DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT:
Chapter 14: Forest of Death
Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own nothing! No need for me to waste my time while I can kill my Sergeants for sheer entertainment. (Takes out the Assault Rifle and mows down 3 of them execution style.)
"…": Speech
'…': Thoughts
===: Scene Change.
AN: Okay, so killing them wasn't the greatest and wisest decision this grunt made sometime in his life. Fun while it lasted, now instead of an execution that I so deserve, they are sending me on a mission with a very low chance of survival… man, they really want to get rid of me don't they? If you're nodding right now, I can't blame you. Who would forgive someone that loved it when he wiped out over half his squadron on purpose and calls it accident? Not only that, I felt no remorse. Better yet, what kind of soldier messes up a teamwork mission that cost the entire platoon to be in jeopardy. I shouldn't be a chunnin if I'm given the chance shouldn't I? (Moments later) I'm glad you all like or possibly love my story, don't know if I should've used that word… maybe I shouldn't have but what the heck. Thank you all for your support so far, at least I know some of you actually appreciate this. There have been some that haven't been too great in the past but I will let it slide. Some were supportive nonetheless, I respect that. Maybe I should use this respect thing towards my friendly grunts so I could avoid these death missions from time to time. Hell, I'm taking these tasks as if they are normal, I'm just your ordinary 'jerk' who loves to see blood fly. Please enjoy the next chapter, I really would like you guys see this something that this world could offer to you. It's not everyday that there's someone willing to write out fiction for people to read. I'm going in the human psychology again, just enjoy the chapter, okay? THANKS!
Question and Answer Period:
1Q: Am I really in the army?
1A: The answer is obviously no. I am interested in both military and mental sufferings of a soldier though. I like to study them and know more about their problems. Sure, I would love to carry a rifle and kill those bastard drill sergeants and all but in reality, I'm not that cruel. I love to kill things in Opposing Force though, friends, allies, and enemies alike. Hell, I would love to kill the people who taught me good things. To anyone who thought I'm really in the army, you should've figured out I'm not. They are just jokes I love to make and make you readers out there read something a little funny other than just notes. Just how could I still be in the army IF I enjoyed killing my comrades by accident? Okay, I accidentally did it on purpose. That alone could get me executed and literally executed. It's unforgivable. I am just a 17 year old guy who's not ONLY single, but trying his best to get into the psychology field in university. Good to get this cleared.
2Q: How do I get my ideas of the Life and Death thing? (ONE reader asked me that, a recent loyal reader to be more specific. Looks like you're a person like me!)
2A: If you want to know, which I am more than willing to tell you, they are references from movies, songs, real life situations, drama and personal experiences. The Third-theme of Naruto is already a very good inspiration. Read the words carefully and you could develop you own kind of solution or look deeper into it. There are a lot of things you could add and ponder about it. That's the reason I love Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni (Sadness into Kindness), it was really different. GO was also good as well. I hope I answered that question.
3Q: Are Hinata and Naruto and others too young?
3A: This is where I need to express my self very clear. To those readers who sent me a complaint about this (Yes, those who said absolutely nothing good but rant. If you said something like at least you're making a good story, I wouldn't have taken your review to that much frustration.), let me tell you something, this is my story, my rules. Don't like it, don't read it, don't complain. I seriously don't give a damn but if your words begin to affect me in any negative way, I have a problem. Let's see how you like it if someone just flames you for your work. I have been called a complete stupid moron by one reader for no reason, you think I liked it? If you don't like to feel that way, don't do it to me. I'm not your relieving pain puppet.
If you think they are too young, well think about it this way then. In anime the people are like 3 years more mature anyway unless they are really obvious not at that level yet. I have explained this somewhere before if I recall correctly (Check my previous chapters if you wish to do so, not like you would I bet.). If you want me to ruin the story a little bit, there will be a time that they are like 17-18. Those who are patient enough to see this, I'm glad to have your support. Naruto is obviously very mature, you can think of him as the most amazing person alive in terms of self-control. Let me say this, if a hot girl stripped in front of him, it would have no effect whatsoever. He would simply do things as if the girl did nothing. If it's Hinata… I won't say that much to ruin anymore than I already have. Keep reading to find out!
AN: Let the story begin…
Hinata strangely woke up quite early at daybreak. She looked at the clock that was behind her head, it said 7:43 AM. She smiled at the time knowing she was early enough to make her boyfriend a good breakfast. The girl broke out of the embrace she was in and kissed her lover softly on the cheek. Naruto showed no response to it, he just continued to sleep. Knowing his cold and collected nature, the Hyuga heiress smiled anyway and made her way to the bathroom to do her daily routines. She was glad she secretly brought some of her belonging here, she was beginning to claim this place as her own sooner or later. As the washroom door closed, the dark warrior opened his eyes as if he was awake the entire time showing no signs of sleepiness. He quickly sat up with a straight face and untied the bandages on his right arm that he usually had. He was glad that Hinata didn't see what he had underneath it last night for it was dark. As he revealed it, there was a long sword cut on it from yesterday's battle. He sighed in relief that it was showing good progress of healing, this wound took amazingly long to recover despite his healing abilities. That chunnin meant to take his life if he was just a bit careless. He got up from his sitting position and quickly examined his black jacket. Indeed there was a rip in his sleeve. He grunted in annoyance as he figured he needed to wear something else today. It made no difference, he wore the same type of clothing everyday.
20 minutes later the bathroom door opened revealing a very refreshed Hinata with a bright smile on her face. She was surprised to see Naruto gone already from his bedroom, she figured he was a light sleeper unless he was seriously wounded. She sighed at her boyfriend's amazing endurance and habits. She didn't know how he lived such a disciplined life. 'Oh, Naruto-kun...' she thought sighing. 'You can be such a mystery sometimes...' Shoving that thought out of her mind, she went to the kitchen to fix breakfast so she wouldn't need to see her Naruto go hungry a little later. Meanwhile, the Death Knight was on the apartment roof enjoying the breeze of the morning winds. He simply sat with his chin on his knees somewhat, ignoring anything around him. He enjoyed the quietness in things, it made him able to concentrate any surroundings given to him. After an unknown period of time that felt like eternity, he got back up watching Konoha from a higher view one last time. 'Konoha,' thought Naruto. 'How I will always hate you as long as I live. If it isn't for Hokage-sama, Jiraiya, Kakashi-san, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan and the other rookies and genins… you would already have ceased to exist by now. They are also the heroes who're helping you fateless cowards to defend Konoha, as if you people would ever be able to realize the truth to see it.' As a sorrowful smirk came across his face before he turned to his favorite novel. He then silently read in his mind.
'Chapter by Hatake Kakashi… I can't believe Kakashi had something in here…' he thought. The Death Knight paid very close attention to this. 'Life treats no one equally, it's true, it really doesn't. My life had a lot of obstacles behind it. Sure, a lot of people thought of my life would be a good one, an easy one. Believe me, between just you and me, I'll say that wasn't true. It wasn't then and it isn't now. When I was young, I was always known as a genius amongst people my age. They would know I was skilled in almost every way, they would want the abilities I possessed. I'm glad I had this kind of talent, I was never proud of it, just grateful for it and happy that they respected me. I never wanted fame, I just wanted to be myself and want them to see me as Hatake Kakashi, just another guy living in Konoha. I became a chunnin at 6, I was proud of myself, I was glad that I made my parents proud. I became a genin at 5, I earned the chunnin title at the age of 6. For several years that I became a chunnin, I started to train myself harder to be an Anbu member. I strive myself to get stronger for the sake of Konoha, I wanted to protect it. However, I never hurt anyone, never committed any crimes, I never broke the law, why did I had such a result? Why did I have to receive this fate? This harsh reality was always inside me making me feel endless regret.'
