the search | part 1

[Uzumaki Minato]

SPIRALKID, CHAPTER THREE: THE CHŪNIN EXAMS "Let's hope so," Minato said, dusting his hands off. "For now we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Sliding his hand into the pouch he had strapped to his backside, he rummaged through his inventory until he found what he was looking for - a bag of sunflower seeds. Biting down on the end of the plastic, he bit the corner of the bag open in an instant. Pouring himself a handful, he offered the bag to Ein. While he popped a handful of sunflower seeds into his mouth at a time, he occasionally looked down at the 'map,' which he held between the creases of thumb and index fingers. It wasn't before long that that ol' so familiar buzzing sound, akin to same sound that the hornet from five minutes ago gave off, reappeared in the masses. "Looks like there's more of 'em this time," Minato stated his assumption quickly, stashing his map-scroll and his bag of sunflower seeds into his pocket. Within the following moments, three huge hornets were in front of them. "Let's do it," he said, nodding to Ein. Almost instinctively, the spiral ninja took the handful of sunflower seeds that he had left into his mouth taking in a deep breath-- Clasping his hands inward he preformed a number of handsigns-- With a grin he began to spit out a number of sunflower seeds in session. They each seemed to be cloaked with a shell of green, win-natured chakra around the shell of the sunflower seed.' "1FŪTON: DANGAN SHĪDO NO JUTSU!" was the name of the jutsu he recited as the wind-embedded seeds of destruction streaked through the air like bullets, impelling two of the hornets, while the third conveniently evaded his assault. The two that were hit, though they were now wounded, they still flapped their wings sending gust of wind at the two Genin. That was until Minato repeated his newly created jutsu. 1) Fūton: Dangan Shīdo no jutsu Wind Release: Bullet Seed Technique, is the name of the technique thought up by Minato in the middle of him and Ein's confrontation with the killer hornets they were facing during the Chūnin Exam. This jutsu is done by placing sunflower seeds into his mouth, and channeling chakra around the shell of the seed, until it is cloaked with a veil of wind chakra. Upon spitting the seed(s), it is shot from his mouth with a velocity and force that would make it reminiscent of a bullet. These seeds are capable of impaling and casing tremendous damage. Minato does this jutsu by performing three handsigns.

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[Arisato Ein]

Ein nodded. Indeed, they would cross that bridge when they got to it. What was important now was getting the rest of the pendants. It would be easy for them to backtrack once one or both of them were settled up. It would be pointless to waste time farming for duplicates when there may very well not be any.

Ein looked at the bag momentarily before taking it. She had never had sunflower seeds before, though she had seen others eating them. This would certainly be a Chunin Exam of firsts for her.
"Thank you." she said, taking the bag and shaking a few out. She watched Minato subtly, mimicking his motions. He seemed to know what he was doing, and she dropped them into her mouth, chewing slowly.
It was like an explosion of flavors in her mouth, and she stopped walking for a moment as it took her over. They were nuttier than she was expecting, a little roasty with heavy salty notes. Overall, they blended together beautifully, slightly gritty on her tongue.

"Wow..." was all she said as she started walking again, still chewing. "This is the first time I've ever had these."
Ein's enjoyment would be interrupted by that same buzzing again, and her head snapped in the direction of the disturbance as now three of the monstrosities appeared. They were already on the same wavelength, and as Minato began his handsigns, Ein broke to the right, arcing wide and out of his way. The gusts of wind were nominal, spiraling at Ein. She brought up her sword block and extended her stride, powering through the opposing wind to continue her motion. The spit seeds had hit their marks, blowing through two of the hornets as the third drifted out of the way.
Right into her path.

That's right... Ein thought to herself, watching the hornet drift right toward her, still apparently not having seen her break away and wide. She launched upward as the hornet continued banking. Those compound eyes shifted too late, and by the time it began to turn to face her, her steel-plated geta had wheeled around and drawn back to launch a kick right into that oversized eye. It burst like a dropped bag of garbage and the hornet screamed as the force of the kick sent it cartwheeling through the air. Pushing off the bug, Ein followed, sword now drawn and slicing as they both descended downward. On her last stroke, Ein rammed her blade into the hornet's head, lodging it in as she rotated deftly, swinging the bug into a piledrive. The sleek exoskeleton freed itself of her blade and the hornet 's head bombed downward and landed with a thunderous boom as chunks of the sheared insect rained down around them, landing in a messy, stinking pile.

It would suffice to say that Ein was having a good time right now.

