Naruto RP: Chapter 3, Chunnin Exam – First and Second Exam

[IHateMakingNames]

The examiner looked around the room. Everyone who was leaving left.

"If you want to leave, go now."

No one stood up. Fourty-eight genin remained.

"All right, here is your tenth question. The amount of examiners since the beginning-"

Right after the head examiner said "beginning," all of the other examiners quickly threw a kunai at each of the genin. One kunai was aimed at a non-vital part per genin. The attacks were silent, and the main examiner never stopped talking.

"has changed. What is that change? Write your answer down on the back of your test, I will call on a random member of your team to say his answer."

[Truce]

"Crap." He had not paid attention to the number of examiners when they had appeared; in fact he probably wouldn't have remembered the number now. So what could the answer be?

25. It was a simple word problem in math. Originally, those taking the test had entered the room before any examiner had arrived. Looking underneath the underneath, he had counted how many examiners had been left, and that meant there were twenty five.

But wait, if he means after the examiners had appeared? Then maybe they had originally started out with the number of genins and lowered the number as each one was eliminated? Aww...screw it.

"Examiner, can you clarify? Is the beginning when we entered the hall or when you passed out this paper?"

[Dante]

Dou barely saw the hand of the examiner nearest to him flicker, and instincts drilled into him from years of training took over. It was almost pure luck that let him slam his hands together on the kunai in time, stopping it from injuring him.

"- has changed. What is that change?"

Dou closed his eyes and tried to think.

"Count on them to be sneaky bastards like this...

[phil_]

Chumaru's attacker had aimed low, at his left leg. He hadn't had time to start his Kodachi Wall (Kabe Kodachi), but he was just barely able to deflect the kunai aimed at him. Chumaru grinned very slightly. Nothing like the business end of a knife to shake you out of shock. However, he had missed the end of the question. Chumaru decided he'd just put down a random answer. He most likely said something we could answer. Um... how about this. Chumaru wrote "Ninja don't cry."

[IHateMakingNames]

Mori was still using his spying plant, so he saw the examiners suddenly throwing kunai. He managed to avoid the kunai that was aimed for his right arm, and it embedded itself in the desk behind him.

However, he missed what the main examiner was saying. Now he didn't know the question.

OOC: If you dodge, block, or narrowly dodge, you miss the question. If you don't, you hear the question but get hit.

[Incendius]

Istus was sitting as he listened to what the chief examiner was saying. As the chief examiner finished talking a hot pain stabbed into his right arm. Reaching up to grab the kunai knife sticking into his arm Istus was extremely annoyed. 'Great the examiners throwing knives' he thought as he applied pressure to his wound.

[IHateMakingNames]

The examiner looked at the questioning genin. "The second one."

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii saw a small, metallic object out of the corner of his eye. It was headed for his shoulder, and he intentionally tipped his chair sideways, the kunai missing him as he fell off the chair. He instantly flipped onto his feet, two hand symbols already formed, until he realised that no one else was preparing to fight. He sheepishly moved his chair back onto all four legs and sat down, blushing a little. He then realised he hadn't heard the question. He had heard scattered bits, like paper and genin, but he had no clue what was meant by this. Oh, crap! They wanted us to take that kunai to the arm to demonstrate calmness under pressure! Damn! I couldn't think that fast! What an idiot I am! Wait, some of the others must have heard it. Maybe if I watch them... He turned towards Istus slightly, watching his actions and mimicing them.

[Dante]

Dou cursed his inattentiveness.

What has changed? Bloody kunai... should have focused...

Then he heard Kyocho's question.

...when we entered the hall... when you passed out this paper...

What could have changed since then?

[Mr. Viewtiful]

Kyasshu heard the question well, and decided to ponder it for a second. Alright, so there's X amount of examiners in the room, and Y people have been removed...dang, I should use pythagorean theorum for this, shouldn't I? Lemme see...GUH!?

Several of the other students either had kunai stuck in them, or narrowly dodged the surprise attack. Don't tell me...

