So the time had finally come, eh? He had been in Takigakure for a little more than two days waiting for these damned exams. They, along with constant training where the only things on his mind. Excitement filled his mind every single night leading up to the exams, more than one time he had to exhaust himself with training to get any real shut eye. Not that anyone could see his sleep depravity through his tattooed eyes anyway. Takigakure was a quaint enough village. It was more of a tourist resort than a hidden village. A waterpark, training ground, and numerous other attractions kept ninja and commoners alike content.

Kusono strolled about around the faceless shinobi from different villages. He wore his usual attire of a black and red kimono tied off with his purple braided belt and matching pants and shoes. He swept back his long white hair and fixed his pony tail. When was the event going to fucking start?

He was gathered with the other participants a good ways away from a sprawling labyrinth. So far that he could not see the entrance, only the dark brown earthen walls. They had been there for a good hour or more. Some split off into groups comprising those from their villages. Others, like Kusono, simply paced back and forth alone. Some even intermingled with each other. Making small talk or telling a funny joke or two. Kusono didn't see the point, those who found each other in the maze where most likely going to fight each other, why buddy up to the enemy?

Regardless, Kusono kept a careful eye on everyone there. The small things, which weapon was clearly visible, dominant hand they used when shaking hands. Possible hiding places for weapons in their clothing. All of that gave Kusono a possible edge when the combat would start. Each little detail could add up to avoiding a deadly attack, parrying a foreseeable blow and eventually winning the match. Even thinking about combat made him giddy. If only the proctors would start already.

As if they read his mind, a booming voice came from the front of the assembly. "Welcome to the bi-annual chunnin exams, hosted by Takigakure. As participants you are the best your villages have to offer. The only objective of the first round of the exams is to traverse the labyrinth you see before you and find your way to the central tree within the given time limit. But, it is built so that none of you will meet each other. This is a test of self reliance." At the mention of no combat, some of the contestants breather a sigh of relief. Others where outraged, cursing or putting on a disapproving face. Kusono himself was a bit of both. He would have liked to have genin on genin fights inside the labyrinth, but the thought of what was in the maze peaked his interest much more. He listened to the rest of the proctors speech. "Now, good luck, because you're going to need it." Looking away from the proctor, Kusono was shocked. All of the other contestants where gone. Replaced by a masked and robed proctor directly in front of the Kaguya. The proctor walked within conversation distance and layed a hand on Kusono's head. Within an instant, Kusono was facing a golden gate leading into the maze. A few feet to his left was the proctor, waving a slow goodbye to Kusono. With a poof, he was gone, replaced by a box.

Kusono walked other and opened it. It contained survival gear, namely a Match, Half-Empty Bottle of Water, Strip of Large Bandage, aKunai, and a shit tone of String. Kusono arranged everything on his person. The string was fastened to his belt, the water bottle, bandage, match, where tucked away in his pockets. The kuni he placed in his hip pouch.

A large blast erupted from inside the maze, along with a firework show. The same instant the golden gate swung open, signifying the start of Kusono's personal exam.

WC: 677/500

Rolling for scenario 1

The member 'Kusono Kaguya' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Exam Scenario Dice' :

The golden gates to the maze opened with the echo of the bang still ringing through his head, Kusono entered. As soon as his form passed through the gates, it shut tight with a metallic clink. Kusono looked back to see the gate gone. Instead he saw the dark wall of the maze. What stretched out before him was more of the same. Dark brown walls, higher than Kusono could jump. regardless, jumping over the maze would probably cause him to be disqualified. Kusono would be a laughing stock to his entire clan if he was disqualified before he even got a chance to fight. So jumping over wasn't an answer, that probably meant the same for digging under the walls with his doton technique. But, dangers where sure to be in the maze, and Kusono would be ready for them. Using his clan kekkei Genkai, kusono hardened the epidermis layer under his skin into bone, providing himself with adequite protection. Along with that, he birthed a large dagger from his arm bone. The whole ordeal lasted less than a second, the hole where his bone had exited from closed up in an instant. He was more than ready for the upcoming trials.

