Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter
Posted: Thursday, 24 December 2009
(Merry Christmas Everybody!)
An Ally
Chapter 6
•◊ΰ◊•
Level Two, Kai found out, was literally on the second level of the building, hidden under a genjutsu that made it invisible for an onlooker (casual or otherwise) to see it.
The layout was an exact copy of the floor below; the only difference being the books available to recruits which focused primarily on the subjects taught to the Snappers. If they wanted to look at any books on the floor below, they had to avoid the Daisy's detection, and if caught they were punished excessively – usually by the disabling of one arm or both for a set period of time, which equated to a death sentence in such an environment, or at least a promise of excessive injuries. As such, hardly any Snapper was caught, either because of skill or not taking the risk in the first place.
The routine was harsher than Level One and the sensei were absolutely vicious in training – which could be seen in the sheer number of different ways that you could stuff up and get beaten down. They made all the recruits go through a brutal obstacle course where the object was to be as fast, stealthy and silent as possible (to survive the trip through) and be pushed to the very limits of their chakra manipulation abilities – Kai hadn't known anything about 'tree walking' his first run through, and had had to improvise by moving his chakra around to enhance his muscles a lot more than he had ever done before, which resulted in being laid-up for two days in the medic-station with first degree chakra burns…
•◊ΰ◊•
"Oh, are you waiting for mummy to lead you by the hand, brat? I SAID GO! GET TO IT, SHICHI!"
The shrill and offensive words cracked the veneer that Shichi had been building up around himself, mainly concentrating on the words 'this is not happening to me' and the variations thereof.
At the end of the very first meal (full of tension, suffering under the calculating glares from the ten other recruits in the Level) one of the perfect 'robot-shinobi' had just appeared in the middle of the room, announcing that Senman-sensei was awaiting their arrival.
Kai had never met a sensei dubbed 'Senman', but the way the other recruits had smirked and eyed him had sent alarm bells ringing.
They had exited the mess, and he'd had to follow the others as they ghosted out at a faster pace than he was used to and into the intimidating forest that surrounded the compound.
It was dark as the trees ensured that no light from the stars or moon could shine through and help with visibility and Kai had not been able to avoid practically ploughing through the underbrush. He had felt quite self-conscious (not to mention frustrated) that he was making more noise than all the others put together – it looked like silent passage was going on his List.
They'd stopped in a narrow, albeit long, clearing that had what was obviously the Obstacle Course from Hell in it. Kai thought the post with tape wrapped around the top looked like a starting point, and right after that was a massive wall that looked to be almost completely smooth – there were very few places to get a hand-hold, and Kai felt something stirring within him that had been a constant companion of his over the last few months – fear.
Senman had quickly shooed the others 'to their positions' – which Shichi had been unable to see but could sense them in the trees, most likely looking down on the Course from high perches.
Shichi viciously shoved those thoughts aside and focused completely on the present, tensing hard-earned muscles and surging towards the daunting wall, just managing to avoid the kunai that impacted with the tree that he had been standing in front of thrown by Senman to 'get him moving'.
Shichi had seconds to devise the best approach at scaling the wall, and he felt for his chakra, still cool and smooth against his senses, concentrating it to strengthen his legs as he crouched and used his propulsion to leap almost half-way up.
He hit the wall hard, scrabbling for one terrifying second to cling to the indentation. His right foot hit on another and he crouched again, springing off it and up with as much force as his control would allow.
He repeated these desperate movements, succeeding in clearing less and less space each time before only a manageable distance to the top was left, at which point he bit his lip and climbed to the peak.
He was shaking and distantly aware of the sweat building at his temples as he spared one look down the dizzying height.
//Swoosh//
Attuned as he was to the sound of weapons, the noise wasn't hard to pick and his head jerked backwards, the glinting steel passing only a hands-width away from his eyes reminding him harshly not to look back.
Soft whistling reached his ears, and he sprung back and around from the edge of the wall, dragging himself up and getting his first look at the rest of the course.
His mouth went dry.
