Okay Tsu! You can do this… You can totally do this!!
The green haired Senju wandered around a bit in a huge thicket of trees. Since the beginning of her time on the giant turtle, she had been alone and hadn’t spotted any signs of any other shinobi. She looked at the scroll her had on hand, the Scroll of Earth. So, that meant that she needed to find someone with the scroll of Heaven so she could get to could put them together and get to the second round! It was a simple enough sounding task, though… it would be hard if she couldn’t find another person on this giant turtle period.

Three days huh? Tsuru looked around, the green haired girl had seemed to find herself in a very thick patch of the forest. It still amazed her that all of this wasn’t actually land, but instead a giant turtle. The trees around her appeared so healthy and big, her mind wondered if the trees roots ever dug so deep that it hurt the turtle. She surely hoped it didn’t. "I’m sorry Mr. Giant Turtle. If it hurts..." The girl said  as she continued walking around.

She wondered how her teammates were doing and if she would be able to see them at all during the exams. It was a pretty big turtle by the way the proctor had explained, she hoped that both Itazura and Kaitu would be able to handle themselves okay. Maybe if she did run into the Sarutobi or the Raven Haired boy, she could help them! She would of course help them regardless of what scroll either of them had. But if it came down to it that they had opposite scrolls… No! She didn’t want to think about something like that. They were her friends, and she surely didn’t want to fight either of them.

As she was walking, she noticed the trees becoming thicker and thicker, and the canopy above nearly blocked out all the sun. As she looked around at the trees, she noticed that many of the trees had huge scratch marks on the trunks. M-Monster?! Tsu’s eyes widened in terror, she panicked silently as she remembered what the proctor had said about giant animals on this giant turtle.  Maybe it’s a nice animal… Like a koala or a deer. Or another giant turtle. Koala, deer, and turtles had nice temperaments, or at least the girl thought so. She wasn’t an expert on animals like she was plants.

What if it’s a giant spider?! Tsu panicked again. There was no way she was going to fight against a giant spider. Spiders were scary, very scary. She shook her head furiously, convincing herself there weren’t going to be any giant spiders. There really shouldn’t be any giant spiders. There aren’t any giant spiders on this giant turtle.

She tried thinking of something else. She started examining the claw marks on the trees. They were rather large, maybe it was a bear. Tsuru knew that many animals likes to scratch on tree bark to mark their territory, had she wandered into a place she shouldn’t have? She didn’t notice anyone else around.  

Suddenly she heard the cracking of a twig, her head turned to the direction of the sound but she couldn’t see anyone, or anything for that matter. She sniffed around a bit, and smelled a rather unpleasant scent of smoke in the air.

Smoke..! F-fire?! The girl froze in an instant, at once wishing for giant spiders rather than flames. As a Senju she already was weak against any Katon jutsu, but even more so was that traumatizing incident that had left its scar on her skin and taken away her mother.

No! I’m different than before! Tsu steeled herself knelt down to the ground, she punched down create a small hole and from there a small plant of thorns and vines came to surface. Underneath in the ground, or in this case, the shell of the turtle, a root network spread out beneath her, allowing the girl to sense the positions of all the plants, her terrain. On the side note, she noticed that the soil on the turtles back was very healthy, a little waterlogged, but  it indeed support a very healthy environment. Suddenly she detected movement from just the edge of her range…

~804~

A… Giant something… The girl wasn’t sure what to make of the large footstep she felt make her way towards her, and close, only 20 meters away and closing in. Suddenly the footsteps disappeared, as if they were never there at all. Did it… climb a tree? Tsuru wondered, unsure of what she had just sensed.

Chakra 130/150:

Shhhhkk!

”Ah?!” Tsu gasped in surprised. Out of nowhere a kunai had been thrown in her direction, she saw the blade stick into a tree branch above her head. The sign of an enemy?! She got frustrated with herself for being so careless, at any other angle that kunai would’ve got her, probably straight in the head!

By her roots in the ground, she knew that there was no one on the forest floor with her. That meant they had to be above. The girl looked up, prepared to see another shinobi. Were they after her? Didn’t that mean they had to have opposite scrolls? So… they would have to fight it out?! She knew that this would happen, yet now that is was she felt so very nervous. She hoped that whoever it was wouldn’t be one to use Katon jutsu, maybe they specialized in long range attacks? She’d have to save thinking for later, for what she saw in the trees definitely was something she was not expecting.

