Self Reliance

Glancing at the sundial, I purse my lips. Skirting around the Hokage building, I move toward the mountain behind. Approaching the sheer wall of stone, I sigh as the size of the mountain face increases. Typically, Anbu and scouts take the long way around the Hokage faces, but the time crunch calls for a shortcut. The Anbu building is between the top of the first two Hokage faces, but the temporary building for scouts is directly behind the third Hokage's face. Smirking at the thought of the old man watching me scale his head, I start pumping chakra through my legs.

Speeding up, I transition from flat ground to the vertical mountain face smoothly. Running up to the second's happuri. Yeah, that's what his custom headband is actually called. While I do think it's better than just a headband, I think I'd prefer a full helmet. Using my hands to keep myself close to the cliff face, I crawl to the edge of his head and launch myself at the third's face. grabbing at his lips, I frown as my chakra fails to find a hold. Sliding down to his goatee, I finally find purchase. Frowning, I try climbing up only to find that my chakra just doesn't adhere to his head.

Closing my eyes, I try pushing some chakra into the stone face only to find some already there. Pushing it aside, I find my hand adhering like normal. Grinning, I swing back and forth from his goatee before flipping up to his nose. Letting my feet connect, I slowly crawl up to his hairline. Using the space between two locks of hair. Sliding down the flip side, I hop over a railing and dash toward an unmarked building.

Glancing at the Anbu building, I click my tongue in disappointment. Compared to the well-maintained and recently painted Anbu building, the building for scouts looks like some earth-style jutsu. With faults spreading through the outside walls and faded paint flaking off at the foundation, it almost looks abandoned. If it weren't for the small wooden sign with 'SCOUT' inscribed, I would have kept looking.

Running around to the entrance, I step up to the entrance. Ignoring the waiting genin, I open the door and step into the dark and damp interior. Frowning at the lack of life, I step back outside. Hearing someone trying to peek around me, I snort. Gutless cowards didn't even try to enter. Gathering the chakra inside me, I shift it towards my hands before infusing my intent. Releasing it into the surroundings, I stare a the empty building in front of me. There's no one here! Going through the jutsu feedback, I frown. Only a few chakra signatures for the genin behind me and one just before the Anbu building. It didn't go farther due to the amount of chakra I supplied, but then again I didn't want to scan the Anbu building too. Who knows what trouble that would get me into?

Turning on my heel, I grab the curious genin behind me by the collar and bring him closer, "Did anyone leave from here?" Yelping in surprise, he instinctively raises his hands in defeat, "Just a chunin around twenty minutes ago. We're all waiting for the scouting instructors to call us in."

Glancing at the other hopefully genin, I hold the bridge of my nose. Putting aside how easy it is to get these genin to talk, they were all left waiting in front of an empty building. Finding a Hyuuga in the crowd, I find my disappointment increasing. So using the Byakugan is an invasion of privacy, but at least a few sneaky glances would've told her that no one's waiting for them inside. Anyone worth their salt is already gone or late, I should leave too. Sighing, I gently push the genin away. Patting his shoulder I move past him, "Good, keep waiting. It seems I just missed who I was looking for. You wouldn't happen to know which way he went?"

Smiling, he happily points away from the building towards the wilderness, "He went that way. By the way, do you have any tips for new recruits?" Smirking, I say, "Patience is key" before walking off. It's not like I couldn't keep looking, but I'm looking for a trail. As much as I'd like to run into the woods, ninja tend to be complicated jerks. I can just imagine some punk hiding on top of a tree watching and waiting for someone to try to find them. Finding a fresh footprint, I keep walking in the same direction. If it wasn't for some of the genin pacing around the front, I might've been able to see the type of footprint I'm looking for, but with the mess of fresh footprints and the dark building interior, it would just be a waste of time. Maybe, if I learn to track professionally it would be different, but for now, I have to trust the trial. Atl east until I'm far enough to use my sensing jutsu again.

Finding another footprint, I change my direction slightly. A few seconds later, I find a trampled brush and a few scraps of cloth veering off the trail. Crouching down, I remove the evidence and try to righten the foliage. Jumping up and onto a branch, I look ahead for any clues on the ground. Finding the next footprint, I smirk. If I'm not the first to find the goal, I definitely will be the last.

Stopping occasionally, I keep following the relatively easy trail deeper and deeper into the woods. Checking on my chakra, I find a comfortable majority still available. Glancing at the setting sun, I suddenly realize that while I haven't been using much chakra, time has been flying by. Stopping, I find the next footprint in the distance. I should follow it, but what if I'm getting farther from the goal? What if I'm actually being led in circles? That would be embarrassing, to say the least. Gathering a quarter of my maximum chakra, I release my sensing jutsu again. I should be far enough anyway, right? Seeing the chakra rush out in a noticeable wave in the air, I stand still, waiting for the response. Nervously clawing at the tree bark with my left hand, I wait for a response.

