Chapter 9: Overdue Confrontation
Not even half an hour after the first exam had ended the remaining ninety chunin hopefuls were already standing in front of their second challenge. Anko had led them away from the academy and village, past the most commonly used training grounds and now the group of genin was looking at an impressive chain-linked fence towering right in front of them.
The barricade was almost ten meters in height and right behind it a vast jungle like setting began. The trees could only be described as gigantic and if their size was any indication, they were surely all at least a hundred years , maybe even older . Many spots on their barks were covered with dense moos and from their high branches hung vines as thick as an arm.
Most of the exam's participants were staring in awe at the setting before them as the voice of the proctor shook them out of their stupor. "You will soon find out why it is called the 'Forrest of Death'" When she was finished speaking the purple haired woman displayed a devious smirk, which in turn with her former declaration caused some of the present young shinobi to shiver in fear.
"Now before we start the second test there is something I have to pass out." The special jonin shoved on hand into her trench coat and started to fumble around a bit before she finally pulled out a stack of papers.
The assembled genin all gazed quite confused towards the purple haired woman, most of them also had a quizzical look on their faces. This surely wasn't another written exam with that kind of setting so why did their examiner bring out a bundle of sheets?
"You must sign these agreement forms." Low murmurs were going through the crowd of participants now, almost as if asking "Why?", but then the proctor continued her explanation. "There will be death in this one and if I don't have you sing these papers it will be my responsibility." Then Anko started to laugh awkwardly.
"I am going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards. After that each team can check in at the booth behind me." With her thumb she was pointing over her back towards a stand manned by two male chunin. "Ok now on with the explanation. Simple put you will attempt the ultimate survival." Then she gave the stack of forms to one of the genin surrounding her.
"First I will explain the area in which it will take place." From on of her pouches Anko took out a map and unrolled it. "Training Ground Forty-Four is divided by a river, in it's center is a tower and because of it's circular shape the distance from one of the many entrances to the tower is almost exactly ten kilometers." The genin surrounding the examiner were closely studying the crude map the woman held out towards them.
"During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task." The special jonin created a short dramatic pause before she spoke again. "Using your many weapons and jutsu you will compete in a no rules scroll battle."
A chorus of "Scroll?" rang through the rows of competitors. "Yes, you will fight over these two scrolls the 'heaven' and 'earth'." Anko presented them a black and white scroll, one with the kanji for earth while the other had heaven inscribed on it.
"Ninety people remain meaning thirty teams. Half of you will get a black, the other half a white scroll." The purple haired woman now gave them an almost feral smile. "Now because Ibiki couldn't decimate your numbers enough, I decided to make the whole ordeal a bit more interesting."
"To pass you have to reach the tower in less than hundredth-twenty hours. Exactly five days. Furthermore you need three scrolls in your possession. One earth, one heaven and the last one, well it doesn't matter which one you have as third."
Different cries of outrage could be heard from the group of chunin hopefuls. Including complaints about the duration, the setting or how they would get provisions during the challenge.
"The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects and well many plants in there are either carnivorous, toxic or both..." Anko almost started to trail of before she reminded herself she had to get her explanation done.
"Now I will talk about what will disqualify you." She held up her hand and started to count with her fingers. "First, those who don't make it to the tower with three scrolls within the time limit. Second, only complete teams are accepted, you loose one teammate and you are out. Third the only way to leave the forest during the test is through the tower, otherwise, well I am sure you know the consequences." She was ready to conclude her explanation before she remembered a crucial detail.
"One more rule. You mustn't open the scroll till you make it to the tower." Anko saw that some of the bunch wanted to ask why so she answered before anyone could even voice his question and prolong the whole thing even more. "A chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness."
"That is if for the explanations. Exchange your three forms for a scroll. Then choose a gate to get ready for the start." The purple haired kunoichi turned around and took a few steps away from the genin but then suddenly stopped. She looked over her shoulder an spoke again. "A final word of advice, DON'T DIE." Afterwards the special jonin walked away without taking a second glance back.
Shortly later a line had formed before the booth containing the teams who already had filled out their forms. Other genin were still reading the paper their examiner had handed out or just eying the competition carefully. Only one group was allowed to enter the stall for the exchange and curtains shielded the interior from view, so it wasn't able to know which team had gotten what type of scroll.
Team 8 was standing a bit apart from the bulk of genin. All three had already filled out the waivers and were just waiting for the right opportunity to hand them in. Silently the Hyuuga girl tapped a forefinger against her temple, her gaze fixated on the booth.
