Hello there everyone, this is the last part of Forest of Death, hope you enjoy it.
On a side note, I have fixed chap 1 – 3 and soon will do a few more of the early chapters.
Now onto the story,
Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.
.
.
.
.
Sasuke was looking at Ranmaru who was treating his teammates' wounds. Naruto was out cold but he didn't have any serious injuries. For Haku, over-consumption of chakra pills in short period of time was taking its toll. But fortunately it was not severe, nothing a good night sleep could not fix.
"Mind telling me what happened before coming to us? You guys were not in a fresh state, you know?" Sasuke asked as he looked around to see Sakura putting traps all around and Sai drawing something, but they seemed to perk up as well when they heard what Sasuke asked.
Ranmaru was debating with himself, unlike Naruto or Haku, he didn't know Team Seven that well so he wasn't sure whether to tell them the whole story or not.
As if Sasuke understood the little genin's inner turmoil, he relaxed his composure, "Not that I am complaining, without your team I am pretty sure I would have been in a messed up situation," He looked at his teammates and chuckled a bit, "Our whole team I suppose, for that, thank you." Sasuke told in a sincere voice. He might have a bit ego but he wasn't blind. He knew without Naruto's help that guy would have done, god knew what, to him and without Haku they wouldn't have escaped.
Ranmaru smiled, for the first time after coming in the forest, then he nodded as he motioned Sasuke to sit. If his team risked their lives to save this team, it definitely meant Naruto and Haku knew them or at least Sasuke quite well. He told him everything that happened to them, their idea of waiting for the exhausted teams, their encounter with the suspicious people and their retreat. Sai knew who the mysterious people were after hearing the description. Danzo told him about this other team's mission just in case they didn't collide with each other.
"Whose idea was it to wait near the tower?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"It was Haku-nee's." Ranmaru answered in a timid voice but was surprised when Sasuke laughed softly, even his teammates were a bit taken aback by this action.
"That girl, no matter what I do she is always few steps ahead of me." Sasuke chuckled inwardly as he stole a small glance at the said girl, although he and Haku had the same idea but the place where they wanted to wait for other teams were different, Haku's place was far more effective and a better choice but unfortunately both of their team encountered unwanted circumstances, but even then her team came and saved his.
"Take a rest Ranmaru, both of our team had a crazy day and it's just the first day in this hellhole. Tomorrow we decide what we can do." With that Sasuke left Ranmaru to talk with his team.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Sasuke asked when he came to his team, she was acting quite fidgety.
"Team five's strongest members are down." Sai said in an emotionless voice, Sasuke didn't like where it was going.
"So?" He asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"We won't be having any chances like this, weren't you the one who was waiting for an exhausted team to strike?" Sai replied back. Sasuke didn't say anything, he just looked at Sakura,
"What about you?" Sasuke asked in a calm tone, hearing his tone Sakura relaxed a bit as she thought Sasuke would be angry after listening to this.
"Sasuke-kun, our team is exhausted after the fight back there. I also think it is best if we take their scroll. It is, after all, everyone against everyone so I am pretty sure they won't hold it against us. Also if their scroll is same, then maybe we can exchange it with some other team?" Sakura voiced her opinion.
Sasuke was quite for a while, then he looked up, his face was calm as ever.
"So let me get this straight, you want us to backstab the team that came to save us from that freak although they were exhausted themselves, just because they are in vulnerable position now?" Sasuke asked, hearing that Sakura looked away with a guilty face but Sai was calm as ever.
"Our objective is to get the other scroll no matter what, if we are to pass this part of the exam, dickless. Your emotion will cause us to fail." Sai replied back calmly.
Hearing that, Sasuke closed his eyes. He opened them back with Sharingan blazing.
"Sai, sometimes I feel safer around enemies rather than you. From the time we spent, I understood one thing and that is you are the type that will backstab even their own teammates in order to get the goal done." Sasuke said in a cold voice, hearing that both of his teammates flinched but for different reason. Sakura was shocked because she never heard Sasuke using such a cold emotionless tone and Sai was shocked because Sasuke almost figured out the way a root worked and now he was sure that Sasuke knew more than he let on. Feeling that things would spiral out of hand, both Sasuke and Sai backed away. Sasuke headed back to where Team Five was but before he went, he looked back at Sakura,
"I expected more than that." He whispered harshly.
