A/N: Sorry, this is only Chapter 9 reposted because last time it sent the alerts out but didn't actually show the chapter on the site for some reason. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 9: Fight in the Forest of Death
It seemed that, over the course of the morning, the temperature had risen tenfold across the village. In fact, Naruto couldn't remember a day that had been as warm as that one so far that year.
"Typical" he thought, as he walked with the rest of the Genin to their unknown destination. "I bet this'll be a physical test as well, having to deal with Shikamaru is going to be such a pain."
"Hey, no slacking at the back!" Anko yelled, staring back at over the group with an exaggerated snarl. "If you don't hurry up, I'm not against leaving you here!"
Naruto had been used to seeing all sorts of Shinobi throughout his life, every day there would be multiple Chunin and Jonin coming and going through the house. Despite this, he had to admit that he had never seen a Kunoichi like Anko. Female Shinobi had a lot to prove; after all if the older members of the village had their way, all Shinobi would be men. This would usually lead to a Kunoichi being more reserved, hard working and desperate to prove herself. Anko was the complete opposite of that; she was loud, slightly obnoxious and her provocative dress sense was incredibly daring. He was also sure that he had heard of her before but he wasn't entirely sure where. He had vague memories of conversation he'd overheard between Minato and Kakashi but they always stopped when they became aware of his presence.
"It's strange" Hinata squeaked. "Everyone's so quiet now."
Naruto had also noticed that the noise level had returned to the dull whisper from before the first exam, after the initial excitement that had arisen just after the end of the written exam.
"There's not much time between the two exams, nobody can afford to get carried away with themselves" Shikamaru yawned, much to Naruto's concern. "I guess everyone's realised that now, and now that everyone's got a taste of how difficult these exams are going to be, it's only made it worse."
"Well, then I guess that's good for the teams who aren't nervous then" Kiba smirked from just behind Shikamaru. "I'm pumped, sitting in that classroom has gotten me all riled up."
Naruto thought up a retort in his head but didn't bother using it. He'd deduced that arguing with Kiba was like trying to destroy a mountain with a hammer. It might be enjoyable to let some steam off initially, but ultimately you'll get nowhere.
"Ah, I know where we're going" Naruto heard Sasuke declare confidently.
Not wanting to be outdone, Naruto checked the surroundings for the first time in a while. It took him a few seconds of concentrating on where exactly they were and what direction they were heading, but he eventually understood as well.
"One of the forests" Naruto whispered to his team. "There's nothing else down this way, that's got to be it!"
"Why would we be going there?" Hinata wondered.
"Who knows, could be loads of reasons" Naruto shrugged. "At least there'll be shade from the sun in there."
Naruto's suspicions were proven to be correct just a few minutes later, when the group came to a halt in front of a forest situated behind a metal gate. Anko stepped forward slightly, before dramatically turning around and holding her arm out, showing her palm to the group.
"Stop there!" she said to the already static group, without a hint of any sarcasm in her voice. "Now listen up, this is the stage for the Second Exam. Officially, this is known as the Forty Fourth Training Ground, but we have an even better name for it. The Forest of Death."
Anko grinned maliciously at the last line, apparently enjoying her attempt to strike fear into the hearts of the Genin. She chuckled under her breath before continuing.
"Now, let me explain the details of this exam."
Naruto thought that the exam itself seemed simple enough on the face of it. All they had to do was get a scroll to make a pair with theirs before heading towards the tower in the middle of the forest. Although, Naruto had learned not to take things at face value anymore so he knew it wouldn't be as easy as it sounded at first.
"Before we begin, I have some procedural stuff to go over" Anko said, the boredom obvious in her voice. "The first thing is that, before you take part in this exam, you must first fill out this clearance form."
"Why's that?" Temari asked.
"So I don't get in trouble if you get yourself killed" Anko answered, her bluntness shocking Naruto once again. "That leads into my second point. You are not allowed to quit the exam, once you walk in you can't leave until you either get to the tower or 5 days pass. Remember, this is to show that you're ready to be Chunin and Chunin can't quit in the middle of a mission. But, there are going to be ANBU stationed around the perimeter in case of emergencies. So if there aren't any questions, you can go and collect your forms and scrolls."
After spending a few minutes going through the process, Naruto and his team lined up in front of gate number 16. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but the forest looked terrifying. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, the forest seemed to be completely dark. That's not to mention all of the strange sounds coming from within, he didn't even want to consider what was waiting for them in there.
