On My Mind

Shortly after the start of the second round of the Chuunin exams, the team of three found themselves sitting high above on the branches of trees to gain some coverage. Below them the sounds of various animals could be heard, though there were no signs of human life anywhere. Their disadvantages were to be found in their lack of sensory abilities. While Izumi as a Yamanaka already had sensory abilities slightly above the average, it was no where enough to counter the abilities of those older than them who were participating. If an enemy were coming their way, the brunette would notice, but not soon enough to create an efficient plan. She regretted not honing the ability enough.

"We need a trap." Sen broke the carefully-crafted silence between the three with her idea.

"A trap?" Chihiro was a little confused, though his mind immediately began to think of a trap they could construct.

The Yamanaka of their team apparently did not think the same and instead wore a thoughtful expression for a moment, blue eyes staring holes into the dark green tree tops. "Why don't we just use Sen as bait?"

Sen was curious at first, but then grew weary. "Why me?"

"You're the smallest."

It was true. While Chihiro stood as the tallest of the three, Izumi followed with not much of a height difference behind. Together, the two of them towered over the raven-haired Nara, making her appear even shorter than she already did on her own. So much anger in such a small body, Izumi thought, questioning how that was possible.

Still, wrong answer.

Sen glared at Izumi, making a move towards the brunette. "Now listen up here flower freak!"

"I'll listen from up here for sure." Izumi looked down at the smaller girl, letting out an amused giggle at the expression gracing the Nara's features: dark scrunched up brows and beautiful lips pulled into a scowl.

"Okay, idiot-"

Chihiro intervened. "No fighting you two, we only fight enemies here." He held his arms out between the two. The action was metaphoric as of purpose since he sat between Izumi and Sen on the thick tree branch.

"Fighting? It was a genuine idea." And a fact, though Izumi added that part only in her thoughts.

"That may be true," said Chihiro carefully, "but if we are realistic here, Sen probably already has a better plan in mind than the two of us combined."

The raven-haired Nara took that as her cue, beginning to lay out her thought process to her teammates. "If we use our abilities right, it will be an easy game. First, our bait will be the earth scroll we already possess-"

"Our scroll, as bait?" Izumi gazed at the other girl with cerulean eyes blown-wide, not having understood the other's thought process.

Chihiro lightly nudged the brunette on the shoulder, giving her a small smile. "Sen's right, Izumi. Maybe as a bait to lure the other team in?" 

Sen grinned. "You got it, chubs. As he said, it will be bait to lure the other team in. That's where my abilities come in. I will bind them with my Shadow Possession Jutsu to immobilize them. Once that is done, you," She sent a pointed look towards Izumi. "come in. Use your jutsu to check in the mind of one of the enemies to see which scroll they have and if it is the scroll we need, who has it and where it is. If you know that, tell me. And Chihiro meanwhile will be our safety net," This time she looked over at Chihiro. "and will intimidate them in case something goes wrong."

"Which it won't." Izumi felt determination crawling up her spine, after all, they could do this. They did not train the combination of their jutsus for nothing.

"Of course it won't."

"That's the positive spirit, Sen."

The girl in question let out a groan. "Stop infesting my mind with your positivity."

"Never."

━━━━

For what had felt like an eternity to Team Kushina, they had sat upon the same tree branch, unmoving. In hushed whispers, they exchanged the little information each could gather from their position, waiting restlessly for someone to be caught by their trap. Their eyes scanned their surroundings anxiously, hoping not to be detected themselves.

To the right of the trap, bushes moved in a manner unlike an animal would create, leading the team to suspect a human appearance. A foot stepped out of the bush, followed by another, confirming their thoughts. Two pairs of feet joined them, revealing a team of three. Around their heads, headbands with the symbol of Konohagakure were wrapped, indicating their status as ninjas of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Their appearance also told the Genin that they were much older than that, by approximately five years or so.

From their widened eyes it was obvious that they had spotted the earth scroll. The shortest of the team made careful steps forward, not having spotted the much younger Genins yet. With each step forward their anticipation grew, their limbs twitching, ready to pounce as an animal would onto their chosen target.

The right moment came once the three opponents had deemed the situation to be safe, chuckling among themselves. As one of them was just about to bend down to pick up the bait, Sen jumped down from the tree, landing softly behind all three of them. At the sudden apperance they turned frantically, hands searching for their weapons.

"Shadow Possesion Jutsu!" She made quick work to bind her own shadow to the ones of her targets. While her range was limited, she stood close enough to the opponents to not even excert herself.

Chihiro and Izumi joined Sen on the ground, landing on each side of her. Their opponents grew expressions of both annoyance and dread, eyes widening to resemble the ones of does. Of one of them the mouth stood open in disbelief.

Snake. Ox. Tiger. Ram. "Mind Transfer Clone Jutsu!" The technique allowed Izumi to transfer her consciousness into more than one target, specifically into all three opponents. Just before her consciousness left her body, she could feel herself lose balance and fall backward.

The minds of her opponents were unfamiliar territory to Izumi. It was clear to her that they were not only confused, but also irritated by the ambush. Each of their minds was like a storm, lightning of information cracking in the distance. Their emotions were a whirlwind, leaving the mind walker to push through the current.

Distantly, her consciousnessness could spy the memory she wished to see. It was of the three opponents standing in a clearing in the forest, discussing who it would be to keep the scroll safe. She could see the shortest one taking a heaven scroll into his hand, stuffing it into his weapons pouch before closing it tightly.

Izumi raised the hand of the short one into the air, pointing his pointer finger downwards to indicate her find. The parts of her consciousness inside the other two's bodies made their way back into her unconscious body, settling down to wait for the return of the last part of her.

Chihiro meanwhile knocked the two Shinobi out to avoid any of them fighting back. He carefully enlargened his hands before swinging them at the opponents, succesfully taking out both of them simultanously. Moments before his hands made contact, Sen released her hold on them to not get injured herself.

"Weapons pouch." spoke Izumi through the body of the shortest opponent, staring at Sen pointedly.

Sen released her hold on the opponent and strode over to his body, still controlled by Izumi. She made a quick search of him to find his weapons pouch near the small of his back. When opened, the raven-haired had a perfect view of the scroll they needed.

Thank heavens.

Sen grapped the scroll and stuffed it into her own weapons pouch. Then she strode over to where their own earth scroll lay, also taking it into her possesion. It found a place beside the heaven scroll, the matching set together.

Izumi meanwhile released her jutsu, allowing for the last part of her consciousness to return to her body. The Akimichi knocked out the last of their opponents afterwards as Izumi began to open her cerulean eyes, blinking. Carefully she raised her hands to rub at them in exhaustion. Strands of her dark brown hair clung to her forehead and she wiped them away, making sure to tug some strands back into her pigtails.

"Wake up, sleepy head." Sen leaned over her teammate, offering her a hand.

The Yamanaka accepted, allowing herself to be heaved up.

"I suggest we camp before making our way to the tower," Sen turned to look at the direction where their destination lay. "On our way we could be ambushed ourselves, it would be best to be at full power."

A thought popped into Izumi's mind. "I think I saw a river about south. We could fish some food there?" From her position on the branch she was able to see a gleaming blue, the water reflecting the sun light perfectly.

"I could cook the fish then." offered Chihiro.

Sen gave the boy a little smile. "It's settled then. Izumi, can you lead us to the river?"

Izumi nodded, turning on her heel to face the general direction of the river.

"On our way there, stay alert."

The river bank was an ideal place to camp for at least a few hours in order to replenish energy. If the team positioned themselves correctly, they would only be visible from one side of the river, not several. Behind a large rock they placed down their things to settle down for some time.

Izumi was the one to have caught the fish. When she had seen her father do it, the task appeared to be less of a challenge in comparison to when done herself. The man had always done it with such ease, barely breaking a sweat as he pulled up his catch. In her defense, Fuji had a fishing rod as a tool to help him, she meanwhile only had a branch of the tree, its end sharpened to a point by her kunai. Her black baggy pants were rolled up to her knees, held together by spare butterfly clips she had found in her pouch. The sandals she had worn were placed neatly by the bank to not get wet.

Her cerulean eyes carefully followed the movements of the many fish. Several times already had Izumi attempted to catch one of the fish, but was yet to succeed. They were faster than they looked, only needing a single movement to completely escape her attack. Would fish make good summons? For a moment she entertained the thought before focusing on the task at hand again.

In front of her swam a fish much slower than its companions. It came close enough to tickle the skin of her ankles, making Izumi repress a giggle at the sensation. She closed her eyes before slamming the stick down forcefully, hoping to have finally caught one. The stick made a quelch sound as it slammed into the bed of rocks underneath the river, having hit something. The opening of one of her eyes revealed that she had managed to not only catch one fish, but also another hiding underneath her initial target.

It was kind of metaphoric to her. The way both fish were pierced through near their stomach area, as though fate brought them together to die in each others company. Crimson speckled the blue of the river to be carried off further down the stream. Hiding behind the illusion of safety brought someone to death, or at least that was the case with the fish.

Was this the same for humans?

Most likely, whispered Izumi's mind. She wanted to call it a joke or a fidget of her imagination, but somewhere in her heart knew that she had understood a reflection of life. It scared her.