Ch.4- The Forest of Death

Blue eyes examined bronzed hands as they turned and clenched into fists. Birds chirped outside the window, their songs a pleasant sound to wake to on a morning such as this. Today was the start of the second exam.

'The Forest of Death,' Naruto rolled the name around in his head. 'With a title like that, something tells me we wont be getting out of there without shedding at least a little blood. Just gotta be sure it's not ours.'

The blonde had already seen death; he stood there and watched as the life faded from Zabuza's eyes. And he'd watched men be killed when the rouge-ninja slaughtered Gato's thugs, before carving into the man himself. But now...now there was a real possibility that he would be the one ending someone's life.

And Naruto wasn't completely sure what to make of that.

In his wanting to honor the fallen Mist shinobi he knew, in the back of his mind, that it meant taking on the deaths of others but he had managed not to think about it too much since then.

Being busy with training helped in that regard.

But with the second stage of the chunin exams staring him in the face, and it being held at a place with a name like 'Forest of Death', the blonde knew that he wasn't going to get through it without someone being on the business end of his sword. Was he ready for that?

'Feh, that's a stupid question,' he berated himself.'No one's ever ready for their first kill. Zabuza probably had to psych himself up big time before taking on that graduating class in Kiri.'

The man had killed over a hundred trained students at the age of nine, and Naruto was just now worrying about killing his first opponent at the age of thirteen. The blonde shook his head; oh how times were different.

"But I've gotta do this," he said to himself while getting up from his bed. "I can't honor his memory if I chicken out when it counts, and besides, if I use the Hidden-Mist jutsuI should be okay right? Since I won't have to see it."

Using that reasoning to anchor his resolve Naruto walked over to the door, slid Kubikiribocho in its place along his back, before exiting his apartment. He had an exam to pass, and he wasn't gonna get there in time if he stayed here.

Leaving his weights at home again, it didn't take the fledgling killer very long to arrive at his intended destination. Within minutes of speeding over rooftops the blonde found himself standing atop the edge of a mid-level apartment complex overlooking the Forest of Death.

'Looks like I wasn't the only one who decided to leave early.'

Indeed there were numerous teams already standing around the gated training ground, with more coming up from the roads. Blue eyes scanned the crowd until they settled on a pair standing off to the side; one with a head of raven-black hair, the others a vibrant pink.

Naruto vanished from the rooftop, then re-appeared on the ground, before striding over to his team-mates.

Sasuke was the first to see him. Remembering what happened yesterday, the Uchiha gave his blonde comrade a heated glare; which Naruto readily ignored. Sakura, seeing her crush's enhanced bad mood, looked around to find what had upset him so; when her eyes landed on Naruto she sighed.

"Can't you two go one day without acting this way? Naruto, whatever you did to Sasuke-kun, can you just apologize before the second exam starts?"

This made the accused blonde scoff.

"Feh, there's nothing for me to apologize for Sakura. Besides, the teme knows better than to get distracted when it counts; we'll be fine."

'Yeah but I'd rather not have to play referee while you two butt heads with each other,' Sakura groaned internally. However, before anything more could be said, Anko called out to the teams and instructed them to converge near her.

"I guess since all the teams are here a little early there's no point in putting off the test," Sasuke observed. Then, motioning his team-mates, he began to skulk over towards the examiner.

Instead of trying to walk beside her raven-haired love, Sakura decided to hold back, and walk beside the other male on her team.

She wanted answers, and her best bet was to ask the blonde.

"Naruto what happened yesterday? Sasuke-kun was more angry than normal when I showed up at the testing area, what'd you do?"

"Sakura I already told you, it's not important. All that matters right now is passing the second exam; the teme knows that too, so just let it go for now. You can wipe the little baby's nose later—ouch!"

Naruto's gruff response was cut short by his pink-haired team-mate slamming her fist into the crown of his head. The young kunoichi gave the boy an angry look, growling as she spoke. "Don't talk about Sasuke-kun like that you idiot; that's probably the reason he's so upset, because of that smart mouth of yours."

"You know, I wouldn't recommend beating up your team-mate before this exam girly, you're gonna need all the help you can get just to survive it."

Hearing the voice behind her made Sakura jump.

Whipping around, kunai in hand, she came face to face with the proctor; Anko. The purple-haired woman grabbed hold of the younger kunoichi's wrist and wagged her free finger in scolding manner.

"And I definitely wouldn't recommend whipping one of these out on me; it might just get you killed."

Sakura, a little shaken up from the unexpected encounter, stuttered a response. "W-Well it's not like we need Naruto-baka to help us get through the test anyway, h-he's the weakest member."

Anko stood to her full height, forcing the pink-haired girl to look up as she gave her retort. "Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that; from what I can tell, he's stronger than the both of you put together. But, you did bring up one of the rules for the test, so let me get back to my explanation."

With that, the woman vanished in a burst of speed and re-appeared back before the fence.

"All right listen up! The second phase of the chunin exams will consist of a five day survival test, mixed with capture the flag. Each team will be given one scroll, either a Heaven or an Earth, and will be required to obtain the other scroll by taking one that belongs to another team; this way at least half of the teams will be cut from the exams."

"What!" Choji Akimichi cried in despair. "Five days!? What am I supposed to do for food!?"

Anko just stared at the overweight boy in surprise. Even she could go five days without food. "Well, it is a forest, so just find some of the edible plants or a river with some fish. You'll be fine."

The plump genin sagged his shoulder at the thought of eating plants. Shikamaru groaned and threw his hand up, when Anko motioned him to speak the boy asked about giving up.

"There is no giving up," she replied matter-of-factually. "Che, you think in the middle of a battle you can just throw down your weapon and say 'sorry I quit'?" She thought about it a moment, giggled sadistically, and continued, "Well I guess you could, but it'd probably get ya killed."

Shikamaru hung his head in response to her answer and grumbled about what a drag the test was gonna be.

"Now," Anko returned to the rules. "Your goal is going to be to obtain one of each scroll and then bring them to the central tower, which is about six miles from any one starting gate."

"But then why are we being given five days if it's only six miles from the start?" Ino wondered out loud. To her it didn't really make sense; she could run that in less than a day!

"Because you'll be dealing with the dangerous wildlife and plant-life in the forest alongside the threat of other teams little lady. Five days may seem like a long time, but trust me when I tell you, they'll go by in the blink of an eye if you aren't careful."

Seeing that the platinum-blonde was done asking questions Anko returned to her rules.

"Finally, there is more than one way to fail this test. Number one is obvious; if you are unable to obtain both scrolls within the time limit. Two; even if you have both, but fail to make it to the tower in time. Three; if only two members of your squad make it to the tower. And four; if you look inside the scroll at any time during the test."

Kiba raised his hand, "But what if one of the scrolls just kinda rolls open and you take a peek?"

"Let's just put it this way kid, you don't wanna know," the Special-Jounin grinned. "During a mission, when you're asked to transport important documents, you're never allowed to look inside. So why should now be any different?"

Seeing that everyone seemed to understand the test now, Anko pulled a stack of paperwork from her trench coat and handed them to Naruto. "Here kid, pass these out to the other brats and then take one for yourself."

She turned to address the crowd in front of her, "What's being handed out are consent forms, you can't take the second exam without filling one out, people may die during the test and Konoha needs to know that you all are okay with that. Once you've finished take it to the stand over there, trade it for a scroll, and then get set up next to an entrance."

After handing out the forms Naruto walked away from his team and read over the paper he was required to fill out. It was pretty standard stuff as far as he could tell, and it made sense to have them hand one in. After all, the Leaf can't have another village claiming their ninja were being picked off unfairly, now can they?

A quiet mumbling caught the bandaged blonde's attention. Looking up, his eyes were met with Hinata standing underneath a tree. She looked to be mulling over whether she should sign the form or not.

"Ya know," he called out as he walked up to the young heiress. "You and your team kinda have an unfair advantage Hinata-san."

The girl in question jumped a little before turning to see who had addressed her. Hinata's cheeks pinked when she saw that it was Naruto who was speaking to her. Then what he'd said finally registered and she stammered out a quiet response, "W-What makes you say that Naruto?"

"Well, you're team specializes in tracking and recon right?" When the shy kunoichi nodded he continued, "That means you guys must do survival drill a lot. Plus, with your Byakugan, there's no way you guys are gonna get caught off-guard; I know I wouldn't wanna fight you Hinata-san."

"Y-You wouldn't?"

Naruto chuckled lightly at her surprised look. "Of course not, you're definitely one of the strongest kunoichi out here, probably the strongest after that crazy chick from Suna. I don't know if I'd survive a fight with someone so strong."

The way the girl's face filled with color and her lips curled into a bashful smile Naruto knew he'd hit his mark. She would compete, and she'd do just fine. Turning around so as to get back to his team, the blonde threw up his hand and said his goodbye's.

"W-Wait, N-Naruto."

He stopped and looked back in confusion. Hinata was nervously fiddling with something in her small hands. Walking closer Naruto asked, "What is it Hinata-san?"

Hinata held out her hands, and blue eyes inspected the item they held. It was a small, brown jar. "I-It's medicine, in case you get hurt during the exam, I-I made it myself."

Naruto looked at the dark-haired girl in shock. She was willing to help him during an exam that decided who would become a chunin, and who stayed a genin for another six months?

"Hinata-san I...I don't think I can accept this, I mean, what about your own team?"

