Title: The Fox-Demon and the Noble Angel.
Chapter: The Chunin exams part 2
Disclaimer: I still own nothing…
A/N: Hello everyone! I apologize for practically abandoning the fanfic but I had a severe case of writers block… as well as some technical complications but I'm back and I would like to give thanks to shadow-hunter104 for giving me the boost I needed to get my lazy inspiration to start doing its job.
Outside training area forty four.
Noon.
All seventy-eight genins stood expectantly as Anko picked her teeth with a kunai. After she was done she just kept twirling it around her finger through the small ring on the butt of the weapon. "Right, listen up, you little motherfuckers! This is the second part of the Chunin Exams… area forty-four; nicknamed… the forest of death…" she said with a smirk.
Everyone gazed up at the tall, foreboding trees and felt a tinge of fear fill their hearts at the impenetrable darkness in between them. Naruto had managed to get some of his wits together in the journey from the academy to this place. "What a joke…" he whispered to himself.
Anko heard. She threw the kunai at Naruto; just grazing his cheek. "Ahh… Naruto-kun. Good to know you have some balls!" she said amusedly. She got close to him, so close that the only ones who could hear the conversation to follow were Naruto and Anko herself. "How've you been? You sure grew up, Naruto-kun…" she licked his cheek gleefully. "Mmm… you taste even sweeter than before... it arouses me how much your blood has matured. So sweet, so… potent" she said while licking a new droplet of blood that fell down his face. "Perhaps after the exams we can… have a chat?" she said seductively.
Naruto gulped. He was standing there, wide-eyed, the whole time. The feel of his warm blood running down his face and Anko's warmer tongue licking it off was, ironically, making him freeze. "I…" he whimpered as his eyes swelled with unshed tears.
"Hmm… you taste so good… if only we were alone…" she said as she licked another droplet of blood that was running down Naruto's cheek. She quickly turned and pulled out another kunai from her kit.
The man behind her was wearing a sugegasa hat with the standard grass ninja attire. "I believe this is yours?" he hissed as she brought the kunai Anko had thrown previously up to her face with his tongue.
Anko smiled and took the kunai as she simultaneously licked the blood off of her lips. "Why thank you! Just a word of advice; don't creep up on me again or I'll kill you!" she said in a sing song voice along with a grin that went from ear to ear.
"Sorry… it's just the smell of blood is so… invigorating…" the weird grass ninja hissed as he lowered his hat in respect to Anko. The hissing ninja then went back to her comrades.
Anko looked at him quizzically. 'hmm… he seems so familiar…' she thought as she subconsciously rubbed a small black mark on her shoulder. She noticed that people were beginning to stare and regained composure. "Ahh, don't worry about it; I know how… arousing the blood of that one is…" she said smirking at Naruto while she wiped a bit of his blood from her face with her finger and licked it off. She then turned away from the whiskered boy and walked towards a booth that was beside the gate; picking up some papers that were lying on the counter. "I'll need you to sign these consent forms!" she exclaimed as she passed a sheet of paper to each genin.
"Consent forms? What for?" Sakura asked as her attention was snapped away from Sasuke and directed towards Anko.
Anko grinned ear to ear. "There will be plenty of blood and guts spilled in this test… if you don't sign these, I will be knee-deep in paperwork, hehehe…" she giggled.
Sakura nervously took the paper and hesitated before signing. She looked at Sasuke, his determination reassuring her. 'I don't care what this crazy bitch says, I am NOT leaving Sasuke-kun! And if Naruto dies then my life will be so much easier…' she thought before aggressively writing her name on the sheet of paper.
Sasuke took the sheet and wrote his name carefully; making sure that the name Uchiha was written perfectly. "There… a work of art…" he said to himself as he looked at the masterpiece that was his name.
Choji looked at his sheet of paper. "Hmmm… I'll need my guts for eating… if there all spilled, how will I eat my delicious barbecued pork?" he asked as if it was some philosophical question to life's meaning. A quick bonk on the back of his head from his teammate, Ino, cleared all hesitation from his mind as he signed the waiver.
Ino took the paper and signed it while licking her lips. 'I WILL be with Sasuke… even if I have to kill big-forehead over there…' she thought with an evil smirk.
Shikamaru looked at the paper in his hand and then at the sky. He watched a cloud in the shape of a dog pass by. "sigh… troublesome…" he looked back at the document. "Very troublesome…" he said as he took the pen from Ino and begrudgingly wrote his name.
Shino took the paper in his hand and, without uttering a single word, wrote his name down on the waiver.
Kiba took his and stared at its contents. "The hell?" he asked himself as he read the paragraph stating that if he was eaten by giant bugs the examiner had no blame. 'Well… if I back down now then I'll look like a coward… no one will want to be my girlfriend… especially not Hinata…' he thought as he looked at said Hyuga. 'Also if I go through with this, I'll get my payback on Naruto! Yeah… and it's not like giant bugs can hurt me, so…' he wrote his name on the paper. "Hehehe… this'll be fun!" he exclaimed with an evil smirk.
