I decided to start writing this chapter immediately after I finished my first one hoping that an existing chapter in progress would motivate me to get through it faster…haha. I'm also getting quite excited myself as soon, the canon story will have gotten far enough and I will be able to bring it in my direction!
Chapter 9: Simply Not There Yet
Sakura's mouth opened in silent awe as she and her teammates stepped through the doors and was greeted by a large amount of individuals simply lounging around and awaiting the beginning of the exam.
Wow….what numbers….they're all taking this exam?...They look quite strong…
Sakura was shaken out of her thoughts at a familiar squeal of a female's voice.
"Sasuke-kun! You're late! I haven't seen you for a while so I've been waiting in excitement."
Sakura turned her attention over to see Ino hugging onto the back of Sasuke and giving him a rather suggestive look as Sasuke had a rather annoyed sideways glance at the predicament he was in. As Ino took her attention off Sasuke, she noticed Sakura giving her a rather blank look so she simply stuck her tongue out causing a vein to bulge on Sakura's head.
"I see you're here to Sakura, the baby with the big forehead." Ino teased.
"You guys are taking this stupid test too? Don't die…."
Naruto turned his attention to the newcomer's voice and spotted 2 more individuals whom he recognized from the academy.
"Eyyyy! It's the idiot trio!"
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed a bit as he palmed his own forehead and sighed as Chouji simply shrugged and continued munching on some chips.
"Don't call us that…"
Before Shikamaru could utter his famous catchphrase, another voice made itself known to the group of six along with a followup of barking.
"Yahoo! I found you guys!"
Kiba strolled forward along with Hinata and Shino quietly following his back. As he got to the front of Team 10 and 7 he put his hand up to his chin.
"I see….so all 9 of this year's rookie Genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get…eh Sasuke?"
At this inquisition, Sasuke merely smirked as he shook Ino off his back and fired right back at Kiba.
"You seem pretty confident in yourself Kiba."
Kiba howled in laughter as this observation was made, "We did a lot of training, we won't lose to you!"
At this statement, Naruto perked out before pointing his finger at Kiba's team accusingly, "Shut it dog-boy, Sasuke might, but I definitely won't lose to the likes of you!"
Before the two rather brash individuals could continue on bickering, a voice belonging to an individual none of the 9 could recognize made itself known.
"Hey you guys, you should be quieter."
At the suggestion of this rather unknown individual, Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he walked up to the stranger.
"….and who are you?"
"Hah, curious one are we? I am Kabuto….and as I said, you should consider being quieter. Where do you guys think you are? Before you answer that, look behind you first."
As the rookie 9 took a glance behind them, they noted a few foreign Genin giving them rather dirty stares.
"Those guys with the rather mean looking stare are from the Amegakure and are known for having rather short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam so you ought to quiet down before you cause a scene."
At the sudden look of unease that passed through a majority of the rookie 9, Kabuto chuckled before reaching into his pouch.
"I suppose I can't blame you clueless rookies, you remind me of how I used to be."
At this revelation, Sakura decided to chime in with a question of her own. "Kabuto was it? Does that mean this is your second or third time taking this exam?"
Kabuto pulled out a packet of cards before readjusting his glasses and answering Sakura.
"Nope, this is my 7th time. This exam is held twice a year so this is my fourth year. Seeing as how I know quite a lot about this exam, allow me to share some info with you rookies."
With that, Kabuto lifted one card out from the stack and placed it on the ground and it became seemingly clear before Kabuto insert some of his Chakra into it.
"They are basically cards which have info burned on them with Chakra. I have over four years-worth of information here. With a bit of my Chakra, the information is revealed." He explained.
Suddenly, a bar graph appeared over a map of the Shinobi villages which caught everyone's attention.
"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they are from."
A sudden thought struke Sasuke as he walked up closer to Kabuto before asking a few questions that spawned in his mind.
"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" He asked.
"Hehe…are you worried about certain individuals? Of course the info on all of this exams participants isn't perfect, but I do have it. I even have a bit on you guys. Give me a description and I'll take a look."
"Gaara from Suna and Rock Lee from Konoha."
"Oh, you know their names? This should be easy."
With that, Kabuto took two cards out and inserted a bit of Chakra before they turned bright white and reappeared, one with an image of Gaara and a pentagonal graph while the other had Lee with a pentagonal graph as well. Kabuto readjusted his glasses before reading off what was on his info card.