"So what have we got with us?" Shikamaru asked, mercifully breaking Naruto's concentration.
"A few kunai, some Shiruken, paper bombs, spare scrolls and what's this?" Naruto wondered, picking up a strange bottle.
"Oh, that's my ointment" Hinata muttered quietly. "It helps heal injuries, it's not much but it could be useful."
"Hey that is useful, why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're an idiot" Shikamaru responded to Naruto with his usual deadpan tone. Naruto feigned annoyance but only because he knew it would exaggerate the hilarity of the situation.
"You three might want to stop laughing" the nameless Jonin stood by the fence said. "It'll be any second now."
All across the forest each team stood to attention and waited. The forest before them was dark and uninviting, just the very thought of spending five days in there made some of them feel physically ill. They held their breath, consolidating their thoughts for just a moment. Finally, Anko put them out of their misery.
"The Second Exam has begun!"
The first day of the exam had been incredibly uneventful for Sasuke and his team. They had decided to take a slow and steady approach, move in the shadows and try to conceal themselves as best they could. It was an effective plan in the sense that it made it easier to avoid being caught off guard. The downside, though, was that they hadn't seen anyone they could attack either.
They decided to settle down for a few hours, figuring that they would be at an advantage moving under the cover of darkness, while everyone else looked to rest. As Shino placed his bugs in strategic places around them, Sasuke sat back and watched the sunset. It always reminded him of the times he spent with his brother, walking home at dusk after playing out since early morning. Sometimes, he still yearned for those days. Itachi had so much work to do, that Sasuke had barely seen him in the last few months.
"What are you thinking about Sasuke?"
It took all the restraint he had to not visibly express his annoyance. Itachi had actually warned him about attracting the attention of the girls in his class; it's just that he hadn't expected it to be so extreme. Ino's constant fawning over him was quickly becoming very wearisome, especially when she insisted on sitting so close to him.
"I'm planning our next move" Sasuke lied, not wanting to encourage her behaviour any further. "What we're doing is risky, it won't work if we just go out there without thinking it over."
"I agree" Shino mumbled. "What ideas do you have?"
Sasuke stood up again and paced around a little, he'd found that it helped him concentrate. It was a trait that he had picked up from his father.
"We need to be careful with our targets," he said slowly. "Shino, do you have any bugs that can detect specific chakra?"
Shino, in his usual reserved style, simply nodded slightly.
"Okay, we can use that to avoid the more dangerous teams" Sasuke continued.
"Well, which teams do we deem dangerous?" Ino enquired.
"From what I can tell, the team from Suna with the Kazekage's kids should be pretty tough. Based on what Naruto's said over the years, the smaller one is supposed to be pretty strong," Sasuke commented. "I also don't like the sound of that Neji guy, my Dad said that the Hyuga value him highly. Then of course, there's Naruto's team."
The last name was said with a slightly bitter undertone.
"What, you think we can't take them!" Ino yelled, before turning her voice down at Sasuke's flash of annoyance. "Sorry, I just mean that they aren't stronger than we are!"
"That's not the point" Shino interrupted before Sasuke could answer. "Yes, Naruto's team is strong but so are we. However, it does not matter how strong we are in relation to them for this task as we simply looking for teams that are far weaker than we are, teams that cannot compare to our strength. Therefore-"
"Okay Shino we get the point" Sasuke butted in. He'd grown fond of Shino as time went on, but that didn't compensate for his annoying habit to use so many words to say very little. "As much as I hate to admit it, I agree. Fighting Naruto's team would be difficult and exhausting, that's not what this exam is about."
"I guess" Ino sighed, apparently unconvinced. "So, what teams do we target?"
Sasuke was about to answer, but something stopped him. He wasn't sure if he had heard a sound or sensed a foreign chakra, but he knew that someone was drawing close to them. He paused for just a second, listening out for any signs. Just when he was ready to write it off as paranoia induced by the conditions, Shino reacted.
'There's someone coming" he declared, sounding somewhat panicked. "He's moving fast whoever it is, the beetles can't keep track of him."
Instinctively, the team grouped together, standing back to back in a huddle. Sasuke held up a kunai and activated his Sharingan, preparing himself for any possibility. He could feel a drop of sweat move slowly down his face, but he resisted the urge to wipe it. He couldn't afford any distractions. Finally, a figure moved out of the forest, walking slowly towards them.