Hinata looked at the paper in her hands. 'If I sign this… if I go into that forest… there is a chance I will never come back…' she then looked at Naruto. 'He… he's shaking…' she thought as she made her way over to her secret love. "N-Naruto?" she called out his name.
Naruto was trembling. It was so out of character for the murderous young man to show signs of fear, especially in front of everyone. 'Damn it… move… I've gotten stronger; she can't… she can't do this to me again!' he thought as he tried to force himself to stop trembling to no avail, managing only to add a boiling rage to mix with his icy fear; the result being his uncontrollable shaking. However everything stopped as he felt a gentle hand fall onto his shoulder.
"Naruto?" Hinata called again, since he obviously didn't hear her the first time, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Naruto's entire body tensed as his mind raced through hundreds of different thoughts. 'Damn… I… I'm supposed to protect Hinata but… if I look like a weak, vulnerable child she will probably worry… I can't let her worry…' he turned his head, against his muscles protests, and looked into her white eyes. "Y-yeah?" he asked nervously.
"Are… are you ok, Naruto-kun?" she had huge traces of worry laced in her voice. She looked at his reaction for any signs of… well anything.
It took him a moment to register her words. He was still on edge; he could still smell her chakra. 'No, now's not the time…' he thought as he contorted his face into a smile. "I'm perfectly fine… H-Hinata…" his words sounded as if he was trying to convince himself, which in a way he was.
She wasn't convinced. His words, or better said the way he spoke them, only made her worry deepen. "Naruto… did… did something happen between you two?" she asked cautiously.
Naruto tensed even more and turned away from Hinata. "I said I'm fine… there is nothing to worry abou-" he was cut off by Hinata.
"Does it have something to do with what happened two years ago?" she asked, knowing that he wouldn't get this worked up over nothing.
Naruto's anger flared as he spun around, no longer bothering to mask his emotions. "Leave it alone before I make you!" he threatened with a violent growl.
Hinata gasped. She didn't want to anger him like this, but she had obviously gone into forbidden territory and his reaction only made her feel worse. "I…" she felt tears coming and ran towards her teammates.
Naruto just stood there with a blank expression. He regretted his words since the moment they left his lips and he hated himself for snapping at and even threatening Hinata. 'Fuck… what have I done?' he just stood there while Anko briefed everyone about the objectives of the test, Naruto hearing enough details to make a clear picture of their objective, just stared off into space. He remained in that state until an angry voice snapped him out of it.
"Naruto, you bastard! I'll kill you!" Kiba screamed as he rammed his fist into Naruto's face, a sickening crunch being heard as Naruto's nose shattered, and Akamaru jumped off of his masters head and bit deep into Naruto's shoulder; blood trickling down his face and chest.
Naruto didn't even flinch. He simply brushed Akamaru off, turned around and muttered "I'm sorry…" he then proceeded to walk back to his teammates. He found them looking at a scroll that was resting in Sasuke's hand. "Hey…" he whispered sadly.
Sakura looked up. "Finally your back, you lazy shit! Now I'll have to explain everythi-" she began to speak irately until Naruto cut her off.
"I already know our goal…" he said solemnly. "We have five days to get a scroll of the opposite colour to the tower in the center of the forest…" he summarized Anko's instructions.
"Good, so don't mess this up; you little shit…" barked Sasuke.
Naruto was too deep into his thoughts to even hear Sasuke. 'Damn… why? Why did I say those things to her!?' he bit his lip, drawing some blood.
The sound of a certain woman's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Naruto?" Naruto lifted his head to see Anko looking at him with mischievous eyes. "Don't die." She said in an overly sweet voice.
Naruto grew tense again but once his team stepped into the booth, got their scroll and arrived at the twelfth gate, he relaxed. An instructor, thankfully for Naruto it wasn't Anko, unlocked the gate and started counting the seconds on his watch. A small ringing sound signified the test had begun. "Alright, best of luck Uchiha-sama, Haruno-kun!" he said to the aforementioned shinobi. Naruto didn't even care that he wasn't acknowledged.
The three young genin charged into the forest at blinding speeds and Naruto gave a long sigh in relief at not sensing Anko's presence any longer. "Ok… just point me at the enemy!" he growled. He desperately needed to kill something; to rip the meat from someone's bones and savour their sweet blood. 'I need to relief myself of this stressful shit…' he thought as memories of what he said to Hinata flooded his mind.
There was a bloodcurdling scream and Sakura and Sasuke stopped in their tracks. "Stop…" said Sasuke to Naruto who was darting off into the forest.
Naruto stopped and gave Sasuke an annoyed look. "what is it?" he asked irately.
"That scream…" said Sakura as she clung to Sasuke's chest. "Protect me Sasuke-kun!" she yelled dramatically.
Sasuke growled. "Get off of me, woman!" he screamed as he shoved he off.