"Ok, first is Rock Lee….lets see. He's a year older than you guys and completed 20 D ranked missions and 12 C ranked. His sensei is Maito Gai and his Taijutsu has improved greatly in the past year but the rest is all average and unimpressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented new Genin but he did not partake in the exam, I guess this is his first time much like you guys. His teammates are Hyuga Neji and Tenten."
With that, Kabuto passed it to Sasuke who gazed at it before grunting and handing it back to Kabuto who then returned it back to his deck of cards. Kabuto then focused his gaze on the other card.
"Next is Gaara of Suna. He has 8 C-ranked and 1 B-ranked…wow, a B-ranked as a Genin? Since he's a newcomer from a foreign country I don't have extensive information, but it does say here that he's returned from every mission without a scratch."
As Kabuto put the card of Gaara away before gazing back at the rookie 9 with a questioning glance.
"Any others….?"
Silence fell for a moment before a light bulb seemed to go off in Ino's head before she then slowly narrowed her eyes and directed her gaze at Sakura and then to Kabuto.
"Can you tell me anything on….Haruno Sakura of the leaf."
This caught the attention of everyone in the group, but before Sakura could protest, Kabuto had already whipped out a card and began reading and displaying it.
"Let see…..9 D-ranked missions….2 C-ranked…and 1 A-ranked? Wow…what an interesting one you are…teammates are Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."
Kabuto then paused for a bit which confused the surrounding Genin as to why he stopped reading before he placed the card down and center for everyone to see. The pentagonal graph of Sakura had rather dark distorted pentagon that showed a heavier emphasis in certain areas and a lack of capability in others and areas that were simply average. However, the difference between Sakura's and the previous two was that there were dotted lines alongside the darkened pentagon that aligned up to form several distorted pentagon's along with the darkened one. Kabuto readjusted his glasses again before giving Sakura a rather interested gaze.
"Interesting…I've never seen this before….this might be to denote potential that doesn't exist in your current state? But that would make no sense…..also….what do you make of this?"
Kabuto pointed at the image printed of Sakura on the card, but half of her was replaced by a half of Decade, effectively creating some strange Sakura and Decade hybrid picture. Before Sakura could get a word out, Ino immediately cut in and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders.
"Does this have anything to do with that weird belt I found you with when we were children?!"
Sakura paused for a moment before shaking off Ino's hands and crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out in an uncharacteristic fashion.
"Hmph, it's a secret, maybe you'll find out later."
Kiba still looked at the card rather flabbergasted before he turned to Kabuto and made another request.
"Can we see her teammates as well?"
Kabuto nodded before taking out two other cards and displaying them for the rookies to see.
"Let see….same mission history….and….wow…how very curious…"
Silence fell amongst the rookies as Sasuke and Naruto too had the extra dotted pentagons within their skill graph as well as half an image of Joker and Beast replacing their half of their original portraits, respectively. Kabuto merely smiled before standing up and glancing around.
"Well, you three are interesting, but don't forget that this is a gathering of the best of the best. It would be best not to take this likely even with your odd talents."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he was suspicious to why or how Kabuto managed to get his hands on such sensitive information. Sasuke shot Sakura a quick glance to which she caught his gaze and nodded. As Sasuke's gaze fell onto Kiba, he smirked.
"Hehe…so Kiba, still filled to the brim with confidence?"
Kiba fumed a bit, but before he could utter out a response, a huge explosion of smoke occurred at the front of the room accompanied by a rather loud voice.
"SETTLE DOWN LEMMINGS….."
As the smoke cleared, a large amount of older Ninja appeared along with one standing in the front with a trench coat.
"Thank you for your patience….I am Morino Ibiki, the exam overseer for the 1st portion of this exam."
With his opening statement, Ibiki pointed his finger at the crowd of Genin along with a cold stare which instantly caused fear to rise in the majority of them as well as sweat buildup.
"Here's a good opportunity to say this….there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. If you are as so stupid to defy me, you will fail immediately. Now, as for the exam, everyone come out here to grab a number which will determine your seating arrangement, and then we shall pass out the exams."
Upon hearing this….Naruto immediately paled….a written exam?
Oh….you have GOT to be fucking with me…
"Are we clear on the rules? You guys will start off with 10 points. The test is made up of 10 questions and each one is worth a point, but a subtraction system will be used. If you answer all questions correctly then you will retain your base of 10. However, if you miss say three questions, then 3 points will be deducted and you will have 7. This point system is also rule based which means whether or not you pass will be determined by a cumulative score of you and your teammates. Essentially, each team will compete to see how many points they can retain from the initial amount of 30. Lastly, if you are caught cheating, you will have a two point deduction from your score. If you lose all your points amidst the exam than you will fail regardless of correct answers."
