A Foxes Tale
Chapter 11: Written Exams and The Death Forest
An: Hello all I'm finally back with a new chapter for this story. Now like always I have to first thank those who reviewed the last chapter. Now I also want to take this time to announce to those who don't know about my new fic, Ninja Spawn that I urge everyone to check out and review. I also wish to inform everyone that Legend of the Fox is up for adoption as well. That said all of my news is done so here's the chapter.
Start Now:
Naruto wanted to laugh. Honestly as he looked at the bear faced proctor he could hardly hold back the urge. Hell, just the thought that a human of all things could even think they knew what hell was like was a laughable concept. Naruto had lived in the closest thing resembling hell for over a decade and he was sure that if the Leaf had any say about it he'd still be living it.
Regardless of this he still moved to grab a number after the man had given out his instructions. Upon finding his seat he was surprised to find himself sitting next to Hinata, the Hyuga heiress releasing a strong lemony scent as soon as he sat down. Shrugging it off he took a moment to look around and found that all of the people he knew were scattered about in such a way that none of them was sitting anywhere near a teammate or the same row as someone from their class except him and Hinata.
"Alright now for the first test of this Chuunin Exam, the written test." Said Ibiki causing several of those gathered to blanch.
"Now firstly there are no questions to be asked any questions?" said the man causing one person to raise their hand.
"Okay the idiot from Hoshi fails; you can take your team with you." Said Ibiki causing the teen to pale upon realizing his error.
"Now that the idiot is gone let's get started. This test will consist of ten question and is passed by a point scale. Each of you begins this test with ten points this test however is based on total points so giving each team has three members you start with thirty points. You will lose a point if you are caught cheating, and if you are caught five times you'll fail along with your teams. You wish to pass this test; then do so proudly as a shinobi."
As the man finished the gathered gennin moved to turn over their papers to begin. Almost immediately upon seeing the paper Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. Skipping over the first question which he knew he couldn't answer he moved to the next, and then the next. As he moved to the last of the questions his eyebrow twitched in irritation as he couldn't answer a single one. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of the chuunin off to the side smirking as if mocking him causing his eyes to narrow.
Still with his still relatively newly realized intellect it didn't take him long to figure out the purpose of this test. The problem was he had no idea how he would go about passing himself, he had no ocular abilities that would help him in this situation. Sighing he decided on a course his more brash self would have employed if he could figure things out to that point and sat back with his hands behind his head.
In the front of the room Ibiki couldn't help but focus on the boy who seemed to be the only one not doing something. All around him everyone else was working furiously he saw a couple activated Byakugan's, the Uchiha brat had his Sharingan active, he could even see a couple of mirrors cleverly arranged on the ceiling being manipulated. He could see Inoichi's daughter slumped over no doubt using her clan technique, while he could see the Akimichi heir writing with his eyes wide obviously helped by the Nara on the other side. The Inuzuka had his pup feeding him the answers and he had no doubt the Aburame had some of his bugs scattered about the room.
Only two of the gennin seemed to be working with no assistance, the Haruno brat, and one of the Iwa gennin. Before he could contemplate more however the redhead he'd been watching turned and tapping the shoulder to his left punched the guy dead in the face as soon as he turned to him causing the male to drop in an instant. Smirking the redhead switched their papers and wrote his name in place of its former holder.
"Uzumaki what the hell do you think your doing!" exclaimed Ibiki bringing the attention of the whole room to the two.
"Completing the test. You only said we had to have the answers before time ran out, you never stated I couldn't knock out the guy next to me and steal his paper. While I know you'll deduct a point for cheating I'm not really worried as I have four points to spare."
At this Ibiki couldn't help but grit his teeth at the flaw. Usually he waited and let the tension build up until people got ready to fight before arriving and saying there would not be any fighting. This time he had apparently jumped the gun and as such never said it so the boy was technically in the right.
"Very well, since you seemed to have found the loophole. Anyone else who tries that however will automatically fail. 89 and 27 grab your teammate and get the hell out since he was stupid enough to get himself knocked out. " Growled the man.
Nearly an hour later and the gathered gennin could be found in front of the gates to training area 44. Only eighty four people had passed the first test, meaning only twenty eight teams remained. As Naruto had suspected the purpose behind the first exam had been a test of information gathering skills, while the tenth question had been a do or die situation in which you could opt out and quit or take the question and risk failing and forever remain a gennin. The second proctor Mitarashi Anko had been less than impressed with the number of gennin left and had even gone so far as to say Ibiki was loosing his touch to which she promised to cut the numbers in half.
"Alright everyone behind me is what is known as area 44 lovingly known by us as 'The forest of death'." Said Anko breaking Naruto from his train of thought and holding up two scrolls for all to see.