As you would imagine, having the Hokage for a father had its benefits but having Kushina for a mother had even more. As caring as she was, she was determined not to let Naruto be a pushover or vulnerable. She spent years trying to teach him how to be aware of his surroundings and it finally became useful.
"Hinata, check behind us at 8 O'clock" Naruto whispered, trying to keep his voice low.
Naruto watched as she activated her Byakugan, and moved her eyes towards the corner. She nodded slowly, not wanting to make it too obvious. Shikamaru let out a small groan in reaction to this and shook his head.
"Just as we were doing so well in avoiding any work" Shikamaru sighed. "All right then, what are we looking at Hinata?"
Hinata didn't respond for a moment, instead she just scrunched her eyes up in apparent confusion.
"I don't know what's going on" she stammered, the tempo of her breathing increasing. "The chakra is different, it's moving around a lot. It's increasing, this is bigger than anything I've ever seen!"
The attack happened without warning. Thankfully, the movements couldn't fool Hinata's Byakugan and she was able to alert Naruto and Shikamaru quick enough for them to jump out of the way of the oncoming assault. Naruto didn't even see exactly what the attack was; all he knew was that a cloud of dust was kicked up by its impact into the ground.
"There's someone in there" Shikamaru said, speaking in between spouts of coughing.
The dust eventually cleared to reveal someone Naruto knew very well.
"What the hell is this?" Naruto demanded to know, turning to Hinata. "This is the guy with the giant chakra? Are you serious?"
Hinata looked as stunned as Naruto and didn't seem to know what to say. She stammered a little and her cheeks filled with a pinkish glow.
"Ha! I can't believe that actually worked!" Kiba beamed from within the small dent he'd made in the ground. "I guess Sakura really wasn't overrating her genjutsu then."
Sakura and Choji soon joined their teammate and the two teams stared each other down.
"Now that we've found you, I can finally wipe that smug smile that you permanently have off your face!" Kiba declared, pointing directly at Naruto.
The young blonde held his stare for a moment, before breaking out in a cheeky grin.
"What? It took you the whole day to find us? Man, looks like your nose isn't anywhere near as good as you claim" he laughed. "You're deluded if you think you're beating us with something like that! Before I kick your ass, Hinata check them out."
Hinata blinked and checked Kiba with her Byakugan. After a moment of searching, she turned back to Naruto.
"Kiba's holding an earth scroll," she informed him. "It's in the weapons pouch on his right hip, mixed with multiple other scrolls."
"It's going to feel so satisfying to beat you and take that scroll," Naruto muttered, as he took out two trench knives and held them in each hand. "Shikamaru, you deal with Choji when he attacks. I'll use my Kage Bunshin to deal with Sakura and I'll personally take care of Kiba."
"That's stupid, what about Hinata?" Shikamaru asked. "She'd be better off taking care of Kiba, he relies on taijutsu so-"
"No, I'm doing it" Naruto butted in. "Hinata, you hang back and give help if it's needed all right?"
Naruto took Hinata's lack of response as a yes and began his attack. He ran forward and immediately weaved a sign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
As he promised, Naruto's clones were sent after Sakura, who had taken up her place at the back of the group. With that problem now placed at the back of his mind, Naruto took a swing at Kiba with his knives. To his surprised, his opponent was not only able to dodge the attack; he was also able to attempt a counterblow.
"He's faster than he used to be, by a lot," Naruto thought, as he quickly doubled back to avoid Kiba's attempted strike. "I'm going to have to be careful here."
Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Choji expand to an incredible size and noticed that Shikamaru was already confronting him.
"Jujin Bunshin!"
Naruto looked over to see two Kiba's, both on all fours. However, that's not all that was different. His fangs were showing and his hands resembled claws. Rather than speaking to Naruto, he sounded like he was growling at him.
"You might want to keep your eyes on me from now on!"
Both Kiba's launched themselves at Naruto, aiming their sharpened claws at any body part they could reach. Naruto had to do his best just to avoid their strikes, while he also attempted to land a blow of his own. He ducked, dived and pivoted around while he swung his arms in any random direction he could. This became more and more difficult as time went on.
"How is he doing this without letting up?" Naruto wondered, as one of Kiba's razor sharp nails narrowly missed Naruto's face. "I don't even have time to make another clone seal and I can't aim my hits close enough to him. If only I had longer weapons."
