(I am incredibly sorry for this being late. I was in three car sandwich on April First, with our car in the middle of the wreck, and I've been a bit discombobulated after it. I ache. A lot. And I've got a horrible case of whiplash, and what might be a minor concussion. Anywho, I'm going to experiment a little with points of view. Written in third person of course- but I want to see if it's a writing type that I like or that works better than the slightly jumbled mess I've been spouting. Thanks for the views and favorites, and reviews of course.)

(Hige)

They set off again without eating another meal. None of the three really wanted to end up with the cramps that digestion gave amidst running, and running they surely did. Hige ensured that.

Hige put them under a mild genjutsu a few minutes in, to make the fear they had felt stronger than yesterday, and began to throw pinecones at them in order to continue to mask the other affects of the genjutsu. To the horror of his genin, it appeared to be kunai that was pelted at their feet and other extremities. A little twist of the genjutsu, and he could adjust and amplify the feelings of panic.

A quick Henge, and Hige no longer looked or felt like Hige. He assumed the guise of a rogue ninja, simple and easy. If they glanced back and saw him, it might just help keep them a little more terrified. Sachi was next- and now she looked like a ferocious monster befitting a horror story.

He had his reasons, of course. He was privy to some of the information from the Third Hokage- His team had an important player on it, for the lack of important team mates. He would be training the future Jinchūriki for the leaf, and she needed to be strong to overthrow the beasts willpower. Physical strength would eventually lead into the sort of mental strength that she would need. Her team would add to her strength- the desire to protect them from herself would be a powerful urge. He mused that it would be good for the rest of the team too. Jinchūriki were traditionally damn near invincible. He'd never heard of a regular ninja- like himself and ninety percent of the forces out there- being able to kill them outright.

Both Tokiko and Ahichu were pawns of the village in this case. Ahi was simply a lower clansmen, but more useful for it, and honestly Toki was simply the bastard of a lower Nara clan member. Toki wasn't… necessary to the team, not like Kushina or Ahi. But Hige had wanted her on it, because who better to protect the legacy of the team mate he had failed? Susumu taking her would have been too suspicious, but Hige could do it.

Besides, she'd made it a point that she wanted to be a tank on the battlefield. Being a frontline fighter was practically an Inuzuka legacy, so he understood where her urge came from. He could work with her shadows, and plan to create the sort of tank that she desired to be. She was rapidly growing adept at using shadows. Not so much at shadow binding, but she was rapidly advancing towards the three dimensional shadow techniques like shadow stitching or shadow strangle.

She'd caught his arm with a shadow tail once in practice, and if he hadn't have been able to lift her smaller body up, he would have been stuck in her grasps. Whatever seal Dai had made was beyond genius- and probably not something that Nara Research and Development would have approved of from someone outside the clan. Given that Toki wasn't a main clan member- and rather an outcast of the clan itself- the elders didn't really seem to give too many damns about what happened to her.

Very few shadows he'd ever felt had felt as solid as Toki's.

Ahi was to be used in case Kushina got out of control. He needed his Sharingan to be fully matured for that to happen first, and the boy didn't even have one tomoe yet. It wasn't completely common knowledge that Sharingan could be used to control a tailed beast- but only the truly strong of will could subjugate the beasts to their will. Uchiha Ahichu was no where near the type of person to be able to do it yet.

Which is what the fear was for. Sharingan was usually activated by one of two methods- during a traumatic experience, or with age and experience in fighting. They didn't have the time to wait for age and experience with lady Mito's health declining as it was. Yesterday, Hige had Ahi close. He'd targeted the boy with a vertigo genjutsu towards the end- and it had caught up with him when they'd ended their run that night. Vomiting was simply an added effect of Hige's attempts to stress Ahi's body.

Today, Hige would drive Ahi to obtaining the first tomoe of his sharingan. There was no other option than to succeed- or the group would likely die the first time that Kushina lost control.

Slowly, Hige began to amp up the fear application of the genjutsu. The affects were meager at first, until Sachi began to do her part. Before, she had only made noise when she was going in for a nip. Now, she growled and howled, sounding like more dogs chasing than there actually was.

Scent was a powerful indicator of what they were feeling. Hige could scent their fear- it excited the animalistic side of him. Toki was calmer than Kushina or Ahi, but she was rapidly growing just as nervous and uneasy. It was leading towards a panic, and if he could panic them enough, they would turn and face him with the intent to kill. He hoped it would be enough to encourage Ahi's optical development. Sharingan always seemed to easy to activate until one actually tried to do so.

Another inhale made Hige smirk. He could smell the desperation starting in them. Ahi was starting to truly panic- he kept trying to tug Toki and Kushina faster, though their legs could fly no quicker. He was simply setting the other's off balance and making it harder for them to run.

Toki's tattoo kept glimmering to life in his senses, her chakra ebbing and flowing into it as she struggled simply not to give into her fear and curl her shadow around her in a defensive blob. It likely didn't help he kept nailing her with pinecones along her back. The tattoo had been given specifically to keep her from becoming like Dai- and she knew that. His sharp reminders wouldn't do any good at keeping her calm. Good.

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(Ahi)

It was driving him mad. This terror that made his heart throb, his stomach drop, and his eyes burn with sweat. He had a hand locked around each teammate, trying to keep them in pace with his fright induced flight. They had been faster than him yesterday- but today they had woken stiff and sore. He'd been sore too- but Ahi had stretched more thoroughly than both of the girls had before they'd gone to sleep.