Hearing someone coming, Ranmaru came out from the tree trunk and was surprised when he saw it was Sasuke.
"Is there something wrong, Sasuke-san?" Ranmaru asked.
Sasuke just smiled and shook his head, "Nothing, just had a bad argument with my team. Is it ok if I stay here for the night?" Sasuke asked politely.
"Sure, if that is ok with you." Ranmaru replied back happily, hearing that Sasuke softened up a bit. He went inside the trunk to see Naruto was still unconscious and Haku was asleep, they both needed a good long rest after what happened.
"Why don't you go to sleep, Ranmaru? I will take the first watch." Sasuke suggested, Ranmaru nodded slowly as he went to sleep. In a minute he was asleep showing he was tired as well.
"Great, now I am saving another team from my own." Sasuke just shook his head as he sat down.
.
.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
.
.
With Hinata
Hinata was looking into the woods through the tower window. They were the second fastest team to complete the current part of the test, this year. But their team knew who to thank for this accomplishment; Gaara, Naruto and their lady luck. Before the test was about to begin, Naruto came to her and warned her about Gaara. He said the sand genin was radiating bloodlust like a lunatic and for some reason Naruto was getting the feeling that he was one of the strongest in the chunin exam, not a good combination which Hinata agreed as well.
But when she told her team, Kiba wanted to go for the sand team first in order to show that Naruto was wrong. Hinata and Shino, who started to have respect towards the blond genin, was able to stop him from doing so but they still ended up getting close to the sand team and for some reason Hinata thought it was Kiba's fault. But if it wasn't for her Byakugan, they would have seen the carnage caused by the said sand genin at front row seats. Hinata warned her teammates before they could get any closer and when the sand team left after crushing few other teams, they went to investigate the place hoping that they would be able to find any stray scroll and it seemed lady luck was on their side.
They got the scroll they needed but instead of rushing towards the tower, they made sure to go cautiously just in case they didn't cross paths with the sand team. They reached the tower in five hours after the start of the exam whereas the sand team finished in two.
Even now her teammates were making sure to avoid the sand team specially Gaara.
"Hope you are ok, Naruto-kun." With that Hinata went to train in one of the spare room.
.
With Naruto
.
Naruto woke up groggily, he felt like someone hammered his head ruthlessly. He looked around to see Haku and Ranmaru was asleep but was quite surprised to see Sasuke at the entrance of wherever they were.
"Yo, teme." Naruto greeted Sasuke weekly.
"Glad to see you up dobe." Sasuke chuckled as he looked back to see a fully awake Naruto.
"Guess we survived, huh?" Naruto stood up as he started to stretch.
"Thanks to your team, at the end Haku-chan used her powers to save us." Sasuke whispered at which Naruto smiled but raised an eyebrow when he heard how Sasuke addressed Haku, "By the way, I hope you are fresh and energized because it would help me a lot if you take over the watch now. Need some sleep here." Sasuke chuckled weekly.
Naruto laughed softly as he motioned Sasuke to come over, he went out to see where they were and where Sasuke's teammates were. He looked up to see that the sky was clearing up bit by bit indicating it was past dawn.
Naruto saw Sai giving him a weird look from where he was and Sakura was sleeping under another tree.
"Wait, why is Sasuke with us rather than his team?" Naruto thought, he made some shadow clones and told them to survey the area and after that he went back inside to talk with Sasuke but found him asleep. Before going to keep guard, an idea hit him. He grinned evilly and looked at Haku.
"Sorry, Haku-nee but this is too tempting to pass up." Naruto rubbed his hand like an evil mastermind.
.
Somewhere Else
.
"So what's the plan, Dosu?"
"We go in fast, strike hard, grab the girl and disappear."
"That's a nice idea but why the long face Kin?"