Muttering could be heard amongst the Genin as the pressure began to sink in to each of their heads. Ibiki cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention before giving his final words.
"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi's trying to achieve the level of Chunin, be proud Ninjas. Also, those that lose all their initial points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two teammates."
Upon hearing this, the sweat from Naruto only increased as did the paleness of his face.
I sense so much killing intent from two individuals….
"BEGIN!"
Ugh…you just have to make sure you don't get zero points Naruto…please…it can't be THAT hard…but first I guess I should worry about myself…
Strange, I didn't think the first barrier to advancing in rank would be an aptitude test on intelligence, but I guess that is a critical part of being a Ninja as well. This looks like something perfect for you though. Hopefully your teammates manage to get by…Sakura sighed a little as she focused her attention on the exam. The first thing she had to do was decode a cryptogram….not TERRIBLY difficult. As she was fixing up her work she took a quick glance at the other questions.
Jesus….this is really complicated work that requires a large amount of both book smarts and experience in order to answer in great detail like the question is asking….it's fairly difficult but thankfully I know enough work in theory to be able to answer this. I think I can JUST get by this test…oh no….
A sudden realization hit Sakura as she face palmed herself…
If I can JUST get by on this test…..there's NO way that….
Sasuke closed his eyes as a smirk slowly formed on his face.
The hell…I can't answer a single one of these…also, what's up with this waiting for 45 minutes before question 10 is revealed?
As Sasuke collected his thoughts for a moment he turned his head slightly to the side and noticed the rather hawk like stares he was receiving from the team of Chunin that were in place to catch cheaters.
What's with this….it's like they assume we're going to cheat…
Well, they made the test. I'm sure they understand it's difficult so they'll expect some to cheat when they don't know how to solve it. People will inevitably crack under the pressure. I mean, even you can't answer a single question. You humans are also weird, why make an aptitude test where there is only a marginally small punishment for a single instance of rule breaking?
Yeah….that's also kind of weird too…
As Sasuke pondered over his observations and Dragon's question as well as Ibiki's final words his eyes began to widen as he realized what was going on.
This isn't a test to measure intelligence….c'mon Naruto…see the signs and notice….this test is designed to test our ability to gather information discreetly….It's like Kakashi taught us, we need to look underneath the underneath…I suppose this logically makes sense though. A subtraction system that doesn't instantly fully punish you for getting caught once. Since you aren't notified of when you're caught you are pressured into being flawless as you have no idea if your course of action was unsuccessful until it's too late. If I realized this now.…people will or have already started making their move…
Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment before they reopened with the Sharingan visible.
Alright, dude-in-front-of-me, you've just started writing so all I gotta do is copy your hand movement….
I am an ancient magical creature….I have abilities only told in legends…but even I can't help you out figuring some theoretical bullshit about Kunai angles and optimal decisions to nearby bushes…good luck Naruto.
Holy mother of god…I am so screwed….god damn it….I'm running low on time! The only option I have is to cheat….BUT THAT PUTS EVERYTHING AT RISK…I just have to….CHEAT IN A WAY WHERE I WON'T GET CAUGHT
As Naruto came to that realization a kunai whizzed right by his head and landed in the test of the individual behind him. The Genin sitting at the desk threw up his arms in panic as he yelled out and started sweating.
"You fucked up 5 times buddy….sucks for you."
A shocked look was plastered on the Genin's face as him and his teammates were escorted out.
Ooook…after that display there's no way I should cheat….
"Naruto…you can look at my test."
Naruto paused before turning to his left and noticing Hinata who had a light blush on her cheeks slowly slide her test a bit to her right so that it was clearly in Naruto's peripheral vision. Naruto's eyes widened a bit before a frown slowly appeared on his face.
Is this a trap?...Nah, Hinata is so nice….but I wouldn't put it past Kiba to try and bully her into trying something…
"Why are you willing to risk yourself for me?" he whispered.
"I….uh…I j-j-just don't want to see you….d-disappear here," She meekly replied. "See…there's uh…..there's only nine of us here…w-we should work together…r-right?"
Oh, I see…I guess that makes sense
As Naruto did a quick sideways glance at Hinata's first answer he also noticed a Chunin who smirked and made a quick mark on his clipboard. At this, Naruto eyes widened. Sweat began to form on his brow as panic welled up within him; wondering if he was the one the Chunin had marked for cheating.
