Naruto: Shadow of the Beast

"It might be a jutsu, maybe some kind of illusion." They didn't have too much time to think about it now that they were in this forest of near-death. Hyosuke knew that things would only get harder from here on out. He also took back everything he thought about her being a bad sensei and not being up to par. She was probably up and over the level that all the other senseis gave standard for their students. Hyosuke could remember many of them bragging about how they got to do the legendary bell test that all the great ninjas of old seemed to have done. Well put this one in the history books because it's never been done before, that's for sure.

Hyosuke breathed out a sigh of relief when Maiko's water saved them. "I-It looks like splitting up isn't the best course of action..." He commented, glancing back at the swinging logs. Hyosuke spun out of the way of another spike as they went. They were moving pretty fast, but Hyosuke could easily catch them, though that didn't mean he wanted to get injured in the process. "I think insane might be a little more appropriate for her." Hyosuke said as they ran, only to skid to a halt when Maiko was lifted off of the ground and into the tree, despite her protests, Chiko was already off and running back towards her, as was Marako.

Hyosuke ran back as well. He knew that splitting up would probably be the worst idea. Maybe if they split up, Ritsuko would come after them herself. And she had devised this crazy obstacle course, so he knew that was probably a bad idea. He didn't know if she'd go easy on them since they were genin or not. He didn't know much about her as a ninja either, now that he thought about it. So that made her even more dangerous. "Be careful, Marako." Hyosuke told the boy. "We don't know if there are anymore traps around here." Chiko squeaked around underneath where Maiko hung from, sniffing the ground. He stood up, looking at Hyosuke and chittered. "Chiko says there's no traps, but..."

It wasn't that he didn't trust the lemur. Chiko was his best friend and he was a trained ninja animal given to him by his older brother, but Chiko was still in training too and sometimes he was wrong. Hyosuke cautiously approached the area, looking around. "One of us needs to climb up there and cut her loose." He said, looking from Marako to Maiko.
 
Marako blushed knowing that he wouldn't be able to do it without getting scared. He bit down onto his thumb and looked around quickly before sighing, "Can't you just use your water?" He asked but Maiko narrowed her eyes down at him. She growled and explained how she tried that already, this rope was one that the police force uses against Jutsu users like them. It can't be cut by any jutsu and only the sharpest of knives can slice through it.

While Marako tried looking around for something to use Chiko sprinted to action. He climbed the tall oak tree and untied her. But when she fell and hit the ground it activated a trap that sent three Kunais flying at them. Maiko who was on the ground was going to be safe from any type of contact but Hyosuke was in danger of being hurt. Marako quickly shoved him out of the way, a kunai hitting him in the leg. He grunted in pain while Maiko pulled herself off of the ground. Chiko hopped down onto her shoulder and made a slight whimper, it seemed like he was wrong about there not being any traps.

"It's alright," Maiko whispered to her lemur friend as it wrapped his tail around her neck. She quickly glanced over at Hyosuke, "Hurry up and heal him the best you can, we gotta get that flag." She ordered, noticing that time was flying by a lot faster then expected. When they first arrived that morning the sun was in the east and now it was nearly setting. "We can't waste any time, let's go."

Marako was on the floor holding his leg in pain, he was never pierced by a sharp object before and this experience was definitely frightening for him. Maiko tried telling him to calm down, but the boy kept whimpering in pain. "We're going to have to pull ot out first." She said looking over at Hyosuke and Marako quickly shook his head.

"No, No, don't!" He shouted.

"Shut up and bite on this." She pulled a piece of cloth out from her pocket (The cloth is actually some type of bandage wrappings that she puts around her fists before fighting) and stuffed it into his mouth. With one quick yank she pulled the kunai out of his body. The boy shook and his screams were muffled by the cloth but soon enough the pain wasn't as great as it was when it was still in his body. "Now heal him, we don't have much time. I don't feel like spending the night here."
 
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Well that was certainly one way of doing it. Chiko certainly knew how to get things done, but what happened as a result was something none of the could prepare for. It all happened so fast, Hyosuke almost wasn't ready. He managed to calm down in time to see Marako get hit by the kunai. Damn, this woman was certainly pulling out all the stops. It was almost dark now. How long had they even been in this forest? Hyosuke didn't know, that was for sure. "It's alright, Chiko." Hyosuke reassured the lemur as he knelt near Marako. The wound was bleeding around the kunai and it would take the utmost care to--"Maiko!" Hyoske yelped, his surprise morphing into slight angry.

"First thing is not to rip it right out!" Hyosuke quickly took off his bag and dug around, pulling out a roll of bandages as his left hand began to glow. "Jeez..." Hyosuke applied pressure to the wound, allowing the blood to slow down quickly. "You won't be able to move it too much, so we'll have to go slow." He moved quickly, unravelling the bandages and healing up what he could now. If they wanted to hurry, he could only do a quick job at the moment and wrap it up. Once the blood stopped completely, Hyosuke held his hand out to Maiko, "Clean it off with some water."

Hyosuke seemed to be a different person when it came to healing someone. No longer was he timid and quiet, Hyosuke was decisive and loud, commanding the attention of both his teammates. When Maiko cleaned it off with some water, Hyosuke tightly wrapped up his wound and looked at the kunai Maiko pulled out. "There's nothing on it, so you're not poisoned," He stood up, holding out a hand to Marako, "Like I said, we can't move that fast now that you're injured."
 