That was when Naruto realised what he had to do. It became a case of now or never, he had to channel his chakra through the knives or he'd never hit Kiba and he'd have to suffer the embarrassment of defeat.
"I just have to visualise it, make the weapon a part of me" Naruto thought, echoing the words of his Sensei.
With one desperate lunge, he swung the knives right past both Kiba's faces. The next second passed unbelievably slowly, as if everyone was moving at a snails pace. Naruto stared at Kiba, just hoping that something would happen, anything. At first, it seemed like he had failed once again. Then, just as tiredness threatened to creep in and leave Naruto vulnerable, a slash appeared across Kiba's cheek. It wasn't deep and the chakra coming from Naruto's knives was weak at best but it was enough to cause both Kiba and Akamaru to stumble backwards and temporarily halt their attack.
"All right, time to balance the odds!" Naruto thought, as he prepared the clone sign.
However, as he began to raise his hands, Naruto suddenly lost the ability to move. It was as if an outside force was physically binding his hands, in fact, it felt as if his entire body was being bound.
"What in the world…"
Suddenly, a tree sprouted out of the ground and surrounded him. The trunk ran up behind his back, before several branches wrapped around him.
"Genjutsu? But when and who?"
The answer came to him within seconds when he looked up. Sakura was stood behind Kiba and Akamaru, her eyes closed and a seal held up. Kiba's horribly satisfied grin made Naruto grimace with anger.
"Finish him Akamaru!" Kiba commanded, as his clone set off towards Naruto.
Helpless, Naruto racked his brain for a plan. Genjutsu was never his strong suit; in fact he did his best to avoid it entirely. He knew that pain could possibly break the illusion but when he bit his lip it didn't have any effect. As Akamaru reached him, Naruto closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, he gave up.
"Naruto, you might want to open your eyes."
Despite the softness of her voice, Hinata's words were enough to startle him. Although, that surprise was nothing compared to the one that awaited him upon opening his eyes.
Akamaru was unconscious at Naruto's feet, the tree was gone and Naruto was free to move again. Hinata stood next to him, her hand on his shoulder and bulging eyes staring dead ahead, with a flicker of confidence shining through.
"You broke the genjutsu?"
Hinata nodded, keeping her gaze on the sight ahead.
"Akamaru is out, you can fight Kiba one on one," she informed him. "I'll help Shikamaru against Choji, he's not able to catch him with his shadows just yet."
"But what about Sakura? Couldn't she just use her genjutsu again?" Naruto asked, putting his surprise to the back of his mind for a moment.
Hinata shook her head, as she walked over to where Shikamaru and Choji's fight was continuing.
"She has very little chakra left now, my guess is that she hasn't got a true handle on that genjutsu" she said.
She then ran over to Shikamaru, her movements more upbeat than usual. Naruto could only watch her, completely speechless.
"When did she?"
"Bastard!" Kiba screamed, enraged by the sudden change of events. "I was so close! I'll take you out now!"
Kiba withdrew a kunai and ran towards him once again. Naruto instinctively reached for his knives, but realised that they were on the floor several metres away. Panicked, he dove into every pocket and pouch he had looking for a weapon. Finally, he placed his hand round the hilt of a kunai and pulled it out. With Kiba bearing down on him, he had no time to check what he had selected. He simply swung the blade to meet Kiba's just in the nick of time, causing a loud ringing of clashing metal.
Kiba's kunai split clean in half and he was left merely holding a handle. The exhausted Inuzuka stared at the hilt of the blade in disbelief, before looking around desperately for support. However, it was not to be. Sakura was too exhausted from her efforts that she could barely stand and Choji was caught in Shikamaru's shadows. In any case, Hinata had been able to affect his chakra to the extent that he could barely move. He then turned to Naruto, who was pointing the kunai towards him.
"Well what do you know?" Naruto chuckled. "This kunai really is special!"
"What did you just say?"
Sasuke could barely keep his voice steady as he spoke and his knees felt weak. The man who had approached them appeared to be an ANBU of Konoha and he had just given Sasuke some disturbing news.
"There's someone in this forest after you" the masked ANBU repeated calmly. "We received news from a very reliable source that Orochimaru had planted a spy within Konoha and he wants to take you."
"No way! Why Sasuke?" Ino demanded to know.
"That information is on a need to know basis" the ANBU gave his predictable answer.
Ino seemed prepared to push the case further, but Sasuke placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. After the initial shock had worn of, he had realised what this was most likely to be about. If there's one thing that someone would want with an Uchiha, he knew what it would be.