Naruto shook his head, he had understood her intention quite well. "No need for the hassle, Hinata. Safe your chakra, not like it would give us any advantage if we knew how the scrolls are distributed among the other teams. You can always use your Byakugan during the test to determine which one our adversaries have."
The blond jinchuuriki let his eyes roam freely to observe the other participating groups. Most of the remaining genin were from Konoha and while normally they would be their valued comrades, with the setting of the second test for now they were enemies. Meaning at the moment every man or better team was for himself.
As his gaze drifted over the people around him his eyes fell onto Team 7. It felt almost nostalgic, his former teammates, his first squad.
Sasuke, the last member of an once proud clan. Back during their academy days, while the blond was the loser, the dead last, the black haired boy was the prodigy, the best. For the jinchuuriki the raven was always someone he wanted to surpass. Later when they became members of the same team he also wanted to be acknowledged by him. But the Uchiha only saw Naruto as an annoying nuisance, somebody who was in his way and this had infuriated the blond tremendously back then. And the last time he had seen Sasuke he almost attacked him. In short their relationship was quite difficult.
Sakura, the girl Naruto admired. When they had started the academy the pink haired girl like him was a social outcast although for vastly different reasons. However once she became friends with Ino her popularity rose, something the jinchuuriki always wanted for himself. Furthermore she was quite smart and the blond always found unusual hair colors interesting. All those points lead to his strong infatuation with her. Now that he had spent quite some time away from the pinkette he could also see most of her flaws, all those little things he had ignored before. Naruto wouldn't say his feelings were gone, although they had dwindled overt time.
Lastly there was Kiba, his replacement. The Inuzuka was merely an acquaintance for the blond. Together they had ditched class a few times back then in the academy and the brunette had helped him with one or two pranks but that was it. Otherwise they never really were associated with each other.
Seeing the new Team 7 standing and talking together, it looked like their dynamic was more harmonic than it ever was when he was still part of the squad. Naruto looked to his left and right, watching Shino and Hinata who were right besides him. Both of his new teammates had accepted him easily even when he told them about the Kyuubi sealed in him. Probably it was all for the better he thought, a small genuine smile crept onto the blond's face.
The jinchuuriki wanted to take a last glance at his former teammates as at the same moment Sasuke turned his head around and dark black eyes met vivid blue ones. While the face of the Uchiha remained impassive his black orbs seemed to stare almost directly into Naruto's soul. From one second to another the raven's eyes switched their dark coal tone to a irritating red. Two tomoe were spinning hypnotically in each of the two orbs.
The blond could feel that his surroundings blurred and his hearing became fuzzy. It wasn't hard to figure out that this was some sort of mild genjutsu. Normally it was the best to immediately break out from such an technique, however right now Naruto was intrigued what Sasuke wanted to achieve with this little trick.
"You and me, in the forest. Then I will show you who is the superior." The Uchiha's voice roared angry in the jinchuuriki's mind.
Not a second later everything returned back to normal. Naruto's vision was clear and sharp again, the same could be said for his sense of hearing. When he looked towards Team 7, the raven had already turned around, no longer facing him directly.
The blond shook his head to the left and right in an attempt to clear his mind. Surely this was more than just imagination. Well there was nothing he could do right now and there were other more important things that needed his concentration, so he raised his voice and spoke. "Come on, we should get going to hand in those forms."
About ten minutes later Team 8 was standing in front of one of the many entrances of Training Ground Forty-Four waiting for the second exam to finally start. They had gotten a earth scroll which was now safely secured by Shino in one of his pouches.
While they were standing there Sasuke, Kiba and Sakura passed by. And what looked like a small coincidence strengthened the blond's assumption that the Uchiha would come for a fight once they were inside the Forest of Death. Well if a confrontation was what he wanted he would get one, Naruto was never one to back down from a challenge after all.
"The second test of the chunin exams now begins!" Anko's shouting voice was audible from kilometers away.
Then the gates were opened and all teams started their journey into the unknown.
"Inuzuka, are you sure they are here?" An annoyed voice spoke up. "We are barely two hundredth meters away from their entry point."
"Don't you ever doubt my or Akamaru's nose douche bag." The last two words were muttered almost inaudible. "I still don't get what your problem with the dead last is."
"That is only between him and me, it doesn't concern you, dog boy." Sasuke spoke even but a hint of anger was clearly perceptible. "You two just care about the Hyuuga and the Aburame, Naruto is mine."
