[Right][Color=8882be][h2]Koharu[/h2][/color] [I]Morning // Land of Fire: Konohagakure[/i][/right] Her father's reaction was far more than she'd expected. While it wasn't the same as how Minoru and Azumi had presented gifts and sweets, her father's reaction had been surprising. Osamu was a man who was quite cold, yet she knew he loved her. He wouldn't have invested so many hours training her if he didn't. Osamu had stopped in front of Koharu when she arrived home, hand resting on the kashira, in exactly the same way she did it. They were quiet for a few moments, both looking at each other as if they were having a silent conversation before he reached out and pulled her towards him. His strong arms circled her for a few brief moments. Koharu's eyes went wide and moments later the corners of her lips turned upwards as she returned his hug. Osamu said nothing, and he didn't have to, the simple touch was enough to convey his meaning. Their hug was brief and immediately after they went to eat dinner. She wondered about her teammates and the reactions of their families to the news. She had a feeling that Kazuhiko had a similar reaction from his parents but Natsuko's family was entirely unknown to her. Would they even be there for her? Koharu blinked and pulled her hands from the teacup she'd been holding. The teacup was frosted over and she sighed softly. She was tired and perhaps a little worried about Natsuko and her family situation. The combination would make her a little careless with her ice so she retired to her room far earlier than was necessary but she wanted to sleep. The next part of the exams was bound to be harder than the first. Before she fell asleep, the girl looked at the photo on her nightstand. It was a small photo of her and two dark haired teenagers, taken shortly before they'd settled in Konoha. Would they be proud of her, she wondered. They'd had a rocky start to being a family but they were her older brothers and she missed them. Koharu said good night, her nightly ritual, to the photo before rolling over. In the morning she'd glanced at the photo, knowing that she couldn't take it with her. This would be the first time in four years that she wouldn't be able to tell it good night. Meeting everyone in the academy courtyard, she'd looked at all the people present. She spotted Kouji and the rest of team five. Poor Kage looked about ready to pass out from his nerves and Mariko seemed to be ignoring her teammates. No one was sure what they would be doing, especially when the green haired proctor told everyone to follow her. Koharu liked to think of herself as fast but the green haired woman was leaps and bounds ahead of her. Still the girl followed, keeping pace with her teammates. [Color=8882be]"It'll be okay, Susu."[/color] She said softly, looking at her teammate. Koharu was hunched over with her hands on her knees. She focused on what their task was and she inwardly groaned. It was creative but was it really necessary? Nonetheless, the girl followed her teammates into the desert. At least they'd have water covered. Sure chakra based water had a funny taste but it would keep them alive. [Color=8882be]"The quicker we can find somewhere safe the better off we'll be. I don't suppose any of you have any experience in the desert?"[/color] Koharu was a little out of her element, but she held the slight advantage in that she naturally ran a little cooler than others. The heat wouldn't bother her quite so much. A few hours into their trek, once they found a suitable place to camp, Koharu told her teammates to hold out their hands. Her water release was getting better and she was able to give them some water. They'd need food soon enough but for now the water had to do. They needed to come up with a game plan soon on how to not only get the marks they needed to advance but also how to survive five days in a place that none had seen before. [Right][color=orange][h2]Tetsu[/h2][/color][I]Two days into second trial/ / Land of Wind: Demon Desert[/i][/right] Shit. How could they have been so careless? They'd been ambushed by Team One, a powerhouse of a team. Even in the academy the other three genin were quite strong. Now all of that strength was condensed into one team and it was frightening, for a lack of better words. They'd been attacked and Haru's character had been stolen by Team one and he'd been injured. It wasn't a serious wound but the boy needed to rest up a little bit. So far they had no luck in finding a place that would allow them to rest. Some teams had carved a little niche for themselves within the few habitable spots there were and others...well they didn't fare well. He knew of one team that had fallen victim to the poisonous cacti. They were a Konoha team no doubt. Haru rested against him, taking weight off his injured leg. They'd patched him up as best as they could but he worried it may not have been enough. "Tetsu...look." Haru pointed out a small figure in the distance. They were alone and carrying something over their back. He didn't recognize the pale head of hair and he went on guard. Whatever they had over their back was big and had multiple tails. The genin frowned and looked at his teammates and the person. An idea was forming in his mind and he wondered the odds of it actually succeeding. The figure was alone and clearly part of a team, given that they were