This was a problem, because the growls behind them told him they needed to go faster. Logically, he knew that their Sensei wouldn't kill them- but something kept itching at his conscience, telling him that they didn't really know for sure that Hige wouldn't hurt them. Not for sure. Hige had said that he was going to use a genjutsu on them, to make the pinecones seem like kunai. And he had- they were scary sharp looking, and when they hit, it felt like being stung by a very large bee. Not quite a Kunai sensation, but the general pain was enough to urge them to dodge more of them.

But the sharp stings that came when they failed reminded him that eventually it would be kunai, and eventually their Sensei would be flinging live weapons at them just like he was these pinecones. It was a horrifying thought.

It only grew worse as the hours had past from their start of the morning. It nagged and nagged and grew worse and worse until it was all Ahi could do to not simply abandon them and flee for his life.

His mouth grew sour tasting, his sweat dripping down his face as his chakra cycled in rough, panicky paths through his coils. If he hadn't emptied his bladder before they'd left, he surely would have pissed himself by now.

It didn't occur to him to turn around and face the cause of his fear- they were supposed to run, because they had a mission to do, and supplies to deliver.

So on he ran.

Until a horrifying looking dog came out of nowhere and sank it's gnarled fangs into Kushina's calf, and the redhead dropped like a rock with a loud cry.

His grip on her hand had him dragging down with Toki still attached.

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(Toki )

Kushina going down had brought all three of them to a rather abrupt stop. They plummeted about ten feet to the ground, Kushina being drug down by the sharp fangs of something that was most certainly not Sachi. The red furred beast was something Toki wasn't familiar with, and she barely had time to gasp before she hit the ground and rolled.

Ahi's grip wrenched her shoulder right out of the socket, making a scream tear from her throat as she was pulled in two different directions by gravity and Ahi's grip. The pain of her shoulder cleared her mind just enough for her to roll over and lunge the shadow tails at the freaky wolf. It leapt free from her grasp, and she surrounded Kushina in the tails and drew her close. The redhead clutched her leg in pain, and Toki bore her fangs as the wolf returned to snap at her shadow. She kept herself inside of the reach, stretching her Chakra out to create a few extra wispy tails to guard her legs from behind. It was a primarily defensive seal, after all. The offensive bonus just made it more worth it.

Ahi trembled in front of her, terrified out of his mind. He shivered, looking like a leaf caught in the wind. Up close, he stank of fear to Toki, and she was reminded that he was the one who was most panicked of the three. She wasn't sure why- together, they had each other's backs, and their Sensei wouldn't let them die (or so she hoped). He surprised her when, regardless of his fearful odor no doubt egging the wolf on, he slowly stood and faced down the canine with a shaky motion to draw a Kunai.

The wolf growled and snarled, and was joined by a rouge Shinobi moments later. Toki prepared to fight (because oh god why wasn't her Sensei there, where had he gone and why did he leave them to someone out of their league), glaring at the rouge ninja with a scared tremble to her shadows.

"… It's not forming." The man sighed. "Enough, Sachi. That's obviously not going to work. Look at his eyes. That's tears, not Sharingan." Without forming seals, the shape of the rouge ninja changed, and became Hige. The savage wolf shifted too, and became a sour looking Sachi.

"If you didn't think it would work, why did you have me bite Kushina?" She growled. "Dogs don't have a soft bite, you know. You'll have to bandage her."

"I know." He sighed. Ruffling his hair with his hand, the Jōnin looked nonplussed at the three genin. "I'm sorry for scaring you three. I had my reasons, and you're welcome to be upset with me, but know that I wont apologize for going as far as I did. It was good practice for you, for when you're older and higher ranking."

Ahi gave their Sensei a horrible look, and tucked his Kunai away. Slowly, he slid back into Toki's shadows, and moved to bandage Kushina's leg for her. He said nothing, Toki said nothing. Truthfully, they were waiting for Kushina to speak.

She'd been the one to get the first wound, after all.

The redhead sniffed, wiping her eyes stubbornly against hurt tears. "You're a right bastard, Sensei. A right bastard, y'know? That wasn't nice."

"Shinobi life isn't nice." He responded softly. "That's what some missions are going to be like. There will be a threat at your tail, at your back, even throwing weapons to slow you down. The faster you are, the stronger, the more mentally prepared to handle the fear, the more likely you are to survive, and the less likely I'll have to bury a student." He heaved a sigh, and then proceeded to sit. "Now's a good time for us to stop for a break, no? You three need time to calm down, and for Kushina's leg to rest. I'll teach you three a jutsu while we're here, and you can practice in this clearing."

Conveniently, there was plenty of foliage around, along with a small pond a few feet into the brush. The area was wide enough that they weren't likely to burn the place down, either.

"Why did you want me to activate my Sharingan?" Ahi demanded suddenly.

"Because we'll have need of it in short while." The answer was blandly said, but easily rolled off his tongue. "You're not privy to the information yet, which I think is stupid. But, once it comes to pass, you'll have to learn from Kushina."

"Learn what?" he demanded.

"You'll have to ask once it happens. That's all I am willing to say on it."

The order wasn't obvious in his words, but it was implied. If Ahi continued to press, he would risk punishment. The Uchiha gave his sensei an unimpressed look, and crossed his arms. "Fine. What's this new jutsu that you want to show us?"

"Watch closely, students."