"The goal of the second exam is these scrolls. Each team will be given one scroll and be tasked with obtaining the other before making it to the tower in the center of the forest within five days. Basically this is a free for all scroll battle and as such only half of the teams can pass. There is two rules at no time within the next five days can you leave the forest or you fail. Also all three team members must make it to the tower alive or you will fail.
Not only that but you will also have to worry about the animals in the forest which can and will kill and eat you, which is why I had all of you sign those waivers upon arriving thus freeing me of any responsibility in the event of your deaths. That said in order to continue any further you guys will have to turn in those waivers one team at a time in exchange for a scroll, if you don't you of course fail and will be known as a coward for the rest of your career. You have fifteen minutes." Finished Anko with a grin before turning and walking away.
'Sounds like fun.' Commented Benihime with a chuckle.
Naruto sighed ever since the incident on the bridge Benihime had been a lot more blood thirsty. Kushina had theorized that it was his own latent bloodlust that was the cause. He would admit if only to himself that he had felt a bit vindictive and not just due to what he'd seen in Nami either it was like it was an opportunity to slay the humans that had tormented him in the past. Shaking the thought off the red head spared a glance at his two teammates before moving off to trade the forms for a scroll.
After the exchange they were given the gate number they were to report to where a chuunin would be waiting. Naruto had been stopped along the way and told the other two to go ahead while he spoke to Hinata. In all honesty he was a bit surprised that the shy girl had actually sought him out to congratulate him on passing the first exam albeit with a lot of stuttering. Regardless he returned her sentiments and informed her he looked forward to seeing her after the end of the second test.
She had blushed a nice pink, bordering red color that had actually made him smile. He had by this point realized that the young Hyuga girl held a sweet spot for him. Well actually Ino had pointed it out after he told her that he thought the girl was terrified of him. Regardless Hinata was still the main reason he was withholding his judgment on the human race as a whole, after all if someone as nice as her could be human then there had to be others right.
His mother had commended him on his logic and had explained that because humanity as a whole was still a young race that they tended to act like children at times. This meant that when faced with something they couldn't immediately comprehend they reacted with fear of it. Anyway after his short talk with Hinata he had taken the chance to speak with Ino. Their meeting had been short but longer than his with Hinata's as he'd instructed the girl to be careful and that if they ran into each other in the forest they would help each other out. He had also told her to stay away from the Iwa team and the team from Suna that held Gaara before they went their separate ways.
Nara Shikamaru frowned as he looked up at the clouds from his position lying before his team's starting gate. Despite his laid back appearance however his mind was running a mile a minute. He had noticed that his teammate seemed to be changing almost constantly over the last few months. He had noticed that all of her fangirl tendencies had halted quite a while back, while he and Choji lazed about during team meetings she was actually putting in work and training, she was even eating a normal amount of food when they went out to eat.
On top of this she hadn't even mentioned the Uchiha in that time, nor did she jump him when they spotted his team before the first exam when the three rookie teams had gathered. Ino herself was busy pacing the length of the cage before the interior of the forest. A few months ago Shikamaru would have brushed it off as her being her usual impatient self, now he recognized it as actual worry.
In truth he was also worried, with the type of situation they were in now he couldn't help but be worried. Unlike the first exam this second one would not be a pleasant experience as none of them were combat types. While Choji could be called a heavy hitter or a tank both he and Ino were primarily non combatants he was a capture type and a strategist while Ino was an interrogator if for no other reason than her clan techniques. It didn't help that he and Ino each only knew one family technique and Choji only knew two.
This meant that they had to be picky when it came to choosing their targets, as they'd have to find a team that looked weaker than them. Their best bet would be to head directly for the tower and set up traps as that is where everyone would be heading anyway. Sighing at that the lazy genius could only hope they didn't run into any trouble before that point.
Naruto could barely hold back the smirk as the first bloodcurdling scream echoed through the forest. Sakura and Sasuke however froze and paled as the sound reached their ears while shivers wracked the girls body. It had barely taken ten minutes after they were let in and already someone had died. It didn't bother him as much though he could sense the youki that covered the forest belonging to the minor demons that called the place home even from outside the fenced off area.
"Sasuke, I'll catch up to you two in a few minutes I have to take a piss." Said the redhead suddenly bringing the attention of both his teammates to himself.
With that said the redhead turned and walked off into the trees. Sasuke snorted and merely motioned for Sakura to follow as he continued walking though at a slower pace than before. After a few moments the redhead stopped and remained in his position for at least a minute before suddenly lashing his right arm out and behind him a trio of what looked to be thorned vines shooting out from his sleeve and wrapping around the outstretched leg of the Ame nin that had taken the opportunity to try jumping him.