So, with determination Kusono walked further and further into the maze. Keeping his dagger clutched in his right hand, every turn he expected something or someone to be there. Maybe a proctor, wild animal, or anything for that matter. But again and again he was let down. After the fifth turn he stopped hoping. Focusing more on actually memorizing his routes. Eventually he came to a crossroads. The only available way where left, straight, and right. Looking around he couldn't find any indication that they where traveled. No footprints, track marks, not even a fucking pebble. Whoever build the maze was good. So he solved the situation with what any normal person would do, a game of eeny meeny miny moe. Kusono started his finger on the left passage way and sang the song half in his head, half with a whisper with his eyes shut.

'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers, let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
My mother told me to pick the very best one, and that is you.'

Opening his eyes he had chosen the right passage way. Before going in, he wrote his name on the opening of the passage way, just incase he looped around or some other shit that was bound to happen in a maze like this.

So his journey continued, walking in a single direction for an hour, sometimes having to decide between a left and a right. Always the same protocol applied, a random pick, mark the start with his name, repeat on the next choice. More than once the young Kaguya had to retrace his steps because of a dead end. Never did he see the crossroad again, which was a good sign, at least in his eyes. He could have been going the completely wrong way from the very beginning for all he knew. But the maze was eerily quiet. He didn't hear cries of help, birds chirping, crickets, or any other animal for that matter. Just the rhythmic sound of his steady breathing. A few times he felt like he was being watched, but that was normal in a place such as this. More than likely it was the proctors making sure the candidates where relatively safe. Though the occasional creepy crawly or other nightmarish creature was always at the back of his mind. Just waiting to take over his thoughts at the first sight of a moving shadow or obscured object.

Taking his latest right turn in the maze he felt a sensation on his face reaching for it just felt like his skin. Looking in his palm was a thin piece of white thread. He had walked into a spider web, that was the first time he had even encountered something besides fucking rock walls. He shook it off and kept on his trek, eventually coming to the mouth of a cave, descending down. Kusono took a look into the opening of the mouth of the cave. It look to be a cave du by men, as it was perfectly cylindrical, leading a few feet in, then straight down. Kusono took another look around. The wall stopped behind the cave. The only choice was down or back. And he wasn't going back. So down the rabbit hole he went, oblivious to what lied within.

The drop down the whole wasn't far. Ten feet or so, the young genin hit the ground and rolled, distributing his weight evenly to avoid any unneeded injury. But his bone dagger was always in hand, and his internal armour always sturdy. The inside of the cave was dark, though not pitch black. The cave was relatively close to the surface, so a few holes leaked light into the caverns below. As his eyes got used to the lack of light, he could see that the only way was forward, so he walked. The walkway was a lot larger than what a normal human was, easily accommodating Kusono's height plus several feet up. The inside was messy, rocks strewn around, lose gravel fell from small cracks in the structure. But Kusono's investigation was cut short by a rumbling from the entrance of the cave. Looking back, from the dim light shown a dark shape, twice his size running towards Kusono. Quickly he picked up speed, barreling into a full sprint. down the tunnel, not bothering to look back lest the thing catch up to him.  Every foot felt like the monster was within arms reach, reaching for his hair, only inches away from having him for it's snack. When the he could hear the repition of it's feet behind him and it almost had him, the narrow passage opened into a central chamber when Kusono burst through, landing feet first into a giant layered sticky web. Behind him a giant spider spewed from the passage, clinging to the walls of the corridor. All its eyes stared at its perceived pray, its many legs placed under itself, ready to pounce on its prey.