”K-Koala!”  Indeed it was a koala, a giant koala, donning a red scarf and bowler hat. The fact that it thankfully wasn’t a giant spider only grazed her train of thought as the giant marsupial readied for an attack, it was going to pounce on her from the trees. But it never got a chance as suddenly an arrow hit it in the chest, and then another shot at his direction. Tsu took this as her chance to escape. It was no longer safe on the ground, where she was vulnerable as a target. She climbed up the nearest tree, jumping from branch to branch, keeping the giant koala in sight, but hiding herself within the branches of the trees. Her naturally green hair proved some nice camouflage in the forest canopy.

She saw that koala was attacked with a barrage of three more arrows. What was strange was that the arrows from earlier had seemingly disappeared, but… she was sure that one of them had hit the giant thing. Had is dissipated into thin air? It could possibly have been a jutsu, which meant other shinobi. Whoever it was probably had been the one to throw the kunai from earlier. That kunai hadn’t been an attack, but instead a warning. Whoever it was had decided to warn her of the giant beast, helping her escape an attack. Oh… How nice of him.  She thought about the other shinobi, the one still attack the bear. She noticed movement in the tree branches, it had to have been him. She made a mental note to thank him for helping her when they had a chance to talk. Though if they did end up having different scrolls, they would have to fight each other. But one problem needed to be faced at a time, and this time the problem was the giant koala.

She couldn’t let her fellow shinobi fight the thing all by himself. But what could she do? She decided she need to help in any way she could! She was in the forest, wood was her element, she was a Senju after all. Tsu looked around the canopy of tree, searching for something she could use. Then she saw it, one of the trees in the forest was tilted, at its base the trunk already half broken. The tree itself only being held upright by a group of branches by the surrounding foliage.  Yet she needed to get the koala at the right position for her plan to work. She made a handsign summoning a doppelganger. It was risky to come out of hiding, but it was necessary for her plan to work. The koala only seemed to be angered by the previous barrage of arrows, furiously searching for their owner. Though he was a giant creature, his movements were nimble as he made his way through the trees.

She sent her doppelganger out into the open, while she headed straight for the tilted tree. The fake herself easily caught the attention of the giant marsupial. Tsu reached the tree, but soon was encountered with another problem. How was she supposed to make it fall? Her doppelganger was easily chased by the giant koala, leading him directly in line with the tree trunk. But within a few moments he caught it to only have the fake disappear in a puff of smoke. Angered further, the beast searched around for the real Leaf Shinobi, now frantically trying to push the tilted tree and get it to finally fall. She had set herself against another stable tree trunk, she heard branches breaking from the pressure, but the tree wasn’t moving an inch.

What was wrong? It had looked unstable enough earlier!  She was starting to panic now, once again vulnerable to attack, and the koala was headed straight for her.  She just needed the darn thing to fall, and fall on top of the koala. She looked around desperately, what about that other shinobi? Would he help her? Would she have to depend on others so save her every time she was in trouble? Was this the end already? If only she was a little stronger, then she could break through those branches and make it fall. The koala was charging at her now, she only had a few moments left…

~899/1703~

Chakra 125/150:

"Move."

What?  From where she was, she barely hear the warning. Tsu looked up from her pushing, the giant koala had spotted her! Ah.. Ah!!! Still bracing herself against another tree, she tried pushing harder. She heard more rustling in the trees, her eyes caught sight of another figure, grounded on the forest floor. Dark skin and dark hair, his outfit mainly of black and dark grey. With his bow in hand, he loosed another arrow at the koala, hitting it on the lower leg.

The creature roared with pain, perhaps anger, even more agitated with such sticks beings shot at him. What was he doing...? Tsu wondered why the boy was putting himself through the trouble of helping her. He was another competitor wasn't he? Wouldn't helping her only defeat the purpose of competing? But... She couldn't think about why or who the boy was, he was trying to get the koala to get his attention away from her and that was all that mattered at the moment. He shot another arrow, though this time missing and hitting a nearby tree.

The distraction proved more than enough. The koala now moving to directly of the path of the fallen tree, stalking the lone shinobi readying an attack. The boy shot another arrow, this time in her direction. She heard the loud snapping of branches, his arrow the most likely culprit. But it was exactly what she needed for an extra boost! The trunk moved inch by inch, until it caught on with its own momentum. The boy had shot a few more arrows at the beast which still made its way toward him. The other Genin was counting on her, there was no way she was going to let him down! She gave one last big push, and with a cacophony of branches snapping and the tree trunk breaking. And much to her surprise it began to fall!

"Uh.. Oaah!" as the tree fall, the green haired girl was suddenly caught without a brace, causing herself to hold onto the tree as it crashed to the ground. The giant koala looked up to the noise, but it was too late as the trunk already was falling into it. Tsu of course, now hugging to the tree for dear life with her eyes closed shut.