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Maiko was surprised by the way he shouted at her, and she didn't like it at all. She furrowed her eyebrows, ready to tell him a thing or two, but then saw that he meant no harm. He only wanted to help. She grunted and kept her mouth shut and a shaken Marako scolded Maiko, his eyes full of anger. This was definitely going to come back to bite her later tonight. Marako looked over at Hyosuke who knew exactly what he was doing, he looked down at the wound, a normal puncture that was bleeding more than necessary do to Maiko's carelessness. "If I can't move we can't make it today, we're going to have to sleep out in the woods."

"With all these traps!? That's suicide." Maiko complained crossing her arms.

"Well, maybe we could've made it by tonight if you never pulled out the Kunai or if you didn't get caught by that trap," He replied to her complaint sternly and the two watched each other anger in their eyes. It seemed like the markings on Maiko's face started to glow a yellow color but soon stopped when Hyosuke told her to fetch him some water. She quickly snapped out of it and nodded, pulling water out of her container. She passed the water through her chakra to his and watched without saying another word.

"I guess we're lucky enough Ritsuko Sensei didn't add poison to that blade, I mean, she isn't trying to kill us...right?" Marako asked looking at Hyosuke, he was smiling awkwardly, hoping that he was right.

The two helped him onto his feet and Chiko ran over to Hyosuke's shoulder. "We can only go for a while longer before stopping for the night, we'll have to light a fire and sleep up against logs." Marako told the two, Maiko was refusing to talk at the moment, still angry about being blamed for trying to help. "Will we need somebody keeping watch?"
 
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“It doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice in the matter.” Hyosuke spoke up, “It’s getting dark and the mountain is still really far away… Luckily she didn’t give us a time limit.” That was probably the only good thing about this trial. “But we shouldn’t argue.” Hyosuke looked between the two, “Maiko doesn’t have medical training, it’s an honest mistake—even you would’ve made it, Marako.” Hyosuke wasn’t particularly angry at Maiko, just a little annoyed at what she’d done. She didn’t think it would hurt him, but the move certainly slowed them down by some time.

“You’re right,” Hyosuke said, “But these kunai were aimed low,” He looked at the springing trap, “So they were meant to be dodged. I don’t think she intended to hurt us. Or…” Hyosuke bit his lip, “Maybe she wants to see how we react when someone’s hurt.” He didn’t know if they passed that test or not, seeing as Maiko and Marako were at ends due to Marako’s wound. “I’ve got pain pills if it starts to hurt more.”

Hyosuke cast a glance over at Maiko, the girl seemed upset at being blamed by them, but Hyosuke wasn’t angry. How could she have known that there was going to be a trap underneath a trap? She couldn’t have and Chiko couldn’t tell her either, neither of them could communicate with the lemur like he could, and the lemur wasn’t trained. Hyosuke would have to start training with the lemur more often instead of babying him. If they were going to be on the team together, Chiko was going to have to step up.

The lemur squeaked in his ear, it was clear that he thought the same thing, “It’s not your fault, Chiko.” Hyosuke murmured to the lemur, “It’s no-one’s fault but our own. We were careless.” And they were, this test was proving to be much harder than he thought. Hyosuke wondered how other teams were faring. His brothers certainly didn’t go through this from what he knew. Was Ritsuko-sensei just a little insane? It certainly seemed like it. “Yeah, and we’ll have to see what we can do about this mountain being so far.”
 
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"She's trying to see how we react," Maiko repeated what Hyosuke said and looked up at those two then she growled lowly. "She's trying to see how we work as a team...she's probably watching us right now." She said in a low whisper so that if she was watching she wouldn't know that Maiko had figured it out. Maiko started to look around them, up at the trees to see if she could see any sudden movements. Nothing. Looks like Ritsuko Sensei is a lot better than she had first thought. "We have to keep our guard up throughout the night, she's planning something."

Marako raised an eyebrow before looking over Hyosuke, "Hey, do you think Chiko can sense her at all?" Marako knew nothing about how lemur's work so he just started spewing out some random thoughts on what he could do. "Can't he see in the dark, or catch somebody's scent?" He asked Hyosuke who seemed to know just how his furry friend worked.

As those two had a whole conversation over whether or not Chiko can do something she found a comfortable spot to set up for the night. "Here," She helped sit Marako down his back against a tree. She then looked over at Hyosuke," I'll be back, I'm going to get some firewood. Watch out for Sensei, and stay wary." Soon enough she disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Marako looked over at Hyosuke, "When I was a child I heard about the cursed child sometimes they would call her the beast. I feared her, I always heard stories about how her markings would glow and she would change into something much more powerful than her normal form. But...she's not what I expected her to be as a child. She's normal like us. Why do you think people would say such things? What makes her so different to the eyes of the villagers? Have you ever wondered what's the stories behind the marks?" He sighed and shook his head, "I'm just overthinking things."
 
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"Chiko can't do too much yet, but he can sense most traps and see in the dark." Hyosuke responded, "He can forage for supplies really well and he knows sign language and actually yeah, he can track scents, but he's not too good at it yet, he's still young." Hyosuke helped set Marako down easily, kneeling near the boy in order to make sure he was comfortable. He turned back to Maiko who said she was going to look for firewood. "Be careful, then." Hyosuke told her as she left. He had the same suspicions that Maiko had about their sensei watching them. Right now, he and Maiko were the only two capable of fighting and if Maiko got hurt, then it would only be him. Ritsuko didn't say anything about repercussions about if they failed--she hardly told them anything.

