It was night, a full moon that lit up the field. Anko walked through the plain looking at the stars. No one was around, she was alone. She considered the next day, the day the Chuunin exam would start. She smiled thinking of how she would intimidate the children.
"It's a beautiful night isn't it," Orochimaru said behind her.
Anko smiled. "You shouldn't sneak up behind me like that," Anko said.
"Just testing your skills," Orochimaru smirked.
"Is that so?" Anko questioned.
Orochimaru took another step towards her. Snakes exploded out of the ground blasting through his frame. Orochimaru's body became like clay and fell to the ground. Anko turned around and saw Orochimaru step towards her.
"Not bad," he commented.
"What brings you out of the darkness?" Anko asked.
"I want to observe the young ones," Orochimaru said.
"You never cared before," Anko pointed out.
"This is different, I want a successor," Orochimaru explained. "One of the students will provide me this," he finished.
"Isn't that kid Kabuto good enough for you?" Anko asked.
"He is quite good," Orochimaru observed walking with Anko side by side.
"But despite his skills I want potential rather than mere strength. I want the Uchiha," Orochimaru said.
"Uchiha Itachi, not even you can defeat him," Anko said. Orochimaru frowned; he hated being reminded of that fact.
"No, Uchiha Sasuke," Orochimaru corrected.
Anko smirked. "He's a good choice."
"You are jealous?" Orochimaru asked.
"How can I be jealous, he would be like a son to you," Anko said.
"They say, every family should have a mother," Orochimaru said getting close to her.
Anko closed her eyes as his hand reached her face affectionately. "It's been a long time," he said.
Anko turned away from his hand. "You would destroy my home, the people I'm with. You compromise my position," Anko said.
Orochimaru showed a face of annoyance. "You grow too attached to these mortals," he told her.
"And you think yourself a god?" Anko asked. "I don't want you to kill anyone tomorrow. The whole village will be after you if they find out you are here," Anko warned.
"Don't worry about me," Orochimaru said dismissively.
"It's not just you, it's me as well. I run the Chuunin exam," Anko pointed out. Orochimaru nodded understanding.
Anko headed back to the village to get some needed sleep. Ibiki was at a bar thinking about his life while drinking a pint. He noticed her walk through the streets.
"Anko, isn't this a little late to be out," Ibiki said next to her.
"What are you, my protector?" Anko questioned.
"I consider it security," the paranoid Ibiki said.
"I just wanted to check the Dark Forest entrance. I don't want anything to go wrong," she said.
"Appear at 1:00 pm," Ibiki reminded her.
Anko rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said.
The next morning Anko was busy organizing the booths and bossing young Chuunins around. She had been given this job because she had a reputation to be ruthless. She looked at her watch. It was 12:30pm. She figured she would arrive early. Surely Ibiki wouldn't mind.
Anko took her cloth poster and put it into a ball. She then walked towards the building. As Ibiki was talking Anko crashed through the window and sent four blades across the room completely covering Ibiki's image with her poster. The students were noticeable stunned.
Anko quickly addressed the class. "You guys," she said with enthusiasm.
"This is no time to celebrate," she declared hoping to destroy their spirits.
"I am the examiner for the second test!" she shouted introducing herself.
"Now let's go," she ordered. "Follow me."
"Bad timing," Ibiki complained. Anko frowned at him. If she had entered the classroom five minutes earlier it would have ruined his torture.
"Seventy eight? Ibiki, you left 26 teams," she said annoyed. "The first test was too easy this time," she concluded.
"This time there are a lot of outstanding ones," he excused although truth be told Naruto ruined his plans.
"Bah, that's fine. In the second exam I will cut them in half or less," she told him even though the students could hear her.
"I'm getting excited…I'll explain everything tomorrow once we've changed places. Ask your Jounin sensei for the time and place," she instructed them. Anko reminded herself that she would now have to give out instructions to 26 Jounins.
"That's it, you're excused," she told them.
Anko smiled at Ibiki as the students left. She would definitely out do him this time.
After sending memos to each Jounin Anko headed back home.
The next morning Anko explained the rules of the 2nd Chuunin exam to Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai.
