FOREST OF DEATH: 120 HOURS LEFT
To Hatake Kakashi's surprise, Team 7 was the last of the three to encounter another team. Only one door separated Asuma and Kurenai's teams, with Team 8 next to the river. Not even five minutes into the second task, Team 10 had hidden from a group from Rain. Kakashi's eyebrow had gone up when they'd been looked over. Asuma had quietly explained that Ino was a natural sensor, and she'd started to hone the skill. As a result, both Shikamaru and Chouji knew how to mask over their chakra, even if they couldn't suppress it.
The minor village team had gone further along the edge, trying to trap Team 8. However, Hinata had activated her Byakugan already and set a trap using leeches. Set completed, they'd set out towards the tower.
That left Team 7. His team had dispatched a handful of Naruto's clones diagonally. They were looking for water or a landmark that would allow them to situate themselves on their map.
Naruto fidgeted as they waited.
"Is something wrong with the clones, Naruto-kun?"
"Ahh, no. They're fine."
Hikari nodded and eyed him curiously before turning her gaze to the trees.
"I... ahm... I'll be right back, dattebayo!"
"What is it, dobe? We don't want to get separated."
Naruto squirmed further, thighs pressing together. Kakashi closed his eye and tried not to laugh.
Hikari sighed when she realized what Naruto's problem was. "Sasuke-kun can go with you. I'll be fine for a couple of minutes."
When Naruto made to protest, Hikari's hand graced her hair, highlighting the hairpin.
Her teammates hesitated as she made sprinted over a tree. Standing on the branches, she waved them off.
Asuma's cigarette quirked up, and he set his own screen to follow Sasuke and Naruto. Team 10 was heading clockwise, where they'd have a buffer of three Konoha teams. Such a cluster was unusual and didn't occur by random. Gai's team was being tested on whether they'd pass over the nearby Konoha teams and go for a foreign team. It made the perimeter on that side heavy with Konoha genin. After it were Suna and Sound, followed by a Konoha team and Team 7, then Rain, Konoha, and Rain again.
On his screen, a flock of birds passed Hikari's spot. Kakashi narrowed his eye, urging her to move. Instead, she put her hand inside her sleeve, putting on her neko-te.
She leapt to another branch as two genin with re-breathers dropped where she'd been.
"Your teammates left you all alone," one of them mocked.
Hikari squared her shoulders, even as one of her feet drew back and her lip wobbled. "They'll be back soon," she warned, voice trembling.
The one facing her snickered.
Kakashi tried not to let his amusement show.
"Let's go," the other genin urged his teammate. "She doesn't have the scroll."
"Aww but look at her. She's so scared, like a bunny. Aren't you?"
"I -," Hikari's breath hitched before she turned and ran through the branches.
The two genin cursed and chased after her. Hikari's breathing remained steady as she led them away. Kakashi kept up with her, switching cameras.
One of them soon grew tired. "Get her. I'll go after her teammates."
"Fine."
Hikari glanced back, verifying she had only one pursuer. She took off her hairpin and put it near her mouth. "Team from Rain, one is chasing me. I'm fine and will double back soon. Take care of the other two." She crushed it and sped up, leaping from branch to branch to gain height. The genin soon lost sight of her in the foliage. He stopped, breathing hard.
As he doubled over, hands on his knees, Hikari dropped down behind him. She snaked an arm in front and slashed his collarbone in a quick, deep, and dirty move. He grabbed her arm and pivoted, trying to pull it out of its socket. She swept his legs from under him and stepped down from the branch they were on.
The genin panicked as they free-fell. His hands released her to protect his face from the branches breaking under and around him. Hikari grabbed one of them and swung down closer to the forest floor.
He finally got his wits about him, twisting to land on the forest floor. He turned to her, snarling. Hikari smiled and wagged her fingers before turning back and running off. He followed after her, blind in rage and offense. With his focus on throwing kunai, he didn't notice his breathing getting more labored than the chase warranted.
Asuma nudged him. Naruto and Sasuke had made their way back to where a genin was impersonating Hikari. Naruto threw a handful of shuriken at him for his trouble. He threw himself to the side, and the shuriken missed its target. Sasuke was already there, Sharingan blazing. He stabbed a kunai into his shoulder.
