
The great cats looked somewhat bewildered by the request, but shrugged and helped him anyway. Ten minutes of grunting effort had it where he wanted.
"That should be good," he panted as he secured the rope.
Mouko eyed the setup and understanding lit in her violet eyes, "You can't be serious about trying this."
"It should work... in theory," he countered.
"What?" the twins asked simultaneously.
"Just cut the rope when I say," Hiroto ordered.
He leapt up to the now creaking first tree and stuck himself to it. He used more chakra to strengthen his legs, "Do it now!"
Without thinking, Oodora sliced razor sharp claws through the tight rope. With a twang and whip crack, Hiroto was gone.
"You idiot!" Mouka cried.
"What?" Oodora said defensively, "I was just following orders."
"Those orders were likely suicidal," Kodora told him, finally understanding, "That man is insane."
"Let's just go," Their white sibling grumbled dejectedly, "If he survives that harebrained scheme, I'm gonna maul him for his stupidity."
XxXxXxX
He crouched on the sideways tree and shouted, "Do it now!"
The sudden force of the tree righting itself nearly sent him flying too early, but he managed to stick to the trunk until just the right moment. Releasing his hold, he used chakra enhanced muscles to jump. The sheer stupidity of this idea was not lost on him as he went flying through the air at ridiculous speeds. He did, however, feel slightly vindicated as the tower came into sight below the trees. Now came the hard part.
He had been shaping his chakra into wind as soon as he went flying, and he hoped it would be enough. He angled his body to catch as much air as possible and began expelling the wind chakra through the tenketsu on his torso. He felt himself slow considerably, but with the canopy coming up at him at an alarming rate, he knew it wouldn't be enough.
He twisted around to protect his eyes and began attempting to stick to anything he contacted as he fell through the thin upper branches. The combined effect managed to slow him enough to reduce his landing onto a large branch to a jarring tuck and roll, instead of a bone-shattering splat.
"This is central," he heard over the radio, "What the hell was that noise?"
"This is patrol seven, central," an answer came back, "Looks like someone set-up and sprung some sort of trap using a tree..."
"You sound uncertain," central replied.
"It's just... we don't really know what it was for."
"Check the area," the voice from central ordered.
Hiroto was giddy. His gambit had worked.
"I swear I felt a chakra spike over here," he heard a woman say from nearby.
Well... almost.
He hopped off his branch and used a bit of chakra in his hand to slow his fall. As soon as he hit the ground he began looking for a place to hide. His insane luck held when he found a hollow at the base of one if the massive trees. He quickly dove in, and, using the minutest amount of chakra possible, brought up earth to seal up the entrance. He left a miniscule hole to allow air in, however.
As soon as he was done, he fell back exhausted. He managed a field ration before lying down to get a few hours of sleep.
XxXxXxX
Osamu sat nervously in the center of the seal array his sister had made, his speckled kitten in his lap. Her mismatched gold and light-green eyes roamed the room curiously, but she stayed put for once.
The seal took up an entire spare room in their house. This was the final test of his chakra training. If he could not produce enough balanced chakra to activate the seal, his sister would not allow him to enter the academy. That was not an option for the soon-to-be eight year old. His sister nodded to him after finishing yet another once over of the array.
He began the set of seals his sister had taught him, adding 'tiger' at the beginning to channel more physical energy into his unbalanced chakra. She had drilled him mercilessly in hand seals, and he had the thirty seal string done in as many seconds. He began to feel the strain on his body from forcing it to produce the proper chakra, but grew excited when he felt the seal below him pulse with power. His excitement grew as a mass of formless black manifested before him.
The mass began to pulse and shift, the motions going quicker and quicker. As it shifted, pinpricks of light appeared in it. Soon, the lights gathered into groups, forming spiraled disks or globular clusters. Osamu watched in wonder as two of the disks collided, scattering the lights about. Soon the mass settled into a coherent shape, and the two Sakibou could just make out the silhouette of a large cat.
"Who calls me to this realm," its voice was like a thousand whispers all speaking at once, some slightly out of time with others.
"I, Sakibou Osamu, call you spirit," the boy intoned the ritual response, "May I know your name?"
"My name spans eons, child," the spirit answered, "It is found betwixt grains of sand and emblazoned across the stars. Your kind cannot hope to fathom it. Instead call me Garandou no Seirei."
"You know why I have called you, Garandou-sama," Osamu stated respectfully, "Will you accept the contract and bond with my partner and I?"
The cat-shaped, light-filled emptiness rose from it's sitting position and began to stalk about its summoner, "That depends," the whispers answered, "Why do you ignore your power, young Sakibou?"