"We know Sasuke-kun. In fact this is all you talked about since you heard about the exams." Sakura was a bit troubled by the Uchiha's behavior. The raven was really obsessed with the chance to fight the blond Uzumaki. The pinkette although had not the faintest idea why this was so necessary for Sasuke. After all he was the rookie of the year, so why would he need to beat up the worst student to prove something? Kiba's voice shook her out of her musings.
"See there they are. Now happy moody boy?" The Inuzuka pointed with his fingers towards three people standing not more than fifty meters away in a small clearing. Team 8 clearly looked like they had been waiting for the other three genin.
"Really want to fight me that bad teme?" Naruto spoke while a giant mocking grin was plastered onto his face.
The Uchiha didn't even honor the question with an answer and rushed forward, a kunai already in his hand, ready to draw first blood. The action of the raven was followed by his other two teammates. Sakura and Kiba were only a few meters behind him.
Meanwhile all members of Team 8 had formed a ram seal with their hands and were gathering chakra. Not a second later three small explosions shook the ground. Patches of earth and grass were flying around, the air was filled with dust and dirt.
The mediocre blast wave pushed the attacking three genin several meters back and had knocked them from their feet. While the pinkette and brunette looked visible shocked by what they had witnessed, Sasuke's face showed that he was infuriated. How could he have fallen for such a simple ploy. Almost instantly he had activated his bloodline limit, though the cloud of dust was severely hindering his view.
Kiba picked himself up from the ground, looking to the left and right he could see that his teammates and his loyal dog companion were nearly unharmed, however it seemed they had underestimated their opponents severely. His sensitive ears certainly rung after being near those loud detonations. He started to shake his head to clear out the unwelcome sounds occupying his aural sense. But there was something else a low whizzing tone and it was coming near. "Shuriken!" The Inuzuka shouted as loud as possible.
Kiba threw himself to the ground, Sasuke jumped away to the left and Sakura mirrored the Uchiha's actions only choosing the opposite direction. High above their heads a fuma shuriken cut through the dust. The weapon was aimed well above them, even if they hadn't anticipated the attack there would have come no harm to them.
A loud obnoxious voice could be heard speaking. "Who is the dope now, teme? And you call yourself Uchiha. Falling for such simple tricks, you are a joke."
The raven almost immediately sprung into action. He jumped up from the ground and raced towards the speaker, the same kunai from before still clutched tightly into his right hand. Sharingan blazing, his face contorted in anger and rage. One thing was sure for the boy, he wouldn't let the blond idiot make fun of him, not now, not ever!
"Wait Sasuke, we need to stay together!" But Kiba's interjection fell on deaf ears, the black haired teen was probably already to far away to even hear it. The Inuzuka turned his attention towards his remaining teammate, he had to make sure that at least they would stay together.
"Sakura-chan I have a present for you." A sickly sweet male voice pierced through the woods. "Ino said you would really like this. Some nice polish for that enormous forehead of yours. Come and get it, dattebayo!" A few loud giggles followed this declaration.
An ear breaking screech could be heard afterwards. "NARUTO!" And like Sasuke before her an enraged pinkette stormed off to find the jinchuuriki and pound him into the ground for that stupid remark.
The only one who was left behind was Kiba. The brunette boy wasn't sure what to do now, should he follow Sasuke or Sakura? And how the hell was Naruto on two places at the same time, this was really confusing. His thoughts were cut short as he heard the same voice for a third time.
"Now it is just you and me."
"Come and get me teme."
Sasuke gritted his teeth hard, this voice was driving him insane. With all his available speed he raced through the woods to locate the culprit. He had just passed another enormous tree and landed in a small meadow, however once he saw the person who was responsible for the continuous mocking standing right before him, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"You didn't await this, did you Sasuke-san? Because you look clearly confused."
The person right in front of him spoke in the same loud, obnoxious tone as his former teammate. The only problem was he wasn't Uzumaki Naruto. His Sharingan stared intently at the form of Shino Aburame and he couldn't detect the faintest hint that there was a transformation or genjutsu on his counterpart, what was going on here?
"Maybe an explanation is needed here." It still sounded like the person in front of the Uchiha was the blond jinchuuriki. "This is a subtle little deception Kurenai-sensei taught us. With the application of a small amount of chakra to your vocal cords, it is possible to imitate the speech of somebody else. Quite useful as you can clearly see." This explanation was spoken in his usual stoic and somewhat monotone voice and there was now no doubt that this person was indeed Shino.