His hidden teammate joined the fight, aiming to divide Naruto and Sasuke.
Hikari crashed into the clearing. Sasuke kicked his opponent towards her. A flash of claw later, and two were down. The first one was figuring it out, getting to the clearing and dropping to his knees. The other one didn't know it yet, more preoccupied by the stab wound than the cut. Naruto made clones and herded him back to Sasuke. Ten Narutos focused on restraining the last one. Kakashi couldn't see much as the clones surrounded their target.
When the stabbed genin made to aid his fallen teammate by going after Hikari, Sasuke dashed in and kicked him in the jaw. He dropped down unconscious, and Sasuke turned to his teammate. "You said you'd be fine!"
"And I am." When he didn't release his Sharingan, she added. "I'm not injured. Do you think Naruto-kun's has their scroll?"
Sasuke shrugged, and his eyes went back to black. "He was the most cautious of the three."
They both turned to their blond teammate.
The Narutos crowed their success. "I've got him!" The clones dispelled, leaving the real Naruto standing next to a tied and beat up genin.
Hikari and Sasuke made their way over.
"Hand over your scroll," Sasuke demanded.
The genin from Rain glared as he pulled it out of his jacket.
Naruto snatched it up, and his excitement faded. "Oh. It's a Heaven scroll." He scrunched up his nose and tossed it to Sasuke, who put it inside his weapons pouch.
Hikari stepped closer, bringing the attention to her. "Here's what's going to happen. Your teammates are working off poison. We won't dose you. You can go after us and try to reclaim your scroll. Or, you can make sure the wildlife doesn't eat your teammates, if a team doesn't find them first. It is, of course, your choice."
Sasuke kicked a kunai closer to the captive, where he could get it and untie himself.
And then Naruto led them away, most likely where his clones had found a better trail.
Kakashi leaned back in his seat, satisfied. His team didn't have a complete set, but they had two and were heading clockwise. Sooner rather than later, they'd find one of the river's branches. They had also figured out a way to get scrolls, not be followed, and not use excessive force. Asuma patted him on the shoulder before switching cameras to show Team 10.
Kurenai, who had been following her own team's route, wary of the Kazekage's children, called them over.
"I'm about to be blind," she said, pointing to her screen. Both the Sand Siblings and Team 8 had been placed near the riverbed. It was a prime area for wildlife, and cameras in good condition were scarce.
"Weren't they heading for the tower?" Asuma asked, seeing the camera number.
"They swerved towards two other teams."
Kakashi cocked his head. If they waited out the confrontation, they could attack the tired victors. Team 8 could then have four of the twenty-two scrolls. It was a bold move.
"Suna and...?"
"Rain."
Kakashi grimaced, wondering if any of the siblings had their father's kekkai genkai. The eldest had a fan strapped to her back, and it was probably her primary weapon. The middle child had used a puppet in the first task. That left the youngest. If that gourd carried Gold Dust, the team from Rain didn't stand a chance. The Fourth Kazekage's signature weapon was overwhelming. It couldn't be countered without either ample forewarning or overwhelming experience. To make matters worse, the siblings had headed straight to the tower. They were halfway there, which made the cameras very spaced out. He hoped Team 8 was cautious, observing from a distance with Hinata's Byakugan.
Kurenai's fists clenched as her team went into a blind zone. There was nothing to do but wait for them to reappear, either at another camera or at the Tower's. Kakashi didn't envy her. He glanced at his own. Team 7 was taking their time, more cautious after being ambushed and sticking to the outer ring. It'd take them a while to reach the Konoha team next to the river. Asuna's was moving slowly, too, scouting for a shelter and unwilling to confront a team on the first day.
Kakashi glanced around. Inoichi wasn't back yet. Gai was focused on his own screen, but he seemed more relaxed than earlier. As there was no outrage, he could only guess that his team hadn't engaged the neighboring Konoha teams. He scanned the room, but none of the other seven jonin rang any alarm bells. His mouth tightened behind his mask. An experienced spy, or a confident spy. Either were bad news. Both would be a deadly combination.
