Truth

he stayed in the tree until the sun had risen over the hills giving just enough light for him to read his map and figure out his position relative to the next goal.  he jumped down from the tree and was off in search of the next alter.

they were immensly proud of him, he'd done well in the fight for being at a distinct dissadvantage and managed to get his second flag from an examiner. if things continued this way iruka might just be able to finish early. they followed along as the man traversed the terrain to find the next alter. it wasnt until well after mid day that he finally found it, by then he was sweating from the humidity and the sun beating down on him. hunkering down he watched the alter for clues as to what traps might be around it. he knew that a flare would most likely go off as soon as he put his flag down. so he took his time scouting the area and placing his own traps over the ones already in place, making a domino effect for the examiners, all he needed was for one to go off for the people hunting him to be in a world of hurt. smiling to himself he approached the alter and after fishing out the next flag took a deep breath and placed it in the holder. he froze waiting for the flare to go off. but at first nothing happened. feeling naturally tense, he was about to back up when he heard it. the sizzling.

"oh come on"

he ran for all he was worth but couldnt totally avoid the blast radius as the alter exploded throwing him into some trees. iruka's world swirled around him, off kilter. he knew he needed to get up and run, but his body wasnt responding. coughing he tried to get air in his abused body. rolling to the side he was able to get to his elbows when he could just barely make out the sounds of running. cursing he quickly got to his knees before bolting, swaying as he ran. he couldnt tell which direction he was going, but any direction was better than sticking around to be found by an examiner. he crashed through brush and slammed into tree's as he went. he knew he was being anything but stealthy at that point, but he couldnt get the world to stop spinning. crashing into another tree he swung around it from the blow and crashed to the ground. his entire body ached.

the anbu watched as iruka took his time analyzing before setting his own traps, they watched as he then approached the alter and after fishing out the flag and sighing placed it in its holder. but unlike last time. no flare went off. immidietly they were on guard. something was not right.

'run iruka'

they hated being right, they saw alarm come across their friends face as he said 'oh come on' before he ran, they couldnt hold back their collective gasps as the alter exploded throwing the man into a cropping of trees. their hearts pounded as iruka just lay there. they couldnt tell from their vantage point if he was seriously hurt or not. fists clenching they nearly cheered when they saw him roll over to climb to his feet. they could hear the examiner coming and were pleading with iruka to get moving. finally unstable on his feet iruka ran. they followed only a few feet behind as he crashed through the forest. they winced, he wasnt being quiet in his endevor to run away. finally they had to stop when iruka fell to the ground again.

'come on iruka you can do it'

kurenai pleaded with the man, she had a hold of asumas hand and they squeezed each others fingers in hopes that the man could hear their pleas for him.

iruka groaned, unable to hold in the ache his body was showing him. once again he rolled over and using the tree as a support climbed to his feet. the world swayed and he had to lean against the tree. taking in a deep breath he took a catalogue of his injuries, no broken or bruised ribs thank god. but a severe concussion. trying to walk in a straight line almost ended him on his ass again. clinging to the tree he'd managed to stumble to he rubbed his temple. the ringing in his ears wasnt helping either. his head was pounding.

"gods this is worse than a hangover"

he tried to shake his head, but that only made it worse, this fog wasnt going to life anytime soon. he knew he needed to keep going, but he didnt know where. he struggled to pull the map out and had to squint his eyes to even be able to read the moving object. finding his location he tucked it back away. he only had two more flags to deal with then he could run to the finish line.

"two more ok, just two more"

pushing away from the tree he wobbled, but managed to stay upright. slowly he started to walk through the forest in the correct direction. he could only hope no one found him as he tried to regain his barings.

they could tell he had a concussion, it was plain to see. he was slow to respond and over compinsated for movements that should have been fluid. looking to one another the anbu squad were beginning to doubt whether iruka was going to be able to continue.

the chunin trudged through the woods for hours, even as the sun started to set behind him. he just kept moving in the right direction, refusing to stop because he knew that with the head wound he had, he was liable to not get back up again. he had to just keep moving. he had to stay awake. he stopped occasionally to rest against a tree, before pressing off of it to move on. once night had fallen and he could no longer see where he was walking the chunin braced his back against a tree and slid to the ground. it took him a bit to figure out what he was going to do next. he really wished it hadnt come to this, but he was growing desperate. biting his thumb he made the seal and summoned it.

they followed the slow moving chunin, he managed to keep going even as the sun set, but they knew he wouldnt be able to keep up that kind of pace in the dark. sure enough the chunin ended up sitting below a tree. for a while he was silent, but then they watched as he bit his thumb and performed the nessesary seals for the summons jutsu. they were taken back when not one, but three snakes appeared. they were all rather small when you considered other summons sizes.

