Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other anime or movie referenced here.

Sorry for the late updates I haven't been feeling well for the past couple of weeks. My updates would take longer than usual but I will try to update my stories as fast as I can.

Anyway let's get going with the show.

Chapter 19

Previously

Suddenly something broke thought the window and a woman landed in the room with a banner written "Your sexy and single Anko is here"

Anko expected panic from the students or a rebuke from Ibiki but she received none of that. The room had a dark and gloomy aura in it and it was really depressing.

"Wow Ibiki you really stepped up your game to have this impact on them. What did you do to them" she asked.

"Please don't ask. I don't want to see that thing again" this really confused Anko she had never seen Ibiki like this before. And what the heck he see that made him this afraid.

She told the students to meet at training ground 44 before she jumped out of the window. The student went out of the room like zombies to their next challenge. Hopefully those things won't follow them.

As Hinata was going out Ibiki stopped her and told her something that surprised her.

"You are hired"

Now

After the exams we find Ibiki laughing as he went to see the Hokage. Why was he laughing? Well for one he was still going through the gift Naruto got for him (chibi Kakashi cartoon) as well as the results of the exam. A lot of the students passed their exams while some got through by sheer luck. Then there were those two trouble makers that only wrote their names only. That was the only thing they did on their papers. The rest they just stole the answers those hidden chunin wrote. AND WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE THINGS ANYWAY! They scared the crap out of everybody including him.

Well no use dwelling on that now. He was going to enjoy his walk to the Kage's office before things get serious. That tip they boy gave him was very helpful. He looked into Kabuto's file and everything checked out. The problem was no one seems to recall ever filing that file leading him to believe that it was placed there by someone unauthorised.

This lead to a short investigation which revealed a lot of discrepancies that rose a lot of red flags. So if this boy was a spy what was he after and what sort of information did he leek out? And how was he not found out? It seems that someone is helping him from the inside to cover his tracks. Oh man if there is a traitor in their ranks then it's safe to say that security has been compromised. This means that many of the security protocols would have to be changed and then an investigation would have to be launched which is a pain. What a drag (a certain clan could be heard sneezing).

Well time to meet the Hokage. But first he was going to enjoy Chibi Kakashi clips. If this thing gets out he felts sorry for Kakashi. He only hoped Anko doesn't get her hands on those copies.

Forest of death entrance

"So what do you say huh? Up for some one eye perv humiliation." Naruto said with his voice showing excitement at the prospect of humiliating a certain cyclops. He forgot to leave the copies he made with Ibiki when the proctor of the second stage of the exam came. But the person he found was even better than Ibiki. And who was it?

Anko of course.

When she came in she just took off and told everyone to meet at the forest of death and those who were late were disqualified. So everyone made a mad dash for the forest, Naruto's team included. Halfway there Naruto remembered forgot to give the copied he made to Ibiki which led him to berating himself and ended up with his face getting acquainted with the lamp post.

After he recovered he remembered that Anko used to be one of the more zealous one when it came to Naruto's pranks (an example she beat the shit out of Kakashi on Naruto's naked Naruko prank). Oh yah she will do nicely. She has the potential to spread his awesome literature in no time.

So he sped past everyone as he laughed evilly which send a shiver down the spines of those who heard and saw him while the rest of team 7 just sweat dropped and tried to catch up.

Naruto spotted Anko playing with a kunai so he went to give her the pitch of his idea. At first Anko was sceptical but two words just captured her attention "Kakashi" and "prank". With those words she was sold. So here we are with demented morons planning something devious for an unsuspecting Kakashi.

"I am in kid so let's see the merchandise" Anko said as she rubbed her hands together with a deranged grin on her face and eyes filled with expectation.

Naruto with a matching grin took out a copy and flipped through it showing Anko the show. Said person was on the ground laughing her lungs to death.

"Oh yah it's so good hahaha. Kid you have a devious mind" Anko said as she wiped some tears of her eyes. When the hell had he had the time to think of this while he was in the exam.

"Glad you liked it. Scar liked it too". Who is Scar? Oh Ibiki has a scar so maybe it's him. Okay now that's new to her. Ibiki of all people liked this? Ibiki the man known to laugh only he was torturing some poor soul liked this? Oh man this thing is going to be a hit in the village.

"Okay kid, give me the copies. I am going to 'persuade' a publisher that I know (poor dudes please run). By the end of the week it should have flooded the village. So get the second instalment ready hehehe" and its official this double team was going to bury Kakashi 6 feet under and then some.

A few minutes later

The rest of the students that made it arrived to see two maniacs cackling like idiots (this of Batman and Commissioner Gordon from teen titans go). Sasuke and Sakura just grabbed Naruto and dragged him away while he shouted something about haters of this beautiful relationship.

So after the drama, Anko went on to explain what there rules were while scaring the leaving hell out of the genin. They were to spend 5 days in the forest which was the time limit while they headed to tower somewhere in the centre of the forest. So the gist of it was they had to survive the forest animals which were somehow mutated judging by the huge beetle that passed by the fence near where they were assembling (mmh coincidence?). They were also to look for food and survive other blood thirsty genin. All they while they will be hunting for the scroll opposite theirs which some genin team out there possesses in this huge forest. Great just great. This is going to be a pain.

To scare them even more Anko had them sign weavers stating that Konoha will not be held responsible for any limbs lost or deaths or if someone ended up as mutant animal poop. Oh yah Ibiki was good at mind games but Anko was a whole new level of crazy. She is basically telling them that you are going to die painfully and they will not be held responsible. Well she might scare some but a few seem immune to this.

Now came the time to collect their scroll. They were collecting them from huts separate from each other so there was no way of knowing which team had the scroll they needed so going after any team blindly would be a waste of time. Those bastards. They wanted them to fight each other until the team finds the scroll they needed. This is a load of bull. In a forest that big and with so many teams (even though Hinata reduced the number) it was going to take time which was plenty but as time went on so were their chances to get a scroll.

So Naruto decided to go and take the scroll. He went into the little hut and got a heaven scroll which meant they needed and earth scroll.

The rest of Team 7 saw Naruto coming out of the hut before

"HEY SAKURA, SASUKE LOOK WE GOT HEAVEN SCROLL ISNT THIS GREAT!" shouted Naruto as he ran to his team while waving the scroll around for everyone to see.

Team seven along with the other Konoha rookie teams with the exception of Hinata, Shino and Shikamaru face faulted hard. The rest of the genin just looked at Naruto like he was stupid or something while those how needed the heaven marked team 7 as their target.

"You idiot! Do you realise what you have done. You put the biggest bull's eye on us in addition to your jumpsuit!" Sasuke raged as he grabbed Naruto by his jumpsuit. Oh the Uchiha is angry. No scratch that the sharingan is activated so the dude is pissed.

Honestly the exam was already complicated as it is but now the dope just had to add more to their plate. Sakura looked at the other teams and saw some of them sending their KI to them. She shrank from the KI as she got closer to the others. It looks like they were going to be doing a lot of fighting.

When Naruto did his little stunt a lot of teams displayed interest in their scroll judging by the fluctuations in their chakra. So he looked at them and made a note of which teams are the closest to them. He was sure Hinata had already used her Byakuugan to find the scroll they need so it was good for her team. He was also not worried about her as she could take out almost every genin here because of the training she received. He felt sorry for the genin that got in her path.

So team7 went to their assigned gate and when the time came they blasted off into the forest. This left Anko and a few chunin at the gates. Anko started humming while she went to the monitoring room but not before she made a clone to pay the publisher a visit. Who said you can't multi task when babysitting a bunch of genin.

Forest of death a few minutes into the exam

Team 7 had been running for a while before they started to slow down to strategize. The Uchiha decided to take charge.

"Okay because of someone's screw up (glares at Naruto) we will be facing a lot of heat so be ready for anything. I will keep a look out with my sharingan while Naruto use your sensory abilities to pin point where our opponents are. Sakura use that brain of yours to look for a place to set traps." Sasuke was in no mood for more shenanigans so he made sure he was in charge so this won't happen. Beside he was more qualified as team leader than anyone else.

Sakura nodded as she started looking for places to set traps. She also looked through her equipment (went and bought storage scrolls finally) to see what she was working with. She had read a lot about trap making after their A rank mission to improve herself. She then started noting places that were perfect for setting traps.

"Or we could just sit in that tree over there and watch the show" Naruto said as he pulled Sakura the helm of her clothes then flung a kunai in some trees Sakura was heading to. A giant centipede fell down dead in front of Sakura who squawked and jumped back in fright. Sasuke looked surprised and horrified at the same time.

"And also keep in mind we are not only fighting the other genin but we are also to survive whatever the forest throws at us" stated Naruto in a matter of fact tone like he hadn't killed a giant centipede which was about to snack on his teammate. He started heading for the tree he mentioned leaving two frozen teammates. Sasuke was the first to recover.

"Hey what do you mean by that!" he really wanted to know what the blond dope was planning.

"If you haven't figured it out already let me spell it out for you. Looking for the right scroll in this forest is like looking for a needle in a box filled with used razor blade that will definitely give you tetanus. Not to mention dangerous as you have just seen (points to the dead centipede). So instead of looking for the scroll it's going to come to us" Naruto explained as he jumped onto a branch with his teammates following him.

Sakura was the first to get what Naruto was saying. Her eyes widened as she looked as she looked at Naruto in surprise.

"That stunt that you pulled with our scroll you did that on purpose did you" she stated rather than ask. If he did that on purpose then it was a genius plan. It was a smart plan even if she didn't want to admit it. It was a known fact that this level of planning was done by the Nara and it was also a known fact that Naruto was not a great thinker when it comes to strategy. So when did he get this smart and why did they not think of this.

"Oh that yah. Instead of running around in the forest like headless chicken why not let the chickens come to us. It much easier." You know when someone takes those skills you think useless and point out somethings you don't see you will really be surprised at what you could do. Naruto is a prankster by nature, a trickster and above all cunning which are traits found in a certain someone.

"You are welcome by the way" was heard from a certain 9 tails.

His brother just helped him find the value in that mindset. He thought that mindset was only useful for pranks well he was dead wrong. Pranks if employed the right way can be deadly and what would happen when you put a prankster in a forest full of unsuspecting genin, let's just say it won't end well for them.

Sasuke on the other hand finally got it. So the dope hand already planned ahead. He made them the target so that those who had the scroll that they need would come to them instead of them looking for the opponents. He had already assessed the situation and came up with a plan. This isn't the Naruto from class no this is a new and different Naruto who is hiding much of his skills. Sasuke was a bit miffed by this. He was team leader, he was an Uchiha, he was supposed to come has seen it and come up with this plan. He wouldn't be surprised if the dope already has a plan to get the scrolls. Well he will have to pick up the slack and prove that he was the best.

"You should have told us the plan you know. And how are we going to get the scrolls. You do have a plan for that don't you" the Uchiha asked.

"Why yes I do. Who do you think I am an idiot you charges into battle without a plan?" the other just looked at him with 'really' faces.

'Oh yah I was an idiot back then. What the hell was I thinking!'

"We do nothing. We just seat and enjoy the show. There are about three target teams that will be on us in a few minutes thanks to me not supressing my chakra (the little that he let out). They will pick up on it and thanks to my idiot act they will approach expecting Sasuke to be the threat hence they will target him first. But we won't be in any danger so don't worry" Naruto said as he found a branch with good cover to hide. From the position they had a good view of the ground below and they were well hidden at the same time it had a good view of the trees surround them.

"What do you mean we won't be fighting?" Sakura asked curious as to what their blond teammate was planning. In response Naruto made three clones then transformed two of them into Sakura and Sasuke. The clones then jumped onto the ground and waited while they argued about something.

The rest of team 7 just ohhed then waited for the poor victims that were about to arrive.

With Team 8

The moment Team 8 stepped into the forest they discovered something. The forest was filled with scary creatures that were the stuff of nightmares. For Kiba there were many Alpha creatures in here and he wouldn't dare try to pit himself as one lest he beat the dust quickly.

Despite all that they discovered that their very own Hinata was the scariest of them all. The moment they stepped into the forest Hinata established herself as the leader which left little room for debate because of the purple aura of doom and that creepy smile.

She led the team in a particular direction and the funny thing was all the animals kept their distance. I mean they heard a lot of roaring, hissing and lots of other scary sound and they haven't met one animal not one. Why is that? Maybe it has something to do with that aura of doom and the creepy humming Hinata was doing as they walked in a sedated pace as if she knew were to go. Shino was quiet as usual but you could see that the guy was very stiff as a board (well more than usual). Shino's insects were also quiet. They had warned him not to argue or piss of their lady teammate. Akamaru was also quiet having hid inside Kiba's jacket in fear of the creature that was leading them.

Suddenly they heard sound of ripping and chewing. And right in front of them was a ginormous black bear with its mouth covered in blood making it look scary as hell. And worse were the red eyes it possessed that made it even scary.

"Oh shit it's a bear. Stay back Hinata let us take care of this!" Kiba shouted as he tried to take the lead. It was his time to shine and impress Hinata. If he could take out this bear maybe he will score a date with her.

Said girl just looked at the bear and the bear looked at her.

"Excuse me bear-san but would you mind getting out of our way. I would appreciate that" she said with that smile and the aura increased.

The bear looked like it was now sweating bullets and was that a worried look on its face (?). Mr Bear just left his dinner and bolted out of there with a roar akin to "HEAD FOR THE HILLS THE DEVIL IS HERE"

The other members of team 8 looked at Hinata in surprise and made sure to shut up and keep their distance from her.

They travelled for a while until they found a team from Iwa (Rock or Stone something like that). The team was also hunting for a scroll and Shino surmised that Hinata knew that this team had the scroll they needed. Said team was surprised that they were found this quickly. They prepared to fight but what happened next surprised everyone.

"Greetings. We have need of your scroll so if you kindly give it to use we will be on our way?" Hinata asked politely. Everyone just face faulted before a stupid Iwa genin decided to run his mouth.

"Like hell we will you stupid bitch."

Silence was what was heard. The little creatures that were heard all shut up. Kiba and Shino smartly backed away from Hinata who was now emitting danger vibes that send a chill down their spines.

Next second stupid genin found himself embedded in a tree trunk and in a world of pain. Where he used to be, was Hinata with a fist extended forward.

"Now look at what you made me do. I didn't behave like a proper lady so you will have to be punished." What followed left everyone there traumatised except for stupid genin who was now unconscious. Stupid genin's team wisely gave Hinata their scroll and team 8 left. They arrived at the tower two hours later thus breaking the record. Team Suna would arrive a few hours later.

Back with Team 7

Two teams of foreign genin came upon the bickering team 7 on the forest floor. This was their chance to get the scroll they needed and get out of this god forsaken forest. The only problem was that there was one heaven scroll. Both teams decided it was first come first serve. The both converged were Team 7 was and a battle issued. Team 7 looked surprised at first before they readied themselves for a fight.

Both foreign teams decided it was beneficial to take out Team 7 first then fight for the scroll after they obtained it. Since it was a 6 on 3 battle the members of team 7 were stuck fighting two people each. The fight was one sided as team 7 tried to regroup and fight as a team instead of being separated. They managed to single out Sakura first from the group then went in for the kill. The moment they 'killed' Sakura this happened. BOOM

"What the hell did she just go suicidal or something!" the foreign teams saw that their teammates just knocked out but not harmed too much because the explosion was small. They had slight burn marks on their skin and clothes but otherwise okay. Before the foreign teams could figure out what happened BOOM BOOM. The other members of Team 7 exploded knocking them out.

"I forgot you can do that. But the explosions are smaller though" Sasuke said as he jumped down and collected two earth which he gave one to Naruto and one he kept. The plan was simple and effective. Make the opponents take themselves out by fighting exploding clones. Sometimes the dope was more devious than he let on.

With their goal accomplished Team 7 headed for the tower with haste. No need to loiter around in this creepy forestwhen your objective was done. Also the explosions might have attracted some unwanted attention so it's best to disappear before trouble arrives. They moved for about 45 minutes before the forest became deathly quiet which caused both Sasuke and Naruto to stop. Sakura looked at the two boys confused.

"Do you hear that dope?" Sasuke asked as he looked around fishing out a pair of kunai from his pouch. He really hoped he was wrong about the gut feeling he was having. It reminded him of the time they faced Zabuza and he sure was not ready for another encounter. Sakura seeing the seriousness of the situation also got into a battle stance preparing for what was coming.

"Yah and I really don't like this at all we gotta move while I try to pin point were our opponent is" said" Naruto as they took off albeit with caution this time.

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened before he tackled both Sakura and Sasuke and took cover behind a tree. Soon a freakishly strong wind blown apart the place they were in cutting and uprooting some trees as it passed.

Before they could recover he pushed Sakura and Sasuke out of the way of a huge snake which separated him from the group. Sasuke and Sakura were surprised and freaked out by the size of the snake. Sasuke then immediately connected the dots. The wind wasn't ordinary wind it was a jutsu and the snake was used to separate and divide their fighting force. Whoever did this was strong judging by the jutsu he used. He watched as Naruto dodged the snake as he was led away from them.

Sakura wanted to go and help but Sasuke stopped her. He then welled around and threw two kunai in a certain direction. From that direction a kunoichi from the Grass village judging by the headband came out holding the kunai Sasuke threw.

"Kukuku very good Sasuke-kun those are some sharp instincts you got there" said the kunoichi in a very disturbing tone while licking her lips which creeped out the two genin.

Sasuke took two more kunai and activated his sharingan with two tomoe in one eye and one in the other. This seemed to excite the kunoichi even more as she smiled after seeing the sharingan. Without asking Sasuke engaged the kunoichi at high genin speeds clashing his kunai with hers. They battled for dominance for a second before Sasuke jumped back. As he did 2 kunai sailed past him heading for the kunoichi who ducked underneath them but was caught off guard when the kunai exploded sending her skidding a few metres away.

"Good work Sakura" Sasuke commented to which she nodded and dida victory dance in her head for the praise.

Sasuke then made some hand seals and shot a fireball at the kunoichi. "Fire style: Fireball jutsu". The ball of fire was dodged and it exploded behind the kunoichi. The kunoichi just laughed before she went for them this time she increased her speed and strength. The engaged in a taijutsu match to which Sasuke was barely keeping up. Sasuke cursed as he was almost clobbered in the head by a vicious kick which he dodged.

He jumped back to get some space with Sakura throwing more kunai to keep the kunoichi away which seemed to annoy her. The kunoichi then started to taunt Sasuke that he was weak as she tried to infuriate him. When it didn't work she gave them a huge dose of Ki which was worse than Zabuza's.

Both Konoha genin started to sweat profusely and their bodies refused to move. The kunoichi started to approach them like a predator approaching a wounded animal all the while taunting the Uchiha. Sasuke felt like he wanted to kill himself. He tried to will his body to move but it refused. Luckily the kunoichi's concentration was broken by a huge explosion of in the distance Naruto was in. this made her shutdown her KI letting Sakura and Sasuke take a breather. Sasuke then smirked which caught the attention of the enemy.

"What's so funny? Have you decided to get serious?"

"In a way yes. I mean now that your pet is dead he is going to be coming here and I won't her the end of it" Sasuke replied as he straightened up and took a few deep breaths.

"Oh you mean the snake that went after your teammate. That's highly unlikely"

"Oh you have no idea" replied both Konoha genin at the same time.

With that Sasuke went through some more hand seals "Fire style: Phoenix fire jutsu". He shot smaller and numerous balls of fire at the Kunoichi who dodged them. She than saw Sasuke smirk before he made some motions with his hands and the Kunoichi found herself bound in wire.

Sasuke then made some hand seals "Fire style: Dragon Flame jutsu". Flames came out of Sasuke's mouth and started to travel along the wires and converged on the kunoichi who screamed as she was burnt to a crisp.

Sasuke cancelled the jutsu as he panted hard. This really took a lot out of him. Now where is that idiot so they can go. He stamped a bit before Sakura caught him and put his on her shoulders as they headed in the direction Naruto went.

"Kukuku that was very good Sasuke-kun" from the flames a body rose and its face peeled off in the most disgusting way revealing a new face underneath that one.

"I have to admit that surprised me but that not good enough. So for your efforts let me give you a gift" she/he whatever the gender was extended its neck at greater speeds before it bit Sasuke on the neck. Sasuke screamed as a seal which looked like three tomoe formed where he was bit before he passed out from the pain.

Sakura looked horrified at this. In a rear moment of anger she punched the freak's head sending it back where it came from with a bruise. She stood in front of Sasuke two kunai in hand as she tried stall for time until Naruto comes back. The enemy threw a kunai at her faster than she could react but said kunai was intercepted by another one knocking it off course. Another kunai landed at the feet of the enemy before BOOM, a huge explosion erupted 'killing' the enemy.

Sakura looked relived as Naruto landed in front of her. He took at glance at the crying kunoichi and the unconscious Uchiha before he looked at a certain direction.

"You can come out now I know you are there!" he shouted. From one of the trees the enemy materialised. Sakura looked horrified. She thought that the enemy was dead but she was wrong.

"Well well well so the rat has survived the snake only to face another one kukuku"

"Just shut up and let me make a wallet out of you since your pet is in chunks right now"

And with that another battle started.

And done.

I focused a bit on Sasuke and how he got the cursed seal. Naruto's fight with the snake and way he was late will be explained in the next chapter. So next chapter Naruto vs Orochimaru and the beginning of the preliminary exams.

See Yah later.