This chapter is mostly Ayaka and Gaara centralized (with a splash of Anko, because she's AWESOME).
Sorry, this chapter was supposed to be out like March 21, but FF was being a bitch and wouldn't let me update anything Naruto for TWO WEEKS! But I'm back now, so it's all good.
Chapter Nine
Infiltration
"I wonder how they're doing..." Ayaka mused, sipping some water. Gaara shrugged.
"Ibiki uses the same spiel every year, they're probably doing fine." Gaara watched at a clock on the wall of the ramen stand. "In fact, they should be moving on to the Forest of Death soon."
"Aren't you even a bit worried? Some psychos broke into Team Four's room last night. And it's not like it's hard to infiltrate the Forest of Death. Orochimaru's done it... I've done it..." Ayaka trailed off, snapping her mouth shut.
"What was that?" Gaara demanded. Ayaka could practically see him raise imaginary eyebrows.
"Nothing... Nothing... I think I'll go talk to Anko after she starts the exam tomorrow." Ayaka said.
"I always found you two remarkably alike." Gaara smirked. Ayaka grinned.
"Thanks, Panda-kun!"
...
"WAIT DO YOU MEAN, WE PASSED? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TENTH QUESTION?" Susumu shouted, standing and glaring at Ibiki. Ibiki grinned widely.
"There never was one! Not a written one at least. In fact, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question.
"So the other nine questions were a waste of time?" Etsuko demanded, annoyed.
"Not at all, quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your ability to gather information under the most adverse circumstances. My objective was to test you not only as individuals, but as a team. And on how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so you could know that everything you did, or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates." Ibiki paused and let that sink in for a moment.
"To see how we would handle the pressure." Yoshino said slowly. Ibiki nodded.
"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, too difficult for any genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you came to that conclusion, that you'd have to cheat to have any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating, it almost demanded it." Ibiki smirked.
"Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from. So I disguised two chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you." Two boys raised their hands, smirking.
"Those who failed at it were eliminated. Better not to cheat than to cheat..." Ibiki was cut off as the window shattered and a giant ball of fabric flew into the room. The fabric unfurled, opening into a banner and revealing a woman.
"HEADS UP, BOYS AND GIRLS! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE CELEBRATING! I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitorashi. Ready for the second test?" Anko paused and then punched the air. "GOOD! LET'S GO! FOLLOW ME!" Anko exclaimed, grinning. Ibiki tore through the banner with a kunai and glared at Anko.
'She reminds me of Ayaka...' Matsuri thought, wrinkling her nose.
"You're ten minutes earlier than usual. I didn't even get to explain the tenth question yet." He growled. Anko ignored him, looking around the room.
"Wow, Ibiki, you must be getting soft in your old age, letting one hundred and twenty kids pass!" She said. Ibiki scowled.
"I'm only three years older than you are. And maybe it's a stronger bunch of candidates." He deadpanned. Anko shrugged.
"Sorry, it's your face, makes you look like fifty. And as for them being stronger... They sure don't look it. Trust me, once I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated." She replied. Ibiki's eyes twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
"More than half?" Hanako squeaked. Anko smirked.
"This is gonna be fun..." Anko snickered. "Alright, you Maggots have had it easy so far, but things are going to be different starting first time in the morning. I'll let your squad leaders know where you're to meet me. Dismissed." Anko sneered the last word, a predatory gleam in her eye.
The Next Morning
"Whoa... What is this place?" Kaori asked no one in particular, staring at the Forest of Death. Manabu looked around briefly.
"It's the Forest of Death..." He muttered, his brow furrowing.
"The Forest of what?" Haruna asked, paling.
"This is the location for the second phase of the exam. It's the 44th battle training zone. But we call it... The Forest of Death." Anko said, standing in front of the large group of genin.
"This whole place totally creeps me out..." Matsuri murmured. Anko grinned.
"It should, they call it the Forest of Death." She sneered. "And soon enough, you're going to find out why."
"Ayaka is like this lady's mini-me!" Susumu hissed, giving Anko a reproachful glare.
"Now, before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you. Just a standard consent form." Anko said, pulling a large stack of paper out of her coat. "Before the test you will all need to read through it and then sign it."
"Well... Why?" Daisuke asked. Anko shrugged.
"Some of you may not come back from this test, and I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise it would be my responsibility." Anko finished with a laugh.
"She's more sadistic than Ibiki!" Mayu squeaked. Kaori rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.
"Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test. Here, pass these out." Anko paused, handing the stack of paper to Konohamaru. "The first thing you need to know is this test will tax every last one of your survival skills. The 44th battle training zone has forty-four locked entrance gates, rivers, and a forest inside. In the centre is a locked tower, located ten kilometres from each gate. It is within this confined area that you will undergo the survival test. The test consists of an anything goes battle to get your hands on these scrolls." Anko held up a white scroll and a dark blue scroll.
"Both of them?" A Sound ninja asked.
"Yes. You'll be fighting to get both a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll. All together, there will be forty teams participating in this exam. Half will be after a Heaven Scroll, and half will be after an Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team, and that's what you'll be vying for." Anko said, holding up both scrolls in one hand.
