Naruto and his team enter the Forest of Death which is the Second Part of the Exam. There he senses a sinister presences that has him on edge, while also having to worry about the ninja's from Iwagakure. What will happen within the forest?
Anko arrived at Training Ground 44 with a huge smirk on her face waiting for the poor bastards to show up. To her surprise the first one to appear was a blonde kid with a cane in his hand.
Anko stared at the kid, 'What the hell?! He's blind?!'
Naruto blinked getting a dark foreboding feeling from the forest next to him. He had heard horror stories about Training Ground 44 or 'The Forest of Death' as some people called it, and for good reason. There were some reported deaths that all came from this forest and now he and his team will have to take the second part of the exam in this death forest. Great.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata landed and ran towards him, "You shouldn't run off like that! You have to be more careful."
Naruto sighed, "You worry too much."
"Mou, Naruto-kun." Hinata sighed herself.
Anko grinned, 'Heh, what's this? A lover's spat? I love drama!'
Shikamaru landed along with Choji, "Troublesome blonde."
Choji laughed nervously.
The rest of the rookies including his own team showed up, while the rest of the ninja came not too long after them making Anko smirk, "Now that you maggots are here let's get down to business! This here is Training Ground 44, also known as…The Forest of Death!"
Sakura shivered at the name, 'Why does the second part of the exam have to be this?!'
"It doesn't look all that bad to me." Kiba commented with Akamaru agreeing with him with a bark.
Anko smirked as she launched at the boy tossing a kunai that scratched his cheek, already appearing behind him with another kunai right to his throat, "It's always the loud ones that die first." She smirked licking the blood off from his cheek.
Kiba shivered at the woman's tone as did Akamaru.
Anko sensed movement behind her, turning around she saw it was a Genin from Kusa who had the first kunai she threw in her long tongue, "Excuse me, but I believe this is yours proctor-san."
Anko eyed her for a second then smiled, "Thanks, and word of advice. I suggest you be more careful, its not smart to sneak up from behind. I might kill you."
The Kusa Genin smiled, "My apologies, the sight of blood has me a little bit excited. Also, your kunai cut my hair as well." she handed Anko the kunai and backed away.
Naruto gripped his cane as soon as he sensed the person talking to Anko. The aura he felt off her was the same as Kabuto's but much more potent and just plain dangerous.
'Its best we avoid her at all cost. I feel the same thing as I did when I was around Kabuto…snakes.' He frowned.
"Well well, looks like we've got some bloodthirsty ones this year," Anko commented appearing back in her original spot, "Listen up! For this part of the exams each team will receive either the scroll of Earth of Heaven. In order to pass you need to obtain both scrolls and reach the tower that's in the middle of the forest to pass."
"So out of all the teams here about half could pass, huh?" Naruto said.
"Heh, that would be on a good day," Anko smirked, "Normally, less than half of the teams here would pass. Part of it because of the forest or just plain bad luck. The most important rule is that you don't open the scrolls until you reach the tower."
"Why is that?" Sasuke asked.
"Because that would be telling," Anko grinned, "You'll be in the forest for about five days."
"Five days?! What about food?!" Choji freaked out.
"Your on your own in that department big boy," Anko shrugged, "The forest has plenty of food from animals to plants, just make sure they don't come after you. Oh yeah, each of you are to sign these forms." She held a stack of papers up and the proctors gave them all out to the Genin present.
"What are these?" Kurotsuchi questioned.
"The papers in your hands are waivers that state that Konoha is not responsible for your deaths, because some of you will end up dying in the forest." She stated nonchalantly.
Sakura was hesitating in whether to sign it or not. She had plenty of time to back out of the exams during the written portion of the test, but when she made eye contact with Sasuke in the room it looked like he was glaring at her. Telling her that she better not drop out, she looked over at Naruto and he was encouraging Hinata to stay by putting his hand over hers or on her leg making her smile and calm down. She didn't know why but for some reason she felt sad that he supported Hinata instead of her and couldn't figure out why.
The teams gave Anko the forms after they signed the waivers. She went over to a small booth that had the intercom system and left the Genin to themselves for awhile.
"So how do you wanna do this?" the Iwa ninja asked Kurotsuchi.
"We ambush them in the forest," she said, "We ignore his two teammates and just go after him instead, remember he doesn't leave the forest alive."
Akatsuchi was getting a bad feeling about this, "We should still be careful Kurotsuchi, N."
N snorted, "I'm not worried about the rest of these weaklings, but that Kusa Genin gave me a bad vibe."
"Ignore her. We have an important mission to fulfill." She said glaring at the blonde who had his back turned to her, 'I'll kill you and bring your head to gramps! That's a promise!'
"So what do we do?" Karui asked Yugito.
"We do nothing until further notice. That is what Killer Bee-sensei has told me." Yugito told them.
Omoi was looking over at the Iwa ninjas, "We might wanna keep an eye on them too. It looks like they're after the kid."