It was then he spotted a kunai sticking out of his left thigh, between two of his precious few sake bottles. Dang, these guys have good aim. I gotta take lessons from them sometime! He was clearly so out of it that he didn't notice the bleeding, nor did he remove the kunai. Any answer coming from him would either be random, stupid, and/or have a small chance of being correct in this state, for better or worse.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

OOC: Since it was aimed at the genins, Kaoru would've heard the question. Would he? If not, I edit at IHMN's command :)

Sako was lucky. The kunai was aimed at her right leg. She snagged it in her chain with a deft flick of her hand. However, she missed the question, and swore under her breath. He wants us to pay attention while being attacked... this is getting more interesting to the second.
Then, all of a sudden, she purred softly, and the remaining genins surrounding her table began to look slightly more nervous. But, what really happened was that she had switched to a more direct way of communication with Kaoru.
"[Kaoru, darling. You caught the question didn't you?]"
Kaoru twitched his ears in her direction, and yawned, giving confirmation. Good, she thought gleefully. She crooked her little finger, as if saying [give.]
Kaoru's muscles rippled, he went into subtle, barely seen movements: slight twitches of his tail, the unsheathing of a paw, and several other movements. [Change in the ones around us. Discover the difference between numbers,] was what it basically translated to. Sako quickly assumed that he was talking about the examiners. But... Damn, I wasn't paying attention to that, she thought in dismay. Unless...
[Cat, where are the ones you hunted before?] she signed back. Kaoru looked around, before signing back.
[they have changed shape, but their scent is here. There are two more of those around us.]
Ah, I see now, Sako finally has an enlightenment. The exam is to test our skill in obtaining information, and now, to test our observation as well. Two examiners were hidden in among us. Kaoru sought them out by scent and their skill with the questions. Now they are among those examiners, pretending to be somebody they aren't. The change is a factor of two. Ah, I smell them now, she sniffed the air, locking onto the scent of two examiners calmly standing by the door. With a small wiggle of her index, she asked Kaoru
[Yes] Kaoru signed back with another yawn. [i]Good. Now, what was that thing about a random member...? Oh shiiit. That's not a good thing.
Nevertheless, she wrote down her answer on the back of the sheet before pondering how to give her revelation to the others in her team.

[Truce]

"Oh...crap." Not only was the question harder than he had originally hoped, but blood had dripped onto his paper. Wait... It was then he noticed that a kunai was sticking out of his left arm.

"When did that get there?" If this was a test to see how well they noticed their surroundings in a tense situation, Kyocho was not doing well.

Pulling the blade out of his arm, he examined it. Aside from distracting them, was there some kind of clue? Sadly, he couldn't find any. Is there anyone in this room who has a clue?

[phil_]

Jikkouchuu had made a constant attempt at answering the impossibly difficult answers on the test since it had been placed in front of him, but he'd only managed a few partial answers. When the examiner started to tell the last question, he'd hoped it would be Konoah history. He could answer that; he'd had to learn ages of it so that he could represent the Houkama clan in the Board of Elders. The last thing he expected was a surprise attack. The kunai hit him in the shoulder, just inches from a fatal blow. He thought about how that wouldn't be a fitting end for the last Houkama and thought that maybe he'd write a poem about it later. Getting back to the business at hand, he pulled the kunai out of his shoulder and guessed that 24 jounin had left the room. It was as good a guess as any.

OOC: You wanna do Taiju, Aerozord?

[Aerozord]

ooc: naw I dont know how to RP their answer, you take it

Sacho was startled by the blow. He blamed himself he was completely unguarded. Listening to the instructors question his first thought was. "Yea the observers suddenly became violent." He pulled the knife out. 'well why the heck not? Can't do much better.' He wrote down his answer.

[Truce]

I don't know. It was a truthful answer, at the least. Kyocho put it on his paper; he couldn't risk a confident and possibly wrong answer, and in a real mission underestimating an enemy could lead to death. Not that having no clue at all was much better.

I wonder what the others get?

[IHateMakingNames]

"All right, time is up!" The main examiner yelled at the crowd. Most genin's without answers wrote down something at random.

One of the sitting examiners got up and went to the front, and handed the main examiner a list of the remaining teams.

"Team 6, Yoshimitsu, what is your answer?" The examiner asked. The questioned genin had been hitten, but knew the correct answer. "Pass!" The examiner yelled.

"Team 14, Mori, what is your answer?" Mori had copied down the same answer the previous student had said, using his spying plant. Mori said his answer, and the examiner smirked. "Pass! By the way, you can stop resting on your arm now." Mori knew he was refering to the spying plant, and sheepisly had it revert to it's seed form.