Naruto just rolled his eyes at how stupid these two morons were being but he figured that he was going to have a good time with all the enemies they were attracting. Just then he started sniffing, his nose having caught the scent of hostile chakra. 'looks like some fools have come… oh, goody…' he licked his lips as he skulked off into the bushes just like the beast inside him would have done.
Sasuke and Sakura didn't even notice as the Uchiha kept trying to pry off the love struck girl. "Damn it! We'll attract enemies like moths…" he said as he finally shoved her into the dirt.
"Hahaha, that's quite a performance! In fact I might let you live… if you give me the scroll!" came a shinobi with a mask on. He was wearing a full body swimming suit and he had messy brown hair.
"Ha! You think that I'll just give it to you?" Sasuke said, smirking. "I'm afraid it will be you who gives me the scroll!" he exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles.
The diver shinobi sighed. "Oh well, I guess I'll have to get my hands dirty after all…" he then pulled a kunai out of the satchel on his left leg and charged.
Sasuke performed a variety of seals. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu! (Fire release: phoenix fire technique)" as he said this a volley of small fireballs flew out of his mouth and started pelting the landscape.
The masked ninja dodged them and threw his kunai. "That's all you've got? Pathetic!" he mocked.
Sasuke grabbed the kunai and held it between his fingers. "I'm pathetic? You're the one who can't even throw a kunai!" he said in a mocking tone. He was then tackled to the ground by Sakura. "Sakura!? What the fuck!?" he screamed irately.
Just then the kunai he was holding that had fallen to the floor had exploded. "There was a paper bomb attached…" she said in a whimper.
Sasuke looked at the huge scorched patch of ground in front of him with shock at the fact that he could have missed such an important thing. "Yes, it seems that the little bitch is more perceptive than you…" the enemy ninja pulled out a kunai. "Ah well, it's been fun but I guess I should end this…" he strapped another paper bomb to his kunai. "Now your scroll is mi-" a hand then shot through his chest, ripping out his heart. "but… who…?" he turned his head to see two red eyes staring at him.
"You forgot about me…" Naruto growled. "It was smart to leave your friends at a safe distance… a shame that they will be disqualified for losing a comrade… oh well." He said casually as the man begun coughing up the last of his red fluid.
"You… cough… aren't hu- gag… man…" he said weakly.
Naruto chuckled. "No. No I'm not…" he ginned as he crushed the heart he was holding and pulled his hand back, spraying blood all over him and his teammates. The man fell to the floor in a pool of blood and Naruto started lapping the blood from his hand.
Sasuke and Sakura weren't all that used to Naruto's way of killing and they felt a little sick at the display of savagery. "N-Naruto? What took you so long, you asshole! Sasuke-kun was almost hurt!" she yelled.
Naruto stopped lapping and tilted his head to the side curiously. "But doesn't Sasuke-kun always say he's unbeatable? I'm sure that even if I had held back, he would be fine…" he said cynically.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "C'mon… let's just get out of here…" he then got off of the ground and walked off into the forest.
Naruto was about to take a step before his head shot up and at blinding speeds, he ran up to and pushed Sasuke and Sakura several feet in front of him. "What the fuck was that for Narut-" just before Sakura could finish her complaint a huge shockwave pushed her and the Uchiha to the ground. "What the…?" A huge snake then slithered from one wall of trees into another, taking Naruto with it.
"Sakura, is it an enemy attack!?" Sasuke asked as he staggered to his feet.
"I…" Sakura was frozen with fear. Sasuke looked in the direction that she was staring.
Standing amidst the dust and chaos was the grass ninja from before. "I am afraid that this is the end for you…" he hissed.
Sasuke turned his attention away from the creepy ninja and looked at Sakura. "Did you see what scroll he has?" he asked.
"He… he ate it!" Sakura shrieked.
"And if you want it you must rip it from my corpse…" he said with a snakish grin. "So who will it be… me…" he lifted her gaze so that Sasuke and Sakura could look her in the eye. "…or you?" when the two leaf genin saw his eye, they felt the icy fingers of terror grip them like a vice.
Sasuke doubled over and puked. 'what the fuck is this?' he kept seeing images of himself being killed in horrible, gruesome ways. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?" he finally screamed.
Sakura managed to crank her head to look at Sasuke, never taking her eyes off of the grass nin, and spoke "it… it is the… the ki-killing intent… it is like… a jutsu" she couldn't move anything apart for her lips and it seemed she was going to pass out from lack of breath.
Sasuke managed to reach into his ninja kit and pull out a kunai with his trembling right hand. 'There is only one way to deal with this fear…'
The terrifying ninja laughed and licked his kunai. "fool boy, I'll kill you before the kunai leaves your hand…" and with that he tossed the knife at him; only for it to miss it's mark and sink itself into the trunk of a nearby tree. "hmm… interesting…" he licked his lips.
Sasuke was on top of Sakura, panting and shaking violently. "Sasuke-kun…" she would've smiled if she wasn't still shaken by the fear that gripped her. She then felt something warm and wet start to trickle down her chest and onto her thigh. "you're bleeding…" she stated with concern.