It was frustrating to say the least. Hyosuke looked over at Marako as he began speaking. He didn't think much of Maiko's markings nor did he think about what she'd probably been through. "Well... p-people make things up when they're scared." Hyosuke started, unsure of how to voice his opinions. This was the most he'd ever talked and it was harder formulating thoughts and things to say on the spot, "But, um, you're right, she's not at all that different from us. It's harder to understand what she's going through because we're not like her, we grew up pretty normal. We were called 'beast' or 'cursed child'. I do believe, though, that they're shunning her because she's different. Because they think she's bad luck. It happened with the Nanadaime Hokage and the Godaime Kazekage."

And they turned out to be pretty great, Hyosuke thought. He looked around, on high alert. Chiko was as well, the small animal patrolling the area around them, looking for any traps or signs of their sensei.

--

Ritsuko sat high up in a tree, shaking her head. "Jeez," She groaned, "These kids need to work together more." She looked up towards the sky. She hadn't expected the test to go on for this long. Another person perched on her branch, chuckling. Ritsuko looked over at them, letting a rare frown mar her features. "Sousuke... don't you have women to harrass?"

"Not since you taught my favorite tea house's women martial arts." Sousuke crossed his arms. "Don't you have lives to ruin?"

"I just ruined three with this test." Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Why did you tell these kids they were doing some special mission right off the bat? It's so like you to lie to the hopefuls. Home-town hero over here was excited, thinkin' he was going to take down a crime boss three minutes into being a genin." Sousuke laughed, covering his mouth with a pale hand.

"Marako was always an excitable one." Sousuke nodded, "What about the other two?"

"Frosty is pretty pissed at the hero and shijima because hero got hurt." Ritsuko said, shaking her head. "But now frosty's alone and I've gotta go attack her." Ritsuko stood up. "Go before I attack you."

"You would--stop! I'm leaving!" Sousuke's easy demeanor evaporated as soon as Ritsuko took a menacing step toward him. He soon disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ritsuko grunted, cracking her neck. Well, it looked like it was time to get down to business. She walked forward, dropping off of the branch and disappearing within the trees, Maiko's whereabouts was her destination.
 
Marako nodded and started thinking about what he had said, what really happened to her in the past? He remembered those words that she said, she said it almost nonchalantly as if she didn't care. "I have no last name, no family." then he started to remember everything the kids at school would say about her as she sat by the swings, always holding on to that weird teddy bear. "Look at her over there, why does she even come here? She has no friends, there's no point."

Marako frowned and got really pissed off about it. He looked over at Hyosuke, "Hey...Hyo," Hyo? Was that some type of new nickname he came up for him, "We're going to be her first friends." He told him with a smile. The look in his eyes, the same gleam of hope his father saw when he told him he wanted to be a ninja. Marako, was definitely a determined child. That's probably what makes him so great.

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-Flash Back-

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Maiko was walking down the halls of the orphanage sobbing uncontrollably as nobody paid her any mind, nurses walked passed not giving her a second glance, children laughed at her and made fun of the fact she cried. "Cry you monster! Cry!" One girl laughed and pointed at her as she started running, the markings on her face glowing.

"Oh boohoo! Is the beast going to cry!? Why don't you just die already!" A boy shouted as she almost reached the end of the hall. She was so close to getting to her room, she was almost there.

"Look at those markings on her face, your hideous!"

She finally let out a terrible sob, "Leave me alone!" She shouted loud enough to hush all the children down for a second. But one boy couldn't hold it back anymore and he burst into laughter. that was then followed by the laughter of all the other children. She was about to run inside to her room when a tall man with pale skin bumped into her. She fell on the ground and quickly brought her knees up to her chest, breaking into uncontrollable fits of sobbing.

"Are you alright..." The man whispered, his voice was so sweet, and caring. He didn't tell her to leave, he didn't smack her for a simple mistake. No, he asked if she was alright, he cared about her well being? She looked, sobbing one last time as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't cry." The man was now on one knee, reaching for her hand. She reluctantly grabbed his hand and the man helped her up.

"My name's Shinji."

"I'm-"

"Maiko, yes I know. I'm your new friend Maiko. Why don't we talk."

Maiko looked up at the man, her eyes full of tears and she started sobbing again. Then she started crying as she hugged the man. Those words she always wanted to hear, the words she dreamed about. She had a friend.

-Flash back end -

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Maiko snapped out of deep thought when she heard rustling coming from behind. She let go of the logs and quickly pulled out a Kunai, analyzing her surroundings. "Ritsuko Sensei...I know you're there." She mumbled, trying to sound calm and well informed, even though she had no idea where she was. She was ready for a fight, the water from the container quickly flowed out, ready to protect her from any blows.

"I'm not scared of a fight." She shouted out in the darkness, after all, she had to fight her whole life.
 
Hyosuke was surprised at Marako's words, but he smiled just as Chiko ran back over to them. "Yeah," He agreed with Marako, "We'll be her friends whether she wants us to or not." After the moment had passed, Hyosuke looked around, "Does your leg still hurt?" He didn't mention the fact that it'd been a while since Maiko had been gone. She was probably fine, he didn't think that she'd get hurt, after all, she had that large gourd on her back full of water that would protect her, right?