With a nod towards Asuma and Kurenai, Kakashi left the lounge. No one could remain awake and alert for five days. His team was unharmed, not immediately surrounded by hostiles, and in good spirits. This was a good time to step out, before Inoichi came back with the Hokage's orders and more intel.
When Kakashi entered the lounge at midnight, Inoichi had replaced Asuma. The Yamanaka head waved him over. Kakashi took a seat between him and Kurenai and found a camera that showed him his team. They seemed to have used a fallen tree to build a shelter, and Sasuke was currently taking watch.
"They encountered a Konoha team, but neither engaged," Kurenai informed him.
"And yours?"
"At the tower," she didn't sound happy about it. At his questioning glance, she added quietly. "The Suna siblings made it there in 97 minutes with not a scratch on them. There is no sign of the team from Rain, and Akamaru hasn't stopped trembling."
Kakashi's gaze sharpened. "Are they the only two teams that have made it?"
"Yes. They've made no move for a confrontation, but..."
Kakashi grimaced behind his mask. Sand had been reprimanded for the puppet master's actions. It had given them ground for establishing a curfew for all foreign teams. Perhaps that would make them unwilling to seek unneeded trouble. But it was less than ideal to rely on that for five days. If Akamaru was still terrified, the most likely scenario was that the team from Rain was dead.
"So, twenty-one teams?"
Kurenai nodded. "A couple have had trouble with the fauna, but nothing too serious." She lowered her voice before adding. "We are losing cameras fast."
Inoichi cleared his throat and handed him a file.
Yakushi Kabuto, nineteen years old. Average marks in the Academy, but he'd struggled to graduate. Once he did, he'd passed his jonin sensei's test. Since then, he'd taken fourteen D-ranks and two C-ranks. It was a ridiculous amount for the stretch of time. The bare minimum for nomination to the Chunin exams... which he'd chosen to withdraw from multiple times. Kakashi went back further.
Kabuto hadn't been born in the village. He'd been found at one of the battles in the last war by Yakushi Nono, who'd adopted him. Kakashi tried to place the name but came up empty. He flipped the pages. Yakushi Nono, deceased. She'd been a respected jonin, captain of the Medic Corps before she retired to become a caretaker at the orphanage.
Kakashi flipped again to see Kabuto's jonin sensei. Ito Kenta, one of Orochimaru's students. He swallowed hard, reminded of amused slitted pupils as his Anbu mask shattered and his blood was licked off a kunai. He pushed back the memories and focused on Kenta. Why would the student of a Sannin let his genin team languish for years? It didn't make sense. The Sannin who had taken a genin team had looked for ambition. Minato's intellect had allowed him to recreate the Second's technique. He'd become Hokage without a bloodline to boost his reputation.
He caught Inoichi's eyes. The older man nodded. So, Kenta was being investigated. Kakashi brought the Forest of Death map in his mind. Kabuto and his team had been almost opposite from Team 7 when the second task had started. His team hadn't travelled far, only about five gates, so they still had some distance between them.
With another glance to make sure his team's night shifts were doing alright, Kakashi settled back on his seat. He'd go through the folder thoroughly. Inoichi would have course of action planned. He wanted to know what it was.
FOREST OF DEATH: 103 HOURS LEFT
Kakashi watched Naruto wake up Sasuke and Hikari. As they hunted and cooked some breakfast, they agreed to set out across the river to find an Earth scroll. He flipped cameras. The closest team was one from Rain. They didn't have re-breathers on, but each of them carried more than one umbrella and an oxygen tank. He switched again. His team was drinking the water they must have boiled the day before. When they finished, Naruto created two clones who went ahead, and they set out towards the river.
At the water's edge, they paused to argue. Kakashi turned the volume up. Kurenai and Asuma perked up. Keeping watch overnight had been boring. No teams had taken advantage of the cover of darkness to attack.
However, more and more cameras in the left side of the forest were going completely dark. Grass, Sound, some Konoha. It was so widespread they couldn't blame Kabuto's team, even if his was one of the areas where most cameras had gone dark or useless. As it was, Kakashi would lose sight of his students as soon as they ventured closer to the tower.
