Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any character/technique from the manga/anime. I only own this story and any character or technique that I create."
Hey guys thanks for reading this new chapter. Thank you to all the new favorites and followers for this story. I apologize for the slow update speed, but I started work on a new story which has taken up a bit of my time. I would definitely like to increase my update speed for this story but I have little motivation to do so. I ask that if you like the story to let me know your thoughts and feelings about it. I like to see your likes and dislikes so I know what to better on for this story. Thanks again to everyone for reading the story and I hope to hear from you.
This chapter continues the Chunin exams and will be the first of two chapters that deal with the second exam. I hope you enjoy.
Alone together
Chapter 14
Naruto,
Naruto, Sasuke, and Kumori sat outside of a huge forest surrounded by a large chain-linked fence. They were waiting for the next Exam to begin. Naruto looked up into the sky and thought about the forests name, The Forest of Death. He knew that this exam would be much harder than the first part was and he couldn't wait. He heard Kumori shift over to his side.
"Hey Naruto what was that thing you did to Kabuto's cards?"
"I used a paper bomb seal on them."
"When did you learn how to do that? And why didn't you tell us?"
Now Sasuke was also interested in Naruto's newfound techniques.
"I started working on them before the wave mission. The only book on sealing that I had was damaged so I didn't learn much but I thought it was interesting. I wasn't very good at it then so I didn't say anything. I found a book on the sealing in one of the stores in Tazuna's village. It was written by an Uzumaki so I wanted to read it. When I asked the owner how much it was he just gave it to me for helping to save their land. I felt like this stuff was coming fairly easy to me and I didn't know why. As I kept reading I learned that the Uzumaki clan was once a great clan who were masters of Fuinjutsu, the sealing arts. I guess I was so excited to learn about it that I forgot to mention it to you guys."
Sasuke smirked at his friend. Naruto was never the smartest guy in the bunch but he had improved significantly from the time they became friends. Part of him was still amazed that Naruto was actually able to do seals.
"So what kind of seals can you do?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto thought about what he had learned so far. There was so much information in the book but he hadn't gotten very far yet.
"I can do simple flame seals, like that paper bomb seal I did to Kabuto. I can also do some storage seals, and I'm learning about weight seals."
"Weight seals?" Kumori asked.
"Like training weights except that they are activated by chakra."
Naruto continued to talk among his friends. He felt a little bit weird as usually it was the two of them who were more intellectual so teaching them about seals was interesting.
"All right all you maggots let's get things started." Anko yelled out to the group. "This exam is a survival and a retrieval test. Each team will be given one of two scrolls. A heaven scroll and an earth scroll. Your mission is to collect the other scroll you need from an enemy team and to get both scrolls to the tower in the center of this forest. You have five days to complete your assignment."
"So we have to fight the other teams?" a random Genin asked.
"Yes you need both scrolls to pass this test. At least half of you lot will fail this test. So don't be one of the losers, you got that?"
"Yes ma'am." The younger ninja said allowed.
"In this forest you can easily find food, water, shelter or anything else you might need. But there is more than just enemy shinobi to watch out for. There are vicious beasts and insects, as well as poisonous plants to watch out for."
Most of the Genin were officially frightened form Anko's words. Naruto on the other hand was shaken with excitement. He could tell that this was going to be a fun test. Especially compared to that damn written test of Ibiki's.
"Also, no matter what, do not under any circumstances open either scroll before you get to the tower. If you do, well, even I won't be able to save you from the consequences. Now each team will approach our tables and collect their scrolls."
Naruto's team was given a heaven scroll. They gave the scroll to Sasuke and waited at their assigned door. Naruto looked into Kumori and Sasuke's eyes and they all knew what needed to happen. First they needed a safe place for shelter. Then they need to set up traps for enemy ninja who wanted to fight with the rookies. Finally they need food and water for the days they were in there. Lucky Naruto had food and water stored away inside of scrolls just for this occasion.
