Chapter 44 - The Forest of Death

The window shattered, sending shards of glass flying toward the stunned genin. Ekyt was the only one who thought to actually get up and defend his team against the ‘threat’. He was SURE it was just the next proctor, but better safe than sorry. Silence once again prevailed in the classroom. Though, that might have been because the girls were scared and the guys were in love!

At first glance, the woman who jumped through the window appeared to be wearing an open trench coat and a mesh, full-body jumpsuit. There were a few audible groans upon the realization that the ‘mesh’ was actually chain mail, and that it was opaque. While reeling from that, they heard the next proctor speak for the first time. She barked orders, like a drill sergeant, but stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing who was standing.

“Striking Shadow Snakes!” Anko yelled. Four hissing snakes burst from under her right wrist and snared Ekyt around the waist. He couldn’t move, Yuuka was right behind him. So he let the snakes reel him in. Soon, he was face to face with a proctor that was just as scary as Ibikki, in her own way!

“Finishing that attack is a great way to ensure your death. You should know that by now, Ekyt,” Anko said, holding Ekyt close with the snakes.

“Of course. Sorry Anko-sensei. You surprised me, and I don’t take surprises well.” Ekyt finally returned Anko’s smile.

“And YOU surprised ME! With that @$$, Ebisu, against you, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you here again. Oh well. Just pass this time, alright?” Anko chuckled as she let Ekyt down to the floor. The hissing snakes retracted once more, back into Anko’s wrist.
“Alright, maggots, listen up! Follow me to your next test!”



The genin marched behind Anko as she led them to parts unknown. Except to Ekyt. He knew the Forest of Death was coming. He had a vague worry about it, but not like the others. HIS worry was that, since his name appeared to be spreading, that he might be a target. And he wasn’t worried for HIS sake. If he got killed or captured, that meant his team was also in danger. Not only that, they would be removed from the exams. Ekyt clenched a fist, the sound of his leather glove tightening heard only to him as they marched across the grass.



“THIS- is the Forest of Death. Yes, people DO actually die in there. Ya just gotta hope that YOU are strong enough to survive, while obtaining both a heaven and earth scroll. Now, each team has received either a heaven OR and earth scroll. To be allowed access to the tower in the center of the Forest, you must have both. This means that half the teams left will be eliminated…”

Anko surveyed the genin. There was one team from the Sound Village, two from the Mist, one from the Rain, and one from the Leaf.
Ibikki must have really scared the hell out of those kids! There are only 18 participants, out of the 60-something that started! And only one Leaf? Damn, I hope they make it. Losing on your home turf is embarrassing. ESPECIALLY if you have someone who should be a jonin on your team…




All too soon, it was time to go. Ekyt and his squad raced into the field. Almost immediately, they were jumped. Well, Ekyt was. The two Mist village teams had been waiting for them.

Damnit…what can I do? Only one option…

Ekyt threw the scroll to Okkuu. “Run for it! I’ll hold them off! I’ll find you guys. Protect that scroll, and get the other, if you can!”

“But Ekyt-sempai, we shouldn’t leave you!” Yuuka fretted. Not that she WANTED to fight against 2-1 odds, but still…

“Remember what Iruka-sensei said? Run!” Ekyt shouted. His two teammates took off like jackrabbits. Three of the Mist ninja tried to get away, but Ekyt used a quick genjutsu on them, then threw them into each other. The other three attacked at once, but were singed by Ekyt’s ‘Dragon’s Encampment Wall’. Ekyt knew he couldn’t do this forever, and he couldn’t get away…but he had to buy his team some more time. If the two Mist teams were tied up with him, then they weren’t attacking Yuuka and Okkuu. At least not yet. Before long, The six Mist ninja piled on, finally besting Ekyt after a fierce ten-minute struggle. But Ekyt had done his job- his squad should be long gone.




Yuuka and Okkuu ducked under an outcropping of tree root, panting heavily.
“Ekyt-sempai- we’ve got to get him back!” Yuuka said.

“I know. But- hey! Look at this!” Okkuu was looking at the scroll Ekyt had thrown to him. “This is a fake!”

“Huh? A fake? But why? Unless he has some plan…He kept them occupied for us to get away, while he kept the scroll.”