Osamu shot his sister a bewildered look and she couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean spirit?"
"Ah yes," it sounded mildly amused, "Your predecessor did not see it at first either."
"Predecessor?" Osamu whispered to himself. Louder he asked, "Do you mean the original Sakibou Osamu, founder of our clan?"
"Yes," they heard a hint of wistfulness in the whispers, "He was fascinating. His connection to the realms of spirit and mind were powerful. Though... I think I may be in the presence of one more powerful."
"You mean my strange chakra," Osamu stated, sure in his guess.
"Good," the spirit responded, "You have noticed the signs. Now why do you ignore your power, child?"
Osamu could tell he was being weighed on some unknown cosmic scale. He had no clue how to tip the balance in his favor, but the spirit seemed content to patiently wait for his answer. He wracked his brain for something, anything to satisfy the strange being. It had allowed that it had to do with his chakra, but that had only been a hindrance to him. He had gone through grueling training to learn how to produce Yang chakra just to balance it out.
He stopped on that thought. His sister had taught him chakra theory in the course of his training. They had never actually trained in the reverse, though. Why produce Yin chakra when your system was already filled with it? He knew the process, however, and his constant drilling gave him a very good chance of being able to do it.
Instead of simply fielding his thoughts, he formed the dragon hand seal. It was as if a damn had busted. He could feel his coils fill with otherworldly power and he knew this had been what the spirit was alluding to.
"Yes, Osamu," the whispers called out approvingly, "You have done well to find it. Your ancestor called it Kononkyou. I can guide you in its use, but first, we have a pact to seal. You must name the feline."
He nodded, "Her name is Yancha," he had chosen the name for her playful nature.
The spirit stopped in front of Osamu and, after gathering itself, pounced. The last thing the youngest Sakibou remembered was being surrounded by twinkling lights, then darkness.
XxXxXxX
Hiroto woke with a quiet start. It took him no time to orient himself, and he peaked out of his air hole to see darkness. He used his hands to widen the opening and slip out. His radio wasn't making any sound, and he assumed it was dead. It had served its purpose, though, and he stowed it in his small pack.
He could just make out the sounds of patrols around the tower, and he wondered at the best way to get past them. His thoughts were interrupted as a loud explosion rocked the night.
"YOSH! THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA HAS HIS SCROLL!" he heard a very familiar voice yell in triumph as the taijutsu expert burst from his self-made exit. Hiroto figured that keeping quiet for nearly twenty-four hours had driven Gai batty. Not that it mattered. Gai could outrun anyone in the village.
The patrols still took off after him. They had the presence of mind to leave behind a few teams, but their net was much looser. Hiroto timed their routes, and, despite variations in the pattern, determined he had a fifteen second window to get to the tower. Gai had been kind enough to leave him a good entrance. He waited for the next patrol to pass, and then dashed soundlessly across the clearing.
His luck ran out as he cleared the dust cloud left by the explosion. A random chunin was already guarding the new ingress, and his eyes widened at the sight of Hiroto. The wannabe jonin used the surprise to his advantage by leaping at the guard and laying him out with a flying knee. He proceeded to knock the rattled man fully unconscious with a fist to the temple. He considered hiding him, but decided not to waste the time. He needed to find his scroll and book it.
He looked about and saw he was in a storage room. The door had been mangled by the overzealous Gai, so Hiroto peeked out. He saw more signs of the Green Beast's passage, and, lacking better information, decided to follow it. He noticed that the lights were out and silently thanked whoever had killed the power.
Hiroto decided to pull a trick he had learned early on as a genin in Kumo. It had no official name, but people jokingly called it the gecko step for how it made the user resemble the lizard. Using his chakra, he scurried up the wall and began scuttling across the ceiling on all fours. He figured most of the traps set up in the tower would have triggers in the floor or walls, but he still kept a careful eye out. This proved a good idea as he barely noticed a section of ceiling that would sink slightly from his weight. After ensuring the wall was clear, he bypassed that little hazard.
He soon found himself in the central chamber of the ground floor, and had to suppress a laugh. There, sitting on little pedestals were the scrolls. He thought it rather devious to leave them down here, as many would assume them to be in the higher chambers. He didn't see any guards, which pretty much guaranteed traps of a nasty sort.
He took a good long look at the room, scouting the best way to get at the blue scroll that was his target. The room was circular and vaulted with many doors leading off from the chamber. He could spot a number of pressure plates scattered amongst the tiled floor, but knew those would be decoys for more subtle triggers. The center of the room was a good twenty feet away, so a mad dash was out of the question.