After about ten minutes of running through the trees Naruto noticed a small cave on the ground. He motioned to the others and they stopped at the caves entrance.
"Do you thin anything's in there?" Kumori asked.
"I have an idea." Naruto said quietly
"What do you have in mind?" Sasuke asked interested.
"We set up some traps out here, I send in a couple clones and if anything happens the enemy will come out and spring our ambush."
"Assuming they actually come out, that's not a bad idea." Sasuke said as he pulled out a spool of ninja wire.
Naruto went into his bag and pulled out a stack of explosive tags he made, and then created a few clones inside the cave. He watched Sasuke set up the ninja thread at the entrance in a web. Kumori created kunai spring traps that faced the opening and he positioned himself with his sword on top of the cave just in case. Naruto then attached his bombs to the ninja wire and he and Sasuke grabbed separate ends that when pulled would spring the trap.
"Ok now two of you change into clones of Sasuke and Kumori." The followed the originals instructions and transformed. "Now you guys know what to do."
Naruto waited for a few moments as the clones explored the inside of the cave. After a couple of minutes he heard shouts coming from inside the cave.
"Get back here."
"Your dead leaf ninja!"
"Too easy."
Realizing that a team of ninja were heading in their direction Naruto waited for the clones to get close enough to the entrance. Once they made it to the opening Naruto cancelled the jutsu causing them to disappear.
"What?"
"Shit I can't stop!"
Two of the ninja ran straight into the wire and Naruto and Sasuke pulled on their ends causing the two unfortunate shinobi form the Village Hidden in the Rain to become wrapped in the wire. Naruto then pushed chakra into the wire setting off the explosive tags. Luckily the tags were not lethal so it didn't kill the shinobi, but it did knock them out and caused vast injury to them. The final ninja from the team leapt out of the cave right into the broad side of Kumori's sword. As his head bashed into the blade the ninja fell to the ground unconscious. Naruto, Sasuke, and Kumori tied the three up after getting their scroll. Unfortunately it was another heaven scroll.
"Darn it. All that work and for nothing." Naruto complained.
"Hey it's not against the rules to collect multiple scrolls right." Sasuke said to the others.
"Nope, I guess that's one less team making it the next round." Kumori said as the three laughed to themselves.
They decided that with this team here it wasn't a safe place to set up a camp so after rigging the cave entrance again in case another team came along the moved on. Naruto stopped on a branch in the middle of a heavy forested area.
"I'm going to make some clones and send them out as a scouting party. We need to rest so I'm going to have others keep watch for us."
"Ok, Sasuke lets have me and you make some traps around here then."
"Ok guys let's get to work."
Naruto created around fifty clones. Forty of them he sent out to silently scout out the forests around him. The other ten took their places surrounding them and he sat down a little tied form the day. He watched Sasuke and Kumori as they worked together to set up a perimeter defense. As he laid back his thoughts drifted to another friend which surprised him. He thought of Hinata. The girl who always seemed to follow him around and blush whenever he came around.
"I wonder if she could like me. Probably not, she's the heiress of a noble clan, and me, I'm just an orphan. But still. I can't believe that I never realized just how beautiful she looks." He thought to himself.
Fresh memories filled Naruto's mind as one of his scouting clones had been destroyed. Naruto recalled a Grass ninja with long black hair, and eyes filled with killer intent. The most startling thing was the ninja was coming up fast.
…
Sasuke,
As Sasuke put the finishing touches on his last trap he felt a cold chill go down his back. A massive source of Chakra was heading in their direction.
"Sasuke, Kumori get over here quick!" He heard Naruto yell out.
Sasuke quickly ran over to Naruto at the campfire and found the blonde and Kumori waiting for him.
"What's going on Naruto?" Kumori asked.
"We have incoming. There is a grass ninja heading our way. And by the feel of it, their strong."
"Ok guys, we can handle it as long as we work together. Naruto, how long do we have until he gets here?"