"Fine, first I will deal with you and afterwards I can go for Naruto. Hopefully you at least give a good warm up, Aburame." Sasuke sneered at his opponent, he needed to vent some of his built-up anger and the bug user was a welcome target for that endeavor.
From one second to another the Uchiha sprung into action. Still with the kunai in his right hand the black haired boy was racing in a straight line towards his opponent. With his free hand the raven threw three shuriken directly at Shino.
What the attacker hadn't awaited was that the Aburame boy didn't show the slightest inclination to dodge the projectiles. The three throwing weapons hit their mark straight on, only to fly right through it and sink into the tree behind their target. A swarm of insects rose to the air as the clone fell slowly apart.
Immediately the attack was halted, with a quick flick of his wrist the Uchiha sent the kunai flying towards the gathering of bugs. He knew quite well that the weapon would have no effect, but for what he had to do now he needed his hands free. His rapidly spinning Sharingan eyes surveyed the surroundings to find the real Shino as he rushed through a series of hand seals.
"Katon: Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu" Seven small flame projectiles left the mouth of Sasuke as the boy exhaled. The swarming mass of insects in front of him tried to disperse and while most damage could be avoided a few hundredth of them were burnt to ashes by the fire technique.
The danger from the Aburame's insects was fended off for now, but Sasuke couldn't waste too much time on this fight. The longer the confrontation here lasted the better the chances for the bug user became. A movement to his left piqued his interest and he sent another volley of shuriken flying.
Only a quick dodge protected Shino from the oncoming attack and he somersaulted towards the ground afterwards. As he pulled himself up from the soil he spoke in a serious tone. "The abilities of your famed eyes are really astonishing Sasuke-san, I didn't expect that you would be able to detect me so easily."
Instead of receiving an answer the boy had to duck to escape a new set of throwing stars flung by his adversary. Once he had recovered from the evasive maneuver, the Aburame raised both hands towards Sasuke and tens of thousands bugs emerged from his sleeves forming a thick wall of insects between the two opponents.
The raven countered the move almost instantly. "Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu" A spherical ball of heat about two meters in diameter was launched from the Uchiha's mouth. Though the target wasn't his counterpart or the teeming black mass in front of him. The technique collided with the ground between the two genin and a fiery explosion shook the forest.
Once the dust had settled it almost looked like the setting hadn't changed too much. On one side was the Uchiha boy and on the opposite stood Shino Aburame encircled by a cloud of flying insects. But a closer inspection revealed that the distance between them had nearly doubled. Furthermore between them was a small crater, burnt grass and a few small flames were spread out around the impact.
This time it was the bug user who started an attack. He had a kunai in each hand and hurled both towards the Uchiha. The bladed weapons flew in a rotating motion towards Sasuke. Two tomoe in each of his eyes spun rapidly, fixated on the incoming threat. But something was off, his view was hazy and afterimages appeared every now and then. The raven was able to avoid the first spinning blade but the second one nicked his shoulder.
It was only a small flesh wound, however with his Sharingan activated it should have been impossible to be hit by such a standard attack. Why did his eyes play tricks on him? It was almost like Genjutsu, although there was no way that he was caught in one. His bloodline would have detected any attempt. An irritating sensation on his neck shook Sasuke from his musings and suddenly he knew what had happened.
"An ingenious plan Aburame, I almost didn't detect their presence." Now the raven wore a knowing smirk. "Letting a few of your insects inject chakra into me to affect my eyesight. But your plan was foiled." He rummaged through one of his pouches before he pulled something out.
Sasuke had a double-edged chakra blade in his right hand, which had the symbol of Konoha engraved on it's hilt. He rose the weapon above his head and a crackling sound pierced the silence, sparks began to fly from the blade. The boy concentrated even more lightning chakra into the chakra-conductive material and with a loud crack a strong electric discharge rushed through his body. However the Uchiha wasn't finished yet. While his right hand was occupied he started to throw a barrage of shuriken with his left.
Shino did his best to defend himself from the incoming storm of metal. He parried and blocked with a kunai in each hand as well as he could. Up until now nothing had hit him, however the tree behind him had already several of the throwing stars sticking from its bark and about ten of them were littered on the ground around him. Suddenly although the onslaught stopped. The Aburame then saw it, a faint glimmer in the air around him, but it was already to late.
"Raiton: Shocking Perimeter Jutsu"
Loud cracking could be heard as the electricity from the technique rushed over the ninja wire towards its target. The next sounds were a muffled scream and afterwards a simple thud, followed by silence.