So what…you have like 3 more attempts before they throw you out? I guess your current score is at…8?
Then Naruto's eyes widened as it dawned on him a very interesting loophole. He looked right at the Chunin and smirked right back at him before flipping his test over after writing 1 answer in. The Chunin blinked a little before a rather surprised look appeared on his face.
….What're you doing? You answered only one question….shouldn't you….you know, try and answer more?
Nah, I figured this stupid thing out. See, it operates on a subtraction system meaning I'm to attempt to hold onto all my points without getting anything incorrect. The questions in themselves don't actually grant points and even though I was apparently caught cheating once, they can't fail me for one mess-up. This examiner never mentioned that our exam actually had to be fully completed to hold onto our points. You were right, I do have 8 points currently, and if I leave my test alone it'll stay at that number. Logically speaking, there isn't actually a reason to keep answering questions.
…Hahahahaha, what an interesting loophole…..though I do feel as if you're missing the point here….somehow…
Whatever, a Ninja is to look underneath the underneath…
Ibiki gazed around the room before looking at clock at taking note of the current time
It's about that time….now that the trash has been taken out, it's time to get to the main portion
"Pencils down everybody…it's time to start the 10th question."
Ibiki looked around and put on a rather cold face as he noted the mix of sweating, gulping, and smirking he received from the crowd of the remaining Genin.
"Now before we get to it, there are additional rules specifically tied to this question. These rules are known…as the rules of desperation."
Kakashi sat back in a lounge area as he sighed, "It sure is boring without my team. I suppose the missions will have to wait."
Asuma hunched forward and took another puff of his cigarette before chuckling a little.
"Don't worry, you'll be busy again soon."
"Eh, why is that?"
"I heard the examiner for the first test this year is Morino Ibiki."
"…Bah, why that sadist?"
Upon hearing this, Kurenai's interest was piqued and she interjected in, "Sadist?"
Asuma put his cigarette down before looking over, "You're a bit new Kurenai so you probably don't quite know about him…but he's the lead assassination squad, torture and interrogation captain."
At this, Kurenai raised her eyebrow in confusion to this new information in which Asuma smirked and began to explain.
"While there may not be physical torture while taking the test, they're not doubt experiencing mental suffering and pressure brought on by his interrogation skills….."
Whispers were dispersed amongst the crowd at the revelation of the naming of these rules. As more and more of the Genin were beginning to feel panic within themselves.
"For this question, you must first decide whether or not you will take it…"
More confusion appeared on the faces before Temari quickly spoke up and asked the question on everyone's minds.
"Choose?! What happens if we choose not to?"
"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero….and you will fail along with your teammates."
Upon hearing, there was an outburst coming from several Genin in the back.
"What does that mean?!"
"Then of course we will decide to take the question!"
Hearing this, Ibiki casted his gaze at the floor before slowly laughing at the outburst.
"Hehe…if you choose to take it and answer incorrectly….then you will lose the right to ever take this selection exam ever again."
"What kind of stupid rule is that? There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"
Kiba stood there pointing his finger accusingly at Ibiki while being accompanied by barking from his dog, Akamaru. Ibiki only continued to laugh at such an accusation.
"Hehe…you guys were unlucky that I was the examiner this year. However, I am offering you a way out. Those who lack the confidence for this leap of faith can choose not to take it and try again next time around."
Sakura closed her eyes as she weighed the decisions in her head and thought about them clearly.
So if one of the 3 chooses not to take it…everyone will fail. But if you choose to take it and get it wrong you'll be a Genin forever…both options don't seem rather good for anything…what a decision…
"Those that don't wish to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be confirmed along with your teammates and then you may leave."
Naruto grit his teeth as he felt the pressure on himself. Despite the rather humorous loophole he discovered, he was not expecting a decision of such great magnitude.
What kind of question is it going to be?! Damn it! If I get it wrong I'll be a Genin forever…but if I choose to avoid it then I'll cause Sasuke and Sakura to fail too…I don't want that.
Naruto shook his head and continued to scratch his head in frustration as he couldn't come to a definitive conclusion as to what to do. Sakura gazed intently on Naruto's back as she watched him shake and twitch a bit under the pressure.
I don't need to raise my hand….I have confidence that I can answer it. Even if Naruto causes us to fail….it isn't like I got the question wrong so I can try again next time. But….Naruto…you're different than us two.