Logs, all hanging from thick wires, swinging already in the wind (which worryingly wasn't all that strong as it passed through the trees) lay out in front of him as far as he could see. There was at least a two metre gap from each log to the next, none on the same height.
When he looked down he could see rocks as the material to catch his fall.
Sending up a prayer to kami or whoever happened to be listening, he lurched forward, using chakra to propel him once again.
The log he landed on made a very loud //crrreeaaakkk// sound, lurched downwards as it caught his weight and started to swing alarmingly from side-to-side.
The bottom of his stomach fell out as his feet slipped and he fell. The only good thing this action brought was the avoidance of the eleven kunai that sliced through the place his body and head had been bare seconds before.
He reached out and grabbed the next log that came within his reach and, more prepared for the reaction to his weight, ignored the loud sound and lurching, instead swinging up so he had his feet under him again.
Not given time to collect himself, he winced as a kunai sliced through his upper leg.
After that, the Course to him was a blur.
With no way to get a sure purchase on the erratically swinging logs, he often slipped and it was only through sheer dumb luck that he was always in a position to grab another on his way down.
Shichi couldn't recall just how he'd managed to get through the Hell Course, but he did remember the burning of his legs as he forced too much chakra through them in order to reach just the next log, to keep going, don't stop, jerk to the side to avoid the head-shot of a passing kunai…
He occasionally caught sight of his tormentors – the other Level Two recruits and the sensei; a glint of armour, the white of an eye, a flash of passing hair… his mind tried to follow the ghosts, but they clamped down on their chakra past his limit to sense it as he got more and more exhausted, almost mindlessly going on and on.
Don't Stop.
'I WILL get out… these shinobi WILL NOT kill me!'
To Shichi, that Hell-Course seemed to encompass hours, days… it seemed to have no ending as he kept pulling himself up, kept going, clinging onto his vicious need to survive if only so he could spite Root and that 'Danzo' when he escaped.
Because he would.
No matter how impossible it seemed, no matter how many restrictions they placed on him or how many stupid shinobi rules they shoved down his throat He. Would. Escape.
Because that was the only option.
The rushing in his ears cleared as he dragged himself raggedly past a stump with a piece of tape tied around the top, and he collapsed to the ground, wounds oozing dark red blood sluggishly as it seeped through tears in his clothing.
"20.25 minutes! HORRIBLE, SHICHI! ABSOLUTELY UNNACCEPTABLE FOR A LEVEL TWO RECRUIT! Heh, I'm kinda surprised ya even got through it, maggot – what, can't use chakra to stick yet? Next time, you better do that faster or else, got it? Cut five minutes off your time or you really aren't worth using for target practise for the other recruits!"
The scathing voice was distant to Shichi, who could not find the strength to drag himself up off the ground. His legs were on fire, he still had at least three separate kunai lodged in his flesh and numerous flesh wounds from where he hadn't quite been able to avoid the missiles.
Senman's lips tightened as he stared down at the lump at his feet before he snorted derisively, moving his gaze to the other recruits which stood around the fallen one, narrowing his eyes; "All of you better know by now not to replicate that poor attempt. Shi! Drag newbie there to the medics and get back here quick – it's your turn after Juuni runs through, and so help you if you aren't here by then…" His last words were growled out, and the recruit slung the unconscious one over his shoulder before setting off in a burst of speed, like expected.
Senman growled his orders out to the rest, having them speed back to the start before re-positioning and getting Juuni to start it.
Even as he casually slung kunai at the recruit, who succeeded in being somewhat more collected while navigating the maze of logs, a part of his mind was shrewdly calculating.
Despite what he'd verbalised, Shichi had actually performed admirably at his current level. They deliberately didn't teach recruits how to use chakra to stick to objects before they participated in this course, and that was mainly to analyse their ability to improvise and the raw talent they possessed for the shinobi arts – how much nerve they had, how far they would push to complete orders… you could gauge all this plainly by throwing recruits into that death-trap before they had the skills necessary to do it well.