Karui had a hand on he tanto, "We'll deal with them, right Yugito-nee-chan?"
"We will." Yugito eyed them.
Kagura was watching from afar along with Haruto, she could feel the negative emotions coming off of the Iwa nin, "Nii-sama…how shall we deal with them?"
Haruto stared at them, "Show them no mercy." He stated coldly.
"Understood."
Naruto felt the emotions of everyone present.
So far, he had to worry about Iwa the most because Kumo he sensed was going to go after them, for what reason? He didn't know.
'I'll have to draw them to a secluded area and figure out what to do from there.' He thought.
Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw the female ninja from Iwa was staring at them, no, she was glaring at them, "Why's she glaring at us?" she shivered.
"Ignore her." Naruto told her.
"The dope's right," Sasuke said, "If they have a problem we'll just take them down."
Naruto had his doubts about that. They weren't exactly pushovers, and neither are those from Kumo.
"Alright you maggots! Its time to start the Second part of the exams! I have one last piece of advice for you…don't die." Anko's voice told them over the intercom.
Naruto sweat-dropped, 'How encouraging.'
The gates opened and all of the participants raced in making Anko smirk. She wondered how many would come out alive, and how many would die? Should be interesting.
Team 7 was currently jumping from the tree branches trying to find some teams at leas but so far they haven't come across any at all. Sasuke decided to act as team leader, even looking over at Naruto as if challenging him to say something but the blonde had other things on his mind, like Iwa, Kumo, and that other ninja from earlier. He felt the woman's stare on them and had to suppress a shiver that went down his spine. Just what the hell could that woman want with them? Once again, he didn't want to know.
They stopped and stood on top of a branch.
"What should we do?" Sakura questioned.
"Isn't it obvious? We search for some teams." Sasuke snorted at her question.
Naruto silently made a shadow clone, "I sense a team not that far from us. Go." He whispered.
The shadow clone nodded and went off to get to work. They had an Earth Scroll and needed a Heaven Scroll. Hopefully the team he sensed has one and they can get the hell out of this forest as quickly as possible.
With the Shadow Clone
An Ame team were currently walking through the forest looking for any teams to ambush and take their scroll from them. Amegakure had sent two teams this year to improve their chances.
The Shadow Clone saw them walking around the Forest completely unaware that they were being watched. Shaking its head the clone got to work, Snake → Rat → Dragon → Dog → Tiger: "Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō (Wood Style: Tree Bind Eternal Burial)." The clone muttered.
As soon as the Ame ninja took another step forward they found their limbs wrapped up in vines then three giant trees grew from the ground wrapping around them and constricting their movements completely.
"W-What is this?!" one of them yelled.
"Can't move!" the other said.
"Dammit!" said the last one.
The clone jumped down from the tree walking over to them ignoring their glares, he went towards the one on the middle having one of the trunks move so he could inspect the males pocket and sure enough he did find a scroll. Looking at it, the clone smiled and saw that they had a Heavens Scroll. Just what they needed.
"Thanks." The clone said disappearing and leaving them there ignoring their curses and threats. It meant nothing if the idiots couldn't move.
With Team 7
Naruto was sitting down lotus style much to his teammates annoyance. They don't have any time to waste, they needed to find a team so they could get a Heaven Scroll.
"Naruto-baka stop wasting time already!" Sakura yelled.
The blonde ignored her and stood up once he sensed his clone was near, "Looks like he found what we needed."
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded.
Naruto's Shadow Clone landed before them making the two jump but the blonde simply smirked, "Welcome back."
"What? But how? I didn't even see you summon a Shadow Clone!" Sakura said in confusion.
"I summoned it while you two were talking about if we should find a team to ambush," Naruto explained, "How was it?" the blonde asked.
The Shadow Clone showed them the Heaven Scroll with a smirk, "Mission accomplished. They had a Heavens Scroll."
"What team did you ambush?" Sakura asked.
"There were some Ame ninja nearby who let their guards down completely so I ambushed them and took their scroll while leaving them there." The Shadow Clone explained looking at Naruto.
Naruto nodded, "Got it, thanks."
The Shadow Clone nodded giving the scroll to the blonde as the original dispelled the clone.
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that they got a scroll already. Sasuke wasn't too pleased at all wanting to test out his Sharingan out on any teams that would ambush them but Naruto had prevented that.
"Since we have the scroll we need we can go the tower now." Sakura smiled.
"Yeah…" Sasuke said.
Naruto was relieved they could go now, but that was soon dashed when he sensed something coming and acted quickly, Rat → Dog → Tiger: "Mokuton: Mokujōheki (Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu)!" a giant wood dome appeared protecting them from a high wind velocity, the dome had some cracks in it showing just how strong the attack was.
"W-What was that?!" Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto cursed, "It has to be her. That ninja from earlier."
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke questioned.
"When the proctor threw her kunai at Kiba a ninja gave it back to her," Naruto said trying to calm his nerves but failing, "It was that female ninja, something's off about her." He took the dome down.
