Arc Two, Chapter Seven: The First Night in No. 44

Aoi knelt down to a panting Hayato as the water from the stream crashed back to the ground, spraying them in a rain-like wave. She turned Hayato's body to look at his injuries. Senbon protruded out of multiple spots on his back. Aoi bit her lip. She had to take off his shirt to examine the injuries. As lightly as she could, she rose the shirt from his back. She noticed that there was no stickiness to the black piece of cloth, which meant that there might be no blood.

"Hayato, you still with me?" She kept her voice from shaking with surprising ease, beginning to roll his shirt over his head. "Mmm" a slight moan came from the raven-haired genin. She let a low sigh of relief escape her lips. This at least meant he was still alive. She pulled the shirt over his head and stopped.

She was right that there was no blood, but his whole back was.. black? No, that wasn't it, she realized; his whole back was covered by the same technique he used to construct the dome he placed Kaito and Aoi in. "Oh, thank god" Aoi flopped to the ground, wiping sweat from her face. As she stared at his back with slight curiosity, she turned her head to look for Kaito. She saw the snow-haired ninja clawing his way out of the stream that had recently took flight, and noticed something peculiar; his right arm warmer was glowing with a faint blue aura. She rose an eyebrow, but soon the hue was gone. It must have been her imagination...

"I-I'm okay," He wobbled over to his teammates, not able to hide the exhaustion from his voice. He dragged a boy—Yoshio, she remembered—by his collar behind him, and threw him to Aoi's side when he reached his teammates. Kaito sighed and flopped on his belly, laying his head on the ground with a soft thud.

"What happened to the girl?" Aoi's eyes scouted the area like a hawk in search of a mouse. "Uh, I dunno," Kaito mumbled, the words coming out a bit more sloppily than the genin thought. Aoi watched as his eyelids lowered slowly like the night was approaching more rapidly, "She kinda disappeared after the, uh, river rose." Kaito yawned.

"Yeah, what happened with to the river anyway?" Aoi began, "It just jumped—" She glanced back to her teammate to see his head rested on the ground, and his eyes fully closed, a soft snore rising from his partially opened mouth. She turned her head towards Hayato and saw that the black substance covering his back was beginning to chip away. "You okay, Hayato?" Aoi called quietly to the silent genin. After a brief moment of silence, he rose his head and nodded, calming his breath.

'Alright, good,' Aoi thought to herself, 'Thankfully, we made it in one piece...' Aoi's eyes slid over to Yoshio's unconscious body.

'And with a battle prize to tell the tale.'

. . .

Night's approach had come more swiftly than Team 12 had thought, and Hibiki had to find three other places before his Byakugan spotted no signs of trouble. Without extreme focused use of his Byakugan, his range of sight was about 496 meters in diameter, and even during this exam he was striving to reach those last 4 meters for 500. Jin and Kaori had come back from another session of scouting around his second relocation, and now Kaori was scouting for some food.

Hibiki had found his team a deserted cave full of cobwebs and a peculiar odor on the sides of the caves. The air inside was much more dry and humid than outside, and the further you ventured inside the cave the more the light ventured away from you. "Uhhh, it stinks in here," Jin moaned, squeezing his nose tightly and looking around the cave as if it were a dumpster full of only the vilest and nastiest of feces. "Ne, Hibiki-san, next time can you try and find a cave that doesn't smell like rotten meat? No, wait, dead fish mixed with piss. No wait, I can't even properly describe it! The damned scent seems to keep changing!"

"Haha, sorry Jin. It'll help if you stay away from walls." He offered empathetically, "This was the nearest place away from other teams, and also has no living creatures in it. Any that'd be harmful, at least."

"Harmful in what way?" He said tightly, "It's certainly not my way. Who knows what insects and creatures are hiding in this cave." He shivered.

"Oh?" Hibiki turned towards his friend, "You're not afraid of bugs are you?" He asked inquisitively, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Jin turned around with a mixed look of disbelief and anger across his face. "H-How dare you say that! Unlike you, I can't see in this god forsaken cave! What if there's some poisonous bug in here? You wouldn't know what they'd look like, ne?" He questioned the Hyuga in a challenging way.

Hibiki simply rose his hands up in a play of defeat, though he knew that there was a possibility that Jin couldn't see him with the engrossing darkness. "I unfortunately cannot tell the difference between a regular bug and a poisonous one. Isn't that why you're here?"

Jin folded his arms across his chest, the corner of his lip curling into a sly grin. "You know it! Yours truly, Jin the Poison Expert, is here to protect you not only from the common cold, but from the most dangerous of venom and poison!" He thrusted a thumb towards himself, suddenly back in good spirits at the mention of one of his talents.

This made Hibiki smile. He thought about how people said, before Hibiki knew Jin well, that Jin and his habit of speaking what was on the top of his head could get even the priests of Sunagakure to curse him out in a flurry of rage, but Hibiki didn't see it. He never really said or did anything with bad intentions, in the Hyuga's eyes. Hibiki didn't think that Jin was challenging his intellect when he asked about his knowledge on poison, but just a question asked in the wrong tone.

"I can only see so much in this cave, though..." Jin mumbled to himself.

"And that's why you have me, right?" He smiled. Jin turned around and grinned back at the statement, thinking that turning around would hide from his grin from the Hyuga's sight. "Yeah yeah, man," Jin sighed, "Whatever."

"You still have the fire wood, right?" Hibiki bent over, throwing rocks out of the way for where he wanted the fire to be made. He made careful to make sure the rocks didn't land on the pile of leaves that Hibiki wove together by kunai and wire to form a sheet of sorts in case Jin and Kaori wanted to sleep closer to the cave's entrance than he had liked. The light from the fire would be seen easier if they were closer, so, instead of the five sheets he had prepared, he made 6 more sheets (with the help of Kaori before she left to look for food with Goremaru) to have a total of 11. He planned to spread the sheets out instead of stacking them in front of each other, thinking that this might be more effective.

"Yeah, it's riiight here," He brought over the last pile of wood, setting them near Hibiki's feet, "Ne, when should I start the fire?" He said a little too eagerly, ready to flaunt his skills off again. I guess you could say people weren't necessarily wrong when they said Jin had quite the ego on him...

"In a bit. I think we might wait until Kaori comes back." he pulled a large rock over and swiped his hand over the top, sending tiny insects flying off as he took a seat. "Aren't you going to sit down?"

Jin looked around the inside of the cave uneasily before shaking his head no. "I'll pass..." Jin scrunched his nose in disgust, a faint breeze blowing another whiff of the cave's insides up his nostrils.

Hibiki smiled. 'Guess this is the camping Jin wanted for so long...'

. . .

All the harmoniously rich chirping of the birds ceased as the rubbing of the cricket's wings rung out like a church bell from everywhere in the forest, the soft breeze of the night stirring the leaves of the tree where Takehiro sat perched upon its mighty branch. He stared at the moon as its light bathed the forest, the sight being an almost hypnotic trance the longer he stared. Peering closely, he realized it wasn't a full moon. In two to three days, perhaps, it would be. This made him think about what he would be doing in two days.

'In two days...' Takehiro thought, 'We'll be in here for a whole 3 days... Then we'll have two more to go.' Takehiro unconsciously took a kunai out and began twirling it, spinning it expertly between his fingers before flinging it up in the air, catching it with his other hand, and repeating the cycle.

The wistful thoughts, however, became bitter ones as he thought about Emi, and how his teammate's condition could worsen. Why was she so stubborn? Why couldn't she just give up the challenge? Doesn't she realize that her life is more important than a stupid test? And what's with the sudden change in character and eye color anyway?

But that wasn't all. She wasn't the only one who was acting out of character.

Ren was also acting strangely also.

Ever during that first battle with that red head, he was strange. He wasn't the same cool-headed guy during battle like he was before. Usually the battle goes as this: Takehiro provides weapons to whomever may need them, Emi then assigns roles and strategy to Ren and Takehiro, and then said ninjas would carry them out. During battles he's usually cool and calm, which Takehiro thought went along smoothly with his wind chakra nature.

But no, this battle was different.

After a while, Ren got mad. And after he got mad, he was more reckless in a way. His wind moves weren't as precise before, which was understandable. He was injured, and Takehiro knew that the injury could have changed the way Ren reacted to the battle. But why... Why didn't Ren object to taking Emi back before she regained consciousness? Takehiro knew that he shouldn't be the only one who was more concerned with his teammate than this Exam, so why did Ren object?

Something was fishy, Takehiro realized, something that's causing Ren to act differently. Was this really Ren? Or did that guy (Takehiro was never one for remembering names, or remembering anything for that matter) switch with Ren somewhere in-between the fight?

Or maybe this was all in his head.

Maybe he was just mad at Emi for being stubborn, and changing so differently, in a bipolar-like fashion. Either way, he needed to stop thinking about it. The most important thing was that they needed to find whomever's team (again, can't remember names that well) and get the antidote, and who's to say that the antidote would even work for this type of poison?

"Gah!" He spoke aloud, the kunai slipping from his fingers and disappearing into the branches and shadows below. "Aww man..." He sighed as it fell, raising his head to stare back at the moon whose gaze shone ever so brightly.

'Yeah,' Takehiro decided, 'It's all probably in my head. I'll probably forget all about it tomorrow.' He tried to convince himself.

But something at the back of his mind just kept picking at it...

"Takehiro!" Ren appeared by the brunette, his green hair resembling a similar shade to the leaves behind him, "It's my shift first. You know that, right? Shouldn't you go get some sleep?"

Takehiro opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and closed it, deciding against it. "Alright, man," He said, "Aren't we sleeping on branches, though?"

"I think it's safer than on the ground. We're pretty high up, and I carved in the branches up higher where we're gonna sleep. You'll see it when you reach it." He bobbed his head up, presumably where their tree branch makeshift beds were made. It was pretty hard to believe that the trees here we so huge, this one not being the tallest but not even at the top of the tree you got a perfect view of the night sky. Takehiro nodded and stood up.

"Oh, and here." Ren held out his hand, a familiar kunai catching the moon's eye, "I grabbed this while coming back up. Thought this was yours."

Takehiro smiled. "Thanks, Ren. Come and get me when it's my shift."

There was an awkward silence as he saw Ren prepare for Takehiro to crack a joke, but no joke came. Takehiro just had too much on his mind to tell one of his night-time jokes.

"Uh, sure thing." Ren nodded.

And with that, Takehiro shunshined away, bringing his doubts and worries along with him.

. . .

Kaori had returned to the cave later than expected. In fact, she had gotten so lost that she required the aid of her dark gray pup to show her the way to come back. "Thanks Gore-san" she pet the dog as it was making its slow stride to the cave. He licked her hand as if to say "No problem!"

She peered into the cave and saw a wall of darkness darker than the surrounding shadows. "Uh, is this the right cave..?" Kaori wondered aloud.

Suddenly a green-haired head poked out. "Ne, what took you so long?" Jin glared, a tick mark appearing on his forehead. Kaori held up a large bag of berries and three canteens full of water. "Does it matter when I have everything we need?" She smiled mischievously.

Jin sweatdropped and placed his head back in the void of black. Kaori and Goremaru followed, and got a face full of leaves and dirt. "Uck, what is this?"

"We placed some leaf sheets. You can squeeze through them by the side." Kaori heard Hibiki's voice from the back of the cave. She guessed that Jin had used his amulet to cast a genjutsu on the front entrance, disguising the front to make it seem like a bottomless pit of darkness. Meanwhile, in the inside, a faint yellowish glow could be seen, even from the front of the sheets they had placed. As Kaori slid across the walls—Oh Kami how the walls stunk, and it was even worse for an Inuzuka clan member—and saw they spaced out the sheets, the glow growing brighter each sheet she passed.

She finally reached her teammates to see Hibiki perched on a big rock and Jin standing with his arms crossed, pacing back and forth while glancing around nervously. Goremaru pranced around before going to nestle against Hibiki's leg. He glanced up from the fire and reached down to pet the dog.

"Hi Kaori. Hi Goremaru" the Hyuga smiled warmly.

"Hey Hibiki-chan. Who started the fire?" Kaori looked at the ground before gently sitting down, crossing her legs and placing an elbow on her thigh. She rested her head on her hand as Hibiki pointed towards Jin with his free hand. "Uh," Kaori rose an eyebrow, giving a worried expression, "What's up with him?"

"Oh, I think he doesn't like insects or something." Hibiki said, though it didn't really sound like he was paying attention, picking up Goremaru with both hands and making playful faces at the happily panting dog. Kaori was shocked at what an animal person Hibiki was. He wasn't just good with her dog; he was good with birds, wild deer, heck, the guy just seemed in-tune with nature!

"W-who said that? Certainly not I, the handsome-W-WOAH, WHAT WAS THAT?" Jin backed away, thrusting a shaking finger towards something that had already crawled back into the shadows.

"How can you be a ninja yet afraid of bugs?" Kaori deadpanned.

"S-shut up, Kaori! I'm not afraid of anything, you mutt-loving witch!" Jin glared daggers at her. "Eh?! Don't insult my dog, you animal-hating poison freak!" Kaori retorted in anger.

"I'm not an animal hater, you bloodhound owning bastard!" Jin shouted, leaning in and pointing a finger in Kaori's face.

"That's not even his breed you jewelry wielding jackass! Guess who isn't eating tonight, because I have the food!" Kaori held up the bag of berries intimidatingly, her eyes glaring a burning challenge in them.

"Fuck your damned berries, they probably taste like shit anyway!" Jin glared back just as intensely, and lightning began clashing between the two.