He'd seen many recruits burn-out before they even managed to scale the wall – collapsing, or missing a foot-hold and knocking themselves out upon impact with the ground. Most, however, crashed on the logs, which were trussed up, swinging and noisy, making it simple for the others to skewer them with their kunai (well, if they weren't so pathetic at accuracy)… all in all, very few newbies reached the end at all, and there was a 60% chance of death for the first run through from the start.
Hey, Root had high standards and it was better to get rid of the dregs before so much effort was put into them. Only the best were graduated and presented to Danzo-sama for designation and orders.
It would be… interesting to see how Shichi improved.
•◊ΰ◊•
Kai half-limped out of the medic-wing and threw a scowl over his shoulder two days after his first run through the Hell-Course. It turned out he had first-degree chakra burns and stress fractures in his legs, even ignoring his newest collection of flesh wounds from the thrown kunai.
Kai decided that he hated this place from the bottom of his shinobi-detesting heart.
"You know, you probably shouldn't be mean to the medics."
Kai's head whipped around, and his eyes widened at seeing distinctive red hair and brown eyes; "J-Juu!"
In the very first week Kai had discovered the significance of Taiki giving out his actual name when he introduced himself. It was just about the biggest and worst indiscretion a recruit could make, and meant instant abortion from the program in the form of a quick kunai to the heart.
Names had no business in Root. In Root, you were a number, not a person. The only time they used your name was the day they introduced you into the RAD, after you passed the preliminary test – and not ever again.
Now that Kai had his wits about him, he could afford to notice more about his first contact in the RAD (well the first that wasn't a robot anyway). Juu was also the first that had expressed bluntly that he was like-minded in that he had no wish to be in Root – and Kai was fairly sure he wasn't lying either; there would have been nothing in it for him to lie to a fresh Daisy – it was more risk than anything he could possibly hope to gain out of it.
Juu had a thin face and now that Kai could see him clearly, his hair appeared to be more of a reddish-brown than red. Juu was also at least two heads taller than him, with thicker arms and a stocky build that pointed towards a proficiency in hand-to-hand combat.
Juu smiled slightly down at Kai and continued from what he was saying before the interruption, "The medics can hold a grudge, you know – I heard that they refused to heal that snot Hachi when he broke his arm and that's why he failed."
For Kai, this was a strange conversation. Juu's expression shifts were miniscule, but this was probably the longest conversation he'd been directly involved in for six months – in other words, since before he was bundled into the RAD. Of course, he hadn't known what had happened to his Level One tormenter either. He decided to settle on ignoring the stuff about medic-nin and said cautiously, "It's good to see you, Juu."
A corner of Juu's mouth twitched into something resembling a smirk, and the boy's hand whipped up and ruffled Kai's messy hair, "You too, Shichi. Now, I heard you sucked on the Course."
Kai winced and he suddenly found a spot on the ground very interesting, "I don't know the wall-walking thing – one of the medic-nin mentioned that's what would help with it. But I don't know how I'm gonna make it through that again."
Juu's voice cut through his despair, "Well, I don't know about you, but I think I might need to revise it."
Kai's head shot up that couldn't have been what he thought, could it?
Juu's brown eyes rolled slightly and he turned around, calling over his shoulder, "Come on, Shichi – you won't last long if you can't control your chakra." And then he set off towards a close copse of trees that was dedicated to such training.
Kai hesitated slightly; months full of painful 'training' had taken its toll on his ability to trust anyone, but in the end he followed Juu – after all, he'd probably not survive another such run, and he had no idea where to start trying to find out how to do the exercise.
He decided to put his trust in the older boy… after all, no one could take on the world alone.
•◊ΰ◊•
Well, I figured since it's Christmas Eve and all that I'd be nice and post this a day early :)
I want to say a big and resounding 'thank-you' to everyone who has reviewed this for me, I really appreciate knowing that people like what I've been writing, and I enjoy the feedback
I guess all that's left to say is 'Merry Christmas'
-skyflyte12