Proven right, it was the Kusa ninja from before that was standing in front of them with an eerie smirk on her face.
"Kufufu, very good Naruto-kun. You used that well." the licked her lips.
The blonde suppressed a shudder that went down his spine, 'There is something seriously wrong with this person. Who is she?'
"W-Who are you?!" Sakura yelled in fear.
Sasuke would never admit that he was scared himself.
The Kusa woman simply smiled and sent a burst of KI in their direction making Sakura almost want to faint because of the sheer intensity, Sasuke was breathing hard, and Naruto gripped his cane trying to stay standing.
'Dammit! Kurama!' Naruto glared.
"Already on it." Kurama growled.
Kurama's chakra covered the blonde covering him from the woman's KI and sending it towards the woman who started chuckling, Sasuke took out a kunai and stabbed himself in the leg to break the KI and calm down. It worked. Sakura was still conscious by some miracle.
"Very good," the woman smiled bringing a hand up to her face and ripping it off much to Sasuke and Sakura's disturbance, "You two will do well." she ripped it off completely revealing a man with white pale skin, purple markings, and yellow eyes, "Since you've entertained me so well I suppose I should humor you and tell you my name. I am…Orochimaru."
Naruto's blood ran cold, "Orochimaru…one of the Legendary Sannin!" what the hell was Orochimaru doing here in the exams?!
Sasuke was thinking the same thing as Naruto, as was Sakura. They stood absolutely no chance against this person. Compared to Kakashi and Zabuza, this guys S-rank to Hokage level compared to a Jounin like Kakashi, Yamato, and Zabuza. They had to run!
Sasuke was the first to act, Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger: "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" he sent fireballs towards the Sannin prompting Orochimaru to dodge easily without much effort. When Orochimaru looked back up he smiled and sensed they were moving far away making him smirk.
"It won't be that easy." Orochimaru smiled giving chase, unknown to him he was being watched by two individuals who followed after him.
Anko was eating her favorite food in the world. Dango's.
So far she hadn't heard any screams of bloody murder coming from within the forest yet but it was only a matter of time.
"Anko-san!" a proctor approached making her look at him.
"What's up?" she raised a brow.
He gave her a grim look, "There's something you need to see."
Anko stared at the bodies of the three dead Kusa ninja, "What the hell? Their faces are gone."
"Who could have done this?" the proctor next to her wondered.
Inspecting their blank faces a bit more she came to a conclusion, 'This could only be him!' she thought, "Go and alert the Hokage! We've got a snake here!"
The man nodded and disappeared leaving only Anko who went into the forest to confront the man of her past, "Orochimaru!" she growled.
Team 7 were running by jumping from tree to tree. There was no way in hell they were going to go up against Orochimaru one of the Legendary Sannin! But for some reason Naruto had a feeling that they would be forced to anyway, why does he think that you ask? Simple. Because Orochimaru was following right after them and coming very quickly!
Naruto clenched his teeth, "He's coming! And fast too!"
"What'll we do?!" Sakura asked fearfully.
Sasuke clenched his fists and stopped making them stop too, "We've got no choice. We're gonna have to fight him."
"What?! But we can't!" Sakura protested.
"We don't have any other choice," Naruto stated still not liking their predicament, "He'll just keep coming after us no mater ho far we run. Maybe we can stall him or hopefully catch him off guard long enough to get as far away as possible."
Sasuke had his kunai out ready for the Sannin, while Naruto unsheathed his blade tossing the scabbard over at Sakura who looked at the two. Sasuke looked back at her, "You'd just be in the way. Go and hide."
"Sasuke's right, you need to get to a safe distance." Naruto told her.
Sakura wanted to protest but couldn't because she knew they were right. She was facing the hard truth before her, and that was…she was weak. Shutting her eyes tightly she jumped off the tree branch and hid in the bushes nearby.
She had never felt so useless as she did right now.
Naruto gripped his blade, "He's here." Just as he said that the snake Sannin appeared right before them with that snake like smile of his.
"Done running?" Orochimaru taunted.
Naruto said nothing and got ready for the fight of his life. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe he stood a chance against one of the legendary Sannin. Secretly he was praying that Ibiki-sensei saw his message, prompting him to send some people in the forest to help them. Guess he'll see.
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, entertain me." Orochimaru charged at them going after Sasuke first to just barely dodged the kick sent his way and tried to stab the Sannin in his side but he grabbed the boys wrist. Before Orochimaru could do anything Naruto came at him next.
"Senkō (Flash)!" Naruto slashed his other side and heard a 'poof' then a 'thud,' 'Kawarimi!' he barely dodged a punched that was sent at him and jumped away to get some distance, 'That was too close! This isn't like how it was with Zabuza! He's toying with us I just know it!'
Sasuke appeared next to the blonde, "You got a plan?"
"Not this time," Naruto said, "I doubt he's the type to be outsmarted especially by two Genin. I just hope that help comes otherwise we're screwed."
