Chapter 6 : Go Home! You Suck! (Team Sora Survival Exercise.)

As expected, the kai hadn't worked... He would have to think about something else, but first, he'd need some food. He had had some breakfast, and his dogs had too, but he would certainly get hungry and thirsty if he didn't find a 'meal' soon.

So Nomaru wasn't sharing her food... That was going to cost him a looooot of work. Luckily his dogs were with him, so he supposed they would have to do some hunting and gathering with the 9 of them.

To Nomaru's animal killing remark he just quickly replied: opposing unnecessery violence and killing an animal for the sake of staying alive are two different things.
That said, I'm going to secure some food and drinks for me and my comrades. He turned to Torame. Torame-san, are you in, or will you stay with Nomaru-san? Doesn't seem like she's sharing her food. The fact that Nomaru was completely unwilling to help out her teammates irritated him a little bit, but he wasn't planning on taking her food by force. At least not until he was starving to death... But she probably would help him then... Right?

So, Torame-san, what will you do? Got a little plan for finding food in case you do decide to join me. Up to you amigo!

Torame looked up at the Houtarou. " you realy think it would be a smart idea to go hunting with 10?, listen, i got it that you are not the brightest, but your actions are stupid all the way, trying "kai" while you know nothing about genjutsu, falling over branches, and getting all emotional in battle over your dogs. i will hunt alone."

he walked up to nomaru, " i dont know what will happen to me or houtarou once we are hunting, but as soon as you find a way out, wait for us. if the sun sets and there are no signs of us, go without us, but dont forget to make a cross with the kunai on the tree once you go away, so we know nothing has happend to you... and if you dont mind tell my mother i love her, if i wont get out alive"

after he said this he went a bit away from the others, mumbling how he was going to die at such young age and what he still wanted to do in life before dieing. After getting away quite a bit, he put his finger in his mouth and sticked it up in the air, he waited a little and then analised that the wind was blowing to the west, "so i have to go east" . he walked to the east side of the open area and disappeared into the forrest

Nomaru made a bit of a grumpy face as she noticed Houtarou and Torame were about to leave. For a little while she just ended up starring at a random bush and noticed a little black cat sprinting away into the forest.
'Hm... That's odd...' the girl thought.
Nomaru kinda did not want to be alone, because she had a strange feeling that was wat Sora was hoping for. If she were a sensei at this thing she would definitely want her students to split up. As Torame was already walking away she felt her eye twich a bit. Especially after his over dramatic speech. No-one ever died at survival training... right?

She grabbed Houtarou by his arm before he could sprint away as well and she'd be all alone. Being alone was not part of the plan. She needed to change her attitude towards the boys to keep them on her side and she knew that, problem just was that they were both such easy victims.
Ok Nomaru, be nice and sensitive and all that bullshit. Act like you have a plan.
"Hachiko, let's not split up. I mean: that's probably what that Uchiha Cunt wants, don't you think? I mean: this is a genjutsu after all. Anything could happen." Nomaru smiled a bit as she was trying to get her dress to look right again, but it was covered in blood - as her face was - and dirt and stuff like that. She was happy to have another pair of clothing with her.
"I suggest you to help me with this thing. I'm not to sure what's happening but I need your dogs to preform some tests, if that's alright. They won't get hurt or anything. And I also suggest you send one of your dogs with Torame, just in case he'll go mental or if he is in need of a diaper change."
Nomaru smiled, grabbing another cigarette from her bag. Hachiko just had to buy all this bullcrap and they were ready to go. "And hunting will be the easiest thing ever if one of you would have this jutsu... what is it called again? ehr-" a small frown appeared on her forehead. She was not going to let them know what she could do. She would just tell him her ex could to that jutsu if they were asking stupid questions. "Jibashiri! It's a tracker jutsu, right? That also damages or something. So it could probably kill a bunnyrabbit or a squirrel or whatever. Some guy all explained it to me once and it is worth a try. It will save us loads of time. And Hachiko, you should also get some chakra back in your body after that Kai."

She lit the cigarette she was holding for a while and gave the Hatake a friendly look.
'Fucking dog lovers, all of them are stupid assfaces.' "So my plan: let Torame find food with one of your dogs, you get some chakra back into your body and the two of us will go do something about this genjutsu. Maybe you'll learn something from it." Waiting for the Hatake's reply she kinda wanted to go find that cat, look what he was up to. Never trust anything in a genjutsu.

After hearing out both Torame and Nomaru, Houtarou felt confused as f***. Did their personalities just switch? WAS THAT PART OF THE GENJUTSU?!
''Nah, relax man, relax...''

Well... it has come to this... seemed it was time for some serious talking.