The Ame nin only had enough time for his eyes to widen in surprise before Naruto whipped his hand forward the results of which was the Ame nin being sent flying into the trunk of a tree with such force that he made an indent before falling to the ground. Almost immediately the vines released the downed nin and retracted back into the redhead's sleeve. Walking over to the unconscious gennin Naruto checked him over and smirked upon finding a heaven scroll within the gennin's pouch, the one in which his team needed to pass.
Removing the earth scroll from his pouch he made quick work of sealing the two scrolls in a storage seal upon the underside of his left arm. That done he stuffed his hands within his pants pockets and walked off not sparing the Ame nin another glance. It didn't take him long to catch up with his two teammates and it only took a bit of talking to redirect them into locating the tower in the center.
They had only been leaping through the trees for a maybe ten minutes before Naruto's eyes widened and he whipped around just in time to be hit full force and blown away by the power of an obvious wind jutsu.
At the same time the trio that made up team eight were in a mad sprint through the forest towards the tower. They had been lucky enough to gain there scroll off the first team they came across which was made up by a group of Taki nin who had surrendered their scroll after being informed that their trap was right beneath a nest of the forest leaches, each of them about the size of a human baby.
The trio of gennin however quickly came to a halt as they stumbled upon the sight of a trio of Suna gennin facing off with a team of Ame nin. The three rookie gennin could only look on in horror as the team of Ame nin were destroyed by the redheaded Suna gennin who had managed to crush them in sand of all things as they were suspended in the air. Hinata's body shook in fright at the sight as she sat back against a tree her horrified eyes not even registering that her usually brash Inuzuka teammate was doing the same as was her usually stoic Aburame teammate. Regardless of this however with a single look shared between them all three agreed they would not be moving for some time, until the three were gone from all three of their enhanced senses.
Naruto grunted as he picked himself up after his rather harsh meeting with the ground. He had flown for quite sometime slamming through several branches on his descent to the ground thanks to the power behind that wind jutsu. As he stood to his feet and dusted himself off he sighed before he vanished just in time to avoid the massive jaws that had nearly snapped themselves shut around him.
Reappearing within the branches of a nearby tree his green eyes narrowed as they spied the massive snake before him that was eyeing him as if he was its meal. Drawing Benihime he calmly eyed the beast as it reared its head back preparing for another lunge.
"Okiro, Benihime." Muttered the redhead.
Almost immediately the zanpakuto glowed and went about its transformation and he could almost feel her bloodlust as Benihime revealed herself once more. As soon as the transformation finished the massive snake lunged once more its mouth wide open in preparation for its next meal.
"Nake, Benihime."
With a horizontal swing of the blade a wave of crimson red energy shot forth from the blade and raced towards the snake. As they met the wave of energy sliced clean through the snake splitting it in half with no problem whatsoever. As the snake hit the ground Naruto watched as its red blood stained the forest floor for but a moment before vanishing in a quick shunpo, if he'd waited just a few seconds longer however he'd have seen the remains burst into smoke.
Sasuke panted his eyes wide as he stared at the figure before him with the frightened orbs. After the initial blast of wind that had scattered his team it hadn't taken long for him to recover; and took even less time to find his female teammate. However no sooner had the two verified each other than they were forced to fend off an attacker disguised as Naruto.
It had been easy to tell it was a fake, for one he lacked the calculating green eyes they had come to know and end their place were blue orbs. On top of that he spoke far too much and did so without the thinly veiled insults the real one spoke to Sasuke with, and even went so far as to refer to the Uchiha for a decision, Naruto had never done that especially after the mission in Nami no Kuni.
Whatever the case he had thought it would be simple to drive off the imposter. However it was anything but simple to do so, the imposter which had revealed themselves to be a kunoichi from Kusa was anything but a pushover. He had thrown all his tricks out from his newly learned Katon techniques and the few genjutsu his mother had taught him since his return. He hadn't felt this weak since his spars with Yamato in Nami as well and he inwardly cursed at not having the scroll to barter with.
"Kukuku very good Sasuke-kun, very good indeed."
Sasuke shivered at the voice as it slid through his ears like an eel across skin that and the hungry gaze directed at him made him feel dirty on a level that not even his fan girls had invoked from him. Not only that but the disturbing things he'd seen the kunoichi do like curling her tongue around her scroll as swallowing it and even how she was currently coiled around the branch of the tree across from like a snake spoke volumes.
As the kunoichi sprung forward Sasuke readied himself to jump away again only for a trio of shuriken to land just before the kunoichi only barely missing her head. Turning in the direction they'd come from all three in the clearing found the leader of team seven standing upon a higher glance looking down upon them with that calculating gaze.
"Naruto you're alive!" exclaimed Sakura in relief upon seeing him.