--

Ritsuko watched Maiko from up above. So she'd already noticed her presence, huh? Ritsuko laughed loudly, it echoing downward towards Maiko yet not revealing her location. Ritsuko had spent weeks on being able to throw her voice, having it sound closer or farther away from her current position. She was getting prepared. Ritsuko watched the water flow out of Maiko's gourd and her brandish a kunai. Ritsuko jumped, tossing a kunai and smacking it against Maiko's hand, making the girl drop the kunai. She landed quietly in another tree still being able to see Maiko from where she stood.

She wouldn't reveal herself yet, instead she'd play the shadow up and throw small attacks her way. Ritsuko could tell Maiko was much more advanced at sensing than the other two. She hadn't been too far from Marako and Hyosuke and yet the two boys didn't at all sense her, instead focusing on existential questions about Maiko. They really should've paid more attention. Maybe the lemur knew, but pretty soon, those two were going to receive a surprise and it wouldn't at all be pleasant. "Maiko, Maiko..." Ritsuko's cheery voice seemed eerily quiet and dark in the darkness of the woods. "Do you really think you can fight me?"
 
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"Shit," She groaned in pain, but tried not making it noticeable as she shook off the pain in her hand. There was no way she was going to let her sensei think she was a pushover. All her life she has trained hard to be better than the rest. She wanted to be stronger, faster, and smarter than everyone else, when people slept she worked. When they sat around with their friends and family, she worked. She put blood, sweat and tears to be where she's at today while some students barley put in an effort. Now is the time to show her everything she worked for.

She looked around the treetops, not knowing exactly where she was. The kunai went that way, but by then she would've been gone. She started to grind her teeth and got into a fighting stance as she stayed very aware of her surroundings. It was silent for a moment until she was startled by her eerie voice. "Do you really think you can fight me?"


That really pissed Maiko off, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of cloth that was in Marako's mouth earlier. She wrapped it around bother fist and growled lightly, it wasn't anything human either, I guess this is why she was called a beast. Whenever she growled it sounded like a mix of a monster and a human voice. Her markings started to glow, almost as if it was affected by her emotions. "I'm definitely not going to just let you run over me Sensei." She answered.
 
"Haha, Maiko," Ritsuko giggled, "I'm not going to run you over," Another kunai was thrown near her, "I'm just going to test you. That's what we're here for, right? A test?" Ritsuko jumped around as she spoke, finally landing on a tree branch. As she was, Maiko was controlled by her emotions. Even after years of hearing all of this abuse, the girl might put up a cool front, but Ritsuko knew she was still very much ruled by her emotions. Like now. Ritsuko could see the glow in her cheeks. Maiko was getting angry. Ritsuko's job right now was to test how angry Maiko could become--and as a result, how powerful the girl could get.

The growling didn't phase the young sensei at all. Instead, it made her laugh, "You think those puppy growls are going to scare me?" Ritsuko sat down on the branch, crossing her legs. "Tell you what, you find me and I'll fight you." Maiko was sharp and if Ritsuko stayed in one place long enough, the girl was sure to find her. "Find me within five minutes and I'll fight you. If you go over the time limit even one second, you fail and I'll send you right back to the academy." Ritsuko knew this was a little harsh, but she needed to test the girl. The hokage had only told her so much about Maiko when she received her team assignment.

-Flashback-

"Hokage-sama." Ritsuko lowered herself onto one knee, bowing with a hand crossed over her heart. Against the window stood the hokage, robe billowing within the window as he face away from her.

"Come, Ritsuko," He puffed smoke from his pipe, "No need for such formalities. All that is here is us." Ritsuko stood up, adopting a much more casual stance compared to her rigid form before. "I suppose you're aware why you're here." Ritsuko nodded, knowing that he could tell, "Maiko." The hokage turned to face her. He was old, greying and still very much like Ritsuko remembered from his younger days.

"The one they call the beast child, right?" Ritsuko walked towards the desk, grabbing a handful of the candy inside the bowl on his desk. She was quick, stuffing them into her pouch and blocking the kunai thrown at her with one of her own. "You're getting slower."

"I'm old!" He laughed heartily, "Though I never thought I'd see the day you became a sensei, nor did I think I'd see the day you'd be able to block my kunai."

"I've known you a long time now," Ritsuko replied, "But enough of that, tell me."

"She's rather..." The hokage searched for a word, "Temperamental. Her emotional state is rather weak though hidden behind a tough exterior. Be cautious. Her emotions uncheck her powers."

"Right," Ritsuko crossed her arms. "And next you're going to tell me all she needs is, like, friends or something vague and like a riddle."

"You're exactly right." The hokage nodded. "Now get out and stop stealing my candy!" He pointed towards the door, throwing another kunai. This one grazed her hand.

"Dammit!" Ritsuko yelped, running out of the room, "I'll get you next time!"

-Flashback End-

Ritsuko formed hand signs, quietly uttering 'Shadow Clone Jutsu'. In a quiet puff of smoke another Ritsuko appeared. She looked over at the clone, nodding as it hopped away in search of Hyosuke and Marako.

--

The second Ritsuko touched down not too far from where Marako and Hyosuke were resting. The two boys seemed to be alert, but not for very long. It was getting darker and Chiko had already started drifting, every so often the lemur would fall over and walk himself up when he was trying to go to sleep. This was the perfect time to attack. Ritsuko walked forward, her features changing into something similar to Maiko. The bloody Maiko approached Marako and Hyosuke, grunting as she did so. "Ugh..." 'Maiko' groaned, leaning heavily against a tree. "Hyosuke... Marako..."