As Sakura sifted through her own thoughts, Genin all around were slowly standing up and leaving due to the intense pressure they were feeling.
You're always so loud and annoying…with just a one track mind of being Hokage. Me and Sasuke were brought up so differently than you. You're so headstrong and uncalculated….but more than that, I know you're willing to put yourself out there to see to it that we can get by. I felt it when you were collapsed on the bridge at the Wave country….the fear. I didn't understand it then….but I realized you were scared…of dying to Chimera. You put yourself at risk to help Sasuke but you were still terrified. Me and Sasuke…we can pursue our dreams in other ways…but you…this is all you've ever known…I…I don't want to see that taken from you…
Sakura smiled ruefully as she slowly began to raise her hand until she noticed something that caused her to widen her eyes in shock along with Sasuke. Naruto…..had slowly began to raise his own hand. As Naruto's hand was fully raised, he remembered Haku's parting words at his final hour. Naruto then slammed his hand on the table before standing up and pointing at Ibiki.
"May you reach for your own skies…Uzumaki-San"
"Don't look down on me! I'm not scared of your challenge! I'll take it, even if I am a Genin for the rest of my life. I'll still will myself to reach for the skies and become Hokage so I don't care!"
Ibiki was a bit startled at this outburst before he smirked and turned his gaze to Naruto.
"I'll ask you again, your life is riding on this decision. If for any reason you wish to quit….this is your last chance."
"With danger…comes opportunity…and I WILL succeed. I never go back on my word…that's the way of the Ninja!"
Ibiki looked around and noticed the sudden change of expressions on everyone's face. He gave a sideways glance to the group of Chunin off to the side who were also smiling and nodding for him to continue.
Interesting…that sudden outburst gave the rest of these kids some backbone…there's a little more left than I would have liked but I suppose there's no reason to drag this out any further.
"To all those remaining…..I congratulate you for passing the first portion of this exam!"
This revelation caused many jaws to drop as Ibiki's personality seemed to do a 180 and he was suddenly grinning at the rest of them and the pressure they all felt seemed to vanish.
"What? Were the first nine questions pointless then?" Asked Temari.
"Haha, of course not. The first 9 questions served their intended purpose of testing your ability to gather information discreetly. With the way the test was designed to put pressure on you, I'm sure many of you came to the conclusion, given the nature of the questions, that the only way to answer the questions was to cheat. However, that does you no good if nobody could answer the questions so we planted 2 Chunin in the exam that would give access to those looking."
As individuals slowly began chattering with each other over their methods and the difficulty they had, Naruto's jaw dropped as he realized just how far off the mark he was.
Wow…..did I just….beat the system?
Ibiki cleared his throat once more to get everyone's attention as he removed his headband which showed his previous dealings with torture as he had many injures and scars across his head.
"I want you to remember this, important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village. So we had you gather information through the medium of cheating. This allowed us to weed those out who lacked the correct abilities. The 10th question was to be the most critical in terms of proper decision making. This question provided you with two extremely painful options and caused you to ask yourself whether or not you were willing to take a leap of faith. In the real world, you might be tasked with recovering a document that is known to have many hurdles such as traps and enemies. Knowing the dangers and what is at risk, do you choose to avoid it to avoid casualties and hurting your comrades? The answer is No. The ability to be courageous…and survive any hardship is the ability that is necessary for those who are to rise to the rank of Chunin. I congratulate you for making it this far and I wish you luck in the next portion of the exam."
As Ibiki finished speaking, a loud crash was heard as a black blur smashed through the glass windows and expanded outward revealing a rather large rectangular banner. Kunai knives flew out from the center that held the banner up before a female in a trench coat and fishnet shirt stood up and pointed her finger at the crowd of Genin.
"You guys! This is no time for celebration! I am the examiner for the 2nd test, Mitarashi Anki, let's move!"
Everyone gave her a blank stare and Sakura's eyes narrowed as a single though resonated within her.
This examiner…reminds me of Naruto
Anko gazed around at the blank stares before doing some quick counting in her head and then turning over to Ibiki.
"Bah…78 total…you passed 26 teams? Clearly this exam was too easy this time around."
"This time…there are a lot of outstanding ones."
"Doesn't matter, I'll get rid of at least half with this next portion…hehe I'm getting kind of excited. I'll go over everything once we've changed places…follow me."
"Welcome everyone….to the home of the second test…..also known as the Forest of Death."
Hearing this, Naruto strolled forward before rolling his eyes.