Don't say stuff you know nothing about Torame. I don't know about you, but I used to go camping A LOT with my dogs, and we've got strategy for that! Don't know if you noticed, but every one of my friends here have their own specialty. We're a hunting team!
And as for the kai thing, it didn't hurt right? I very well knew the chance of it working was near zero, but it's not like we've got anything to lose. I don't know much about genjutsu, so might as well try it. If I don't give it a shot, I'll always miss.
He tried to sound as nice as possible, but it was a little harder after Torame's unusual snarky remark.

Now let me tell you something, it's not very smart to go out just on your own. I've got 8 companions with me, but you're all on your own. Nomaru, has a point with anything being able to happen in Uchiha-sensei's genjutsu, and you can be the strongest genin in the world, you're still no match for him, Torame-san. And that's no problem, because neither is Nomaru or I, nor are the trhee of us combined as shown before. But he, I'm not stopping you. Do what you feel is right, but consider this, for your own safety, alright?

Now it was time to talk to Nomaru, who had just dramatically changed her tone.
I don't think it'd have any good effect to send a dog with Torame-san. That's nothing personal, but only few people can communicate with them, and if they get just a little too far from Torame-san they will be in danger. Torame-san is choosing to go on his own, or not.

Daichi: If I may just shortly interrupt, it would indeed not make much sense to only send one of us with Uchiha-san here. The only one who is able to communicate with him in a good way is me, and I'm not much use at direct hunting. There would need to go two of us at a minimum.

Good point Daichi. Communication would be another problem. Houtarou replied to his mastermind.

Nomaru suddenly started talking of an entire hunt strategy for him, but he and his dogs already had that down for if they needed to hunt. Houtarou wouldn't mind to stay with Nomaru under one circumstance... She'd have to agree to that or join him.
Nomaru-san, he said while grinning slightly. I'll stay with you, under one condition. He raised his index finger as he continued. You'll give both me and my dogs some food and water. Don't worry, we won't consume too much, but enough to keep us going for a few hours and focus on this genjutsu thing like you want, right?
He raised his shoulders and hands, and turned around.
If you don't want that, both me and my dogs are going to have to hunt. It's most effective when we use a collective strategy. Feel free to join me if you want.

He kinda put a little bit of pressure on Nomaru here and felt a little bad about it. He guessed her intentions were ultimately good, but he and his dogs were gonna have to eat and she wasn't offering any... Torame also didn't seem very happy and relaxed. Guess his motivational speech from before hadn't worked... The situation was tense, it wasn't really to his liking... What if some useless argument started here and they all ended going their seperate ways? This was Sora's test, and their ability to work as a team might be something he was especially interested in after their failure to do so in the battle. It'd be bad if disputes start now... sigh. ''Both of them might start making a fool of me again after this, but someone's gotta do it.''
He turned around again to both his teammates. Torame had already walked a bit but he would still be able to hear him talking, he guessed. The volume of his voice increased a little.
Look, we all want food, that's a given, and we all seem to have different plans to go about getting it. This won't get us nowhere. What if this is exactly what our sensei is aiming for? The usual happy Houtarou face kinda dissapeared as he got a little more serious. I know very well we all still need to really get to know each other. I know very well there is some friction between this team right now. But seperating is not going to solve any of that. Let's show Uchiha-sensei that we're better than some whining little kids, that we're true genin. Might be one of his greatest aims with this genjutsu. Let's be these true shinobi who can work together rather than argue about stupid disputes. Nomaru, I know you don't care very much, but Torame and I do and you also want to get out of here so it's in your interest to reach this goal as well. I say either you help your teammates by sharing some of your food or we all go hunting. We'll make up some strategy, like not being clustered together with all 11 of us and making a lot of noise, and work together, we get some meat or berries or whatever, some water, silence our bellies, and start to, with all 3, no... all 11 of us, He gave a short wink to his dogs. figure out what this genjutsu is and how we can get rid of it. He paused for a little to finish his second little speech of the day. Team #3... UNIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE! He raised his fist in the sky, attempting to figuratively radiate the motivation of his body, desperately hoping to influence his teammates.


