Chunnin Exams: Second Stage/Call of Duty: Brothers in Arms
Naruto exited the classroom and headed towards the forest. His head was lowered as he thought about what he had just done in the classroom. On the second floor, he had told his team to not say anything about the genjustu to keep the competition down. And yet, in the first exam, he had rallied everyone there to stay. He couldn't figure out why he did that and it was driving him insane. It had just felt right at the time.
The kyubi sensed this and sent a thought to his adopted son.
"Seems like you allowed your leader side to take over back in there. Your birth father most likely would have done the same. From what I've heard, that man could lead armies to the gates of hell and they would believe he would get them back out. You are becoming more and more like him in that regard everyday kit."
Naruto absentmindedly nodded and looked back up. He thought about the message he left Ibiki. He then thought about what he knew of the second test. He was sure that whatever Anko had planned in the forest would not be fun for most of the people here. Oh sure he could handle it, but that was only because he had practically lived there sometimes when he and Mizuki would train there during his academy years.
And that had not been all fun and games. For the first month, Mizuki had had to constantly safe his rear end as the rather large creatures tried turning him into a snack. Oddly for some reason that neither for the life of them could figure out, the creatures never went after the shadow clones that had been training. After that month though, Naruto was able to get to the point where he could actually make escaping those monsters training. And six months after they started he was at the point where if he had to, he could make them think twice about going after him.
Naruto thought back on those times and looked at the two rook teams in front of him. Sakura and Sasuke he knew could hold their own if they ever got separated in there for a short time. He and Kakashi had made a point of making sure they could handle themselves against multiple opponents that were stronger than them until reinforcements could come. But besides Hinata, he had no idea what the rest of the rooks could do. Naruto frowned as he realized that the forest might be too much for them.
Sighing again at how he was letting his leader side once again get the best of him he called out "Teams 8 & 10! I need a word with you."
Said rook teams stopped and turned around to face him while the rest of the teams gave them a weird look but kept going. Sakura and Sasuke gave Naruto a confused look but did not say anything as they caught up with the other rooks.
Before the rooks could ask what he wanted, Naruto said "Guys, I don't mean to offend, but I know exactly what is in that forest, and except for maybe Hinata, I don't think you're ready for what's in there."
Kiba suddenly interrupted before he could continue "Are you saying we should drop out? Because if so then I ought to hit you right now!"
Naruto sighed and said "Let me finish Inuzuka. As I was saying, the forest might be a little much for you guys so I was going to give you some help if you want it."
This time it was Shikamaru who spoke up "Why would you want to help us though?"
Naruto sighed and said "Things are not what they seem Nara. I want to make sure that you guys don't get too far above your heads. Now do you guys want my help or not?"
Before the others could say they did not need help, Hinata spoke up. "If Naruto thinks that there could be trouble for us, then we should take him seriously. He has trained in that forest for almost two years and knows the area better than most shinobi. If he wants to help then we should accept his offer."
Naruto shot a grateful look at her which she smiled at. The other rooks muttered to themselves for a moment before they all nodded at him.
This time it was Shino who spoke next. "Very well, we accept. What do you suggest?"
Naruto then said "I'll be sending teams into the forest. Expect a squad with a summon escort. They will do their best to help you with the test. Inuzuka, keep your nose peeled for foxes. Other than that, all I can say is good luck."
With that, Naruto walked past them with Sakura and Sasuke following. Both had just stood there trying to figure out why Naruto would help out the rooks like that. Shrugging it off as a Naruto thing, they followed him without a word until they reached the forest.
Ten minutes later, all of the teams were standing in front of a gate numbered one that was part of a really large fence with a forest with extremely large trees. A large roar was suddenly heard from the forest making many in the group flinch.
"Ah my home away from home." Naruto said, drawing looks from the foreigners as well as some of the leaf vets who did not know about his two year training in there and most of the rooks.
Anko, who was in front of the group looking at the teams smirked and said "That's the spirit brat! Now then, first things first, I need you to sign these consent forms."
One of the sand teams asked "Why do we need to sign consent forms? We already signed those to take the exam in the first place."
Before Anko could say anything, Naruto spoke up again. "It's probably so that way the Leaf and by proxy, Anko here can not be held responsible for your death. And believe me, that is very possible in that forest. I should know, I spent the better part of two years coming to train in that forest with one of my Academy teachers. Speaking of training in there, hey Anko, you ever find that twenty five foot tiger Mizuki-sensei and I accidentally let get away that one time we were in the restricted section?"