"Any minute now. Are the traps set?"
"Ready to blow." Kumori answered.
A loud rumbling came from the trees ahead of them. Two giant snakes came shooting out of the forest heading straight towards them. Sasuke held on to a wire and as the snakes came closer he pulled the wire tight. As the snakes came within an inch as the three ninja several razor sharp wires entwined the snakes and cut into their skin quickly. The snakes fell to the ground dead as the wire passed through their bodies. Laying on the ground in pools of blood the snakes puffed out of existence in clouds of smoke.
"Good job Sasuke. That was a close one." Naruto said to the raven haired ninja.
"We are not out of danger yet Naruto."
As Sasuke looked at his teammate, the three were hit by a large gust of wind. Sasuke didn't see where Kumori or Naruto was being sent but he felt his body crash through branches, leaves, and bushes until he fell to the ground and rolled to a stop.
His leg was slightly injured and was bleeding as he stood up. He heard laughter coming from the trees ahead of him. Out of the forest a Grass ninja stopped several feet away from the young Uchiha. She had large black eyes and a sadistic smile upon his face.
"Hello Sasuke Uchiha. That was such an interesting trap that you had set for me. My poor snake summons, you killed them well didn't you?" The ninja said following with a disturbing chuckle.
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded.
"I am simply a predator chasing his prey, and what a delicious chase this has turned out to be."
"Just wait till my team gets here. You'll be toast you creep."
"Oh I wouldn't worry about those two, ku ku ku. My pets are dealing with them as we speak. I have you all to myself now. Come and show me your power. Show me you resolve."
Like a snake the ninja extended her body and slithered quickly over to Sasuke. Sasuke barley managed to jump out of the way in time for the ninja to smash into a large tree creating a large crater in the bark. Sasuke flashed through hand signs and shot a large fire ball at the ninja. She screamed in pain as the fire engulfed her body. The Grass ninja seemed to burn in the fire but she simply laughed in the heat.
"My, my, you are resourceful. But you are far too weak at the moment Sasuke."
"What….what are you?"
Sasuke looked with a fear he had never felt before. This ninja put Zabuza too shame. She was a monster.
"Oooh, ku ku ku, I can sense our fear and desperation. But it's only natural for the prey to panic in the presence of its hunter."
Sasuke stood paralyzed by fear as the ninja moved quickly towards him.
…
Kumori,
Kumori stood up after being blown away from his teammates. He had no idea where he was or how far he was from Naruto or Sasuke. He looked into the sky to see that sun was slowly starting to move to the west. He judged that it was roughly 5:00. He had around four hours until it would be pitch black in these woods. He had to locate his team before that could happen.
Kumori became aware that something was coming up on him fast. He turned around to see four large snakes barreling toward him.
"More of you guys huh?"
He quickly launched himself into the air as the snakes rammed into each other where he had just been standing. Kumori landed on a tree branch and took out his sword. The snakes quickly located him and one speared towards him mouth open revealing large sharp fangs waiting to pierce his body. Swinging himself around Kumori swung his blade into the open jaw of the snake separating the top of its head from the rest of the body. As blood sprayed from the snakes wound it fell to the ground in a large pile dead. The other three snakes attacked at the same time, forcing Kumori to move and dodge his way through the many branches and trees to escape the fierce predators.
"Naruto, Sasuke, I sure hope you guys are handling yourselves better than I am at the moment."
One of the snakes exploded for a tree in front of him mouth gaping. Kumori swung his sword down cleaving through the snakes head. He landed atop of the snake and ran down its body as the other two crawled over top of their fallen ally. Kumori concentrated and focused chakra into his feet and as the two snakes tried to attack he pushed himself high into the air.
"OK Kumori you can do this. You have practiced this move countless times. Time to put it into action." He thought to himself.
Kumori channeled chakra throughout his body and extended it into his sword. The blade began to glow a light blue hue and he quickly descended for the skies toward the two surprised serpents.