The tree crashed to the ground, after a stillness was reached in the forest the girl opened her sealed shut, terrified eyes. She blinked several times, letting go of the tree and looking at the destruction around her. She caught sight of the shinobi she had encounter, bow still in hand. "Ah... Hello..." She only could force a quick, awkward greeting out. She appeared very confused at the outcome, for underneath the fallen trunk there was no body of a giant creature. There was rustling in the trees, her green eyes darted through the canopy. The beast was still out there... A simple tree falling would not hinder it so much. A menacing aura overtook the forest, the growling of an angered, injured beast overtook all other sound. The faint smell of cigar smoke took to the air once again as the two Genin stood on the ground.

"Do... You think he's coming back...?" Her question trailed off as she searched around the forest, unsure of what to do next. Would this mean thay they have to fight each other now? But... The creature was still lurking out there, and the green haired girl surely didn't want to go through making another tree fall down in this forest.

~598/2301~

Chakra 125/150 —No Jutsu Used—

At her question the dark haired boy only shook his head with a sigh, saying that he didn't know. She shouldn't have expected him to know, but it was a spur of the moment thing to ask. She sat up on the tree, dusting herself off as the boy suggested and explained a lot of things.

He suggested a plan if the giant koala did come back. She nodded her head intently, knowing that was a good idea. She wasn't much of a planner herself but since the boy was taking the initiative she decided to let him keep talking. It was rude to interrupt people anyway. He seemed nice enough, after all he did see through her plan of distracting the beast and had warned her of it when it first appeared. And he was also kind enough to say hello when she had said her first greeting. In conclusion, whether he be an opponent or not, he wasn't a bad guy.

Then he had to lock his dark eyes directly into her green ones. Saying that the two couldn't trust each other and adding that he would definitely take her scroll when he had the chance, whether or not it was the right scroll or not. She blinked a few times, a puzzled but at the same time understanding expression on her face. He was very direct, but he did have a point. This was a competition, an examination and neither he or she should have been so easily trusting of people, no competitors, they had just met. It did slightly dishearten her though, under different circumstances she would have liked to get to know this boy better. He appeared the same age as her, though she didn't see a forehead protector on him so she couldn't tell what village he was from.

He had paused to let his words sink in, then quickly continued, of course enforcing the fact that at the moment they needed to work together to take down this giant koala. Tsu blinked again... She had never thought that giant koalas would be so angry at anyone. She always thought that koalas were kind of lazy and just climbed trees and ate eucalyptus all day. This koala definitely wasn't like every other average koala. And he was being kind of mean to be honest.

The girl's thoughts were interuppted by a giant roar that made even the trees shake. And it made Tsu nearly  jump out of her skin.

"Not trying to rush you but you should make up your mind pretty fast, because by the sound of it the thing will be back soon." The boy was looking around frantically trying to catch sight of the giant creature. Tsu nodded furiously with a "Y-yeah!" She wasn't exactly sure what to say, but she believed she had just confirmed that she wanted to work together with him. He had said a lot of things and he was talking again which made it hard for her to follow everything being said, but overall he did seem concerned for both of their safety at the moment.

Another roar, and for the first time Tsu noticed something odd about the boy's eyes. They were emerald green with slit like pupils, special eyes? A... Doujutsu? Yes, that was what special eye jutsus were called. The boy before her had some kind of doujutsu, she wondered what he could see. And by that... It probably meant that he could see the giant koala that was after them. They were vulnerable out here, both he and Tsu realized it. It was coming in fast, and by then Tsu didn't need him to tell her. There was rustling in the trees around them, the beast seemed everywhere at once! Are koalas really that good climbers? It was a thought the girl would have to save for another time.

Plan.. Plan! They needed a plan. Plans were always good in a time of crisis. Plans were something that Tsu wasn't particularly good at, she hoped the boy was. But unfortunately despite saying quite a few things, he didn't have one. "Well I'm fresh out of ideas, what about you?"  

Before she could say anything more, another leaf shaking roar ripped through the air. Leaf shaking both in a literal sense and cause the Shinobi of the leaf to get a little shaky herself. Why was he asking her?! Did she look like the type to come up with plans? Well... She wasn't! "Uh... I, uh..." She stuttered some more, still very much terrified about the whole situation. The boy didn't seem to be in any better condition. This wasn't good. Two kids about to killed by a giant koala bear? That definitely would be less than an expected outcome of the chunin exams. Well, maybe that was the point, to kill off the weak and have the strong ones fight it out.