Sasuke had activated his Sharingan and was smiling at her. "Sakura… have faith in my power…" he said arrogantly before carrying her deeper into the trees.
The grass nin smirked. "Using a kunai to inflict pain to block out the fear… not bad…" he then started following the trail of blood. "but it isn't going to save you…"
Somewhere close to Sasuke and Sakura's position.
Naruto was struggling with the snake that had dragged him deeper into the forest. "you poor, sorry animal..." Naruto said as he stood still; the snake wrapping him in its tail. "… I am in REAL need to release my anger…" the snake opened its huge maw and brought Naruto closer to it. "… and… I REALLY HATE SNAKES!" he exclaimed as he ripped the coils around him apart and pulled the huge animal's jaw apart. After he was done he let out a huge roar. "I've got to go find the two idiots…" he then started sniffing and, like a bloodhound, followed the scent of their chakra.
When he got to their location he found Sasuke fighting off a smaller snake. "No! Get away!" he then threw all of his ninja tools at the beast. The Uchiha then landed on a branch and was panting furiously.
Sakura shrieked as the grass ninja burst from the snake's guts. "You cannot relax for a second, else the predator feast on the flesh of its pray…" he said as bile trickled down her face. He then slithered up the tree trunk to the branch Sasuke was perched. "Give me a taste!" he hissed as he lunged forward like the animal he resembled.
"No, I don't wanna die!" screamed Sasuke as he cowered in fear.
Just then a kunai came flying and if the snake nin hadn't stopped in mid air it would have killed him. "What is this?" the shinobi hissed. His eyes narrowed and fixed onto a shadowy figure that was standing on a branch a little way away.
"So…" came a cold voice. "You're the one who summoned that giant snake…" he then stepped into the light, obscuring his face in the shadows of his hair. "I don't like snakes." He said matter-of-factly.
"You are awfully brave, boy… coming to a fight against an unknown enemy" the grass ninja hissed.
Sasuke looked towards his teammate and saviour. 'If I can toss Naruto the scroll… this guy will leave me and I can escape without seeming like a coward!' Sasuke's pale face began to regain some colour at the thought of being safe. "Naruto!" he called. "Here, the scroll!" he then took the scroll out of his tool kit and tossed it to the blonde. "Now run! This guy will kill you, and I don't want to be disqualified just because you were too stupid to survive!" he yelled.
The mysterious nin laughed quietly. "Listen to him and be gone, boy… The Uchiha is my pray." He hissed, much to Sasuke's dismay.
"I can't do that… the bastard is my comrade and I have no choice but to help… otherwise Kakashi-sensei would be disappointed as well as… others…" Naruto said as he caught the scroll.
"I said beat it!" the hostile grass nin exclaimed as he glared deeply into Naruto's eyes.
Naruto's red eyes simply pierced the shadow covering his face with his own glare. "I'm not going anywhere…" he said with a chilling voice.
The snake nin simply laughed "This will be fun…" he said to himself as he shot from the tree branch like a viper.
Naruto smiled. "But for whom?" he asked nobody in particular as he leapt from his own branch with the ferocity of a feral beast.
The two clashed together with a series of kicks, punches and claw attacks; neither of them sustaining any damage. Naruto then put all of his anger and frustration behind a mighty kick that sent his opponent flying into a nearby tree. He then leapt off of another tree and sent his fist into his opponent with such force that the tree was broken in two. "Did he get him?" whispered Sakura to Sasuke. They had both fled the area and were viewing the fight from a safe distance.
When the dust cleared, Naruto was standing in the center of the broken tree stump with his arm through a log. "Kawarami no Jutsu (body replacement technique), eh?" he then gathered chakra into his arm to shatter the log and drew a shuriken from his tool kit. His red eyes scanned the landscape, searching for the smallest hint of his enemy, and fixed on a tree one hundred and twenty five degrees from his own position.
He threw the shuriken and watched as it soared to its mark. The grass ninja used his sugegasa hat to block the shuriken and then let it drop to the ground. "Not bad, Naruto-kun… you are quite perceptive!" He was lying vertically on a nearby tree trunk, like a gecko. "I see you are no ordinary genin… or ordinary human for that matter…" he said as he licked his lips in the delight he was receiving at facing such a powerful opponent.
"No kidding… neither are you…" Naruto said in his cold voice. The two of them then stared deeply into each other's eyes, despite the distance, as if they were testing each other's will through their narrowed pupils. Predator against predator. Killer against killer. Beast against beast.
Sasuke puked from the dense killing intent in the air and mentally cursed them for taking too long to kill each other. "How about… we stop all the fun and games, Naruto-kun, and have a real battle?" the snake nin asked rhetorically as he drew five shuriken from his kit.
