Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Chunin ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

 

“OK, I assume we all remember how this works. You have five and a half hours to get these three bells from me using any means at your disposal. Teamwork and killing intent are essential but that goes without saying.”

 

“Um… Asuma Sensei, you won't be using those trench knives, will you?” stammered Choji.

 

“Only to fend off your attacks,” replied Asuma. “Ino, I must say, I've rarely seen you look so glum.”

 

“Oh, it's nothing,” she replied. “I just remember how much easier it was the first time we did this. All Choji and I had to do was take the time to force you to move within range of Shikamaru and his shadow got you. We had those bells in three hours.”

 

“Don't worry,” said Sakura. “Just pretend we're in another training drill. Focus on the goal and how each person is capable of contributing, just like Lady Tsunade's always saying.”

 

“Wow, you're pretty calm considering this is all for your fate,” said Ino.

 

“Well if we can't pull this off then as far as I'm concerned I don't even deserve to participate in the exams this time around.”

 

Asuma cleared his throat and grinned. “While you were busy talking, it turned six o'clock. It's now officially on, folks.” And with that he quickly formed a series of hand signs. A strong gust of wind spewed forth from the general area where he was standing and before anyone could react the gust immediately became so strong that it sent Ino and Sakura flying backwards. Choji reacted immediately. He doubled his body size and used his chakra to make his feet grip the ground.

 

“Partial expansion!”

 

He used his newly elongated arms to grab Ino and Sakura before they were blown away from him entirely. Using his brute strength, he pulled the two closer to himself. The wind was so intense that the three couldn't even keep their eyes open. This was exactly what Asuma had hoped for. As quickly as the wind had kicked up, it suddenly died down and vanished. But so had Asuma. When the three opened their eyes, he was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Oh great,” growled Sakura. “Some medic shinobi you and I turned out to be!”

 

“Hey! Just what exactly are you implying?” hollered Ino in response.

 

“How many times did Lady Tsunade warn us `Never, ever close your eyes in a battle'. And now we have and he's flown the coop. Had he been an enemy he could have attacked us.”

 

The three of them looked around at their surroundings. They were in a glen a few miles north of the village which was entirely surrounded by woods. It was six in the morning on a winter's day and thus the sun was not yet up so visibility was low.

 

“It's hard enough to take the bells off a Jonin when they stay in one spot,” complained Choji. “And now he wants to play hide and seek. He's upped the ante a wee bit.”

 

“Well yeah,” replied Ino. “This time we're trying to become Chunin. Last time we were only aiming to keep Genin status. This time he won't go so easy on us. Sakura, did Lady Tsunade teach you how to summon slugs yet? We could use some assistance if we have to go searching for him.”

 

Sakura shook her head. “Sorry, we haven't gotten that far yet. But we may be able to make a good guess as to where he went. He didn't pass us, that's for sure. His own jutsu would have caught him. He must have gone north. The woods thin out to the northeast and northwest so odds are he went due north. And we know he has to be back in the Village by noon so he won't wander too far north. My guess is, he's nearby. He has to be. If he strayed too far, he could end up in foreign territory and that's a big no-no.”

 

“Alright Sakura! I knew that big brain of yours would come in handy for something.”

 

“Uh, he could have gone east or west,” said Choji.

 

Sakura nearly slapped herself for not realizing that. “If he did that, he might already have slipped behind us to the south. It would make sense. He could be anywhere.”

 

Suddenly something dawned on Ino. “Sakura, which way is the prevailing wind blowing?”

 

“Southwest. Why do you ask?”

 

“Then I bet he went that way. West first, then south. He wouldn't want the smell of his cigarette smoke to float in our direction and tip us off. He's too compulsive to not smoke even if it did risk giving him away.”

 

“Ino, he's a Jonin. I'm sure he has enough self-restraint not to… What are you two laughing at?”

 

“Sorry, Sakura, but you just don't know Asuma Sensei like we do,” replied Choji with a laugh. “He'll smoke at least half a pack before the deadline.”

 

The three of them took to the treetops and headed southwest. The darkness would have made it impossible to look for a trail and Asuma would be more than clever enough not to leave one anyway. They had gone maybe a mile when they encountered a section of forest where the upper tree limbs had all been sawed off.

 

“Sheesh, looks like he thought of everything,” grumbled Choji.