Hinata shook her head and made a dismissive hum, "K-Kiba and Shino already have one; and I always keep one in my weapon pouch just in case. I-I made this one...for you."

The blonde was thrown for a loop. She'd made an extra just or him?

"T-Thank you...Hinata. No one's, well, nobody has ever done something like this for me before; I don't really know what to say."

The young heiress just shook her head again and quietly replied, "Y-You don't have to say anything Naruto. I-I just...well..."

"Hey, Naruto-baka, hurry up and get over here! We need your consent form to get a scroll ya know,"

Sakura's loud voice interrupted them. Hinata jumped in surprise, while Naruto let out a small groan.

"I'm sorry Hinata," he apologized. "Maybe we can talk after the second exam is over, and there won't be any annoying interruptions." With that he waved goodbye again and headed off to join his squad.

Back by the tree, Hinata smiled while her lavender eyes dropped down shyly. 'He stopped calling me Hinata-san.'

xXx

Squad 7 stood at the gate they'd chosen to begin the second exam at, Naruto having slipped the jar Hinata had given him into his weapon pouch for safe keeping. "I think it'd be best if I held the scroll you guys."

Sasuke and Sakura turned to him, looks of disbelief on their faces. "Are you kidding dobe, you're probably the first person they'll go after, why would we give it to you?"

"Well, even if that is true, which it's not, we could use that against them right? They wouldn't expect you to hand over the scroll to one of us Sasuke, so they'd all think you had it.'

The blonde's logic made sense, but the Uchiha wasn't having it. "No, we can't afford to place the scroll at risk, I'll hold on to it for now and then once we get the Heaven scroll you can carry that one."

Naruto just sighed and crossed his arms. If this was how they were gonna be, chances were, someone was gonna get seriously hurt soon.

Sakura, who hadn't bothered to comment on the blonde's crazy plan, chose instead to question him on another matter. "So Naruto, what were you and Hinata-san talking about when I found you? You guys were pretty close, was I interrupting something?"

"Hmm? Hinata just seemed a little unsure of herself Sakura, so I decided I'd give her a little pep talk, that's all."

"You should have left her alone," Sasuke butted in. "If she had gotten scared then she would have dropped out, and then Kiba and Shino would have had to as well, leaving us with that much less competition dobe."

Naruto's brow scrunched in annoyance, and he shot his team-mate a slight glare, "What are you so worried about teme, they're Leaf shinobi like us, chances are they won't even try to attack one of their own. Besides, just because you're heart's cold and black doesn't mean mine has to be."

This seemed to strike a nerve with the Uchiha, because like the day before, his body tensed in preparation for action. But before he could do, or say, anything the speakers above their gate came to life.

"Alright you maggots, it's time for the second phase of the chunin exams to begin!"

With that, the chunin behind the gate unlocked the padlock that kept it closed. "But before you little brats head out I've got one more piece of advice for you all...just don't die!"

From there all the gates were thrown open, and many of the teams shot off into the darkness of the forest. Team 7 on the other hand simply walked through.

xXx

"Why are we just walking around like this," Naruto complained as he and his team continued their light walking pace through the Forest of Death. "We've been walking for over an hour, and we haven't come across a single team, what the heck are we waiting for?"

While he'd accepted the fact that he may have to kill during the exam, it didn't mean the young blonde was in any hurry to do so. If anything, Naruto wanted to find a Heaven scroll and get to the tower fast, before something bad happened.

Something in this forest just didn't...feel right to him.

"Would you stop complaining already Naruto," Sakura replied in an annoyed tone. "Sasuke-kun already explained it to you; we're moving like this so that we don't get caught off-guard by any traps in the trees."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the pink-haired girl but said nothing. Telling them about his feeling wouldn't do any good; it'd probably just provoke the teme into going slower, so he could call out the threat for a fight. So instead, the blonde turned his senses outward, to try and be ready for any signs of ambush.

It payed off.

After another half-hour of walking Naruto's nose picked up the scent of something foreign; they were being watched.

It was a far cry from any of the scents his fellow Leaf-ninja carried, he'd been around them all long enough to know, and it didn't match anything he'd smelled in the forest so far. This lead the blonde to believe that it was an enemy ninja.

Using a technique they'd been taught in the academy, Naruto channeled chakra to his ears and increased his hearing. His nose had always been a little more sensitive than most peoples, and his ears were sharp from his days of playing pranks, but he was no Inuzuka. He'd need the boost.

With the increase in hearing, Naruto managed to hear the enemies breathing. It was unusual.

'He must have some sort of mouthpiece on, his breathes are all followed by a strange static-like noise. I'm lucky too; the idiot got close, a little further back and I wouldn't have noticed him.'

Naruto continued walking behind his fellow members of Team 7, his mind whirling, trying to come up with a way to draw out the stalker and take him out without giving him chance to escape.

He walked for a few more minutes, making sure to keep his senses trained on the enemy ninja, before an idea came to him; but the blonde really wished he could have come up with a better tactic.

'I have got to start spending more time with Shikamaru, this idea will probably work, but it's way to lame to ever mention later.'

With his plan set, Naruto called out to his team.

"Hey guys, hold up, I gotta go to the bathroom."

The two ahead of him looked back, Sasuke with a frustrated scowl and Sakura a grossed out look.

"What the...are you serious Naruto-baka!? Why didn't you go before you left home!?"

"Hey," the blonde cried indignantly. "It's not my fault okay, how was I supposed to know we'd be doing survival exercises for the second exam?"

"Well still-"

"Sakura enough," Sasuke interrupted. "The longer you argue with the idiot the more time we waste. Just let him go." The Uchiha stepped over to one of the nearby trees and sat down, motioning for his blonde team-mate to go do his business.

Naruto nodded in thanks to his raven-haired team-mate before he walked off into the trees on the other side. He made sure to walk a good ways, so as to give the stalker a higher sense of security, before stopping and making like he was undoing his belt.

The entire time he made his little side journey the bandaged blonde kept his senses trained on the guy in the trees; he silently patted himself on the back when he noticed the guy was following him. This may just be easier than he thought.

It wasn't more than a minute before Naruto heard the guy drop down behind him. He felt the cold steel of a kunai press against his neck, and then heard a raspy voice in his ear.

"Don't you know it's not safe to walk around strange places by yourself? Never know what kind of bad guys are out there, waiting in the shadows."

Instead of panicking, Naruto just laughed a little. This seemed to annoy the enemy ninja because he growled, "Why are you laughing punk, don't you realize that this is the end?"

"I'm sorry, it's just, that's gotta be one of the worst lines I've ever heard. And I used to say some pretty lame things, so I'd know."

"Well," the ninja replied, "I hope it was funny enough, because it's the last thing you'll ever hear!"

With that, he whipped his kunai across Naruto's throat, and stepped back to watch as the body fell down into a puddle of blood.

"Ha," the Ame genin laughed. "I knew that kid was all talk—greh!"

Oboro didn't have long to gloat though. Faster than he could comprehend an arm wrapped around his throat, and a kunai was shoved through the back of his neck. The move severed his spinal cord;ending his life instantly.

Because of this quick death, the young brunette didn't have the chance to see the body at his feet puff away into smoke, revealing itself to be a shadow-clone.

Behind him, the real Naruto stood with his weapon hilt-deep in the boys' neck. Once he was sure he'd done it right Naruto yanked his knife free and let the Ame genin's body drop unceremoniously to the ground.

With bile rising fast in his throat, the blonde forced himself to look at the dead body. Naruto wanted it to register in his mind that he had done this, and that he'd be doing it again. The Uzumaki boy looked over his first kill.

As he hunched over to throw up Naruto thought about what he'd seen.

He saw blood stain the collar of the Ame genin's jumpsuit, turning the pale yellow a dark, muddy crimson. There was a lot less blood than he'd originally expected. He'd created and switched with a clone while walking towards his designated tree, and then stalked up behind the older-looking boy to make the kill.

'Must be what makes it such an ideal assassination spot.'

But this actually helped a little.

Naruto had been expecting his first kill to be messy, and to be covered in blood, but instead only a small back-splash had caught the knuckles of his killing hand.

Looking over the guy again, the bandaged blonde noticed the look in his eyes. Shock. For a single second the Ame genin had known Naruto was there, and had been surprised. Now his eyes would forever remain wide and glassy with that look.

But the fact that his enemy had known he was there at all made Naruto realize that his silent killing needed work.

'A lot of work,' he thought grudgingly. 'There's no way it'll work on any self-respecting chunin, never mind Jounin. Even with the mist, if I don't practice more with my technique, I'll be an embarrassment to my title.'

Cleaning off his kunai, Naruto placed it back in its holster with the others, and then knelt down to check if the guy had a scroll. No dice.

"He must have been sent out as a scout," Naruto mumbled to himself. "Either that, or he was impatient and wanted to start picking people off so he parted from his team. Feh, with his skill level, I'd bet even Choji could beat him."

Having no luck with finishing up the second exam quickly Naruto got back to his feet and started to make his way back to the others.

'No point in giving the guy a burial; not like he'd do the same or me.'

It didn't take the blonde long to make it back. But once he did, Naruto refrained from telling them about what happened and just motioned that he was ready to go.

"That's still so gross," Sakura shuttered. "Until we find a river, or get to the tower, stay away from me. I don't want you touching me with those hands."

While he didn't stop, Naruto's breath hitched for a moment.