Hyosuke was the first to react. "Maiko!" He yelped, standing up and running over to her, "What happened? Where are you bleeding?" He was quick to ask. Hyosuke helped 'Maiko' over to where Marako was. Chiko whined. There was something off about Maiko, he just wasn't sure what.
 
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Marako tried forcing himself up but ended up falling right back down to where he was. "Damn it, Maiko what happened? Ritsuko Sensei has taken this too far." It took all the strength he can muster so he would be able to get back onto his feet. He looked at Maiko, she bloodied and bruised. But something was off about her, he looked over at Hyosuke. The look in Marako let Hyosuke know not to do anything sudden.

Marako had a plan, and it should've been full proof. If this was the real Maiko, he would know how she would react. "See, you shouldn't of been so stubborn going off on your own! Everything you've done out here has been a failure." He told her sternly crossing his arms, if this was truly Maiko she would react in pitiful rage and anger. But if she apologized for everything, Marako was ready to react. His hand was hidden behind his back, reaching into a pouch where he had three kunais.

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Maiko started to breath heavily as she made fun of the way she got angry. Her fists started shaking and she started growling through her teeth. The snarling seemed to get louder and more vicious the longer she patronized her, all those years of being bullied at a young age was finally getting to her. It was time for her to unleash that rage. Water quickly slipped out of her gauge and went up towards the trees, it sliced off branches ferociously. She was determined to find her, and it was now obvious she was willing to kill someone so that she wouldn't have to go back to the academy.

When Ritsuko sent out another kunai to get her she put up a shield with the extra water in the gauge and it deflected the kunai away. The water that was slicing at the branches earlier quickly moved over to where the Kunai came from, unluckily for her, Ritsuko already moved away. "I'm not going back," She whispered, looking at the ground. Maiko persisted to repeat that as the water concurly searched for Ritsuko and protected her from any damage she might've taken.

"I'm not going...Back!" She finally bursted out and when she looked up, the markings seemed to have spread all around her face and arms. It was obvious that her power was quickly amplifying, the ground beneath her slightly shook and she started to walk towards a tree where she thought Ritsuko sensei might have been. She punched it as hard as she could, it shook violently before stopping and she hoped she picked the right tree. But the chances were slim.
 
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"You don't have to tell me that!" 'Maiko' ripped herself from Hyosuke's grip in anger only to nearly fall. Hyosuke quickly reached out to grab her. It seemed like this was the real deal. He was apprehensive still. Ritsuko-sensei could've been watching them, but he didn't think that she knew all of what happened between them. "Tch, she was really strong..." Maiko mumbled as if she really didn't want to admit it. Hyosuke frowned. Maiko was in really bad shape. He had a hard time believing that their sensei, who was so quick to defend Maiko and set off fireworks earlier, would do something like this. Marako's look said it all: something was off. But the two weren't smart enough to piece it together yet. This was Maiko, alright. As far as he could tell anyway. She'd gotten angry at the accusation but didn't deny it. That was strange.

Of course, Hyosuke hadn't known Maiko personally for long. Really, he'd only known her for a few hours and in that few hours, she'd maaged to flit through a few different emotions and her cheeks glowed--wait. Hyosuke looked at Maiko, specifically her cheeks, noting the lack of glow. At the moment, it only looked like she was annoyed, so obviously, they weren't glowing. But Hyosuke needed a way to make Maiko angry. That was their only choice of seeing if it was the true Maiko or not. He cast a glance at Marako as he helped Maiko sit down. Maybe the boy could figure out just what he'd figured out and apply it to use. Then again, he wasn't sure. Marako might be good at sending signals, but receiving them could've been a whole different story.

--

Ritsuko jumped from the tree as it fell over. Should she count this as being found? Maiko was certainly getting worked up. Water was pouring out of her gourd and it'd be a pain if Ritsuko can to clean up after the temper-tantrum Maiko was having. The girl was sure to burn herself out if she let her emotions control her any longer. "Three minutes and counting." Ritsuko clicked the stop watch, tossing it aside as she landed in front of Maiko on the other side of the tree. "That was quick, though I'm not surprised." Risuko's voice didn't hold the usual cheeriness, instead she sounded all business. "Well, you found me," She held up a hand in front of her, the only part of her that was seemingly in a fighting stance. "Are you ready to fight me?" Ritsuko would have to end this quickly. She stood casually yet poised with grace only earned in combat as she waited for the girl's move.

No doubt the boys would be onto her soon enough--maybe. She didn't think they were dumb, per se, but they weren't exactly the brightest in the bunch--well, Marako wasn't. Hyosuke seemed to be the quiet observer type, even though he'd spoken a lot since Marako had gotten hurt. Would they realize that that wasn't Maiko soon? Or would Ritsuko be able to fool them and get an attack in before Hyosuke decided to start healing up 'Maiko'? Only time would tell.
 
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Marako looked into Hyosuke's eyes and it took him a second for him to follow his eyes. Then he saw what Hyosuke was hinting at, her markings. They weren't glowing too much. The real Maiko would've gotten extremely anger at any comments he would make at her, at least that's what he's soon from knowing her thus far. I guess he could say that she had anger issues, something that this Maiko didn't have enough of. "What're you going to do huh? In the state your in, your nothing. Just a sack of meat, you fucking monster."