"Pfft…Forest of Death….whatever," mocked Naruto.
In his peripheral vision, Naruto noticed a gleam of light and quickly tilted his head a bit before lifting his arm and catching an incoming Kunai knife. He was about to turn and yell in that general direction before he felt the sensation of cold metal along his cheek. Anko had gotten behind him and gave him a small scratch with another knife. Naruto gulped as he found that he was no longer in full control of his body.
I haven't felt like this….since Zabuza…
"Hehe…spirited ones such as you tend to lose their lives rather quickly…," remarked Anko as she licked the small amount of blood coming out of Naruto's cheek.
Before Naruto could gather himself, another cold slimy voice made itself heard behind Anko.
"You're Kunai knife….examiner."
This Ninja with the Grass headband on had a rather long tongue that was holding onto the kunai that Anko had initially thrown. Anko turned her head a bit and grabbed the knife from the Ninja's tongue before giving him a warning.
"Thank you….but I advise you not sneak up on me like that….unless you wish to die."
With that, Anko reached into her trench coat and took out a stack of papers.
"Before we begin, you must sign these. There will be deaths in this one and these forms abstain me from being responsible should you die."
As Anko began walking and passing out the forms, she continued to explain the exam.
"This area is just a large circle with a tower in the center. Half the teams will get a Heaven scroll and the other half will receive an Earth scroll. Sometime in the next five days you must get the other scroll and arrive at the tower in order to complete this portion of the exam. As for what is allowed when trying to get another team's scroll….everything goes. By the way….you aren't to look inside the scrolls until you have both and arrive at the tower….otherwise a surprise will be waiting for you. Good Luck…."
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke walked through the gates and did some light stretches before beginning to leap through the trees towards some form of objective. Sasuke turned back to his team and tried to organize a form of stradegy.
"How should we do this? Jumping aimlessly and hoping we run into an enemy team with a scroll we need seems kind of risky, should we have Sakura lead us with Pegasus? She will most likely be able to spot anyone first before they get near us."
Hearing this, Sakura shook her head, "No, I don't move particularly fast in that form, I don't think exchanging speed and mobility for perception is too smart. I also don't think we should transform so pre-emptively, it burns our energy and we aren't sure about the kinds of people we're up against."
Naruto quickly waved down his teammates and stopped, "Hang on, I gotta take a piss. I'll be right back."
Sakura and Sasuke sat around and heard distant screaming which made them a little uneasy as Naruto appeared from behind the tree
"Ah sorry I took so long gu-"
Before he could even finish, Sasuke had punched Naruto across the face sending him bouncing along the floor. Sakura quickly turned to Sasuke with a rather confused look on her face before Sasuke drew a kunai knife and faced Naruto.
"Your shuriken holster is on your left leg….Naruto is right-handed. Also, you don't have the scratch that the examiner put on his cheek earlier. Not very observant are we?"
Naruto smirked and released a transformation with a Ninja from the hidden mist replacing him.
"Unlucky for me you figured it out…but it matters now, I'll still get the scroll!"
The Mist nin dashed forward and Sasuke leapt back while Sakura jumped up to a tree. Going through a list of seals, Sasuke then put his hand up to his mouth.
Fire Style: Mythical Fire Flower
Several fireballs were released from Sasuke's mouth as they zoned in on the Mist nin. The Enemy nin then rebounded on his left and right side until he dodged the fireballs and jumped in the air. Sasuke leapt up in effort to chase him before he landed on a tree trunk and noticed a seal on it.
An explosive note….oh no
The explosion sent Sasuke flying backward as he put his hands up over his face to cover his eyes from the debris and smoke. As he landed on the ground he stood up and was met by a Kunai over his neck.
"Checkmate….now hand over the scroll."
Before Sasuke could react, a loud yell could be heard behind the enemy nin followed by a grunt. Sasuke turned around and saw that Naruto had kicked the Nin off to the side.
"Punk, didn't your parents ever teach you bathroom etiquette?"
Sasuke saw that Sakura was above the enemy nin on a nearby branch and quickly called out to her.
"SAKURA! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY! FINISH HIM, NOW!"
When Sasuke's message finally got across her head, Sakura looked down and the enemy nin had dashed off already. At this, Sasuke groaned before he walked forward and motioned for Naruto and Sakura to gather by.
"Listen guys…this might be rough, but remember what Kakashi told us when we were at wave country. This might be just an exam with other kids our age, but if we relax for a moment than we could be killed. We need to take this seriously."
