Strolling Amongst Stalactites

The Field

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"NARUKO, I CAN'T DISPEL IT!" Sana yelled back.

"What?" Naruko exclaimed in shock. If Sana can't dispel it then it wasn't a genjutsu, but what was it then and how do they stop it?

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"I just need to think." Naruko yelled over the screams of the nightmarish illusions. All of the noise was making it so hard to think straight, but that's when she realized that this all started with a noise. The red bell from the dummy to be exact! "I'm going to try something! Drop the bell you have and step on it so it won't ring."

"Ok!" Sana yelled back over the hellish sounds. She sounded just as scared as Naruko. It made the blonde wonder what her friend was seeing.

Naruko unsealed all the bells they collected over the first part of the test and used her skill with threads to make them seemingly float by the unseen threads and ring all of them at once. The result was a breeze and a click. "I think it worked." Naruko muttered and sighed in relief as the horrid images vanished.

"Thank god ... now what the hell was that?" Sana grumbled, a little pissed that she wasn't much help in that situation.

"Gas." A voice came from behind them said.

Both girls spun around and saw Queen Reine who was standing right behind them "Queen Reine!" They both exclaimed before bowing respectfully.

Reine chuckled before turning serious. "What is the point of this exam?"

"Survival." Naruko answered as her spiders crawled onto her head to listen and even did a little bow of their own.

"Teamwork." Sana supplied.

"We were testing your skills in those areas, but that wasn't the point." Reine pointed to the dummy laying on the ground. "Up until now you only had to deal with jutsus, but in the field you will have a number of obstacles. You will be separated from your team. You will be injured or have no chakra. You will have to avoid, chase or catch an enemy. You will have to survive. This test is to show us how you adapt. We aren't expecting perfection because you are young, but you need to be aware of what to expect in cases you aren't used to things like the hallucinogenic gas in the dummy released from its compartment when the bell inside rang. A gas is not a jutsu. You can't dispel it, but we gave you a hint as to how to shut off the gas and release the antidote gas."

Naruko blushed as she looked at the bells, "The bells."

The queen nodded, "Yes ... in the real world there are genjutsus that are so strong you can't break them without coming close to death and many other non chakra related traps. Now as a ninja of Cave you also have the added challenge of hiding your status as ninjas to protect our home. Only in the necessary circumstances are you allowed to show your skills and never lead strangers to our home. Though both of you received a mark you both showed skill in adapting. Just remember it's not over until it's over." She said as she sent Naruko a knowing glance who blushed, "and never attempt to fight someone stronger than you." She said sending an embarrassed Sana a smile. "Learn from your mistakes, use your heads and make our village proud."

Sana looked up in confusion, "Your majesty?"

Reine smiled, "The time limit is optional. What matters is if you displayed what was needed. The goal was completed and you displayed great skill. Now think and learn from your mistakes. You both pass."

"Yay!" Both girls jumped up and cheered, but blushed as they realized they were still in front of the queen who looked more amused than anything else.

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"She passed already?!" Jade yelped right outside her house.

Lulu giggled as she watched Jade cheer excitedly, "Yep, they did really well and they're getting the marks removed now! So well that the queen went to pick them up personally and I had to tell you. Of course, that might've also been because of what happened to Minami."