That should do it, he knew exactly how strongly Maiko knew about that word. At the Ramen shop when the chief called her a monster, he saw that look on her face. She kept her cool, but he cheeks glowed. She was angry, so this had to have done it. It was time that this imposter was revealed.

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Maiko held both her fists up, her fighting stance was very similar to that of a street fighter. She needed some training on her stance because it was easy to find at least three open areas that if she would hit, could instantly knock her unconcious. She was definitely strong, and could possibly put up a fight against another genin or hell even a chunin. But against somebody like Ritsuko she wouldn't stand a chance.

She was still growling breathing rather heavily as she slowly walked close to her, the water sank back into the gauge. That was an honorable thought, if she was going to fight she was going to do it in fair standards. But against unforgiving bandits or even worse opponents would this really be the best plan? Something else to work on, it was obvious she had many insecurities that Ritsuko had to fix.

Suddenly Maiko sent a kick up aiming for her head, she had a feeling that her sensei would probably move away. She was ready to land on the foot she kicked on and turn her body to kick with the other leg. If that doesn't work she'll have to move back. She hoped everything would go according to plan, but sadly for her, that won't be the case.
 
Wow, that was harsh even for Marako. Hyosuke almost felt bad for Maiko. "Shut-up!" 'Maiko' screeched in anger. Her cheeks didn't glow this time and Hyosuke pushed her away, pulling a kunai from his pouch as Chiko ran up to Hyosuke, perching on the boy's shoulder. "Now you're pulling kunai on me?" She growled, anger seemingly rising.

"You can cut the act, Ritsuko-sensei." Hyosuke narrowed his eyes, "We know it's you." Hyosuke watched the woman for any sudden movements. She still hadn't changed out of her psuedo-Maiko form and that was a little unnerving. He really didn't want to have to fight a copy of his teammate, even if he knew that it wasn't her. Ritsuko stood up fully, a smirk gracing Maiko's lips. He'd hardly seen the girl smile and yet each time she did, it was never this menacing nor did it seemingly give off such an aura. Lesson learned. Ritsuko-sensei was not one to doubt no matter how childish she seemed.

Hyosuke looked to Marako for assistance. The boy couldn't do much, maybe throw around a jutsu or two and a few kunai, but Hyosuke would have to keep her in close range to fight. They couldn't let her get far away. They didn't know how her jutsus worked. At the moment, this was the worst situation they could be in. She was unpredictable. "...What did you do with the real Maiko?"

--

As soon as Maiko dropped into her fighting stance, Ritsuko almost felt bad. She was going to totally annihilate this girl. Luckily her teammates weren't around to see it. There were four open areas that she could see right off the bat. Stomach was unguarded, as were the sides and her back leg. She wasn't down and out yet, though. Maiko had an air of power about her. It was obvious she was strong, but not strong enough to win against Ritsuko. Maybe land the faintest of marks, yet, but not outright win--or even come close to it.

"You'd do best to keep that water out." Ritsuko commented, "Just fighting using Taijutsu is not gonna do anything." She wasn't bragging... okay, maybe she was. But it was true. Maiko might be a bit above the boys, but she was still weak and unformally trained. There wasn't much she could do when it came to using Taijutsu against one of its better practitioners. After all, Maiko learned from the best Taijutsu master since Might Gai and Rock Lee.

Ritsuko was ready for the kick. Catching the girl's foot, she grabbed the other as it came up for an attack and swung her into a nearby tree. "See?" Ritsuko hopped over the fallen tree and came closer to Maiko, "I told you so." She wouldn't attack--Ritsuko would only defend and counter attack. She could already tell Maiko was strong and could easily devise plans, but against Ritsuko who just went with it, a plan only worked half the time.
 
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The Maiko clone sat back against the log, flipping one leg over the other. Her demeanor changed quickly from acting hurt to being very calm and fine. She snickered, up at the two and soon that twisted smile turned into a chaotic laugh. Suddenly a puff of air blinded the two boys away from the Maiko clone and Ritsuko appeared, she looked at the two and smiled rather cheerfully now. "That was a great plan you guys, smart move!" The lucky go lucky sensei congratulated them, but the mood shifted faster than they could think.

"Now comes the fun part," She said, her voice sounding a lot more menacing than usual. Marako quickly launched a Kunai at her and she slapped it away with one of her own as if it was nothing. Then she stood up, bringing her arm out in front of her. Her strange fighting stance was unusual to Marako but he wasn't going to back down from a fight. Unlike Maiko, Marako's stance kept his weak spots secure. All of that hand to hand combat with his father really turned out to be helpful for he will last longer in a fight then Maiko would.

The clone smiled and slowly started walking towards the young boy, and in return he hobbled backwards, making sure not to damage his leg even further. Finally after a while of waiting he attempted to punch her, it was quickly grabbed and followed up with a knee to the stomach. That's what he needed work on, his punches weren't straight enough and curved to the side when it was going to hit the mark, left too many places
open. Marako cringed in pain as the air from his lungs rushed out of his mouth with a weak yell. The lost of breath led to him collapsing to the floor and crawled over to a tree to support him on his way back up.

As Ritsuko's clone moved closer to him, keeping her arms to her side this time, he began to form signs with his fingers. It was obvious she was toying with him now cause she was no longer in her stance, it's about time that she sees Marako is serious about this. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!" He brought his fingers up to his mouth and launched a fireball at her, it moved quickly and hit the spot where she stood almost instantly. When it seemed like it hit he watched, a smirk across his face as he looked over at Hyosuke.