Sasuke was standing over his downed and singed enemy. The handle of his chakra blade centimeters above the head of Shino, ready for the strike. A safety measure just to be sure that the Aburame was knocked out for good. He wouldn't allow any more interference to stop him from his originial goal.
An enraged Sakura was stomping through the woods, all her thoughts centered on an annoying blond haired boy and what she would do to him once she got her hands on him. The only problem was that instead of Naruto she suddenly stood face to face with a certain blue haired girl.
"Where is HE? Where is the BAKA Hinata?" Hate and anger rolled of her voice as she screamed the question towards her counterpart.
"Please calm down Sakura-san. Naruto-kun isn't here, it is just you and me." The Hyuuga heiress smiled all to sweetly towards the pink haired kunoichi once she had finished speaking.
First the Haruno girl was just confused, although once she had calmed down a bit and analyzed the whole situation it was clearer what had happened. Surprised she shouted "You tricked me!" pointing one finger accusingly at the other genin. Slowly Sakura shuffled backwards to get some distance between them, knowing that a fight would be unavoidable now. All the while the kunoichi didn't dare to turn her back on her opponent.
Meanwhile Hinata had activated her Byakugan and eyed her enemy carefully. It seemed like the other girl knew enough about the Hyuuga to avoid close quarter combat. Not that it mattered to the heiress, after all she was quite skilled with senbon. With fluid motions the bluenette began to shoot steel needles towards her retreating enemy. Each time she flicked on of her wrists three of them were sent towards the pink haired target.
She didn't really know what had happened as stinging pain erupted from her left arm and leg, but with a swift jump Sakura was able to take cover behind one of the big trees before anymore harm could be done. Once she was safe she could examine the damage, all in all seven senbon were sticking out from her limbs. The pinkette pulled them out while suppressing the urge to shout or cry and quickly bandaged the punctures. It was a good thing that Kakashi-sensei had taught her first aid and drilled some basic anatomic knowledge into her. Although the further medic training he had promised her would be quite handy now.
"Come out Sakura-san, you can't hide from my eyes." Her bloodline gave her a perfect view of what the other kunoichi was doing and Hinata was ready to launch another attack as soon as the girl would come out from behind her cover.
Once her wounds were provisionally aided, the Haruno girl started to devise a plan. It was clear that her opponent was quite dangerous be it in close combat or ranged. So the only option was that Sakura had to be trickier.
Before the pinkette left the safety of her cover she threw two smoke bombs towards the blue haired girl. Furthermore when she was in clear view again she conjured up about ten illusionary duplicates and started to throw even more fume grenades. Then she rushed with full power and speed towards her target, flanked by her copies.
Usually neither of the two distractions would be able to fool the all-seeing eye of the Hyuuga Clan, however together this tricks were at least a good distraction. Hinata instinctively threw her senbon in a wide arc to destroy the annoying illusions and once both her hands were empty she readied herself for a close quarter fight.
Only one metal spike had hit the pinkette, right above the left elbow making almost her whole arm useless. She arched her right fist back when she left the smoke and threw a strong punch towards the Hyuuga girl. As awaited the bluenette was trying to block, up until now everything went according to her plan. Midway Sakura stopped the whole attack and did a quick sidestep. Then her right hand tightly grabbed her counterparts shoulder.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu" The pink haired girl continuously pumped a tiny amount of her chakra into the enemy. Hopefully this way the Genjutsu would be able to withstand the Byakugan. But for now it looked like it worked, Hinata had gone rigid and was unresponsive once the technique had started to take effect.
Different images flashed before her eyes. Naruto being pierced by hundredth of shuriken and kunai. Shino who was burned alive together with his insects. Kurenai-sensei being beaten to a bloody pulp. And lastly she herself and Sakura Haruno both standing side by side in a terrain which looked like woodlands. The gruesome images in which her team was killed and tortured were intermixed with reality, nonetheless the girl knew she had to act before it was to late.
Not even five seconds had passed since the pinkette had applied the illusion and currently she was contemplating on ways to knock out Hinata without breaking the Genjutsu as a voice suddenly shook her out from her thoughts.
"You are within my field of divination." The Hyuuga heiress slipped into a low stance, both hands ready to pounce. "Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms"
"Two Palms" Both strikes connected near the stomach region, Sakura immediately hunched slightly forward.
"Four Palms" The next two attacks hit the already damaged left arm, closing some tenketsu and rendering the appendage completely motionless for now. A pained shriek escaped the assaulted girls lips.
"Eight Palms" Four powerful blows against the other arm, making the next limb useless in combat.
