A/N: If y'all wanted to see some things change about the chunin exams, you're going to like this chapter quite a bit.
Time for chapter 19
Enjoy!
Naruto yawned as he walked into the training field that contained the entrance to the so-called 'Forest of Death'. It was exactly seven o'clock, and he had stayed up fairly late the previous night. Despite his exhaustion, he had managed to arrive exactly one time alongside his teammates. It appeared that every team had arrived at the contracted time, as the entrance to the field was absolutely flooded with the remaining genin, thirty one in total.
"So, this is the Forest of Death. It looks quite ordinary to me" Hinata, who stood at Naruto's left, said. The blonde shook his head and glanced at his teammate.
"I don't think the forest itself is dangerous on its own. It's named for what happens when you throw a whole bunch of bloodthirsty genin inside. I did some research last night, and this phase of the exam is screwed up" he said. The Hyuga girl raised an eyebrow at his reply.
"What did you find out? I never took you as one to research" she asked skeptically. The Jinchuuriki shook his head again and gestured towards Anko, who stood at the gated entrance to the forest.
"She'll fill you in. it's about what you'd expect from a phase that takes place in 'The Forest of Death'. This is a little off topic, but how did you sleep?" he asked. Hinata responded by rubbing a bit of sleep from her eyes.
"Not well, if I am to be honest. My sleep was repeatedly interrupted by nightmares. Mostly of the coming days and what they may bring" she admitted. Naruto smiled at her uncharacteristic openness.
"The chances of all of us dying are pretty low. We'll all be fine, probably" he said. The Hyuga heiress sighed and gave him a tired look.
"Probably, hm? How comforting" she said sarcastically. The Jinchuuriki laughed out loud at her exhausted response, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from his teammate.
"Look alive, you two. I think she wants your attention" Shikamaru, who had been standing silently several feet away, said while gesturing to Anko. The pair turned their attention to the proctor, who was assessing the large group of children patiently.
"Well, it looks like you all followed my instructions. Good, you all have some sense. Now then, let me explain the wonderful activity you're all about to take part in" she began, quickly gaining the attention of any uninterested observers.
"You will all be entering this forest, we Konoha folk call it the 'Forest of Death'. Your goal is to collect scrolls. Two to be exact. One heaven scroll and one earth scroll will be required. Each of you will begin this phase with one or the other, meaning that you'll have to acquire your second scroll from one of your peers" she continued, presenting two different scrolls to the group. A muttering soon passed through the crowd, eliciting a smirk from Anko.
"And before one of you sadistic little psych patients asks, murder is permitted. Not recommended, but permitted. Now come on up and get a scroll" the proctor concluded. The genin then all flocked to Anko, with each team acquiring a scroll from her. After several minutes of organizing and acquisition, the crowd reassembled itself just outside of the gates.
"In the center of the forest, you'll find a tower. That's where you're trying to get to. Once again, you'll need both scrolls to get in, so don't even think about just waltzing in" Anko said. She then unlocked the gate and gestured towards the dark trees within.
"Get going, brats. Hope you packed a lunch" she said with a dark grin. The genin then set out into the forest, splitting off in a variety of different directions nearly immediately. Hinata, using her Byakugan, lead Team Seven northeast down what she perceived to be the least dangerous pathway.
"We're going to head this way for roughly two miles before we turn northwest. I have a hunch that we'll run into at least one party along the way that we can take an earth scroll from" the Hyuga girl said as they ran across the forest floor.
"And if we don't run into somebody?" Naruto asked. Hinata looked back over her shoulder and gave him a rare smile.
"In that case, we'll go hunting. We've all been training ourselves ragged in preparation for this. Think of it as a chance to show what you've learned. Hopefully, we'll be able to save our strength for the combat phase, though" she replied. Naruto returned the smile and looked to Shikamaru, who was staring straight ahead with a look of concern on his face.
"Something wrong?" the blonde asked, snapping the lazy genin out of his trance. Shikamaru glanced at him and shook his head before returning his gaze to the path ahead.
"No, everything's fine. Just taking it all in, you know?" he said. Hinata nodded and sighed sympathetically.
