I don't own Naruto or One Piece. Those belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 16: Forest of Death

TG 44 (Forst of Death)

Team Yū was the last to arrive in the meeting spot. Anko was a bit annoyed that they made it there last, but ignored it.

"I'm going to pass out these consent forms."

Anko passed them out.

"What are these for?"

Anko looked at Sakura.

"In this part of the exams, there's a chance that some of you won't make it out alive. These wavers are so I won't be held accountable for anything that happens there."

Naruto held back his smirk. Anko was a Konoha's sadist. If anyone could get rid of the competition, it was her.

Once everyone signed their form, Anko took them.

"Your mission is to survive the forest and make it to the tower with these two scrolls."

Anko showed them two scrolls that were labeled heaven and earth.

"Now, for the rules!"

"Rule 1, you are to reach the tower in the center of the forest in five days. Rule 2, you have to have all your teammates with you when entering the tower. If a teammate is incapacitated or killed, your squad will be disqualified from the exams. The final rule is more of a suggestion. Don't open the scrolls."

When she finished explaining everything, teams stared to retrieve their scroll in private.

Team Yū turned in their forms and received a scroll from the booth. They were taken to entrance 11 of the forest.

"Thank kami!" said Tayaka

The team had just avoided being apart of a conversation with the other genin teams.

"Let's focus on the mission at hand. We have five days to reach the tower. Tayaka-chan, what's our scroll?" Naruto asked.

Tayaka had her scroll in her arm. Naruto was able to make a seal on her arm using ink.

"We have heaven, which means we need the earth scroll."

Naruto nodded and started devising a plan.

"We need to do formation 20."

The team waited patiently for their gate to open. After 30 minutes, their gate finally opened.

The team quickly rushed into the forest.

"Tayaka, activate your eyes. Is there anyone near us?"

Tayaka activated them and looked around. She loved her eyes because when the active, her sight didn't change color.

"Nothing is in the area. I think we are alone."

"Keep your eyes activated while we talk. I don't want anyone to catch us while we're planning."

Tayaka nodded and paid Shizuka.

"The best course of action will be to attack the team from Amegakure. You saw how they acted throughout the exam. They were pretty scared of Anko. Not only that, but it seemed like their teamwork was shaky. The sooner we get to the tower, the better."

Naruto agreed but was interrupted by Tayaka.

"I think its best we leave them alone. They don't seem like bad people."

Shizuka looked at Naruto and waited for him to respond.

"If you want that, its fine. I'm more interested in the other team Zoro located."

"No, we aren't following Zoro! Remember what happened last time we let him give us directions."

Naruto remembered very well. Zoro tried to take them to the cave in the forest and ended up taking them to the tower. They had to trackback after realizing they were nowhere near the cave.

"Fair point."

'What's that supposed to mean?!'

Naruto can already see the look of anger on Zoro's face.

"I say let's get the ones who are torturing a group of kunoichi. They just brutally killed the youngest member of that squad."

Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at that. He knew this part of the exam was going to have people killed brutally, but this early?

"What scroll do they have?"

"They have both scrolls."

Naruto nodded and followed Tayaka to the location of the teams.

"Look at their faces! Hahaha! What, you haven't seen a dead body before?"

The Kiri ninja grabbed the hand of the corpse and waved it to the two remaining kunoichis. The two kunoichis weren't able to fight their opponents. They watched as the Kiri ninja played with their fallen leader.

One of the kunoichis had her arms are tied to the sides of her body. She looked like her face had been bashed repeatedly. The other girl was crying because the two Kiri ninja were restraining her from running to her sister.

"Oh, you don't like my show. I always get this reaction. You know, in Kiri, I was working with my father in researching and disposing the corpses of the bloodline users. Everything was going great until that bitch killed Yagura-sama."

The leader let go of the body and let it drop. He tilted his head down and let his white bangs cover his eyes. He wore a black jacket and black shinobi pants.

"When I saw this girl, she reminded me of those freaks. I don't know if Taki has any bloodline people, but I couldn't help it."

Before he could continue speaking, he caught a flying kunai. He smirked until he saw a tag.

"Shit!"

The boy was blown away by the force of the explosion. He hit a tree and saw a kunai flying to his direction. He was able to dodge the projectiles. He couldn't risk another blow.

The boy jumped into the trees and hid on a trunk.

"Who did that?"

He looked down and saw nobody near the others. Looking around the trees, he saw that no one was near him.

The boy then felt pain on his shoulder and looked up.

"You forgot to check above you."