"Anyway, we've had enough talking, time is of the essence. I need to get Sasuke out of here for the time being for his own safety. The exam will be suspended shortly, it's a case of the ANBU reaching all of the teams to inform them now."
Sasuke nodded and step forward to be escorted away, but Shino put out his hand to stop him.
"Wait a minute," he grumbled. "How do we know that you're telling the truth? How can we trust you?"
Sasuke had to admit that the thought had crossed his mind as well. The ANBU's voice made it clear that he was young, very young, possibly only a year or two older than Sasuke and his tone seemed to be very bland and emotionless, even for a Shinobi. Although this wasn't too concerning to him, after all Itachi was an ANBU captain at his age.
"It's okay Shino, he checks out" Sasuke informed him. "I used my Sharingan so I know that he's not using a transformation jutsu of any kind. Also, there's a small amount of chakra emanating from his right shoulder. My guess is that it's the tattoo you were given on your induction, right?"
"Correct" the ANBU replied, pulling up his sleeve for proof. "Now then Sasuke, we must go."
Sasuke bid a short goodbye to his teammates and ran into the forest with his new companion.
"We'll have to keep the pace slow, I'd rather not attract anyone's attention" the ANBU called out. "We haven't been able to track are intruder, so he could be anywhere around here. Stay focused, Sasuke."
Sasuke nodded his approval and they kept on going. It was a silent journey for the most part; understandably they didn't want to make too much noise. This left Sasuke to gather his thoughts and truly comes to terms with it all.
"Even if they catch this guy, whose to say there won't be another coming soon after?" he thought. "Am I going to live the rest of my life in fear? Constantly looking over my shoulder and waiting for a threat that may or may not come? How can I be a Shinobi when I have to deal with that?"
"What was that?" the ANBU asked, looking behind them. "Shit, there's definitely someone following us."
Sasuke listened out and he too could here the sound of footsteps on branches, as whoever was behind them jumped off them.
"Well, who is it? Is it the intruder or just another team?"
"I don't know, but we can't take that chance" the ANBU said, as he opened up a scroll. "I didn't want to do this earlier because we'd be easily spotted, but if the enemy is closing in we might not have a choice."
Interestingly, the ANBU next took out a paintbrush. Quickly, and with an impressive amount of artistic precision, he painted a bird.
"Choju Giga!"
Incredibly, the bird practically leapt out of the scroll and hovered just before them. It was a strange creation no doubt, it had the outline of an actual bird but it looked as if it would simply splatter when touched.
"Don't worry, it's safe," the ANBU informed him and he demonstrated this by jumping on it himself. "Now get on, we have maybe seconds before we're caught."
Sasuke did as he was told, and he was immediately taken into the sky. The speed with which the bird moved was absolutely breathtaking, he hadn't experienced anything like that before. It was obvious that the ANBU was very skilful at manoeuvring the beast, he was able to easily avoid the trees and reached the open air above the forest.
"All right, now we can-"
The ANBU was interrupted by a disturbance below. A loud screeching noise echoed out and mysterious white smoke emanated from beneath the trees.
"What is that?" Sasuke cried out, as two silhouettes emerged from the forest and flew up towards them.
It appeared to be two large birds; similar to the one Sasuke was sat on in shape. One of the birds clearly had someone it's back and that one approached them at great speed.
"Can't you go any faster?" Sasuke asked, dropping all respect for authority.
"No" he replied, a hint of helplessness creeping into the dull tones. "There's nothing I can do now, I have failed to protect the village."
Within seconds, the birds had caught up. Sasuke tried his best to stand and prepare to fight, but he was forced to stop when he saw just who was approaching them.
"Itachi?" Sasuke said, completely lost. "What are you doing?"
"Sasuke, get away from him!" Itachi cried out, his Sharingan activated and his voice filled with anger. "I don't know what he told you to get you to go along with him but whatever it is he is not authorised to be taking you."
"Don't listen to him Sasuke, that's not your brother," the ANBU advised, his voice noticeably calmer than it was before. "He's the one looking to deceive you, don't you think it's convenient that he has appeared now?"
Sasuke didn't know whom to believe. He didn't even know whom he wanted to believe. Would he rather his brother be here to protect him or that he hadn't fallen for such an obvious trick? Itachi's look was convincing, but then again that wouldn't be difficult for an expert to copy. Also, he had never heard of Itachi using a hawk before.