"Team 17, Dogan, what is your answer?" Before the genin could answer, the examiner yelled out, "Pass!" The genin was shocked, but before he could ask, the examiner continued.

"Team 26, Dou, what is your answer?" Again, the examiner yelled out, "Pass!" before the genin could answer.

The examiner continued for each genin, Taiju had to answer for his team. He had missed the question, but dodged the kunai.

Every genin team that remained had passed.

Mori guessed that if the genin had dodged the kunai, they passed. But, if they were hit, they could still pass if they had been paying attention to detail and noticed the examiners from the start.

The main examiner did not like explanations, and as he walked through the aisle to leave, he told the genin what to do next. "Tomorrow at noon, go the Gates of Hell. You'll find the second examiner there." After that, he left. The other examiners either left, or stayed around and talked about the genin to eachother.

[Truce]

It took him a little longer, but after wondering why the tenth question was done this wawy Kyocho came to the same conclusion as Mori, which lead him to almost fainting. Had it been him...the team would've failed. He still didn't know what the first portion of the test had been for though.

Not that he'd tell any of them that. He still had his pride afterall.

And so, with this portion of the exam over, he decided to run off before seeing his team. He wasn't going to be as unprepared as he was today.

[Aerozord]

It was a minor hit but still it hurt. He decided to hold onto the knife and wrapped his wound. He stood up and gave a sigh of relief. "Hey guys I think I will check this cave out. Wanna come with." He stretched abit as he moved towards the door.

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii stood up and walked over to Sako, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Wow, Sako, you're a miracle worker! Without you I'm sure I would've failed! You and Mori and Miso... Kaoru too." He said, reaching down cautiously to pet Kaoru.

[phil_]

Chumaru felt about a thousand pounds lighter. Given his weight, this meant that the weight of his shoes was keeping him from rocketing into the atmosphere. Hopping out of his chair and almost skipping to the door, Chumaru replied to Sacho. "Sure, let's go. I want to get a look at these 'Gates of. '" Chu trailed off for a second, wrestling with whether he should say "Hell" or not. He continued, "'Heck' before we have to have a test there."

Jikk was also glad that this part was over, but he was already concerned with the next test. He wanted to go see the gates as well, but he had duties at home. "I'm sorry, but I can't join you. The last of the Houkama cannot be seen tramping about town with a bleeding arm."

Taiju hadn't been too shaken by the exam, but caves... if it was a cave, he'd just have to remember that he'd gotten out that time. As he passed Chumaru and Sacho at the door, he muttered, "I'll head home. Where are we going to meet tomorrow?" He wasn't too excited about heading home, though. His family wasn't very dear to him.

[Aerozord]

"Lets just meet at the gates. We will all need to be there for the next test anyways." He was halfway out the door when he turned to the others from their village still in the room. He called back to them. "Hey guys! You wanna come with? We are going to see the cave." He looks back to his team. "Just because its a compitition doesn't mean we have to be enemies. They are still members of our village."

[Mr. Viewtiful]

Kyasshu jumped up out of his seat and yelled "MISSION: COMPLETE!" It was right after then that Kyocho left the room, in a rather quick manner. Kyasshu ignored his departure, since it was not him but Dou who pulled the team through.

Rushing over to Dou, Kyasshu patted him on the back while congradulating him at the same time. "Good job, man! You done me proud!" Then, feeling a twitch of pain, Kyasshu looked down at his left hip and saw the kunai sticking out of it. "Hey...uh...could you patch me up, buddy?"

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Heh, nah. You know me, too lazy to actually work for the questions, so I just scam them off an examiner," Sako affected a sheepish grin, though it looked more like a wolf in sheepfolds...

Kaoru purred deeply and rubbed his head into Hebachii's hand.

"That, and it was mostly Kaoru's help. I couldn't do it without him," she added as an afterthought.
"[Tonight would've been long and painful if you didn't say that,]" Kaoru purred, opening one amused eye and gazing at her. Sako decided at this time to look for Mori. She spotted him, and went over.
"Hey, well done in getting the right answer, Mori! You've saved all our asses," Sako grinned toothily and patted Mori on the back.