Sasuke grit his teeth, "Damn."
Orochimaru smirked at them, "Very good you two, entertain me more."
The Uchiha heir glared at the man and gave him what he wanted, Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger: "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)!" he sent a giant fireball at the Sannin who merely smiled. As soon as the fireball made contact the Sannin stared at them before dissolving into mud making Sasuke's eyes widen, "He dissolved into mud?!"
'It was an earth clone! Where is he?!' Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on where he might be before his senses went off, "Above!" he grabbed Sasuke jumping back from the Sannin who still had that smirk on his face.
Orochimaru chuckled, "Well done, Sasuke-kun," he eyed Naruto, "You as well Naruto-kun, but why not show me what you can really do?"
Sweat poured down from the blonde's forehead, "I'll pass, thanks."
"What do you want with us?!" Sasuke demanded.
Orochimaru smiled, "Why to give you both your gifts of course."
"Gifts?" Naruto questioned.
Orochimaru licked his lips, "You'll love it."
Sasuke and Naruto's spines shivered even though the blonde didn't see him lick his lips, but he felt uncomfortable as hell, 'No! Just…no!'
Orochimaru stretched his arm out, "Sen'ei Tajashu (Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes)." He sent multiple snakes at the boys.
Naruto sensed them and got to work, Tiger → Horse → Tiger → Snake: "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Wood Style: Giant Forest Jutsu)!" he sent wood trees at the snakes getting them and allowing Sasuke to charge at the Sannin by running on the blondes arm and using pure Taijutsu at Orochimaru who smiled at the boy and humored him by using Taijutsu himself but in reality he was only toying with Sasuke as well as testing him.
"Is that all Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru taunted kicking the boy away from him, "If that's all you can do then you'll never be strong enough to kill Itachi."
Sasuke's Sharingan flared at the mention of Itachi causing him to shoot at Orochimaru ignoring Naruto's call to calm down.
'Dammit! Orochimaru's bating him!' Naruto thought.
"Hmph, more like their clan are just easy to anger." Kurama stated.
'So not the time right now.' Naruto's eyebrow twitched.
Sasuke was sent back by the Sannin and saw he was no longer before him and looked around, "Dammit! Where is he?"
"Sasuke above you!" Naruto yelled having sensed the snake man was above him teammate.
Sasuke heard the warning a little too late as he found his neck being pierced by the Snake Sannin's fangs making him cry out in pain. Orochimaru took his fangs out of the boy's neck and watched in satisfaction as the black mark appeared on his neck, "I hope you enjoy your gift, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke said nothing as he passed out from the intense pain. Orochimaru then set his sights on Naruto, "Now then," he disappeared then reappeared behind the blonde hitting him in the back only for him to turn into wood and shatter upon contact making his eyes widen with glee, "Moku Bunshin (Wood Clone)! Very good!"
Naruto appeared by Sasuke's unconscious form along with a Shadow Clone, he sensed there was something dark around Sasuke no thanks to Orochimaru but since he couldn't see he had no idea what it was. All he knew was that it was dark.
'Just what did he do to him?' Naruto wondered.
"Boss he's coming!" The Shadow Clone yelled.
Naruto sensed the Sannin was coming right at him and gave his sword over to the clone and quickly made the hand signs, Bird → Hare → Serpent: "Mokuton: Jukai Heki (Wood Style: Tree Wall Barrier)!" countless wood branches grew at high speeds from the ground, the branches interlocking forming a net-like wall that stopped Orochimaru in his path but he simply smiled.
"Such an impressive specimen you are Naruto-kun," Orochimaru licked his lips, "I can't wait to mark you."
Naruto and his Shadow Clone grabbed Sasuke and took off to find Sakura seeing as how they were pretty far. After a minute Naruto sensed were she was hiding and brought Sasuke to her laying him down before her.
"Sasuke-kun! What happened?!" Sakura asked fearfully.
Naruto gave his blade over to his Shadow Clone, "I'm running low on chakra…I don't know what else to do right now. He must've done something to Sasuke but I can't tell what it is."
Sakura inspected Sasuke and saw what looked like a mark on his neck, "He put something on his neck, it looks like a mark."
Naruto sat down groggily, he used up a lot of chakra, first against those Ame ninja, and now against Orochimaru one of the legendary Sannin. Using both Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō (Wood Style: Tree Bind Eternal Burial) and Mokuton: Jukai Heki (Wood Style: Tree Wall Barrier) took a lot out of him and he needed to rest.
'I'm tired…and I cant rest because Orochimaru's probably looking for us right now. Dammit!' Naruto thought.
"Naruto, I'm going to transfer some of my chakra over to you." Asura told him.
'You can do that?' Naruto thought.
"I can. Just relax." Asura told him.
Sakura watched as her blond teammate closed his eyes and white chakra began to envelope him as he closed his eyes, 'W-What is that?!' the white chakra dissipated and Naruto opened his eyes.