"Sasuke, don't be a fool" Itachi said, his voice showing a hint of desperation. "Don't doubt me now please? Remember what I said? I'll always be here for you."
Itachi's words stirred up memories close to Sasuke's heart and guided him to the right choice. He nodded his decision to Itachi and prepared to jump to the spare hawk flying nearby. Before he could move, he felt a cool metal blade touch his neck.
"Not another move, either of you" the ANBU said, his voice still unchanged. "Itachi, if you don't stop your perusal right now I will kill Sasuke."
What happened next was so fast that Sasuke couldn't follow it even with the Sharingan. All he saw was Itachi's eyes, filled with an unbearable rage. Before he knew it, the ANBU was unconscious and Itachi was holding him by the scruff of the neck.
"The hawk will take you back to your team" Itachi said, his voice returning to its usual softness. "Go quickly, you need to make up for lost time."
"I have so many questions-"
"You can ask them later" Itachi interrupted. "We both have some urgent matters to attend to right now."
"Where is Ibiki?"
"I'm not sure, I can send someone out if you like?"
"No, I'll go and find him. I need to speak with him in person first."
Itachi's hit had not been too hard, although he doubted that was a good thing given how quickly he woke up. When he did so, he was met with a bright light and the feeling of his hands being bound. From what he could see from his first observations, only Itachi and one other Shinobi wearing Konoha fatigues were in the room.
"Looks like he's woken up" the white haired one noted. "Maybe you didn't hit him hard enough, Itachi?"
"No Kabuto, this was intentional" Itachi responded. "This is ideal actually, I can confirm my suspicions now before speaking to Ibiki."
Itachi sat down across from him and he made sure to avoid eye contact.
"You're Sai right?" Itachi asked, his voice calm but commanding.
Sai nodded his confirmation, mimicking his training. Of the three things he can divulge, his given name was one of them. Of course, it was completely meaningless. His real name had been lost long ago.
"We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way Sai" Itachi threatened. "We'll try the easy way first. So, what can you tell me about Danzo?"
Sai knew exactly what Itachi was trying to do and he refused to comply with it. He knew that, should Itachi obtain the information he was looking for, Lord Danzo would be in grave danger.
"Not willing to talk eh?" Itachi commented. "Well then, I must apologise for this."
For the second time that hour, Sai was left stunned by Itachi's strength and speed. He couldn't anticipate the Uchiha's movements as he dived across the table and grabbed the back of his hair. He was helpless to resist Itachi's movements and stared straight into his eyes.
For the first time in years, Sai felt an emotion. What he experienced was true fear. His world crashed all around him, he was left blinded by Itachi's visual prowess. He couldn't see anything, smell anything or touch anything. All that existed was Itachi's voice in his ear, forcefully demanding answers from him.
"TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT DANZO!"
He wanted to tell him, more than anything in the world. He tried to scream it out, he practically begged Itachi to hear him. Except, he couldn't do it. Every time he tried to, his tongue would roll up and prevent him from speaking. He couldn't bear it, he just wanted out of this hell.
Mercifully, it soon ended. Sai returned to the room, still strapped to the chair. Itachi's eyes were still staring directly into his and Kabuto still watched from the corner. Sai was sweating and his tongue was hanging lamely from his mouth.
"The seal" Itachi murmured, looking down at Sai. "How incredible, it seems that one of Danzo's men managed to slip under the radar. I will be interested to find out how you did it and what secrets you know."
Itachi turned to leave but Kabuto had one more question before he could.
"Are you not going to conduct this yourself? After all, even Ibiki cannot stand up to your Sharingan genjutsu when it comes to penetrating the mind."
"It's not Ibiki I'm after right now" Itachi responded. "We need Lord Hokage to remove the seal from him first, as it is right now he can't tell us anything. Can you watch him while I'm gone?"
Kabuto nodded and Itachi left. The room remained silent for a minute, as Kabuto slowly walked in circles. Finally, he stopped just behind Sai.
"As expected" he purred, a noticeable change in his voice. "After all, if you're boss is a failure why should anything more be expected from his subordinates?"
Sai remained tight-lipped, although he to admit that he was intrigued. He couldn't help but wonder what type of interrogation technique he was being subjected to.