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[Uzumaki Minato]

SPIRALKID, CHAPTER THREE: THE CHŪNIN EXAMS The second round of bullets seeds weren't as effective as the first. The two remaining hornets deflected and evaded the attack in moments. He ran towards the hornets, cocking his hand to the side as he jumped into the air, plunging his fist into the side of the first hornet. Doing this caused the two wounded hornets to collide. "Yo!" he called to Ein, "They're coming your way!" A coy whistle resonated across the air, it was reminiscent to the sounds made by a wind chime, in a way. As a torrent of wind whisked forth, forcing the hornets to plummet downward and smashing into the ground after Minato performed his handsigns. It was up to Ein to finish them off then they could move along.

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[Arisato Ein]

There was little time to rest and admire her handiwork. Minato was sending another pair her way, the two of them careening into one another and beginning to crash. Turning on her heel, she ran toward the fallen pair, unsheathing her other blade. She leaped, clearing one of the hornets and landing between them. With an elegant windmill motion, she cleaved straight through both their torsos at the same time.

Even still, their work was not done. Ein wiped her blades on the grass around them as a breeze began to whisk through the area. It gradually picked up in intensity, merely combing through the grass, and then whipping at it until blades were being pulled free and spun off into nowhere. Ein shielded her face from the winds, throwing an arm up in front of her face as a behemoth most unsightly and malicious made its appearance.
It was easily twice the size of the others. Its torso was covered in a thick, coarse fuzz. Chitin-coated mandibles gnashed nastily as it hovered in, drool falling from its mouth as it waved a gleaming stinger in their direction. Its compound eyes were focused on Ein.

This thing had a bone to pick. Ein sheathed her secondary blade, taking a stance. Accepting its challenge.
Simultaneously, the pair blitzed forward at one another. Ein glided gracefully across the ravaged grasses as the boss hornet seared low and dangerous, buzzing deafeningly. Ein kept her blade backhand and at the ready as she closed the distance between them, eyes narrowed in concentration. She stepped, then dodged to the left, slashing with a speed that would trick the eye into believing she had done absolutely nothing. At the same time, the hornet wheeled its stinger in her direction, sweeping and aiming to spear the Genin with absolute vengeance.

Two of the hornet's legs clattered off as the stinger arced toward Ein, it's fine, curved stinger tip just missing her and catching beneath her tanto strap and carrying her away. Higher and higher they went, the tiny white-haired Genin in tow. She wriggled, lifting one arm to loop herself free of the sash. Taking the tanto from its scabbard, she stabbed it into the side of the hornet's tail, pulling herself up.
The insect screamed in rage as it stopped its upward descent, now thrashing. But Ein's tanto was stuck in there firm, and she drew her sword now, ramming it into the hornet's exoskeleton, near where the head connected to its torso. Twisting the tanto, she then pushed forward, forcing the insect's head down and to the left like a set of horse reigns. The body followed suit, now plummeting toward the earth. Ein held tight as the insect thrashed and fought its impending fate, eventually smashing into the ground face-first. When the dust cleared, Ein would stand, dirtied and covered in insect blood with a three-inch long gash opened on one palm, but no worse for the wear otherwise. Clenched in her other fist was a pendant that had been wrapped around the hornet's mandible. She walked over to Minato, holding it out toward him.

"Is this the next one? What is it supposed to be?"

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[Uzumaki Minato]

SPIRALKID, CHAPTER THREE: THE CHŪNIN EXAMS There want much that Minato could do once Ein got going. She was amazing. She cleaved through the hornets in moments,then once the behemoth showed up, she tore it asunder promptly. 'I thought really learn how to use a katana or something' was all that the spiral ninja could say to himself as trekked over to the whit haired kunoichi. "I guess it is," he replied. "How about I seal the newest two pendants into the scroll, and see where that gets us?" He suggested, allowing Ein to hand over the pendants and her scroll before he sealed them into the scroll in a matter of moments. Upon completing the sealing, a new portion of the map was displayed. "Looks like that's our next destination," Minato handed Ein her scroll back, pocketing his hands as he waited for her directions on where to go.

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[Arisato Ein]

Ein was a bit rattled from her last excursion, but that much was to be expected. This, after all, was her first real test with her sword. Everything to this point had been spars, scrimmages and practice. She figured she was doing fairly decently, all things considered.
All the same, though, she would be glad then this particular round was over and she could go to bed.