"- other teams," Hikari was saying.
"But I found a bridge, dattebayo!"
"Which will likely be trapped, dobe. Just dispel your clone that's left and let's cross here."
Kakashi saw the problem now. Naruto was doing better at water-walking, but he wasn't up to fighting on it yet. Not when he couldn't remain on it while sustaining another technique.
"What if it's not trapped, teme?"
Kakashi switched cameras. Clones only passed information along when they dispelled, and it was a one-way channel. Naruto couldn't communicate anything to the clones. They were independent entities, copies of the original at the time the jutsu was cast. Which meant the clone had no teammates to argue with... sure enough, he was crossing the bridge.
Halfway there, he tripped on ninja wire, barely glinting in the morning sun. One side of the bridge collapsed and a chain of explosive tags went off. The Naruto clone managed to throw itself on the water, escaping the blast. As soon as he made it to the shore, he was attacked by senbons and dispelled.
Kakashi went back to his team, who had tensed as soon as the sound of the blast reached them.
"We are sitting ducks here. Let's go. Now," Hikari ordered, sprinting for the shore.
Sasuke pushed Naruto to follow her before taking the rear.
"My clone tried to pass," Naruto relied once they made it to a clearing. "Lots of senbons got him from above."
"From the trees, Naruto-kun?"
After glancing at Team 8 in one of the Tower's rooms, Kurenai switched her own camera, shoving her screen next to his. The three genin from Rain were approaching.
"No. Above from an umbrella floating in the sky."
Hikari blinked twice, bewildered.
"Did you see anyone?" Sasuke cut in. Kakashi drummed his fingers. Why weren't they moving? The foreign shinobi had spread out and were coming at the clearing from different angles.
Naruto shook his head. The three of them eyed each other.
The team from Rain was almost ready, spread out in a triangle.
His team was surrounded. When they got back, Kakashi would hunt them through a training ground. Multiple times, until they learnt to keep their senses on alert.
At their leader's signal, each launched an umbrella into the air.
"Get ready!" Sasuke yelled out when he saw the three parasols.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
When the cloud of smoke cleared, many Sasukes and Hikaris filled the clearing. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.
"That won't help you!" one of the Rain genin called out.
Kurenai shifted next to him, uneasy. It was understandable. She couldn't know that Team 7 had trained for a similar scenario. Kurenai saw an attack that was nearly impossible to dodge and very painful. Fatal, if the needles were poisoned. Kakashi saw his team start up a chain they'd forged with Haku's ice mirrors in mind.
He'd asked them to analyze their weaknesses before the fight on the bridge.
Hikari had told Naruto, 'The hunter nin can pop your clones before they get close enough to strike.'
'One of you needs to be maneuvered into a position in which they can help,' he'd told them.
And they had listened.
Kurenai switched cameras, trying to find the clearing at another angle. She found one up in a tree, where the view was better. Amidst the clones, the real Sasuke was crouching down, and Hikari was climbing up in his shoulders.
"Try to find one further back," Kakashi requested.
Kurenai nodded and switched, efficiently discarding those with a bad view. She found one hidden in a tree trunk.
A Sasuke look-alike had used the cloud of smoke to get to a tree, sprint up it, and hide in the foliage. Naruto dispelled the henge and steadily and quietly moved outwards until he stood outside the triangle Rain had created.
"Ninja art: Senbon Rainstorm!"
The umbrellas spun, gaining momentum. Hikari, settled at Sasuke's shoulders, held out her arm and drew out coils.
"What is that, Kakashi?" Asuma asked from beside Kurenai. "I don't recognize it. It seems extremely flexible."
"Satin." As Hikari poured chakra down the handle and into the fabric, he amended. "Chakra-infused satin."
The umbrellas spun so fast they were a blur.
Sasuke, red eyes narrowed, squeezed Hikari's ankle. The needles rained down. Hikari maneuvered the ribbon into place, cocooning them. Clones dispelled as soon as they were hit. Hikari moved her arm quicker. When there were only three set of clones around the real ones, the camera could only see mint and soft pink blending together.
