Forest of Death
Naruto looked at his teammates relieved. "They all seem okay. Though Daichi and Sasuke do seem injured."
"No, Naruto! Get out of here!" Sasuke shouted. "You don't know what you're up against! Hurry! Run while you still can!"
The Grass Ninja, still curled around the tree, looked at him. "So, you managed to escape from my friend Naruto. Well done."
"This is bad. Naruto's going to get us all killed, and I can tell Daichi's planning on charging in with him even after the beating he received last time." Sasuke thought.
He called it as Daichi shouted, "Naruto, she's incredibly strong! We have to attack together if we're going to have any chance of winning!"
Naruto had funneled Chakra through his body gaining that same red sheen to his hair and matching eyes. "Right!"
In that moment, Naruto's appearance changed just a bit more than usual. He was glowing the color of flames, and his hair became wavier and spikier. Both Daichi and Naruto jumped from their current places heading straight for the Grass Shinobi before Sasuke could do anything.
The Grass Genin took notice of Naruto. "How interesting. Not only does the Fox brat live, but he seems to have invented something I haven't seen before." The Genin held out a hand to each of them. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough."
Both Daichi and Naruto were blown back and slammed into trees.
At this moment, Hinata jumped from her branch to the Genin's going for Gentle Fist strikes. "I'm not sitting this out. If my team is going to fight, then I will fight with them!"
The Grass Genin uncoiled from the tree and started avoiding Hinata only for Naruto and Daichi to get into the battle themselves. While the Genin had no intention of trying against these brats, he could admit it was impressive they were even attempting to fight him at all.
Suddenly, Grass Shinobi got in the middle of the students and spun kicked them all away. They applied their chakra control, so instead of falling off the tree, they slid along it. Once they gained their fitting, they ran back up and started throwing punches, kicks, and palm strikes.
Sasuke watched the fight with clenched fist still feeling terrified. Then Daichi was the unlucky recipient of a powerful punch to the gut sending him over to Sasuke's branch. He landed on his back with a thud but got back up.
The Fusion member looked at the Uchiha before deciding enough was enough. "Sasuke!" Daichi grabbed his teammate by the shirt. "Sasuke Uchiha, snap out it!" Sasuke looked at him. "We need you. We need our teammate."
He pointed at the Grass Genin. "That is no Genin, but a monster. It'll take all of us working together to take it down. If you want any hope of killing whomever it is you have in mind, you're going to need to be ready." Daichi punched him. "Now, snap out of it!"
The Fusion member had let go of Sasuke, so the punch had sent the Uchiha tumbling straight into the trunk of the tree. The Grass Genin grabbed Hinata and slammed her body into the trunk of the tree. In that instant, Naruto managed to land a kick on the Grass Genin's face.
The Grass Genin simply chuckled. "Not bad Naruto." She grabbed the enhanced Genin. "Here, let me give you some pointers on a good kick."
She let go of Naruto and planted her foot into him stomach sending the Jinchuriki straight into a branch a good distance away. Sasuke stood up and now thought back to the time when the one he wanted to kill told him to run.
The Uchiha looked from Daichi to his currently down teammates. The Genin shot out her tongue at Naruto knowing exactly what to do about him. Naruto was able to just avoid it in a way that only his wrist was captured.
He began to struggle against the Genin making it hard for her to focus. Instead of the originally intended move she had in mind, the Genin used all her strength to pull Naruto in and deliver a powerful punch to his gut sending hm into the same branch cracking it.
Sasuke grits his teeth as he looked at the Grass Shinobi and activated his Sharingan. "I'm not running anymore!"
The Grass Genin was quite pleased with this. "It's happened at last. His Uchiha blood has come to a boil."
Daichi looked at Sasuke. "Alright, let's do this together Sasuke."
The Uchiha and Fusion Member jumped onto the same branch as the Grass Genin and fought together pushing the Genin back; however, she was still capable of dodging them. Her attention was on them, so Hinata ran in from behind slamming her palm into the Genin's back.
Only instead of the Gentle Fist, a spiraling torrent of water hit her. "Water Style: Azure Dragon Palm!"
The forced of the water slammed the Grass Genin into a nearby tree. Naruto, Daichi, and Sasuke joined here using a different Jutsu aimed at the Genin.
"Water Shuriken Jutsu." Naruto declared.
Sasuke charged lighting to his hand. "Lightning Beast Tracking Fang."