Everyone's eyes became wider than dinner plates as he said this. Even Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. Meanwhile, the rooks on teams 8 and 10 were suddenly glad for Naruto's offer.
They got their answer as Anko got an evil grin and said "Yup, take a look at this brat." And with a flourish, she brought out a sealing scroll and with a poof of smoke, a five foot long tooth was shown. "I really should thank you two. You guys beat that guy up so good it only took me two minutes to kill it. I got the bigger tooth mounted in my bedroom."
Naruto noticed all the looks he was getting and said "What? The guy came at us when we accidentally went in the restricted section once. I didn't even do much. Mizuki-sensei was the one who went head to head with the big guy. I just used a fire justu to catch the guy's fur on fire."
The rooks' eyes all widened and Kiba said "You're telling me Mizuki-sensei went head to head with a twenty five foot tiger? Why the hell is he not a Jounin already?"
Naruto just shrugged and said "When I asked him the same question, he just said he'd rather teach."
Anko then said "As much fun as it talking about what the brat and his teacher did while they were in there, we have an exam to run. Now then, let me explain a few things. For those of you babies wondering if you will have to face something like that, the creatures in the forest that actually reach that size are inside an area marked the restricted section. None of you will be going in that area. (A ton of relieved sighs while Anko and Naruto laughed.) That doesn't mean that the rest are to be taken lightly though. Now then, you guys will be playing a ninja version of capture the flag. Or in this case, capture the scroll."
Anko pulled out two more scrolls from the other side of the coat to the one she put the resealed tooth in. Continuing she said "After each team turns in all three consent forms, they will be given either a heaven or an earth scroll. Inside at the center of the forest, is a tower. You must obtain both scrolls and reach the tower within five days."
Chouji suddenly shouted out "Five Days? What do we do for food?"
Anko chuckled and said "There's plenty of food in the forest to kill or find. Just don't eat anything poisonous. Speaking of which, hey brat, what did you think tasted better, that giant centipede we killed that one time or the ten foot tiger we found in the north east corner?"
Naruto cocked his head and said "Definitely the tiger, though that centipede isn't too far behind."
Everyone once again looked at Naruto. Some were shuddering from hearing he had eaten a centipede while others were making mental notes not to mess with the blond. Others were starting to wonder if most of the forest was overrated except the restricted section.
Anko decided to once again get the ball rolling again. "Well anyway, there are a couple or rules you should know about before we get started. First rule: Only full teams of three can enter the tower. You lose one of your teammates or one is indisposed, you fail. Also, you can not open your scrolls until you are inside the tower. This is to test you to see if you are trustworthy enough to run missions where you carry classified information."
One of the waterfall ninja asked "What happens if we open them before?"
Anko got an evil grin and said "That's for those who ignore the rule to find out."
Finished explaining, Anko took a seat under a tree while she waited for the teams to sign their forms and trade them in at a booth with a curtain for a scroll. Once they had their scroll, teams took off to their gates. Some teams glanced at Naruto on the way out while others looked nervously into the forest.
When Team 7 went in to get their scroll. Naruto sealed the heaven scroll into a special sealing scroll and put the scroll in one of his cargo shorts pockets which held another scroll like it for the other scroll. Seeing his teammates confused looks, he explained how the scrolls required his precise chakra signature to unseal the items put into them. The two nodded in understanding before they took off to their gate.
Once they were at their gate, Naruto turned around and said "All right guys, fair warning before we go in there. The creatures in the forest are dangerous but only if you don't take them absolutely seriously. Get them alone and you should have no problems."
The two nodded. Five minutes later, their gate opened and Naruto led them 100 feet into the forest before stopping.
Naruto expanded all of his senses, checking to if anyone was immediately close to their position. Finding no one besides the chunnin who let them into the forest in a 200 foot range, he nodded to himself before getting to work.
Naruto focused and his chakra suddenly flared into a bonfire making Sakura and Sasuke jump back in surprise. Forming his favorite justu, six squads of three clones appeared in front of them. Naruto's bonfire immediately disappeared, but he wasn't done yet. He bit his thumb and ran through the familiar hand signs before slamming his palm down on the ground with a small cry of summoning justu. A poof of smoke and a popping sound later seven foxes of regular size were standing between team 7 and the clone teams.
As soon as the foxes had a chance to look around, Naruto went into captain mode. Pointing to each team as he gave them their orders, he explained what he needed.