"Sword art: Tornado Falling Dance!"
He pushed himself to begin a rapid spin through the air and swung his sword out as hard as possible causing him to rotate faster. The snakes barely felt as the blade slashed through them in a spiraling pattern. Kumori could sense the incoming ground and barely had time to flip himself around and catch himself to the ground with chakra. He sheathed his blade and leapt through the trees trying to find Naruto and Sasuke. Behind him the snakes remained motionless until they fell to pieces onto the ground and disappeared back to their summoning dimension.
Kumori felt a sharp pain in his arm and dropped to the ground. He had exerted a lot onto his muscles to carry out that attack, and he could feel them tear. But he knew that he needed to help his team. He felt through his pockets and fund a chakra pill that Seiya had given him. He had received a package that morning with a note from his little "Sister". Kumori remembered what the note had said as he ate the pill.
"Dear Kumori,
I know that you will do great in these exams and I will be rooting for you big brother. I managed to save up some money when the old ladies were not looking and bought these three pills for you. I know how you tend to overdo things. They are medical chakra pills for in case you get hurt. They will help your body to heal so use them wisely. Good luck big brother."
"Thank you Seiya. You save my butt here."
Kumori could feel the pill working as his muscles began to heal themselves. He knew that in the future he had to monitor the amount of force he put into that attack. As he felt better he began to jump through the trees and noticed another snake that appeared to be resting. As he readied himself to strike the snake he could see that its body began to expand.
"What the heck?"
The snake looked at its center in panic before it simply burst. The half of the snake with its head dropped to the ground as hundreds of Naruto clones launched out of its stomach.
"That's what you get you damned snakes. Think about that next time you try to eat a future Hokage. I should call you snake stew now." All of the clones began yelling insults at the dead snake's body.
"Naruto, would you shut and come on already." Kumori yelled as all the clones looked up at him and smiled before he cancelled the jutsu.
"Come on Kumori I'm just having some fun."
"We need to find Sasuke you idiot."
"Oh yeah. Let's go."
Kumori and Naruto rushed forward as they heard Sasuke yell out in pain.
…
Sasuke,
Sasuke watched as the Grass ninja sped towards him. He was truly terrified. He could feel the approaching ninja come at him in almost slow motion.
"I can't die, not yet."
Sasuke pushed chakra through his body and forced himself to move. He activated his Sharingan and reached into his backpack. He smiled at the Grass ninja and jumped high into the air. After making several hand signs Sasuke shot several fire balls from his mouth.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
The grass ninja smiled as she held her hand out and seemed to catch the fire I her hands. Several Shuriken were imbedded into her flesh and she simply pulled them out and dropped them onto the ground.
"Shuriken hidden inside the fire? Indeed you are good Uchiha. My turn."
The grass ninja began to make hand signs. Sasuke found that he could copy the hand signs and he matched the movements of the ninja.
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
Both ninja shot large fireballs from their mouths and watched as the two infernos collided turning the ground caught in their proximity to ash. Sasuke was growing tired. That last move had taken more chakra from him than he thought.
"That Sharingan of yours is interesting Sasuke. But you still are not fast enough. You are not as strong as he is, your brother."
Sasuke looked on in shock at the mention of Itachi. From behind him, Sasuke felt fangs pierce his arms and legs holding him into the air. As the pain shot through his body he let out a blood curling scream.
"Pain will make you so much stronger. I know you Sasuke you require power. I can give you that power."
Sasuke looked into this ninjas eyes with fear. Part of him knew that what this ninja said was true. All his life he wanted more power. Even though that need had been repressed with Naruto and Kumori, it was still their lingering in his mind.
"Take my power and use it to become a true avenger. That is what you are Sasuke. That is what you were meant to be." She said with seduction I her voice.
As Sasuke began to want to take this persons offer, he heard a slashing noise behind him. He fell from the air as the snakes that held him disappeared out of existence. As he fell he was caught by someone and they landed on a tree branch close by.