"Water Bullet Jutsu." Daichi declared.
The bullet of water absorbed the shuriken becoming larger. The wolf then merged into the water electrifying it. This slammed into the Grass Genin hard smashing her against the trunk as the electrified water punished her for what seemed like agonizing seconds.
The Grass Genin slumped forward. For mere seconds, Team Seven thought she was down until she rushed forward punching Hinata, Daichi, and Sasuke. Naruto was the last, so he had time to get a special kunai out. When the Genin punched him, he thrust that kunai into her arm.
The Uzumaki was knocked away with a smile as an explosive tag started to burn. The Genin quickly removed the kunai and threw it only for the explosion to go off in the air near her. Every member of Team Seven managed to land safely.
Naruto and Hinata on a branch to the right of the original while Sasuke and Daichi were on a branch to the left. Each pair was a good foot apart as they looked at the Grass Genin who was relatively unharmed and revealed to be some guy under a mask.
The Genin spoke with a deeper, creepier voice. "You little brats. I must admit, this is quite impressive. Your teamwork is exceptional; however…"
They were hit with Killer Intent. While it did not freeze the Genin as it had before, call it the problem with distance or their determination, each were still finding it hard to move. That didn't mean they wouldn't try.
Naruto and Sasuke attempted to weave hand signs, Hinata attempted to jump at the Genin, and Daichi went with moving his hand as the temperature around him rapidly decreased. The Fusion member was throwing his Chakra into something.
The Grass Shinobi made a single hand sign causing his neck to stretch. In this moment, everyone switched their targets with Daichi slowly moving his hand into place. The Genin went to bite Sasuke only for a large chunk of ice to slam into his face knocking the head away.
"Gale Palm!" Naruto declared.
Sasuke took a deep breath. "Fireball Jutsu."
A powerful gale of wind came at the Genin from the right while a ball of fire came from the left. The Grass Genin retracted his head and lunged clear of the Jutsus resulting in the gale palm and fireball colliding in a spectacular display as the wind amplified the fire.
The Grass Shinobi could hear Anbu coming and knew he couldn't stay. "This isn't over. Know that Orochimaru will return. You'll be receiving my gift then Sasuke. I may just have a gift for you as well Daichi."
He then vanished. With him gone, the entire fight caught up with Daichi resulting in him passing out. He hit the branch with a thud. Naruto was injured from taking so many hard his, so he fell to his knees.
Hinata ran over to him. "Naruto are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." Naruto looked to the Fusion member. "I want to know if Daichi's alright."
"Here, lean on me." Hinata helped him up. "We'll go see together."
Sasuke ran over to Daichi and checked for a pulse.
Hinata, with Naruto leaning on her, came over. "Is Daichi okay?"
Sasuke picked Daichi up and put him on his shoulders. "He'll be fine after some rest which we all need."
"Then what are we standing around for?" Naruto questioned worried. "Let's find a safe place already."
Cave, Night…
Team 7 had found a cave with a tree growing on top. The roots reached into the ground. Sasuke sat on a rock near the entrance with a kunai at the ready, Daichi was laid out unconscious on the ground as Hinata tended to him, and Naruto was sitting against the back wall.
Hinata soon stood up after taking a deep breath as she placed a wet cloth over her unconscious teammate's forehead. "Alright, I applied my ointment to his wounds, and I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary with his Chakra Network. I think he'll be fine after some rest."
Naruto sighed relieved.
Sasuke peered outside before looking at the team. "We'll have to sleep in shifts. I'll take first watch."
Across from the Cave: In the Brush
The three Sound Ninja looked towards the cave that the 4 members of Team 7 were resting in.
Dosu chuckled, "Alright, just as Orochimaru ordered. We strike at daybreak. Remember, our target is the Uchiha."
"If the other three get in the way, it's okay to take them out, right?" Zaku asked.
"Of course." Dosu stated. "That boy with the sword has it coming after all." He started to walk away. "For now, we'll retreat. After all, don't want the Hyuga spotting us just yet."
With Team Guy
The team had stopped at a small river to eat, drink, and rest.
"The other Teams will be calling it a day soon, so it's time to strike." Neji stated. "You know the plan. Fan out. Whether or not we run into another team, we meat up in this spot." He threw a kunai into the earth. "Got it?"
Tenten nodded. "No sweat."
Lee saluted. "Rodger."
"Then let's move." Neji stated.