"Zaku, The idea Dosu has is quite good but I am still worried as to why Orochimaru-sama suddenly changed the plan from assassination to capture? Killing someone is quite easier than to catching the target alive. How are we going to get out kidnapping a Konoha genin inside Konoha?"
"We follow what Orochimaru-sama ordered, and as for your fears Kin, those are also taken care of. We will meet another person who will help us moving the target after we capture her."
"Let's get going then. You have an idea as to where they are, right?"
.
Sometimes Later with Kiri teams
.
"So, now then all of us are here, let us go through what he have to do." A person with grey hair tied in a ponytail with normal Kiri attire told his teammates as they were rushing forward.
"Bodoro, Anita found out there are two teams resting where our target is." Said a guy who is a bit chubby and also taller than the rest of them.
"Todo, we can't fail this. If they are resting it means they are tired and weak now and it is the perfect chance to strike them. We take the girl alive and if other members resist, kill them." The first guy named Bodoro told others and he looked at another team who was slightly behind, "Amori, take your team and keep guard here just in case no other team crosses path with us and if you hear explosion, come immediately."
The guy named Amori nodded as he motioned his team to slow down.
"Time to get Zabuza's 'weapon'."
.
.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
.
.
With Naruto and others
It had been long since Sasuke got some good sleep, for some reason he felt comfortable now. He tightened his hold on the soft pillow his head was buried on, it had a nice fragrance which soothed his heart, something that he needed for a long time. He dismissed the distant squeak and muffled laughter,
"Having a nice time sleeping, teme?" Naruto asked as if he found something funny.
He just grunted and buried his head deeper into the pillow earning another squeak.
"Umm, Sasuke-san, I am glad that you are having a good time but could I have my body back? I kind of need it to pass the exam you know." Haku whispered softly.
Sasuke's eyes flew open with activated Sharingan, which was something he shouldn't have done as the scene before him was now forever got engraved in his mind.
Sasuke was hugging Haku like a plush toy while using her assets as pillows effectively trapping her upper body and he positioned himself in a way that half of his body was on top of her and using his legs he trapped Haku's lower body. And from where he was he had a good close-up view of Haku's assets, although it was covered, it was still no less stimulating, and when he looked up he saw Haku was trying to give him a harsh glare but with her blushing cheeks and quivering lips it looked more sexy than angry.
Sasuke jumped back as if he was zapped by a lightning bolt but he forgot where he was, the tree trunk that they were inside was small so he hit the top wall and fell back to here he was before, but now he was fully on top of her while his face was closer to hers.
"Sa-Sasuke-san!" Haku gritted her teeth as she closed her eyes and started to count to ten, sixth time.
In a flash, Sasuke got up cautiously and without even looking at anyone he was gone.
A bit later, Naruto came out first holding his stomach while still laughing, Ranmaru came next whose face was as red as his dojutsu and finally Haku came out; her face was less red than Ranmaru but her eyes were closed and she was holding needles.
"Not a good sign." Sasuke gulped.
"Wait! I don't know what happened back there but I swear I was sleeping far away from you." Sasuke told quickly, every second was essential now.
"Umm, Sasuke-san. You didn't move from your place." A bit red Ranmaru shyly whispered, hearing that Sasuke's eyebrows shot up, Haku's face reddened more and Naruto's laughter died down. Haku glared at Ranmaru who gulped.
"When Naruto-nii woke up, I woke up as well but not fully, I don't know what they talked about but it seemed Naruto-nii wanted to guard. After that Sasuke-san slept in front of me and I went back to sleep again, to me it seemed he was still at his place when….." Ranmaru couldn't finish his sentence but everybody got the gist of what he wanted to tell.
"See, ask Naruto as well, there is no way for us to end up like this unless….." Sasuke voice went from desperation to understanding as he looked sharply at Naruto who was sweating bullets.
Seeing Sakura and Sai approaching, Haku sighed, "Let's just drop this subject. It. Never. Happened!" Haku said in an icy voice, chewing the words, and all three nodded their head vigorously in agreement.