[Dante]

"Sure, no problem. It's a small wound, anyways..."

His hand went to his pack, and without looking, he drew forth a patch of medicated cloth and a roll of bandages. He drew a kunai of his own, enlarged the hole, then slipped the pad in and told Kyasshu to hold it down while he bound it in place with the bandage.

Once finished, he dusted his hands off and took a small packet of pills out from another compartment of his pack.

"Take one of these with water three times a day. They're to prevent infections. You shouldn't need them, but we may be going into very dirty conditions, so we might as well be prepared. And if we DO go into such conditions, come to me, I'll try to give you a waterproof dressing."

"Um... why can't you just use your healing jutsus?"

"Well, my plan for success used a lot of chakra up. And I'd rather keep some in reserve so I can peep at Sako bathing tonight."

Here he flashed Kyasshu a leer.

[phil_]

Taiju nodded, agreeing to meet at the Gates, then exited the building and headed home. Jikk said, "Ok, I'll meet you at the gates," then he left as well. Chumaru looked back at what remained of Kambei and Raidou's teams (not that he remembered who the other teams' Jounin were, it's just easier for me to refer to them by their teams). They seemed to be talking amongst themselves and ignoring Sacho. "I don't think anyone wants to come." He shifted his weight and gave a 'huff'. "Oh well, let's go see if we can see past the Gates." Chumaru started out the building towards the gates. Then he realized that he didnt know where they were. Embarassed, he called back, "Uh... Sacho, you can lead the way."

Edit: Jikkouchuu arrived home and was grateful to find it wasn't in flames. He said hello to his mother and father, then headed upstairs. His father called after him, asking about the exam, but Jikk ignored him. He would tell them about the exam during dinner; right now, he had to get his head around what had happened the day his team recieved their passes to the Chunin exam. He entered his room and neatly folded his robes to be washed later. The blood didn't show very badly on the auburn cloth. So that's why mother and father said nothing. I will bring it to their attention later. Jikk stepped over to his closet and pulled out his home-clothes: a brown cloth jacket and black hakama pants. Re-dressed, he sat on his bed and lay down. With two nights' sleep behind him, his encounter seemed... insubstantial. He couldn't think of what his assailant looked like, and had he found his parents dead or not? Maybe it hadn't happened, but what did that mean? Was the stress of the exam or the expectations put upon him by his parents and Konoha getting to him? He slowly turned onto his side. He couldn't throw off his responsibilities. He was needed. Jikk decided not to make a decision and closed his eyes to take a nap.

[Aerozord]

He shrugged. "Sure thing why not." He gathered his things. Taking a few weapons just in case as well as some first aid materials. "Oh you need anything before we head out? If so you better get them." He begins making his way to the cave

[phil_]

OOC: Please forgive me Aerozord, but I want to do this scene. To everyone else, I have permission to jump to evening.

IC: Sacho and Chumaru's visit to the Gates of Hell was largely uneventful. They discussed what might be on the other side but weren't able to pass the gates and enter the cave. As evening approached, Chumaru said his goodbyes to Sacho and headed home.

He arrived at his parents' shop to find the lights off and the door locked. He dug in his pocket for his key and entered the building. He happily strolled through the rows of bookshelves neatly filled with various books and scrolls with the occasional price tag hanging off the shelf. The wooden walled shop was colored orange by the setting sun, and everything within cast long purple shadows. It would have been very creepy, but it was Chumaru's home and he could hear his parents upstairs and smell dinner cooking.

Chumaru opened a door at the back of the shop labeled "Employees only" and climbed the straight stairwell to another door with yellow light streaming through. Chumaru opened the door, kicked off his shoes, and yelled, "I'm home!" and was immediately smothered by his mother, Shizuka. Struggling out of his mother's arms, Chumaru's father asked him, "Did you get past the door alright?" Chumaru replied, "I think so," and their evening ritual was over. Gaman, Chumaru's father, smiled and said, "Good, then let's eat some dinner."

After the three of them sat down, Shizuka asked, "How was your test, son?" Chumaru grinned as wide as he could and almost shouted, "I passed!" Gaman laughed. "Well, he did better than our first try, right honey?" His wife laughed lightly and said, "Yes, he sure did. Tell me, was it a written exam? Almost all of ours started with a written exam." Chumaru's mouth was full, so he mumbled an "Mm-hm." His father added, "There was that one time when they hid the academy, remember that, dear?" "Oh yeah, I still don't know how they did that."