"Sixteen Palms" Eight more points were targeted. But Hinata had avoided it to strike anything vital, her only goal was to make Sakura unable to continue fighting.
"Thirty-Two Palms" The last sixteen strikes continually hit the pinkette's upper body and once the onslaught had ended the girl slumped down. Falling to the ground unconsciously.
The blue haired kunoichi took a few deep breaths to release the tension that she accumulated during the fight. Her head turned towards the direction were Naruto was still fighting, a part of her wanted to help him. Deep within she felt the urge to support him. However she knew she had to follow their initial strategy. It had been Shino's task to keep Sasuke busy until either she or her blond teammate had defeated their opponent and now that she had won she had to aid the bug user in his fight against the black haired teen. With those thoughts in mind she headed for the Aburame boy.
Fifty seconds later Hinata was rushing through the woods at her top speed. With the Byakugan activated she was able to watch the fight between her teammate and the last Uchiha. And it didn't look good for the bug user, he was almost knocked out and the raven was ready to deliver the finishing blow. The blue haired girl jumped into the clearing were the battle had taken place and aimed a juken-empowered palm strike towards Sasuke.
His Sharingan had seen the intruder coming, timely he jumped backwards and so was able to avoid the attack. The raven looked annoyed towards the girl who was now standing protectively in front of Shino. "Neither wanted I to fight you Hyuuga or the Aburame. My only concern was Naruto, but it seems like I have to deal with you two first."
Then the sound of a loud explosion nearby echoed through the forest and momentary captured the attention of the genin.
When the dust and dirt had settled down Kiba was standing eye to eye with Naruto, only a few meters segregated the two opponents.
The dog user was the first one to break the silence that lingered in the air. "I don't have time to play around with someone weak like you. Sakura and Sasuke probably need my help against Hinata and Shino. So don't be sad if I make this really quick." The Inuzuka could remember quite well what his past squad members could do if it came to a fight. Therefore it was only natural that he wanted to hurry and be done with the former class clown. Even if this would bring the wrath of a certain Uchiha over him.
Right in front of the jinchuuriki's eyes his enemy started to change. His canines started to grow, the nails of his fingers lengthened, his overall appearances became wilder, more feral and lastly a faint blue glow of chakra surrounded the genin. Then the brunette boy tossed a food pill towards Akamaru and made a single tiger hand seal. Afterwards the small white puppy morphed into a human form, looking identically to his owner.
Before the duo could rush into an attack although Naruto himself weaved two fast seals. Instantly more than hundredth copies of the blond boy appeared, surrounding the two beastly Kibas.
"Even if you can multiply yourself a thousand times, it won't matter. Your simple clones can't confuse my sensitive nose, illusions don't have a smell you idiot." However the grin on the boy's face suddenly vanished. He received fresh scent-marks from several different directions at once. Nonetheless the two Inuzuka lookalikes bent down, switched into a four legged stance and then sprung into action.
The two blurs crashed into different sides of the huge crowd of Narutos and both started to attack the clones. However their vicious strikes and kicks passed right through the blond copies and the imitates vanished in front of their eyes. Not that this fact stopped the onslaught, it continued until one attack suddenly hit something solid.
One of the Kibas had rammed his clawed hand right into Naruto's chest. The attacker was quite shocked as the strike didn't pass through the blond. The only thing even more confusing was as his victim vanished in a cloud of smoke. And before he could react he felt a strong pull around his right arm.
A second Naruto had slung both of his hands around the feral boy's limb. With a quick fluid motion the blond turned around while still holding onto the Kiba lookalike. Using the momentum of the movement the blond flung the genin in his hold over his shoulder and then crashed the helpless victim right into the ground. The whole combination was ended with a strong punch to the downed teenager's gut. The jinchuuriki really had to thank Gai-sensei for the maneuvers he had learned from the scroll the taijutsu specialist had provided him with.
From the other side of the battlefield the second Kiba had to watch the events without any chance to intervene. A grim expression overtook his face as the attacked boy didn't get up and instead was lying there motionless. Then a cloud of smoke enveloped the beaten victim and once the view was clear again the genin was replaced with an unconscious white dog.
"Now you have done it UZUMAKI! You will pay for hurting Akamaru!" Pure malice radiated of the remaining Kiba. "Human Beast Transformation: Terror Wolf" Once the technique took effect the body of the young genin changed considerable until it fully resembled a big brown wolf. The carnivorous animal was about 140 centimeters in height and bared his long, white teeth dangerously towards the attacker of the small puppy.