'What?'

He looked over at his pink-haired team-mate, expecting to see some form of unholy disgust, but instead was met with a face that resembled a girl who thought boys were icky.

'Oh, that's right, she thinks I used the bathroom, Sakura didn't actually see what I did.'

With his fears put to rest Naruto started to turn his attention back to the forest around him. But first, the blonde let his gaze linger for a moment and he replied, "Sure thing Sakura. And when we get attacked by enemy ninja, I'll be sure not to come save you; ya know, with my dirty hands and all."

From there the team was quiet.

Although Sakura looked over at the blonde in befuddlement; he wouldn't save her? The same kid, who'd swear up an down that he'd do anything for her, wouldn't come to her aid if she were in danger?

'Yeah right,' she thought with a snort. 'The baka's probably just trying to get my attention, but it won't work.'

'Cha! That little knucklehead, who does he think he is, Sasuke-kun? If he thinks acting all cool's gonna make us go out with him he's crazy',Sakura's inner-voice agreed.

But as they moved farther and farther into the forest, Team 7 was unaware of just what kind of danger awaited them.

Outside the testing grounds, seated atop the stand where the teams received their scrolls, Anko Mitarashi was having her lunch. She'd made a quick dash to her favorite dumpling stand, and then returned so as to not miss any of the fun sounds that echoed through the Forest of Death.

"Aaaaaahh!"

'Like a team of genin getting caught in a trap,' she thought with a sadistic smirk.

After sliding another dango off its skewer the purple-haired kunoichi went to take a drink from her can; though her mind soon started to drift. It's main focus, the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki.

She'd only really met him twice; that time in the store, and then again in the library. But she'd found the blonde to be an interesting character. He'd even managed to keep up with her humor, something not many people could take claim to.

'One thing's for sure, he's definitely one of the few that'll survive the forest. That kid's no ordinary genin.'

As she was about to slide the last dumpling off the skewer Anko was joined by two chunin.

"What's the matter," she muttered through a mouthful of food. "Why are you bothering me?"

A lower-ranked shinobi, one with glasses and a flak jacket, bowed in response. "We're sorry Mitarashi-san, but, we've discovered something that we think you should see."

"And what would that be? It must be pretty important for you to willingly interrupt my lunch."

"It is ma'am," chimed the other chunin. "It...well it's a highly unusual case, and we believe you are the best suited to asses the situation.

"Unusual huh?"

Anko hopped down from her perch, the dango skewer resting between her teeth. "Alright then," she eyed the two men with curiosity, "show me what's got you guys so nervous."

In a trio of shunshin the three ninja were gone.

When they stopped, Anko saw that she'd been taken to a small prayer field. There were small statues of deity circling a stone platform. And on that platform was the reason she'd been called.

Three dead bodies.

It was obviously a messy ending, as the area was splattered with blood. But what Anko couldn't figure out is who had done it, and why?

"Alright," she turned to the chunin with glasses, "so what do you know about what happened here?"

The chunin handed his superior the ninja I.D.'s of the dead shinobi and explained what he knew.

"We were patrolling the area, as per Lord Hokage's orders, when we came upon the scene. They were already dead, and we have no clues as to who committed the act, but there was one thing that we couldn't make heads or tails of...and why we came and got you."

As she looked through the wallets of the, now identified Kusa genin, Anko continued her questioning. "Right, you mentioned something about this particular case being unusual, so what was it?"

"They...well, Mitarashi-san the victims faces have been torn off."

This piece of news immediately got Anko's attention. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and her body tensed in fear, as an image...a memory, began to playback in her mind.

'No...it can't be. What would he be doing here, why now.'

Turning to the chunin she had spoken with the Special-Jounin began to issue orders. "I want you to inform Lord Hokage of this immediately. Tell him to send a squad of Anbu units into the Forest of Death, he'll understand why."

"But mam what about you-"

"I'm going in alone," she cut him off. "We need to respond quickly if we want any chance of capturing the one who did this, but I can't beat him alone, so I need those Anbu."

Anko reached over and grabbed the chunin by his flack jacket, "Which I won't get in time if you sit around here asking stupid questions, so get going!"

Stuttering an apology, the chunin made a hasty exit towards the Hokage's office, leaving Anko alone with his partner. "Mitarashi-san, I'm new to my rank so I don't understand all this, what's going on?"

But the purple-haired kunoichi didn't respond. She reached up to cup her neck, eyes burning with rage, and then she was gone.

'You...what could you possibly be doing here after all these years?'

xXx

While the Special-Jounin rushed in to combat a dangerous threat to the village, Naruto was busy facing off against enemies of his own.

He and his team had made it another half a mile in when they were attacked; this time by a full team, and out in the open. It was a genin squad from Suna this time.

'I'm just glad it wasn't Gaara's team,'

This one was an all-male squad. Each one wore sleeveless muscle shirts of different colors and white pants that were taped at the ankles.

One in particular caught the Uzumaki's attention.

The guy stood at an average height, and had a head of dirty-blonde hair, but it was the weapon he wielded that got Naruto's attention. He had a large club gripped in his hand. It wasn't so big that it looked odd in the older boy's hand, but the bandaged blonde could tell that it was heavy, by the way the Suna genin's arm was tensed. There were also spikes protruding from various spots around the hunk of metal.

"Well, well, what have he here," the club wielder jibed. "Looks like we found three little Leaf rodents to kill, right guys?"

"You bet Ranmaru," laughed a Suna genin with raven-black hair and shades.

"It's too bad for them," agreed the finl member of the squad; he had green hair and a pale complexion. "They just look like a bunch of greenhorns, and already they're gonna die."

The two on the ends broke out into an annoying chorus of laughter. But as Naruto tensed his muscles, the club wielder looked his way, and the older boy's eyes hardened.

"Quiet."

Both Suna genin stopped laughing immediately.

'So I was right,'the blonde confirmed. 'He is the leader.'

But before Naruto could think of how to respond to the situation Sasuke beat him to it.

"Before this goes any further why don't you tell us what scroll you have." A cocky smirk etched its way onto the Uchiha's face as he continued speaking, "I'd rather not waste time beating you guys to a pulp if it's not gonna get me what I want."

Naruto resisted the urge to strangle his team-mate. What was he doing!?

Ranmaru, the genin that Naruto kept his eyes on, pulled his team's scroll from his supply pouch. It was a Heaven scroll. The one Team 7 needed to pass...which means they had the scroll the Suna team needed too.

A fight was unavoidable

Sasuke realized this too, although he looked at it as an opportunity to beat down a team of foreign ninja, and show-case his Uchiha power.

"Well now, that's too bad for you the three of you. Because you see, that's the scroll we need, and now that I know which one of you has it..." Sasuke vanished.

Or at least, that's what it looked like to Sakura and the Suna genin. But to Naruto and Ranmaru, the Uchiha may as well have been jogging.

When Sasuke re-appeared above him Ranmaru was more than ready. The Suna genin jumped back, and easily avoided the raven-haired boy's aerial attack. But it seems Sasuke would not be outdone, as he immediately rushed forward, and attempted to connect with a combo of punches.

Ranmaru ducked and weaved around each of the blows that his opponent threw at him. After ducking under one right-hook in particular though, the older boy decided to throw up his hand, and catch the roundhouse that came behind it. From there, he simply shoved the raven-haired kid to the ground.

Sasuke managed to catch himself with the palms of his hands, and flipped back towards his team. The guy hadn't even been trying, and he'd avoided every strike. How could that be!?

But before Sasuke could think of a new attack plan the Suna genin called out to him.

"Don't bother, it's not you I'm interested in kid. I wanna fight the blonde one. I'd like to know if that sword's just for show, or if he's actually got what it takes to swing it."

This angered the Uchiha; he was being dismissed, for Naruto of all people. It was insulting.

'This guy just doesn't realize who he's messing with.'

With that, Sasuke activated his clan's dojutsuand sent another snide grin at the club wielder. "What, afraid that now that I know your moves I'll pound you with my Sharingan?"

Ranmaru laughed.

"Ha! Fancy eyes aren't gonna save you here kid, and besides, I already told you. You don't interest me. I prefer to fight opponents who wield weapons, not just just jutsu, it shows they have real skill." The dirty-blonde looked over at Naruto and offered, "So how about kid?"

Naruto's response was to begin activating his mist.

This shocked the three Suna genin, as well as the remaining members of Team 7. As the surrounding area began to fill with mist Ranmaru called out to the disappearing blonde, "What's a Leaf-ninja doing using a Kiri technique?"

By the time his fellow blonde was done speaking, Naruto had vanished from sight. Not even his own team could see him. Naruto swiftly made his way up into the trees, and from there, created two clones.

Using hand signals that they'd practiced over the month before the exams, Naruto instructed his doppelgangers on what to do.

This guy was definitely more skilled than that Rain-ninja, so he'd need to be a little smarter.

Down below, Sasuke and Sakura were back-to-back, cursing their blonde team-mate for not letting them in on his plan. How were they supposed to fight in this mist?

'And how did he even manage to do it,' Sakura wondered wordlessly as she surveyed her surroundings.

There was never any immediate water source, how had he created the mist? 'That creep Zabuza used the river, but Naruto just seemed to make it appear out of nowhere!'

But she didn't get to think about it for too long, because her eyes made out the hazy shape of a person to her left. As they drew closer, she realized it was the green-haired Suna genin, and he was looking right at her.