"Not very talkative are you? Oh well, it doesn't matter because all you have to do is listen" Kabuto continued. "You see, a few months ago I was presented with a very difficult problem. You see, I primarily work as a spy in foreign lands. Occasionally, during this line of work, I have to assassinate people. It's not a pretty business but I'm okay with it most of the time. However, the issue with this particular assassination is that I have to keep working as a spy afterwards, which could prove difficult. I crammed my brain for weeks trying to think of how I would pull it off. Would you like to know my solution?"
Sai didn't speak but not out of any kind of determination. This time, he could feel fear rise within him again.
"You see, what I had to do was kill him but let everyone think he killed himself," Kabuto said. "But he's in a room and tied up and I'm the only one with him. So, you can see why I would be a suspect. So, this is what I think. I force him to drink this fact acting poison and I break his bounds from the inside. That way, I can claim that he broke out and committed suicide so he wouldn't reveal any secrets. After all, being negligent is a lot better than being caught."
The sweat returned to Sai's face, which had become even more pale than usual. He was even shaking.
"You're going to kill me?" he asked nervously.
"Of course" Kabuto hissed in delight, as he moved in front of Sai and moved his face in close. "I can't have you spilling secrets about my master, Lord Orochimaru, now can I? Now, open wide!"
Just as Kabuto prepared to force the poison on Sai, there was the sound of a door opening from below. Kabuto spun around quickly, before cursing under his breath.
"I forgot about the Hirashin seal on the door downstairs" he sighed. "This is what I get for trying a big villainous speech I guess. Oh well, guess its Plan B."
Kabuto rushed back over to Sai.
"Just so you know, if you reveal anything about Lord Orochimaru, Danzo will be brutally murdered. So keep that in mind when Ibiki is putting you through mental torture later. Let's just hope all that mental training Danzo gave you was enough, eh?"
"That's the tower isn't it?"
"What else would it be?"
"Shut up Shikamaru, there's no harm in asking you know!" Naruto snapped, as they all walked slowly forwards. "It's a good job we waited until morning to do this, it would have been impossible to see anything around here in the dark."
The path to the tower wasn't a straight line; instead they had to navigate through a whole raft of trees and other obstacles. The only way they knew where they were going was the fact that the tower was far higher than anything else around them.
"What? So the fact you were exhausted had nothing to do with why we had to rest?" Shikamaru teased. "Good to know for the future I guess."
Naruto groaned under his breath at Shikamaru but decided to drop it. He was still mentally exhausted despite the rest and he struggled to match his teammate at the best of times.
"Someone's coming" Hinata said blandly. "Directly to our right through those trees."
"All right, I needed something to pick me up this morning!" Naruto declared, as he reached into his pouch.
"Oh, I doubt you'll be needing that" Hinata sighed. "There won't be any fighting going on."
Naruto understood what she meant when Neji stepped through the trees, followed by TenTen and Rock Lee. Predictably, as soon as he saw Hinata, Neji made a slight bow.
"It's a pleasure to see you Lady Hinata" Neji said, ignoring his teammates as they rolled their eyes in the background. "Is there anything I can do? Do you need a scroll perhaps?"
"Neji!" TenTen yelled, as she held her backpack protectively. "We worked hard to get this pair, I won't let you just give it up like that!"
"It's fine, we don't need one" Hinata interjected, apparently sensing the possibility of an argument. "If you want to help, you can just walk to the tower with us."
"It would be an honour" Neji responded, obviously not seeing the need to consult his team.
The six of them barely walked another hundred metres before running into another team. Neji and Hinata alerted them to the possible threat but because of the close proximity it was too late to react.
"They seem to be from Suna" Neji said, as he sensed them walking towards him. "One is smaller than the others and is carrying a gourd on his back."
Naruto burst out laughing at this, to everyone's surprise.
"We don't have anything to worry about there" Naruto reassured them.
At first, this seemed to be a misjudgement on Naruto's part. When the Suna team emerged they immediately took up a fighting stance and appeared ready to be aggressive.
"Oh come on, you really want to fight?" Naruto moaned at them. "I mean, I'd be all for it but your completely outnumbered so it's pointless and not as fun. I know you have your scrolls, why don't we just walk to the tower?"
"Well, we didn't get all of these scrolls by letting people go you know" Kankuro said, opening up a small puppet to reveal a relatively large pile of scrolls.
"You got all of them?" Shikamaru awed at the collection. "In such a short space of time?"
"Of course" Temari bragged, shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal. "The more we get the less for everyone else. Lessens the competition in the next round."