"i need you to stand guard, im in the middle of an exam and i have a head wound. you cant bite anyone understand"

the snake lifted their heads and reguarded their summoner for a moment before one of them spoke up.

"you wish for us to guard you, but not guard you"

"yes"

"foolish boy what do we look like to you pets?"

iruka managed to shake his head, though it was forced and he grit his teeth while doing so.

"your not pets, your my summons and im commanding you to stand guard. until the sun comes up, then your free to go"

the snake in charge grummbled before commenting.

"there are people in the trees"

smiling iruka looked up his eyes never even coming close to where they were hiding.

"their fine, their just watching the exam. they wont try to hurt me. there are others though that will"

"very well"

two of the snakes slithered off, the anbu quickly lost track of them in the dark forest. they were intrigued when one snake stayed behind, crawling up irukas body to curl around his neck.

"you shouldnt have allowed yourself to get so damaged"

"thanks, its not like i did this on purpose"

"you'd be stronger than this if you had just gone with him"

the anbu froze. the snakes were trying to convince iruka to desert konoha.

"actually i'd propably be dead, but thats besides the point"

" you havent called us in a long time"

"people in the village fear you because of him"

"they should"

iruka snorted before saying.

"your not all high and mighty like manda, some of you are nice"

"dont let the word get out or we'll have snot nosed kids wanting to order us around"

iruka chuckled at the snake, reaching up he pet its white head.

"i promise not to say a word"

the anbu watched in stunned silence as iruka continued to have a weird but somewhat normal conversation with the white snake.

"who are they"

"in the tree's?'

"yes"

"friends"

iruka reached up to rub his forehead, god it was killing him.

"how many tails do you see"

the snake coiled its tail around irukas face for him to see it dangling there. iruka laughed.

"you really dont want the answer to that"

"i see, how did you get injured"

"explosive tag"

"your normally so good with those"

"it was pretty well hidden this time, never suspected a thing until i heard it"

"well you must have gotten far enough away because your not burnt to a crisp"

iruka adjusted himself against the tree before answering.

"yeah i ran for it, didnt quite make it though"

"what is the point of this exam"

"its to make me a jounin in the village"

"tired of teaching brats then?"

iruka smiled at the snake, knowing that it could see his facial expressions in the dark.

"no, i love what i did, but with things changing in the village, i had to change too"

"you could always come home with us"

iruka turned his head towards the snake coiled around his neck.

"no-i cant, i have people i love in the village, i have people to protect"

"against him"

"yes and others like him"

the snake bobbed its head in understanding.

"i'll make sure to get you guys some fresh mice when im back in the village"

"that would be appreciated"

iruka closed his eyes, it wasnt like he coud see anything anyways. he must have started to doze off, because he didnt remember his head being against his chest, his head jerked up and he winced when the snake bit him in the neck.

"im up im up"

"stay awake"

"watch where you bite alright, your teeth are sharp"

"then they serve their purpose"

the anbu had watched the conversation go on for some time between iruka and the snake, they frowned when they noticed irukas head start to droop. they knew falling asleep with a head injury like that wouldnt be a good idea, it seemed they didnt have to worry too much about that, because they watched as the small snake lunged forward and bit iruka in the neck. they winced and silently hoped it was poisoness. it did the trick though, irukas head jolted up and he started to talk again.

this continued on through the night, iruka would start to fall asleep only to be bitten by the small snake. by the time morning came he had quite the collection of bites on his neck. no examiner ever found him that night and the two other snakes never returned. once it was light enough he lowered the snake summons to the ground and stood up, using the tree for support.

"thank you for your help, i'll call on you again if i need you"

the snake nodded and slithered out of sight. sighing iruka began the slow progress towards the final alter.