Chumaru swallowed his food. "I'm one step closer to being a Chunin and a wanderer, right Mom?" Shizuka and Gaman stopped laughing about the good old days and looked at Chumaru. His parents exchanged glances. His father nodded. Turning again to Chumaru, he said, "Son, let's have a chat on the balcony." Chumaru knew this was important, so he nodded in agreement. A short silence followed, but soon the room was filled again with laughing and stories Chu had heard a thousand times.

After dinner, Chumaru stepped out of the dining room onto his family's small balcony. Chumaru expected a talk about how his parents would miss him when he left. He leaned against the rail and waited for his father. Gaman stepped through the sliding window shortly and squeezed into the remaining space. Suddenly, he started. "Chumaru, you know how we promised you that, if you passed the Chunin exams, we'd let you leave?" A wave of anxiety washed through Chumaru. "Yes." "Well,...," his father nervously chewed on his lip for a moment, then continued, "we can't actually promise that." Chumaru bounced off of the rail. "What do you mean, you can't 'promise that!' You already did!" Gaman looked at him sternly and said, "You don't raise your voice to me." "Sorry." "There's a good reason, Chu. You see, a ninja is a tool of his village. When his village needs him, he is there. Ninja are always to be available for the Hokage to use. You getting this?" Gaman knew from prior experience that this was a good thing to ask. Chumaru said "Yes, sir." Gaman continued, "For that reason and to protect Konoha's secrets, ninja cannot leave without permission or a mission. If you did, you'd be a Rouge nin, and you'd be... well, you wouldn't be able to come back and your life wouldn't be very good." Chumaru hadn't really been listening. He'd fallen into his dark feeling of betrayal after "we can't actually promise that." His father could see that he was near crying, so he stepped back into the house. Chumaru was vaguely aware of this, so he too stepped back inside and listlessly shuffled off to his room. In their living room, Gaman slumped into a deep, soft chair across from Shizuka. After Chu shuffled through the room, she softly stated, "It didn't go well, did it?" Gaman groaned a little and answered, "No, it didn't."

Chumaru went to bed that night with one thought: "Why would mom and dad lie to me?"

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

OOC: well, If it's not evening yet, this post'll be void until IHMN says so. I just wanna get it ovah and done with, and allow Dante to get in a pervert's post :)

Sako sighed. It’s good to be home again. She opened the door to her parent’s house and entered, hastily throwing her shoes at the door and not bothering to place them carefully. Kaoru grumbled a bit and swept them upright and neatly together, before bounding after a Sako who had already made it half-way up the stairs.
“Mum! I’m home!” she yelled up into a kitchen from where the strong aromas of dinner wafted out.
“Hi sweety! Dinner’s almost ready!”
“Thanks mum! I’m off to take a bath now, all sweaty and stuff!” Sako called back and bounded up into her room, grabbed a towel and other toiletry needs before zooming back out and into the bathroom which stood opposite of her bedroom.
She stripped down quickly, turning on the shower. It wasn’t a proper bath, just a quick run-down to rinse the grime off from the morning.
She stood under the strong stream of water and let it beat over her naked body, and sighed contentedly.

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii returned to his house. He took his keys and opened the door, calmly turning on the lights. He moved immediately into the kitchen, and picked out a can of spicy shrimp soup to celebrate, putting it on the stove quickly by using his chakra claws to cut through the top of the can. He cracked open a can of soda, staring out at the sunset and taking a few sips. He sighed. The house was small, and also fairly lonely. Even though he lived by himself, He still tended to hear creaking sounds from the attic and the floorboards on the main floor. He figured it was just the house settling, but he also heard voices, or what he thought were voices, sometimes. He hoped being alone wasn't getting to him. He bathed in the last rays of the sun, closing his eyes for a second. He got up, turning to go back into the kitchen and yawning. He set down his pop on the counter, turning to the soup. It was bubbling, and he got out a wooden spoon to stir it. He stirred it a few times, making sure all the shrimp were stirred up and floating. on about the third stir, he hit something large in the pan. He poked it a few times, confused, Then noticed that the soup seemed to be getting a bit more colored like the shrimp. He tried to break up the large object, but to no avail. He looked over the pan of soup, and suddenly a hand reached out of the soup and grabbed him tightly around the throat. He choked, the hot flesh burning him along with the spices, and tried to get the hand off of his throat. It wouldn't budge an inch. He felt himself losing conciousness, the hand keeping his limp body propped up over the stove as he saw his blood start dripping into the soup...