"Isn't that a little tough," Kakashi wondered.
"None at all, that idiot Naruto foiled the last exam field we had. This time it will be a real challenge," Anko said.
"Worried Kakashi?" Gai asked
"What?" Kakashi asked not paying attention.
"Will the Genins have to fight each other?" Kurenai asked wondering if Hinata would be able to do such a thing.
"Yep," Anko said.
Asuma nodded. "I expected as much. Times have changed with our rival Sand, S rank criminals, and Orochimaru. We need dedicated Chuunins," Asuma said
Anko took a sip of her tea to hide her displeasure at the remark.
Orochimaru spotted three Hidden Grass ninjas attempting to deface some monument. "Punks," he thought to himself.
As he observed them he saw a resemblance between him and one of them. He had promised to not kill anyone, but they were Hidden Grass ninjas, a harmless nation. He swooped down in front of him.
"Who are you?" they demanded.
Orochimaru didn't answer; instead he stared at them sending fear into her their minds. Unable to move he created two clones of himself. The three Orochimaru versions examined their bodies.
"I think I like you the best," Orochimaru considered. He put his hand on his face. Orochimaru's palms attached to his face and pealed away the face. Orochimaru allowed the teen to fall to the ground, his face a bloody mess.
Anko came to the Dark Forest entrance feeling pleased at the development. She would give them some scary warnings to reduce the amount going in.
"Welcome to the stage for the second test," Anko began to the genins present. "Practice arena 44 also known as the Forest of Death. You will be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death," she told them.
Just as she finished Naruto made a point to mock her in front of the others. She felt like killing him right then and there, but considered otherwise. That would ruin Orochimaru's plans at getting Uchiha Sasuke.
"I'm not scared," Naruto shouted.
"Really? You sure are energetic," Anko said.
She allowed a blade to fall into her palm and shot it at Naruto's face before he could blink. The blade hit the ground. Naruto watched stunned as blood began to flow from his face. Anko quickly appeared behind Naruto.
"Boys like you die the fastest," she reminded him.
She took his face into her hands. "After spilling out all that red blood I love all over the place…" she whispered to him. She sensed a threat and took another blade into her hand.
A Hidden Grass ninja, his face concealed by a hat had her knife….in his tongue. "Here's your knife," he said helpfully.
"Thank you," Anko said unfazed. "But you shouldn't stand behind me like that. That is unless you want to die young," she threatened.
The ninja gave her the blade with his tongue and sent it back into his mouth. "Well, I get itchy when I see blood," the boy said. "Also, my precious hair was cut, so I got a little excited. "I'm sorry," he said leaving her sight.
Anko considered. The guy was a weirdo, but considering the people she hung out with she wasn't going to talk. "It looks like there are a lot of hot headed people here today," she said. "This is going to be interesting," she smirked.
"Before we begin the second exam," Anko said turning her back to the crowd. "I'm going to pass out to everyone…these are consent forms. Those taking the exam must sign these," she told them.
"Why?" Naruto asked out of turn.
"From here on people will die. Therefore we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise I'd be held responsible," Anko chuckled. In reality she didn't expect anyone to die, maybe some injuries. Considering the snakes and other dangerous creatures she allowed in this little zoo she would very well be held responsible. She realized with pride that Orochimaru had designed it originally.
Anko then continued instructing the students on the mission at hand. There were 26 teams and 26 scrolls. So at the very most there would remain only 13 teams or 39 people. The odds however favored that only a few teams would be able to manage it. Also there was a time limit of 5 days and all three members would have to arrive at the tower with both the Earth and Heaven scroll.
"We will now begin the Second Chuunin Exam!" Anko declared at exactly 2:30
The gates opened and immediately the teams rushed into the forest. During the first day Anko stayed at the entrance eating dumplings and tea. An excellent markswoman she made the Konoha Hidden Leaf symbol on a tree with her dumpling sticks. Suddenly three Chuunins appeared before her.
"We found three corpses," they informed. "And they're in a strange way," they said. "A strange way?" she said puzzled.
