Diamond-Rose Sisters- Thanks! Here's some more.
Gaara-frenzy- You'll just have to wait to find out how it goes down. :P
heartlessRayne- ^See above reply^
SammPaglia- I'm trying to review as quickly as possible. Sorry for the slow rate!
.Princess- I will as long as people still like it!
Well, I think I've decided to just continue to write my L story as well as this one. I figured one Gaara story at a time would be good, and the only other story is Lee, which would probably be the least popular anyway. Thanks to the 3 voters I had. I apologize for the long wait for the update. I was going to put this up sooner but I went to a friend's house for the weekend and she didn't have internet. Also, I feel bad that the same 4 people keep reviewing. I love that you guys review, please don't stop, I just wish some more people would bring themselves to review. 4 people out of the 813 this story has had is not a very good ratio. Enough with my complaining, on with the story!
Pretty Cute for a Red-Head(Part 10: The Second Test: Fighting in the Forest)
"This is Training Ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death!" Anko exclaimed excitedly. 'She's way too excited about the fact that some of us are going to be dying.' ~I can't say I blame her…~ Anei was stirring like crazy just knowing what would be coming up. Glancing over at Gaara I could tell Shukaku was the same way. I had a very bad feeling about this test.
"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of this forest. This is just one more test I have to pass," Naruto exclaimed to Anko. Narrowing her eyes she threw a kunai at him the cut his cheek while suddenly appearing behind him. "It's guys like you that spill your blood all over this forest," she said before stiffening. A grass ninja was right behind her, hold the kunai Anko had thrown in her tongue. 'Gross… Why would you use your tongue for anything like that?'
"I was just returning your kunai to you," the grass ninja said. "I see. Well thank you, but if you ever get that close to me again, expect a fight," Anko warned. After the scene she returned to her explanation. "Now, each of you needs to fill one of these out. They are waivers saying that if you die I'm not responsible. And trust me, plenty of you will be dying," she said brightly. 'Man, she just loves that thought doesn't she? Crazy bloodlust for a normal human.'
"Now after you fill these out, you will turn them in for your scroll. Each team will get one scroll; half of the teams will get Earth while the other half will get Heaven. The object is to reach the tower in the middle with one of each scroll," Anko said as she handed out the forms.
"That means at least half the teams aren't going to make it…" Sakura mumbled at the unreal statistics. "We will be fine. Now, gather up for a game plan," I told my team as we formed a huddle. "As far as who holds the scroll, I believe Naruto would be the best choice. It's unexpected and we can all agree he wouldn't give it up for his life. Now as a second choice I'd say Sasuke just because he's the second strongest team member."
"Why don't you hold it Ami?" Naruto asked. "Because everyone will see that coming. Also, I think that each of us should make a clone copy of it to try to fool anyone if we need to. After we enter, we should stick together for a bit, in case anyone comes at us immediately. If we don't manage to get a scroll in a certain amount of time then we should split up to scout around. Agreed?" They all nodded as we went to turn in our waivers for the scroll.
Waiting for the word we stood outside the gate impatiently. As soon as we heard we could we dashed into the forest. Stopping in a clearing to gather a more specific strategy Naruto revealed that he needed to urinate. He then decided it would be ok to do that in front of Sakura and I. "You idiot! Not in front of us!" she yelled at him. "Go over there," I told him, pointing to some bushes a few yards away. He grumbled but complied by walking to where we couldn't see.
A few moments later he came back talking about how much better he felt. I narrowed my eyes and Sasuke took it further by straight up punching him. "What are you doing Sasuke-kun?" Sakura was confused by the situation. "Tell us where the real Naruto is," I demanded. "You guys caught on faster than I thought," the phony said as he poofed back to his original form. "You didn't have a scratch on your cheek and the shuriken holder was on the wrong side. I'd say that was a pretty shotty transformation," Sasuke replied.
Standing before us now was a rain ninja. He didn't look too threatening, I was confident we could handle him. He also saw that he wouldn't win in a battle against us and took off. A small search of the area led us to Naruto. "We should come up with a password, that way we can check and make sure that each of us is who we say we are," I suggested. "Alright, I know what the password should be. Listen up, I'm only saying this once. The password is: 'It is the chance to sneak up where a large number of enemies is making a scene. The quiet place has no secret hideout. It is important for a Shinobi to know the right time. The time when an enemy is tired and drops his guard.' That's it."
"Alright, I'm going to scout out for potential threats and potential targets. You guys secure a meeting location, and if a team attacks try to get their scroll from them. If you feel like you need my help pull on this." I raised a small string from shadow and handed it to Sakura. "I'll report back to this location in an hour. If I do not return and you are concerned, simply follow the string of shadow I'm leaving you." They all nodded as I jumped away.
After a few minutes I locked onto Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. I didn't want to hurt them, but they could be my ticket to a scroll. I followed a bit, trying to figure out if they even had the scroll we would need. Suddenly I heard Shino's stern voice. "We already have both scrolls. We should just head straight for the tower."