The web stuck to Kuson's feet, inhibiting his ability to move at his full speed. He used his supernatural walking practice to remedy the situation. Instead of strike, the spider circled the walls of the room, eyes always on Kusono. Its mandible clicking and clacking, drooling with green slime. Was it salivating? No, it was poison!Kusono took in his surroundings, there was only two ways, back the way he came, or another passage in front of him. But the spider was faster than he was, he wouldn't be able to survive another extended foot race against it. He had to come up with a plan, quick. A straight up fight with the monster wouldn't be advised. He was on a time limit, and the nasty liquid it oozed didn't look promising if introduced to his body. So he sprinted down the other passage way.

The spider was quick to follow him, but Kusono already had a plan. Using his suicide decapitation technique, Kusono burrowed into the top of the passageway he was in, loosening a good ten feet of the passage before the spider entered. Kusono exited the ceiling and continued to sprint down the passageway. The spider disturbed the already loose stone cause the passageway to cave in. Giant boulders weighing hundreds of pounds crushed the spider and continued down the length of the passageway, threatening to crush Kusono.Boosting his speed, Kusono ran towards the light streaming into the caverns, bursting out into the light at the very last second before the falling rock would have entombed him.

Chakra:105/150:

WC:1304/1000

Rolling scenario 2

The member 'Kusono Kaguya' has done the following action : Dices roll

'Exam Scenario Dice' :

Kusono shot out of the cave just as the entrance collapsed. Shooting high into the sky and landing hard while rolling to a stop on his back. His clothes where covered in dust and small pebbles. His white hair now covered in thick brown dust. Damn, that was one hell of an encounter. Way more exciting then fighting another genin. Kusono recuperated with a giant smile on his face. The sprint had worn him out, had he not poured his all into the run, he would have been crushed to death along with the spider. The labyrinth his rocky tomb. It was a grim thought, but a completely possible one. He needed a rest before he would continue the treck to the center of the maze.

Taking off his kimono, he shook off the dust and used the water to get most of the dust out of his hair. Taking a few small gulps of the water before using the rest to wash off. The water felt refreshing, curing his dry through and tiredness within a ten minute rest. He had a few minutes to reflect on the exams. He knew there was more to the maze than meets the eye. He wondered what challenges the others had to face. Things more monstrous than giant spiders bent on eating you for breakfast? Most likely. Though it must have been a pain in the ass to get all of these things in the labyrinth and build all the traps. The maze must have been in production for quite some time with some dedicated surveillance to make sure every creepy-crawly in in it's own nook. The spider obviously created that cave for itself, what was to stop it from tunneling to another part of the maze? Maybe Kusono should have just shut the entrance incase any other participant wandered into the spiders nest. The less that make it past this round, the less he'd have to go through. He wanted to get this over with.

Standing up, Kusono redressed and placed his items inside their respective pockets and continued his journey further into the maze. Though for the most part it was uninteresting. The same as the start. Dirt walls as far as the eye could see. He continued his routine: randomly select if there was a choice, mark his entrance, and proceed from there. A dead end would be doubled back to, a continuity he would follow. Over and over until another peril presented itself. This time not in the form of a hulking beast. But in the form of the terrain. before him lay a giant chasm so deep that he couldn't see the bottom to it, only blackness. That was one place he did not want to end up in. There wasn't a question about it, he would die if he fell down there.

No matter, it was an easy obstacle to traverse. All he had to do was walk on the walls of the chasm and cross it. Kuson placed one foot on the wall and attempted to walk up it. His foot slid completely down it and almost caused him to face plant into the rock wall. 'What the fuck?' Kusono thought. He tried again and then a third time. He couldn't get himself to 'stick' to the wall. Looks like this wasn't going to be such an easy challenge after all. The length of the chasm was easily eighty or more meters across. He wouldn't be able to clear a fraction of that on a single jump. It looked like he would have to do it the old fashioned way, rock climb across.