"I understand the feeling. What bothers me more than anything is the fact that murder is permitted. The fact that I may not only lose one of my teammates, but potentially my right to say I have never killed is distressing to me" she said. Naruto chuckled.
"Aw, look at that, Shikamaru. She does care" he joked, earning a glare from the Hyuga heiress.
"Must you make a joke out of everything, Naruto-san?" she asked. The Jinchuuriki sighed and gave her a tired shrug.
"I'm just trying to...lighten things up a little. I'm stressed, too. We all are. Let's try not to think about what could happen, and think about what we're doing right now" he said. Hinata nodded and returned her attention to the path they were slowly carving into the forest.
Despite their apprehension, nothing could have prepared them for the horrors they would experience in the god forsaken forest.
Gaara chuckled to himself as he watched Team Eight be terrorized by a strange, snake-like man. The group of genin had encountered the man roughly ten minutes previously, and they had nothing to offer him.
'Whoever he is, that man is not a genin. No, he's something far greater. I daresay he possesses more power than my own sensei' the redhead thought to himself as Shino was knocked unconscious after being launched into the base of a tree. Sasuke had been bitten by the strange man several minutes previously, and had lost consciousness as a result. The only member of Team Eight that was still conscious was Sakura, who was an incredibly weak combatant.
'Good riddance. Such weakness is appalling' Gaara thought to himself as the pink-haired girl was cornered. However, much to the redhead's surprise, the man did not end her life. Instead, he burst out laughing and vanished into a puff of smoke.
'How anticlimactic. Disappointing' Gaara thought to himself. As he watched Sakura tremble, a thought struck him.
'Temari and Kankuro have already gathered the scrolls, but...I think she deserves a punishment for her uselessness' he thought as he jumped down from his perch high up in the trees. He landed squarely in front of the girl, eliciting a terrified squeak from her.
"Lovely scenery in these parts, don't you think?" he said in a mockingly jovial tone as he knelt down in front of her. Sakura began to shake in his presence.
"W-what do you want?" she stuttered, clearly overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion. Gaara chuckled and slid an index finger under her chin, lifting her head and forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Where is your cell's scroll? I know it's here somewhere" he asked, his tone low and menacing. The pink-haired genin tried to scoot backwards, but was seized by the ankle by a tendril of sand.
"Don't try to run. I have no qualms about killing you, but I may just let you live if you tell me what I want to know. Does that sound reasonable to you?" Gaara asked. Sakura struggled to control her breathing for several moments, but eventually regained enough composure to speak.
"S-shino has the scroll. It's the earth scroll. I-is that what you need?" she asked nervously. The redhead smirked and stood up to claim his unneeded prize.
"Oh, the type of scroll doesn't matter" he said as he removed the scroll from Shino's unconscious body. He then turned back to Sakura, only to be greeted by a kunai flying towards his face. A wall of sand immediately came to his aid, effortlessly stopping the air-born blade in its tracks. The redhead shook his head and chuckled to himself.
"How foolish can you be? I meant it when I said I would let you live. Well, I suppose you know what comes next" he said as he slowly walked Sakura down. Before he could reach her, a stirring sound caught his attention.
"S-sasuke-kun?" Sakura said quietly. Gaara glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. Standing roughly twenty feet away was Sasuke, who had risen up from the ground. His body was enveloped in a dark aura and strange markings were covering his skin.
'Fascinating' the redhead thought to himself as he turned to face the Uchiha fully. Sasuke's eyes were downcast and his posture was strange, but his presence was undeniably threatening.
"Sakura...take Shino and run away. Do it now" he said sternly. His teammate opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again when Sasuke turned his gaze up from the ground and glared at her. She quickly made her way to Shino and picked him up before laboring her way into the thick forestry. Gaara watched her leave for a moment before returning his attention to the Uchiha.
"You seem quite lively for somebody who has just awakened. Well, lively may not be the right word" he said. Sasuke did not respond. Instead, he took a step forward and drew a kunai. The redhead grinned sadistically and allowed his gourd to open fully and leak sand.
'I suppose I can spare a few minutes'
Hinata froze in her tracks as something entered her extended field of vision. Her sudden halt prompted her teammates to do the same, much to their confusion and mild irritation.