“I get it!” Okkuu said suddenly, his voice intense. “You can’t even torture someone into giving up info they don’t know! They think we’ve got the scroll, so they’ll go after us. Ekyt passed off a fake, since they wouldn’t expect their prisoner to have the REAL scroll. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is getting the other scroll, and rescuing Ekyt.” Okkuu said decisively, standing up and clenching a fist heroically. Yuuka stood up, too, clenching her fists as well, but for a different reason.

“Well, WHAT do we have here?!” a menacing voice wearing a Rain village hitai-ate asked.

“Oh…damn,” Okkuu muttered.




WHAP!

“I said start talking!” WHAP!

Ekyt reeled with the blow from the belt, made into a whip for the purpose of torture.

“Go to hell.” Ekyt said flatly. This sent one Mist Shinobi over the edge. For five seconds, he threw every punch he could at Ekyt, who, with his arms behind his back, couldn’t fight. At the end, his lip was cut, his eyes was black and swollen, and his ribs felt bruised, at least.

“He can’t talk if you kill him, idiot! THAT’S why you cause pain. Like this…”

Slowly, agonizingly, Ekyt felt a kunai trace down the right side of his face. It bit into his skin, starting just above his eyebrow, then down his cheek, ending at his chin. It wasn’t a deep cut, but there was a lot of blood, regardless. And it hurt. The Shinobi wielding the kunai stepped back, as if an artist admiring his greatest work. Ekyt was sure the clown thought the whole thing was artistic, in a freakish way. But he couldn’t do anything about it. Not yet.

“I’m not telling you anything, scumbags. I don’t care if there are six of you, or six hundred of you, I’m not going to rat out my village, or my team. The more time you waste here with me, the less chance you have of getting a scroll. Unless you plan to take one from each other? Is that it, you’re playing ‘for the good of the Mist village?’. That’s real special, guys. And ladies, sorry.”

That’s when Ekyt saw his opening. The kunai blade that had been used to carve him up was to the left of his head. If he moved just right…




To Okkuu’s surprise, Yuuka ran forward and cut through the Rain ninja. Her hand was glowing with blue energy. The Rain ninja leapt backward, to his friends, holding his cut side.

“What did she do to you?!” the kunoichi of the group exclaimed to what was apparently her boyfriend.

“Agh…the little dog…used Chakra scalpel and cut my tendons…”

“I’ll kill her, you just rest!” the kunoichi told her boyfriend. She threw ten senbon, all of them aimed at Yuuka. But Yuuka was rooted to the spot by a sudden rush of fear.
I’m going to die…

“Move! Ah, damn!” Okkuu leapt in the way, all ten kunai striking him. He yelled out with pain, staggering, then falling forward.

“Okkuu!” Yuuka rushed to his side. He was alive, but injured. NOW Yuuka was mad.

“You dog!” she snarled. Without thinking, Yuuka rushed three, more-experienced Shinobi head-on.




Ekyt flung his leg out, trapping the ‘artist’s’ leg against the tree Ekyt was tied to. The Shinobi fell forward, just as Ekyt flung his head into a pressure point on the chin. The kunai dug into the tree. Ekyt quickly cut himself free with it, moving his wrist back and forth against the blade. His pressure point attack had rendered one of the six unconscious. That was one less problem. Five others were still in his way. One of them suddenly hit the ground screaming.

“Genjutsu…funny how the brain is used so often, and yet so weak…” Ekyt said placidly. THEN he zipped forward, a Dynamic Entry the pain du jour for his first target. After richoceing off his face, Ekyt brought his other leg around, cracking him in the nose. From there, Ekyt dodged a kunai-attack backward. Said kunai was thrown at him. Ekyt flicked his wrist, arming himself with his own, and knocked the kunai down. As the rival Shinobi marveled where the knife came from, Ekyt kicked him swiftly in the knee, breaking it. (Fact- it only takes 7 lbs of pressure to break a knee cap!) That took care of three of six Mist ninja. Ekyt decided to end this quickly. Ordinarily, he would have conserved chakra here, but with his team possibly in danger, he decided not to waste time.

“Fire Release: Dragon’s Circle!” Ekyt used his signature Dragon’s Ember Jutsu, but kept the fire in his palm. One punch, down went one burnt assailant. A kick, a second would-be attacker was clutching his now-burnt groin. The third and last opponent, a kunoichi, got a crescent kick, arching fire in front of her face, then a back kick to the gut, creating a large burn mark on her stomach.