"I feel a little better, but we still stand no chance. We need a miracle." Naruto stated.
"N-Naruto…just now what was that?" Sakura asked slowly.
"Such an interesting thing you've just shown me Naruto-kun." Orochimaru appeared before them walking over to the Genin.
'Damn, he found us quick!' Naruto thought.
Sakura held Sasuke close to her as she watched the Sannin come closer and closer to them and shut her eyes fearfully. Just then two figure appeared wearing black robes standing in front of both Naruto and Sakura blocking them from Orochimaru.
Naruto only just now felt their presence, 'I didn't even sense them until just now! Are they after us too?!'
Both of the figures charged at Orochimaru at impressive speed the smaller of the two landing a kick to his face sending him backwards and wet after the snake Sannin, while the tallest turn to them, "We shall deal with him. Please get to safety." The male figure bowed then followed after his partner leaving two confused Genin behind.
"Who were they…?" Sakura wondered.
Naruto sighed taking his sword back from his clone looking completely spent, "Doesn't matter now. We need to find some shelter." The clone took Sasuke from Sakura putting him on its back as they stood up, "We need a big tree or something to take cover in."
Sakura nodded and led the two to find a tree big enough to hide them in for a while and hopefully give them time to rest up. Hopefully.
Orochimaru was having a hard time with the two unknown individuals that prevented him from marking Naruto. He stared at the two sensing they were much more stronger than him and just as vicious. Interesting.
"Wretched snake," the female growled, "We will not let you taint the Uzumaki!"
"Indeed." Her partner said from behind Orochimaru taking him by surprise making him disappear and reappear to a different tree branch. He stared at the two his instincts telling him to run and never look back and for once he listened. Using some hand signs he sunk into the branch his presence gone from the two.
"Hmph, coward." Haruto said pulling his hood down.
"I would have loved to devour that snake, but oh well. We protected the Uzumaki and that's what important." Kagura smiled.
Haruto frowned, "Not yet. There are still those Iwa ninja we need to deal with, no doubt they've already found his whereabouts by now. Come." He disappeared.
"Yes, nii-sama." She followed after him.
Currently with the Iwa ninja they already got an Earth scroll and were now trying to find Naruto and his team, but so far they had no such luck.
"Dammit! Where the hell are they?!" Kurotsuchi growled.
"Calm down, Kurotsuchi. We'll find them." Akatsuchi told her.
N was trying to sense them but so far got nothing, "I can't sense them, maybe-" he was cut off when something crashed into him making him fall down to the ground.
"N!" Kurotsuchi yelled letting her guard down and getting hit with something herself, as did Akatsuchi making them fall to the ground along with their teammate. Standing up and getting into battle positions they saw it was two individuals wearing black hoods that covered their faces.
"We found them, nii-sama~" Kagura smiled.
"So it would seem." Haruto commented.
"Who the hell are you?!" Kurotsuchi demanded.
Kagura simply smiled, "We will not allow you to harm the Uzumaki."
Kurotsuchi glared at her, "Shut up!" she roared making the Bird hand sign, "Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears)!" earth spikes protruded from the ground heading right towards them.
Kagura simply smiled holding both palms out in front of her, "Hakke Kūhekishō (Eight Trigrams Air Palm Wall)." Sending a powerful burst wave of chakra towards the attack it shattered the spikes heading right towards the three who were too slow to get out of the way in time sending them flying away from the two.
Kurotsuchi got up slowly, "D-Dammit! Who are these two?!" her eyes widened as Kagura appeared before her.
Kagura smiled, "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō (Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)." She moved two fingers at Kurotsuchi hitting her tenketsu.
"Ni Shō (Two Palms)."
"Yon Shō (Four Palms)."
"Hachi Shō (Eight Palms)."
"Jūroku Shō (Sixteen Palms)."
"Sanjūni Shō (Thirty-Two Palms)."
"Rokujūyon Shō (Sixty-Four Palms)."
"Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō (One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)."
Sending the final strike towards the Iwa kunoichi she coughed up blood and was sent back rolling on the ground a few times before coming to a stop.
"Kurotsuchi!" Akatsuchi and N yelled going over to her. Akatsuchi checked her pulse and felt that she was indeed still breathing much to his relief.
"It's okay, she's still breathing." He sighed in relief.
"Just what the hell was that?!" N looked over at the two.
Kagura was still smiling as she looked at the two conscious males as was Haruto, "We will let you off with a simple warning for now, but make no mistake that if you threaten the Uzumaki's life again you will die by our hands. The hands of the Ōtsutsuki." And with that they disappeared leaving a wide-eyed Akatsuchi and a confused N.
'Ōtsutsuki?! The mysterious group that's been seen around each Elemental Nation?! Why are they protecting the Yellow Flash's son?!' Akatsuchi thought in fear. They were told of this group and how they seem to know every ninjutsu to ever be created. Everyone feared them, and now here they are in Konoha. This is not good.