Unforgiving senbon struck down from three directions. The six clones puffed out, but the cocoon held. Senbon ricocheted off the surface, as sure as if it'd come upon steel.
"That can't be satin," Asuma blurted out.
Kakashi's lips curled up, but he kept watching.
From within the enclosure, a shuriken shot out. Unerringly true, it hit one of the umbrellas, tearing the cloth. Its turns stuttered to a halt. Two other shuriken followed, driving the umbrella further back. A kunai was next, hitting the shuriken's eye and embedding the umbrella into the tree. One down.
"Shurikenjutsu," Kurenai whispered.
Kakashi's mouth settled in a smirk. Shurikenjutsu, its precision so fine it didn't graze Hikari's ribbon on its way to the target. It was, to Kakashi's judgement, unique to his team and impossible to recreate. It needed both the Sharingan and Sasuke knowing Hikari's movements without having to see them. On top of that, to his knowledge Hikari was the only shinobi who wielded a ribbon.
The next time the shield spat out a shuriken, a kunai veered it off-course. It seemed like the team from Rain was unwilling to have a repeat.
The cocoon moved to the space between the circumferences of the umbrella, where it would be safe. Rain hurried to move the them so the senbon struck true. Sasuke preyed on their inattention and tore another umbrella off course, not bothering to pin it with a kunai. Two down.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto tackled a genin, and the third umbrella fell out of the air on its own.
The two other genin rushed Hikari and Sasuke.
Sasuke gripped one of Hikari's legs. The other one swept from his shoulder to the side at the same time Sasuke pivoted. Hikari's foot slammed into one of the genin's face, driving him back. She leapt down, her handle once again in its holder, and put her back to Sasuke.
From the camera Kurenai had found, high in the clearing, it made a rare contrast. On one side, Hikari deflected and redirected her opponent's strikes, moving nimbly around the Rain genin. At her back, Sasuke's strikes were fast and sharp, technique perfect and not a movement wasted. The team from Rain seemed to realize they weren't going to win this way, and they leaped back. Instead of following them and getting separated, Sasuke and Hikari took the time to look for Naruto. He was doing well, overwhelming his own adversary.
A genin removed the handle of his umbrella, revealing a long blade. The other one broke off two of the ribs and came back with a veritable heap of senbon. They dove back in. Hikari took on the one with the sword. Sasuke and the one with senbons engaged in a mid-range fight, attacking and defending themselves and their teammate from any stray projectiles.
But Sasuke knew where Hikari was most likely to move. He was able to size up which projectiles he had to block and which Hikari would avoid. That and the Sharingan gave him a distinct advantage.
Hikari, on the other hand, was struggling. She was trying to drive him back towards the trees, where she'd have the advantage against a sword.
Asuma hissed when she pulled out her handle in a walkover, coming up to block a strike. The Rain genin thought he'd won and put his weight behind his grip to break Hikari's stick. Kakashi had to admit that seeing the sword come up against the delicate cylinder didn't look good.
Hikari's eyes narrowed, and she infused the apparatus with pure chakra. The surge destroyed the fabric and left the handle strengthened to its maximum capacity. Hikari twisted, forcing him to let go of the sword or end up with a broken wrist. But she had sacrificed her position, leaving herself as the one backed up against the trees.
"What is she doing? She had him cornered!" Kurenai exclaimed.
Across from them, Sasuke had made the other genin run out of senbon and start tossing other weapons. He deflected a kunai with his own, and it flew towards the other pair. The kunai embedded itself above her head. Both Asuma and Kurenai grimaced, but Kakashi had seen them craft this move.
She reached up, hands closing around the hilt and kicked off. Her feet slammed into her opponent's chest, driving him to the ground.
Hikari completed the full twist, infusing chakra to the soles of her feet. She crouched on the trunk, perpendicular to the ground. She took the ninja wire from her weapon's pouch, jumped to the next tree, and twisted it around the base. Then, she tossed it to the other end of the clearing.