The three members split up.
Cave, Morning…
Hinata put a new rag on Daichi's forehead when Naruto and Sasuke returned with some berries and water.
Naruto asked. "Is Daichi doing okay?"
"Use your eyes Dobe." Sasuke stated as he sat the berries down. "His chest is rising and falling steadily. A restful sleep."
"It's true." Hinata chuckled nervously. "I'm just worried he may not be fine, so I'm doing everything I can to ensure he's good."
Naruto sat the collected food and water down before moving to the back wall. Sasuke retook his post at the rock by the entrance.
With Neji
Neji was running along the trees with his Byakugan activated. It showed him an older looking male not in Anbu gear. He soon came to a stop on a branch across from the one he stood on. By all accounts, this man didn't seem hostile.
He was a middle-aged man of average height with short, red hair and azure blue eyes behind glasses. His attire consisted of a dark blue lab coat over a black shirt with with matching pants. On the back of that lab coat, he had the Uzumaki clan symbol.
"Identify yourself." Neji ordered.
The man sat down and offered a kind smile. "Good day Neji Hyuga my name is Shun Uzumaki, and I'd like to share a story with you. A story about your father, Hizashi Hyuga, and how your village threw away his life for nothing. His death was in vain. You are just unaware how much."
Neji stared at the man before deciding to humor him and sit down himself. "I don't recognize your name as that of a criminal, so I will hear you out. Tell me of your account concerning my father's death. If this turns out to be a waste of my time, I'm taking you in."
"I'll do you one better. If you find this entire discussion a waste of time, I'll let you take me in." Shun stated sincerely.
Neji stared him down. "Proceed."
"Certain facts have been kept from you." Shun stated. "Allow me to shed some light on the situation. Roughly 9 years ago, on the night a peace treaty was signed by Konoha and Kumogakure, one of their head Shinobi attempted to kidnap Hinata Hyuga.
This Shinobi was with the group signing the treaty. He would have succeeded had it not been for Hiashi Hyuga. The Cloud then ordered that Hiashi's body be delivered to them as recompense for killing their Shinobi.
In the end, it was decided that Hizashi Hyuga, Hiashi's twin, would be given up because all branch members have a special seal on their foreheads used to punish and kill a branch member. They also seal off a Branch Family's Byakugan upon death."
"I am aware of this." Neji angrily stated. "What are you getting at?"
Shun gave him a sincere smile. "My apologies. I had assumed talking about the story would allow you to see the injustice in every aspect of it. Think about it. The Cloud had lost to the Leaf. They were in no position for more conflict, yet the Hokage offered peace.
Kumogakure agreed only to turn around and attempt to steal from their supposed new allies. That is an offense to the treaty, and grounds for the Leaf to reignite the war. Tell me,why did they get a Hyuga body instead of that very threat?"
In that moment, Neji froze as he realized what was obvious. "My father never had to die…"
"I won't lie. I'm not plugged into the Hokage and Raikage offices by legal means. In fact, most are unaware what secrets I know. That said, to my knowledge, the Third Hokage didn't even try to push the threat.
It was simply decided that a Hyuga needed to die to preserve the peace. Your father needed to die because of his status. A status that was determined by being born a few seconds after Hiashi. I will say, Hiashi Hyuga and the Branch were against this decision.
The main family and Hyuga council were for it. In the end, your father has never been hailed as a hero. They will say, 'It was his duty to die for the Main Branch'. The years wear on, yet the Leaf Villages takes no steps to correct the injustice.
Neither your father's death nor the Hyuga Clan itself. I mean, if protecting the Byakugan were important, the whole clan would apply themselves with the Caged Bird Seal or all Main Branch member would never become Shinobi. Neither happens."
This man seemed straightforward, and what he said made sense; however, the prodigy still had no idea how to react. "Do you have more you can tell me?"
"I can tell you why your father choose death. It was for two reasons. To protect his brother and be free of the curse. For once in his life, your father had control over his destiny. To choose his own path.
Let's not forget who caused the Hyuga Affair in the first place. Hiashi Hyuga didn't have to kill that Shinobi. He was far superior, but anger over his daughter's kidnapping blinded him. The 'Hyuga Affair' is as rotten as they come. Inside and out.
"Why have you told me this?" Neji asked.
"My goal is to advance the Shinobi age. I know it's already on course to do that, but I want to play my part. Do as I see fit to help such growth. One way I see such advancement is in revealing a little injustice in hopes you'll help me.
In return, I will help you with any desire of yours that does not hinder my own goal. In fact, one such thing I can do, as one of the few Uzumaki left alive, is remove that Caged Bird Seal." He nodded. "It would be so easy."
Neji looked at him. "You can free me from the curse?"
"Sound a lot like this meeting was destined to happen, wouldn't you say?" Shun smiled. "The boy bound by a curse meets a guy from an endangered clan known for their Fuinjutsu. What do you say?"
"Can you remove and replace the Caged Bird Seal?" Neji asked.
"This will be child's play." Shun jumped over and knelt by Neji's side. "Let me see your seal."
Neji remove his head band revealing a green x with lines on either side. The Uzumaki then took out a piece of paper and placed it over the seal.
The paper stuck, and he tapped it. "Remove." Shun then removed the paper showing the Caged bird seal causing Neji to touch his forehead. "Now, to put it back." He papers stuck one more and he tapped it again. "It's back."
Neji was shocked. "I'll think it over."
"You have every right to." Shun withdrew a scroll. "I'll even leave you with some parting gits. The ability to remove seals yourself and a little something I took from a Snake. Something powerful. It's known as a Curse Seal. Yours will be the Heaven variety."
"What are you talking about?" Neji asked.
He removed a paper with three black tomoe on it. "This is a modified Curse Seal of Heaven." He waved his hand. "Normally, only 1 in 10 survive; however, this one is already in an active state. The worst it'll do is weaken you for a time.
In return, you gain increased Chakra Levels and physical capabilities. If you lack the will to use it, the seal will recede, but you can remove it with the same Jutsu I've given you. It usually has the ability to corrode the mind, but I've fixed that."
"Let me see the scroll that I can use to remove it." Shun passed Neji the scroll, and the prodigy looked it over. "Alright." He rolled the scroll up and tucked it away. "I'll accept this Curse Seal of Heaven as a mere taste of what you can give me."
Shun said, "Before I do, you need to promise me you'll blame Orochimaru, a Yonnin, for this. As I said, this is his handy work, and it'll be the easiest explanation since no cameras in the forest will have picked me up."
Neji nodded. "Very well."
"I need to place this on your neck." Shun stated.
Neji removed his jacket. "Do it."
Shun put the seal on his neck and ensured it was in a place Neji could reach. "Apply."
He removed the paper leaving Neji the seal.
"Let's say I ever decide to seek you out." Neji put his jacket back on. "Where can I find you?"
"The Land of Waves." Shun stood. "Ask around for the Great Naruto Bridge. If you're truly with me, I'll take you to my village."
With that, Shun vanished.
Neji stood up only to suddenly feel lightheaded. "He wasn't lying about feeling weak."
With Lee
Lee was running through the trees when he spotted two Grass Genin laid out on the ground. He jumped down from the trees and noticed senbon imbedded in their backs. He felt for a pulse, but there was nothing.
"Village Hidden in the Grass." Lee looked around. "These two are dead, but what about their teammate? These Senbon are a Rain Shinobi's work, so did they take the third teammate? I see no indication where to start looking, but the Green Beast should attempt to help."
He jumped through the trees and started looking for any Kusagakure or Amegakure Shinobi.
The Cave
"We have company." Hinata stated. "It's those Sound Shinobi."
Sasuke nodded. "Hinata, go see what they want. If they're looking for a fight, Naruto and I will join you."
"Right." Hinata stepped outside to confront the three Shinobi. "Why have you come here?"
"Bring us Sasuke." Dosu stated. "We want him now."
Sasuke stepped out of the cave. "Okay, what do you want?"
"What?" Dosu questioned shocked. "I thought Orochimaru was supposed to give you the mark."
Naruto stepped out after him.
"Are you talking about some guy named Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked. "If that's the guy you're talking about, my team and I managed to drive him off."
"We'll still take you on!" Zaku declared.
Dosu looked at him. "Wait, that isn't the plan Zaku!"
At that moment, shuriken flew forth from a scroll nailing Zaku in the back
Everyone looked up in a tree to see Tenten standing on a branch with an open scroll. "You'd really pick a fight with some injured Genin? I thought after your actions during the first exam, you were out to prove your village's power. Really proving it here, aren't ya?"