Kusono let out a loud sigh, it would be a long and slow process making sure he didn't slip and plummet to the bottom of the pit. Kusono took out his bone dagger and the one kunai that was given to him in the survival pack. He stabbed the dagger into the rock, testing to see if it could hold his weight. It could, only if the kunai was lodged in also. Just in case, Kusono tied the 30 meter string to both of the weapons, making sure he had equal length of 15 meters between either weapon. Using the bone dagger as an anchor, Kusono would climb forward using both the weapons. Dagger, kunai, dagger,Kunai, dagger,kunai. That's the way it went for the most part. The dagger, being stronger than the kunai, stabbed deeper into the rock. So that was what he led with. traversing the rock wall was exhausting. His muscles burned as he had to put in extra effort into stabbing into the rock as his muscles began to drain on him. Stopping wasn't and option, as it only served to further drain his muscles hanging there. He would have to push past the point of exhaustion or die trying. That was exactly what the young Kaguya boy did. The whole climb took more than four hours. As he could only inch across the rock face by the length of his wingspan, which was a little less than six feet. But to be safe, he inched by using five feet.

When he was only ten feet from the other edge of the chasm, he fell. He didn't have the energy to push the dagger far enough in, so it slipped out, plummeting him to the darkness bellow. Thinking fast Kusono used another of his techniques. Numerous one foot long bone spikes erupted from his arms, legs, and body. Using all the strength he had, Kusono jammed his arms and legs into the solid rock, along with his dagger and kunai. That was enough traction to stop his fall.

With his hear racing and sweat pouring off his body. Kusono finished the rest of the climb to the other end of the chasm. Giving one final push up before collapsing onto solid ground once more. He took a much needed rest as he was well past the point of exhaustion. Taking an hour to recuperate, Kusono walked sluggishly into the maze for hopefully the final time.

Chakra:90/150:

WC:1017

Kusono walked slowly, his clothes where torn up rags because of his jutsu. His hair was messy and dirty. His whole body ached and sweat poured over every part of his body. He hoped that there where no more terrain obstacles, as they where by far the most exhausting and taxing on him. He would have rather fought ten spiders consecutively than scale that chasm one more time. Though the good thing was that there was a change in scenery. Leaves fell freely around Kusono. Looking up he could see that he was under the great trees branches. It's leaves falling with every gently sway of the wind. That was an excellent sign. It meant he was much closer to the end then he originally expected. It brought a slight grin to his face, but he was not out of the forest, or maze for that matter, yet. He still had the hours upon hours it would take of dead ends and twists to finally get to the center of the maze. But it would all be worth it once he proves his strength to the clan.

Come to think of it, a few of his clan had come to see him off when he left, others promised to come see him when the combat rounds of the exams cam around. His parents let him travel to Takigakure alone, but promised to be there for support once he inevitably rose through the qualifying rounds.

Before he departed, Kusono's father shared with him the story of his time in the Chunnin Exams. He was about Kusono's age, maybe a year younger when his father thought it was time for him to advance in rank. The exams were held in Konoha the year his father participated in, specifically something they called the forest of death. After a brief written test, the objective was to get an assigned VIP person to the center of the forest without them dying. In the forest you could assassinate other VIP's to thin the herd for the following round. As no group could continue to the next round without their VIP.His father was designated as the VIP for his team. He said it took days for his team to finally get through the forest to the center. Along the way they where attacked, ambushed other teams and even managed to kill two other VIP's, both of which Kusono's father killed himself. Toward the end of the exam his team was attacked and one of the members where seriously injured, the other died. Kusono's father along with the help of his team killed the ambushing team. While helping his teammate to the finish, His father was able to get himself and his injured teammate to the finish line where they passed into the next round. Long story short, strength was shown and honor was won. His father and his remaining teammate graduated to become Chunnin.

The little story put a smile on Kusono's face and lit a fire in his spirit to emulate exactly what his father did, to emulate greatness. Shaking off his prior memories, Kusono noticed something. A gate similar to the one he entered through, only this time he could see the trunk of the great tree and a sparkling waterfall. The young Kaguya ran to the center of the maze feeling an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. There he sat, on the fountain, nursing what little remained of his water bottle with the widest grin plastered on his mug.

585/500
CE-1 COMPLETED