"She never said we couldn't get more. The more we get rid of now the fewer will be left to face later. Look, we'll just go check it out. If it looks like we're outmatched, we'll leave. Ok?" Kiba said. Hinata and Shino caved to their team leader. They must have also figured out there were others ahead of us.
As we got closer Akamaru started shaking and tried hiding further into Kiba's coat. "W-what's wrong wi-with Akamaru?" Hinata asked with concern. "He can sense a person's strength and chakra. I've never seen him this freaked out before. That big guy must be tough." Looking to where their eyes were I saw none other than Gaara. His siblings were behind him and a team stood in front of him.
'This is going to end badly for those guys.' ~Hehe… It's going to rain blood…~ Anei churned again. Controlling her was becoming quite the task. After a failed attack, the shinobi who challenged Gaara was a bit stunned. Sand started creeping towards him, wrapping around his legs and torso, then his entire body. In a few moments Gaara completely crushed him. The other two, seeing how fighting would be futile, begged instead. Handing over their scroll they pleaded for his lives. Their pleas landed on deaf ears as Gaara took both of their lives as well.
I could see he had no intention of stopping. Kankuro and Temari both tried to step in and calm him, but it was useless. His cold aqua eyes locked on to where I knew Kiba, Hinata, and Shino to be. I jumped down silently by them. They seemed shocked to see me but a bit thankful. Sand started dancing in the air by the bush. "Run!" I commanded. They didn't need to be told twice.
I walked out to face Gaara, a glare of hatred forming on his face. "Gaara, I know I upset you the other night. And there's a perfectly good reason. If you'll just let me explain," I tried to communicate with him, but he'd hear none of it. Sand rushed towards me. I dodged quickly and threw him a glare of my own. "Fine. If you won't even let me explain myself then I guess I have no choice but to fight you."
He simply retaliated with more sand as I did a few quick flips away from it. Then I ran at him, stabbing at him with a kunai, knowing that his sand would rise to his defense. As it did, I used the shadow it formed to form my real attack. He saw this and jumped away before it could connect. I was getting angrier with each passing second and Anei was ready to take advantage of that.
"You know what? You are nothing but a spoiled brat. You're only mad because you aren't used to not getting what you want. All you ever do is push around those weaker than you. Sorry to disappoint Gaara, but I won't just cave in because you threaten my life, I'll fight back." With every word the demon began coming to the surface. The black tail and ears formed and well as the claws and fangs. My shadow swirled around me as I felt power surging through my body. I knew what I had said was not completely true but I didn't care. I was angry and I wanted to hurt him like I was hurting.
I ran at him with inhuman speed. My attack was so quick the sand barely had time to block it. My shadow tried to attack him from the back as I attacked from the front. I thought maybe the dual attack would be unblockable, but his sand stopped both. It was then a distraction rose up. I felt a hard pull from the string I'd left with my team. They needed me, they were in trouble. Gaara took advantage of my momentary slip of focus and managed to snatch my leg with sand.
'Shit…' It rushed up but I couldn't lose, couldn't die here. Not with people still needing me. I focused, bringing my shadow up my leg. It was thin enough to fit between the sand and my body. I used it to push the sand off of me. Then I took off in the direction of my team. "Don't run from me!" I heard Gaara yell as he took off after me. "My team needs me. They're in trouble; I have to go to them. I'm sorry, Gaara!" I yelled with all sincerity.
That seemed to stop him, as he followed me no further. Moving as fast as my legs would carry me, I dashed out into the clearing where my team was. Naruto was out cold, as was Lee. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji were there too. Sakura was in terrible condition and her hair had been sliced off. I looked to the enemies to see they were the sound ninja. Then my eyes spotted the most shocking sight. "Sasuke?" I questioned, not even sure that was really him stepping away from one of them after having done something terrible from the look on the boys face.
"Sasuke! Stop!" Sakura yelled as tears fell from her face. In desperation she ran to him, hugging him around the waist, hoping the contact would bring him back. Her plan worked as I saw the strange markings that had covered him receded. I jumped in front of them to protect them in case the sound wouldn't give up. Seeing that they were currently out matched, Dosu, their leader, handed over their scroll before leaving.
"Why didn't you call for me sooner? How did all of this happen?" I asked Sakura, my demon features fading. "Sasuke asked me not to earlier. But then when this started I was alone so I had to call for you," she explained to me. "How about you? Did you have any luck?" She asked hopefully. "No… No luck at all…" I replied obscurely. "Ran into Gaara, huh? I'm sorry that things aren't going well with him. Maybe at the tower you'll have better luck." Sakura really had changed a lot. "Thank you. Let's focus on making it to the tower first. You look half dead. You should rest."
She agreed, but first Ino came over to her, offering to help her out with her hair. Despite how they fought over Sasuke I could see that they were truly best friends. Naruto started to stir. "Late as always," I mocked, trying to keep the mood light hearted. We were all so worn down, so keeping in good humor was the best way to save energy. It would take everything we had to get to that tower in one piece.