Naruto bore a wide, fanged grin from ear to ear. "I'm so glad…" he started as he grabbed five kunai from his kit. "…that you approve!" they then leapt from branch to branch, throwing kunai and shuriken at blinding speeds. Sasuke and Sakura watched in amazement as the various tools soared through the air, whistling all the while, and clashed in a beautiful display of sparks. Naruto came to a stop on a branch and his opponent followed suit. "Haa… pant… you're good…" he said with a smile. 'damn… this guy isn't even chunin level… he's at least a jounin and he's been holding back! No… can't give in… I'll need to use that power…' Naruto got down on all fours and let a red chakra surround him. "Let's finish this!" he growled.
"Oh… what is this? Interesting… very interesting…" the grass ninja said to himself as he pulled up his sleeve, revealing a tattoo in the shape of two snakes intertwined. 'So… this is the power of the nine tailed fox… the Akatsuki are right to want this power…' He bit on his thumb and drew a line on his tattoo. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (summoning technique)" the snake nin then placed his hand on the tree branch he was standing on and he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Naruto leapt off of the tree enveloped in his red cloak of chakra and with his mouth letting out a steady flow of drool that evaporated from the heat of said chakra. Just as the smoke surrounding the mysterious grass ninja began to dissipate, a huge snake came out of it and lunged in Naruto's direction.
"GO TO HELL!" screamed Naruto as he ripped through the monstrosity, splitting it down the middle and showering the area with a crimson rain.
However his opponent jumped up, using the snake as a distraction, and jabbed Naruto right in his seal. "Five pronged seal…" he whispered as Naruto fell limp in his grasp. He then drew a kunai and plunged it into Naruto's shoulder and let him fall to the forest ground below.
"My goodness, what a loser!" yelled Sasuke as he fought to contain his laughter. He and Sakura had sat on a tree far away from the battle for the entire time. "Come on, we should get out of here…" Sasuke then turned around and prepared to leap from the branch.
Sakura had a blank expression as she felt mixed emotions at seeing the defeat of her comrade. Hate. Her family hated Naruto, her friends hated Naruto, Sasuke hated Naruto and so she did too. Fear. She also saw what Naruto was capable of; his savage bloodlust… so if this guy could defeat Naruto then that would make him worse, didn't it? Remorse. She felt bad about the way she had treated him before now knowing that he could be dead. Affection. 'no! I do not have feelings for Naruto!' she forced all thoughts of the blonde out of her mind, but her immeasurable guilt kept forcing her to think about him again. She grabbed Sasuke's wrist. "Maybe… we should go back to… see if he is still alive?" she said hesitantly.
Sasuke gave her an incredulous look. "Nah, we might fail the chunin exams but we will always have next year… hopefully with a less stupid teammate…" he said brushing her off.
Sakura couldn't shake off the guilt. "But… I know that if it was you… Naruto would…" she began before Sasuke grabbed her by the collar and glared her dead in the eyes with his Sharinga.
"Don't you ever compare me to that little shit… you got that?" he said in a low menacing voice.
Sakura had tears in her eyes and she was trembling slightly. "Sasuke, you're scaring me!" she cried. Sasuke was about to say something but noticed something with his Sharingan eyes. "Sasuke…?" Sakura said cautiously when she saw the expression of fear on his face.
Sasuke tossed her aside and dodged the incoming kunai before it went through his chest. "Fuck! I've got no choice…" Sasuke jumped up just in time to avoid his pursuer's second kunai and tried to gain some footing. "It is a shame that you will die a slow, horrible death… you did me a favour and ridded me of a pest!" he yelled as he started threading his fine wires through the adequate equipment.
The grass ninja smirked. "Your total disregard for your comrade is… touching." He then came up-close for taijutsu.
"I won't miss the way he kissed Kakashi-sensei's ass nor the way he thought himself equal to everyone else!" he exclaimed as he threw an exceptionally large shuriken, narrowly missing his opponent. 'this stupid fool… I knew he would be no match for me!' Sasuke then threw a couple of kunai and activated his trap.
The hostile shinobi turned around and caught the shuriken in his teeth before it decapitated him. "Nowt fad… but youw'll hwaf tow dow bfetter fuan fuat (not bad… but you'll have to do better than that)" he managed to mumble with the sharp weapon in between his teeth.
Sasuke smirked. "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu! (fire release: Dragon fire technique!)" as he pronounced his jutsu, a small ball of flame traveled down the wire and hit his enemy right in the face; flames soon engulfing his head. "And that, Sakura, is why you should never compare me to that incompetent idiot!" he said arrogantly.
Sakura's eyes were still fixed on the mysterious nin. "S-Sasuke… look!" she exclaimed, pointing.
The man's face and headband had melted off; leaving a different, paler face with purple paint running down his face and a sound nin forehead protector. "Ahh… amazing, truly marvelous! To think that at such a young age, you have reached stage two of the Sharingan… you really are his brother!" he said in a serpentine voice. "I can't wait to see you develop it to it's true potential!" he licked his lips again and looked intently into Sasuke's eyes with his yellow ones.
Sasuke froze. "W-who the fuck are you!" he shrieked frantically.