"That is definitely not who you are Sasuke."
Sasuke looked up to see Naruto and Kumori stand by him. He had shame in his eyes for almost falling for the offer.
"Sasuke Uchiha, I never took you for a coward." Sasuke looked in Naruto's eyes in surprise. "All this time you have been saying that you wanted to bring back the Uchiha clan and put your past behind you. You are an elite shinobi of this village. But now the first chance to get power you almost jump at it. This person almost kills you and you want their help. How weak have you become!"
"Naruto, there is no need to be so harsh." Kumori interrupted.
"No he needs to hear this! Sasuke, we are your friends. Your brothers. We will be by your side to help you with anything, including Itachi. Don't you dare act like some different weak ass pansy who only seeks power in their life? I will not let you ruin everything you have worked so damn hard for. Even if it means taking on this snake ass hole by myself!"
From behind them the three heard laughter.
"Well I must say I'm surprised that you two are still alive. And you Naruto Uzumaki, so many strong words there, I wonder if you can back up such a meaningless statement."
Snakes flew from the ninja's wrist strait at Naruto. Sasuke watched as Naruto leapt over the snakes and cut them in half with a kunai. He made a cross hand sign and summoned ten shadow clones and they began their assault. The other ninja easily dodged each strike with a grin on her face. Naruto began to get incredibly angry and his eyes turned red.
"Ah, so you are the Kyuubi host. This makes things far more interesting." The ninja smiled as his fingers began to glow. "I can't let you get in my way nine tailed fox. We shall have our fun at a different time. Five Pronged Seal!"
Sasuke watched in horror as his best friend was struck so hard in his stomach by this jutsu that he flew backwards into a tree with a large crunch. He fell from the indent he made in the tree and plummeted towards the ground.
"Naruto!"
Sasuke and Kumori dove to try and catch their friend but as they fell Kumori was knocked hard to the side and smashed into another tree. Sasuke was then grabbed out of the air and felt pain in his neck as Naruto disappeared from sight. The grass ninja had just bit down on Sasuke's shoulder filling him with tormenting agony. As the ninja laughed Kumori jumped from where he landed and slashed his blade at the ninja. She was quickly able to dodge the attack and laughed at these simple Genin.
"Who the hell are you? What did you do to Sasuke?"
"I gave him a parting gift, and if he survives the process then soon he will seek me out as only I can get him the power he so desperately desires." The ninja said as she grabbed the skin on her face. Kumori and Sasuke looked at the abomination in front of them as she pulled her face clean off.
"My name is Orochimaru. Remember me Sasuke as soon you will be mine." He said as he then merged with the tree and disappeared.
"Ahhhh!" Sasuke yelled out in pain as he fell unconscious.
"Sasuke!" Kumori yelled in worry. Then he looked down to see if he could find Naruto but he couldn't see the blonde anywhere. "Naruto! Damn it, what am I going to do?"
"You look like hell Kumori."
Looking up Kumori saw a pink haired Kunoichi holding on to his Blonde teammate.
"Sakura?"
"I heard what was going on so I came over to help. Don't worry Naruto will be fine. His arm and leg broke on impact form the tree but they seem to have healed for the most part. I did what I could."
"Thank you Sakura."
"We are not in the clear yet. We need to make sure that these two are safe."
Kumori and Sakura quickly went to work at setting up a safe camp. They both knew that they were far from safe. Naruto's body still had to heal from his injuries, and a strange purple chakra started to surround Sasuke. Their first day in the Forest of Death seemed to live up to its name.
…
Thank you guys for reading. This story is an Alternate Universe story so don't expect the next couple of chapters to be exactly the same as the cannon story, especially the preliminary round fights. Kumori's true identity will start to reveal itself next chapter. Please review and let me know your thoughts. I don't have a lot of motivation for this story which has been affecting the update speed.