Naruto was keeping guard outside the giant tree they managed to find while Sakura tended to Sasuke, wiping his forehead and making sure his fever didn't get too high. Naruto had his clones go and get some plants that could help with putting his fever down and to his surprise the clones found some flowers that would do the trick. Sakura watched as Naruto and the clones prepared some medicine via plants by crushing them with a rock they found somewhere and made it into paste, placing it on a white cloth and placing it on Sasuke's forehead. To her surprise about 5 minutes later his fever went down a little thanks to the plants the clones found, they did bring some water so she could wipe his forehead of any sweat that might have gathered.
Sakura stared at her blonde teammate in wonder once again, in the past she truly believed that he was trying to show Sasuke up but looking at him now she realized that she wrong. Way wrong. During some of the missions they took after Nami no Kuni, no it was during the mission Naruto didn't hesitate to protect them despite how she treated him. Yes, she admitted that the way she treated Naruto was no different than what the girls back in the Academy used to treat her when she was a child. A bully. She even called him out on not being actually blind, and thinking back on it now made her realize just what kind of despicable person she truly is. And it wasn't just her, the rest of the kids at the Academy openly mocked him for being, even the adults did it but Naruto simply ignored them. And to add insult to injury the blonde walked around just fine without any problems except for the occasional slip of the foot because of small rocks. He was even labeled 'Rookie of the Year' the same as Sasuke, and instead of bragging to everyone about the title he simply didn't care and just went through his life like normal.
Even when he passed the Genin exam he still didn't brag and simply walked off not wanting to be near anyone that day. When Team 7 formed she thought that maybe he was merely acting like he didn't care but was proven wrong during the introduction when all he said was his name and nothing more. It was almost like he didn't want to get close to anyone with the exception of Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji, but she felt as though Hinata knew him the most. The real Naruto. She didn't know him at all, only concerned with Sasuke and wanting his approval but so far the Uchiha heir didn't even acknowledge her at all, treating her as though she were a nuisance to him. Naruto openly showed he didn't want to have anything to do either her or Sasuke but he was at least cordial, even though he ignored them from time to time when he didn't want to be bothered.
Naruto stood up suddenly getting her attention, "Naruto?"
"I'm going for a walk," he said then turned to his clone which he felt walk towards him to his left, "Keep them safe and engage anyone who's not a Konoha ninja."
"Got it, boss." The clone said.
Naruto walked off needing to clear his head about everything that's happened so far, what with Orochimaru and those two mysterious figures that appeared out of nowhere and helped them out. Question is why?
Hiruzen was currently in a room in the tower of the Forest of Death with him was Yamato and the rest of the Jounin, including Zabuza and Haku.
"I hear that all your teams passed the First part of the exam." Yamato said.
Asuma smoked a cigarette, "I'm surprised seeing as how the proctor in charge was Ibiki, but some actually quit after being tricked by the man. Talk about a sadist."
Kurenai nodded. She was glad Hinata had passed the second part of the exam. The girl was a strong kunoichi but she was still worried for her.
Kakashi wondered how exactly his team was able to pass the written test seeing as how the blonde was blind, unless he planned something ahead.
Zabuza leaned back in his chair, now wearing a Konoha headband instead of the one from Mist. He had done his probation and became Jounin while Haku became Chunin.
The man snorted, "You've guys got some fucked up people here."
They all gave him a deadpanned look, 'Like your one to talk.' They all thought.
Gai looked over at Kakashi, "So Kakashi, you think your students will make it?"
Kakashi actually thought about it, "They will."
Zabuza snorted, "Please. My second apprentice is stronger than those two sorry excuse for students you got, Kakashi."
Yamato glared at him, "Just so you know, I was against him learning from you but I can't deny that he needed it. But so help me, if you've corrupted him in any way…I'll bury you underground." He did his scary face.
Zabuza sweat-dropped, "Overprotective much?"
Haku merely chuckled.
The other Jounin were confused as to whom they were talking about but Kakashi knew they were talking about Naruto.
Just then the door opened and in came Ibiki, "Hokage-sama!"
"What is it?" Hiruzen looked over at Ibiki surprised he looked so out of breath.
Ibiki approached, "One of the Genin, Naruto Uzumaki wrote something on his test that I think you might wanna see."
Hiruzen took the piece of paper from the man and looked it over, he smiled when he saw that all of the answers were correct then saw the little note the boy wrote at the top and stood up quickly, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Ibiki."
"No thanks are necessary." Ibiki bowed.
"What's wrong?" Yamato asked.
Hiruzen looked at all of them with a serious expression, "We have a spy here in Konoha."
Naruto was still walking through the forest but far enough to where he couldn't get back to his team, sensing two presences he stopped, "You two again."
Kagura and Haruto jumped down from the two tree branches they were standing on and stared at Naruto before bowing before him, "Uzumaki-sama." They said.
Naruto flinched, "How do you…?"