Naruto, whose last kick had dazed his adversary so much he wasn't getting up on his own, caught it effortlessly. He wrapped it around the base of his own tree before passing it to a clone. His last handful of clones and Hikari covered the entire clearing in ninja wire while Naruto and Sasuke occupied the pair left.
Once the clearing was ready, a Naruto clone threw Hikari across the area to the real Naruto. Both of them stood at Sasuke's back, whose hands shaped seals. Snake. Dragon. Rabbit. Tiger.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
From the camera's bird's view, they could see the jutsu form and settle into shape before driving forwards, directed by the ninja wire. It trapped the Rain genin in a fire prison.
"Ha! You picked the wrong team to ambush, dattebayo! Give us your scroll!"
One of them cursed and spit insults. The flames started to wane. Sasuke sent a trickle of sheer heat down the wire and it flared up again. As long as Sasuke fed the flame, they weren't going anywhere. They saw it, too, and surrendered.
Sasuke let the flames die, and Naruto approached them eagerly. He took the scroll from the genin's hands and beamed even brighter.
"Earth scroll!" he presented it proudly to Sasuke and Hikari before tucking it into his jacket and turning to the defeated team. "You can go now."
Naruto's opponent snarled, but the effect was lessened by the fact that he was still swaying.
The other two grabbed his arms and hauled him backwards. "We're going."
His team started to uncoil the wire off the trees, twisting it into tight coils with care.
Asuma turned to him. "A ribbon, Kakashi? How did she manage to put chakra on that?"
Kakashi shrugged. "It's your fault, actually. You told her anything could be used for chakra flow."
Asuma chuckled. "I guess I did, but I was thinking of weapons."
He nodded. He'd guessed as much. But Hikari had heard anything. "Asuma, without a nature transformation, how much chakra does it take?"
The cigarette bobbed as he thought it through. "Extending the range of my blade is considered a B-rank, but she doesn't actually extend anything, right? The ribbon is physically under the chakra at all times."
Kakashi nodded again.
"Just the handle is a C-rank. Did she have trouble going from it to the fabric?"
"Yes. The ribbon requires less density but a greater amount to imbue all six meters."
Asuma's eyebrows raised, and he whistled low. "At least a B-rank."
"She's civilian born, right?" Kurenai asked. "Are you worried about chakra exhaustion?"
Kakashi inclined his head. Konoha's medical nins had pounded into his head all the damage it brought to a shinobi's pathways. Shinobi passed on certain resilience in the system to their children. It didn't make them less prone to chakra exhaustion, but it lessened the damage it brought. Minato had also lectured him as a chunin on the danger of overdoing it when the pathways were still growing. It strained the heart. He wasn't willing to risk it, but he had no baseline or guide. She seemed fine after training, and he had to take that at face value.
"Then why teach her that technique?"
Kakashi cocked his head before understanding dawned. "Maa, Kurenai, I didn't propose she try it."
Kurenai drew back. "Where did she get the idea, then?"
"She thought it up," he shrugged and turned back to his screen.
"- have them! We're done, dattebayo! I told you this was going to be easy." Naruto went from one tree to the other, unraveling the last of the web.
"Hn."
"Should we move along the edge, or inwards?" Hikari asked.
"If we continue as we have, we'll need to cross the river again."
A bridge had the possibility of more traps, and neither the explosion nor the fight had been discrete. Anyone close by knew they were there. But crossing without the bridge meant water-walking, and Naruto couldn't use his main weapon on it.
"If we head in, we'll eventually have to cross water again where the river's branches meet," Hikari mused. "But not for a while. We should be more careful in the next nights, though."
They all nodded in agreement. Sasuke and Naruto collected their thrown weapons, Hikari attached another ribbon to her handle, and they were all ready to go.
Kakashi wanted to keep an eye on them. But Team 7 had proven they could take care of themselves and each other. They had a complete set and one extra scroll. They just had to wait it out.
Kakashi sighed when the last of the cameras lost sight of them. Asuma clapped him on the back, sympathetic. His team's area was one of the most plentiful, but Team 10 had settled about halfway to the tower, where cameras were sparse.
Inoichi came back in that moment from where he'd gone to speak with Anko. His face was grim.
"We have a situation."