Before the boy and talk, a kunai was pierced into his heart. His body went limp.

Shizuka came down from the above while Tayaka walked to the dead body.

"Now, its Naruto's turn."

"What's taking Matsu so long?" said a bald headed teen.

"No idea." said a muscular boy who looked around the area.

Matsu should have been back by now. He was the brains of the team. They admired him for his part in the war. They hated bloodline users. Matsu's family was known for killing bloodline shinobi. He plans to start another war once he becomes the next Mizukage.

Before they can think more, something fell from the air.

"Matsu!"

The bald teen caught Matsu in the air.

"Are you okay?"

Matsu looked like a bloody mess. Before he could ask anything else, the bald teen's neck was cut open. His body landed on the ground in a soft impact.

Matsu stood up and looked at the muscular teen.

"What have you done to Matsu?!"

The imposter rushed to the teen. Gritting his teeth, the teen let go of his hostage and prepared to fight the fake Matsu. Just before the fake Matsu was in front of the teen, a jutsu was heard.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu! (Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!)." yelled Tayaka.

The teen's feet were grabbed by hands that were sticking out of the ground. He was pulled underground until his head was sticking out.

Using hand signs, the imposter canceled his jutsu.

Standing in front of the teen was Naruto.

"I'm happy you freed your teammate from the ropes." said Shizuka after landing on the ground.

Shizuka landed later with the body of Matsu.

"Thank you." said the blue-haired girl that escaped the ropes.

"No thanks are needed. You can do whatever you want to the guy stuck in the ground. If anything, we're sorry for your loss." said Naruto.

Shizuka walked up to the crying girl that just lost her teammate. She handed her a flower pin. "I got this from the guy's pocket. It was hers's wasn't it."

The crying girl nodded and held onto the pin.

Naruto looked at Shizuka. He liked how comforting Shizuka can be to anybody. He remembered how much she would be there for him. It wasn't always to comfort him, but it mattered to him that she was there. Her eyes made him feel good.

'Is he this stupid?'

Naruto frowned when he heard Zoro nii-san.

"Alright, we should get going."

"Wait!"

The team looked at the blue-haired girl.

"Can you please take us with you."

The team was surprised at her request.

"We technically lost the exams. There is no reason to hurt you."

Naruto thought about it. Technically, they are out of the exams because of their dead teammate. He didn't want to leave those girls in the forest. He knew all about the creatures that live here.

"Alright, you can come. Just know if you step out of line, I will leave you here."

They nodded their heads and watched as Naruto took out a scroll.

"I don't think you want your teammate to be left here. I'll put her in a special scroll so you can take her body to your home in Taki."

Naruto sealed the body into the scroll with the girl's chakra.

Naruto saw Shizuak grab onto the crying girl. She looked tired. Naruto got a good look at her. The girl looked like the dead teammate. Her hair was brown and in a messy bun. Her eyes were as green as grass.

"Get on my back and make sure your arms are around my neck tightly."

The girl watched as Shizuka kneeled in front of the girl. The girl quickly got on her back.

"Are you able to walk?" Tayaka asked the blue-haired girl.

"Yeah, those guys just beat me up a little."

Tayaka nodded but still kept her eyes on the girl.

"We'll be moving at a fast pace. Try to keep up. If you can't, I'm carrying you."

The girl nodded and prepared to leave.

The Next Day

Team Yu woke up at daybreak. They had been resting in a cave near the middle of the forest. Naruto knew it was safe, plus the creatures in the forest weren't a threat to them.

When they woke up, Tayaka was already getting the ration bars ready for everyone.

"It's a good thing I always take precautions."

"Liar."

Shizuka raised her hand at them.

"Enough. It's too early to hear you two fight. We need to eat and get moving."

Nodding their heads, Naruto and Tayaka started to eat their portion of rations.

Once everyone finished, they continued their journey to the tower. Shizuka still carried the crying girl from yesterday. The girl had cried herself to sleep.

"My name is Yoko. The sleeping girl is Utano."

"I'm Naruto. These two are Tayaka and Shizuka."

The girls nodded their heads when their name was said to her.

"Stop."

Naruto stopped at a tree and looked towards Tayaka.

"Team Kaka is in trouble. They are fighting a team from Otogakure. Should we take a look?"

Naruto looked at Yoko for consent. When she nodded, Naruto ordered the team to stay high in the trees. He didn't want any of them to know they were in the area.

They watched the full fight between Lee and Dosu. Then they watch the battle Sasuke and Zaku.

The team was startled by the power radiating from Sasuke. Tayaka used her eyes on Sasuke. She found all the power was coming from the mark located in his shoulder. When she described it, Naruto and Shizuka became worried.

"We should go. The tower isn't near here. If my calculations are correct, teams 7 and 10 will make it in the last minute."

Naruto and Tayaka nodded and started their journey to the tower.

"For regular people who haven't been to the forest, it will take them two days to get to the tower. Luckily for us, we will make it there before that time."

"Why?"

"Because we know the way to the tower, Yoko."

It took a while, but the team arrived at the tower, but they made it at night.

When they stepped inside, they found writing on the wall.

"Oh, I get it."

Shizuka opened her scroll and motioned for Tayaka to open the other one. They quickly threw them on the ground.

From the smoke, Yūgao emerged with a smile on her face.

"I knew you would make it!"

She smiled at her team with pride. Then she saw the two figures behind them.

"Oh. Who are you two?"

"Yū-sensei, they lost a teammate in the forest. They know about being disqualified from the exams. They just wanted to get here safe."

Yūgao looked at the two girls.

"I'm sorry about your teammate. I'll inform your jonin sensei. For now, pick a room to stay in on the third floor to the right. You can't miss it."

They nodded and headed to the stairs located on the left side of the room.

Before they left, the girls looked to the team.

"Thank you for everything. I know taking us this far could have been troubling for you three. We will never forget what you did for us."

The team looked at Utano. That was the most they heard from the girl.

They all said their goodbyes and the two girls left.

"Alright, you will stay on the second floor of the building. Your team is third place for arriving first on the first day of the exams."

"Third?" asked Tayaka. She didn't think they would be the third team to arrive in the exams.

"You have all arrived here an hour after team 12. The first team here was from Suna. They got here on the first day of the exam."

Naruto was curious about how the suna-nin arrived here first. Did it have to do with Garra?

"I'm going to take all of you to your assigned room."

They followed their sensei to their room.

"You'll be staying here for the next few days. I'll see you all on the third part of the exam."

Their sensei left in a poof of smoke. The team headed inside their room. Once they were inside, Naruto put a silencing seal on the door.

They took a look around the room.

It just had a couch and three beds. There was only one bathroom with a shower and toilet. There wasn't anything special.

"This room is so bare."

"If you think about it, Anko lives here. I don't think she the type of person to decorate the whole tower, especially because of the exams."

Shizuka turned to Naruto with a fire in her eyes.

"Who is Anko, Naruto?"

Naruto sat on the bed nearest to the door.

"Anko was my first sensei after finding Zoro. She is like my onee-san."

The last sentence made Shizuka happier for some weird reason.

'I should ask Yū-sensei or Tokiwa about these feelings.'

"Now, we need to talk about the key contestants in the exams."

Shizuka and Tayaka's attention was immediately on Naruto.

"From what we know, Garra, Neji, Lee, Sasuke, and the Oto team can pose as a challenge." said Tayaka. She was a bit worried about Sasuke. What she witnessed was nothing near her power. The mark on his neck frightened her a bit. The surging chakra from his neck was tainted. It was unreal.

"Let's focus on Garra. Without a doubt, we can't beat him without revealing ourselves. If one of us has to fight Garra, we need to forfeit. There is no debating that."

The girls agreed. Garra is a possible jinchuuriki.

"He has to be the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi. He has power over sand! The Ichibi is known as the craziest and most bloodthirsty of all the tailed beasts." stated Tayaka.

"Now what about Neji. I'm worried about the possibility of the sharingan or byakugan seeing your eyes." stated Shizuka.

Tayaka understood their concerns. Her eyes needed to be hidden from both clans.

"I'm not going to activate them unless its an emergency."

Shizuka agreed with Tayaka and added her opinion.

"She needs to learn not to rely on them so much. It can lead to her downfall. If she's not careful, something bad can happen."

Naruto decided to talk about Lee.

"His speed is too high for a mear genin. I'm not certain if it's as close to mine, but I'm worried about if it surpasses me. I know what Maito's are capable of because of that day. I want to be a taijutsu master like them too."

The girls knew too well about Naruto's secondary obsession. Naruto was addicted to swords like Kakashi is addicted to porn. He would want to be known as the greatest swordsman on earth, but he also wants to excel in taijutsu.

Naruto loved to roughhouse. It wasn't a secret because of his taijutsu matches with Gekko. He was the closest to Gai's expertise. Naruto wanted to take full advantage of it. He was able to fix most of his taijutsu, but it was still imperfect.

"If we need to fight him, We need to try long-range attacks. In that situation, I might need to use my eyes."

Naruto shook his head. Lee was a problem.

"Long-range is our best shot. Next, the Oto team. The one with a gauntlet it a problem for you girls. Shizuka, you'll have long-range to your advantage. Tayaka, I'm worried about you. You are usually a close-range fighter. You think you can handle the team from Oto if they make it here?"

Tayaka gritted her teeth. She knew that Naruto and Shizuka were always worried about her. It didn't have to do with her being the youngest. No, it had to do with the fact she was the weakest. Naruto and Shizuka were always one step ahead of her. Even when she beats Shizuka in a spar, she knew.

'I'll get stronger.'

"I'll be fine. Stop worrying about me. I have plans for the Oto team if they pass the forest."

"I don't think we have to worry so much about team 7."

Naruto nodded at Shizuka. The Oto team did them damage. It looked like they fought before the battle. Sai and Sasuke were unconscious during the beginning of the fight. The team from Otogakure was going to kill them until Sasuke woke up and broke Zaku's arms.

"If they get here, they won't have a lot of energy with them. Sasuke might not be a problem. Sai won't even be able to fight with a broken arm."

When they arrived, Sai had a broken arm. It would be surprising if Sai won with a handicap.

"Alright, I'm getting some sleep. Don't be surprised if I wake up on the last day."

On cue, Naruto deactivated the seal and headed straight to bed. The girls followed his lead and went to sleep. They were pretty tired after running all night to the tower.

Naruto woke up to the sound a yelling Tayaka.

"If that baka doesn't wake up, I'll punch him square in the face!"

Shizuka was trying to hold Tayaka back from behind. Naruto sat up and rose his signature eyebrow up. Why is Tayaka so angry this time?

"Good, your up, the cafeteria is serving Onigiri. I wasn't allowed to get some until you woke up."

"Oh, that makes sense. You only rage like that for food."

A tick mark appeared on top of Tayaka's head.

"You little-"

"That's enough! Both of you better not waste your time fighting over something stupid! I sware, I'm around gakis!"

Naruto and Tayaka put their heads down and murmured an apology to Shizuka. It took five minutes for the team to leave their rooms and make their way to the cafeteria.

"I didn't know there was a cafeteria. I thought only Anko lived here."

"Nobody knew except the Hokage."

When they walked in, they spotted teams of genin sitting on benches. They saw four Konoha, one Kiri, one Suna, and one Kumo team in the cafeteria. Teams 6,7, and 10 were nowhere to be found. They didn't even see the team from Otogakure.

Once the team received their food, they searched for a place to sit.

"Is that Haku?"

Naruto and Shizuka turned their heads to the Kiri team. Haku was sitting there with a shy boy.

"Tayaka?"

Haku was wrapped in a hug by Tayaka. The commotion was enough to gain the attention of some in the room.

"It been a while, huh?"

"Yes, this is my team. That's Yuna and Chojuro."

Yuna was a small girl with white hair combed back. Her eyes were a casual brown. She dressed a lot like a civilian. She just wore a grey hoody with black pants. She looked happy to see them.

Chojuro was the person Naruto stared at the most. The body had blue glasses and short blue hair. He looked just like a swordsman from Kiri. That sword was also screaming at Naruto.

"It's nice to meet the people who saved Kiri."

The cafeteria became dead silent at the sentence.

"We didn't save Kiri. We only helped with one thing. That's it."

Yuma was going to argue, but Haku gave her a sign to stop.

"Well, you can sit with us. We would like to know about the great restaurants in Konoha. It's not every day you have things like meat and ramen."

Yuma was right. Shizuka had read that each hidden village didn't have the same food as others. For example, Suna didn't have sushi because of its climate.

"Well, have you heard of a restaurant called Kumiko's. I guarantee a good meal there. They have the best food in the village!"

"Liar!"

Naruto turned around to see who dared called him a liar.

"Everyone knows that Ichiraku's ramen is the best place to get food!"

Naruto sweatdropped at Nawaki.

"You don't count because you are a ramen obsessed idiot."

Naruto sat down and ate his food with the Kiri team. Naruto knew he won. Nawaki didn't know about his obsession with meat. If he did, Naruto was sure he'd be called a hypocrite.

Nawai sat down and continued eating his food.

An hour passed as team Yū talked with Yuma and Haku. It wasn't until some came in and escorted everyone to another room.

When they entered, they saw their senseis and the Hokage waiting for them in front of a statue of two hands making the ram sign.

Naruto already had a bad feeling about this.