"We'll just have to avoid those guys, then." I stand up, pocketing the scrolls. "Anyway, come on. We might not have been the only team to notice this fight, and I'd rather not get hit with a taste of my own medicine."
She takes back the lead without another word, running back off into the forest, and I begrudgingly follow her. Something tells me this is going to be a long week.
...
By the time the sun dips below the trees we still haven't found any other competitors to jump, and we're both pretty winded. We, and by we I mean Samui, decide on a hollow left behind by an uprooted mammoth tree as our rest stop for the night. The roots hang over us from dozens of feet above, a protective shroud from the other genin. I collapse into a sitting position, sighing in relief and rummaging through my pockets for a rations bar.
"So no fire, I'm guessing?" I ask, tearing open the packaging and shoving half the thing straight into my mouth.
"No."
"Alright." I lean back against the dirt wall of the natural crater. "So, now's as good a time as any to come up with a game plan, yeah? We covered a ton of ground today, so we probably don't have far to go until we hit the finish line. We just need to get an Honor scroll and find the place. You wanna set some traps, try and ambush someone?"
"Do you have the supplies for that?"
"Point. Just have to keep looking, I guess. That should be fine, since there are like a thousand people competing." I take another bite out of my bar, humming. "I'm actually kind of surprised we only ran into those two teams today. You'd think we'd have at least heard some other stuff going on with how many people there are."
"The majority of the teams didn't move forward like we did," Samui says, sitting down herself and pulling her tanto out, setting it on her lap. "They moved laterally in the hopes that they might catch other teams off guard from the start. I wouldn't be surprised if a quarter of the competition was wiped out in the initial bloodbath."
My breath catches in my throat. A quarter of the genin. I drop my rations bar in the dirt, appetite suddenly gone as thoughts of my teammates whirl around in my head.
"Good thing we got out of there," I say weakly. She pulls out a small cloth and runs it along her sword, silent. I shake my head, shutting away the thoughts of my teammates dead and discarded in some stupid forest somewhere. No use doubting them now. All I can do is trust in their abilities as shinobi, and hope I see them at the next task.
"Okay, I'll take the first watch," I say. "I can wake you up a little after midnight, and we'll head out around-"
"I will take the first watch."
I groan. "Are you kidding me? Do you really have to contradict every single thing I say? You can't be that mad that I ogled you. I said I was sorry!"
"It's not that," she says, rolling her eyes. "It's because I don't trust you."
"… You know I can say the exact same thing, right?" I ask.
"You can. And we can see how long we last with no sleep," she says calmly, stroking her tanto. "Or you can allow me to take the first watch as a gesture of faith, which I will return by allowing you to take the second watch."
I consider the kunoichi for a while. My partner. "You've got some control issues, don't you?"
She shrugs.
"Fine, you can have the first watch. We're going to have a little talk about respect when I'm not so tired, though. This crap isn't going to fly." I lay down on my side, grumbling to myself. "And maybe if you were wearing an actual shirt I wouldn't stare at your tits."
It doesn't take me long to fall asleep. Despite the concern for my teammates and the wariness for my partner I'm feeling, I really am beat. Plus, this soil is really comfortable. Twice as soft as that couch back at the hotel. Who'd have guessed?
I fall asleep amidst the smell of the forest and the sound of cloth whispering against steel.
...
It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, and the weather is warm. The tangy scent of the sea mingles with the smell of fresh food, and the waves lap against my legs in a gentle rhythm. I haven't visited this place in over a year, and as soon as I had set foot upon its shores I had realized I'd missed it.
It's a comfortable place, where I have friends. The only such place I have left.
"You want me to hide?"
An old man sits on his knees in front of me, his legs drawn beneath him. He's dressed in dark red robes that would match his long hair if it weren't gray with age. There are wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but his eyes, blue as the sea around me, shine as bright as the first day I met him.
He nods. "You've done more than enough," he says, his voice soft yet commanding. A leader's voice. "When we finish piecing things together, we'll find you. But for now, I don't think it's wise to continue moving out in the open."
"And why is that?" I ask, amused. "Who do I have to fear?"
"The Great Hidden Villages are beginning to adapt," he says. "They are not cowed by the Bijuu as they once were. They have begun to fight back, and their aim is not to kill. It is to subdue. If they ever manage to take one of the tailed beasts as their own, this world will become a dangerous place for everyone. Even you."
I consider the old, deceptively frail looking man. "What brought this on?"
"A Second Great Shinobi War."
I growl. "No. They wouldn't dare."
"They will. Sooner rather than later. And they're looking for weapons. Iwa, Kumo, Suna- Even Konoha, now that Hashirama has passed, may the six paths save his soul."
"I won't let them," I say.
He looks up at me. "You are very strong, Kurama. But you are one, and the hidden villages are many. And they are not the only danger to you right now."
Once, in a time long past, I would have felt anticipation at those words. Now I only feel weary. "How do you know?"
"I can feel it in my blood," he says. I can't decide whether it's the truth, or one of his terrible, terrible jokes. "This evil that we're racing against. It could wake at any time, in any shape, if it was ever dormant in the first place. You've already given us the knowledge you have. You can't afford to risk yourself anymore while we search for the rest.
"Because if it wakes before then, and it devours you, we are all doomed."
...
My eyes snap open, sensation rushing into me from all five senses in an instant as the crimson dream violently catapults me back into the land of the living. The low thrumming sound of nocturnal birds, cats, and other animals that I can't identify. The smell of wet dirt, trees, and sweat. The repulsive aftertaste of my rations bar. The feel of the ground beneath me, soft and comfortable.
The sight of Samui above me, tanto held high over her head.
Something that's half gasp and half shout dies in my throat, and I roll to the side, grabbing my sheath off the ground as I do so. I leap to my feet, tearing my blade free from its sheath. Samui slides back a step, startled. Despite the darkness still hanging in the air, I can see her surprise crystal clear.
It's a strange aftereffect of the dreams. When I first wake up, there's this period of vividness to the world that usually makes me sick after the horrific things I've just been dreaming that I can't shake for hours. It's one of my least favorite parts of the dreams. Or was. I don't feel nauseous right now. Just unsettled.
Oh, and pissed.
"What the fuck was that?" I snarl, building a fine layer of compressed chakra along the edge of my blade, just in case. My partner shakes her head slowly, lowering her blade so that it's held out in front of her like mine. She doesn't drop it, though. Or sheath it.
"You frightened me," she says. I bare my teeth at her.
"Frightened you enough to try to kill me in my sleep?"
She hesitates, grasping for something to say. "You were growling like an animal. And you were talking, but it wasn't any language I've ever heard before. It was… unsettling."
"That's bullshit," I say flatly. "And even if it were true it wouldn't justify offing me." She doesn't respond, and I grip my tanto tighter. "You planned this. You planned to kill me. Why?"
Silence. "How could killing me be worth disqualifying yourself? What did I do to warrant that?"
"I wouldn't be disqualified," she murmurs, so quiet I almost don't pick it up even in my state of hyper awareness. My eyes narrow.
"How do you figure?"
"The plan was to dispose of you and find someone from Kumo who had done the same to their partner, and finish the task with them." She bites her lip, a gesture that would look just as cute on her as it does on Sakura if I weren't so furious with her. "The proctors obviously don't care if we deviate from the partners we were assigned. The only records of the teams are the slips of paper we drew."
"What if that's what they want you to think?" I press, jabbing my sword. "What if that isn't what the point of this test is at all? Why take the risk instead of just working with me for a few days?"
...
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