"All right guys, here's the plan. Teams Alpha and Bravo will head to my left along the fence until they reach the next two gates on that side. Alpha turns inward at the first gate, Bravo team continues to the next gate before coming in as well. Teams Charlie and Delta will do the same on my right. Your jobs will be to track down the teams from those gates and obtain their scroll if possible. I've given each clone enough chakra to create ten more clones or use 5 B-rank justu. Teams Echo and Foxtrot will be locating teams 8 and 10 and provide support for them. Foxes, I need you to help the squads locate teams. When a team has obtained a scroll, guide them back to Team 7's position while avoiding as much conflict as possible. Rigeoned, I want you with my team. (The fox closest to Naruto nodded at this.) Fengril, (Said fox raised his head an inch.) Team 8 is a tracking unit with a ninja dog. Lock onto its scent to find them easier."
Seeing the fox nod, Naruto continued. "Use radios to maintain contact. We'll stick to our usual frequency. If you get out of range, use shadow clone memory to update us if you discover anything the rest of us need to know about. Are there any questions?"
Seeing everyone shake their heads, he nodded.
"Scatter!"
In a flash, the squads took off leaving only team 7 and the last of the foxes who went to stand beside Naruto. Turning to his teammates while unsealing a radio set, he said "We're heading straight to the tower. We're going hard, and we're going fast. We encounter a team with a scroll, we hit them blitzkrieg style, grab their scroll, and keep going. Once at the tower, we wait for Teams Alpha through Delta before going in. While waiting, we'll set up defensive traps around us to keep us safe. Any questions?"
Seeing the two shake their heads Naruto said "Then take off your weights. Like I said, we're going for speed here. I'll use my chakra sensing as well as sense of smell to warn us of teams. Rigeoned here will be doing the same."
Said fox nodded his head before shrinking himself and hopping into one of Naruto's pockets so he could focus more on finding other teams in the area than where he was going. Sakura and Sasuke stared before snapping out of their stupor and disengaging the chakra weights Naruto had given them in Wave. The team then shot off through the woods at high speeds.
With Team 8
Team 8 was one of the lucky teams in that they got their other scroll rather quickly. A leaf vet team had tried sneaking up on them and had ended up falling into a trap set up by the team. Now the team was jumping from tree to tree on their way to the tower.
Suddenly Kiba stiffened. Seeing this Hinata activated her Byakugan while Shino asked "What's wrong?"
Kiba looked at him before turning back around and said "I smell fox. And it's coming fast. Real fast."
Hinata dropped her Byakugan just as four blurs came at them from a thirty degree angle behind them before bouncing off one of the trees the team was jumping from. The blurs turned into a squad of three Narutos with a fox keeping pace with them no problem. The clones each took a position ahead of the tracker team in a pyramid formation with the fox in the middle between the two clones in the wing positions.
The clone in the lead turned around in the air and said "We're going to be your escort to the tower. Our team's name is Foxtrot." As he was saying this, he shot off from the next branch without even looking.
Kiba smirked and said. "Thanks, but I don't think we'll need it. We already have both scrolls."
The clone just smirked as well and said "All the more reason for us to escort you to the tower. If the other teams know you have both scrolls they'll come after you since no matter which scroll they already have, they get the other scroll as well as an extra they could use to bargain with."
Kiba frowned but didn't say anything more. Shino and Hinata simply nodded. The lead clone also nodded and flipped around in time to launch himself off the next branch facing forward. He then reached to his radio and set it from standby receive to active communication and said "Team Foxtrot reporting. Located Team 8. Heading to tower now."
The original Naruto's voice came from the radio.
"Roger that Foxtrot good luck. We'll meet you at the tower."
"Roger. Foxtrot over and out."
The two teams kept going for ten minutes before all of the members of Foxtrot suddenly stiffened.
Team 8 noticed this and Shino asked what was wrong.
The clones and fox frowned and the leader said "We're coming up on that sand team the boss asked about. There's also another team close to them. We're going to have to go around them."
Kiba snorted and said "Why? If we know their there then why not take them in an ambush? We could get more scrolls and cut the competition that way."
The clone turned around again and said. "The answer is simple. You guys are a tracking team. Those guys are more like the sand version of Team 7 which is a rapid response/heavy assault team. Even if you did ambush them, their youngest member could probably kill all three of you with that sand he controls. And that's not counting that other team out there. Can you honestly say you could leave a fight with two other teams without a scratch?"