But.. Tsu wasn't weak. She had changed from when she was a helpless little girl, that much she was sure of. Her stance grew a little more steady, she was finally getting herself ready.

"I'm a Senju. I-I can use Mokuton." She said it with shaky pride, both trying to calm herself down and trying to talk seriously to the boy besides her. "If we can get him down to the ground, I can trap him in a wooden cell. He's gotta be injured from the tree already, so... H-He shouldn't be able to break free too easily..." In all honesty the girl wasn't entirely sure, but it was all she could think of at the moment. Surely the koala wouldn't fall for the same distractions twice, so it would be harder to get him back down to the ground. And if he did break free, they would just have to cross that bridge when they got to it.

"He has to be in my range though and on the ground. You should uh... Go back up in the trees, and lead him down to me. I'll support you part of the way." The greened hair Senju knelt down to the ground, digging her fingers into the dirt (technically turtle shell) beneath them both. Directly beside her two large vines sprouted from the ground, the two green stalks stretched out far moving with an animated aura. The girl's braid appeared to float around her, like snakes mirroring the movements of the vines. "My reach is only 25 meters but I think that's all we need since he's... So close. And since I've activated the vines, I can't move very far from the spot, so he needs to come to me."

Her eyes were racked with concern over her makeshift idea of a plan. Was it any good? Would the boy agree to it? And what of afterwards? "If you get hurt, I know some medical ninjutsu so I can heal you a little!" She blurted out the statement without thinking. What was she to be concerned over someone who had already stated he didn't trust her? Trust was not the issue at the moment, they did need to work together, differences or goals put aside.

"M-My name is Tsuru Shokubutsusou." She blurted out an introduction. "I know it's not a very good plan, I'm open to suggestions if you have any!" She was only able to get a few more words out before the growling ceased as an odd silence filled the forest air. Was the beast gone? No... Only worse, it turned to watching and waiting, keeping just out of sight, for the two to make their move.

~1306/3607~

Chakra 110/150:

The boy watched with interest as she made the vines grow around her. Perhaps he had never seen a Senju before, that was a possibility considering there were many other shinobi from all over the world here on this giant turtle.

 "My name is Ruvaak Unmei..." He gave his name as well, and confirmed the plan with her, adding under different circumstances they probably would have gotten a chance to know each other better. So, he had a similar line of thinking to her. Tsu was grateful to have run into someone who was nice enough to think that way. And he was thoughtful enough to give his name and agree with hers. She would've like just a little criticism since she wasn't sure about the quality of it, but he seemed to trust it all the same.  Just as he jumped away to go about distracting the koala, she blurted out another set of words.

"G-Good luck, Ruvaak-san!" By that time, he was already in the trees. Uh... Did I do the plan thing right?She thought as she stood there, now alone on the ground. She hoped her plan was a good one. She never really was the one people turned to for plans. It worried her to think that it would not turn out so well. And what about this Ruvaak? What if he got hurt... Or worse. It would be practically all her fault if something like that happened. This was why she didn't like to be the one people turned to for plans in the first place! What if she couldn't trap the koala in a wooden cell? The four pillars prison Technique was made so it could keep prisoners in... Not giant koalas.

There was cracking in the tree canopy and the sound of roars echoed through the forest. Was he going to be okay? In her muddling thoughts Tsu couldn't keep track of where he was. She looked around frantically, trying to see him or sign of the beast. "Ah... Uh... Ruvakk-san?! G-Giant Koala?!" She tried calling either of their names. Well, the boy's name she did know, she just had to refer to the Giant Koala as to what it was, a giant Koala. There was more sounds of  roaring and thundering of trees branches, until she finally caught sight of them both!

He was jumped through a lower layer of branches, wood being thrown at him from a very angry marsupial. He shot a few arrows at it as he tried to run away. "R-Ravaak-san!"  Tsu could only yell out his name as the koala beast closed the gap between them and slammed his claw against the boy.

His fall was dampened by two branches as he hurdled toward the ground, not far from the girl at all. The koala lit a cigarette, believing history was in his reach. The boy hit the ground hard, Tsuru noticed his bow and arrow suddenly disappeared. He was slow to get up, the girl frantically was trying to yell at him to move.

"Catch me if you can." He yelled out to the to koala as be ran toward her. Quickly, the beast got down on top of him as he ran straight to Tsu. He got to her quick, and the beast just as fast. Once he was within her range, he yelled out. "Now!"

The boy disappeared just as the Koala's claw came down to smash at the empty ground.