Sakura gulped and nodded, trying to shake her nervousness whereas Naruto only scowled; clearly still annoyed at being caught off-guard.
"Listen guys….if we ever get separated again, even if it's one of us, don't trust them. This situation could occur again. We'll make some sort of code just in case to verify."
Sasuke then proceeded to recite an old poem to act as a password to which Sakura nodded and Naruto looked a bit confused.
"Guys…I don't know if I can remember that…"
Before the two members of team 7 could respond, a blinding light hit their eyes alongside a huge gust of wind. The trio lept off in different directions to regain composure and hide from the incoming attack.
Sasuke waited for the sounds to die down before he got up from the brush and looked around. He saw Sakura from the side who quickly called out to him and ran over. Sasuke quickly pulled out a Kunai and backed up.
"Stay away….first the code."
Sakura quickly nodded and recited the poem to which Sasuke sighed and began to relax a little before they head a twig snap nearby. They quickly looked in that direction and saw Naruto holding his side and walking forward.
"Ow…are you guys okay….? Oh right…the code!"
Before Naruto could finish reciting the code, Sakura and Sasuke both narrowed their eyes and dashed forward to strike. Naruto's eyes widened before they struck him in the chest and he flew backwards and released another transformation revealing the Grass-nin from before that returned Anko's kunai.
"Impressive you two knew…..how did you know I was a fake?"
"Considering I'm fairly confident you heard Naruto say he probably couldn't remember it…I'm more impressed you were stupid enough to even try reciting the poem at all," smirked Sakura.
"Hehehehe…you guys want my Earth scroll right? Well then…."
With that, the Grass-nin opened his mouth and seemingly swallowed his scroll whole.
"Now we can begin this fight for our scrolls….with our lives up for wager…"
The Grass-nin held a cold stare right onto Sasuke and Sakura whom both froze in fear. Images flashed through their heads from being sliced across the neck to kunai being embedded to their heads. Sasuke fell to his knees and panted out of confusion.
Genjutsu?...No, the killing intent within his gaze is so fierce that it's causing us to see an image of death….this guy is just a Genin? This…might be too much for us…if we stay and fight this guy…
Sasuke turned his gaze over and saw Sakura who was still trembling and unable to move or control her body.
…we'll die!
Sasuke grit his death as he rammed a Kunai into his thigh and winced before quickly dashing over and shoving Sakura to the floor. Sakura, finally breaking out of her trance, coughed a bit and turned over to Sasuke.
"Thanks…I really needed that.."
Before Sakura could even finish speaking, Sasuke grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth before jumping off. Sakura watched Sasuke as he frantically kept moving looking for a place to take cover really fast.
I've never seen Sasuke…acting like this…..
As they finally landed, Sasuke spoke quickly and quietly.
"We need to see and find Naruto and quickly leave….I don't think we're quite ready to take on someone like that yet.."
Before Sasuke could catch his breath, Sakura screamed as a relatively large snake seemed to descend upon them. Sakura rolled off the branch to the side and Sasuke leapt up. As the Snake opened its mouth, Sasuke quickly threw a bunch of Shuriken directly into the mouth hoping to strike the more squishy insides. The snake made a hissing sound and began to flop. Then suddenly, the grass nin seemed to sprout out from the outer skin. His eerie laughter began to echo in the forest.
"You guys shouldn't relax for even a moment…prey should always be trying their best to run away. Especially in the presence….of a predator."
An orange blur interrupted the Grass nin's laughter as the blur rammed into him and caused him to fall further along the giant tree.
"Well well…it looks like you got away from the Giant snake Naruto…"
"Yeah…he had a digestion problem…so I put him out of his misery."
Naruto's attention turned to Sasuke who then had a very grim look on his face.
Even after regrouping with Naruto…..our situation hasn't improved greatly from before….there's no other way…
Naruto caught sight of where Sasuke's hand was reaching before he leapt down and quickly pulled Sasuke by the collar.
"What the fuck are you thinking? I don't know how strong this guy is but get it together fucker. What guarantee is there that he'll let us go if we give him the scroll?"
"Hehe…very perceptive Naruto….why make the trade…when I can just kill you and take the scroll…"
The grass-nin then bit his finger before going through a series of seals and putting his hand on the suddenly, a giant snake rose from the ground catching Team 7 by surprise. The snake then swung it's tale from under and smack Naruto into the air. Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened as they heard the grass-nin's next words.
