Jinsei Lee
Member
~~~~~~~~~AUTHOR'S NOTES~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, I know it's the same day as my last chapter, but I had a few hours before work and was really bored. I'm still working on trying to figure out the spacing for these chapters.
These were originally posted on my old myspace account (how long ago was that?) which allowed paragraph formatting - at least at the time it did. I apologize that it's an eye-sore and I'll warn you, chapters may be a tad longer in the future. Though they usually follow the same flow.
Edit: Nevermind! I've figured it out! It still looks rather full, but at least it's somewhat easier on the eyes.
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CHAPTER THREE: DORYOKU SURU! GANBATTE!
Yeah, I know it's the same day as my last chapter, but I had a few hours before work and was really bored. I'm still working on trying to figure out the spacing for these chapters.
These were originally posted on my old myspace account (how long ago was that?) which allowed paragraph formatting - at least at the time it did. I apologize that it's an eye-sore and I'll warn you, chapters may be a tad longer in the future. Though they usually follow the same flow.
Edit: Nevermind! I've figured it out! It still looks rather full, but at least it's somewhat easier on the eyes.
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CHAPTER THREE: DORYOKU SURU! GANBATTE!
("Make an effort! Good Luck!")
___Kanako was hiding in a group of shrubs, watching the main path in front of her, keeping her eyes fixed on the path. She was waiting for any sign of life to move on the path while her pale hands inched closer towards the group of threads tied around the stick. Droplets of sweat began to drip down her forehead before falling off and landing on the grass below her. When this happened, a few blades of grass turned black, dying.
___Kanako momentarily looked down at the dying grass. Those golden-yellow hues softened some and a frown formed over her lips. Kanako returned her attention to the path in front of her and those eyes widened and her body tensed.
___Saiounji had finally appeared on the path and was casually walking down it. Kanako's eyes shifted from Saiounji to a twig that laying in the middle of the path, then back to Saiounji. Her hand trembled above the threads tied around the stick beside her as she waited for the right moment. Kanako watched carefully while Saiounji stepped closer and closer to that twig.
___"Now? No... a little further. Now! No. Just slightly more." Kanako thought to herself, her hand inching closer and closer to the group of threads and pulling away. She continued this pattern, waiting for Saiounji to get to the perfect spot.
___Kanako's eyes widened and tears began to form. The golden-yellow hues glanced downwards to spot that kunai presented in front of her neck. Her slender body was trembling and her hand lowered to the ground. Saiounji's body slowly formed into grass and blew away in the wind.
___"Kanako, you take too long to act. Keep this up and you'll get nowhere pretty quickly." Saiounji spoke in a softened whisper. He was kneeling behind Kanako, holding a kunai in front of Kanako's neck. He stood upright and returned the kunai into his holster.
___"Since this is a simulation, you don't have to worry about anything. Though if this had been an actual mission against real enemies, you'd be dead." Saiounji spoke with a sincere voice, not really wanting to scold her about it. "Just use this chance to learn and correct your mistake."
___Saiounji offered a kind smile towards Kanako before turning and leaping into the trees. Kanako watched as Saiounji left her and continued on. She turned her attention towards the path that had been so focused on that she hadn't noticed that Saiounji could have snuck up on her.
___"He used a Kusa Bushin to trick me..." Kanako mentioned to the thin air, talking to herself. Her voice was quiet and barely above the level of a whisper. She quietly kicked the stick free from the ground, causing the threads to cave in. All the near-invisible threads flew at each other, though soon collapsed in the middle of the path. They fell right beside the twig on the path. If Saiounji had been there, he would have been caught and tangled up.
___When Kanako looked around the area of the path, she noticed how it was relatively free of various debris. Her twig was the only one in her area, so close to the entrance. Kanako lowered her eyes before she turned and began to run in the direction that Saiounji had ran off to.
___"I'll set up another trap...maybe it'll work this time." Kanako thought to herself as she ran deeper into the forest.
___"So Kanako's the type to hide and set up elaborate traps." Saiounji thought to himself, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. "I wonder what Shikari's plan is."
___Saiounji continued to leap from tree branch to tree branch, keeping those turquoise-colored eyes fixed on the path ahead of him. After continuing this path for a few more minutes, he leapt down from a tree branch and onto the ground below him. About ten feet ahead was a tiny bell laying underneath a group of leaves with only the slightest hint of its golden color escaping.
___"I guess she got lost." Saiounji thought to himself before he began to walk towards the bell. The moment his first footstep came into contact with the ground, a shadow came out from behind a tree and stretched towards his body. Saiounji found himself stuck in his place. His turquoise eyes lowered to the ground, discovering that a shadow come out of nowhere and attached itself to him.