"My name is… Orochimaru…" he said just before regurgitating the scroll. "And if you wish to see me again…" he then burnt the scroll in his hands. "… then survive and pass this exam!" he said with a smirk.
Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat. "Y-yeah? W-w-why would I wanna do that?" he stammered.
Orochimaru smiled and crossed his fingers into a crossed-tiger seal. "Because you'll want me…" he said before his neck stretched out and his head bore fangs, like a snake. He bit into Sasuke's neck, leaving a black symbol on the back of his neck. "You will seek me out when you crave my power the most…" the serpentine shinobi said before merging into the wood of the trees.
Sasuke let out a scream of pain before collapsing to the ground, unconscious. Sakura bit her lip; looking between Sasuke, who was shaking from the immense pain, and Naruto, who had gone missing with a kunai in his shoulder. "Oh, fuck it! I'm coming, Sasuke-kun!" she then took Sasuke in her arms and slung him over her shoulders, making a point to get as far away as possible from the area.
Somewhere on the forest floor.
Sundown.
Naruto's eyes fluttered open as an immense wave of pain shot through his body. His vision was blurred and he was disorientated. "Fuck… I… cough" he began coughing violently and rolled on his side so he could puke. There was blood mixed with bile and every time he coughed he felt some more blood come up his throat. "Sakura… Sasuke… where… a-are you… two?" he asked himself. He staggered to his feet and leaned against a tree, examining his wounds: he had several cuts and bruises that only caused minimal pain running down his entire body, he had an excruciating pain in several areas of his ribcage and the tip of a kunai was protruding from his right shoulder. The worst pain, however, was the one on his seal.
"What… did that bastard… do to me?" he asked himself painfully. Naruto's wounds would normally heal right away and he never felt as bad as he was feeling now. He brought his hand up to his forehead "shit… I'm burning… and then there's this thing…" he stated irately while looking at the bloody kunai. He then reached onto his back and grasped the butt of the knife. "Here goes…" he then yanked it out, almost collapsing from the pain. He then took out his hentai comic and began ripping the pages out. "it was a gift from Kakashi-sensei… but I'm sure he'll understand…" he then began stuffing his open wound with the crumpled pages to stop the bleeding. After all that he took off his tracksuit jacket and ripped it; making a makeshift bandage and sling out of it.
After he was done, he pulled down his forehead protector so that it was around his neck and began walking; to where he didn't know. After what seemed like an eternity he heard voices. "We should set up camp, Kiba…" came Shino's voice. Naruto began staggering towards it.
"But if we do, then we'll be behind! Or even worse, we could get attacked and some bastard could make off with our scroll!" Kiba yelled furiously; Akamaru barking in favor of his master's words.
"But if we wonder in the dark aimlessly we will get tired… do you want us to fall into a trap like… insects?" Shino argued, never losing his cool. He sighed and readjusted the collar of his large grey coat. "Are you sure this is about the exam?" he finally asked.
Naruto was now peeking in between the trees at a safe distance, making sure to remain undetected. "What are you implying, Shino?" Kiba growled.
Shino buried his face into the collar of his coat, finding comfort in the soft fabric and then looked Kiba dead in the eye. "I know you have feelings for Hinata… and I know you are jealous of Naruto for his recent… behavior around her. But you cannot jeopardize our team's success because you want to get back at Naruto…" Shino was then cut off by Kiba.
"Jealous? I'm furious! Ever since we first came to the Academy, I've always liked Hinata, always! But she had her eyes set on that blonde loser… and right when we get the chance to get closer, BAM! That asshole starts playing around with her… she's too good for that freak and what does he do, huh? How does he treat her? He fucking threatens her and upsets her!" Kiba continued to rant about his feeling for Hinata for a few more minutes before said Hyuga came down from the treetops.
"All clear, no hostile shinobi for one kilometer all around us…" she then gave a hesitant look towards Naruto's position. "…the area is safe" she stated sincerely. "Kiba… I… would like to rest for a while…" she kept sending short glances at the tree that Naruto was hiding behind.
Kiba sighed. "Fine, but if we get ambushed, don't blame me…" Kiba said, defeated. He then marched to a nearby tree and sat up against it, Akamaru jumping in his lap. "Good night" he yawned.
Shino walked over to a log and used it as a pillow, his messy brown hair getting covered in moss and insects. "Sleep well…" he said as sleep embraced him.
Hinata was then the only member of her team left awake and she looked indecisive. "I…" she began moving towards Naruto's hiding spot. She stopped "…sleep well…" she said before turning around and lying on the ground, a short distance from her teammates.
Naruto was sure that she had seen him. 'and yet… she fears me…' he thought solemnly as the memory of that morning hit him; giving him new psychological pain to match his physical one. "Damn!" Naruto yelled softly as he punched a tree, only managing to hurt himself. He then slid down into a sitting position with his back against the tree, put his face in his hand and cried. He let out all the emotion he was trying to ignore. He felt so helpless, so weak and now… so lonely. A loud snapping sound caught Naruto's attention and he went to investigate. As he approached he saw a shadowy figure looming over Hinata and, without thinking, he drew a kunai and threw it at the mysterious silhouette.