Feeling a familiar wave of chakra returning, I close my eyes. Feeling a much weaker wave of my chakra wash over me, I focus on understanding and sorting through the information being fed into my mind. Five chakra signatures within a kilometer. Two were decently strong and three were relatively weak. The two stronger signatures were moving away on the ground. One of the weaker signatures was actually approaching me and the other two were approaching one of the stronger signatures. So two possible trials, two possible instructors, and four wannabe scouts. Thinking about the situation, I turn around. If the instructors aren't going to end this anytime soon, I'll just end this for them.

Dashing towards the signature following me, I jump higher into the canopy. Hearing something ahead, I hide upside down on a higher branch. A few moments later, I find the Hyuuga girl looking for my footprints on the tree branches. Snorting, I let myself drop as she jumps for the branch. Falling just behind her, I grab her by the back of her vest and pull her toward the ground below. Pulling out a needle while using her as leverage to right myself, I smash her into the ground. Grabbing her by the neck, I needle at her right eye. Huffing next to her ear, I grin, "Hey girl! You a scout too or are you just in love with me?"

Seeing her stutter over her words as she tries to jerk her head away from my needle, I let go of her neck and grab her hair. Breathing out a ragged breath, she tries to calm down, "I'm also a scout, or at least I will be. I thought you were suspicious so I used my Kekkei Genkai to check the building. After that, I followed you. We're on the same team you know?"

Smiling, I let go of her hair and stroke her head, "I don't know about being on the same team, but I think we can cooperate for now." Pocketing my needle, I stroke her cheek, "What do you say? Partners?" Nodding, she shoves my hands away. Frowning, I get up and dust myself off. Pointing in the direction of the nearest of the two strong chakra signatures, I wave at her, "Hey! Look in that direction and tell me if you see someone."

"My name is Chiha Hyuga alright? Not hey. Not you. It's Chiha."

"Just look will you? I'll remember your name the next time I see you."

Huffing, she makes a hand sign before her veins start popping around her eyes. Now that I get a close-up, they really are pretty cool. It's like their eyeballs grew parasitic roots that slightly bulge out. A few moments pass before she points just to the left of where I pointed, "He's there. He's going toward the Anbu building!"

Back to where we started? With the speed they were moving, we could easily catch up. Glancing back at the Hyuga, I smirk, "Why don't we cut him off?" Turning her Byakugan off, she point even further left, "He's just leading us on a long and convoluted loop, the building's over there." Patting her on the back, I push her forward, "Take the lead, It's not like I don't trust you, but It's just harder to stab people if they're behind me."

Giving me a dirty look, she dashes forward and up into the branches. Following behind her, I quickly catch up and push her to go even faster. Chuckling, I watch as her face glows red with frustration. Sometimes it's just too funny messing with people. Remembering some details about the Hyuga clan, I glance at her uncovered forehead. Main branch huh? Well, it's not like I'm a nobody. I'm sure the Uchiha won't care about some Hyuga brat. Hopefully. Quickly arriving at the Anbu building, I pat her back gently, "Great job, now check where he is."

"Ask me to and maybe I'll oblige."

"Follow orders and maybe I'll stab you gently."

"I can report you you know? I'm from the main branch of the Hyuga clan and I can easily get you shifted to the frontlines!"

Wrinkling my nose in annoyance, I glare at the pint-sized human radar. So she's just as tall as me, I'll have you know I was above average in my last life. Looking around, I only find a few genin still out in the distance. I guess we're on the other side of the Anbu building. Turning back to the Hyuga, I fold my arms, "Fine. Take some rope out then. We might as well prove ourselves to the instructors."

Smirking, she takes a storage scroll out before taking a small spool of ninja wire. Pushing a small amount of chakra into my feet and left hand, I dash towards her as she turns back towards me. Chopping the back of her neck, I use my other hand to stop her from falling. Laying her down, I grab the spool of ninja wire from her hand. Testing the wire I smirk at the thickness. It won't cut her, but it will definitely hold her. Pulling her arms behind her back, I start by tying her thumbs together. Looping the wire around her arms I tie her arms and legs together marveling at her flexibility, I throw the rest of the spool over a branch. Heaving her up into the air, I tie the rest around the trunk.

With hands on my hips, I marvel at my handiwork. She's safe, secure, and most importantly, quiet. Hearing someone land behind me, I turn around with a grin. Seeing his blank pupils, I stiffen. Folding his arms, he raises an eyebrow, "Why'd you tie her up?" Giving him my best service smile, I wave a finger to emphasize my point, "I was just educating her on the importance of self-reliance."