"So Ranmaru was right, you three aren'tbig on teamwork it seems."

He rushed forward, but instead of locking weapons with Sakura, he wound up clashing with Sasuke. The two had turned, with the pink-haired kunoichi covering his blind spots.

"Just because the dobe doesn't let us in on his little plan," Sasuke coutered, "doesn't mean we were never taught how to work together." The Uchiha pushed away his opponents kunai and threw out a jab. It connected, and sent the Suna genin staggering back.

Taking this chance, Sasuke reached back to wrap an arm around Sakura's waist, and then leaped away back into the mist.

While Sasuke and Sakura dealt with his team-mates, Ranmaru was busy keeping up his guard in preparation for the third member of Team 7's opening attack.

"Ya know," he goaded, "here I thought you were different! But it turns out your just like all the other wanna-be losers that make up the ninja world!"

He was met with silence.

And then he was dodging shuriken as they sailed towards him from the right.

His eyes scouring the mist Ranmaru called out again, "What kind of attack was that, huh? All this hiding, and for what, eventually you'll have to face me like a man!"

The dirty-blonde heard the shifting of the ground behind him, and whirled around to attack his opponent with his club, "Ha! Got you!"

Spiked steel cut through air as Naruto ducked under the swing. The bandaged blonde pulled Kubikiribocho from its place on his back and gave his own mighty swing. However, using only one arm, the blade cleaved too slow, and Ranmaru manged to avoid serious injury; escaping with only a slight gash across his chest.

As Ranmaru regained his footing, and readied himself for another attack, he was forced to stop and block an aerial strike from above. Throwing up his club, the Suna genin managed to stop a second Naruto from hacking off his arm...but this left him open to the blonde that stood in front of him.

However, instead of running him through, that Naruto used his sword as a springboard and planted his feet dead center into Ranmaru's unguarded chest. This sent the dirty-blonde sailing back, but he managed not to topple to the ground.

But when he looked around, his enemy was once again nowhere in sight.

'This kid...he's something else. He's figured out how to make solid clones; but did he just copy Kiri's water-clone jutsu, or is this something else?'

"Well, no point in making it too easy for him." With that, Ranmaru began to concentrate his chakra, molding it so as to have enough.

Then, he buried his club into the ground and began a series of hand-signs, before finally stopping and calling out his attack.

"Wind-style: Gale-force breath!"

The Suna genin lifted his head into the air and let out a heavy exhale. His attack rushed out and Ranmaru aimed his head in all directions, the force beginning to dissipate the surrounding mist.

Unfortunately, the dirty-blonde was still only a genin, and so did not have a very high reserve of chakra. With a minute of using the C-ranked ninjutsu he was at fifty percent of his max.

Knowing that any further use of the technique would hinder his fighting ability Ranmaru capped off his technique, but when he looked around, his temples throbbed with anger.

The mist was returning!

'It's as if I never even did the attack!Damn it all, I wasted all that chakra for nothing then!'

Looking around wildly, Ranmaru began to lose his cool.

"You must think you're real funny, huh kid? Think you've got me beat just because of this little trick? Well think again, I'm one of the best genin my village has to offer, and there's no way I'm gonna lose to a snot-nosed little punk like you!"

When his rant was only met with more silence the furious Suna-ninja wrenched his club from out of the ground and began to swing it wildly.

"Raaah! Come out and fight me like a man! What kind of weakling hides in the face of a fight, you call yourself a warrior!?"

This time, the older boy's angry words were met with a response...laughter.

Laughter rang out all around him. But it wasn't the kind of laughter one would give off from a funny joke, no, this was one of mockery. As if the person watching thought Ranmaru was just a big, dumb idiot.

It drove the Sand genin wild.

"Grrr, Where are you-"

The rest of the rant went unspoken. Ranmaru's head having been cleaved from his shoulders.

Once the Suna shinobi was silenced, the mist began to evaporate, and the forest area became clear again. And as the air cleared, it revealed the headless body of Ranmaru with his head sitting a few feet away and Naruto...walking over so as to retrieve his thrown sword.

The blonde pulled Kubikiribocho from its earthy sheath and replaced it along his back. Finally, he looked down at the second body he'd dropped that day and answered, "I'm right here."

A rustling in the bushes drew the Uzumaki's attention, and he swiftly placed a hand on his swords handle, and glared as he watched his team-mate's step out of them.

"Stop. Before you come any closer, prove that you're not an enemy using a henge."

"And how do you want us to do that," Sasuke questioned.

"Tell me something only you guys could; a memory from the academy."

Sasuke made a disgusted face as he answered, "You got in my face the day we were assigned teams, and some idiot knocked into you, so we kissed."

Naruto developed a tick, but nodded in acceptance. Then, turning towards Sakura, he motioned for her to reveal her memory.

"You chose Sasuke to be your very first sparring partner and lost...in five seconds."

The smug tone she used to relay the account irked Naruto, but instead of flying off the handle, he just scoffed.

"And yet I'm the one who defeat Ranmaru; funny how that works huh?"

This drew his team-mate's eyes to the body on the ground. Sakura paled, while Sasuke simply wrinkled his nose, but Naruto could see the anger in his eyes too. He could see the jealousy.

Sakura quickly turned her emerald eyes away from the grisly sight, and sent them narrowing at her team-mate.

"What in the world Naruto-baka, you couldn't beat him so you had to kill him?"

Blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as the accused blonde replied, "Sakura what's your problem? We're ninja, killing is in the job description remember? If I hadn't killed him he'd just become a threat later on down the road or killed me right now. I don't know about you, but I prefer living over having my brains spattered across the ground any day."

But Sakura wasn't convinced.

"Yeah well, Sasuke-kun beat both of the other Suna genin without killing them, so why couldn't you?"

This brought Naruto's attention to Sasuke's less than sparkling appearance, and the blonde could only snort mockingly as he looked upon the 'elite' Uchiha.

Sasuke was dirty, and his shirt had multiple tears in it from barely avoided attacks; mostly from his blind spot. 'Looks like the Sharingan needs to take a lesson from the Byakugan about being able to see 360 degrees.'

"Sakura why are you so worried about what I'm doing? Why don't you just keep your head focused on what's really important, like passing the exam, instead of questioning my methods?"

As he spoke, Naruto had moved over to Ranmaru's dead body and began rummaging through the pouch he'd seen the older boy place his scroll in. Sure enough, Naruto came away with a Heaven scroll, and a few weapons to replace the ones he'd thrown.

Turning to look at his team Naruto purposed that they make their way to the tower. "I'm starting to get a little hungry."

Begrudgingly the other members of Squa 7 began to follow the blonde's lead as he began to walk off. Unfortunately, none of them noticed the pair of eyes that gazed down hungrily upon them.

'Soon Sasuke Uchiha, soon those wonderful eyes of yours are going to be mine.'

xXx

The first night had fallen in the Forest of Death.

For some teams, like Konoha Squads 8 and 9, it wasn't a problem because they had the Byakugan to pierce the black. But for others, like Naruto's, it meant they had to hunker down and wait out the darkness.

"But at least we have both scrolls already," Sakura confirmed as she settled down on her branch next to Sasuke. "So tomorrow we can just head straight for the tower."

Naruto, who sat a tree away, growled a little at his team-mates carelessness. "Great Sakura; just go right ahead and paint a big red target on the team's back."

For a moment it looked like Sakura was going to argue, but Sasuke didn't feel like listening to them, so he spoke up instead.

"Sakura, as much as I hate saying this, the dobe it right. You shouldn't just say that out loud; it could draw unneeded attention."

"Funny," Naruto scoffed, "and here I thought you'd still be itching for a fight. What happened, Ranmaru take all the wind outta your sails?"

His team-mate's jibe caused Sasuke to tense in anger. "No, I just don't feel like taking any dumb risks. Besides," Sasuke turned his head in a dismissive manner, "you saw how that weakling chickened out after seeing my Sharingan."

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead choosing to scoff again. "Yeah, right."

"Naruto leave Sasuke-kun alone," Sakura butted in, "he's had a hard day. In fact, we all have, so do us a favor and don't start anything."

The blonde's reaction was one that the Haruno girl never would have expected.

He glared at her.

Naruto's eyes turned a dark cobalt-blue as he replied to her reprimanding. "You're one to talk Sakura; you endanger the team by not thinking before you speak, but somehow I'm the one who needs to watch what I say? Look, just because I used to like you, don't think I'm gonna keep putting up with your attitude; those days are over."

And with that, Naruto rested his head against his tree and closed his eyes.

As the trio of genin rested from their long day, somewhere a few miles away from them, Anko was kicking herself in frustration.

The Special-Jounin had spent hours searching for the faces she'd seen on those Kusa I.D. cards. Only to turn up empty handed.

"Damn it all, if I don't find him soon there's no telling what might happen. Feh, what a fine time for the law to kick in."

Anko's request for back-up in the form of an Anbu detail had been denied. Since there was no hard proof that there was a rogue-ninja inside the forest, the Hokage was barred from sending any in, for fear that it was a ruse to just pick off other villages genin.

"So much for trust and friendship between nations," she muttered while looking out into the dense woods. "And I can't very well keep going on my own right now; even I don't wanna try and deal with the monsters in these shadows."

So instead, the purple-haired kunoichi knelt down and let some of the tension ease from her body, making sure to not completely let her guard down.

'It's gonna be a long night.'

xXx

When he opened his eyes again, Naruto wasn't greeted by the light of the sun, but by the sight of his other male team-mate's face.

"What is it?"

"You and I need to talk."

Naruto's brow arched in confusion. "About what?"

"About Sakura, and our team," The Uchiha looked over at the pink-haired girl in question. "But I don't want her to wake up and overhear what we say, so we're gonna have to move away."

That last bit caught the blonde's attention. "But if we do that, Sakura will be a sitting duck Sasuke. Even you aren't that heartless."

Sasuke's face contorted into a frustrated look of thought. He stayed that way for a moment before voicing an idea. "What if you leave a clone? That way, if anything happens, one of them can come find us. We won't be very far."

Naruto stared at the raven-haired youth in front of him. His eyes bore into the onyx-black pair that stared back at him for what felt like hours, before finally, Naruto relented.

"Alright, but only far enough so that she can't hear us."

After making the clones, Naruto set off with his team-mate and began moving away from Sakura.

As promised they didn't go very far and soon were standing along a branch far enough away that there wasn't any chance of being heard. But Naruto quickly noticed, he couldn't see Sakura either. He may not have feelings for her anymore, but she was still his team-mate, and he would prefer her not dying before they passed the second exam.

Looking at Sasuke, the blonde asked, "Alright we moved away, now what did you want to say Sasuke?"

"...what do you think about having Sakura removed from the team?"

Blue eyes widened as Naruto's bandaged mouth dropped open a little. "What did you just say?"

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and elaborated, "Think about it. She's nothing but dead weight; when I was fighting those two Suna genin all Sakura did was stand there. And you saw how she reacted to you killing Ranmaru. I can't have a team-mate that doesn't know how to be a shinobi Naruto."

"So you want to have her pulled from Team 7," Naruto finished.

"And what do you think will happen to us teme? The Hokage's not just gonna send a three man squad out into the field; we'll have to wait for a replacement. Besides, knowing the old man, he won't do it. He'll just tell us to help her get stronger."

The Uchiha's face set into an annoyed look.

"The waiting would be worth it, just to get that weakling off our team. Besides, I'm sure your grandfather would be more than willing to let us be a three man team; considering how strong the both of us are."

When Sasuke turned his eyes back to Naruto he saw a look of smug satisfaction on the blonde's face.

"What," he asked carefully. "Why are you looking at me like that? You know it's true."

Naruto crossed his arms over his own chest and explained.

"You know, at first, you almost had me. You look just like him; even have all your holsters and pouches on the right way. But you tripped up with your speech; Sasuke would have immediately referred to me as a dobe after I called him a teme. And besides, the real Sasuke knows that the Hokage isn't actually my grandfather, I just call him old man because...well, he's old. Oh, and, Sasuke would rather cut out his tongue than admit that I'm strong"

The now revealed impostor narrowed their eyes and settled into a defensive stance. With a cruel smirk he gave up the charade, "Well, well, aren't you the observant one. It's too bad though. If you had just let me stall you until my master was finished, you would have been spared, but now I'm gonna have to kill you."

Naruto's smug look melted away. But instead of fear, or surprise, it shaped into one of curiosity.

"Oh," he wondered, "well that'll be an interesting sight to see; a dead man fighting."

Sasuke's look-alike arched his brow in confusion. Had this kid lost his mind? But before he could say anything else, a weight dropped down on him and slammed him to the ground. "Aaaargh!"

A pair of kunai had been thrust into his shoulders.

Struggling under the weight of a clone, the impostor's henge dropped away, revealing a rather rotund teen wearing a straw hat and purple robes. Looking up, he asked in a nasily voice when Naruto had set up a shadow-clone.

"Simple, when you were leading me away. With your back to me you didn't see me scratch my face; it's the sign my clones and I decided would mean 'follow'."

Naruto chuckled mockingly, "Do you really think I'd just walk off with you without being tailed?"

The impostor growled menacingly in his throat, not liking being made a fool of, but then laughed himself before he bragged, "And yet you still lose. My master has more than likely already achieved what he's come here to do, so my time was not wasted. Which means, in the end, I get the last laugh!"

From there he broke out into a wild, mocking fit of laughter...only to be silenced a moment later when Naruto's clone pulled out another kunai and jammed it into the back of his neck. The impostor was silenced instantly.

"You know," the doppelganger said as it stood up, "there is more than one way to kill a person. By Zabuza's knowledge, there are eight."

Naruto eyed his clone. "I know, but I'd rather not have had to listen as he choked on his own blood. He was a pawn in someone else game, not really a position befitting a ruthless death. But what he said...I should get back to the others."

With a nod the clone dispelled in a puff of smoke, sending the chakra back to its creator, who then proceeded to rush back the way he came.

'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

That bad feeling turned out to be well founded. Because once the blonde returned to where he and his team had settled down, he immediately noticed one very bad thing.

There was nobody there.

Sasuke and Sakura were gone, and it didn't look like anyone had ever even...wait, what was that? Naruto knelt down on the branch that Sasuke had picked to sleep on, squinted his ocean-blue eyes, and saw something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Blood. There was a puddle of it oozing along the bark of the log.

"Shit, chances are that's Sasuke's blood. Problem is I don't know which way they even went." Staring back down at the blood, Naruto got an idea. "But maybe..."

The blonde focused his chakra and sent it to his nose. His sense of smell skyrocketed, and he could pick up the scent of the blood in front of him as well as a faint trail that lead off to the left. Snapping his head in that direction, Naruto quickly shot off from the branch and raced after his team-mate's.

Just because he didn't like them, didn't mean he was willing to fail the exams by letting them die.

xXx

Sasuke felt as if his heart was going to explode out of his chest, and his lungs burned from the heat of his latest Great-Fireball jutsu. The opponent in front of him was unlike anything he'd ever faced before; the Uchiha didn't think even Rock Lee would stand a chance.

'Just who the hell is this lady, and what does she want from us?'

So far, the raven-haired clan heir hadn't activated his Sharingan, but Sasuke was beginning to think that if he didn't do it soon that the fight wouldn't last much longer.

The woman had appeared out of nowhere during Sakura's watch. Naruto had disappeared, and the pink-haired girl had been placed under a genjutsu. Sasuke was awakened by the immense evil that permeated the air as the Kusa kunoichi stepped out from behind a tree. Sasuke had immediately woken Sakura from her forced slumber and asked about Naruto.

"Your little friend is far too powerful for his rank" she'd replied in a slick, oily tone, "and I didn't feel like trying to avoid him while having my fun with you Sasuke Uchiha."

From there it was a blur to the frightened remains of Squad 7.

The lanky woman just...looked at them, and Sasuke and Sakura were unable to move. It felt as if their entire bodies had been weighted down with lead. But that wasn't the worst of it.

As they peered into the Kusa kunoichi's eyes both genin each witnessed their own gruesome demise at the evil woman's hands. It was bloody, it was sick, it was...terrifying.

Sakura, unable to handle such a grisly image, bent over and retched. As she emptied her stomach of its contents Sasuke also noticed that she was shaking, convulsing, out of sheer horror at the thought of dying in such a way.

Sasuke had turned his eyes away from her when he noticed the woman beginning to walk towards them, and air of pure death seeming to radiate from her very being.

The Uchiha avenger grit his teeth until they ached and finally managed to force himself to move, if only a little, so as to pull a kunai from his holster. After that, Sasuke plunged the blade into his own flesh, and with the genjutsu's hold broken, rush off with Sakura clutched in his arms.

Unfortunately they didn't manage to get very far, and Sasuke was forced to do battle with the creepy kunoichi. That's when he learned how much trouble he was truly in.

'I haven't been able to land a solid blow since we started,' he seethed while keeping his eyes on the Kusa woman. 'She's so fast, and this wound in my leg isn't helping me to keep up with her.'

Suddenly a dark laughter filled the air, drawing Sasuke away from his thoughts and back to the battle.

The Kusa kunoichi was eyeing him with a predatory gleam in her soul-less, black eyes.

"Now Sasuke, do you really think it's a good idea to let yourself be distracted by your thoughts? In fact, the only thought that should be on your mind is surviving, because I'm done warming up."

'That was just a warm up!?'

That was the only thought Sasuke managed to get out before he was kneed in the stomach. His opponent had just gotten faster.

Sasuke was knocked off the tree he'd been perched on and sent sailing through the air. Years of training kicked in though, and the Uchiha managed to right himself in mid-air and land safely on another branch. As he looked up from his lowered position, the boy's eyes glowed red, this time with two tomoe in each eye.

This seemed to excite his opponent.

"Ah yes, the Sharingan. I was wondering when I'd get to see it. And it looks like I've pushed you just far enough to unlock the next level; perhaps you could thank me by giving me a more entertaining fight."

When the messenger of death rushed him this time, Sasuke realized that he was finally able to see her movements. Unlike during his fight with Lee, the Uchiha's vision wasn't hazy, seeing only blurred images as the person moved. No, this time, Sasuke was able to see a clear, slow picture of his opponents movements.

And if he could see it, he could block it.

This time, when the kunoichi launched a haymaker, Sasuke threw up his arm to block and their limbs collided. Sasuke saw the look of shock in the older genin's eyes and took the opening for all it was worth.

He started by pushing his opponent's arm aside, and then retaliating with a right-hook. Once it connected, the Uchiha heir drove his other fist deep into the kunoichi's stomach before gripping both hands behind her head and bringing his knee up to smash against her face.

But he wasn't done yet.

As her head snapped up from his last blow, Sasuke used his momentum to lift himself into the air and slam his feet into the woman's chest, sending her rocketing back into a tree. Not taking any chances, Sasuke pulled two kunai from their holster and sent them sailing towards the raven-haired woman. They trapped her hands against the trunk of the tree with a squelching 'thunk'.

As the kunoichi wailed in pain Sasuke flashed through a set of hand-signs before calling out his strongest fire-style technique.

"Fire-style: Dragon-Flame jutsu!"

An orange dragon made of flames burst forth from the young Uchiha's mouth and soared through the air towards the boy's pinned opponent. In a fiery explosion, the dragon rammed right against the tree's trunk, its remains licking away at the thick wood.

Sakura, who had been recovered from her horrible experience, cheered for the raven-haired heir's apparent victory.

"Yeah, way to go Sasuke-kun, you did it!"

For a brief moment, Sasuke actually believed her, as his dojutsuwas unable to see any traces of his opponent in the fire. But then he heard that laughter again...only this time, he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"All he's done is destroy one of my mud-clones. Although, with how much power I gave it, it is a bit of a surprise young Sasuke managed to come out on top...but let's see how he handles the real thing!"

Fast as lightning a streak bolted down from a tree and over towards Sasuke. But thanks to his eyes, the Uchiha heir was able to see the attack coming and avoid it. As he leaped to the side, Sasuke quickly threw his arms up into a cross-guard to absorb the snap kick that followed.

Sasuke let himself be taken by gravity, and began to fall. As he passed a particular branch though, the genin pulled out his ninja wire and used it to swing himself to a different landing spot.

Unfortunately, this caused him to lose sight of the Kusa kunoichi.

"Looking for someone?"

Sasuke whirled around, but was too slow to avoid the spartan-kick that found its way to his chest. Managing to keep himself up-right, Sasuke barely avoided the series of punches that followed the kick, before spinning on his heel and landing an elbow against the woman's back. The Uchiha quickly followed this with a palm-strike that sent his opponent staggering forward.

However, before he could capitalize on the kunoichi's lack of balance, Sasuke was caught by a donkey-kick to the stomach, which sent him tumbling backwards.

The Kusa woman finally regained her balance and turned her attention on the now downed Sasuke.

Stalking over to him she made a noise of disappointment, like a mother scolding her child. "A true Uchiha would have been able to block that. Looks like I over-estimated you Sasuke; you're nothing like Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. They filled with rage at the sound of his older brother's name, and how he was being considered insignificant to himagain!

"I think I'll do your ancestors a favor, and just end your pathetic life right here. That way, you won't bring anymore shame to that crest on your—Aaargh!" Her condemnation of Sasuke was cut short, as a series of miniature paper-bombs attached to her back exploded.

As the woman was launched forward by the explosion Sasuke took that opportunity to push himself to his feet, and ram his fist into her gut. From there, he flipped over her hunched form, placed the kunoichi in a hold, and let himself be torpedoed towards the ground by gravity.

"Uchiha clan secret technique: Falcon Drop!"

A resounding 'crack' echoed through the dense forest as the Kusa woman's head his the ground. Sasuke pulled himself away and stepped back, but kept his eyes on the body in front of him. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

That proved to be a smart decision, because the body shook, before meting into mud.

Another clone.

Searching the trees, Sasuke called out to his opponent. "For all your talk you seem to be nothing but a one-trick pony. What happened to letting me fight the 'real thing'? Since this fight's started you've used nothing but mud-clones; what's the matter, too afraid to fight me yourself?"

What happened next was beyond anything Sasuke had expected.

An enormous pressure seemed to suddenly bare down on him. It far outclassed the earlier feeling he'd had when first confronted by the Kusa woman. It was so bad, Sasuke was brought to his knees, and then forced to keep himself up with his hands. The pure malice that seemed to seep into the air threatened to choke the very life from Sasuke as he struggled to breath.

His limbs shook violently until they could no longer support the weight of the woman's power, and Sasuke was soon face-down in the dirt. Motion to his right caught the young Sharinganuser's attention, and with tremendous effort, he managed to peer over and take a look.

It was her.

She was walking over completely unharmed, as if the past half hour hadn't just happened. The Kusa kunoichi had a superior smirk on her face too; as if Sasuke were nothing but a bug to be squashed.

"This power that you're feeling...it's only ten percent of what I'm truly capable of. What you've been fighting, those clones, they were only one percent of my true strength. You never really stood a chance."

Sasuke's crimson eyes widened in disbelief. One percent!?

'No way...there's just no way. T-This woman, she can't be a genin, not with a power this evil. I-It's just not possible.'

The Kusa kunoichi saw the realization in her opponent's eyes and laughed. "That's right; I'm not really a genin Sasuke Uchiha. No, I am someone who even the Kage's fear, a shinobi of such power that even your village's Copy-Ninja pales in comparison. I am Orochimaru. And I've come all this way just to see you, Sasuke, to test your abilities. And I must say...I'm sorely disappointed."

Sasuke grit his teeth and tried to push himself up onto his hands, but the immense pressure that the now identified Orochimaru's power gave off was just too much. He couldn't even twitch his fingers.

'And this is only ten percent.'

Orochimaru watched as his prey struggled, the Kusa kunoichi's face still hiding him like a mask. "Oh, don't bother trying to fight it Sasuke, you aren't anywhere near the level required to stave off my powers immense physical presence. But then, that's why I'm here, to give you that boost you need in order to start down the proper path...the path to a power greater than even your brothers."

Onyx-black eyes stared down at the pinned youth, and then with a breath, all the pressure that had been weighing Sasuke down disappeared. "That power you just witnessed can be yours Sasuke...if you want it."

Down on the ground Sasuke took slow, shuttering breaths as he recovered from that latest ordeal. His ears were filled with the sound of his own heartbeat as it thundered within the contours of his chest, so it took the young Uchiha a moment before Orochimaru's words truly made contact.

'T-The power to kill Itachi?'

But before Sasuke could even utter a sound, a kunai sailed through the air, and landed between him and the disguised shinobi that stood over him. Both males turned their eyes in the direction it had come from, and were greeted by the sight of Sakura.

"I don't know who you think you are, but stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

Orochimaru looked on from beneath his disguise and studied this new development with disinterest.

Sakura was poised in a basic defensive stance; feet shoulder-width apart and a kunai clutched in both hands. And despite her attempt to look threatening, the older shinobi could clearly see the fear coming off her in waves, not to mention her trembling body.

"Is this what passes for a kunoichi of the Leaf now," the false-female questioned. "Your power is pitiful; nothing like my old apprentice."

Sakura, having not heard Orochimaru's revealing of his identity, looked on in confusion. How could a genin have an apprentice?

Orochimaru saw this and chuckled. Only this time, it was different from the sound the members of Squad 7 had heard before. This laugh was not that of a woman...but of a man. "Foolish girl, you have absolutely no idea just who it is you're dealing with."

As he spoke, the disguised shinobi reached up and griped his face...before peeling it away. The sound of tearing flesh echoed through the otherwise quiet forest area, then, as soon as it began, it was over.

What was revealed made Sakura's trembling hands drop her kunai, and the girl herself drop to her knees.

Gone was the face of a Kusa kunoichi. In its place, the face of a man with a pasty-white complexion. No longer were there soul-less onyx-black eyes, but horrible yellow eyes reminiscent of a snake; the eyes of a killer. To Sakura it was the face she'd seen during her intensive studies, the face that nightmares were made of.

Orochimaru of the Sannin.

Sakura stared open-mouthed and trembling at the legendary shinobi that stood before her.

The pink-haired girl had learned of all the greats that had come out of her village, and among them, Orochimaru stood out in a class of his own. The man seemed to be the very personification of malevolent power.

And he was walking towards her.

"It's sad really, that this is what's become of my old home's kunoichi standard; you're barely more than a civilian."

The pink-haired girl could do nothing as the Sannin moved closer and closer, until finally coming within inches of her kneeling form. Her trembling turned violent, and she choked on her own breath as the rogue-ninja reached out and gripped her hair.

With a gasp, Sakura's emerald-green eyes looked passed the legs that stood before her, and over towards Sasuke. He was sitting on his hands and knees now, staring blankly at the ground.

"S-Sasuke-kun...h-help me...please."

A laugh, cruel and dark, was what greeted the terrified young girl's ears. Against her better judgment Sakura forced her eyes to search out the source and gazed up at the man who still had a hold of her pink strands.

Malicious yellow eyes peered down at her, pinning Sakura to a single spot, and a mocking smirk was etched on their owners face.

"Foolish girl, Sasuke's in no position to save anyone. He can't even save himself. But don't worry, your death doesn't interest me in any way."

He saw the hope in her eyes, and decided to crush it. "However I will have to teach you a lesson in manners; it's very rude to interrupt someone's conversation."

What little hope there was in Sakura's eyes flickered out like a candle, and was replaced by a look of pain as her hair was pulled. The young kunoichi's body was lifted up off the dirt, and then knocked back into a tree by a fist to the stomach.

Orochimaru once again began to move, and this time, Sakura started to cry.

It was only seconds after her run-in with the tree that Sakura felt a sandal press down on her head, and shove her face into the dirt. Her tears began to flow faster, and the terrified young genin couldn't hold back her sobs of fear.

The Sannin that had her pinned down looked at his prey in a mixture of amusement and disgust. Even Anko hadn't cried the day he revealed his dark nature. This girl was pathetic.

"As a shinobi it disgusts me that someone like you wears a headband, and has the audacity to call yourself a ninja. You are a disgrace."

To emphasize his point, Orochimaru reared his leg back, and then planted a kick right into Sakura's forehead. The sniveling kunoichi's body snapped up and back, doing a complete flip, before being caught by the neck.

Green met yellow as Sakura stared into the eyes of her tormentor.

"I think I've changed my mind," Orochimaru amended as he pulled a kunai from his holster. "You're too much of a stain on the title of 'shinobi' to be allowed to live."

But just as the villainous Sannin angled his weapon for the kill, a heavy mist began to permeate the night air.

Dropping the weak kunoichi to the ground, Orochimaru laughed delightedly at this turn of events.

"You're much more clever than I gave you credit for boy. Now, let us see if you can provide me with some entertainment."

All was silent for a moment, and the raven-haired man almost thought his opponent had used the mist as a cover to rescue his team-mates, but then he looked down and saw that the girl was still at his feet. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, the older man called out, "Or perhaps, you're stuck, trembling in fear like your weak little friend."

More silence, and then...

"...Eight points."

It echoed throughout the entirety of the mist. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, impossible to pinpoint.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, sub-clavian artery, kidneys...heart."

Orochimaru stepped away from the pink-haired girl at his feet and began to traverse the mist. "All points that, if struck, cause a fatal wound. Very good. But what will the knowledge do for you if you can't hit your target?"

"I'm not like those other two," the voice echoed through the dense fog.

"So you say," the Sannin jests, "but you have yet to prove yourself more than just a frightened mouse, hiding away in his hole."

A faint, almost imperceptible, whirling was Orochimaru's only warning to the oncoming first strike. But it was enough. And soon, the long-haired shinobi held out his hand, and caught the blade that came spinning towards him with the intent to lop off his head.

"Please, not this trick again. I watched your fight with Ranmaru boy, so you'll have to do better than that."

"I did."

In a puff of smoke the Kubikiribocho Orochimaru was holding disappeared, and was replaced by Naruto, who used his free arm to swing his sword in an upward arc. He was rewarded with a splash of blood as his head-cleaver sliced through flesh.

"Aaargh!"

Orochimaru stumbled back, his years of experience and superior skill allowing him to escape with only a slight gash. 'Damn it, how could I let that happen!?'

Looking up from his wound, the Sannin's snake-like eyes found no trace of the blonde swordsman. He'd escaped back into his mist.

"You'd better have enjoyed that lucky shot," he called out into the hazy void, "because it's the only one you'll get."

A sound from above allowed the legendary shinobi to be ready for the ax-kick that came down on him. Orochimaru threw up one arm to block it, then used the other to grab Naruto's leg and slam him to the ground...only for him to erupt into smoke.

But the assault didn't stop there.

Shuffling of the ground behind him alerted Orochimaru of an attempt at his blind spot. The older male used his advanced speed to easily move out of the way; and over towards a paper bomb. An explosion of fire and smoke sent the Sannin staggering back, unready for the sweep-kick that came from behind and knocked his feet out from under him.

But he did manage to catch himself in the air, and then spin into an ax-kick of his own, which he slammed down hard on his blonde opponent's head. He was rewarded with another clone.

Standing at his full height, Orochimaru reprimanded himself for being so careless. It should have been obvious that the attack on his blind spot was a ruse; the boy had used it as a diversion to set the paper-bomb.

'This little brat, he's a crafty one, I'll give him that. But let's see how he does out in the open, without his mist to protect him!'

With that thought in mind, Orochimaru gathered his chakra and then sent it out in a purple wave. The mist was blown away, and the forest became clear again. Looking around, the Sannin immediately noticed something.

His original target was gone. The blonde had distracted Orochimaru long enough so that his clones could get Sasuke and his other team-mate away from the battlefield.

The legendary shinobi was angry, and yet, he also found himself...amused. He hadn't gotten a very good hunt out of Sasuke, and this kid was turning out to be more interesting than he'd first thought.

The pale rogue chuckled darkly to himself before leaping into the trees.

The hunt was on.

It didn't take him long to find them. With his speed there wasn't any possibility of them escaping, and Orochimaru soon came upon the trio of genin hiding in the brush of a tree.

'Or at least, what looks like a squad of brats.'

The Sannin pulled out more kunai from his stolen holster and chucked them at the younger ninja. Sure enough, they exploded in a powerful combination of clone smoke and paper-bombs. The kid was definitely creative, that's for sure.

'Now then,' he mused as his yellow eyes looked around, 'that means he's near by. No doubt the boy was hoping to use the explosion as an opening to attack.'

And sure enough, up in the trees that overlooked his position, Naruto sat with his team-mate's.

xXx

"I should have known he wouldn't fall for that again," Naruto growled low to himself.

It had been a bit of a desperate move on his part, but the blonde figured it never hurt to try. Looking over at his team though, the bandaged genin knew he had to do something soon, or risk failing the exam.

Sasuke was still in a catatonic state, staring at nothing, and Sakura wouldn't stop trembling. Things weren't looking good.

"Hey, teme, wake up already," Naruto tried goading his raven-haired team-mate into action. "Come on you idiot, I don't wanna have to fight this guy myself, he managed to blow away my whole mist and he's acting like the chakra drain didn't even...phase...him."

'Wait,how do I know that? My clones were the only ones there after I picked up these two, so why do I remember him dispersing my mist, and destroying my clones?'

Unfortunately, the curious blonde didn't get anymore time to think about the strange memories because his ears were soon greeted by the frightening sound of the snake Sannin's voice.

"Found you."

Blue eyes swiveled to search out where the voice came from, and nearly popped out of their owner's skull at what they saw. Orochimaru riding atop a giant snake!

"W-What in the world!?"

The pale-faced shinobi laughed at his prey's fear, "Do you think you're the only one in the world who has mastered the clone jutsu boy? As my creator sped off to find you he created me to help him search, and now that I've found you..."

"...Play-time is over," came the same voice, only from the opposite side. Naruto looked to his left, and was floored to see another giant snake eyeing him and his team like lunch.

"I don't get it," Naruto called out in an attempt to stall for time, "what is someone like you even doing here!? What do you want!?"

The twin Sannin's chuckled, as if the blonde had just told a joke, "Simple, I'm here for Sasuke. I have a...gift I'd like to give him that I think he'll appreciate."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He didn't like Sasuke, but he couldn't very well let a rogue ninja give him whatever this gift was, it may become a problem later. So, looking back and forth between the two snakes, Naruto voiced his response.

"Sorry, but even though I don't much care for the teme, I can't let that happen."

Orochimaru peered down at the blonde swordsman with humor in his yellow eyes. "Then all you do is invite your own death."

With that, the two snake summons charged forward, mouths open wide and ready to take a bite.

In response Naruto created three clones. Two of them locked their blades with the snake's fangs, and he and the third clone launched themselves at the two Orochimaru's.

As he moved through the air Naruto pulled Kubikiribocho from his back and angled it for a swing. Once he got close enough, the Nine-Tail's jinchuurikibrought the large butcher knife-like blade around in a horizontal slash.

When his opponent jumped back to avoid it though, Naruto let the momentum of his swing take hold and buried his sword into the skull of the snake summon below him.

In a large cloud of smoke the reptile disappeared, freeing one of Naruto's clones to help him.

"No," he cried out while keeping is eyes on Orochimaru, "stay there and defend the others. See if you can snap that teme out of his little pity party."

Once his orders were given, the blonde genin settled int his stance, and simply stared at his superior opponent. With the snake gone, the two were once again standing atop the branch of a tree.

"I must say, you have certainly proved yourself to be far more entertaining than either of your two team-mate's, but like I told Sasuke, you haven't even seen a fraction of my true power."

And just like that Naruto was placed under the same pressure that brought Sasuke to his knees earlier that night. What amazed the Sannin, was the fact that the blonde was still standing. Yes, his legs shook from the effort, but the blonde managed to remain on his feet.

'This boy...what is he?'

Knowing that producing anymore pressure would draw the attention of any shinobi beyond the forest's area, Orochimaru chose instead to allow his power to recede, and settled for drawing his Kusanagi from the depths of his throat.

"You swing that sword with more skill than any genin I've seen, now let's see how you fare against real competition."

Almost too fast for Naruto to see Orochimaru rushed forward.

It took all the blonde's speed to bring up his own blade in time, and meet his opponent's longsword in a clash of steel. Then, quick as a flash, the snake Sannin pulled back and went for a leg-sweep. Naruto leaped over this, then dug his own sword into the bark of the tree, and used it to twist and launch a kick at Orochimaru's face.

Orochimaru used his forearm to block the strike, and then thrust his own blade at Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body was replaced with a hunk of timber when the Kusanagi pierced his heart, and the blonde popped up a few feet above the serpent-like Sannin, where he brought down his large sword in an attempt to split Orochimaru down the middle.

The sound of steel clashing rang through the forest as cleaver met longsword in a stalemate.

Konoha's rogue-Sannin heaved his blonde opponent away, but then had to slide away when Naruto stabbed his large blade in an attempt to skewer him.

It was when he missed that Naruto surprised his stronger adversary. With a strength and speed that outclassed any normal genin, the blonde swung the flat of his executioner's blade and smashed Orochimaru in the back.

The blow connected, and the pale swordsmen was sent rolling back. Naruto attempted to rush forward, but was forced to stop when the older male shot a mouthful of snakes at him. Once again thrusting his sword into the tree, Naruto used it as a stepping stone to jump over the oncoming torrent of reptiles, and use his air time to preform hand-signs.

"Water-style: Exploding-Water Shockwave!"

A high-powered jet of water shot out of the blonde genin's mouth and straight at Orochimaru. And although the man managed to avoid the deadly blast, he watched in amazement as his younger opponent displayed enough power to punch a clean hole straight through the tree's thick branch.

The Sannin didn't have long to be impressed though, because he was soon throwing up his Kusanagi in a defensive block as Naruto came down with his executioner's blade. Yellow eyes widened further when he saw an Air-Bulletjutsuhurtling towards them.

As he leaped away, Orochimaru looked to where the attack had come from, and almost couldn't believe it when he saw a blonde sill holding their hands in the tiger seal.

'He can perform Wind and Water style techniques!?'

It wasn't often you find a genin who could manipulate one element, let alone two.

'And yet this boy managed to create one of that size? No genin should be this advanced; his chakra reserves are far too large for him to be a simple low-level shinobi. The only people this young, with reserves like that, are...ah. Now it makes sense.'

Orochimaru stationed himself along the trunk of another tree, so as to place distance between himself and the blonde. Looking over the boy and his recovered clone, the Sannin called out, "It took me longer than I'm proud to admit, but I've finally figured it out. Why you're so much more powerful than any normal genin. You possess the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Naruto glared up at the pale-faced shinobi. "And what if I do? I don't suppose that's enough to scare away a guy like you?"

"Of course not," the rogue-ninja replied. "It just makes this all the more interesting; especially since you have yet to even tap into the beast's power."

"I'm more interested in where I stand against you by myself right now," Naruto slung Kubikiribocho up and angled it straight at Orochimaru. "We can worry about my furry friend later."

And with that the blonde pushed off the ground and shot towards his opponent.

Only to use a water-shockwave to push himself back, and avoid being caught in a hail of snakes.

Once back on solid ground Naruto looked over to where the attack had come from, and not for the first time, was unprepared for what he saw. Anko.

"I finally found you...Orochimaru-sensei."

Blue eyes bugged out at that revelation, and Naruto was silently thankful his bandages hid his open mouth from view. The blonde looked back and forth between the Special-Jounin and the Sannin, trying his best to take this news in.

'Unbelievable.'

Anko turned her pupil-less brown eyes to the blonde that stood a few branches below her, the woman's face was set in a stern, but curious stare. Had Naruto really just been going up against her old teacher?

"Ah Anko-chan, what a pleasant surprise," the Sannin's voice cut through her thoughts, turning her attention back to the more important matter at hand. "Although I can't help wondering, just how did you know I was here?"

The purple-haired kunoichi glared at her old Jounin instructor, hatred burning brightly in her eyes.

"Easy, you left your mess behind. You never were very good at cleaning up after yourself sensei. From there, I headed into the forest, and just as I was getting settled in for the night I sensed you showboating. It was a piece of cake to track you after that."

Orochimaru eyed his two opponent's.

The Kyubi kid by himself wasn't really a problem, but if he were teamed with Anko, he would have to stop playing so much and that risked exposure. Being careless was not an option against the purple-haired woman; not when she knew that jutsu.

So instead, he chose the easy way out.

'It will also give me time to mark my prize.'

The legendary shinobi placed his hand in an 'activation' seal, and almost instantly, Anko screamed out in pain before dropping to her knees.

"Anko!" Naruto cried out before leaping towards the downed woman.

'Just like I thought,' Orochimaru thought before he bolted from his perch. 'Sasuke Uchiha is mine now!'

While the snake Sannin rushed off to complete his goal, Naruto was busy trying to aid the purple-haired woman that had come to hisaid just moments before.

"Anko, are you alright, what happened?"

The woman only moaned in agony while clutching her neck area. Naruto knelt down beside her and reached out his hand, placing it over the older woman's "Anko I can't do anything if you don't show me what's wrong."

Anko managed to pull herself together enough to lament through gritted teeth, "There's nothing you can do gaki...there's nothing anyone can do."

With that, she pulled her hand away, and revealed what had caused her so much pain.

A black dot, surrounded by three tomoe. It was a seal.

"W-What is that thing?"

The purple-haired kunoichi's pain seemed to have lessened greatly, because no longer were her eyes filled with physical pain, but instead overflowing with emotional pain.

"It's a curse seal. A jutsu developed by that bastard Orochimaru, and a slave collar for anyone who he decides to place it on."

Blue eyes widened with realization as their owner recalled something Orochimaru had told him earlier. Something about a gift for Sasuke. "Damn it!"

Pupil-less brown eyes peered up at the irate blonde, "What, what's wrong?"

"I know what he was doing here...he's going to put that thing on Sasuke."

"Damn it," Anko cursed. "I should have known, that slithery bastard's always had an unhealthy obsession with jutsu, it makes sense he'd be after the only kid left with eyes that let you copy everything you see."

Naruto reached out and placed the older woman's arm over his shoulder. When she tried to pull away, he simply held tighter, "Anko please, let me help you. Whatever that teme did to you seriously wore you out, I can see it, you shouldn't be moving on your own yet."

Anko looked over at the younger shinobi, her eyes searching for something. When they either found, or didn't find, what they were looking for the woman sighed.

"Alright gaki, I'll let you help me," she sent him an annoyed look, "but if you tell anyone about this I'll pound you into paste."

The blonde's response was to chuckle lightly at her threat, before leaping off from the tree they'd been stationed on, and making their way towards where Naruto knew his team-mate's to hopefully be.

It didn't take them very long to get there, but when they did, the two shinobi immediately knew that they'd been too late. Sasuke was curled up in the fetal position, hand clawing at his neck, and a crying Sakura huddled over him while he screamed.

The pink-haired girl seemed to notice them through her tears, because she turned her head and wailed, "H-He did something to Sasuke-kun. I don't know what, b-but he bit him, and then...and then Sasuke-kun just collapsed and started screaming.

Naruto and Anko looked at each other, before turning back to look at Sakura. "Move his hand Sakura, we need to see something."

Distraught and confused, the kunoichi did as she was asked. After fighting her love's strong grip Sakura finally managed to pull the raven-haired boy's hand from his skin; what she saw made her gasp, and the other two ninja grit their teeth.

There, just behind Sasuke's shoulder, was the exact same seal that Anko had been branded with.

xXx

Karin stared at the gates to the Forest of Death with a forlorn expression on her face.

She'd failed the second exam.

Both of her team-mate's had died against one of the creatures in the forest, an inhumanly large bear, which meant she was not allowed to continue on even though she'd managed to secure both scrolls.

It was so unfair!

Not that she didn't care about the loss of her team-mate's, but, she'd taken these exams for the opportunity of getting away from them honestly. For the chance to be promoted, and be allowed to prove she was more than just a face with glasses. But that wasn't happening now.

Only one thing made it all worthwhile. She'd met the blonde boy that had interested her.

His name was Naruto.

Naruto was the reason she had survived the encounter with the bear instead of winding up like her fellow Kusa genin. He'd swooped down with his sword and jammed the blade right between the gargantuan carnivores eyes.

The monstrous beast thrashed around in pain for a while, its thick hide not easily penetrated, before finally succumbing to its injury and dropping to the dirt unconscious. Naruto then made a point of gouging out the animals eyes.

Karin, shocked, questioned why the blonde had done that when the animal had already been defeated. His response surprised her.

'It was a choice between a quick, painless death in its sleep or a slow, agonizing one for another seven days.'

The bear was already going to die from the wound in his skull, so why let it suffer.

And as he said this, Karin saw how the full moon penetrated the forests treetops and surrounded the blonde like an ethereal halo. His blue eyes pinning her in place with their seemingly glowing gaze.

Karin was sure she was blushing by the way her face heated up as she looked at him.

From there the red-haired girl introduced herself, and got her hero's name in return. When she asked why he'd saved her the blonde had said that he was looking for his own squad, but when Naruto noticed her in trouble it just seemed like the right thing to do, and so he stopped and intervened.

Then, Karin sorrowfully explained her own predicament to Naruto, and asked what she should do.

He told her to open one of the scrolls.

This confused her, so he'd explained. One of the rules was that you couldn't open a scroll until you made it to the tower, otherwise, you were automatically disqualified. The blonde questioned her how the proctor could possibly know when a scroll was opened, and when she couldn't answer Naruto told her.

They were being watched.

If a team opened their scroll somehow the shinobi in the tower would know, and then send ninja to collect them, therefor disqualifying that team.

Karin had been unsure at first, but one look in Naruto's eyes told her she could trust him, even if they were from separate villages. So, accepting his advice, she bid the blonde genin goodbye, offering her Earth scroll as thanks for saving her.

Naruto took it, seeing as she was being disqualified anyway, and wished her a safe trip home before leaping back into the trees. What the blonde didn't know was that he wasn't leaving with just Karin's Earth scroll, but her heart as well.

'I just hope we get to see each other again one day,' she thought bashfully as she was lead away from the Forest of Death.