"Forgive me for my rudeness Uzumaki-sama, but I'm afraid we've known ever since we've sense your presence from far away." Haruto told him.
'Sensed my presence? Are they talking about when I went to that temple back in Nami no Kuni? But how?' Naruto thought.
Asura was staring at them with interest, "Those features…their part of the Ōtsutsuki clan?! But why are they here? They're supposed to be on the moon!"
Naruto's eye twitched, 'The moon? You have go to be kidding me! Are you telling me that they can live on the moon and not die?!'
"The Ōtsutsuki were just that special, but I'm surprised their here though. Why have they been looking for you?" Asura wondered.
"Who knows? But I gotta admit that I am curious about it myself." Kurama confessed.
Naruto sighed, "I have a lot of questions but I really want to know why you two are here and why did you help me?"
Kagura spoke, "We are here to protect and serve you Uzumaki-sama. It is our obligation to help ad protect the "Chosen Uzumaki."
"Chosen Uzumaki?" Naruto questioned.
"Yes, for you are the reincarnation of Asura Ōtsutsuki the one who was chosen to inherit all of Ninshū as well as bring peace to the world. When he was alive he taught those of our clan that love and bonds are important and that we should treasure them. Those of the Uzumaki and Senju have carried this with them. Some of us have come down from the moon in order to experience that feeling of love and bonds because we do not have that on the moon. We are divided just like those of the Hyūga clan." Haruto explained.
Naruto understood him completely because Hinata's clan is the same way.
"The Uzumaki and Senju treasure family more than anything," Haruto continued, "The previous reincarnation of Asura Ōtsutsuki was Hashirama Senju, he was the embodiment of Asura-sama, his kindness and other features that embody that of Asura-sama. We were assigned to protect and stay with Hashirama-sama and learn from him what it means to have and treasure bonds, but before we could learn anything…he died."
Kagura growled, "Its that mans fault! Madara Uchiha!"
Naruto felt hatred coming off from her all because she despises Madara Uchiha, "I see…"
"Uzumaki-sama, please allow us to stay with you. We know that what we are asking is selfish, but please." Haruto bowed politely.
Naruto sighed, "Well first off, stop calling me Uzumaki-sama. Call me Naruto, besides we are practically family."
Both of them looked up at him in surprise, "Family?"
"Yeah, when you stop and think about it the Uzumaki's, Senju's, Hyūga's, and Uchiha's are your descendants, so in my opinion that makes you guys my cousins," Naruto smiled, "So there's no need to be so formal, nor is there a reason for you to call me "Uzumaki-sama," just call me Naruto."
The two siblings looked stunned then smiled, "Yes, Naruto-sama!" they both said.
Naruto's eye brow twitched, "This is gonna be hard," he felt memories enter his brain and realized that Sakura was being attacked, "We'll finish this later, I need to go and see my team now."
"What shall we do, Naruto-sama?" Kagura asked.
Naruto sighed, "You should leave the forest and get some rest, and thank you for the help." The blonde summoned another clone and they both took off towards to where Sakura was.
Haruto looked towards his sister, "We have our orders, let's go."
"Yes, Nii-sama." Kagura nodded as they both disappeared.
Sakura, Team 10, and Gai's team were in the middle of fighting the ninja's from Otogakure, Naruto's clone was dispelled by one of them and that information was sent to Naruto, who was on his way. Sakura looked a mess, her body looked a little beaten one of her eyes was swollen and she was forced to cut her long hair but inwardly she didn't even care about her long hair anymore. She wanted to prove that she could fight alongside Naruto and Sasuke instead of being deadweight.
Currently the mummy one was being held by a shadow courtesy of Shikamaru, the long black haired female was on the floor blood coming out of her mouth as was Ino who had possessed her boy to keep her still. The last one with the wind tunnels in both his arms was smirking like a bastard.
The man who was identified as Zaku grinned preparing to blast them with another wind attack until he felt someone kick him in the back sending him flying into Dosu who was released by Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu. They all saw the blonde hair prompting Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura to sigh in relief
"Troublesome blonde is late." Shikamaru smirked a little.
Zaku got off of Dosu and glared at Naruto, "You! You're the other target!"
Naruto felt the same aura that came from Orochimaru, "So your with the snake then, huh?"
Sakura's eyed widened, 'Their with Orochimaru?!'
Dosu stared at Naruto, "Interesting…"
Zaku grinned, "Looks like you've saved us the trouble of tracking you down!" he raised both arms at the blonde, "I'll blow you away-!" before he could finish Naruto was right in front of him making his eyes widen.
"Senkō (Flash)." The blonde used the back of his sword to slash at the sound ninja making him cry out in pain as he was sent flying away and hit a tree. Hard. He slid down to the ground but was still conscious, even though he was still in pain he stood up slowly.
Dosu looked over at the blonde in complete shock, 'I didn't even see him move!'
The Rookies gathered there thought the same thing, Neji had his Byakugan activated and didn't see how he did that.