Daichi knew very well what was going through Houtarou's mind right now, having known him and having conversed with him the most of all the dogs (which was rather obvious with his speciality). He had often had long conversations with Houtarou, and the two were real 'friends'. The boy still had much to learn and wasn't quite on Daichi's mental level (masterminds have intelligence 12, Houtarou 5), but they appreciated each other's company nonetheless. They could work together very well! Houtarou had good intentions, although this kind of thing might not work on everybody. Especially the last bit didn't seem like a great move to him. Hopefully for him it did on his teammates though. He was probably anxious about their reaction right now, hoping they'll be collaborative rather than calling him an idiot and leaving. Well, at least he had himself and the other 7 on his side. Daichi lied down for a bit enjoying the soft breeze and the smell of the fresh grass. Meanwhile he looked around him, in a way scanning the area, making sure everything seemed normal. Who knows he might be able to spot something off. He often studied with Houtarou when he was in the academy, as he with his role in the team needed knowledge. Since Houtarou never really bothered to even take his genjutsu homework with him though, he never really got to learn much about that either, but he certainly would ask Houtarou for some material about it in the future. Knowledge was one of his main powers.

[Investigation roll for Daichi if possible please!]

Nomaru felt the twitchy eye coming back again as she listened to more of Houtarou's stupid words. He was way to positive about EVERYTHING there was. This whole hunting was a stupid idea but at least it could buy her some time. She just didn't understand why the boy would not get it. She almost crushed the filter of the cigarette in between her fingers as he continued talking to Torame.
'HATAKE HOUTAROU, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET SOME CHAKRA BACK IN YOUR BODY, RIGHT NOW! Didn't he understand he could die going on with no chakra in his body for to long?
'Fuck me guys, are you really that stupid? I was the one skipping classes more than anyone in the history of that fucking school, so how the hell do I know more about the shit going on here than you do? Nomaru took a deep breath to control her emotions a bit. This was beyond ridiculous. What kind of fucked up vision did these guys have about everything? 'Torame get back here, nobody is going to fucking die, you hear me? This Gen is barely enough to fry our brains to shit like that one from that fucking fish the other day.'
 Nomaru looked at her bag with her food as she heard the Hatake say more stupid things. Being nice was obviously not going to work one bit. She could better make herself the leader of this bunch of retards for now, so they wouldn't get themselves killed.
'I'm not giving the dogs my food, they can hunt as you said and dogs can drink pretty much any water without dying so that's a no. I might be able to give you guys some water, but I only have two bottles on me. And fine, some food. But fuck...' Playing nice hadn't been her thing for a long time. She got kinda stuck up in her routine of being a bitch, especially when stuck with stupid people. That and she felt too good to be stuck with bunny organs all over her. She wanted a warm shower and maybe an unknown man in her bed to have a good time with. But she also wanted to fail the exam and this was one way to do it. 'Okay, look. I really don't want any of this shit, but we really need to get out of here -' Good thing no-one can read minds here. I'm so full of crap... '-and I'm really with you guys on this. And like I said... I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA HOW THIS GEN WORKS. That's the fifth time I've been saying this and it will be the last. So fuck, let me be sure about this stuff and give me some time.' She held her breath for a bit to not burst into another teen-angst rage moment. 'Seriously guys, unless you do exactly as I say we're going to walk around in circles for a fucking week and neither of us really want that. You guys don't know shit about genjutsu that's for sure. So please let me be in charge on this. If it was about some stupid fighting strategy which I don't know a damn thing about you don't hear me putting up stupid suggestions-'

Nomaru felt some pain going through her stomach and clenched her teeth together as she looked at the boys, hoping that they would agree to her. She sat down again and smoked the last bit of her cigarette.
 She hated this. She just wanted to both punch and electrocute both of her team members, but she didn't want anyone to know what exactly she was capable of. They should just be kept in the dark about her jutsu skills. That she had to help them figuring the genjutsu out was bad enough. They knew that much about her now and she didn't really like that. All the teachers had always called her the stupid girl in school, failing most of her exams, even though she knew most of the answers asked on the tests, she just failed them because she could. She was just that stupid girl and that was why she was put in Team Potato Retardation. It was karma, she was sure about that.
In her time she had learned - especially in school - it was better to be useless than go to the fullest. Nobody would expect anything from you and that was a good thing. A really good thing. None of them - not even her possible enemies - would have a clue about what she might and might not do. Not that she was any good at fighting. If she'd had any specialty it would be talking to people, getting drunk and possibly provoking.

'So what is it going to be?'

Time would pass and the trio would realize it was nearing 4 o'clock judging by the position of the sun visible from the open field part, sadly for them when going deeper into the bushes, which they'd need to do to get to the exit, the sun would become obsucred and they wouldn't be able to use it as a beacon anymore.

As Torame would leave to travel on his own, soon he would be lost and to his surprise he didn't find the exit nor did he find his way back to the open field. Instead he found himself in a part of the training area he didn't see before. And in front of him he would see a small black kitten with big yellow eyes blinking at the boy a bit scared at first but would then examine the Uchiha for a bit curiously and then meow happily and start to waddle up to him exited to brush himself agains the side of the boy's leg, that is unless Torame would chase it off somehow before it had the chance to do so.

