Chapter 4: Second Test
A large black blur shaped like a ball came hurling into the classroom from the window, shattering it. High-pitched screams filled Naruto's ears, he couldn't help but think that all Kunoichi except Hinata were doomed.
From the ball four kunai shot out and struck the walls revealing a person and a banner.
"Introducing Team Seven's Mitarashi Anko?" Someone yelled out, reading the black banner and Naruto could only groan, as his eyes focused on the woman.
"Alright! Come on Team 7, let's go!" The woman had dark hair and eyes without pupils. Her clothes were very, revealing as most of her body was covered in a mesh body suit but she held some decency as she wore a tan trench coat over it.
Naruto grudgingly stood up and followed the crazy lady who adopted him with both Shikamaru and Hinata trailing close behind.
They walked through the streets of Konoha, while passing glaring civilians. Naruto could hear some of the conversations that they had.
"–snake bitch!"
"I heard that she is a disciple of the traitor Orochimaru and is–"
"–She should die!"
Naruto couldn't bear to listen anymore as with every passing comment his control over his anger slipped more and more.
Finally after minutes of walking and silence, the ninja's arrived at a large overgrown forest surrounded by metal gates each with signs saying, 'Training Group 44,' 'Keep out!' and 'Danger ahead!'
Just in front of the entrance there were a few logs positioned to look like a small campfire and Anko sat on one and gestured for the rest to join her.
"So, I'm Mitarashi Anko and I may be your Sensei for the rest of your genin lives!" She chirped happily, "Now, onwards to the introductions!" Her brown eyes zeroed onto Naruto and she said, "You! Go first!"
Naruto was completely expecting that so he started, "…My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, my elder sister and fuinjutsu. I dislike traitors, idiots and fangirls. My hobbies include training, studying fuinjutsu and sleeping. My dream in the future is to surpass my parents."
"Alright!" Anko said, she then pointed at Hinata who involuntarily flinched, "You!"
"…Um… M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata, I like my family, flower pressing, cinnamon buns…" She mumbled something as she turned bright red, "I dislike the Hyuuga Caged Bird seal and the Elders… For Hobbies I like to train with Hanabi… and take walks in the forest… My dream is…" Hinata's voice rose and an aura of confidence surrounded her, "My dream is to get rid of the Cage Bird Seal and change the Hyuuga Clan."
Anko smiled–really she grinned–"Alright then, and you?" She looked at Shikamaru who was yawning loudly.
"How troublesome… My name's Nara Shikamaru I like sleeping and cloud watching, I dislike anything troublesome, like troublesome blondes. My hobbies are napping and playing Shogi against Asuma-san." He took a deep breath and a look of complete seriousness was plastered on his face, "My dream is to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife."
Everyone was taken aback by the long and detailed explanation.
"…Okay then!" Anko said, clapping her hands together, "My name's Mitarashi Anko, I like Dango and my little brother, I dislike Orochimaru and stupid villagers. My hobbies are training and eating dango. My dream is to someday fight against Orochimaru and defeat him."
She then stood up and pointed at the three kids, "Now, before all you celebrate I have to break it to you!" She paused dramatically, "There is a second test!"
"…We know…" The three genin chorused, totally in sync.
"WHAT!?" Anko shouted, shocking Hinata who nearly jumped up and ran, "How!?"
"It's obvious." Shikamaru deadpanned, "The first test is for weeding out the incompetent students and the second is for teamwork."
"…I agree." Naruto spoke, "The second test is about teamwork." Hinata nodded.
"…Well then." Anko reached into her jacket and tossed out two silver bells, "I suppose there is no need for these then."
Naruto just looked at her in disbelief, he knew she was crazy, eccentric and weird but he didn't think she had gone so insane that she was going to disregard the mandatory test.
"So! Survival Training!" Anko smiled sadistically, "Now I know that technically the Forest of Death is only used for Genin in rare occasions, but~! I bet you three will be just fine!"
She made it seem like the Forest of Death was going to be a simple walk in the park, like there was absolutely no danger. Like she expected them to be able to do it in their sleep!
"Anko-sensei…" Naruto felt weird calling her this, "…Survival training now? But we aren't prepared."