"H-Huh?!" She gasped in surprise as the boy suddenly vanished and then she was left to face the koala alone. The koala stood tall in front of her, roughly three times the size of a fully grown male and had the strength to prove it. The cigar in his mouth filled the air with a small cloud of smoke. For a moment Tsu just stared at the bear, wondering what she was supposed to do. Her vines simply hanging about in the air. The stand off remained for a few seconds, before the girl suddenly remembered what she was supposed to do. The two green stalks shot toward the koala, Striking him at both sides. He dodged one by stepping back, but as his weight shifted to his back leg he winced and lost his balance. His right leg... Was injured! Remembering back to the falling tree, Tsu came to the quick conclusion. In the trees, he was able to make up for such an injury but on the ground, he now was vulnerable!  She used her right vine to hit up on the side, making him fall to the ground.

"Hah!" She knelt down to the ground once more. Placing her fingers on the ground she began the chakra conversion of Suiton and Doton. Around the ground surrounding the koala, pillars of wood shot out from the dirt, encasing the giant in a wooden cell. I... I did it! The girl was surprised at her ability. So, it was successful after all! After such a tense situation, she fell backwards to sit on the ground. But... Suddenly the wooden cell began to shake. The koala was going to break out?!  The girl surrounded her vines around the wooden cell, ready to attack the creature if it did. Yet, the escape never happened, instead, much to the girl's puzzlement she heard a raspy voice come from the cell.

"Eheh? So... You kids are pretty crafty him?"

It.. It can talk? She stood up carefully, glancing around for the boy. Hoping that he had escaped, she didn't see him anywhere. But what was this koala saying again? She looked carefully to the slots in-between the wood, a smoke trail exited crack.

"You know I've been lookin' for strong opponents like you. Maybe, we could strike a deal? I need a few crafty kids like you to go up against Kong."

"W-Well I, uh... " Was he really trying to recruit her... And Ruvaak? Was that even allowed? She stuttered with her words, what could she even say? She stopped before she said anything else. The koala went silent as well, waiting for an answer.

~1039/4646~

Chakra 90/150:

"I... I guess so...? Um, yes I-I will! I mean, I think we can be friends!"

The silence was unnerving, and the Tsu hadn't really known what to say, but she figured that being on the koala's good side would be better than being on its bad. So she ended up stuttering a response of agreement to whatever the koala was offering. It was a giant koala that nearly killed her (and she nearly killed it), but perhaps they really could form some kind of friendship.

With the green haired girl still trembling, the giant marsupial smiled with his cigarret still puffing out smoke between the slots of the wooden cage. "Alright, it's a deal!" With a ground trembling shake, the wooden cell around him broke into pieces. He stool tall, nearly four times her size, offering his hand, well paw, to the girl. "Don Koala is the name."

Eh.. So my idea wasn't that good. The thought crossed her mind as she shook the beast's paw with her hand. "Tsuru  Shokubutsusou is my name!" She gave her name with a smile. Though her gaze held a distant look as she smiled up at the beast. She wondered about the other boy, Ruvaak, it was. She didn't see him around the in the trees. She needed his scroll, she was sure they had opposite scrolls anyway and well... It was the only way to get past this round! Now that the koala threat was taken care of, she needed to focus back on her real goal, the exams.

Don Koala immediately noticed the girl's distant gaze. "Lookin' for that boy eh? He's up in the trees." His claw pointed upwards, a little to the left. Tsu's eyes followed to see a figure in the green canopy. He was open, and unmoving, so this was her perfect chance to take the scroll. She had the earth scroll... So he had to have the heaven scroll. She nodded back to the koala and then summoned her vines to go up into the trees. Winding their way through the branches, she got the vines to the boy and then quickly grabbed his scroll as he wasn't looking. Tsu breathed a huge sigh of relief as the vines came back to her, the scroll was hers!

"Thank y-you, Mr. Don Koala! I promise I-I will help you whenever you need me!" Tsu bowed in appreciation to the koala, who puffed a cloud of smoke with a grunt and a nod back. The girl still wasn't sure what kind of help the Koala had in mind, but since he had helped her out it was only nice of her to do so in return.

She took the scroll from her vine and already had the other scroll in her other hand, she looked at the two cylinders in her hands, slightly unable to comprehend that she actually had done it. "I did it, I got both scrolls!" She jumped up in the air, just then realizing the Koala had left and she was alone. Um... Do these fit together or something...? Her vines fell wilted to the ground beside her.

She looked from her left to her right hand, now absentmindedly walking around, hopefully finding an exit to the forest and trying to figure out how the two scroll fit together.

~570/5216~

-Exit Thread-

Chakra 85/150: