Chapter 16

AN: Hey guys! Back for another chapter. We are getting closer to the end, and I am so excited! However, there are still four to five left and we have lots to cover. So, without further ado, onto the chapter…

Previously, on KMM…

"… No question. You all pass." A now blank eyed Ibiki said. Naruto blinked in surprise, as did everyone else in the room.

"THAT'S THE TENTH QUESTION?" Sakura shouted from the back. Naruto whipped his head around to see her, another flame bursting near her hair. She shrieked, as did more genin teams.

Blood began running down the walls, flames dripping off the ceiling. All hell was breaking loose.``

This was the scene Anko Mitarashi crashed into.

Kurama cackled in the background, most amused for some reason. Naruto just wanted to become a chunin already.

Chunin Exam, Written Testing Room…

By the time Sasuke and Sakura had realized the chaos was caused by Naruto (of course it was) and made him cover the eye once more, the damage had already been done. Less than thirty teams agreed to move onto the second stage, especially after Anko told them they were going to "The Forest of Death". The name alone caused a Suna genin to have a nervous breakdown.

Naruto loudly recounting how his sensei, the Kakashi Hatake, almost died seven times while camping in the place due to being doused in Wasp-spider pheromones, did little to help the teams agree to stay.

Team Seven had heard this tale so many times they were desensitized. The other teams weren't, however, and many were green by the end. Naruto added the 'part two' of Kakashi surviving the night sleeping in the carcass of one Wasp-spider so they could not sense his body heat. Anko was the only one that shared his smile after that story.

Anko led the survivors to the next part of the exams, and as they trudged behind her Team Seven was split between excitement and resignation. Naruto was excited, remembering how his sensei talked about his own chunin exam as a battle to survive in the forest alone. Naruto vowed to be just as impressive, even if he was forced to watch over his team to help them survive. He was a good teammate, and refused to leave them behind, even though he was confident he could do it all himself.

During Naruto's daydreams about stopping fifty shinobi on his own with nothing but a broken kunai- and while protecting his unconscious teammates- Sasuke and Sakura held more realistic thoughts.

Sakura felt dread about the forest and worried they would fail. Failure would mean another six months with Kakashi-sensei. Six months with that psycho meant she would lose all remnants of sanity left in her being. That could not happen! If she had to take out Konoha shinobi to win, she would. Screw village loyalty when it led to her being under the craziest sensei ever known to genin kind. She just had to drag her teammates through the forest, pass, and request a new squad with Sasuke.

Sasuke grumbled internally about the possibility of them failing whatever objective they faced. If he failed- not that he would ever fail- then he would be stuck on Team Seven with the lunatics called his 'teammates'. Sure, they introduced him to the rather genius literary works of Jiraiya, but that wasn't enough to warrant six more months of their torture.

Sasuke would make his team win, and request a new, sane team. Oh… and surpass his brother, of course.

"Hn. We're here." Sasuke grunted as they came upon the ominous fence. Whispers broke out, and Sasuke knew this was where they could do some psychological damage to the enemy… er, competition. "Books out, now." He ordered. Sakura shrugged and pulled out her current volume. Soon she was absorbed, yet still listening for information like their sensei taught them.

Naruto, unsurprisingly, was already reading, his mask hiding the smile at whatever brave deed the hero did. Sasuke shook his head, knowing Naruto was so simpleminded. Good thing he had an actual Uchiha to keep him alive in the forest, even if it was mainly for the eye's sake.

"Listen up, maggots! You thirty… no wait, twenty-nine squads are the less than pathetic lot that somehow survived. I'm willing to bet that less than half of you make it out of my forest alive and intact." Anko said as the genins' whispering grew anxious, her smile cocky and bloodthirsty.

"I want to go home," Chouji whispered a little too close to Anko. She casually whipped a kunai in his direction. Chouji whimpered as it grazed his cheek, more so when Anko appeared behind him and snickered.

"What's this; a little gaki who wants his mommy," She mocked. Everyone was silent as she gazed around. The many genin, with the exception of Team 7, were looking at her in a mix of awe and fear, as they should

Everyone except the members of Team Seven, however. The trio leaned against the fence, each reading from the stupid books that Kakashi worshipped. While she admired their guts and audacity, they were ruining her image. Especially the blond haired one… and silver she realized. That was new... Now, Anko could make an example out of them here, but it was far past time to start and she could just laugh when they did not make it out of the forest in one piece.

Oh, how much fun it would be setting them on the path of the Wasp-spiders and leaches. It wasn't like they would die anyways; after all, if Anko's yearly supply of poisons couldn't kill the Jinchuuriki during his checkups, nothing could.

With Naruto, at their gate…

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto greeted him after seeing their gates were next to each other. He ran over and held up a fist to the still reading Jinchuuriki. Said Jinchuuriki blinked at the raised hand, his sand creeping up in defense.

"That is not a normal hand sign," Gaara noted. Naruto could only laugh at the strange words.

"Maa, maa, it's not a hand sign. It's a fist bump. You hit it back." He raised it closer, and Gaara hesitantly lifted his sand to mimic. Naruto looked at the strange way to fist bump but let it go and hit the sand. Neither Jinchuuriki noticed the others looking on in shock.

"This 'high five' accomplished nothing."

"Sure, it did! We're friends, now, and you have some of my power or something. Oh, here!" Naruto pulled out a small stack of books, passing them over to a now very interested Gaara. "These are the rest of the series."

"… I believe I say thank you in this situation." Gaara glanced over to Temari, who nodded shakily. She still wasn't quite comfortable with this new and improved Gaara.

"Maa, it's no problem."

"Hey, shrimp, what happened to your eye? Why is it covered?" Kankuro blurted out. Naruto was about to bite out a response, but Sasuke was instantly dragging him away, hand covering his mask. He ended up waving at Gaara, who hesitantly returned it.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Temari sighed. For a masked genin, he was kind of cute she had to admit.

"Hey, sis?"

"Yes, Kankuro?" Temari did not appreciate her thought process being interrupted.

"Why are you blushing?"

"…" A fan decapitating his puppet was Kankuro's answer.

Meanwhile, in the seal…

"Damn Uzumakis! Curse you to hell!" Kurama roared. He banged his skull against his cage, hoping it would wake him up from this nightmare.

"Stupid Kurama! I should just eat your brat. That's it, I'm having Gaara spill your blood!" The whiny, nazily voice of his little brother made Kurama wish they could actually die.

Shukaku had joined the seal.

"This is payback you know," Gyuki sniggered. Sad part is that he was right. This is what Kurama got for asking his Jinchuuriki to fist bump one person so he could rub it in his brother's face that his Jinchuuriki got knocked out by a naked body.

Payback's like an Uchiha with a hangover, it seems.

Forest of Death, later…

"We've been walking for hours Sasuke." Naruto said, his voice much like a petulant childs'. They had been on the path to the tower, avoiding a creature Naruto was certain came from hell: Wasp-spiders. The eight legged, flying arachnids with stingers on them flew in packs and had decided they wanted Team Seven to be their next meal. Too bad for them that Naruto's eye was acting up again. No doubt the creatures would be on the endangered list by nightfall if the fire to their nest was any indication.

Of course, Naruto had not been aware he was the one doing the spontaneous combustions.

"Shut up. We are reaching that tower by nightfall and that's that. Hn." Sasuke said. Naruto huffed at the clear dismissal. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait, but we don't have an Earth Scroll," Naruto said.

"Yeah, Naruto's right for once," Sakura agreed. "I want to get this phase over quickly and finish up Ruraiya's daring escape from the vile Pedomaru!" Naruto looked at Sakura, eyes alight with excitement.

"Oh, that part! I skipped ahead to that chapter, and I gotta say it was so yatta! Especially when Ruraiya" He was cut off by a murderous aura emanating from Sakura.

"You spoil the book and I spoil your life expectancy," She threatened. Sakura never liked spoilers, especially on such divine literature as 'Icha, Icha'.

"Y-yeah, of course Sakura. But you know, spoilers aren't bad, believe it! They don't make you not read a story, right?"

"Naruto" Sakura growled and raised her fist. Before it ended in bloodshed, Sasuke gave a famous 'Uchiha glare'.

"Hn. Stop being so annoying. We will get to the tower soon, Sakura, and we can all read- without spoilers. Eventually we can steal a scroll off a team… Hn."

Naruto and Sakura gave sheepish agreements and the team began a quicker pace to the tower… until a giant snake tail crashed into the trees, blocking their path.

"If you desire an Earth Scroll, Naruto-kun, I could give it to you, for a price." An ominous chuckle resounded around the now crushed forest. The head of the snake rose to tower over them, giving a hiss.

"Oh yeah? And what's the price, creepy snake?" Naruto asked.

"Creepy snake? What? No, you imbecile! I am not a snake, I am…" The ominous voice chuckled once more and a poof of smoke appeared on the snake. A male figure appeared with a smirk. "I am the mosssst powerful shinobi in thissss village- no, the world! I am… Orochimaru."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura scrambled into a Manju formation, their kunai at the ready. Sakura ripped Naruto's headband off, ignoring his protests.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said. He glared at her. She glared back.

"Magic eye seems to be our best bet here against a Sanin."

"Hn. If he loses it… I blame you."

Sakura whipped her head back to Naruto. "Naruto, you lose that magic eye and I will kill you. Painfully. Understand?" It wasn't a question, so Naruto just nodded frantically.

"Oh, Sassssuke-kun, kukuku. You have much more to worry about than Naruto-kun's little Sharingan." Orochimaru said. A standstill began, both sides daring the other to move.

The Forest of Death just became a lot more dangerous.

End! Hope this chapter made you guys smile. It's scary out there, but at least we have fanfiction to make our days somewhat cheerful. A few things…

1. We have less than five chapters left! Exciting, right?

2. Favorite part? Anyone looking forward to the taking down of Orochimaru? Just fyi it will not be all 'magic eye' doing the dirty work.

3. So, a great recommendation is over on 'Archive of our own', and it's a FANTASTIC one shot that I promise will make you laugh. Please go check it out, it is called "I am the BEST trophy Wife" by FenrirsTeeth. It still makes me chuckle rereading it.

4. Another recommendation is an adorable romantic comedy one shot. It is called "Fangirling and Other Seductions" by Madrigal in Training. It is probably one of my favorite one shots now, so let me know how you guys like it!

5. Finally, thank you to our two betas, Dragon and Sean! Sean is the guy who takes the chapter and points out all the mistakes, so you have a better experience. Feel free to write your appreciation in the reviews.

Have a fantastic week,

Riku.

(ps. Join our discord; Shout out to Dragon- may you survive this semester! Also, super proud of you for working so hard at school lately.)

discord .gg / K5C8SYh

(take out the spaces, if you still need help, just PM me and I'll help you out!)