She obliged Minato, handing him the two new pendants and staying clear of him as he sealed them, in order to let chakra work its magic in revealing the next location on the map. In the meantime, she reached into her pack, producing a roll of medicated gauze and a small bottle of ointment. Saturating the wound in the ointment, she then wrapped her palm in a nice, thick layer of the white strips. It wasn't a nasty wound. It didn't even hurt that badly. What would be painful is if the wound was allowed to dry during healing, causing the skin, blood and scar tissue to crust and rub against one another. She would have to keep it moist and covered for the next couple of days to heal. Luckily, it was her left hand. She would just have to take it easy on the dual-wielding for a day or two.

She ambled over toward Minato now, running fingers through her hair to smooth it out as she took a look at the map now. The next location didn't seem terribly far from where they were. She looked up and around them for relation to where it was versus where they stood.
"Well, we have two choices now." she said, pointing ahead. "It will be quicker to go through these woods. Will probably save us about an hour and a half. It's pretty thick in there, though. I saw it when the hornet took me up. The treetops form a canopy, and there's virtually no light, which could make it tough if there's something in there like what we just saw, or worse."

Ein's finger drifted to the left.

"If we go around the woods and stay to this open meadow area, it will take a bit longer, but we'll be able to see most any danger coming. Longer and safer, or shorter and more uncertain. Looks like this pendant is near a water source, which can be a good thing or a bad thing."
She pointed to the little blue mass on the map, next their mark. It appeared to be a large pond...nothing drastically large. Hopefully the water was safe and clean for drinking.
"It's up to you. I'm up for either way, really. I think we're still making good time, so if we want to take the extra hour to go around, I don't think it will make us any nevermind. But if you want to get a hustle on, we can take the woods."

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[Uzumaki Minato]