"What happened?" Sakura asked in an edgy tone, she was not in a good mood after last night's confrontation.
"Nothing!" All three boys answered simultaneously.
"So, what now?" Sai asked.
"Now you are going to come with us, 'Zabuza's weapon'." A voice spoke a bit far away from them. The moment Team Five heard those two particular word, they froze. Haku looked up to see three Kiri Nin were looking down at them. But before they could even move or do anything, an angry growl was heard.
"Fuck off! Blow 'em up." Naruto angrily hissed, suddenly few branches of the tree around the Kiri nin transformed into Naruto's clone, the problem for Kiri nin was that they were explosive ones. The poor Kiri nin didn't even knew what hit them as the clones exploded around them. Sasuke didn't wait one bit as he soon followed up Naruto,
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." Sasuke threw his jutsu at the center of the explosion causing a massive blast.
The rest of their teammates were dumbfounded, even Haku and Sai. When the Kiri nin said those words, Haku knew the things were going to go from bad to worse and for Sai, it answered his suspicions, but both of them were thinking of how to get out of the situation without complicating things but it seemed Naruto and Sasuke had that covered. It looked like they were more of a 'Strike first Talk later' type of people.
"That was kind of…." Ranmaru spoke but,
"Anti-climactic?" Sakura finished for him.
"So when did you put the surveillance clone Naruto-kun?" Haku asked while releasing a long breath.
"When I was guarding the place." Naruto said as he kept releasing short breaths to calm himself down.
"So, what now?" Sai asked again.
The moment he finished that sentence, two more teams came down from different directions. One team had sound headband and another had Kiri headbands. There was a pregnant pause as if it was a standoff between three villages. The new Kiri nin looked at their former comrades and their demeanor hardened, sensing the danger Haku glanced at Naruto who was watching intently at the new intruders and suddenly he put his arms up as an act of surrendering. Everyone except Sasuke gasped, well Sai was technically emotionless so he didn't count.
"Ku ku ku, what have we here?" The voice froze almost all the examinees presented there, even Sai this time.
Orochimaru was standing few trees behind the sound team looking exactly like how they had seen him the last time.
"Orochimaru-sama." Kin whispered. Dosu and the rest of the sound team bowed immediately to the snake senin, if he came there by himself it meant whatever he intended to do, it must be important.
Orochimaru looked at Naruto, there was a small pause and then he smiled. He looked at Kiri nin,
"Would you mind backing off? I have some business with the pests down there." Orochimaru chuckled wickedly.
"We don't want any trouble, we just want the black haired girl and we will leave." The leader of the new Kiri nin said but his voice was shaking with a hint of desperation, they knew who they were dealing with here.
"Fine, just scram." Orochimaru replied in a demotivated voice.
The sound nin looked at each other but said nothing, they knew better to question Orochimaru's judgment.
Haku went towards the Kiri team, the moment she was in arm's reach they grabbed her, made her sit down and circled around her. They would put some chakra restriction on her fast and then they would leave, fast. At the same time, Orochimaru landed in front of the Sound team. Before Dosu could ask his leader what he wanted, everyone's attention was grabbed by a laughter.
Naruto was laughing softly as he slowly started to put his hand down. Both Sound and Kiri tensed but they didn't expect what was about to come.
Naruto stopped his hand in the midway while directing each hand at each team and was making a gesture as if he was pointing something with his index finger,
"Boom." No sooner he said that, Orochimaru in front of the Sound team exploded, while Haku was Kawarimi'ed by another Naruto clone who self-destructed immediately.
"And, they are out." Naruto chuckled slowly, everyone was taken aback by Naruto's attitude. It was not the goofy, cheerful Naruto but someone else. Someone who would do anything to protect his family.
Sometimes ago, Haku told Naruto what happened to her family and what was happening in Kiri at that time. Still now there were people who would kill people with bloodline limit whether they are infants or innocent women and would go any length to kill as well. So, when Naruto heard that, in a way, he understood why Zabuza didn't take Haku with him. Now, the moment he heard the Kiri nin saying 'Zabuza's weapon' his mind showed him the worst possibility, they said with such hatred that Naruto thought they knew about Haku's bloodline. He was not having his new found sister like figure taken away from him.