Heibachii gasped, sitting up and nearly falling out of his chair. He clutched at his throat, feeling no finger marks or the slight feeling of one's windpipe after it had been constricted. He saw that the soup was about to boil over, so he rushed over to it and stopped it. He stirred it, albeit from a distance, feeling no large object in it. He poured it into the bowl carefully, checking for any body parts that had taken root in there. He sipped the soup slowly and cautiously. After finishing a bowl, he put it into a container and in the fridge. He sighed, throwing his shirt onto the floor and plopping into his bed. He was asleep in a few minutes, silently hoping for no more weird dreams.

[IHateMakingNames]

The next day, at noon, all of the genins who passed the first tests were gathered at the Gates of Hell. The main examiner had explained the rules. Each team would be given a scroll that they were not allowed to open. There were two scrolls, Fire and Water. To pass the test, a team must arrive at the hidden building within the caves in five days and have both scrolls. Each team was given one of the two scrolls, so they had to fight for the other.

Each team was taken to a seperate entrance, since the Gate of Hell was just the largest entrance to the large series of caves and caverns.

[Incendius]

Istus had gone home to milk Ssith after the first exam. Getting a good nights rest and a hearty breakfast Istus went to the gates of hell. Listening to the explanation Istus caught up with his team As the examiner led them to the gate Istus adressed his teamates "Who do you think should keep the scroll? Ssith could if he has too but it would hamper my fighting. Does anyone know anything about the flora and fauna in the caves? As in what is poisonous and what is not?"

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii could feel the effects of his fairly bad dreams the next morning. Fortunately, he had had all night to sleep it off. He turned to the other members of his cell. "Well, aside from good morning, I think we should give our scroll to Sako or Kaoru. They can watch each other's backs while everyone else is fighting an opponent. That way we'll have less chance of losing the scroll if someone is incapacitated. Or Mori could put a bunch of plants around it and hide it somewhere, and we could come find it later, but that's a bit risky. Or better yet..." He looked at the scroll they had been given. "If anyone here is good at caligraphy..."

[Dante]

As Dou looked at the scroll they had, he turned to Kyasshu and Kyocho in turn.

"Right, what should we do with this? Some sneaky bugger might steal it off us if we display it too openly. And I trust you guys know how to kick ass, right? Because I haven't been practicing much on that..."

[phil_]

Chumaru looked at the scroll and sighed. What did he have to gain from this mission? Out of the blue, he asked his team, "What do you guys know about rouge-nins?" Taiju answered, "Why do you want to know? Besides, shouldn't we be planning?" Jikk took the scroll from Chumaru and hid it in his robes. "I'll protect the scroll. Now we need some way of finding the building in all those caves."

[Mr. Viewtiful]

Kyasshu noticed the questioning expressions on his teammates' faces (as well as the fact that they were indeed asking questions), and took action.

"Alright, men! HUDDLE!" he called out. Kyasshu then squatted down in his huddle position, waiting for the rest of his teammates.

[Dante]

"Right..."

Dou played along, even though he wasn't sure what his team-mate had in mind.

[Truce]

We're going inside the caves? Perfect, that's my speciality.

Kyocho immediately threw a few bags he had brought with him away, and what was left was four packs with smokebombs, soldier pills, kunai, and bandages. Then he made a couple seals, creating several packs of dirt in the shape of the scroll they had received and wrapped cloth around them. When he was done he tossed the fake scrolls to his teammates, and then slung one of his bags over his shoulder.

Then he turned around and smiled. "Let's just get going, okay? We don't want anyone beating us to the building now, do we?"

Truth be told, though, he just wanted to get the whole ordeal over before he had to face every girl he groped that morning. None of them had done anything like Sako had before...but then again, that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

[Mr. Viewtiful]

Kyasshu was about to comment on how he and Dou were the only cool people in their cell and how Istus and Kyocho were being stupid because of their ignorance of the awesome huddle formation when he was hit in the head with one of the scrolls.