The way Temari spoke put everyone apart from Naruto on edge. He could just tell by looking at Gaara what was going to happen and soon enough-
"We should do as Naruto said" Gaara mumbled. "We don't know what we'll have to do at the tower anyway, it's best not to waste any chakra or stamina here."
Of course the two siblings did as Gaara said and they all walked to the tower together. Having a larger group certainly helped for morale, they all visibly relaxed as they walked. They had no problems finishing the exam; they reached the tower without seeing a single soul.
"Probably aren't enough scrolls to go around" Naruto thought, as he looked again towards Kankuro and his collection. "I wonder, just how many more teams can get through?"
There was a reason that Orochimaru liked to have his hideouts as quiet as possible. In fact there were many reasons, but two in particular stood out. The first, of course, was that he needed it to be so for his experiments. However, the second was much more personal. He just loved to listen to the sound of his footsteps echoing out menacingly as he walked. It made him much more intimidating he felt. He could only imagine what one of his test subjects felt as they heard him walking towards him. The very thought gave him chills.
"I wonder what you're thinking right now, Danzo" Orochimaru pondered, as he headed towards his room. "You must know what's happened, you must be expecting me old man."
Eventually, he reached the room. Without knocking, he slowly opened up the door. Surprisingly, Danzo was simply sat at his desk, apparently writing something down.
"Who are you writing to now?" Orochimaru asked. "After all, you're only remaining informant has now been captured."
Danzo stopped what he was doing for a second and turned to face him.
"I was thinking of a new plan-"
Orochimaru's wild laughter put an end to the explanation before it could begin. He cackled loudly and so hard that he was doubled over.
"You think that I'll let you come up with another plan now?" Orochimaru laughed. "Any usefulness you may have had has been outlived Danzo."
"So, you've come to kill me?" Danzo asked, as he raised his hands together. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint but I won't go so easily."
Mokuton exploded out of the floor of the room and headed straight for Orochimaru. The snake Sannin barely moved as he caught the branch like structures, before snapping them in his hands.
"Hashirama must be turning in his grave with that pathetic display of his power" Orochimaru spat. "Face it Danzo, you're nothing!"
White snakes shot out from Orochimaru's sleeve and wrapped around Danzo's body. They then worked their way up to Danzo's bandage, which they proceeded to rip off.
"I'm not going to kill you" Orochimaru said in mock reassurance. "I just want to retrieve what I gave to you."
He ruthlessly pulled Shisui Uchiha's eye from its socket and then delighted in Danzo's cry of pain. He licked his lips at his suffering, enjoying the taste of it.
"That eye cannot do anything for you" Danzo stuttered. "Why?"
"Oh, I'm sure I'll find a use for it" Orochimaru said with a deep laugh. "And now, it's time for you to die."
He had waited so long to see Danzo show fear and at that moment, he finally got to see it. It was as satisfying as he had hoped it would be and he hoped it would only get better.
"Oh, I'm not going to do it" he added, as he beckoned for the man at the other end of the hallway to come over. "I thought I'd leave it to an old friend."
Orochimaru always found the death of the noble so much sweeter than others. In his view, almost all humans were the same pathetic creatures, with a certain few rising above the rest. However, there were those that deluded themselves into thinking they were in that special group. Fools that wanted to be more but didn't have the ability to attain it. Orochimaru had always known that Danzo Shimura was one of those types of men and he enjoyed watching his last few moments. He enjoyed seeing him grovel on the floor helplessly. He enjoyed seeing him fighting back the tears. But most of all, he enjoyed seeing his reaction as he saw the face of one of the countless number of people whose lives he had destroyed walk into the room.
"You! But, no it can't be!" Danzo stuttered.
"No words" the man interrupted with his deep voice. Instead, he pulled at the sleeves of his black robe with red clouds, revealing a black metal rod. "You do not deserve to speak in the presence of a God."
A/N: Warning 599 & 600 spoilers below
I have two things to say about the recent Tobi revelation. Firstly, I did quite like it I have to say. I know it's been unpopular amongst the fandom but I've thought it was Obito for a while and I'm glad it was him. I could list reasons why but I don't want to bore you all ;)
Secondly, the Tobi in this story is not necessarily the same just to warn you. I'd already decided on his identity for this fic when I started and I will not change this.
Also, there might be a few errors in the chapter because I haven't had a chance to properly check it yet. It was either publish as it is now or wait another 10 days, so I thought you'd all prefer this...