From one second to another the animal was gone. Instead a tornado like appearance tore furiously through the ranks of Naruto's copy. The illusionary clones vanished without leaving a trace, while the intermixed shadow clones exploded in clouds of smoke. Everything in his way was destroyed, nothing could stop the vicious attack. Not half a minute later all blonds were gone and the predator emerged again from the spiraling terror. The beast took in a sniff of air and then directed his gaze towards the sky.
There on one of the branches of a tree stood Naruto, overlooking the events below him with a small frown on his face and still totally unharmed. The blond meanwhile was contemplating on what to do next. His teammates and he had shared information about their opponents before the whole confrontation had even started, although Shino and Hinata didn't knew that Kiba could transform into something so fast and powerful.
Clone explosions were out of question, they were simply to dangerous, he didn't want to kill the Inuzuka boy. Though it had to be something with enough bang and surface effect to hit a fast-moving target and disable it. Well he had another card up his sleeve that would fit perfectly for this task, the only downside was that it would take a huge amount of chakra even for someone like him.
"Chakra Haze Jutsu"
Thick white fume started to fill the surrounding forest. The created smoke screen stretched out about fifty meters centered around the brown wolf. The beast growled and howled in annoyance now that his nose and eyes were rendered almost useless.
Meanwhile Naruto had dropped to one knee and was breathing heavily. He formed his favorite hand seal and a single shadow clone appeared besides him. Now everything had to go fast or the move wouldn't work. Utterly fearless the duplicate jumped off the tree branch and descended towards the ground.
The copy of Naruto exploded almost as soon as he had entered the white fume. The next thing although was quite surprising, the fog started to glow a bright yellow before a bigger, secondary detonation rocked through the Forest of Death.
This was something the jinchuuriki had found out through intensive tests once he had completed the Chakra Haze Jutsu. While the fog was otherwise quite stable and didn't react with any outside interferences, it seemed that if the fume was condensed thick enough it would detonate if a clone explosion was set off inside the smoke screen. The best explanation Naruto had found till now was that because the solid copies and the mist were both made from his chakra somehow a chain reaction could be triggered between them.
The devastation wrought by his art was merely superficial, a few burn marks here and there but nothing more. The blond still had high hopes that Deidara would be pleased with his newest creation, after all it was a beautiful explosion, destruction was only a secondary effect. Still the mild detonation had done a good job, Kiba was lying there knocked out and mostly unharmed.
The blond genin took a good minute to recuperate before he jumped down from the tree. He landed near Akamaru and carefully picked up the downed dog. Then he marched over towards the Inuzuka boy and placed the loyal companion besides his master. Afterwards he rummaged swiftly through the genin's belongings, however he couldn't find any scroll and so turned around and headed towards the location of Shino and Sasuke.
It didn't take him more than two or three minutes to find the only remaining battlefield. Hinata and Sasuke were still locked into something that resembled a staring battle. Blazing Sharingan and Byakugan against each other.
"Hello teme, missed me?" The blond had a grin on his face as he entered the clearing and shouted his greeting towards the other genin.
The Uchiha's head instantly snapped into the direction of the voice and it looked like his red eyes tried to bore a hole into the newcomer. "I told you, YOU were my opponent, were you afraid to face me dope?" Sasuke put as much malice and venom as possible into his verbal retort.
"No idea what your problem with me is, but know one thing. Team 8 stand as one, you want one of us and you get the whole package!" He formed a single hand seal and six shadow clones appeared around him. Then all seven Narutos rushed forward to attack.
Sasuke swung the lightning charged chakra blade in a wide ark towards the attacking blonds. All of them were able to avoid the strike although and scattered in front of their enemy. The Uchiha's Sharingan spun rapidly and his eyes darted back and forth between the different copies in front of him.
One of the Narutos gave a small nod with his head.
The raven was ready to spring into action as soon as one of the clones moved. There was one small detail he had forgotten however. Two quick palm strikes connected with his back and he crashed headfirst into the ground. Once the pain from the surprise attack subsided he felt that each of his limbs was fixated by someone. He raised his head and saw himself face to face with Naruto.
"It is over Sasuke and your team has lost." The blond spoke those words with a serious though even voice.
The Uchiha began to squirm, a futile attempt to break free from the hold his enemy had over him. "No, I am stronger than you!" He shouted in outrage. "Not again, not again..." The raven mumbled to himself.
Naruto meanwhile had enough of this stupid attitude. He griped the Uchiha's hair with his hand and stared deep into the still red eyes. "What is your problem?"