"So how do we pass?" Yoshino asked.
"To pass your whole team must bring a Heaven and an Earth scroll to the tower." Anko replied.
"That means that, at best, only half of us will pass, maybe more, if other teams aren't able to get the scrolls." Hanabi noted, seeming unfazed.
"No one ever said it would be easy. Oh, and one more thing, the test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days. This is designed to be a gruelling test, and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge... Alright, enough of the rules and crap, take your forms and exchange them over there for your scroll." Anko pointed at a small booth with three chunin sitting at a table. "Then go pick a gate and get ready to begin."
...
"I think Matsuri should take the scroll." Kaito said as Team Three waited for the test to begin. Matsuri blinked.
"Why me?" She squeaked.
"Because no one would expect you to have it." Susumu explained, begrudgingly agreeing with Kaito.
"Okay..." Matsuri said, taking their Earth scroll gingerly from Kaito, watching the scroll as if it would bite her.
"Don't worry, we'll protect you." Susumu smirked, his tone teasing. Matsuri stuck her tongue out at him.
"Alright! Heads up you Maggots! The second stage of the Chunin Exam has begun!" Anko yelled.
And then they were off.
...
"Anko!" Ayaka exclaimed, appearing in front of the older woman. Anko grinned widely.
"Ayaka! It's been a long time. Here to infiltrate the forest again? What is this, the third time? I thought the creepy redhead was the Kazekage now." She said with a wink. Ayaka blushed.
"He is. I have a bad feeling, I want to check out the forest." She said. Anko sighed.
"Trust me, no one who isn't supposed to be in there is in there." The older woman said, an unusual, somewhat comforting tone lacing her words.
"I'm not worried about who isn't supposed to be in there. I'm worried about who is. Three people tried to kill one of our genin yesterday. They had skill I wouldn't expect from a team of genin, but our team said they sounded young." Ayaka said, leaning toward Anko, whose eyes narrowed.
"You think someone has infiltrated the exam." She growled. Ayaka nodded.
"To be more specific... I think my work followed me home."
...
"She's getting dangerously close to the truth."
"I know, yeah. But she's still taking the bait. She's going right where we want her."
"I'm afraid our team might not be enough to take her down."
"You're right, yeah. Why not just go in ourselves?"
"Normally, I'd disagree, but I'm tired of waiting."
"It's time for action, yeah!"
...
"Did you feel that?" Aeri whispered. Yoshino and Manabu looked at her, shaking their heads.
"What is it, Aeri?" Yoshino asked.
"Three very powerful chakra signatures just entered the forest." Aeri explained. The two boys exchanged a confused glance.
"Are you sure they weren't just another genin team?" Manabu questioned. Aeri shook her head.
"They are way too powerful to be genin. Plus, they aren't together. One of them came from the East, and the other two from the North." She stated.
"How odd... I guess we'll need to keep a good eye out." Yoshino said. "Come on, let's find a scroll and get out of here."
Around Midnight That Night
Anko was very surprised, which was saying something. In front of her stood the Kazekage, Gaara, looking half irritated and half worried.
"Have you seen Ayaka?" He asked bluntly. Anko blinked.
"Of course I have. She came by earlier, worrying over some conspiracy. I let her go into the forest to check it out." She told him. Gaara froze.
"When was this?" He demanded. Anko thought briefly.
"At around noon." She answered. Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"It shouldn't take this long..." He murmured. He then looked at Anko, glad he had grabbed his gourd that morning. "I need to go into the forest. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all. Be my guest, as long as you don't mess with the genin candidates." Anko said, gesturing toward the first gate. Gaara nodded and disappeared. He reappeared on top of the tower in the centre of the forest.
'Might as well make this quick, something doesn't feel right.' He thought, making eight sand clones.
"Find Ayaka and make sure she's okay." Gaara told the clones. The clones nodded and split up, two going in every direction. Gaara decided to stay by the tower until he was needed.
...
Ayaka looked around, perched on a branch high up in a tree. Something wasn't right, she could feel it.
'What is the world is going on in this forest?' She wondered, smiling as the blurred figures of Kenta, Kaori and Mayu flashed by below her. A few minutes later, much to Ayaka's shock, a small white clay bird landed beside her, and promptly exploded, sending her plummeting to the ground. Ayaka took out a kunai and buried it into a tree, slowing, but not halting, her fall.
"Son of a... I knew it..." Ayaka was cut off as she landed on her back on the forest floor. The wind was knocked out of her and she felt several ribs break.
"Looks like we caught a rat. And here I was, hunting for squirrels, yeah." A blond smirked as two men appeared, one on either side of the injured ANBU. Ayaka struggled to sit up, but the blond planted his foot on her stomach, earning a gasp from the girl.
"What the hell... are you doing here... Deidara?"
-OVERLY DRAMATIC GASP-
So our baddies (or one of them, but I'm sure it's easy to guess the other) have been unveiled. And, as expected due to my slightly sadistic tendencies, Ayaka's in danger!
To be honest, I wasn't going to have the real baddies come in until way later, but I decided this would be a nice twist. ^_^