"Naruto, give her the scroll. She's out of our league." Said Sasuke not even turning to face him.
"Kukuku, that's right Sasuke-kun, it's only natural for prey to find an escape when faced with a predator." Said the Kusa kunoichi in amusement.
"Foolish." Remarked the red head shocking all three of them.
"Truly Uchiha you are more foolish and cowardly than I thought. If what you say is true and that person is so far above you than it should be obvious they are not a gennin and thus the scroll would not dissuade them from going after what it is they truly seek." Said Naruto calmly.
The reactions of the three at his words varied but he noted each of them. The Uchiha's eyes widened in realization as did Sakura's while their foe merely chuckled in amusement.
"Kuku you are quite right Naruto-kun, even with the scroll given over it is not a guarantee of my departure. At the same time what is to stop me from killing you and taking the scroll anyway."
Naruto scoffed at the words an action which all three took note of as his eyes moved and focused on that of the Kusa nin. Suddenly the Kusa nin blurred through seals before a massive snake appeared beneath them which quickly launched itself at the redhead. Suddenly the redhead disappeared just as the snake would have collided with him leaving it to only hit the branch. Appearing on top of the beast upper jaw his green eyes were dispassionate as he simply pointed to fingers between its eyes.
"Hado #4: Byakurai (Way of Destruction #4: Pale Lightning)."
For but a moment Naruto's fingers glowed with a blue light before an extremely large stream of lightning exploded forth piercing the beast directly through the eyes and traveling all the way along its body before the boy released the surge. All was silent for a moment as the other three beheld the sight in shock before the body disappeared in a massive cloud of smoke blinding everyone. Finally as the smoke lifted the Kusa nin scowled upon finding the other three gone with no clue as to a direction.
For Sakura the world was a blur as she was carried through the forest at speeds far surpassing what she had thought possible. She had no warning before she had found herself lifted up almost as soon as the cloud of smoke had appeared. Beside her she could just barely make out the form of Sasuke as another Naruto carried him around like a burlap sack in contrast to her bridal carry. For what seemed like an eternity but could easily have only been a few minutes there was only silence as she watched the world go by at least before she closed her eyes to prevent the nausea she felt rising. Finally the high speed ride came to a stop and she found herself placed on the ground.
Emerald green eyes widened in surprise upon their owner finding they were no longer within the forest but within a small room which a pair of jet black eyes discovered as well, at least after their owner picked himself off the ground after being unceremoniously dropped, a moment later. As one the two turned to Naruto to find the redheaded gennin panting heavily for the first time they'd seen since his change as he sat on the ground with his back to a wall.
"What the hell was that?" demanded the Uchiha after a few moments causing said redheads green eyes to narrow on him.
At the same time a slight pressure settled upon the shoulders of the two of them. Each of them vividly remembered the feeling from the night Naruto blew up at Inari in Nami no Kuni though the pressure was nowhere near as strong as it was then.
"Firstly Uchiha you do not demand answers from me."
Sasuke grit his teeth at the redheads statement but said nothing to rebuke him vividly reminded of the multiple spars that the two had shared and how easily the redhead could destroy him during them. Though he had grown stronger in that time so had Naruto and the Uchiha wouldn't risk it yet. Seeing his point had been made the redhead allowed the slight pressure he was exuding to dissipate allowing the other two to straighten.
"Now to answer your question, the technique was one of my own creation something I had been working on even during the academy which I call Shunpo. Now before any ideas get into that head of yours know that even if you tried to copy my technique you are incapable of using it as you lack my bloodline." Stated Naruto causing the Uchiha to scowl.
"Now on to more important matters. You were right in assuming that Kusa nin was above our level. That was in fact not even a Kusa nin nor a kunoichi, that man was an S-class nuke-nin known as Orochimaru a member of the Legendary Sannin. In case you didn't know this Orochimaru was a member of the original team seven the students of the Sandaime Hokage. He is also the biggest traitor in the village's history even the Uchiha slayer is number two." Said Naruto shocking the two gennin speechless Sasuke more so than Sakura.
While the two were shocked Naruto removed both scrolls from his hidden seal and proceeded to open them lying them beside one another on the floor. Almost as soon as they were beside one another smoke began to poor off of them before a burst of smoke enshrouded them. When the smoke cleared Umino Iruka stood in the rather dark room with a look of surprise on his face that was quickly exchanged for one of pride.
"Congratulations, you guys have passed the second exam."
AN: That's it chapters done. I know its a bit shorter than what people expected but honestly I'm getting bored with the chuunin exams and just wanted to get on to the next chapter. Also remember to check out my new fic Ninja Spawn. Thanks for reading and leave lots of reviews and I may just update faster. Till next time, LATER.