Anko waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry, you'll be fine! I'll watch you until tomorrow!" Naruto could feel his stomach drop at that comment, he may be ANBU but his specialty was assassination, not surviving.
Most ANBU could do a whole range of jutsu and knew how to survive by themselves, Naruto only knew how to operate his bloodline, basic jutsu, kenjutsu and fuinjutsu because he couldn't learn any of the specialized moves of his sister. The only reason why he survived during ANBU was because Kurama helped him most of the way.
"Okay, are you ready?" Anko-chirped, then grabbed all three genin by their collars, "Let's go!" She moved closer to the forest and once she was near enough to the fence she jumped up onto it. Then she chucked all three of them into the area, only Naruto was able to land with practiced ease.
"Ow… Troublesome woman." Shikamaru muttered, "I take that back about blondes, all women are troublesome."
"…I don't think Anko-sensei meant to be rude…" Hinata started poking her fingers together shyly.
"Be quiet." Naruto could hear the faint footsteps of some creature, thankfully they seemed to get softer and softer, "It's gone…"
"W-what was it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, slightly stuttering.
"I don't know." Naruto never had the misfortune of ending up in training ground 44, he wasn't sure of the danger that was ahead. "…But I suppose we should start looking for… supplies?" He asked hesitantly, never had he gone camping without any notice and Naruto cursed himself for not being cautious enough. He had grown soft after going to that laid-back academy but he did have that if the worst came.
He doubted that mission to watch over Uchiha Sasuke was even real, just a ploy to get Naruto into the stupid academy and make not-so-stupid friends.
"Naruto-kun?" The redhead looked up and noticed that Hinata and Shikamaru were already ahead and he walked faster to keep up with them.
"Sorry…" Naruto muttered, "I was lost in thought."
It was nightfall and Naruto was glad that he wasn't alone. He surely would have struggled without Hinata's eyesight and Shikamaru's knowledge of poisonous plants–though Shikamaru was the bottom of the class.
They had encountered a lot, huge plants, animals and a carnivorous GIANT CENTIPEDE! Thankfully they had escaped from the disgusting insect.
They had made a small camp near a river, a broken looking wooden bridge ran across it providing a path over the waters.
Naruto was currently roasting three rabbits his teammates had caught over an open fire, contemplating his current situation.
FLASHBACK – EIGHT YEARS AGO
Naruto was waiting patiently for his new parent to arrive, he was overjoyed, most people refused to have a son that looked like a girl, but this Mitarashi Anko didn't care! At least he thought so, he didn't think he had met this person before.
"Now, Naruto-kun you have to be a good girl." The caretaker said, patting Naruto's hair–Naruto really hated her, she acted as thought he was a girl! She told his to wear girl's clothes, use 'watashi' (I Fem.) instead of 'ore' (I Crude) or 'boku,' (I Mas.) cook, clean and so much more.
He truly wondered if she was blind, because despite his feminine exterior–and secret love for cooking and drawing–Naruto was 100% male!
But Naruto had managed to take some of the clothes from the boys who left the orphanage so he was wearing gender neutral clothes. A bright yellow short-sleeved shirt, white shorts and dark sandals.
"Thank you for taking care of me." Naruto had to stop the sarcasm from slipping out of his four year old mouth.
The doorbell rang and the caretaker left to go open the door to receive Naruto's new guardian. Naruto trailed behind her, holding his red suitcase, he was curious and wanted to know how his adopter looked like.
He was shocked to see a sixteen year old girl wearing a dark red shirt and white shorts to be standing at the door. "I'm here for Uzumaki Naruto!" She chimed out.
But Naruto recognised her voice, it was the same girl who he defended after hearing someone call her a 'snake bitch.' While he wasn't sure about the second part, being called a snake was very rude. Although this 'defending' had become attack once the man called Naruto a stupid red tomato.
"Are…" Naruto started, "Are you Mitarashi Anko?"
The girl smiled knowingly.
FOREST OF DEATH
"Naruto-kun." Hinata called, "Is dinner ready?" Her dark hair was wet and she had discarded her jacket.
Naruto looked at the rabbits, "It looks ready… Shikamaru?"
"Here." A drawl came from the opposite direction, "I got more wood."