He didn't have time to tiptoe across the floor, so he scuttled up the wall. His impatience nearly did him in when he missed the trigger plate his hand landed on. His only warning was a faint click, and he narrowly avoided being pin-cushioned by flipping his body to the left. He still felt a graze on his exposed lower arm, and could feel a slight burning. Cursing about poisons, he popped a general antivenin and continued up the wall, more careful than before.
He reached the apex of the vaulted dome without triggering further traps, but he could still feel the poison dulling his senses. He focused through the haze and pulled a fist full of kunai from his pouch. Blessing whoever had designed the tower for building the lowest level out of stone, he used a steady release of earth chakra to soften the hard material and push in his kunai until only the rings remained. As soon as the kunai were in place, he re-hardened the stone. Unsealing the last of his rope, he quickly wove it through the kunai, making sure the web of chord would spread his weight evenly.
He cut a section of rope to use for his descent and looped it around his waist, putting the other end through the center point of his support web. He eased himself down, but only managed to get within five feet of his goal when he noticed a lattice of fine wires below him. He wondered at the odds of him missing one of the wires as he climbed the wall, but didn't dwell too much on it. He pulled one of his favorite, if rarely used, tools from his pack. The pole was only about the length of his forearm, but with a flick of the wrist, it extended to almost twice his height.
He carefully maneuvered the pole through the web and made gentle contact with his scroll. He then made use of the polls most useful quality; the ability to channel chakra through its length. He used his dwindling supply to fasten the scroll to the poll, then pulled it up, quickly stowing both.
"Hello, Hiroto-san," he heard from above him, "This was rather creative."
Looking up to see a familiar silver-haired man standing upside down near his anchors he could only think of one word, "Shit..."
He immediately ran through a set of hand seals and inhaled deeply. With a cry of 'Fuuton: Renkuudan' he release the pent up wind chakra in a massive ball of dense twisting air. Kakashi's eye widened slightly, but quickly realized that he wasn't being attacked. Hiroto had aimed the air blast directly away from the way he had entered. With nothing to stabilize him, the force of the attack sent him flying towards the door.
"Oh," Kakashi said blandly, "That's clever."
The jonin launched himself on an intercept trajectory, managing to reach the door at the same time as his junior. Hiroto's had cut his tether mid-flight, and, landing a few feet from the door moments before Kakashi could put his feet on the ground, tucked into a forward roll. As the jonin's feet met the floor, the chunin unfolded his body halfway through his maneuver and performed a hand spring. A single eye widened as it took in the bottoms of Hiroto's sandals flying at it. With no chance to stabilize and punish his opponent for the wild maneuver, Kakashi used his downward momentum to fall under the attack. He turned just as Hiroto touched down on the other side of the door and took off at a dead sprint. Kakashi gave chase, impressed so far with his target's abilities.
"Shouldn't you be chasing your eternal rival?" Hiroto called back as he ran.
"I was sleeping when he made his move," Kakashi responded, gaining a bit of ground, "Your bad luck that he woke me up with his exit strategy."
It took less than ten seconds for them to break out into the open air, and Hiroto cursed to see a line of shinobi waiting to intercept him. He skidded to a stop and jumped as high as he could back the other direction, sticking to and running up the side of the tower. He pulled out and swallowed a soldier pill to keep up his flagging reserves, and thanked his adrenal glands profusely for counteracting the effects of his earlier poisoning.
Hearing multiple shouts he began to zigzag wildly. His efforts were not in vain as various elemental and mundane projectiles impacted around him. Looking back, he could see Kakashi was still hot on his heels. At the top, he sent as much chakra to his leg muscles as they could handle without snapping. His speed ramped up with the added help, and when he reached the edge of the roof his leap carried him nearly forty feet into open air.
"Wha..." he heard behind him.
He began expelling unshaped wind chakra from his tenketsu, slowing his fall and causing him to glide further away from the tower. He landed on an outstretched tree limb at the very edge of the clearing and risked a glance back. To his horror, he saw Kakashi performing the same stunt he had just done. He also saw both of the jonin's eyes, and realized the man had copied his little trick.
He bolted into the trees, knowing he would need all the lead he could get. Kakashi had lived amongst the forests of the Land of Fire all his life, and Hiroto knew the man could out tree hop him. Sure enough, he could just make out the sound of pursuit behind him. He began to slap explosive tags indiscriminately on whatever surface he could reach while running. Despite the explosions he could still hear Kakashi gaining on him. The sound was suddenly drowned out by a howling wind, and with wide eyes, Hiroto dove down towards the forest floor. His action saved him a great deal of pain, but the sphere of compressed air still clipped him and sent him tumbling.