"No one is touching my precious people."
Naruto gave Haku reassurance and put his hand up to draw the attention of their attackers and when he was able to draw it, Naruto's remaining explosive clones and shadow clones slowly emerged from their hiding spots and few went behind the Kiri team. Being a part of Naruto, one of the explosive clone even went further as he disguised himself as their former enemy. He was quite surprised when the sound nin addressed him as 'Orochimaru' but he was able to hide the surprise in his face and when his eyes met with his boss, he winked at him so that he understood who 'he' really was. And for Naruto's part when he saw everything was in position, the Orochimaru disguise tactic was a plus, he didn't even hesitated for a bit to give the command to explode at the danger zone knowing full well that his decision would kill few people but to him it was either them or his 'precious friends'.
It seemed hours had been passed by, till Naruto's demeanor softened up,
"Ranmaru, can you go check with Haku-nee." Hearing his easy-going voice again, Ranmaru smiled up at him and ran to find Haku who was being guarded by few of Naruto's clone.
"We will check the other team," Sasuke said as he motioned his teammates to go, "They may be dead, dobe but your tactic saved us. Remember it was either them or us and the way they were radiating bloodlust I am pretty sure even if we were to surrender they would have made sure we were dead," Sasuke looked at Haku, "Or worse. So don't fret too much over it." With that Sasuke went towards his teammates.
Naruto looked at the retreating back of the last Uchiha and gave an appreciative nod with a small smile.
"That was a good plan," Haku smiled when she and Ranmaru reached Naruto, Naruto made a small motion and all the clones dispersed.
"Was it a wise thing to dispel your clones, Naruto-nii?" Ranmaru asked urgently, who would have blame him, they were saved twice at a row, miraculously, by the clones.
"No, Naruto did the right decision. The explosions made too much noise, we should move fast, and," Haku grinned, "One of the Kiri nin had the scroll we needed. So better if we just go straight toward the tower now." Haku finished and looked at the approaching Team Seven.
"I am guessing you guys got your scroll?" Sasuke asked in a knowing manner. Haku gave him an icy smile and nodded, Sasuke looked away sheepishly.
"Damn, she is still pissed about that. Naruto, I will get you for this," Sasuke angrily started to make plans on how to make the blond suffer.
"So…." Sai couldn't finish as he was bombarded with angry glares,
"Don't finish that sentence." Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"Guys, if both of our team finished the objectives than we should head towards the tower. Immediately." Haku urged both teams, all the members agreed hurriedly.
They packed up in less than five minutes and made a run towards the tower hoping that no more troubles would come along the way.
And for once their wish was granted.
After reaching the tower without any incident and figuring out the riddle behind the scrolls, both of the team were led inside by their respective teachers. A bit later, after giving some encouragement and advice, their teachers left.
"Hayate-san." Naruto rushed towards the tokubetsu jonin, "What are you doing here?"
"I am one of the proctors of the exam, Naruto." Hayate smiled, they knew each other from Yugao, "So your team passed, guess that means you are the fourth team," Hayate looked at Team Seven who were heading towards an empty room upstairs, "Teams, that passed the second portion of the exam. Wow and it is only the second day." Hayate chuckled.
"Fourth team? Who are the other ones?" Haku asked politely.
"The first team is the Suna one and surprisingly they finished in just two hours, broke the previous record by two hours, and then Team Eight, they finished in five hours. And then one of the Kumo team just came early in the morning and now you and Team Seven. I must say this year is packing with talented kids." Hayate smiled at the team, Naruto was glad to hear that Hinata's team finished and from the tone of Hayate's voice it sounded like they didn't get any serious injuries.
"Why not you guys go and rest? It must have been tiring and there are still three more days left." Hayate suggested.
"I am going to get a room. Naruto, are you going to look for Hinata?" Haku asked.
"Nah, not now. Maybe later." Naruto gave a small smile but Haku stayed long enough with Naruto to know that it was a fake smile and she knew what was the cause of it.