Kiba was about to respond to that before they got too close and Akamaru started shivering and whining. Kiba frowned and asked "What's wrong boy?" The pup just whimpered some more before going deeper into Kiba's coat.
Hinata asked "What's wrong with Akamaru Kiba?"
Kiba frowned some more and said "Akamaru has the ability to sense how strong people are. He says there is someone there who is absurdly strong."
The clones heard this and the one on the right looked back and said "That's why we're avoiding them. If that guy takes us out, you guys are on your own. It's better to avoid battles if you don't think you can come out on top if you can."
Kiba didn't say anything since he was too concerned with Akamaru while Hinata and Shino remained silent as well.
The lead clone turned around and changed course at the next branch taking the two teams around the confrontation.
With Team 10
Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were currently hiding in the bushes as Neji was walking past.
Turning to the bush, he said "You can come out now. I know you're there."
The team slowly came out of the bush but before Ino could try and make a fool of herself by trying to get Neji to go for her looks, a voice called out from behind Team 10.
"Leave them alone Neji."
Team 10 turned around and looked up where a squad of Naruto clones was standing on a branch with a fox sitting down at their feet. The squad and fox were looking down at Neji in a semi relaxed stance ready to rush him if they needed to.
Neji just smirked and said with a smug look. "So the failure has come to protect the other failures."
The clones all rose an eyebrow before the leader spoke up.
"Whatever you say Neji. Now, are you going to leave or are we going to have a fight?"
Neji just scoffed and said "I don't have time for failures like you." He then turned and jumped away into the trees.
The clones frowned but didn't say anything.
Ino however was pissed. But before she could say anything, Shikamaru put a hand on her should before turning back to the squad and said "Thanks for the assist."
The leader nodded and said "Don't mention it. By the way do you guys have both scrolls yet?"
Shikamaru shook his head and said "Not yet. We still need a heaven scroll."
The clones grinned while the one on the leader's left said "Well then, I guess it's a good thing we took out that team of Waterfall ninja on the way here. The guys never stood a chance when we blitzkrieged them on the way here."
The leader tossed the scroll to them before setting his radio to general communication and said "Team Echo reporting. Team 10 found. Heading to the tower now."
The originals voice came through the radio.
"Roger that Echo. Foxtrot's already in bound to the tower. Be careful out there. See you at the tower."
"Roger. Echo over and out."
Setting his radio back to standby receive he looked back at Team 10 before saying "Follow us." Echo team took off in a pyramid formation with the fox in the middle and team 10 followed.
Back with Team 7, Naruto had just got off the radio with Echo Team before Rigeoned suddenly jerked his head up and said "We're coming up on a team. They seem pretty weak to me. Most likely genjustu users."
Naruto frowned at that wondering who was the idiot that thought an all genjustu team would work out. Focusing his senses to the front of him, he picked up on the chakra signatures and agreed with Rigeoned.
Calling over his shoulder he said "Sakura, Sasuke, get ready. We're about to get another scroll."
Both rooks stiffened before listening to Naruto explain the plan.
Meanwhile, a team of Mist ninja was setting up traps for anyone unlucky enough to come their way. Finished setting up, they were about to activate a wide area genjustu when they found a foot in each of their faces. Team 7 kicked off the mist ninja back flipping before landing on the ground and shot back to the ninja where they landed punching them in the stomach with enough force to knock them out.
After a quick search for the mist team's scroll, which was fortunately an earth scroll, Team 7 kept going on to the tower.
Later
Team 7 was currently thirty minutes out from the tower. They hadn't picked off anymore teams but that was just fine to Naruto. He had been getting that feeling again and just wanted to get to the tower as quickly as possible. Just as he was about to create a clone so he could get his team there even faster by piggy backing the other two, he sensed a very powerful wind justu incoming.
Eyes widening, Naruto quickly turned himself around in midair and pushed his teammates back to the branch they were just on. Sakura and Sasuke could only widen their eyes as the blast of wind hit Naruto and sent him flying out of sight.
With Naruto, he was blasted a good two miles away from his teammates. Landing, he discovered multiple cuts along his body that were already healing. Frowning he checked his pockets to find most of his scrolls were still intact, thankfully the two with the heaven and earth scrolls were among them.
Rigeoned had jumped out when he had landed and shifted back to his regular size before checking himself as well. He only had a few minor cuts along his body. Looking up and back the way they came, the fox gave a low whistle at what he saw. "Uh Naruto, you may want to see this."