___"The... Kage Shibari no Jutsu?" Saiounji questioned, trying to force his body out of the jutsu, but all it did was cause his body to tremble. He tried to turn his head to the side and see where the shadow would lead him. The moment Shikari stepped into in his field of vision, he grit his teeth a little and struggled to escape the jutsu.
___"Heh... just because I have a loud mouth, don't think I just slack off like a certain cousin of mine." Shikari grinned, she had her hands in the form of the "rat" hand seal. "Oh... another thing. This isn't the Kage Shibari."
___Shikari spread her hands out and down to her sides and watched with her brown eyes as Saiounji's body did the exact same movement as her. They were both facing towards the bell with Saiounji in front of her.
___"This is a technique that my cousin came up with. It's called the Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikari bragged out before stepping forward. She held a grin across her face as she does this. In order to not break the jutsu, Shikari dragged her feet on the ground while she walked. Saiounji began moving the exact same way, walking up to about three feet and stopping.
___"I see... so this jutsu not only stops me in my tracks, but also forces me to move exactly like my capture." Saiounji spoke out, acknowledging the fact that not only had he been caught, but also having figured out the mechanics of this jutsu already. "So tell me, Shikari, how are you going to get the bell if all I'm going to do is the same thing as you?"
___"Shizuka ni! Just watch!" Shikari yelled out towards Saiounji before grinning again. She began to drag her feet to the side. After about three minutes of this, Shikari and Saiounji soon wound up on opposite sides, with Shikari closer to the bell and Saiounji in Shikari's previous spot. Saiounji's eyes widen once he realized what Shikari was doing before forming a slight smirk over his lips.
___"Very impressive." Saiounji thought to himself, glancing behind him to watch Shikari. "She plans on keeping me here while she scores an easy victory. Not bad. However…"
___Shikari grinned and began to take steps back to get closer to the bell. Her feet slid against the dirt on the ground, causing Saiounji to mimic the movements himself.
___"Looks like I'll be calling you 'Sensei' after today, right?" Shikari grinned, glancing towards the golden bell hidden under the leaves. When she didn't receive an answer, she turned her attention towards him to get an answer. "Right!?"
___Saiounji just smiled and shook his head. His arm struggled to move, but Shikari, placed her arms behind her back. This caused Saiounji to do the same as he glanced upwards before returning his eyesight back to Shikari.
___"However, I don't plan on making this an easy victory for you. I AM a Jounin after-all." Saiounji spoke out with a smile planted over his lips. The moment Saiounji finished speaking, two groups of vines, about five hundred in each group, shot out from the tree tops and towards Shikari. Shikari gasped and cried out while attempting to jump away from the vines. The vines had succeeded in wrapping around her body, keeping her stationary. The moment she was caught, the Kage Mane no Jutsu was broken from Saiounji's body.
___Shikari struggled to escape the confines of the vines, but she was unable to. Jumping down from the leaves was another Saiounji with vines in place of his arms. The Saiounji that had been caught by the Kage Mane no Jutsu just moments before hand slowly began to make his way towards to the bell. Shikari grit her teeth and struggled to break free, those brown eyes were fixed on the Saiounji closer to the bell.
___"H-hey!? The hell!? You're not seriously going to make both of us fail, are you!?" Shikari screamed out. Saiounji stopped and smiled towards her before nodding his head. He then returned his attention to the bell and kneeled down to one knee, shifting the leaves away from it. He reached forward, though his body stopped and shifted into blades of grass before blowing in the wind.
___"Eh?" Shikari blinked, watching the Saiounji she was fighting turn into grass and blow away in the wind. She also noticed the vines that wrapped around her body had dried up and fell to the ground, freeing her in the process. She looked towards Saiounji, who was stretching his arms.
___Not wasting time, Shikari quickly turned and launched herself at the bell. She formed a big smile across her face and began to laugh as she skidded in the dirt, holding the bell in her hand. She hopped up onto her feet, showing the bell in her hand and dancing.
___"I got the bell! I got the bell! You suck!" Shikari laughed and pointed a finger at Saiounji, who was looking up at the sky through what little openings the forest top gave. "Hey! Flower boy! Aren't you listening!?"
___"Hm? Oh?" Saiounji turned his attention towards Shikari before waving a hand in front of his face. "Sorry, but didn't I say? It was lunch time. No one has passed yet." Saiounji smiled and turned and casually walked away, placing his hand into his pockets.
___"Tch.. You.. You…" Shikari gripped the bell with one hand, causing a crack to form before pointing at Saiounji with the other hand. "You cheater!"