 

“Well, looks like we're going to have to follow him on the ground,” said Sakura. All three descended to the ground below. “Now we'll have to be very careful. It's much easier down here to leave a booby… TRRAAAAPPP!!!”

 

At that very moment Sakura, Ino, and Choji fell right into a booby trap a second year academy student could have spotted. It was a wide and deep hole in the ground that had been covered with a layer of sticks and concealed with a bed of dead leaves. And as a special surprise bonus…

 

“Ew! What is this?!” hollered Sakura.

 

“Ohmigosh, omigosh! IT'S IN MY HAIR!” screamed Ino.

 

“A hole full of horse manure,” grumbled Choji. “Very cute.”

 

“Oh that's it! He messed with the wrong bitch! I'm gonna take those trench knives of his and shove them up his ass!” Ino stood up and climbed out of the pit with fire in her eyes. Choji and Sakura followed suit. “Of all the mean-spirited, sadistic, and downright pointless things to do…”

 

“Ino,” interrupted Choji, “It may well have been mean-spirited and sadistic but hardly pointless. It will make it harder for us to sniff out his cigarette smoke if we're covered in crap and make it easier for him to smell us out before we can get close to him. Remember, the wind is blowing towards his direction.”

 

“Yeah,” answered Sakura. “And my fist is gonna be heading in his direction too. Come on, Ino! Let's find him and tear him apart! CHA!”

 

“Right behind you, Sakura!” hollered Ino.

 

“Wait, both of you.”

 

Ino and Sakura shot Choji a dirty look but he was not intimidated.

 

“Look, if you two abandon strategy and go off half-cocked just because he ruffled our feathers a little…”

 

“A little?!” said Ino in disbelief.

 

“Choji, we're covered in horse shit!” growled Sakura.

 

“And if you two lose your heads he'll simply have more fun with you, you'll end up covered in whatever other gross things that he's already thought up, and by noon we'll fail. Now look, there's a creek over there and beyond that is a trading post. I bet they sell soap there.”

 

“Hope they sell new outfits too,” grumbled Sakura.

 

“And have a beauty salon,” added Ino.

 

“At least we know from this little trap that we headed in the right direction,” said Choji. “Now that we've gotten close, how do we find him and surprise him? Now that is the essential question.”

 

“Just leave that to me,” replied Ino.

 

---

 

Asuma was about half a mile ahead and was setting another booby trap. This one involved rubber snakes that would fall out of a concealed net. Ino was terrified of snakes. He only wished he could have seen the look on her face when she'd fallen into the pit he'd dug.

 

Just then a hawk swooped down and grabbed up one of Asuma's rubber snakes in its talons. It landed on a nearby branch and began to pick at it.

 

“Sorry pal, but that's not real food,” said Asuma with a grin as he lit a cigarette. The hawk paid him no mind and continued pick at the rubber snake. “Suit yourself.” Asuma finished his trap, extinguished and buried his cigarette and took off, now bearing southeast directly towards the village. The hawk dropped the rubber snake and flew off due north. Suddenly it landed on a branch and looked very confused and disoriented. Ino's Mind Transfer Justsu had worn off and the hawk had no idea what had just happened to it. But now Ino knew exactly where their target had gone. The three of them had indeed gone to the trading post to buy soap and new clothes. They were also lucky enough to find a bathhouse nearby. Bathing in a freezing cold river in December would have been most unpleasant to say the least. Probably not fatal, as circulating massive amounts of chakra through the body can keep someone warm, but certainly unpleasant. They were down to their last two hours and they intended to make those two hours count.

 

“Oh man, all this cost us a fortune,” moaned Choji. “Not one RyÅ left for food, either.”

 

“I'm more worried about the time it cost us,” replied Ino. “But we had to do it if we want to catch him.”

 

“On the plus side, he's ours now,” said Sakura.

 

---

 

“I'm sorry, sir,” said the ferry boat conductor. “The motor is having problems. I can't take you across the river until it's fixed.”

 

“Do you know how long that will take?” asked Asuma. “I need to be in the Hidden Leaf Village in the next two hours.”

 

“Oh, I doubt I'll have it fixed by then,” replied the conductor.

 

“Well, thanks anyway.” Asuma took a look at the river. It was wide and the current was strong but probably not too much for him to handle. He walked down the bank a few hundred yard to a narrower spot and prepared himself to apply chakra to the soles of his feet and try to walk across. Just then a rope javelin came flying out from behind him. He dodged quickly enough to avoid being impaled by its point but not quickly enough to avoid having the rope wrap around him.