Ekyt panted with the effort, but ended his jutsu satisfied. As an after thought, he relieved both teams of their scrolls. One scroll he cut to pieces with his kunai. The other scroll he pocketed. It was the earth scroll, the one his team needed to take the next part of the exams.



The Rain Shinobi smirked as Yuuka rushed in at him. He slashed at her with a metal gauntlet, only to see her evaporate.

“Clone? Where are you?!”

From behind, Yuuka kicked him, but she might as well have pinched him. Her target was 200 lbs, and he didn’t even feel the kick’s power, which would have dropped someone of normal size for a 13 year old. He grabbed Yuuka around her slim wrists.

Yuuka stifled her tears. No! I won’t cry! Okkuu was so brave, to save me like that! I’ll fight!




“Striking Shadow Snakes!”

Four snakes wrapped themselves around one of the rain ninja. He was pulled behind a tree, where he screamed, then was returned to the other side of the tree, bloodied and unconscious. This caused a distraction long enough for Yuuka to kick her assailant in the groin, forcing him to let go and grab said appendage, tears streaming down his face. Just as she back-flipped away, a blur came flying in front of her and put the Rain genin into a tree, maybe six inches in to the three-foot thick tree. The last of the Rain genin ran at Yuuka, who raised a guard. But she didn’t have to worry.

“Ekyt!” Yuuka said, relief dripping into her voice.

Ekyt didn’t respond. Instead, he stepped to the side of the attacker while grabbing him around the neck. When Ekyt threw his weight forward, he sent the genin sailing away, where he cracked his head on a rock. Ekyt slid backward on one knee in the dirt, breathing hard from the effort.

“Yuuka, are you alright?” he asked immediately.

“Yes. I’m fine. But Okkuu…” Yuuka looked at him sadly. Okkuu’s limp for was just where she had left it.

“Yuuka…those needles were dipped in poison…I can save him, but you’ll need to patch him up. While I do my work, find the scroll that the Rain Ninja were carrying, and destroy it. I’ve already got both of ours.”



Ekyt went to work, praying that al his time studying the “Poison Removal Jutsu” had been good. After ten minutes of work, Ekyt had most of the poison out of Okkuu’s system. Only one bit remained, and it was needed to be removed with a cut.

“Yuuka, use your chakra scalpel just under Okkuu’s right knee. Some poison is going to come out. We caught it in time. He’ll be fine.”

Yuuka hugged Ekyt, thanking him. Ekyt patted her on the head, then stood watch as Yuuka patched Okkuu up with her chakra scalpel.




Okkuu woke up, groggily. The first thing he was Yuuka’s concerned face.

“Yuuka…you…okay?” he managed, sitting up.

“I’m fine, Okkuu…really…” Yuuka said around tears. They were tears of relief, and of something else. Okkuu, being clueless, didn’t know what.

“Are you sure? You seem…Ah! (Okkuu tests his right knee, and it hurt like heck)…like there’s something going on in your head.” Okkuu winced, as it hurt to move.

Yuuka hesitated, then leaned forward and kissed Okkuu. Okkuu was shocked, and looked to Ekyt for a clue as to what to do. But Ekyt simply turned the other way, giving the two 13 year olds their privacy.

“I hope that was…okay…” Yuuka said nervously, smoothing her reddish-blonde hair, and pulling her bangs out of her eyes.

“It was…thank you. I-I really care about you!” Okkuu sputtered.

“I care about you, too!”




Ekyt smiled to himself, feeling like the jonin in the situation. A part of him wondered if HE could have ever felt that love, if he had been normal. He also wondered if he ever would. No matter what he said about warriors, it was nice to be loved. But Ekyt didn’t understand that, not yet. In place of understanding was an unrequited feeling. That could have been Sakura and I, if I had just said something…after the chunin exams, I’m going to tell her how I feel.



“Come on, you two. Let’s get in the tower before we’re attacked. If anyone’s left. We destroyed two scrolls, kept one for ourselves, plus the other we had. Three teams were demolished, out of five. That means that only one other team could have passed…” Ekyt didn’t waste his words. The two behind him were in love, and he didn’t want to be in the way of that. So he simply walked into the tower, and waited for Okkuu and Yuuka to follow suit. Once they did, Ekyt opened the two scrolls (Since the other two were distracted).

BLAM!


“Oh, you made it? Congratulations!” said a familiar voice.

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