To Nomaru and Houtarou , their third team-member was currently nowhere in sight, smell or hearing range by this moment. Nomaru, Houtarou and his dogs were now separated from the Uchiha.

---------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile in the centre of the Village ;

The curtains at the entrance to Ichiraku-Ramen would open and Sora would jump out happy and filled.
"Ahhhh! That was amazing!" The Uchiha Jounin would exclaim with a happy sattisfied grin on his face as he rubbed his belly, while behind him a stack of 10 emptied bowls were stacked ontop of eachother.
"Thank you for your visit Uchiha-san." The female owner would smile and wave to the boy "And thank you for the tip." She would add.

Sora would turn back and smile back at the lady giving her a nod "Don't mention it, you make the best Ramen in the Village afterall, a tip is well deserved." The Uchiha would say as he would then gasp suddenly as if some kind of realization hit him.
"What?! It's 4 already?! Damn! Guess I should go check on them at least."
The young boy shrugged and quickly ran off jumping over the roofs to make his way back towards the training field.

Aaaaaand there was the ideal response he was waiting for. She sounded angry and started a lecture, so he just kept his mouth shut and listened. She did have a point in him getting some chakra though.

*molds some chakra* (this wasn't a battle so it's ok to just say that right?)

She said she might share some with him, but not with the dogs... That'd mean he'd have to hunt with the dogs anyway, making it hardly worth it.

She did have a point though, she was the only one who knew some stuff about genjutsu's here... Guess he'd have to be her henchman for now?

Alright Nomaru-san. If you really think you might know what this is, I'll help you. I'll trust you. But I'll have to hunt with my pals here though, because they're probably getting kinda hungry by now... Torame is unfortunately gone now, so I think it'd probably best if we'd stay together... So what do you think? Shall we go for some food? Or are you so sure you know what this is about that we could get out even now?!
He was pretty sure the last thing wasn't the case, but the excitement in his voice rose a little nonetheless.
He'd probably just do what she said now. She didn't even want any of this, so she'd probably want to get out of here through right? That had to be her first priority...! He again wanted to punch himself for not paying attention during genjutsu classes, but what was done was done...

Alright Nomaru-san... Let's get out of here!

[Houtarou is allowed to do this yes.]
[I see no need for any Admin checks or intervention so far.]

Nomaru growled a bit as she heard the Hatake speak. It was fine, he was on her side. And for that Torame-wanker; he could get lost and go fuck himself. 'Alright, food first. Gives me some time to work on this thing. I have a vague idea about what is happening here.' She sighed and just started to go through her bag for a bit, where she found herself some sweatpants and a t-shirt. She needed clothes for tree climbing and the shortest dress in the history of humanity had served his purpose for now. 'Just gimme a sec.'
Nomaru unzipped her dress, standing there just in her underwear, kicked out her combat boots and gave herself a moment to check her stomach. There was a huge bruise, which didn't look too pretty. She clenched her teeth together as she was looking at it and hated Sora even more.
That Uchihacunt is going to pay... Nomaru put on the sweatpants and t-shirt. All doing this as if she was just at home where nobody was watching. 'Allright, let's go. Hachiko, do you know that Jibashiri move I told you about earlier on? It would save us loads of time with hunting I guess.'
Then again, he probably doesn't know it and I have no intention in showing my jutsu, she just rolled with her eyes once more and lit a new cigarette. At least it would buy her some time. 'And I have some tree climbing to do. I do not want us to split up, no matter what. We already lost that brat and one person missing is enough.'
Nomaru grabbed the Hatake by his arm and started walking to a random direction of the forest, making a to-do list in her head about the stuff she had to figure out first before moving onward.

Dear Team Sora,

Please continue posting among yourselves for now. Unfortunately, seeing Sora is a previous site player character from Admin, I cannot do him justice by playing him.
So I cannot replace admin fully for your team. However, should you wish to do any checks, environment actions or other admin preparations before Sora's return, this I can judge. Also, if you wish to bring Torame back into the conversation, I will NPC him for you.

Please continue play as if Sora was absent, but an admin is still present.

Kind Regards,

Blue

(That's cool Blue Admin, thanks!)

Houtarou could feel himself becoming red as Nomaru was just standing there undressing.
W-what... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! He shouted as he turned around emberassed facing the other sight. Was she just going to get naked here?! No way!
Houtarou didn't see Nomaru's bruise being turned around.

He was just awkwardly standing there as Nomaru talked to him again, which made him assume he could turn around.
Pfew... She was wearing clothes.

She said something regarding Jibarashi.
Yes I do know that! It's one of my jutsu! I sometimes use it during my hunting strategy with my dogs. No need to lecture me on hunting Koui-san, we know a thing or two, and each of us has got his role! Some of his dogs barked in approval.