"YOU are my problem! YOU, the DEAD LAST defeated the hunter nin back then in Wave Country while I failed miserable!" Sasuke started another try to break free, but again it was a failure. "I am Uchiha, I am stronger, I know that I am stronger than you." The last sentence sounded more like he wanted to reassure himself than that he really believed it.
The blond jinchuuriki pulled on Sasuke's hair. "Now listen to me UCHIHA. Back then it was only luck, Haku could have killed both of us if he really wanted to." Naruto took a deep breath before he continued. "You are probably stronger than me, however you are far to stubborn to accept the help of others. If you and your team worked together better you could have won, although you were to proud for that. And now you have to live with your failure, hopefully you learned something today." A quick strike to the raven's head later Sasuke was knocked out.
Two of Naruto's shadow clones supported Shino, the boy was fully conscious again by now. Meanwhile Hinata applied some of her self-made medical cream to the Aburame's wounds.
With the scroll he had taken from the downed black haired genin the original blond moved over to his comrades. "I am sorry Shino, I underestimated Sasuke and you got hurt pretty bad because of that."
"Naruto, I had been completely aware of the endangerment my task provided. Our setup worked out and all of us are able to further participate, no irreparable harm was done." The bug user replied and he even gave something which looked like the tiny hint of a smile or smirk.
The blond genin relaxed visibly after he had heard Shino's reply and turned towards the Hyuuga heiress. "You were kick-ass Hinata, you defeated Sakura and afterwards gave the finishing blow to Sasuke." He gave the girl a brilliant smile and a thumbs up.
While the bluenette was accustomed to being near to her crush by now, the praise she received was almost to much. It took her much of her willpower to not faint. Her face turned scarlet and she started to twiddle her fingers in embarrassment. "T-Th-ank y-you, N-N-Naruto-k-kun." She wanted to say more but her voice had failed her.
The blond boy knew that sometimes she would behave like that, most times when he accidentally touched her or congratulated her. Remembering Shino's advice that the Hyuuga girl was quite shy he just shrugged it off as normal occurrence.
"We better get going and find a safe place to set up a camp before night falls." Once he was finished speaking the jinchuuriki gave a sign to his clones. One of them grabbed Sasuke, two other copies flanked this one and the three rushed into the woods.
"What are you doing with Sasuke-san? Because if something happens to him there is the chance that our team will be hold responsible for it." Shino inquired with a hint of curiosity in his speech.
"Just making sure that Team 7 won't come back for more. Remember what Anko-sensei said about leaving the forest? Well I will make sure that the three are on the other side of the fence when they wake up." A sly grin was on the blond genin's face.
Naruto then started moving, followed by Hinata not far behind and Shino taking rear, still supported by two of the jinchuuriki's shadow clones.
Once Team 8 was out of sight a shadowy figure emerged from one of the trees surrounding the battlefield. A deep and sinister chuckling sound echoed through the woods as the man landed in the middle of the torn clearing.
"This was quite disappointing Sasuke-kun. My hopes were much higher for you. All the effort to enter Konoha and the exams and now the whole undertaking was fruitless, not that it can be helped now." The dark figure slowly sunk into the ground. With the thumb of his left hand he turned the ring on his little finger back and forth. "Maybe I have to expand my horizon to find a more valuable specimen." After he had spoken those parting words in monologue he vanished completely into the earth.
Jutsu Description
Name: Raiton: Shocking Perimeter Jutsu
Rank: C-rank
Class: Offensive
Hand seals: Ox → Dragon → Rabbit → Tiger
Quite similar to Katon: Dragon Fire Jutsu, a wire or another available metallic conductor is needed for this technique. Lightning chakra travels along the provided connection to the target. The enemy and anything in the near vicinity will be shocked through electricity.
Name: Human Beast Transformation: Terror Wolf
Rank: C-rank
Class: Supplementary
Hand seals: Tiger → Dog
A special transformation technique originating from the Inuzuka Clan. Establishes a deeper connection to the user's inner beast and his feral instincts. Morphs the performer into a big wolf.
A/N: Took longer than I expected to get this chapter out, hope you enjoyed the confrontation between Team 7 and 8. Were the battle scenes descriptive enough? This should also clarify why Sasuke was so abrasive during their first meeting after Naruto's return. This was my biggest chapter until now, but I wanted to get the whole confrontation into this one.
For Kabuto, well even if Orochimaru is in league with Danzo it still irks me that a mid to high level jonin can pose as unsuccessful genin without raising suspicions. Take his info cards into the mix, which he almost showed in front of Ibiki, I find he could do a lot better.