here. Their team was likely nearby and it could be disastrous if they encountered them. There was the chance that they might actually win, even with Haruto down. He shared his plan with the others. Haruto was all for it. They needed food and that person clearly had it. They were all used to life in the desert but sometimes hunting just came down to luck. "I mean we can take that person by surprise and get their food and their character." They did have until the end of the five days to collect their characters but there was no harm in getting ahead, was there? "Yeah but there's another way than just ambushing them, right?" Aimi spoke up, flipping her light blonde hair over her shoulder. "You want to go and ask them to give us their things?" Haruto shot back. Despite the high collar and dark glasses he wore, which shrouded his emotions, his voice gave away a lot. Aimi was a good teammate but she was too kind. "Well yeah. We have a few more days before we have to have all of the characters. There's still time to get them. You're hurt anyways." She pointed out. Tetsu sighed. She had a valid point. They had time but he doubted that the other team would just welcome them with open arms. Besides he was pretty sure that it was a genin from Konoha. No doubt they wouldn't trust them. This was a competition, not a field trip. Was it naive to think they could be peaceful? Yes. The real world wouldn't let them be peaceful. Sure there were no big wars but that didn't stop people from trying to kill each other. [Color=orange]"You know that won't work Aimi. They won't trust us and could just as easily lead us into a trap."[/color] Tetsu shifted his weight. [Color=orange]"We can ransom them to their team. It could give us an advantage if we have one of them."[/color] "Exactly! They won't leave their team behind because the only way to move on is if they all have the characters. We would have the upperhand." Haruto said, turning towards the figure. They were walking at a quick enough pace to give them an idea that they were trying to hurry. They had to have a camp nearby. No genin would be dumb enough to walk halfway across the arena on their own for food. "And you said that I'm injured. If we take one of them hostage then the playing field is leveled." Haruto really wanted to ambush that genin. It would make everything so much easier on them. Aimi frowned and glanced towards the figure once more. She would cave, just because it was two against one. Haruto and Tetsu seemed to feed off of each other but she was the voice of reason. [Color=orange]"We'll have to fight soon enough, the more we can see the skills of the other genin, the better off we'll be in the long run. It isn't like we're going to hurt them, we'll give them back once we have what we want."[/color] In the end they decided to go with Tetsu's plan. He just hoped that it would work. Aimi would cut off the genin and Tetsu would engage them while Haruto would provide support and a means to make his fires that much more effective. They snuck closer, up until Aimi was able to get a good start on cutting the genin off. Tetsu noticed that it was a girl in a white shirt and black pants. Her hair was white and was pinned up onto her head. His eyes focused on the sword at her hip. He'd given the signal to Aimi and she was off. [Right][Color=8882be][h2]Koharu[/h2][/color] [I]Morning // Land of Wind: Demon Desert[/i][/right] She'd volunteered to go hunt their breakfast and rather than trying for rabbits, which had proven to be more of a hassle than a help, she wanted to go for something bigger. Scorpions wouldn't be the weirdest food she ate before, she had eaten seals and whales in her early childhood, and they were bigger than the rabbits. They'd had to ward off a few at night and she wondered where they'd hide during the day. The answer lay in a small outcropping of rocks that formed a sort of shelf. The scorpions were half buried in the sand in the shade of the shelf. Koharu needed just one. It was impractical to kill more than they needed to. The approach was a little awkward, as she could easily fall victim to a swarm of them. In the end she decided to use a bit of her ice to lure them out. Some of them were the size of her hands and a pale yellow color. There were few that were about two hand lengths but she caught sight of one as long as her leg. It's three tails were poised and ready to sting, jabbing at the air when her ice would dart out of the way. Koharu didn't feel so bad about killing a giant scorpion like she did a rabbit. A single large ice shard was tossed at the biggest of the scorpions and it struck into its side. It struggled before falling limp a few moments later while the smaller ones scattered. Koharu waited a few more before she grabbed the creature. She snapped the icicle off before discarding it and hefting the scorpion over her shoulder. Koharu carried it by a pincher with the three tails pointing towards the ground behind her. She followed her steps back, glancing around as she did so. It was quiet and kind of nice despite the heat but she didn't dare let her guard down. Midway back to the small clay hut they had taken up residence in, a blur of light pink cane racing in front of her before stopping abruptly. A girl stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and a small smile on her face. Koharu dropped the scorpion