Arriving at the scene she saw the horribly disfigured faces of the three genins from the Hidden Grass. "At least they won't declare war on us," she said to herself. "We found their IDs," a Chuunin said giving her them. She immediately recognized the boy who had taken her knife. This was Orochimaru's work. "That tongue! He had been playing with her the entire time," she thought. "The whole time she was showing off and he was there making a fool of her," Anko thought bitterly.
"I want two ANBU squads, I will check through the forest," Anko ordered. The Chuunins nodded and took off. When they were gone Anko sighed in frustration.
Racing through the trees she had to get to Orochimaru first before anyone else. She could sense his presence. He was moving quickly through the forest and then suddenly stopped. Anko finally found him emerged in a tree trunk high off the ground. She landed on a branch.
"You were not to kill anyone," Anko accused.
"It couldn't be helped," Orochimaru said still in the tree.
Anko took her left hand and summoned four snakes. The snakes shot out into the air and grabbed a hold of Orochimaru. She tugged with her arm and threw Orochimaru behind her. He hit another tree trunk, as Anko sent the snakes back into her sleeve. Orochimaru was now between her and the tree.
"You make it difficult for me to stay on your side," she told him. He said nothing. "Are you listening to me?" she demanded of him.
Orochimaru laughed in the background. The figure she had control over turned to dirt and fell to the ground. Anko turned around and saw Orochimaru. He pealed the boy's face off revealing his older paler face.
"It was necessary in order to fight Sasuke," Orochimaru said. "I gave him the earth seal just like you."
"That will kill him," Anko speculated.
"True, he has a ten percent chance of survival but I think he will make it," Orochimaru allowed.
"And what of the others?" Anko asked.
"They are alive for the moment," Orochimaru said.
Orochimaru walked closer to Anko.
"You aim to kill the Hokage?" Anko asked.
"Not yet, I need more men for that," he told her. "Keep yourself safe," Orochimaru said kissing her forehead. And with that he disappeared in blue flames.
Anko walked through the forest confused and uncertain of her future. She found herself in open space. Three tigers appeared from the brush and cornered her.
"I don't need this now," she said aloud. Before the tigers could make a move they stopped moving. Two ANBU warriors appeared next to her.
"Thank you," she said.
"What do you know?" they questioned.
"Orochimaru is here in the forest. I tried to find him but he attacked me first," she said.
"We must stop the Chuunin exam," the ANBU fighter suggested.
"No, we should alert the Hokage, I'll tell you more on the way," she said.
Anko and the two ANBU fighters headed to the tower. Upon reaching the highest level Anko sat on a coach and explained the situation.
"Things are getting bad, but we can't stop the exam," Anko said.
A Chuunin opened the door. "Excuse me," he interrupted.
"What is it?" Anko asked annoyed. "We're in the middle of an important matter," she said.
"I'm sorry. But please take a look at this," he said showing a video tape.
"A video?" the larger ANBU fighter asked.
The Chuunin proceeded to put the tape into the slot. "Now here," he began as the TV focused. "Please take a look at the time."
The video showed Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari. It also showed 16 hours 37 minutes (4:37 pm)
"This is?" Anko said shocked.
"This is the recording of the second test, an hour and 37 minutes in," the Chuunin explained.
"How is this possible?" Anko asked.
"In only 97 minutes…This has never happened before. It's very abnormal. To demolish the old test record by 4 hours," the Chuunin commented.
"That's not all. Look at the brown haired boy. Not a scratch. Not even dust on his clothes," Anko pointed out.
"No Chuunin could get passed the second test unscathed," the Chuunin said.
It must be his ability. This one appears to have promise. Though I don't like his eyes," the other ANBU fighter said viewing Gaara's glaring expression.
The Third Hokage looked grim as he read the report. "Leave me with Anko alone," he instructed the ANBU ninjas. They nodded and left the room.
"Do you feel compromised by this revelation," the Third asked.
"No, I will do my duty," Anko said defensively.
"Orochimaru allowed you to live; he must have some affection for you. We may be able to use this against him," the Third informed her.
"I have considered this," Anko lied.
"After the Chuunin exam I want you to stay in Konoha for a while until we discover Orochimaru's intentions," the Third ordered.
Anko stood up and nodded. The Third watched her as she left.
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