Rather than wood it looked more like twigs but Naruto didn't care, he instructed Shikamaru to have half in the fire and the other half as backup.
Once they sat down on the ground, Naruto handed a rabbit to his teammate each. They all said, "Itadakimasu!" then started to eat.
"…This is amazing." Hinata whispered, looking at Naruto with wide lavender eyes, "How did you cook this?!" He once soft voice became loud and Shikamaru joined in the conversation.
"I agree, this isn't something any once could make." Naruto felt his face flush and was eternally grateful for his hood.
"…It's nothing. I just added herbs to it."
"You-!"
BOOM!
"…What was that…?" Naruto slowly rose up, setting down his half eaten dinner and drew a sharp kunai from his pouch.
The whole forest was silent except for the soft rustling of leaves, it was strange.
BOOM! BOOM!
Naruto could feel fear creep up at the thought of something unknown.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
RRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!
A gigantic tiger emerged from the trees, growling viscously at the trio. Hinata let out a small whimper and from the corner of his eyes Naruto could see small tears.
"…Move into the trees on my command." Naruto said firmly using every bit of authority he had, warily watching the orange stripped beast edge closer.
Its loud footsteps reverberated through the silence, it was nearly a leap away from the makeshift camp.
"SCATTER!" Naruto yelled and all three genin leapt into the large trees, Naruto almost thought his plan failed because he was unsure if his teammate knew of tree walking but they all seemed to climb up the trees and he thanked what every god or gods that existed that both were clan heirs and were most likely taught by their parents.
Naruto calmed down when he reached some of the low branches, and watched in amusement as the over grown cat began clawing at the tree. Because cats couldn't climb trees, could they?
It seems that Naruto was wrong as the tiger started pulling itself up the tree and in panic he leapt over to Hinata who was trembling on another tree's branch.
"…Are you okay?" He asked and nearly slapped his head, she was obviously not okay. Not with all that quivering.
He had not noticed Shikamaru join them, "…As troublesome as it is, please leave making plans to me, that was stupid."
"…I know." Naruto muttered, "…So what's the plan?"
There was a pregnant silence. "We run." He pointed to a tall red building that none had seen before, "Over there should be safe."
Naruto decided to trust him as he had no ideas what to do slowly coaxing Hinata to stand he unzipped his hoodie and wrapped it around her shivering body, his waist-long red hair fluttered in the wind carelessly. He carefully covered his eyes in a genjutsu making them look normal without the rings and a white sclera.
"…Thank you." Hinata said, standing up. Naruto smiled, and offered a hand to pull her up.
"Let's go." He grabbed Hinata's wrist and started leaping from branch to branch with ease, the tiger had stayed, and it was circling the makeshift camp growling and hissing.
Then the rain started, it poured down heavily on the trio and by the time they had reached the tall red building, they were soaked. They collapsed on the floor, all adrenaline had disappeared from their systems.
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata was shaking and pointing at Naruto's arms. He was staring at her weirdly, hoping that she didn't see his ANBU tattoo. "There are l-l-leeches!"
Naruto looked at his arms and sow the parasites sucking greedily on his arm and he felt disgusted, not only did they feel like slugs, they were swelling up to the size of a hilt of a standard Kunai.
"Sorry!" Hinata cried, "This is all my fault, b-because I left m-my j-jacket a-and y-you gave me yours…"
"It's fine." Naruto said, "Does anyone have salt?"
"Salt is bad for leeches…" Hinata murmured, "…T-try… um…" She carefully looked at the leech and located its sucker using her fairly long nail she dug it underneath the leech and wrenched it off. "Um… I-it might b-bleed for a few hours s-so just wrap it in some spare bandages or cloths…"
Naruto didn't even move, he just watched as the wound slowly closed up and both Hinata and Shikamaru were staring at it with wide eyes.
"H-how?"
"Genetics." Naruto said simply, "Do I have any others?"
"Wait… I'll check." Hinata said looking over Naruto's body, "No…"
Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled, "Thank you… You're going to be a great doctor someday."
Hinata flushed and looked down and started muttering incoherent words and Shikamaru snickered, "…Looks like a girl…"
"Oi!" Naruto shouted, his anger flared.