"What's wrong, Hinata?" Naruto asked as the Hyuga girl scanned the area around them carefully. She glanced over her shoulder and him and pursed her lips.
"Somebody is trailing us. I don't recognize them, and their chakra is absolutely overwhelming" she said somewhat nervously. Shikamaru then jogged his way to the front of their formation.
"That's one of two people. Either it's the redhead with the gourd, or it's...somebody I don't have a name for" he said, earning a look of confusion from both of his teammates.
"What do you mean, Nara-san? You sound as though you were expecting this" Hinata asked skeptically. The lazy genin sighed and glanced around.
"The guy with the gourd is named Gaara, and I think I might have pissed him off by accident. He's way too much for any of us. The other guy...well, I've been feeling something since we entered the forest. Just a sinking feeling that somebody is here that shouldn't be" he explained. Naruto nodded.
"Same with me. The fox has been a bit more talkative since we got here, and he mentioned something like that" he said. Hinata focused her vision further and strained to view the specific details of the figure following them.
"I can confirm that this man has no gourd, meaning that this is the person the two of you have been sensing. In which case, we should get moving. He'll be right on top of us in less than two minutes" she said.
"Less than two minutes? Well, you aren't quite wrong, but not quite right either"
Team Seven collectively tensed and all slowly glanced over their shoulders. Standing behind them, wearing a sickening, humorous grin was tall, long-haired man with pale white skin. He appeared to have fangs and was wearing a strange purple sash. While Naruto and Shikamaru did not recognize the strange man, Hinata, much to her own mental detriment, did.
"O-Orochimaru. The snake Sanin. What one earth is he…" she began before lapsing into silence. Despite not recognizing the man, Shikamaru recognized the name.
"This...isn't good. At all" he said tensely. Naruto began to sweat nervously at both the immense pressure being exuded by the man before them and the statements being made about him by his teammates.
"It appears my reputation precedes me. How flattering" Orochimaru said with a chuckle. He then took a step forward, prompting the genin to take a step in the opposite direction.
"To be honest, I thought it would take more than a shadow clone and chakra suppression to elude your Byakugan. The more you know, I suppose" he said as he slowly walked towards the children.
"What is it you want from us?" Naruto demanded, doing his best to hide his quickly growing fear of the Sanin. Orochimaru's gaze momentarily shifted towards Hinata.
"I've already done what I came here to do, but a backup plan is never a bad idea" he said vaguely. Despite the lack of clarity in his statement, the Jinchuuriki instantly understood who the Sanin was targeting. He drew a kunai and jumped in front of his teammate, barely intercepting Orochimaru's charge for the Hyuga girl. Unfortunately, the action resulted in Naruto being struck between the eyes with a stiff punch, buckling his knees and forcing him to rebalance himself.
"Protective, are we? How cute" the Sanin mocked as he towered over Naruto and Hinata. Before he could advance any further, Shikamaru's shadow merged with his and froze him in place. Orochimaru simply laughed at the jutsu being cast upon him.
"You are aware of the limitations of that jutsu, are you not?" he asked before effortlessly breaking free from the lazy genin's control. He then vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Shikamaru and slamming a knee into his solar plexus that knocked the wind out of the boy.
"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled. Instead of continuing to strike the fallen Nara, Orochimaru returned his attention to the Hyuga and Jinchuuriki. He vanished once more, this time becoming visible again with his fist cracking across Naruto's jawline, dropping him to his rear end and concussing him. With Naruto incapacitated, Hinata was now defensless, as she stood no better a chance against the Sanin than the blonde had.
"Just relax and close your eyes. This won't take long" Orochimaru said smoothly as he slowly made his way towards the retreating Hyuga, who eventually stopped moving backwards and assumed a taijutsu stance.
"Still ready to fight, hm? Your courage is admirable, but you're wasting your energy. This isn't a fight you can win" the sanin said before blitzing forward and seizing her by her arms. He then sank his fangs into the side of her neck, eliciting a cry of pain from the Hyuga heiress. After a moment of painful screaming, Hinata went limp, prompting the Sanin to drop her.
"There. That wasn't so bad now was it?" he asked sarcastically. As he turned his attention back to Naruto, a bluish hue caught his eye.
