A/N – Oh My God, I'm updating this story again, it's amazing. Ok we have a winner for the fan art competition but he wants to remain anonymous so whatever you can see the pic above. It's pretty good. I have to make an apology, I was meant to update this a long time ago but got caught up in my other stories and some computer problems jumped in there as well, but oh well I'm back now.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Demon/Summon Speech"
'Demon/Summon Thought'
"Jutsu"
Chapter 11 – Danger in the Forest of Death
Team 8 were the first to arrive at the forest, only a few people had seen them as Naruto ran past. The few people who had noticed were Anko, Neji Hyuuga and a kunoichi from Kusa.
Once the majority of the contestants had arrived at the forest Anko started to speak.
"Damn gaki, you got faster!" she exclaimed in pride, "Now then, this is the Forest of Death. Each team will be given a scroll, it will be either a heaven or earth scroll. You must obtain a full set within five days in the forest."
"Five days! What will we do for food?" exclaimed Choji.
"There are plenty of plants and animals that are edible, as long as you eat them before they eat you." Explained Anko with a barely controlled blood lust, Choji gulped in fear.
"Huh, this will be a walk in the park, won't it Akamaru?" asked Kiba as he looked to his dog, Akamaru growled at the forest before hiding inside Kiba's jacket.
Before Kiba could say anything further a kunai shot past his face slicing a thin cut into the flesh. Before he could even flinch Anko was on his back, running her tongue over the cut and drinking in the blood.
"Hmm, not the best I've had but still the pedigree must be pretty well kept." Said Anko as she savoured the taste, as she did this she pressed her body into Kiba's back. Kiba could feel her ample chest rubbing against him. With a lecherous smile and a stream of blood from his nose he passed out.
Anko looked down at the bloody mess before her, "Somebody wake up the mutt then I can continue." Sakura seemed all too happy to accept the responsibility, with a quick strike of her fist Kiba was sent flying into the air and then back down to the ground, now fully alert and awake. A few genin chuckled before paying attention to Anko again.
"Now seeing as this forest has the lowest survival rate of any training ground in Konoha you all have to sign these waivers. This way if you die I won't be held responsible." Said Anko cheerfully, as if she was almost hoping that they would die so she could see the blood stains they left behind.
Each team signed the waivers before getting handed a scroll and told which gate they would be starting at; team 8 got an earth scroll. The genin dispersed all trying to reach their gates before they run out of time.
Team 8 arrived at their gate and waited, knowing the layout of the forest from previous training sessions with Anko. As soon as the gates opened Hinata activated her byakugan and started scanning the surrounding areas. Shino sent his kikkai beetles out to find possible locations for traps and ambushes. Naruto made a dozen clones and sent them to find other teams.
They made a run for a small area they had seen several times before in the forest. It was an area filled with leaches and other bugs that Shino had befriended.
"A team is approaching us rapidly, if we want to trap them with the leaches then we need to act fast." Said Hinata; Naruto just grabbed the supplies of ninja wire and sped around the area, creating a net and stringing it up in the trees, positioned below a large patch of leaches.
A team of genin from Ame were jumping through the trees, until they found themselves hanging in a net. They were about to start cutting through the wires when the leaches dropped down, covering them in seconds.
They screamed for a few seconds before Shino appeared in front of them.
"If you give up your scroll then I will call off the leaches. If you don't then you will be drained of blood in minutes then my team will then retrieve the scroll. Take the logical choice." Drawled Shino in his monotone voice. The leader of the team fumbled with his pack before retrieving the scroll, he nodded towards a tree and a blur shot forward, collecting the scroll and knocking them out.
Once they were knocked out Shino called off the leaches and released them from the net. Naruto came out holding up an earth scroll. Hinata jumped down and sighed in defeat. They needed a heaven scroll.
-Line Break-
The Iwa team had just killed a team of older Konoha nin.
"Huh, they were pathetic." Exclaimed the blonde.
"At least they had our scroll Daichi-kun" Said Kadomari, the remaining teammate just grunted.