Before the blonde could do anything else a dark aura surfaced out of nowhere making everyone turn their heads over at Sasuke who had black marking all over him, his Sharingan activated with wicked grin on his face.
Naruto felt the evil aura and knew it could only come from one person, and that person was…Orochimaru.
'Did Orochimaru inject some of his chakra into him or something? Wait a minute! The mark! It must be coming from the mark on his neck!' Naruto thought.
"That's some malicious aura, but mines better." Kurama bragged.
Asura sighed, "Oh, Kurama."
Sasuke eyed Sakura's current state, "Sakura…who did this to you?"
She was too scared to even speak but the idiot did it for her, "I did." Zaku bragged.
Sasuke turned his gaze over to Zaku and appeared behind him grabbing both arms, "You seem to be quite attacked to these arms of yours…why don't I break them?" and like that the raven haired teen snapped Zaku's arms making him scream out in pain and crumple to the floor.
Ino was shaking, "S-Sasuke-kun…?"
Neji was trying to figure out what the hell was going on with his Byakugan, "What is this foul chakra…?"
Dosu's eyes were shaking with fear, 'W-What is this?! Orochimaru-sama never told us about this!'
Sasuke turned is eyes towards Dosu who flinched, "Your next."
Dosu slowly put his scroll down which just so happens to be a Heavens Scroll, "H-Here…take our scroll! Just don't kill me!"
Sasuke didn't seem to hear the man as he appeared before him only to have the back of his collar yanked and threw backwards by Naruto. The blonde didn't turn away from Sasuke just in case he'd do something, "You Oto ninja leave now and take your scroll because we already have one. leave now before I change my mind."
Dosu didn't need to be told twice as he picked up his scroll putting it inside his pocket before grabbing both his teammates and disappearing from the area. Sasuke didn't look amused by his teammates actions, "Why did you let them go?"
"You've made your point when you broke both of their teammates arms. There was no need for any other action other than that." Naruto stated.
Sasuke scoffed, "Always getting in the way. This is the perfect chance, you and me, let's go."
"I refuse." Naruto answered calmly.
Sasuke appeared before him taking the others by surprise, "I wasn't asking your permission!" he sent a punch at the blonde only for him to grab his wrist.
"Have it your way then." Naruto said then punched him right in the gut hard enough to knock him out. The markings on Sasuke soon disappeared as well, man was he glad that he didn't get marked by the Snake Sannin otherwise he'd end up like Sasuke. Dropping him to the ground he summoned two shadow clones, one picked Sasuke up and the other one grabbed onto Sakura carrying her on its back. Naruto summoned a third one to help them get to the tower, without a single word to the others gathered there they left into the tree branches not wanting to stay there another minute.
The Second part of the exams was just way too much and the blonde needed a nice long nap.
By some miracle they arrived at the Tower on the second day, and all Naruto wanted to do was rest but as soon as they got there and opened both scrolls Kakashi was on them with questions and questions. Sakura answered most of them because Naruto was way too tired and Sasuke was still unconscious from the punch to the gut the blonde gave him. The Hokage soon came to greet Team 7 in the room they were using and wanted to ask them some questions as well, but once again the one to answer them was Sakura because Naruto was passed out sleep, having to deal with Orochimaru, the members of the Ōtsutsuki clan showing up to protect him all of a sudden, and whatever else took a lot out of him.
Kakashi sighed as he saw his student sleep in complete bliss and pulled the covers over him knowing that he had to be completely exhausted.
Hiruzen looked over at the boy then back to Sakura, "So you say Orochimaru is after both Naruto and Sasuke, then?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Sakura nodded in confirmation.
Hiruzen's eyes closed, "I see. I believe I understand why Orochimaru wants Naruto, but Sasuke I don't."
Kakashi whispered something in his ear making the man open his eyes in fury, "Then that means he wants Naruto for the same thing."
Sakura was confused, what are they talking about?
Kakashi went over to Sasuke and noticed something on his neck, it was a black mark. He recognized it, "A Curse Mark…" he went over to Naruto checking his neck but found no Curse Mark much to his relief, "Naruto doesn't have one."
Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness."
"Um, Kakashi-sensei, Hokage-sama, what's a Curse Mark?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi and Hiruzen looked at each other debating whether they should tell her or not but gave in, "It's a cursed seal that increases a user's chakra levels and physical abilities when the seal is active, but at the cost of corrupting the persons mind."
Sakura looked down, 'So that's what happened to Sasuke…'
"Thankfully he didn't brand Naruto with it." Kakashi spoke again,
"Oh! Those two people in the black robes prevented Orochimaru from doing the same thing to Naruto and chased him away!" Sakura remembered.
Hiruzen raised a brow, "Black robes?"
She nodded, "Yes, I don't know why they would do that for us but they did."
The two men made a mental not to ask Naruto about them later after he woke up but for now, they would leave them to get some sleep.
Because their gonna need it.
Next Time: Chūnin Exams: Preliminaries.