T-tree climbing? Where's that good foooooooooo...- he said as she took him by the arm and dragged him into the forest.
''Well, whatever I guess...!''
I don't think we should split up either! Certainly wouldn't benefit us now, who knows what could happen... But anyway, what are you thinking about? I could just use my usual hunt-strategy if you want. He said as Nomaru was still dragging him into the forest. He noticed how he was still grabbed by her.
Uhmmm... he said with a soft voice. You don't have to take me by the hand, I can walk...!

'Hachiko, geez. Grow some balls.'

She heard his lecture about the Jibarashi and smiled. This would save them so much time and she kinda hated survival and hunting and stuff like that. She'd rather sleep in a bed, instead of a shitty forest ground, surrounded by bugs and dust. She got lost in some kind of memory about the Jibarashi technique and how she got to know it - certainly not school - and smiled. She totally forgot about how she was holding the Hatakes hand, but it felt nice and she was kinda okay with it for now.
Uhmmm... Hatake Houtarou said with a soft voice. You don't have to take me by the hand, I can walk...!
"Uh what?" She let go of his hand and smiled. "Sorry 'bout that, my mind drifted off a bit." She sighed. 'So I need to do some tree climbing. I want to do some sight seeing of the area. See if I notice anything unusual.' She took a hit from her cigarette. 'So, what's your great huntingplan?'

No problem, it's hard not to drift away in this situation... But on the tree climbing, good idea! We can always try, you might see something interesting from a high height. I wonder how this thing works... Suppose we are at the point where, where we continue walking we get back to where we started, can we see the exit in front of us? And suppose if there's someone standing near the exit, could he see us? Guess we'll ultimately find out... Anyway, you know how to climb a tree ultilising your chakra, right?

She asked him for his hunting plan. He had multiple ones, so he'd first just explain how they generally worked.

Well, we can go about it in several ways depending on the circumstances. I've got eight dogs each with a specific ability it excells in. Haruki is great at tracking stuff, Daichi is a great leader able to make smart strategies, katsu and katashi can finish the job with their sharp fangs, Kenta can make sure it won't get away, Juuko is super fast and can catch up to any animal, stalling it until the others catch up, Yuuki can create clones to surround the target, and Yuuka can even transform into the same species as the target to distract it. And then there's of course me myself, being able to cast a mist jutsu to block the target's vision, use sticky water jutsu to pin it down, which can be used from a range, or, like you said, good you thought of that by the way, use jibarashi to track and electrify targets.

When finishing his speech listing all the skills he and his dogs had, he raised his thumb, smiling towards Nomaru.
We're gonna get that food, I can promise you that!

Hoping she hadn't become completely bored by his speech, he wanted to make it interesting for her. He hoped she'd actually bother doing this but who knew...
So, Koui-san, I've got a nice idea! We've got this huge list of hunting possibilities now, because you can make a lot of strategies with the skills we have. How about you lead the operation and we execute it? We'll be your chess pieces!

He thought it was a nice idea and she might like it, as it was some nice teamwork, but he could only await her reaction.
First it's probably a smart idea to climb the tree though, just in case we see anything special. I could do that for you if you want, you've been given the lead now, hehe! He said, full of enthusiasm. With his hunting strategies survival would probably not be the biggest problem. What would be a problem was actually getting out of here with zero genjutsu knowledge... Not to mention there was Sora, and there was no way of knowing what he was up to...
''Don't lose hope though!'' he thought to himself.

Torame squat down to the kitten, and softly rubbed it behind its ear. Meanwhile he scouted the area, in search of anything dangerous or helpfull.

"where would they be now?" he asked himself, i hope that they are alright. The bunny he had caught, now hanging on his back, was quite large for the time of the year, enought to leave some leftovers he tought. he looked at the kitten, and said out loud(this happens even when it does not),"looks safe, doesn't it?"

Investigation check of Torame:

Torame would indeed notice something. As the boy crouched down to pet the cat, he would see a rustle in the bushes, not too far from his current position. Everything else was silent, it was like even the animals were afraid to make a noise.
It was not that there was no sound, he could still hear the wind blowing past his ear, the sand crunch beneath his soles as he would shift his weight, but no animal made a sound. Except for the kitten...

The kitten would look dead-on towards the bushes where the sound comes from and a low guttural sound would start to form in the back of its throat. The kitten would start to hiss and growl at the bush, its ears flat in the neck, tail puffed up in anger..

The bush would move again... Again the rustle...

=============================================

No intervention needed for Nomaru and Houtarou yet.

Have fun everyone!