SPIRALKID, CHAPTER THREE: THE CHŪNIN EXAMS "Eh," he murmured as he pondered between the two choices. It was a hard decision to make. With one option you had a saver but longer route, and with the second option you had a shorter but more dangerous route that they could take. Time was of the essence, though. It didn't take long for Minato to make his decision. He had to keep in mind that Ein was injured, and the presence of fatigue was thick in her aura; be that as it may, he decided that the shorter route would be more convenient. He was more than capable of protecting Ein, if the situation came about so there were no worries. "Let's take the shorter route," he announced a he dug into pouch and extended a few rations to Ein. He gave her his only Solder Pill, his bag of sunflower seeds, and his unopened canteen of water. "You can act as the secondary and guide, by reading the map while I'll take spot as the lead and handle of anything that gets in our way. You've been fighting a bit, so you should rest up. That soldier pill will help you recover a bit, but you don't need to fight anymore." He said offer Ein that trademark smile that both him and Naruto shared. That teethy smile that told whoever saw it, without words, that everything would be okay. Sneaking a quick peak at the map, after spotting the passage way to the woods, he headed off towards the East. "Let's get moving," he said with a nod. "We have a couple more hours before this exam is over, so let's try to clear these woods before dark." THIRTY MINUTES LATER, 5: 44 PM KUSA, FOREST OF SHADOWS "Everything's so big in these woods." Minato noticed while looking around the tall grass, which was sectioned off, but towered at least six feet over his head. There were all types of plants and foliage, with humongous proportions. The only bad part was the deafening blackness that surrounded them. It wasn't too bad, by focusing chakra into his eyes he could see a little better, but there was still a strain to see some things. Suddenly, a foreboding presence cold be felt looming over him. Spotting the oasis that was behind a set a trees, upon looking up, he saw the vines of a Venus Flytrap uncoiling and reaching out to wrap around his visage as its' mouth snapped open. "Get back," he told Ein, before he could fully warn her of the danger up ahead he was picked up and thrown across the forest. 'Shit. I have to act quick!' Moving with haste, he thrusted his hands inward, forming a sing handsign before expelling a funnel of wind that would be used to propel him upward and higher into the air. Digging into the pouch he has attached to his hip, he retrieved three explosive tags that were attached to the ends of two of his kunai- leaving him with one more. As the silver of the kunai cut lean across the darkness, he detonated the explosion note the very moment he regained his balance on the ground. "Take cover!" he called to Ein. Inhaling a deep breath as his hands clapped toward to form the 'hebi' handsign, he expelled a violent torrent of wind to amplify the effects of the explosion. Despite his attempts, the rabid flytrap was not thwarted. A second one popped out from the area adjacent from the first one, its' many vines hot outwards in attempt to grasp the spiral ninja. Cartwheeling and flipping out of the way, he whistled to Ein, in the certain tone that they established earlier would be their form of communication if needed. "The wakizashi!" he named the first of the three swords that he knew she had, hoping that she'd be able to throw it to him in time. It was tossed across the air magnificently. Clutching the weapon by the scabbard, he plucked the medium sword by it's hilt before drawing it and slicing the vines as they approached him. Jetting forward, he engaged the first Venus Flytrap, which was injured due to his explosion. With his wind chakra saturated around the blade of the wakizashi, he slashed away sending a gale of wind sharp enough to cleave both the Venus Flytrap and a tree. Engraved in toe bark of the tree, as it toppled over, and a streak of light beamed down from above, he saw a pendant-sized item stuck within the brown of the tree's trunk. With a second slash of Ein's wakizashi generating a series of gale to cleave the second Venus Flytrap, Minato jumped onto the trunk of the tree in order to retrieve what he spotted. The Dread Root was collected. A LITTLE LATER, 6: 07 PM KUSA, FOREST OF SHADOWS A little after their run in with the colossal Venus Flytraps, the duo found themselves confronted a sea of quicksand. Prior to knowing about the quicksand, he tried to walk across it...and that didn't go well. In plain sight, sitting on a platform of earth that was conveniently placed in the epicenter of the pool of sinking sand, Minato spotted a lime green branch that was resting on a blue cushion palette. 'Damn.' he intoned, trying to think of the best way to get across the sea of sand. Looking around for something, anything that he could use, he found a couple small pebble that were just big enough for him to skip them across water. Unfortunately, this was sand. While hoping that the principles for stone skipping were the same in this occasion, he picked up three pebbles, cocked his arm to the side, then let the first one fly. His first attempt was a fail. It didn't bounce off of the sand at at all. Deciding to modify his approach, Minato lowered his hands and threw the second pebble from a lower stance. This worked better than his first attempt, but t only skipped twice and didn't make it to the small platform. "Fuck it." Biting his thumb, he drew blood from the tip of his thumb. After preforming a set of handsigns, he thrusted his hand downward and summoned one of his toad nakama. The toad that he summoned was about half of his height, green, and had blue garb worn across his body. "Huh?" Gamabi looked around confused. "Where am I?" "You're in some forest in Kusa no Kuni," replied Minato, chiming in. "I'm doing the Chūnin Exams and I need help. Think you're up for it, Gamabi-kun?" "Um, sure. I'll do anything for Minato-kun!" "That sand is a pool of quicksand with really good reaction time. I almost fell into it earlier." Taking a breath, he pointed at the pendant sitting in the middle of the sea of sand. "I think if you hop into the quicksand, and use your tongue, you can get that pendant and jump out before you begin to sink. And even if you can't jump out, I can undo the jutsu and just re-summon you." "I-I don't know, Minato-kun. That sounds dangerous. I don't know if pops will--" "Look," he took a breath, looking Gamabi directly in the eyes. "I need you to do this for me. If you do, I'll get my grandma to make your some of those chocolate flies that you like so much." "Oh joy~" the young toad-nin croaked in excitement. "Do you mean it, Minato-kun? Hey, by the way, who's the girl? Is that your girlfriend? She doesn't smell like Sio-cha--" "Just get the pendant!" he yelled, silencing the young toad. A LITTLE LATER, 6: 30 PM KUSA, FOREST OF SHADOWS It was almost poetic how, no matter what happened or what environment the ended up in, they always returned back to the tall grassy area that made up Kusa. Over the past hour, some of the mos hectic stuff happened to the duo but somehow they managed to get all but the final pendant. "Where to now, Ein?" asked Minato, locking his hands behind his head as he channeled chakra into the soles of his feet so that he could walk across the river of water that divided the area.

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[Arisato Ein]

Though Ein would never admit it, nor would she show it, she was secretly glad when Minato suggested taking up the lead with her as support. A moment to fall back and rest would be much welcome. She, too had been contemplating the advantages of taking the shorter route. As much as there could be danger in the woods, there was an equal chance that they could be completely deserted and the most foreboding bonus that they would experience throughout the entirety of this portion of the exams.

She accepted the items Minato offered her, balancing them carefully before distributing them about her person. The water went into the front pocket of her jacket. The seeds into her leg holster. The map remained in her wrapped palm as she rolled the soldier pill between her fingers.
There was that smile again. She had seen it earlier, when they first met, also. He really did remind her of Nozu. But her grandmother had also told her of such a smile. Of an aura so warm and empowering that it, itself was like a soldier pill to the psyche. She wished she could smile like that: so reassuringly and confidently. Ein was a smiler...that wasn't the part that she was missing. But her smile was more reserved. It hid the beast within her well. It was her very humanity, and so innocent: it was the only thing that she had sometimes to keep her from breaking down under the pressure of it all from time to time.

Nonetheless, now was a good time to practice, and she offered a beaming smile back before popping the pill into her mouth. Almost instantly, she felt the fatigue beginning to lift from her as if someone was pulling a heavy blanket from over top of her. She knew the effects were temporary, that it was just enough to get her over the hump of retrieving these last few pendants, until the moment came where she could rest for real. But damn it felt good right at that particular moment.
"Thanks." she said simply. The words were filled with a gracious and grateful nature. The gesture meant more to her than a lot of others that she had experienced in life. She would have to work with this shinobi again. Village division be damned...that much was for sure: She and Minato's adventures would not be done quite yet.

She obligingly fell into her position, turning herself sideways so that she could watch their sides and back as Minato advanced. Right palm sat atop her wakizashi, ready to grip and draw if the need came. She could not see Minato, but she could track his footprints as they rustled and crushed the foliage, and depended on that in the dimming light being filtered so selfishly through the gaps in the canopy.

She just barely heard Minato yell before his voice intensified, and then grew distant as he was flung away. Obliging, she dove into the bushes, taking cover as instructed. A series of explosions then followed, and the whistle cut through the aftermath like a knife through hot butter. Drawing her secondary blade and spinning it so that it was held backhand, she flung it hilt-first in Minato's direction. There were flashes of reflected light that bounced off the blade as it was swung and found its mark repeatedly. The result was a pendant, and a step closer to their goal.

Their next task was a bit...interesting, involving quicksand and toads. Ein had always been a bit jealous of others' ability to summon. She thought it would have been fun to summon the Arisato family summon, but alas, it was not meant to be.
Now, all that was left was the final. The map marked the way, loud and clear.
"This looks almost like a quarry...I think these are supposed to be rocks. Anyway, it says it's west of here. Probably about a mile or two. Not far at all. Should be a pretty straight shot. I can't believe we're almost done..."

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[Uzumaki Minato]

SPIRALKID, CHAPTER THREE: THE CHŪNIN EXAMS Their walk down the rocky trail was quite relaxing, at least for Minato it was. He walked practically with his eyes nearly closed, hands locked behind his head. He could see well enough to avoid stumbling or walking into anything, which was all he needed right now as the gently currents of the passer breeze caused his hair to cascade. The echo of his sandals against the ground seemed to sooth him. This was the first time all day that he didn't have to think, he never realized how much he took the serenity he usually exudes for granted. He took this time to reflect. Thinking about everything he's been through lately, it was almost funny how he could identify how much he'd grown over the year. Although he was never a slacker, or rather never a big one, like he heard his grandfather was during his youth, he never took things seriously until his grandfather died. It wasn't until after he lost Sio that he realized that he had an important role that he needed to fulfill. He had to protect all of his nakama, no mater what. He refused to lose anyone else. Slowly but surely, he started drifting back into reality. His consciousness flooded his mind after he realized that they'd been walking for about fifteen minutes. Seeing the accumulation of earth that toward over the grass, his brows furrowed as he spotted a peculiar creature standing up ahead of him. Shifting his hands from behind his head, they flopped back and forth as they dropped toward his sides. "Congratulations!" the leafy canine welcomed the Genin with a smile. "You two are the first Genin to arrive. I am Kusatogi, the holder of the twelfth item that you were sent to collect." Stepping down from the plateau he stood upon, Kusatogi turned back and looked over his shoulders, and there, resting on a boulder was the twelfth and final pendant. "Look, we're tired. I don't feel like fighting--" Minato started-- "Don't worry. The pendant is yours to take. I am simply here to heal each and every contestant who makes it here, as well congratulate them." Before Minato could say anything else, Kusatogi's leafy tail swayed forth and pressed against the spiral ninja's forehead. With a marvelous lime aura radiating around him, he could feel his body healing and his energy completely returning to him. "Thanks," Minato nodded, his gratitude genuine. As Kusatogi moved to go heal Ein, he went to her and asked for her scroll. After doing so, Minato jumped over a few slabs of stone while he went to retrieve the the last pendant. Upon collecting it, the pendant that represented the Shinobi Insignia, he unwinded Ein's scroll and sealed the final pendant. Finally... he cooed inwardly. "We're done."

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