"Ow! Shit!" the figure turned around and Naruto could make out that it was an Iwagakure shinobi wearing a brown jacket, yellow shirt and torn brown shorts. "Damn! The jutsu should have put everyone into a deep sleep…" he said as he wrenched the kunai from his arm.
"I wasn't asleep…" Naruto said in a cold voice. He knew that if this guy was to attack, he couldn't possibly fight him off in his weakened state. "Get out of here and I might let you live…" he said. He had to intimidate this guy no matter what.
The stone ninja had to fight the urge to break down laughing. He snickered, locks of his brown hair covering his eyes, and then looked Naruto in the eye. "No." he stated flatly. He then drew a kunai and lunged at Naruto.
Naruto had difficulty walking, let alone dodging, so he threw himself to the ground and rolled. The stone nin then threw his kunai at Naruto, hitting him in the leg. "You… bastard…" Naruto then staggered to his feet. "I…" he began coughing violently and his opponent took this opening as a chance to pummel Naruto into a tree with a series of punches.
"Any last words, punk?" the shinobi said as he brought a kunai to Naruto's neck. Naruto spat a mixture of blood and saliva in the ninja's face. "You little-AHHH!" he screamed as a kunai came through the darkness of the trees and cut off several of his fingers before landing in the mud.
"A ninja must be wary of his surroundings… first and most important rule of being a ninja…" a slender young man with silver hair wearing black shorts, a purple top and glasses then came through the trees.
Naruto recognized him. "Kabuto?" he managed to mumble. He had talked with the man before the chunin exams began.
"Hey Naruto! I must say, you are looking worse for wear my young friend!" he said in a friendly tone. He then kicked the stone ninja between the legs and grabbed him by the collar. "Hmm… why would you go after the girl when she obviously doesn't have the scroll you're after? Maybe you wanted the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga family, hmm?" he then put his hand on the enemy nin's groin, feeling a hardness. "Or maybe you wanted to satisfy a more… primal desire?" Kabuto said with a smirk. "Ohh, naughty boy tisk, tisk… what to do with you, hmm?" an evil smile crept across his lips. "Why don't we let Naruto here decide?" he then tossed the Iwagakure nin to Naruto's feet. "Here, use this…" he then handed Naruto a kunai.
Naruto took the weapon and managed to stand up right. He walked over to his enemy, who was trying to get to his feet, and grabbed him by the hair. He looked at his green eyes with his own azure ones and saw the pain, sorrow and fear in them. "I… don't you ever come near Hinata again… you got that?" the stone nin nodded. Naruto dropped him and saw him scurry off into the bushes like a wild animal and then turned his attention to Kabuto. "Here, I won't be needing this…" he then offered back the kunai he was given.
Kabuto was taken aback on the boys recent shift in behaviour. 'usually he would rip someone apart, if given the chance…' he smiled "no, keep it." He then looked at his wounds. "Hmm… you have a very nasty shoulder wound, there." He stated as he unwrapped Naruto's makeshift bandage. "You stuffed it with… hentai pages?" Kabuto laughed at Naruto's blush. "I need to check the rest of your body for injuries…" Kabuto stated.
Naruto painfully lifted his black t-shirt over his head and sat, topless, with his back against the tree. "Here…" he said. He wasn't used to people looking at him with so little clothing and the fact that he had lost his bestial power made him feel even more vulnerable.
Kabuto was, to put it simply, surprised that a twelve year old boy was this fit. Naruto had absolutely no excess body fat and was almost as muscular as he was, despite being seven years younger. "I'm going to scan your body with my chakra… hold still" he then concentrated his chakra into his hands and moved them up and down Naruto's torso. "Hmm… you have some minor cuts and bruises that will heal in a couple of days… oh… you have a broken rib… and it seems to have cut one of your organs…" he said while looking at a very badly bruised area on Naruto's abdomen. "I will need to operate on you, or else you will die of internal bleeding… you seem to have a fever too…" he said in a worried tone.
Naruto looked at Hinata's sleeping figure and then back to Kabuto. "Do what you must… I can't protect her like this…" he said, determination thick in his tone.
Kabuto smirked. "Alright… it is good that she has a jutsu that stops her from waking… this will be very painful and you will, no doubt, scream in agony… are you ready?" he said as he concentrated chakra into his hand.
Naruto fixed his gaze on Hinata. "Do it…" he then braced himself.
Kabuto started the procedure of realigning the broken rib, stitching the open cut on Naruto's stomach and also stitching his shoulder wound. All the while Naruto hadn't made a sound. He just continuously stared at Hinata and bared his teeth. "All done…" Kabuto said as he got up. Naruto staggered to his feet. "Easy! I might have healed you, but you can't overdo it…" Kabuto said as he marveled at his handiwork.
Naruto flexed and stretched his right arm. "Thanks… it doesn't hurt as much anymore…" he then started coughing.