Nomaru sighed. "I prefer climbing the old fashioned way. That's why I changed. I don't want anyone to go pervy under my dress or see my undies." As started laughing about her bad sense of humor Nomaru listened to the Hatake with an amused smile. She tried memorizing all of the dogs names and their abilities. She knew enough about the Hatake Clan and their dogs always were a big plus for them. Apart from them practically being dogs themselves.
Haruki, tracker... This is bad. Note to self, we need to get rid of Haruki for now. Hunting accidents happen, right? Nomaru bit her lip as the boy proceeded.
"I think you've got a point there Hachiko," she smiled. "Biggest problem is that the only things I know about survival is the stuff Jin... Ehr- Tenshi and my dad told me... Never really been into serious hunting." You need to stay focused, you dumb bitch. "But yeah, let's go do the tree-climbing first. Let's go find a big tree then."

Nomaru kept on walking (assuming the Hatake follows), looking for a big tree in the area. When she finally found a big tree and without to big of a fuss (athletics C) she kicked out her shoes and started climbing by jumping up to a big branch and pulling her tiny body up, after swinging her legs over it she proceeded.
"Hachiko, don't move an inch or climb with me." Nomaru moved faster towards the top and used her small body to make sure the top wouldn't break, even though it was moving around a bit scary. Peeking over the heavily forested area she started looking around for anything intresting and making a proper plan on fooling the Hatake into the genjutsu.

[ROLL ME AN INVESTIGATION ON THE AREA, ON THE GENJUTSU AND ON EVERYTHING SHE COULD POSSIBLY NOTICE THAT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT]

I'd only be in your way if I where to climb with you, so I'll just stay here. Let me know if you see anything interesting!
''Guess I'll just wait until she's down here again.''

He turned to his dogs. You guys must hungry/thirsty by now?
Most of his dogs nodded. When Nomaru came down, they'd start their hunting thingy. Since she wasn't going to think of a strategy he might as well do that now.

Alright, as she's in that tree right now we might as well start with step #1. Haruki, can you use your nose or look around for a bit searching for a sign of... food? Whether that's berries, a water source, or an animal, doesn't really matter.
Haruki nodded and started looking around in the area, staying close to the pack, but just looking around a bit, doing his tracking.

And Daichi, do you know some awesome hunting strategy that'd work greatly in this area?

Might as well think of one now. Give me a minute. Daichi said as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

As Nomaru was almost at the top of the tree Houtarou wanted to do some investigation too. She knew more than him... But he wanted to know something too. He just took a good look around searching for some random clues in the area while waiting for Nomaru.
The other dogs were just walking or laying around waiting for the hunting to start.

----------------------------------------------------------------

An investigation roll for Haruki (the tracker) in search of any signs pointing to possible food or water sources, if possible.

An investigation roll for Houtarou focussing on anything he might notice that has something to do with the genjutsu they are in, if possible.

Torame ready'd himself for any incoming attack, he gathered chakra but in a way that it would be unnotisable.
"i bet its just the wind, no need to be scared of it" he said but he couldn't help but think that it was a threat. He picked the kitten up, "i think i will take you home with me, so my mom has someone to look after when i'm on missions", he said and smiled, "but we need a name for you first... what do you think about.... Rasu? Sounds good to me". He smiled, a fake smile, he was very consentrated on the bush, waiting till something happend.

Houtarou:

He would check hard, but would notice absolutely nothing strange about the forest around him. Nothing seemed out of order and it was exactly as he would expect it to be. Then he remembered something from the academy. Though Houtarou was not gifted with such things as genjutsu, he would remember certain genjutsu that were cast on items and were sustained by them and in a field around that item... Was it something Nomaru was wearing? Even though she had shed most of the things she was wearing just before. Could it be that it was cast through something she was still wearing at the moment?!

Haruki:

The dog would start sniffing around, looking for any signs of "food", after about a minute or so, when Houtarou had his revelation, he would suddenly sniff loudly, as if surprised, then he started to sniff more enthusiastically. He let out a couple of barks, and looked questioningly at his master whether he should pursue the trail or not.

Houtarou, who would not understand the dog language, could be quickly informed by Daichi that Haruki said the following:
FOOD! Food that way! I know! My master is good and Smart and I loooooovveee him. FOOD!
(up to you how much Daichi translates for you)

Nomaru:

As nomaru reached the top, she would notice that even though she was not bad at climbing, it did take her some effort. Branches would snag at her clothes and she knew there was still room for improvement. She would however make it safely to the top and she knew that she could also climb down safely without too much of a hassle. On the way down however, she needed to keep an eye to make sure her t-shirt would not snag, revealing things she might not want to reveal.