 

“Gotcha!” hollered Choji. He grabbed the rope and reeled in Asuma towards himself with as much speed and force as possible. “So, I'd say you owe us for that little horse crap stunt, Sensei.”

 

Suddenly, Asuma turned into a log. The real Asuma sprang out of the ground behind Choji and pinned him to the ground.

 

“And I'D say you ought to know better than to fall for a simple substitution jutsu, Choji.” Asuma jumped off of Choji and out of the way just in time to avoid Sakura who came flying at him from out of a nearby bush. “Ah, so glad you could make it too. Now… let's see… we're missing one. Ah yes, here we go.” He leaped to one side just in time to dodge Ino's Mind Transfer Jutsu. Ino's helpless body slumped to the ground.

 

“Damn!” Sakura could not hide her disappointment.

 

“Oh, cheer up, Sakura,” mocked Asuma. “You still have me outnumbered by one. I suppose I should congratulate you three on coming together as a team and actually finding me. But you won't get so much as an approving nod unless you get these.” He pulled out the bells for all to see.

 

Sakura and Choji prepared to go on the offensive. Choji placed himself between Asuma and the river and Sakura placed herself between him and the woods. His escape paths were essentially cut off. Sakura made the first move. Her fists glowed with chakra as she swung at Asuma with all her might. He was able to dodge. She immediately dropped down to kick out his legs from underneath him but not only did he jump over the kick, but he jumped over her completely and made for the woods.

 

“Oh no you don't!” hollered Choji. “Full expansion!” Choji became a giant and attempted to jump on top of Asuma. At the last possible second, Asuma blasted a large hole in the ground in front of him with a paper bomb and jumped inside in order to avoid an imminent crushing. Without the curry pill, Choji's jutsu wore off too quickly. He shrank to his normal size and Asuma easily picked himself out of the hole.

 

“OK, my turn,” said Asuma. He began to rotate his body very quickly, tossing out kunai rapidly as he turned. Choji jumped behind a large rock and Sakura did her best to dodge and to bat them out of the air. Choji picked up the boulder he was hiding behind and tossed it at Asuma. Out came the trench knives and Asuma easily cut it to bits in mid-air. Sakura began forming hand signs and immediately Asuma could tell she was about to attempt a genjutsu. He casually tossed a flash bang in her direction to disrupt her. She was nearly deafened and blinded by the explosion.

 

“HA!” Choji had moved surprisingly fast and had caught Asuma off guard while he was dealing with Sakura. He tossed Asuma over his head. Had it been a judo match, Choji would have scored an ippon right there and then. The two of them wrestled around on the ground while Choji desperately tried to grab the bells. Choji had the strength advantage and was comparable in size but Asuma's knowledge of taijutsu techniques gave him the overall advantage. It frustrated Choji beyond words.

 

Asuma reversed Choji, put him in a full nelson, and then looked around quickly. Sakura still hadn't recovered from the flash bang, Ino was still out like a light, and Choji was in no position to fight him now. He threw Choji over his shoulder and made a break for the river. All of the sudden he stopped running, smiled, turned back and walked over to Choji. He reached inside his pocket, pulled out the bells and handed them to a stunned Choji.

 

“Sensei, I… I can't take these. We have to earn them.”

 

“And earn them we did.”

 

“We?”

 

All of the sudden he realized what was happening. He wasn't speaking to Asuma. He was speaking to Ino. She had only pretended to cast her jutsu earlier. When Asuma made a break for the river she used it for real.

 

Choji began to laugh. “Hey Ino, think you can hold him long enough for us to find some horse crap and toss him in it face-first?”

 

“No, but I can hold him long enough for you to toss him in that river.”

 

Choji looked over at the freezing water. “I dunno. That's kind of mean.” No sooner had the words left his lips than a very ticked off looking Sakura walked up, grabbed Asuma's possessed body and threw him in. Almost immediately, Ino re-entered her real body and stood up.

 

“Hey! Give me a chance to leave him first! That was cold!”

 

They turned towards the water and watched a cold and sputtering Asuma pull himself out and back onto dry land.

 

“Um, so I guess we're even for the whole manure thing, huh?”

 

Ino and Sakura exchanged glances.

 

“Nah!” they said in unison and pushed him back in.

 

End Chapter 2

 

© 2009 Joseph Kerner

 

Disclaimer: Naruto is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto