She's My Cousin

Welcome to Training Ground 44

"This is the arena for the second exam, Training Ground 44," Anko shouted as she stood before a rather large and intimidating forest, Ginko being the only one who looked at the forest with wonder and admiration. "Also known as... The Forest of Death," Anko added with a sadistic smile. Ginko immediately raised her hand, waving it around like mad, which caused Anko to raise an eyebrow. "You got a question, squirt?" Lowering her hand, Ginko said, "A few actually. What kinds of trees are in there? Are the animals inside as big as them, or are they rationed out to be larger than average but seemingly normal compared to the tree sizes? What kinds of plants are there? Are the insects large as well? What about-"

"By the God's, kid, this isn't a field trip! Besides, you'll find out soon enough," Anko interrupted, a little bit irritated with the fact that the smallest one here wasn't the least bit afraid. Ginko instantly shut up, looking down at her feet as she nervously kicked the dirt. "Sorry. I was just curious," she said quietly. "And why wasn't one of those questions, 'Why is it called the Forest of Death'?"Anko asked. Ginko shrugged her shoulders, "I could gather that myself when you said this was Training Ground 44. In our culture, the number '4' is considered an unlucky number because it is pronounced as 'Shi', which is also the word for 'death', so the number '44' is considered an especially ominous number. Put that with the aura that the forest itself gives off, one could gather that Training Ground 44 lives up to its name."

"And you're not afraid because...?" Anko dragged out, leaning forward slightly. Ginko broke into a grin, "You're kidding, right?! Certainty of death with a small chance of success... what the hell are we waiting for?!" Anko stared at the small silverette that could easily be mistaken for an innocent 8-year-old. Did this kid have no fear? She then looks over at the other applicants, noticing the fear the had slowly fade away. Well, this is just great. First, she was late, making a complete fool of herself and giving Ibiki an excuse to tease her for Gods know how long, then there's this pipsqueak with all her questions and no fear of the most deadly training ground in existence... And now no one is taking her or the forest seriously because this damn kid looked forward to the prospect of death and it gives them fucking courage! This damn kid and Ibiki had sucked the fun right out of this Exam and she'll be glad when she won't have to deal with her anymore.

With a sigh, she pulled out a scroll and let it roll out so that the applicants could see the terrain for the training ground. "Alright, listen up. I'm only gonna say this once, so pay close attention. Training ground 44 is bordered by a circular perimeter interrupted at regular intervals by forty-four locked gates. Within the confines of this carefully delineated area, you're going to undergo a survival test. During the course of that test, you may use any ninja arts or weapons you have at your disposal."

She reaches into her overcoat and pulls out a stack of papers from a pocket on the inside, dejectedly saying, "And that's where these consent forms come in. When you sign, you're saying that if any of you fun-suckers should die, we can't be held liable." She handed the stack to the Genin closest to her as she began to explain the second part of the exam and where to turn in the consent forms. "After you and your team signs these papers, bring them over to the hut and submit them." She then pulled out two scrolls as she continued on. "There you will receive either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll. Your objective is to acquire both scrolls and head to the tower before the 120-hour time limit is reached. It's kind of like a fight-to-the-death version of 'Capture the Flag', only instead of a flag, your looking for a scroll. You will need to hold on your scroll, get a hold of the opposite, and then bring them both to the tower at the center. Since there are twenty-nine teams, 15 teams with have one scroll while 14 will have the other. which means at least 15 teams will fail. As time shortens, the trials will come harder and faster with less recovery time for any mistakes, accidents, or injuries. You'll be surrounded by enemies at all times, so you'll also have to sleep with one eye open.