'Is that what I think it is?' Orochimaru wondered to himself as Naruto charged towards him with a spiraling ball of blue chakra in the palm of his hand.
"Rasengan!" the blonde yelled as he thrust the orb of chakra towards the Sanin, his eyes glowing blood red and his pupils slitted. Before the jutsu could make contact with him, Orochimaru seized the Jinchuuriki by the wrist and flung him into a nearby tree, which was obliterated by the spiralling ball of energy.
"Quite an advanced jutsu for a genin. It's still unstable and I would assume it's quite taxing, but the fact that you can use the Rasengan at all is impressive" the Sanin complemented. Naruto forced himself to his feet and lifted the fallen tree, off of himself.
"Get away from her" he growled as he assumed a feral taijutsu stance. Orochimaru chuckled and stepped away from Hinata's unconscious body.
"I was already planning on it" he said. The moment the sentence left his mouth, the Sanin vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a battle-ready and enraged Naruto alone with his knocked-out teammates. After taking several moments to comprehend what had just happened, the Jinchuuriki threw back his head and released a frustrated yell.
"Damn it!" he bellowed. He then slammed his fist into another nearby tree, putting a hole in its trunk with the impact of his fist.
"Should I come back later?"
Naruto whipped around to face the voice that had spoken. Standing at the edge of the clearing where he and his teammates had fought against the Sanin was Gaara, who looked quite amused.
"What the hell do you want?" the Jinchuuriki demanded. Gaara chuckled and stepped forward into the clearing, a thin veil of sand circling his body as he walked.
"Calm yourself. You don't want to be on my bad side. Unless you'd like to end up like Sasuke Uchiha" he said in a calm, confident tone. Naruto's eyes widened.
"What did you do to Sasuke?!" he snapped. The redhead waved a hand in a dismissive fashion.
"He's still alive, don't worry yourself. All I did was break half of the bones in his body" he said, clearly proud of his apparent bludgeoning of the Uchiha. The blonde growled and took a step forward.
"What about the rest of his team? Are they alive?" he asked. Gaara nodded and cracked his neck.
"Yes, they ran away at Sasuke's command. Cowards, the lot of them. People like you and I have no reason to concern ourselves with such people" he said. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. The redhead smirked and gestured towards the other members of Team Seven, who were still incapacitated.
"Look around you. They had nothing for that man. Neither did you, and neither would I had I chosen to engage him at any point, but you were at least capable of piquing his interest. Beyond our greater capabilities, we have something else in common" he said. Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"That being?" he asked skeptically. Gaara chuckled darkly and closed his eyes momentarily. When he re-opened them, they were gold in color.
"We both harbor a demon. Something far more powerful than ourselves. A final trump card. Those red eyes of yours and the aura you exude are a dead give away" he said. The blonde Jinchuuriki tensed slightly, but stood his ground.
"You're a Jinchuuriki too. Am I supposed to care? If you want a fight, I'm more than willing" he said as he assumed a taijutsu stance. Gaara chuckled and shook his head before producing a scroll.
"No, not here. We have no audience here to appreciate my painstaking efforts in tracking you down. I originally set out for your team in order to kill your male teammate, but after seeing you in action, my focus has shifted" he said. He then tossed the scroll he had produced to Naruto, who caught it easily. It was an earth scroll.
"Why are you giving me this?" he demanded. His fellow Jinchuuriki responded by turning around and beginning to walk away into the brush.
"To ensure your participation in the combat phase of this exam" he replied before vanishing. Naruto released the breath he had been holding and examined the scroll. It was authentic, and did not appear to be trapped.
'That solves the scroll problem, I guess' he thought to himself as he made his way to Shikamaru, who was still unconscious.
'That Orochimaru guy knocked you out cold with one shot to the ribs. That's...scary' he thought nervously as he moved his teammate into a more comfortable position. He then jogged over to Hinata. While checking he for injuries, he spotted something unusual.
There was a small, oddly-shaped tattoo on her neck.
A/N: You know I had to do it. Felt like writing a longer chapter today, so that's what I did. Tell me what you all thought!
See you next chapter! Read and Review!