"Let's just get going, okay? We don't want anyone beating us to the building now, do we?" Kyocho said.

Quickly recovering from his blunder of a catch, Kyasshu snatched the scroll and got up. "You heard the man! Let's go!" He then took two running steps, lost his balance, and faceplanted. "I meant to do that..." he groaned.

[Incendius]

Istus was staring sceptically at Kyasshu as Kyocho said "Let's just get going, okay? We don't want anyone beating us to the building now, do we?"

Istus caught the fake scroll in his hand. As he watched Kyasshu run forward, trip and fall he laughed. Walking over to Kyasshu Istus crouched down in front of him and said "Need any help there?"

[Aerozord]

"Ok guys this cave holds several elements so I will have a nice advantage. I think I should take point. I know alot about caves and their do's and dont's." He turned to the dark forbodding cave. It was true such a place was a part of his study. But something was off about this particular cavern. "Although this might not be the most original, it might be best to just wander for awhile. Get to know the cave in and out. Besides finding the building is pointless if we dont have the other scroll."

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Heibachii, no, even a cat can resist that kind of curiosity. We don't redo something fatal twice," Sako ordered sternly. She took the scroll and secured it on Kaoru by repositioning the konoha headband. It nestled comfortably in the crook of the large panther's neck.
"There, done. Let's get a move on, guys," she said, and took off down one of the large stone tunnels. The sulfur was already starting to irritate her, and she didn't want to stay in here for too long.

[phil_]

Taiju readied himself to go into the cave. He wouldn't have much space to fight in some of the tunnels. Quick stabs would have to make up most of his attacks. Hearing Sacho's suggestion of randomly wandering, he replied, "Maybe after we get a water scroll, we could follow another team to the building." He had whispered 'water' hoping no one would overhear what scroll they didn't have.

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii's expression turned from one of detatched contentment to one of dismal rejection in an instant. "What? Just because I make a couple of bad sugestions doesn't mean I was putting all my knowledge behind them. Thinking out loud, you know? Besides, if we made copies of the scrolls we could simply act like we don't want to fight, give another team the scroll, then surprise attack them. But then again, you already said my ideas were stupid so..." He said, body sinking lower and lower to the ground as he walked.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Oh, no need to get depressed over it," Sako snapped. Kaoru ruffled his fur and glared at Sako. She sighed, and the tension that she had been feeling before she came in drained from her body.
"I'm sorry, Hebachii. I just want to get this over and done with. The caves are suffocating, and make me feel caged. Kaoru," she turned to her partner, "can you locate the nearest team?"
"[Not with all this other smell. It's like I've got a cold or something. The stench of sulfur and burning rock is too big,]" he growled unhappily, and gave a couple of sneezes for emphasis. Sako sighed again.
"The smell around here are muffled by the smell of burning sulfur and melting rock. Me and Kaoru can't smell anything unless they're very close and haven't showered in three days."

[Mr. Viewtiful]

Kyasshu took Istus' hand. "Thanks, buddy." He jumped a bit as he was pulled up, putting less strain on Istus.

"So, what's the plan again? We'll need to get the other scroll before we get to the building, otherwise it won't make a difference in the end..." he muttered as he dusted himself off.

[Truce]

Kyocho tried to look into the cave, though he couldn't see anything worth noting. With a sigh, he turned to face his team again and sat down.

"It's tough making up a plan based on what we know...but I guess so long as nobody catches us by surprise, we should be alright. All we have to do is catch them first.

"By the way...do any of you know anything about the other teams?"

[Dante]

"So basically what you're saying is that we go ambush some other team and Take Their Stuff, and thus pass? We could always hole up in front of the building and deliver a gang-beating to whoever comes our way..."

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii nodded. "Yeah, the sulfer in here is making it a bit hard to breathe, so you probably shouldn't exert yourselves too hard, this stuff tends to get you tired easier, kind of like hiking in the mountains." He then had a slight shiver all over his body. "But... It is really warm..."