'Kit, Shut up.' Kurama's sleepy voice resounded through Naruto's head and he scowled.
'Why weren't you awake when I needed you?' Naruto asked mentally, 'I nearly died!'
'You wouldn't have. Your instant regenerative powers would have healed you.'
"…Did anyone leave anything important?"
Naruto mused for a bit, "Let me just check." He took out a small scroll from his weapon pouch and opened it slightly. He looked at Shikamaru who was lying down horizontally away from it. "Shikamaru, move."
"Why? Moving is troublesome."
Naruto had enough so he held one side of the scroll and took the other and threw it in Shikamaru's direction, feeling satisfied as it hit its target.
"OW!" Shikamaru exclaimed, plucking the open scroll off from him and giving Naruto a dirty look, "That hurts!" He then muttered, "…you hit as hard as a woman…"
"Shut up." Naruto said, as he was preoccupied with the long scroll filled with fuinjutsu seals.
"W-what's this Naruto-kun?" Hinata's stutter had become less and less as she calmed down.
"It's a storage scroll, I made it myself." He heard gasps of disbelief around him.
"Y-you made it?! B-but fuinjutsu i-is incredibly hard to learn w-without proper guidance a-and the on-only seal m-master l-left f-from Konoha is J-jiraya-san!" Hinata exclaimed, he voice rose with every word.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "…It runs in my blood?" He said quietly, "Nope, don't think I've left anything."
"…How troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered.
"What? did you leave something?"
"…My food." Naruto hit his head with his palm.
"Do you want to fight that overgrown cat?"
"…Food." Hinata joined in.
"It's already night!" Naruto shouted he looked at his scroll and rolled it back up, "Come on, there should be some beds here."
The trio searched the building for a few minutes until they came to an infirmary with plenty of white beds. Naruto hated it instantly, it reminded him of the hospital!
'You will never like them will you?' Kurama snickered.
'Shut up, I'm trying to sleep.'
Unfortunately for Naruto, his sleep was full of old memories.
Flashback – Seven Years Ago
Naruto felt fear grip his heart as he was cornered by the foul smelling man. Said man had dark brown hair and his eyes were sunken and red, he staggered left and right, holding a cracked beer bottle. "He', littl' lady!" He slurred. "Wanna come ta my house for a bit?"
Naruto regretted leaving his adopted sister's house without permission, even though it was his birthday. He had used every bit of stealth he had to sneak off without the masked people following, covering his bright hair with a hood.
The man reached out with a shaky hand, intending to grab Naruto but instead knocked off his hood and revealed his shoulder-length red hair. "K-Kyuubi!" He screeched, making Naruto confused. The Kyuubi had died five years prior.
"You damn bastard!" The man raised his bottle and swung down to strike, "You didn't die when the Yondaime tried to finish you off!"
The glass his Naruto's face and shattered, Naruto screamed in pain, yelling over and over. The fireworks had begun and no one could hear his agony.
"You-!" The man kicked Naruto in his stomach making his collide with the brick wall behind him, "-Demon! I'll finish what the Yondaime started!"
Pain flared though Naruto's back, stomach and face as he started bleeding, blood was forced through his throat and was spat out.
"I'll kill you bastard!" The man now held a knife that gleamed ominously in the light of the fireworks. He held it high above his head and stabbed it down aiming for Naruto's heart.
'You can't die now kit!' A voice roared in Naruto's head, and time seemed to stop. The man was now frozen in his spot, Naruto slowly moved up and uttered unfamiliar words.
"Shinra Tensei."
END!
To answer anybody's question about the 'Girly' part, I kinda added that for Lols cuz I like Gender bends and Cross-dressing so Naruto has some girly aspects, like liking cooking, drawing, hating perverts, being good at cleaning, being forced in dresses. But he is straight or maybe bi-sexual if I really want (But then I'll make him a real girl), so he just looks like a girl. If you really want to put in simpler terms, he looks like his mother with the Rinnegan and spiky hair.
Actually, now thinking about it, I may do a Fem!Naruto version of this later in the future. BUT PAIRING MUST BE GAARAXNARUTO! ...Or Shikamaru.
Poll
Hinata: IIII
Ino: III
Fem! Haku: I