"Here… take one of these…" Kabuto handed Naruto a small black pill. "It is a blood increasing pill; eat it to restore some of the blood you lost… you will need that blood to combat the heavy fever you've got…" Kabuto said as he gathered his things together. "Now I must leave you… I've got to get back to my group!" he said with a smile. He then gave Naruto a compass. "Remember to keep heading northwest!" He then started climbing up a tree.
"Kabuto…" Naruto called. When the silver-haired genin turned to look at the blonde, Naruto smiled warmly at him. "Thanks… for everything…" he said.
Kabuto turned. "No problem… we leaf ninja should watch out for each other…" he then disappeared into the treetops.
Naruto then put his shirt back on and moved to sit next to where Hinata was lying. "I guess I should take this now, huh?" he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it, instantly feeling better. He looked down at Hinata, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. "I'm sorry for what I said… I really am…" he then silently wept into his knees and would continue doing so for the remainder of the night.
Three kilometers north of Naruto's position.
Sometime after sundown.
Sakura was breathing unevenly and her throat was burning. She had carried Sasuke over her shoulders for hours and was now exhausted with both physical and psychological fatigue. Her legs gave out and she collapsed, Sasuke's limp body rolling next to her. "I… I can't… go on…" she then began to weep 'I… I wish… that Naruto was here…' she then openly sobbed. "Naruto… we all treated you like dirt… but…" memories of how Naruto simply took her blows and verbal assaults and then did her and Sasuke's punishments afterwards filled her mind. "I… I'm sorry…" she looked to Sasuke's unconscious form, remembering all the times he treated her like dirt. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" she cried as she sobbed. "I didn't… I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE NARUTO!" she cried in her anguish.
A sharp intake of breath from Sasuke called her attention and she slowly rose to her feet. "I… I'll protect you… Sasuke… I love you so much…" she said as she brought the Uchiha heir to a covered spot under some tree roots. "We will be sheltered here…" she then placed a hand on his cheek. 'He's so cold…' she didn't know how to light a fire nor could she perform fire-release jutsu, so she did the only other thing she knew would keep them warm. She took Sasuke's clothes off so that he was completely naked. 'WOW… Sasuke is so sexy…' Inner Sakura said, but after that she fell silent; Sakura's main subconscious now taking over and going into overdrive. Sakura then took off all her clothes and hung them on a nearby tree root; gasping at how cold the air felt on her damp, sweat-covered skin. She looked at Sasuke hesitantly before lying next to him and wrapping her arms and legs around him. 'I… I need to keep him warm… god, this is so embarrassing… what if someone catches me!?' she then looked at Sasuke's sleeping face. 'no, this is a test of love… I will keep Sasuke-kun safe… it is my duty as his future wife, CHA!' Inner Sakura managed to say. Sakura shook her head. She couldn't be thinking like that now, she had to keep Sasuke safe, not drool all over him. 'I… I wish you were here, Naruto…' she buried her face in Sasuke's chest and wept quietly…
Team eight's camp.
Just before dawn.
Hinata sleepily opened her right eye and scanned her surroundings. She spotted blood on the floor, making her jump up and start looking around franticly. She then caught sight of Naruto, covered in blood and wounds, sleeping on a low-hanging tree branch. She examined his wounds. He had a hole in his black t-shirt with a large, nasty-looking, stitched wound; as well as several other nasty-looking wounds. "Oh, Naruto-kun…" she said with concern. Naruto then stirred and Hinata quickly pretended to be asleep.
The blonde opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep and remains of his tears out of them. He then looked towards Hinata. She was lying with her back to him and the thin blanket that was draped over her that night had fallen off to the side. He got up and walked over to her, then, he raised her blanket up to her chin. "I… I should get going… I'm sorry…" he said before placing a small kiss on her cheek.
Hinata felt her cheeks heat up as she felt Naruto's hot breath on her ear as he said his words and she had almost fainted when she felt his soft lips caress her left cheek. 'N-Naruto kissed me!' she smiled; her heart racing and her body temperature rising. She then felt something metallic being placed in her hand followed by footsteps leading away from her. 'Byakugan…' she activated her Kekkei Genkai and looked around her campsite. He had already left and was heading northwest, toward the tower. "Naruto-kun… there is nothing to be sorry about…" she said as she placed a hand on the cheek he had kissed. She looked at the object in her right hand. "Naruto-kun's forehead-protector?" she looked worriedly in Naruto's direction. "Please be safe, Naruto-kun…"
A/N: Hi, guys… I'm sorry for taking, what, four months? Well whatever, to write this chap… I initially planned on making a really long fight between Sasuke and Orochimaru but I decided that he wasn't worth the effort… also I am sorry if you don't like Sakura's change in attitude, but I want to just say that I don't hate Sakura. She is just too interested in Sasuke and that affects her view on Naruto, but how will she act now? Will she go back to her Naruto-hating old self? Or will she develop some kind of caring for the poor blonde? Wait till next chap!