At the top she would find everything she would remember from a different angle. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the training grounds. 100m due south lay the entrance of the compound and the rest seemed completely normal. There was nothing that would say: HEY! Look here, aren't I strange?! At least not visible to Nomaru.

=====================================================================

Torame:

As the boy held the cat, they would both stare into the bushes with a fierce intend. The bush shook again and the cat's hairs still stood on end. Though it seemed a tad more relaxed being held by Torame.

Seconds slipped by, but they felt like hours. A small gust of wind blew by, rustling Torame's hair a bit.

"So..." The boy would suddenly hear in his left ear, feeling a soft breath on his neck. It was a soft voice, spoken barely audible, tense like it was also expecting something. In the corner of his eyes he would see the edge of a black cloak dancing in the wind and long blond hairs with that.
"...what are we looking at?" the voice continued a moment later. Intense, focused with a certain dedication as if studying a work of art in an art gallery.

The bush would shake again and a second voice would join the "conversation". This one was cold, calculating almost robotic, but wooden, not metallic. "Are you done playing games with this kid... I would not want to keep our mission waiting..." This voice came mostly from Torame's right.
Torame could not see what made that sound without moving his head, but the what was soon answered by the blond voice.

The soft spoken voice would tut and sigh before saying "Sasori.... you have no patience and no fun... Have some respect for the art..." His attention shifted back to Torame "Well, what do you think it is? hm?"

Nomaru lit a cigarette when she was at the top and looked over the forested area. Apart from a massive amount of trees there was nothing wrong with how it was supposed to look. She could see the village in the far distance and felt kinda relaxed as a cool breeze hit her face. She made a small map in her head of where the entrance was and ended up sitting there for a few minutes smoking her cigarette, as she tried to figure out her next move. She kinda wanted to go home, but she knew she had to fail this.
Nomaru figured she had to at least point him - Hachiko - into the right direction, he could figure all this shit out by himself. It made her look like a bigger fool, after being KO-ed by Sora. Nomaru looked around a bit more. She enjoyed the sunlight and was thinking about her grandmothers reaction if she would pass. Her grandmother would probably punch a hole in the wall. The only person who was actually on her side with the whole Ninja-thing.

Nomaru threw away her cigarette and climbed back down in some kind of top speed, almost losing her shirt halfway. And her braid got stuck in a branch somewhere along the way. She let herself fall down the last part, her shirt stuck in a branch and ended up next to Hachiko - once again - in her bra. Her shirt falling after her.
"So, there was nothing unusual, but at least I know where the gate should be now." She grabbed her shirt off the ground and gave the big bruise another look, gently pressing onto it. The pain was less worse than the pain her period caused, but it still was an unpleasant feeling. Nomaru pointed in the direction the gate should be. "If possible I want to go there. We should get try to figure the limit of the genjutsu." The girl grinned a bit as she pulled her shirt over her head and bit her lip. She actually had no idea what she wanted to do next. "You could do some hunting along the way I guess?"
Nomaru sighed. She wanted to feel guilty about tricking Hachiko into some plan to fail, but couldn't bring it up. She hated the ninja-world. She hated how people she loved died and just seemed to be written out of her life. She hated Hatake's. She hated that Uchiha-cunt and that toddler and she hated the dogs that reminded her of a certain person she tried to forget. She gave the Hatake a bit of a smile as she started walking south. "Let's go sweetie."

Continuing from Blue Admin's investigation results for Houtarou.

''Mmm... Genjutsu can be casted on items, so we might want to check that out... Maybe it's clothes? Or maybe one of the weapons Sora gave us in the weapon packs before battle?! And if we get rid of them, will it stop the genjutsu?''
He finally had some clue about what this may be, but it only resulted in more questions... He'd ask Nomaru as soon as she got down.

Shortly after Daichi told him Haruki had found a trail to a possible food source.
Great! We'll trace is as soon as Koui-san is down! Keep yourself focused on it Haruki, and good job!

Suddenly a cigarette fell next to him, and it was still slightly burning a little bit. He quickly put it out by stepping on it multiple times.
As he saw Nomaru getting down he shouted: try not to set the forest on fire with cigar... ''Wait, where's here shirt?''
He turned around again shouting emberassingly this time: and while you're at it, stop getting naked all the time!

Nomaru said she wanted to go a certain way, as she said she saw the gate there... It was a good plan, but Haruki had found a food source in some other way.

First he decided to tell her about his observation involving genjutsu possible being casted on items.
... So it could be that the source of the genjutsu is something like our ninja items or even clothes. Do you happen to know a way to end an item-casted genjutsu? Or know if this could be one?