Kin got ready to attack the girl in the tree only for Dosu to stop her. "No, we're out matched. We got to get out of here." He looked to Zaku. "Zaku, we're leaving!"
"No, I can do this!" Zaku shouted. "I can take these Shinobi on!"
At that moment, Sasuke moved and got behind Zaku faster than he could react. He grabbed the Sound Shinobi and put a kunai to his throat.
"No, you can't." The Uchiha looked to Dosu. "Here's the deal, give us your scroll, and you'll be free to leave."
Hinata had activated her Byakugan, Naruto had shuriken out, and Tenten had summoned a bladed staff.
Dosu removed their earth scroll. "You can have it."
"Dosu, we can…" Zaku began only for Sasuke to knock him out.
"Dosu, we don't have to give them the scroll." Kind stated. "We've barely begun to fight."
Dosu looked at her. "Kin, we can get more scrolls. Let's just regroup and rethink this. We are not prepared to take on these guys."
Dosu tossed their scroll and Sasuke, in turn, tossed Zaku's body to them. Both parties caught what they wanted. Dosu then slung Zaku over his shoulder and hightailed it out of there with Kin. Naruto and Hinata walked over to Sasuke.
Tenten jumped down and did the same. "Hey, are you three okay? You seem in rough shape."
"It's not because of those three." Naruto declared. "We had a run in with some crazy Genin in the forest last night."
Hinata nodded. "Thanks for your help Tenten."
Tenten smiled. "We're all Leaf Genin, so I couldn't very well pass this by." She turned away from them. "Anyways, since you guys are okay, I have to continue looking for our missing scroll. Neji and Lee will be expecting me to return soon."
"Wait." Sasuke stated. "Are you missing a heaven scroll?"
"I figured that was the scroll you had." Tenten smiled. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on targeting any Leaf teams. You guys are good."
"You won't have to." Sasuke looked at Hinata. "Give her our extra Heaven scroll."
Hinata took out the extra scroll and tossed it to Tenten. "Are you sure you want to give me this?"
"Don't worry. That's an extra one we picked up." Hinata nodded. "We only need two scrolls to pass, and you earned it through helping us."
Naruto remembered words Daichi once said to him. "If you don't accept it, we'll just leave it here."
Tenten smiled. "No need for that." She pocketed the scroll. "I'll accept. Thanks." She jumped into a tree and waved. "See you at the tower."
She then ran off.
Naruto chuckled. "Look at the Teme being kind for once."
Sasuke stuck his hands in his pockets. "I just didn't want to owe any favors."
He walked back to the cave.
Forest of Death
A young shinobi with red hair reaching down to her neck, crimson eyes, and glasses stood in middle of forest after her team had left to look for scrolls. She was left holding her team's earth scroll. Here arms had bite marks on them.
Her attire consists of a mesh shirt and stockings, a purple skirt, a light brown short sleeved jacket with an orange stripe going across the chest, and black sandals. She also had the Kusagakure forehead protector on her forehead.
She had been told to stay hidden, and even though she would rather not have taken this exam, she didn't really have many options. Life only became worse for her as a huge, brown bear came out of the woods. She tried to run only to trip on a root.
"Dynamic Entry!" Lee entered the scene landing a powerful kick to the bear's side before jumping to stand in front of Karin in his pose. "The Green Beast of Konoha is here. While I am here, I will not allow you to hurt this maiden."
Karin grabbed her glasses and looked at Lee as she blushed at his words. The Bear roared at him. Lee jumped and came down spinning landing a powerful axe kick to the bear's head. He continued to hammer away with kicks until the bear crashed to the ground unconscious.
Lee landed on the ground and looked at the girl before giving her a smile and a thumbs up. "You are safe now. Unfortunately, I don't think I can say the same for your teammates. It seems as though they have met a most unfortunate end."
The girl didn't have any attachment to them. "That's a shame."
Lee nodded. "With your team gone you'll need another way into the tower." He held out his hand to her. "So, come with me. My team and I shall see you to the tower safely where you will be reunited with your Sensei."
The girl, despite not liking her village, didn't exactly want to stay in the forest.
She grabbed his hand with a blush. "Thank you. My name is Karin Uzumaki. What's yours?"
"Uzumaki? Isn't that Daichi's teammate's last name?" Lee nodded. "I am Rock Lee. Now, we should return to my team. You seem injured." He picked Karin up bridal style causing her blush to deepen. "I shall carry you."
He jumped into the trees.