"Alright." Haku replied and motioned Ranmaru to come with her, when she and Ranmaru was out of Naruto's sight.
"Ranmaru, can you go and get a room for our team? I have to find someone." Haku requested to their young teammate.
"Sure, it is about Naruto-nii, right?" Ranmaru asked, Haku smiled and nodded softly.
.
With Naruto
.
Naruto was sitting in the corner of a hallway, he was looking at his index finger as if he was examining it.
The first time Naruto killed, he still hesitated, and some might consider that as an act of desperation. There were bandits attacking the village but the problems were not with their numbers but with their determination to kill. He still remembered his first kills, he saw one bandit going for a kid no older than Ranmaru, the bandit pinned him down and was going to strike him with a sword. Naruto threw one shuriken at his wrist and he dropped the sword but in a rage he used the other hand to choke the boy. Before Naruto could go help, he saw few other bandits approaching at a farmer who was guarding his house, probably with his family inside. Naruto knew, either way, his decision would cost life. So he went for the lesser evil, he killed the guy choking the kid, by throwing a kunai at his head, and killed few of the approaching bandits towards the farmer by hitting some of their vitals with his shuriken. He still felt remorse after he had done the deed.
But this time, there was no remorse, no hesitation, no pity, nothing. He didn't know what came over him but at some point he felt his instinct took over. When his head was cleared, he was shocked to see what he had done but didn't have the courage to face it, that's why he didn't see for himself the bloodshed he caused.
He didn't know what to feel.
A soft hand to his cheek brought him back to the reality.
His eyes met the lovely lavender eyes he loved so much.
In an instant, Hinata saw everything through his eyes. The desperation, the fear, the self-loathing. As if he understood that Hinata was seeing through his soul, he averted his eyes.
"Hey there, Hinata-chan, heard that you passed the exam super fast. That's awesome." Naruto said with a fake smile, still not meeting Hinata's eyes.
Hinata smiled softly, she gently cradled Naruto's head in her chest while with one hand started stroking his blond hair. Naruto was stunned, he didn't know what to think of this situation but a moment later when it started to sooth his raging heart, he let it out.
Naruto held Hinata tighter, as if letting her go would be his end, and broke down.
"It's alright, Naruto-kun." Hinata kept saying it gently to calm down her blond knight.
In a corner, Haku smiled and left to give some privacy to them.
.
.
.
OMAKE
The Bet
It was quite rowdy for a jonin bar, but because of the chunin exam next day, most of the jonin was there to make bets on teams, even some Anbu were there as well.
Yamato was feeling out of place as he never did anything like this, he was the youngest jonin around and even in the time at Anbu, he tended to avoid this kind of situations.
"I know my team will pass the preliminary rounds but I think for reaching finals, Shikamaru might be able to pull it off." Asuma said as he hurriedly put of his cigarette when he saw Kurenai approaching.
"Well, if he is anything like his father, he might quit if he finds it too troublesome." Kurenai chuckled, "But I can bet that from my team at least one person will be going to the finals." Kurenai finished with surety.
"Well, I think all of my youthful students can make it to the finals. I know their skills and abilities and I can assure all of you that they are strong enough to face any kind of challenges." Gai proudly boasted.
"Hmm, interesting but don't be so sure Gai. Even for my team I will follow Kurenai-san's assumption. One of my student will be going to the final." Kakashi gave his signature eye-smile.
"But my all of my students can wipe the floor with any of your students' and reach the finals easily." Yamato chuckled slowly but instantly he shut his mouth, he nervously looked around to see all his senior jonins were looking at him, some cheekily and some with astonishment.
"So who wants to bet against our youngest member?" Kakashi suggested a bit too eagerly and almost everyone raised their hands.
"Oh! You gotta be shitting me!"
.
.
.
And Cut.
Sorry for the anti-climactic fights but I focused more on building Naruto's and Sasuke's character, hope you liked it.
Next chap will be about the preliminaries and I intend to put all the fights in one chapter although I will skip the canon fights.
Till Next Time.