and grabbed her katana, unsheathing it and falling into a stance. If there was one, there were two more not far behind. It really was just a matter of trying to find them. A noise, sort of like a whooshing, came from behind her and she glanced back to see a boy with dark glasses and orange hair landing behind her. She wasn't sure how'd he got behind her without running but now wasn't the time for such thoughts. The boy behind her seemed to stumble to the side once his feet were on the ground and she decided to capitalize on that. Koharu closed the distance between them quickly, although not as quick as the pink clad girl, and she brought her sword in a downward arch, trying to get the boy to back up. He stumbled in the sand and covered his face and neck with his arms. The blow never came as another boy stopped her sword with a kunai. Her arms shook with the effort to not let him overpower her. The black haired boy was physically stronger than she was but Koharu didn't let that deter her. She tried to sweep his feet from under him but he lept backwards, giving her a slight opening. Thankfully the most basic of the Wakahisa jutsu used two hand signs only--the dog and the bird. Ice shards formed in front of her hands before extending out and forming small little crude birds. The two boys seemed surprised when the little ice birds began to race towards them. She gripped her sword, picking it up from the sand. The pink clad girl was temporarily forgotten as she focused on the boys. The boy with black hair was the one that she worried about. Some of the ice birds had cut his cheeks, opening thin lines on his face. The other boy was--wait where was he? Koharu could have sworn that he was right there. "Tetsu'll take care of her." The voice of the other girl caught her ear. How had she saved the boy so fast? The girl couldn't focus on them because the boy began attacking her with a kunai. She blocked it with her sword and scowled. The boy didn't betray anything on his face, even as he grabbed her forearm and knocked her off balance. The boy suddenly jumped back, putting more space between them, and began to sign. Koharu had a short window to get some sort of defense up. She was surprised when the defense she'd put up stayed standing between them after the fireball had raced towards her. The black haired boy cursed and signed again as the small ice sheet crumbled and the girl began to close the distance between them. The orange haired boy yelled something at the black haired one and she was forced to halt her attack and throw up another defense as another fireball--this one even bigger than the last thanks to the added wind from the orange haired boy--came racing towards her. Her ice had been strong against his fire, but with the added wind to fan the flames, her ice didn't stand a chance. Koharu swore loudly as the fire licked her forearms, burning a four inch long patch on each limb. A line was pressed into her neck from behind and she knew that she was done. Her cheeks burned in humiliation at the thought that she'd been beaten so easily, even if it had been a surrender. Her arms burned badly and the black haired boy picked up her discarded katana. "On your feet. You'll take us to your camp and give us that seal on you-" The boy didn't get to finish his sentence because she'd whipped around and hit him square in the gut, grabbing her sword from the sand before bolting. Koharu didn't get very far before the orange haired boy landed on her, quite literally. She was sprawled out on the ground, pissed as hell. Oh she was going to get them all for this. [Right][color=orange][h2]Tetsu[/h2][/color][I]Mid morning/ / Land of Wind: Demon Desert[/i][/right] The girl had put up a good fight, he'd give her that much. She'd hit him good but he'd burnt her arms. She'd refused to tell them the location of her camp so they'd found a small place to rest until they could figure out what to do with her. Any time he or Haru got close, she'd try to lash out. Tetsu had learned that taking away her katana had only infuriated her more and she'd create a dagger sized spike of ice in its place. He was grateful that she knew that she was defeated. The only one who had any luck in getting her to talk was Aimi, but that wasn't a surprise since his teammate was a friendly girl with a sweet disposition. Tetsu was working on getting the scorpion that they'd taken from her, cut open. [Color=8882be]"That's for my team."[/color] The girl glared at him but he returned the ict look with one of his own. [Color=orange]"You lost. You don't get to keep it. Just like you didn't get to keep your character."[/color] The girl looked like she wanted to throttle him. Aimi stepped in and stopped them before they could fight again. "How's your arms?" The girl looked down at her burned arms. She couldn't put ice on them nor did they have anything for her to use to soothe the burns. They weren't bad but he wasn't sure if they'd blister or not. The girl shrugged but remained quiet. Kazuhiko and Natsuko would come looking for her soon enough but she was nervous of them finding out that not only had she been beaten easily but her character had been stolen as well. "Maybe we can talk to your team and come to some type of deal. There's still a few more days for you to reclaim it." Aimi said, hoping to make the girl get into a better mood. [@Typical]