"W-We won!" He shouted but then realized the look of fear on Hyosuke's face. When Marako looked back at the crater where his attack landed he realized that she wasn't there.

"Watch your back," He heard her familiar voice and before he could react she landed a kick on his back. The boy fell forward and slid against the grass patches on the ground, earning himself some bruises and scratches on his cheeks and hands. Ritsuko's quickly turned her attention to Hyosuke, "Batter up, coming to the plate is Shijima!"

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Maiko tried to recover quickly but a sudden shock of pain rushed throughout her body. She could barely move, her arms shook as she picked herself off the ground. She looked at Ritsuko sensei, no longer wondering how she was a sensei or why she had to work with somebody who never took anything serious. She could see it all now, the reason why she was so great and she made it where she was today. Ritsuko sensei was a happy person, and she probably didn't work as hard as most people should to get where she is today, but it was obvious she has this uncanny sense of will.

"I'm-" Maiko took a deep breath, her breaths were heavy and long, almost as if she's been running for hours without stopping, "Not giving up Ritsuko Sensei. You will have to knock me out or kill me to get me to stop." She told her, her words were full of honesty yet there was the slightest hint of cockyness. Maiko knew what Ritsuko needed to get where she is today because she was going through the same things. They both had a will to succeed and that was clearly obvious with the way Maiko fought.

Maiko staggered as she stood toe to toe with her Sensei, she wobbled back and forth, her vision fading. 'Damn it, not yet. Not yet,' she would think to herself trying to stay conscious. Finally she threw one last punch in a desperate attempt to make contact, she wasn't going to allow herself to go down easy. But it was obvious her only down bringing was the ways she used that power, the power she couldn't control, the power of the beast within her.
 
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Hyosuke’s guard tighten, as did Chiko’s. The lemur growled at the woman, knowing this was getting to be a serious situation. Hyosuke raised a kunai to guard himself, waiting for her to attack, but it seemed like Marako was her target first. That was good… kinda. Hyosuke could see what she was all about and maybe think of a way to hold his own and maybe save them both. However, her guard was tight, it didn’t seem like she was going to be easy to defeat at all.


Hyosuke felt bad. He could only watch helplessly while their sensei went after Marako and—wait, Marako’s jutsu! Hyosuke let a smile overtake his features before a slight fear set in. “Ma—no!” Ritsuko had easily put him down. The boy put up somewhat of a fight, releasing a fireball jutsu on her. Hyosuke wasn’t at all surprised that she’d managed to dodge. He backed up, surprised at her sudden reappearance.

Now that Marako was down and out for the count, it was Hyosuke’s turn. Jeez, this was getting out of hand. Ritsuko smiled at him, looking from Marako back to him. “You did well for such a quick job, Shijima!” Ritsuko praised, “But it looks like home-town hero can’t hold his own… and neither can frosty. But that’s alright.” Ritsuko shrugged, walking closer to Hyosuke. He backed up, raising his kunai again. “Pssh, what’s that gonna--!”

Hyosuke threw the kunai, quickly forming hand signs and slamming his hands on the ground. “Earth Release: Rock Prison!” A crackling sound was heard, surprised, Ritsuko looked around just as the ground rose up, trapping her within a dome made of rock. Hyosuke knew time was of the essence. She would break out any minute—no, second. Chiko hopped down off of Hyosuke’s shoulder as the boy sprinted forward, yanking Marako up and off the ground, darting away from the area. He knew it was dangerous to travel at night--especially knowing everywhere in this training grounds was trapped, but they had to get away. No sooner that Hyosuke had slung Marako over his shoulder and jumped into the trees did Ritsuko break out of the prison, rocks flying and massacring the area around her. It had only been about forty-five seconds. Hyosuke knew she was just giving him time. How nice.

“Ooh, Hyosuke!” Ritsuko sang, “Good move, but running away will only get you so far… don’t you know? Ritsuko-sensei loves a good chase.”

--

Ritsuko smirked. “Good.” She stepped towards Maiko, “You couldn’t be my student if you give up so easily.” She looked to the side. She could feel her clone coming this way as well as Hyosuke and Marako. Maybe they sensed Maiko’s energy, she wasn’t sure, but she’d have to finish this up quickly. Ritsuko dodged the punch without much effort, “You need to work on controlling your anger,” She told the girl, shaking her head. “So much potential.” Ritsuko raised her arm, bringing it down in an attempt to fake Maiko into thinking she would strike her when Ritsuko turned, round-house kicking Maiko into a nearby tree.

The girl would probably be out by now. “Ah…” Ritsuko breathed out, hands on her hips, “I can’t wait until y’all are older and can hold one against me.” She looked down at herself. “Nope, not a scratch, but that’s fine.” Their energy was getting stronger. Ritsuko smiled, stepping back and fading into the darkness as Hyosuke landed near the area.

“Maiko? Maiko!” Hyosuke looked around for the girl. He didn’t want to have to carry her around too. Not that it would be a problem, he just wouldn’t be that fast.
 
Marako was groaning as Hyosuke helped keep him balanced, unlike Maiko, Marako wasn't completely knocked out. His leg stopped him from being able to keep up and the injuries he suffered fighting the clone. He watched Hyosuke almost in awe, "You saved us with that Jutsu," He was glad Hyosuke knew a jutsu that can save the two of them from totally getting their asses handed to them. Hyosuke's definitely worked a lot more than Marako's. He could tell that Hyosuke struggled to carry him as they ran to find Maiko. Chiko led the two of them towards where he thought he caught a scent of Maiko.