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Sako had an idea. She unwrapped a length of gauze cloth from her basic medical kit and damped it slightly with what precious water she had still on her. Then she wrapped it around her mouth and nose. The water in the gauze filtered out the sulfuric smell, causing it to stick to the gauze instead in a yellow stain that will soon be apparent after a while. Nevertheless, Sako could breath better now.
"Hebachii, Miso, Mori, do the same. Apply some water to some cloth and wrap it around your mouth and nose. It'll help get rid of the smell," she said as she fashioned a loose one for Kaoru, who put it on reluctantly. The panther did not like to restrict one of his weapons of mass destruction.

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii did so, instantly noticing that it was far easier to breathe. "Wow, thanks Sako. This does help a lot." He said, although his voice was muffled profusely. At the touch of the wet scarf, however, he remembered the cold, clammy hand that had wrapped around his throat the night before. His eyes widened and his breathing sped up a bit.

[IHateMakingNames]

Mori put on a mask as well.

----

At the exact time of 12:30 P.M, all of the examiners signaled the start of the second test.

[Incendius]

Istus rushed forward into the caves the arms of his robe billowing behind his back as he yelled to his teamates "Let us begin".

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Kaoru bounded ahead eagerly, and Sako moved foward at a more sedated pace.
"Allow single file, guys! Kaoru at the lead. He can spot dangers far better than anybody else," she called.

[phil_]

Taiju ran in first, but was pushed out of the lead by Chumaru. "I'll take point. You all follow." Taiju wasn't happy about being pushed back, but he didn't feel like doing anything about it. If he has to be like that, then let him. He's still useful to me. Jikkouchu pulled his ninjato to the ready, he'd be the first to attack if he heard or saw anything. "Remember," Jikk breathed, "if we see someone, we can't hold back. Even if we find that they have the same scroll, we can't attack with anything less than our all." Taiju fell back in formation to Jikk. "We don't have to attack everything we see. We should try talking if we can."

[Ryu Kurai]

Heibachii nodded, keeping a hand near his kunai knife, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. He was still a bit shaky from the thought of something wet and clammy around his neck, however.

[Truce]

"So basically what you're saying is that we go ambush some other team and Take Their Stuff, and thus pass? We could always hole up in front of the building and deliver a gang-beating to whoever comes our way..."

Kyocho thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "That would work. Of course, if we do spot someone -before- that, we could kinda...take them on then. Unless they're really big and scary."

And then, the examiner at their gate gave the signal, and Pyros dashed into the cave, calling for the rest of them to follow. Caught by surprise, Kyocho rushed to get up himself, and quickly followed Pyros into the cave.

"You know, I thought -I- was the eager one."

[Dante]

"Can't we stick him full of explosive tags and throw him into an enemy group or something?"

Dou shrugged and followed them, quickly molding chakra to turn invisible.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

Something else permeated the air around her, unable to be blocked by even the damp cloth on her mouth. She realised what it was immediately. Fear.

"Oh for the life of-- Hebachii! Will you stop worrying? I can smell your fear from here. What's wrong?"

[Aerozord]

Sacho lept in front. "Sorry guys but on this one I am taking the lead. My knowledge and techniques give me an edge in caves. I know how to navigate them and use them to my advantage. This cave has lave pools, lakes, mineral veins, and of course lots of earth. We can use it to our advantage, or let our enemies." He takes a few steps in. "Mother nature is a deadly force. I for one want her as an ally."

He begins heading into the cave. His chakra felt and melded with the elements in the cave. Never before has he felt so much ambient power. His entire body tingled. He happily thought to himself, "I read true masters can feel and manipulate the elements around them with true clarity. If a novice like me can feel it, this cave must truely be a mighty force that could crush the strongest foe and lead the weakest ally to victory." He took in a deep breath. "Well guys come on."

[phil_]

Chumaru wasn't happy about having Sacho take the lead from him. Sure, Sacho was probably the most talented in their team, but Chu had said he was taking the lead. Chumaru's brows slid together. No one ever respects me. Always treating me like a little kid. Mr. "I'm so dark and mysterious" may be older than me, but I'm the same age as everyone else. Chu's brow flattened again. He smiled and said, "Ok Sacho. I'm sure you know best."

Jikk raised an eyebrow at Chumaru. He'd seen Chu's unnatural facial expression and wondered what was wrong. He decided that he'd find out later. It didn't seem to be affecting his performance -- not yet anyway.