"Feel free to eat the boy…"
The grass-nin began laughing as Naruto began to fall from a fairly high height right back down to the giant snake. Naruto grit his teeth and quickly put on a finger and put it over his belt.
DRIVER ON!
SET! OPEN! L-I-O-N, LION!
In a flash, Naruto quickly assumed the form of Beast and reached for another ring.
God…I know you said it was dangerous Chimera…but I don't have a lot of options right now.
BUFFA GO! BU-BU-BU-BUFFA!
With the Buffa mantle attached on, Naruto then gathered strength into his right fist as he was falling and smashed it on the top of the tip of the Snake's mouth causing his head to slam towards the ground under the immense strength of the punch.
"EAT SHIT MOTHERFUCKER!"
The sudden motion shocked the Grass nin as he quickly blew out strange dust which blasted Naruto back. The nin then made a gesture to the snake which lifted off the ground and darted it's way to Sasuke. Before it could get to Sasuke, Naruto quickly appeared between them with his arms stretched outward and shoved back which halted the movement of the snake.
"What's with that stupid look on your face…"
As Sasuke heard his own words echoed from the past, a stupid grin appeared on his face as he reached back and drew out the Lost Driver and the Joker memory and pressed a button causing an familiar voice to echo through the forest.
JOKER!
As Sasuke took the form of Joker, Sakura began to smile as she took note of Naruto and Sasuke standing together. Sakura then reached around and pulled out the Decadriver along with the Decade card.
DECADE!
As the three stood together and turned their attention to the grass-nin, and dashed forwad. The nin leapt back and intercepted a punch by Naruto and then quickly ducked to avoid a kick from Sakura. The nin then looked up and saw Sasuke coming down from a great height surrounded by a purple aura. The grass nin then quickly jumped up to avoid the incoming strike from Sasuke.
JOKER EXTREME!
Sasuke collided with the ground and kicked up a large amount of dust. As the grass-nin's vision became obscure, he heared another voice through the dust.
KIVA: GARULU SABER
A sonic wave then tore through the smoke forcing the enemy nin to jump to the side. Sakura then leapt forward with her saber and swung at the enemy who pulled out a kunai to intercept the slice. As the weapons collided, a shockwave was released which caused the nin to wince as he jumped back and had a ringing in his ears. A golden whip then came out from a blind spot on the side and lash at the enemy several times. Naruto then appeared from above armed with the Chameleo mantle before retracing back the whip-like tongue.
"You're not the only one with a fancy tongue buddy."
Naruto then leapt down while drawing the Dice saber and quickly began swinging which forced the enemy to back up. As the nin continued to block with his kunai knife Sasuke appeared from his left and landed a kick on the nin's stomach. The kick left the enemy somewhat dazed as he stumbled back and Team 7 lept back a bit and each individual took a different stance. Sakura gripped her curved saber with both hands before it began to glow blue. She concentrated on focusing her Chakra straight to the blade before performing three slashes which aligned into a triangle before spinning and putting one horizontal slice through the triangle causing it to blast forward and collide with the nin.
Garulu Howling Slash!
Naruto spun the dial on his saber before inserting the Chamelo ring to stop the dial. Upon gazing at the number of the dice, Naruto smirked and began slowly spinning the blade in a clockwise motion.
SIX! CHAMELO! SABER STRIKE!
Naruto then spun and swung his blade which released six yellow chameleons which flew forward into the general direction of the grass-nin and added onto the dust already kicked up into the air. As Sasuke was reaching for his memories, Dragon spoke to him.
Try using one of the other 3 memories from before Sasuke. You might not be able to harness the power directly, but you might be able to use it in a maximum drive…
Sasuke then reached for the Heat memory and inserted it into his side before his body began glowing with a red fiery aura.
HEAT! MAXIMUM DRIVE!
Sasuke then jumped in the air and curled into a ball before being engulfed in flame. He then began spinning and rocketed forward at the enemy Nin who still against the wall after being struck from the previous attacks.
JOKER GRENADE!
As Sasuke collided with the enemy, a final explosion was created and Sasuke rebounded back to his team and stood. The trio of Team 7 each let out a collective sigh as they were about to release their transformations before a voice broke through the calm and sent a shiver up each of their spines.
"Hehehe…what interesting abilities you three have….but even then…you're simply just not there yet…"
The dust settled and the enemy nin stood there with wide eyes and a rather devious smile which froze Team 7 on the spot.
TBC
Jesus that was long!...Hopefully that makes up for how long it took to get the previous chapter out and how short it was!