Daichi Takumaya was the self-appointed leader of team Iwa, he has a short temper and doesn't like being corrected, and he was also the long range fighter. Tsuyoshi Nanami was the short ranged specialist; he had the same short stocky build that his clan was known for. Kadomari Wakashima, or Kado-chan to her teammates, was the mid-range and support fighter, she also acted as a scout thanks to her dojutsu.
They were the strongest genin from the strongest clans from Iwa, personally picked by the Tsuchikage to check if rumours of a Namikaze were correct, so far their suspicions were looking accurate. Now they looked to the centre of the forest, towards the tower.
"Should we go to the tower or see if this Naruto kid is really a Namikaze?" Asked Tsuyoshi in his gruff voice, Daichi thought for a second before deciding.
"Tsuyoshi, see if you can locate their approximate location with Doton ninjutsu, then we'll head towards them, trying to remain hidden. Once we get close to their location we'll follow from a distance using your eye Kado-chan to keep track without having to get to close." Instructed Daichi, his teammates nodded and Tsuyoshi performed a few hand seals before placing his palms on the ground.
'Hmm, even if Daichi appointed himself leader he is good at thinking up plans.' Thought Kado.
"I have him." Said Tsuyoshi before taking off in the direction he indicated, the others following behind. They found their trail fairly quickly. They had found a team of unconscious genin, lacking a scroll, meaning they had been beaten by either the team they were hunting or another passing team. But based off of what looked like leech marks that must have been done by a member of the Aburame clan, and the only Aburame member that was participating was in the team they were after.
They all smiled a smile that is often associated with predators. The team took off, now certain that they would be able to find information for their leader.
-Line Break-
Team 8 camped next to a small stream, Hinata made a small fire and started preparing a simple meal, Shino sent insects out to scout the area and Naruto sped around the forest setting up traps and snares that would prevent most teams from making it to the camp.
When Naruto arrived back he saw Hinata serving up a large bowl of stew for Shino and herself. Once she was done serving she passed the pot and a spoon to Naruto, smiling at him the entire time. He grabbed the pot and spoon before and began eating at a pace that only he could, finishing before his teammates.
"Wow Hinata-chan, you are the second best cook I know, only Teuchi-jiji from the ramen stand can beat you." Stated Naruto with sincerity, Hinata blushed and finished her bowl before walking over to Naruto and kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you Naruto-kun, now I think it's your turn to wash up tonight." She said sweetly.
"Ok Hinata-chan." Naruto exclaimed brightly before collecting Hinata and Shino's eating utensils and heading to the stream to begin washing things, using Katon chakra to heat the water.
The three of them set up a guard shift and Naruto and Hinata went to sleep (in separate tents you pervs).
-Line Break-
The next day team 8 broke camp before heading out; at about midday they felt a strange power coming from the forest a distance away.
"You guys keep heading towards the tower, I'll head over there to check out what's going on. If I'm not back soon, set up camp and then call for me Hinata-chan." Said Naruto, before Hinata or Shino could say anything he had already run off.
Hinata sighed in defeat before nodding to Shino and they took off toward the tower.
Naruto was nothing but a blur as he raced through the forest, passing teams that only noticed a gust of wind.
Team Iwa had decided that Kado was the only one who could hope to catch up with Naruto so she chased after while the other two followed after Hinata and Shino.
Naruto arrived to a strange sight; Kiba, Akamaru and Sakura were unconscious, while Sasuke was on his knees with a strange man standing over him, biting his neck.
With a scream of pain Sasuke collapsed, the man looked ready to leave before he had to jump back, barely avoiding being hit with a punch that was close to breaking the speed of sound.
"Kukuku, who do we have here?" Taunted Orochimaru.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki, the guy who's going to take you down for trying to hurt my friends" Exclaimed Naruto, Orochimaru just smirked before the smirk changed to an expression of horror as he dodged a sword that would have taken his head off.
The only thing he had seen was a flash of red.
"Namikaze" he growled before ducking under another slash.
"Oh so you know my bloodline, do you." Stated Naruto as he took off his trench coat, "That makes this easier, no holding back."
With that Naruto started flashing around attempting to strike Orochimaru, to Naruto's frustration none of them landed, although he did manage to steal an earth scroll from his pouch.