Also, it's a good idea to try to find something near the gate, but Haruki, my tracker specified doggie here, found a food source somewhere. Couldn't we quickly get that first? We'll at least all have our energy restored then! Although we'll still have to find some water... Getting thirsty.

So, what do you say? Should we first get ourselves something to eat, check out whether item-casted genjutsu may be a thing, or are you so certain we'll find an important clue at the gate we should first go there?

Again, he gave her the choice. She knew more about genjutsu than him after all... she said.

Meanwhile he wondered where Torame would be, and whether he was oké. He was insanely strong for his age, but still, sending something so young into a forest on his own, he hoped he'd be oké.

Nomaru smiled, as she was putting her shirt back on. "A branch made me lose my shirt, this is in no way my fault."
She smiled as she tried not to loose her temper at the words of the Hatake. Shit, how does he know such a thing? Nomaru just scratched her cheek for a bit, lit another cigarette and took a deep breath. "I think you're absolutely right Hachiko. But the only problem is: we have no idea what the fuck those items might be." sealingpapers, close to the ground, but he doesn't have to know that, right Nomaru? she told herself. "And if it were items I think Sora might have put them somewhere up high so the dogs wouldn't be able to find them, right?"
The Hatake continued.
'Sure, hunting first then. We could always climb another tree and figure out where the exit is.'

Mmm, good point, but on the other hand, I don't think my dogs have any kind of special power to sniff out possible genjutsu posessed items anyway. But still... Who knows on what item he casted the genjutsu? It can be an item he gave us in the weapon packs, it can be that he casted it on clothes while we're unconscious, heck, maybe he can even cast it on a dog hair or leaves on the ground? What's the range of these things? Because of my lack of knowledge, even this barely helps us... Genjutsu sucks... He ended.
Anyway, so you don't know how to end item-casted genjutsu either?

After he said all of that he did figure it was finally hunting time though. She was fine with it, so he spoke to Daichi.
Tell Haruki to run after the trail! We're all going after it!

Daichi: Roger that H!

After Daichi told Haruki what's up Houtarou and his dogs started to follow Haruki who was following his trail. While starting to run after Haruki, Houtarou again wondered how Torame would be doing...

(leaving it up to Nomaru whether she runs with them or not, but seeing as she agreed to the hunting I'm assuming she does)

Torame listened carefully to both guys. they didnt look too friendly. he expected the worst, and unlocked all limits on his brain, he was thinking at max potential, buy time and try get away was his aim. What do they want from me, why did they make their apperance like this, he concluded if they were here on a friendly purpose they wouldn't come so unexpected on this location. if the reason was friendly, the reason they hooked up like this with him, would be that they are wanted by people in the village, and that they are not strong enough to handle the village on their own, though this said little about their true strenght, he knew he would be safe in the village.

when the blondy asked him the question he tried to answer calmly." i think there are many forms in which art shows up, but they all have in comon that they are enjoyable and that a certain skillset is needed to create it, my favorate forms of art are music, dance and drawings " he looked at the blondy, "may i ask you who you are, and what your bussiness is with me?" Torame kept the kitten in his arms and stroke it softly over the head.

Nomaru put a grin on her face when Houtarou started making assumptions about the possible objects that could be used as the genjutsu items. She moved closer to the Hatake, put her hand gently on his chest and with a flirty grin she said: "Do you want to try it out? We could get naked right now and burn our clothes... See if that helps to end this madness." She bursted out in a laughter and moved back. "I doubt it's out clothes, Hachiko. As well as the weapons he gave us. It might be small objects, surrounded in the forest. Things left behind, like pieces of junk and all we need to do is just destroy those. They could even be pieces of paper or plastic bottles." She spoke the words so clear that she hoped the Hatake would remind those and start looking for pieces of paper. She was telling him way too much already and she knew that, but she kinda hoped he would all figure this stuff out and get them home. That would be the best thing. She only gave him hints, apart from that she was being useless.

Suddenly the Hatake started with his hunting thingy. Nomaru ran after him, feeling a slight pain in her stomach from the huge bruise, which caused her to fall behind a bit. "Could you please run a bit more slowly?" she shouted after the Hatake, as she was seriously falling behind at some point, feeling out of breath. It felt like a gnome with a knife was molesting her stomach area from the inside. She felt far from good. Nomaru was kinda wondering what Tenshi was doing right now. Probably being a kickass girl, passing her exam with ease. She smiled a bit at that thought, just to keep herself from focusing on the pain, but it wasn't much use. The Hatake and his dogs ran much faster than she did and branches from the trees got stuck in her hair, causing her to slow down even more.

[I'm leaving it up to (Blue) Admin if Nomaru falls behind and gets lost as well or if she catches up with the Dogcrew.]