___Later on in the day, Shikari and Kanako were sitting in the middle of the meadow where they were before the bell test had started. Despite having been angry earlier, Shikari was happily chewing on some makizushi while one hand held a pair of chopsticks and the other held a bento. Kanako, however, sat quietly while staring at her food. Shikari was halfway done with her lunch while Kanako had barely started on it. Golden-yellow eyes were fixed on the food, but it was noticeable that she was thinking of something else.
___"Oi, baka-bakemono, eat your food or else I'll have to be the one to carry you when you pass out." Shikari nudged her with her chopsticks, placing the tip of them onto the bare flesh of those forearms. "I'll be damned if I have to carry you around because you're on some sort of diet."
___Kanako glanced towards Shikari after being poked with the chopsticks. Those golden-yellow eyes widen a little when she noticed Shikari moving those chopsticks towards another makizushi. She gripped onto Shikari's chopsticks and broke them in half before turning away. She lowered her head and bit her lip.
___"Sorry." Kanako whispered out, barely able to be heard. Shikari glared at Kanako, clenching her fist. Shikari remained quiet, but proceeded to use her hand to deliver another makizushi to her mouth. She glared at Kanako while she chewed on it.
___"My other trap failed as well." Kanako thought to herself. Slowly bringing her own set of chopsticks up to her mouth and placed a hosomaki roll into it. She chewed quietly while thinking of what went wrong.
___"He saw through both of my traps…" Kanako thought to herself. She thought back to the moments that took place after Saiounji had caught onto her first trap. Kanako had a group of logs tied up onto trees and was hidden behind a tree trunk with a kunai in her hands. Kanako had ever-so-slightly leaned forward to watch as Saiounji leaped from tree branch to tree branch. Kanako nervously watched, waiting to see Saiounji's feet land on a certain tree branch. When they did, she moved as fast as she could, cutting the thread by her side with the kunai. This sent the logs to swing down. Saiounji found himself trapped between the four logs. The moment they came down and smashed into him, he gave a rough groan and his body exploded into cherry blossoms. Kanako watched in confusion, stepping out from behind the tree and watched as the cherry blossoms fluttered down to the ground.
___Those golden-yellow eyes widened, suddenly awaken from a day dream. She found herself back behind the tree and she peaked up to where the logs were. They were back into their original position. Kanako looked around and saw that Saiounji had already passed her up. Kanako's eyes lowered to the ground, cutting the thread beside her to send the logs down and slam into each other. The noise echoed throughout the forest.
___"He got me with a genjutsu technique." Kanako whispered to herself. This caused Shikari's attention to Kanako with a raised brow. "All I wanted to do was prove that I'm a decent ninja and not a monster. How can I do that if I'm easily fooled into a genjutsu like that?"
___"Boo-hoo." Shikari mocked, finishing off her lunch and placing the bento aside. She stood up on her feet and began to stretch. "All I need is one more shot. I was close on getting the bell myself, but I didn't realize he was using a grass clone. This time, I'll show him my own shadow clone." Shikari grinned and punched the air, laughing. Kanako's eyes widened a little, hearing Shikari's words.
___"You know how to do the Kage Bushin no Jutsu?" Kanako spoke in her whispered voice. She placed her bento down and stood up. She was a little shorter than Shikari, which caused her to look up towards.
___"Hm? Of course I do! I studied it with a one of the older members in the Nara Clan. He said if a Clan of shadow-manipulators can't use the 'shadow clone,' then we're not worthy of manipulating shadows... or something like that." Shikari grinned and bragged. She raised her hand into the air, holding up three fingers. "In fact, I can make three copies. Of course, this drains my chakra, but with my shadow clones and myself, I'll have four chances to pass this test. Now I just need to think of a plan."
___"Shikari-san!" Kanako had a smile on her face. When Kanako had a smile across her lips, she had a rather cute appearance, even if she had that pale skin. Her sudden joy cause Shikari to form a confused look across her face. "I have a plan!"
___"A plan?" Shikari blinked, tilting her head before grinning. "Let's hear it…"
~~~~~~~~~~~TRANSLATIONS~~~~~~~~~~
*Keep in mind, these are purely out of memory. I believe it wasn't until chapter 4 or 5 when I started to make translations.
Shizuka ni - "Be quiet!" From what I remember, it's rather informal. Short version of the formal, "shizuka ni kudasai" - "please keep quiet."
Baka-bakemono - "idiot-monster." Pretty common words in the fanfiction fandom.
Bento - Another common word. Basical a sort of lunchbox. Just... don't shake them around like my friend did... the gooiness may not be fun.
Makizushi - Rolled sushi that could be any type.
Hosomaki - Thin rolls. Basically smaller version of the generic makizushi.