He landed on a lower branch, the impact knocking the air from him and cracking a few ribs. He stood, ignoring the pain as he gulped down air. Kakashi landed ten feet away on a nearby limb, and Hiroto cursed. He began a mending jutsu, but he was no expert and his ribs were knitting slowly.
Kakashi just shook his head in mild wonder, "Is there any discipline you don't dabble in?"
"Fuuinjutsu," Hiroto answered with a grimace, "Too complicated."
"I have to say," the senior admitted as he lowered his leaf plate over his sharingan, "You are really impressive. I haven't had a workout like that in a while. I'm gonna recommend tokujo at the very least."
"You make it sound as if this is over," the chunin shot back, leaving off his healing. The bones were far from healed, but the pain was more manageable now.
"Meh," Kakashi shrugged, "You can't outrun me in the trees. Might as well hand over your scroll so you can get some rest."
That made Hiroto laugh. He flashed through the hand seals of his most powerful jutsu, "Kuchiyose."
Kakashi blinked when the smoke cleared. His mark was panting like he had just run a marathon with Gai, but all he had to show for his efforts was a plain tabby cat.
"What happened to the tigers?" he asked.
"Needed something more powerful to take care of you," Hiroto panted.
"A house cat is more powerful than three giant tigers?" Kakashi asked flatly, too surprised to sound sarcastic.
"Who the hell does this guy think he is?" Toraneko growled, turning indignant amber eyes on the jonin, "I'll have you know, I'm the boss of the Cat Tribe."
"Can you take care of him for me, Toraneko?" Hiroto asked, "He's in my way."
"I'd normal tell you to suck it the hell up," the cat answered, "but this fool just insulted me. You still owe me one, though."
"Sure thing, boss," Hiroto agreed as he began to leap away.
Kakashi made to follow, but was suddenly knocked back and breathless from a blow to the chest, "Where you going, cyclops? We got business."
The cat was exactly where it had been summoned. Kakashi hadn't seen it move.
"The hell?"
Suddenly the cat was gone, and he could feel multiple high speed impacts across his body. Individually they didn't hurt too badly, like a sparring blow. He felt at least twenty strikes, though, and knew he was out classed. Maybe if he hadn't burned so much chakra chasing his quarry he could use his sharingan to keep up, but Hiroto had played his trump at the perfect moment.
"Lucky you're wearing a leaf plate," the cat commented from where it had started, "Otherwise I would use my claws."
Kakashi just shook his head, "Alright, alright... I give. You are too fast for me."
Toraneko nodded at the acknowledgment and disappeared in a poof of smoke.
"This is gonna make a weird report."
XxXxXxX
A couple of days had Kakashi and the rest of the proctors for the jonin trials before their peers. Promotion was determined by a gathering of the senior jonin led by the Hokage. The entire day was spent discussing the various candidates and their merits, then determining their fate. They finally came to rest on a rather hot topic.
"What does it matter how good he is?" Shikaku asked sharply, "He is still a defector from Kumo."
Kakashi shrugged, "I am just giving my recommendation based on his skills. He is an amazingly capable ninja. He should be given tokujo at least."
The Nara patriarch turned hard eyes on the ANBU captain, "He was a traitor to his native village. I don't trust him with that kind of authority."
The other jonin watched in disbelief as the two most notoriously lazy shinobi in the village had it out. Their words weren't heated, and neither straightened from their respective lazy slouches. Even so, everyone present could see the sparks flying.
"Hiroto has been through every interrogation technique we have, including Yamanaka mind invasion," Kakashi drawled, "Are you saying you don't trust your old teammate?"
Shikaku grunted in annoyance, "What's your interest in him, anyway?"
"Despite the fact that he doesn't meet the specific skill level requirements to be a jonin, he was able to infiltrate the forest, avoid all of the patrols, bypass our traps, and grab the scroll," Kakashi listed, "If it hadn't been for the tamper seal on the scroll itself, I would have never known he was there."
"Why don't we put it to a vote?" the Hokage finally asked, "He has demonstrated his skills in the trials and his loyalty in the field. All for promoting Ryouko Hiroto to the rank of jonin."
A mass of hands went up.
The Hokage counted them quickly, "Against."
Almost as many hands were raised, but after counting twice the Hokage smiled, "By a margin of five votes for, Ryouko Hiroto is hereby a jonin of Konohagakure."