"You are out of your league Naruto-kun. I am Orochimaru of the Sannin, you'll never beat me." Orochimaru said, although with the speed that Naruto was moving never might have been a little exaggerated, if he had the same stamina as his mother and father than Orochimaru would be the first to drop from exhaustion.
It was at this point that Kado arrived, close enough that she would be away from the battle but still able to see what was happening, when she Naruto teleporting around the clearing and going toe to toe with the traitor Sannin. She took off the way she had come, not needing any more evidence and not wanting to die in the crossfire.
"Argh, that's it. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" called out Naruto as nine identical copies of him appeared.
"Namikaze Dicing Flash Barrage!" Yelled out all the clones as they flashed to Orochimaru, swords out and ready to be used. For a few swings Orochimaru was fine, until one of the clones seemed to get lucky, his sword poking out of Orochimaru's chest. The clones poofed out of existence and Naruto threw his swords down next to his trench coat.
He was about to relax until the body turned to mud. He was surprised at first but his expression quickly hardened. He spun around to see several head sized fireballs impacting his chest. With a quick burst of Fuuton chakra the fire was put out but his shirt was already burnt and his skin singed, the damage to his skin already healing.
He growled before looking to where the fireballs had originated from he was about to flash over when he felt a burning sensation in has arm. He looked down to see Orochimaru's neck extended to impossible lengths, his teeth embedded into his arm. A black mark staring to form.
Orochimaru pulled his head back in before disappearing into the ground.
"You shall be an interesting test subject Naruto." Stated Orochimaru as his presence disappeared from the area.
Naruto looked to his arm to a strange black mark starting to form. He shrugged; Hinata would check it out with her Byakugan later.
He picked up his trench coat and resealed his swords before walking over to Sakura and waking her, none too gently I might add. As soon as she woke up she raced over to Sasuke and started to check him over. Naruto was going to say something until he felt a pull on his mind, signifying that someone was calling him and seeing as only two people currently had a seal to call him, Hinata and the Hokage, it must have been Hinata.
He vanished in a red flash, startling Sakura. He appeared in the middle of a clearing his team's camp already set up, Hinata and Shino looking at him expectantly. Naruto sighed before explaining what happened and went to sit down. Before he could though Hinata pulled his trench coat off and revealed his shirtless form. She blushed a bit before looking at the black marking on Naruto's arm.
From his right shoulder down to his elbow was an intricate tribal tattoo, based around three spirals in the middle. Hinata looked at it with her Byakugan and saw a dark chakra that was slowly draining out of his system thanks to his bloodlines.
She told him what he saw and he smiled before kissing her forehead.
"See nothing to worry about my Hime." Said Naruto, causing Hinata to blush bright red, he had never called her his princess.
Omake
It was the first night in the exams and team Iwa were camping downstream of team 8. Tsuyoshi walked upstream a bit to clean himself. Even though he primarily used Doton ninjutsu he hated to stay dirty.
He tested the water and found that it was a pleasant temperature. He stripped off and started to wash himself. When he was almost done the water suddenly became boiling hot, causing his skin to turn bright red and blister from the waist down.
He screamed in pain before sprinting back to the camp to get some healing supplies that they had brought with them.
Upon arrival he looked to his teammates.
"Where are the burn salves? Guys I need help!" Yelled Tsuyoshi, Daichi just laughed and fell over, his face turning blue. Kado wasn't much better, except she had a rather large nose bleed and fell over backwards out cold.
It was at this point that Tsuyoshi looked down; suddenly realizing his clothes were back up stream. He sprinted back the way he had come and came back a few minutes later this time covered, barely.
He rooted around through the packs before finding the salves. He went into his tent and started applying them, grumbling about the forest and his stupid teammates.
Back at team 8's camp Shino thought he heard a scream but didn't worry about it, it appeared to be getting further away.
A/N – Just to let you guys know I have a new update style. I will update a story twice and then move onto the next one, going in a continuous loop, sometimes throwing in a one shot or new story. So expect another chapter of this, I won't put a deadline on here because I'm horrible at sticking to them.
I hope you liked this chapter. If you want to know what happened with the curse mark you find out for a while so don't bug me about it. So tune in next time for the preliminaries!
Thanks Trigger2332 out!