"Uh, can't we all get along, guys?" Hibiki sweatdropped, raising the small pup up in hopes that he'd get the two to calm down, "I think we're all just a little tense and could use some sleep."

"Tsk!" Jin walked back to the fire, mumbling curses and insults under his breath. His scowl look even more intensified in the glow of the fire, his brown skin and green hair seeming more defined. Kaori glanced at Hibiki and saw that his skin gleamed brightly also, and that he was developing a slight tan which contrasted greatly with his once nearly pale, white skin he had in the academy. From the little Hyuuga clan members she saw, they all seemed near the paler side. Kaori guessed that all the missions they had to do outdoors pushed Hibiki towards the tan side.

Kaori sighed to herself. She wondered if she had changed a bit since she graduated the academy. Here in front of her she had what all her female classmates stated as "Eye candy for days" while all the boys were daydreaming about girls like Aoi. Kaori wondered how she looked compared to them and if she were considered cute or not...

She sighed again and ran a hand through her ponytail. "Well, we've still got this food." She offered to Hibiki.

"Hm? Sure!" he let the dog down and walked over to grab a handful of berries. "Mmm, these are good! ..hey, is there something on my face or something?"

Kaori blushed, realizing she had been staring. "Nothing!" Kaori said as she began to pet Goremaru in her lap. She sighed once more to herself. 'At first I thought being a ninja meant I would have a ninja boyfriend... I can't be preoccupied now, though! Now is my chance to shine and become a chunin! And I won't let some petty "romance" get in the way!'

. . .

Kaito woke up with a start, narrowly missing Hayato's head as his arms flailed out. "Wh-what? What's going on?" Kaito looked around, and saw Aoi on the ground, using her hands as a substitute for a pillow and lightly dozing off. They were under something huge and dark, light peeping in through cracks and holes, and some large slits that were along the corners of the area. He looked at Hayato and could see his weariness even in the dark.

Kaito yawned, stretching his body out like a cat, and glanced back to the raven-haired genin. "Where are we?"

After a moment of silence, Hayato finally replied "Under a tree."

Kaito blinked at this, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Mmm. Where's that Yoshi guy?"

Hayato's arm pointed somewhere leftwards, but the corner he pointed at seemed even darker than the rest, so Kaito just nodded and acted like he could see him. "Ah... ok. Why'd you wake me up?" Kaito kept glancing at the cracks and saw the stream of water, and was more than tempted to go outside and swim, if not try and do whatever he did on top of it. That ski thing was pretty cool!

There was another moment of silence before Hayato responded again, saying only "Watch duty" before going back to sleep.

"Oh, okay..." Kaito said, a small hint of dejection in his tone. Hayato seemed like he didn't want to talk. And sure, a week or two before Kaito wouldn't have a second thought about the guy not talking. Hayato usually never talked! It wasn't ever the case of him being shy either, it was just him not talking!

But lately, he had begun saying more things, and it was honestly a bit shocking. Regardless though, even if they weren't complete sentences, the bits and phrases he would say would make Kaito (probably even Aoi and Sora) smile a bit, because he was engaging in conversation. He didn't want Hayato to go back to being all quiet. He had come too far for that!

Before Kaito could say something to him about it, Hayato had already gone asleep. Kaito blinked again before sitting up straight and staring into the distance. Hearing the nice and gentle flow of the stream was soothing, and he yearned to go outside and test some water skills. But no; one of the few things his.. father had instilled in him was his knowledge as a Shinobi! It was a brief time but...

Splash!

Kaito's eyes shot back open, shooting from left to right. Another splash, and he saw a fish jump into the air, wiggle a bit, then splash back into the ocean.

"Mmm..." Kaito mumbled, "Stupid fish. Hmph, I need to wake up!" Kaito smacked his face a couple of times, the stings making him more aware of his surroundings. That could've easily been an enemy, like that Suiren girl or the Hikaru guy. Those guys must have done this exam a couple of times... The fight with them, though dangerous and scary at the time, was electrifying to say the least!

The thought of the battle made Kaito glance at his arm warmers. That thing with the stream of water was weird. Could it have been caused by these things on his arm? There was a warm sensation on them, he remembered. Staring at the metal-plated cloth, he imagined the weaving of the metal was like a stream, and that the tiny little emblem-like dragonhead in the center of each warmer were the ones his mother would tell him in nighttime stories she would tell during his childhood. He could have sworn that what happened to the stream was the arm warmer's work.

'It couldn't have been me...' Kaito thought, 'Could it?'

He shook his head. Maybe it was just his imagination!

Staring at the stream's reflection and at the night sky, Kaito sighed to himself a bit.

"How much longer until we can see each other," Kaito whispered under his breath, "Mom... Dad..."