Looks like all that time he spent with Maiko was paying off because they found her unconscious body up against of a tree. The markings that were all over her body shrunk back to only her face and her hair was ruffled up over the front of her face. She had a huge bruise on her back due to the impact on the tree and she had scratches on her arms and cheek. "That's definitely Maiko," Marako sighed and looked over at Hyosuke. He shook his head and picked her up as the three of them stumbled towards the mountain. He wasn't going to force Hyosuke to carry all of their body weights at once.

By morning Maiko woke up and they were near the top of the mountain. She blushed noticing that the two boys most of saw her knocked out, in such a weak form. She crossed her arms and mumbled, "She was tough..." She mumbled trying to come up with a reason for why she lost but Marako just chuckled lightly but shook his head. They finally reached the top of the mountain and there was Ritsuko Sensei, Marako stopped in his tracks and frowned. He could already tell they failed.
 
"t's just a basic jutsu, nothing special." Hyosuke blushed at the praise. It was one of the first his mom taught him, he generally used it in order to trap animals. That was probably part of the reason why it broke apart so easily. He'd only ever used it on small animals that had no business in the fields, but luckily the precision that came from having to catch the animal without damaging hte fields allowed him to be unconciously accurate in trapping their sensei for a few moments. If he wanted to improve, he'd need to start working on that jutsu to be able to trap people indefinitely. Marako's leg was healing up nicely, but he'd have to get a check-up soon after they were done.

The two picked up Maiko, carrying her towards the mountain that didn't seem to be getting further and further away as they went. Clearly this test was over. Hyosuke couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to them. Maybe Ritsuko-sensei would send them back to the academy. Wouldn't that be embarrassing? Older kids in academy classes with a bunch of ten year olds. When Marako picked up Maiko, Hyosuke frowned, "That's not at all helping your injury." He commented, but hey, they'd be done with this test by morning, Marako could do what he wanted.

"Yeah, you're right." Hyosuke commented, "We barely escaped her..." He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think of their failure. They were here. They had to think about what Ritsuko was going to say to them. Chiko squeaked sadly as he ran up, curling his tail around Hyosuke's neck. As they reached Ritsuko-sensei, Hyosuke stopped ahead of Marako, staring at the woman. She looked perfect. No scratches or injuries on her to speak of. Wow, that was certainly a slap in the face.

Ritsuko stood alone on the mountain, no flag to be seen. Confused, Hyosuke looked around, "Where's the flag?" He asked. That was the point of this exercise after all, a race to capture the flag, but they ended up getting side-tracked by a wound and separated by firewood.

Instead of answering, Ritsuko stepped forward, "Rule one: never collect firewood without a partner. If you don't have a partner, never stray too far from the campfire." She looked between the three. "Rule two: always be cautious. Maiko was right, you should've left her behind. She would've easily been able to untie herself and dodged the kunai," She glanced at Marako's leg. "But, you've done a lot better than expected. Originally, I had assumed the hero'd take off first due to speed with Maiko coming in as a close second. Hyosuke would wind up in the back due to his lack of speed, but overall, I had assumed you wouldn't work as a team."

She then smiled at them, "So I'm glad I didn't have to give you a whole teamwork speech." She nodded, "Marako did take off first, but Maiko slowed down to wait for Hyosuke and all of you advanced as a team. Helping each other when obstacles started popping up, so good job guys." Hyosuke looked away, glancing at his teammates for a moment. At least she was happy about what they'd done. "However," He knew one was coming, "Everything I have to say isn't all good." And here it comes...
 
When Ritsuko Sensei came into sight Maiko wiggled out of Marako's arms and stood on her own two feet. She looked away, still embarrassed by the loss she took. She didn't last one punch, and couldn't touch her at all. She supposed that she was most probably right, next time Maiko will definitely use her water. She looked at Marako and Hyosuke, Marako looked like he took quite a beating as well, but Hyosuke almost looked unscathed. Poor chiko was obviously startled due to all of the action that occurred.

The three came to a halt and stood in front of Ritsuko Sensei, she watched them and it was obvious she was going to make a number of remarks on how they performed their mission. Maiko had a look of anger on her face as she wouldn't make eye contact with Ritsuko. It was the same look of anger he gave the group when they first met yesterday morning. At times it seemed like she was ready to say something, but the serious look on Ritsuko Sensei's face made her reluctant to comment about anything.


Marako eyed his sensei, he held one arm with his hand and blushed knowing that they must've of failed her last night. His leg seemed to be healing nicely but it didn't change the fact that he was bruised all over his arms and face. His blue jacket was covered in dirt when he suffered that kick to the back by Ritsuko's clone. Unlike Maiko both Marako and Hyosuke had bag under their eyes, they weren't able to rest last night while Maiko was unconscious in Marako's arms.

"I-" Maiko stopped herself from talking when Ritsuko sensei made the comment about her gathering wood, there was really no explaining herself. She should've thought about it before going off on her own. Once again Ritsuko sensei was right. But all three of them shared a smile with one another when she spoke about their teamwork.

"Everything I have to say isn't all good..."

"Here we go..." Maiko sighed and Marako bit down onto his thumb when he heard that she was about to start listing bad news.