Naruto looked up and gave a low whistle of his own. All of the trees at the level he was at before were turned to shreds. Cocking his head Naruto said "Good thing I'm a wind user. If I hadn't put that wind shield over us we really would have been screwed. Glad I got Sakura and Sasuke out of the way of that. They wouldn't have stood a chance."
While they were talking, an extremely large snake that had absolutely no right being outside of the restricted section was coming up behind them. Just before it launched itself at the two Naruto and Rigeoned turned around and jumped backwards as far as they could to avoid it.
Naruto's eyes widened before he said "Rigeoned, get clear! I'm going pinball!"
Said fox nodded and shot off away from the snake while Naruto wreathed himself in a full body wind shield again. Only this one was a five foot shell covering everything but right under his feet. The snake was about to strike again when Naruto said "Ah hell no! I did not get this far to be eaten by a snake!" With that, he launched himself straight through the snake and came out on the other side. The snake hissed in pain, but Naruto wasn't done yet. He ricocheted off of the tree in front of him to other trees like a pinball going against the bouncers constantly tearing through the snake.
Fifteen seconds later, the snake crashed to the ground. Naruto disengaged his wind shield but he and Rigeoned got the surprise of their lives when the snake suddenly disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Rigeoned who had just rejoined Naruto cocked his head while Naruto frowned.
'A summon? But I thought the only ones with a snake summons were Anko and Oro-' Naruto's eyes widened as he suddenly felt a massive chakra presence.
Father and son shared one thought 'You have got to be kidding me.' Turning to where he felt the presence, he frowned when it came from where he was before.
Turning to Rigeoned he said. "Get back in Rigeoned, we're going to have to move fast." Said fox nodded before once again shrinking back down and going into one of Naruto's pockets that hadn't been torn by the wind attack.
While he was doing this, Naruto had turned on his radio and told Teams Alpha through Delta to head to Sakura and Sasuke's position as quickly as they could. Disengaging his weights once Rigeoned was in place, he shot off through the woods back to his teammates.
Back with Sakura and Sasuke, both were panting real hard. The grass nin that had shown up and later revealed himself to be Orochimaru had hit them hard and fast. Both of them knew that if they hadn't been hard core trained by Naruto and Kakashi since they had first graduated then they would have been dead right now. As it was, they were barely able to stay alive. And the worst part was that he was playing with them.
Sakura and Sasuke were currently on a branch panting while Orochimaru was standing across a twenty five foot gap on a tree in front of them. All of a sudden his neck extended and he bit Sasuke on the neck who immediately began screaming in pain. As he was pulling his head back to his body, a half foot wide concentrated white hot stream of fire suddenly connected and traveled up the Sannin's body. Sakura and an even more gasping Sasuke found themselves to their relief looking at Naruto's back and they could tell that he was NOT happy.
In Naruto's mind, he could hear the Kyubi growling up a storm from his anger at seeing the one who had killed his mate and kit. Surprisingly though, he wasn't saying anything, just getting ready to give a hand if he needed to.
The body of Orochimaru suddenly turned into mud as the real one came out from inside the tree. Looking at Naruto, he began chuckling before he said "Ku Ku Ku, looks like another mouse has come to play. But what can you do I wonder? No matter, I've gotten what I came for."
At this, Naruto gave a quick glance at Sasuke before frowning. Raising his voice, he shouted out to Orochimaru's confusion "Squads! Sound off! 7!'
Immediately after from four different angles, shouts were heard.
"Alpha!"
"Bravo!"
"Charlie!"
"Delta!"
Right after the shouts were made, four five foot wide streams of white fire met each other on the tree the Sannin was in forming a wide X. Sakura and Sasuke stared at the tree while Naruto watched with a frown on his face. When the fire was over, there was nothing left of the tree but ash and no sign of the snake user. Rigeoned and Naruto focused their senses as much as they could while the four clone squads came up to them but neither could find the Sannin.
Right after the clones came into view Sasuke gave one last scream while clutching his neck before dropping on the branch unconscious.
Sakura screamed out "Sasuke-kun!" while trying to figure out what she should do to help him.
Naruto and the clones frowned even more when they saw the mark on his neck. Turning to his squads he said "We need to get him to the tower ASAP. Form a five foot square box pyramid formation." The clones nodded while Naruto formed another clone. The clone put Sasuke on the original Naruto's back before telling Sakura to hop onto its back. Once Sakura was in position, the group shot off to the tower.