'It was that day when I was 15 when my first and only girlfriend I had was killed by an accident. She was killed by a psychotic woman one night who had hallucination problems and other mental disorders. Witnesses said that she had a serious case of seeing people who abused her in the past. I kept asking myself why did it have to be my girlfriend who suffered and became the victim? Why the murderer had to have mental problems? I took it really hard, my friends and family kept telling me that it was an accident, I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I know it was an accident, everyone told me that this was an accident but is it because this was an accident I can't be sad or feel any regret? I was in deep sorrow and I couldn't tell others because there would be many people that would be sad because of my sadness. Who can I blame this on? I can't blame my girlfriend, she was the one that was killed. I want to blame myself but what could I have done at that time? I can't blame that bitch who killed her since she didn't even know what she was doing at that time or know the reason of her actions! I wanted to ask did this world even have the basic justification anymore? I wanted to seek what was the meaning of our existence? People only told me, you should know, you should understand what it was. However, all I realize now her death meant that she won't ever return. I only know that no one is there to help me… Why did it had to be her, why did all this have happen to only me!'
Naruto closed his book and shut his eyes in grimace. He didn't want this story to make his day all gloomy, but sadly enough the images of sadness and grief were stuck in his mind. Who could've known Kakashi had a major turn in his life, maybe the reason of his perverted actions could be a stimulant for his years of sorrow. He felt he should help his instructor in someway, byt what could he do, Naruto felt powerless. His put his book back into his pouch and stood up watching Konoha one last time. He smiled weakly and headed back to his apartment.
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A delicious aura was roaming around as the silver hair boy opened his front door. He knew at that instant it was his girlfriend's cooking. He didn't know how she could be this good, it nearly made him drool once like an uncontrollable insane maniac who didn't have something to eat in weeks. He made his way to the kitchen and blushed slightly as he saw Hinata. It wasn't like he was shy around her, it was what she was wearing. Instead of her tanktop and shinobi pants with the kunai holster equipped on her right thigh, she was wearing short and somewhat tight shorts which revealed a lot of leg. Damn, that alone was attractive but when he focussed on her top… he was just looking at it as if it was the most interesting thing in this world. In truth, observing a girl's top wasn't the greatest idea most of the time, but the tight white T-shirt she was wearing… it was drawing his attention. Not to mention the shirt was low cut, it exposed more than enough cleavage. Believe me, this dark shinobi never saw her girlfriend's busts before, he had felt it enough times when she hugged him but he always hugged her back ignoring it. Normally, he wouldn't care too much about how women liked to dress but Hinata was different, she looked very… sexy in that.
"Good morning, Hina-chan…" he managed to choke out when she turned around to face him smiling with delight. He had a lot of trouble in deciding to look at her or not. If he didn't, he would be quite disrespectful. This person was his girlfriend! If he did though, he couldn't help himself from looking lower to her chest and observe her cleavage. Now, he was beginning to understand what Haku meant by human temptation, it was something hard to resist. "You… look… look… great!"
"Thank you," she said with a blush knowing why Naruto wasn't really looking at her. She noticed that uncertain look on his face, even though his face had no blush whatsoever, it was never like him avoiding eye contact. "You like it if I fixed bacon and eggs with toast instead of ramen?"
"Anything is fine!" he exclaimed rather quickly. "As long as you made it for me." The girl smiled back and walked to him. Just as he was about to leave believing he saw enough for one day, he felt the girl embracing him gently with her chest completely in contact with his back. The Death Knight blushed knowing what it was since that was what he thinking of the entire time. No, he wasn't dazing about it, he needed a way to get away from it. "Hina-chan…" he stuttered quite badly. "I suggest you don't do…"
"What?" she asked innocently.
"Nothing…" he answered as he ruffled her hair while he turned around. He kissed her closing his eyes and quickly made his way to the bathroom since he didn't fix up yet. As he locked the door, Hinata just sighed. 'Looks like Naruto-kun does think I'm pretty, I know what you're trying to avoid me, my dearest…' Soon later, the boy came back out with a grin on his face as if nothing happened at all. However, once he saw Hinata winking at him sweetly, he knew what was going to happen next. He sat down on the couch with his girlfriend next to him and ate his meal in silence like he always preferred to do. Hinata felt a little awkwardness within him this morning, it was like he was avoiding her. She knew he didn't talk much at meals but he always made eye contact and secretly admired her. Today, he did absolutely nothing but gave her a few smiles here and there. Soon that was done, he would revert his attention back on the food as if it was his soul.
"Naruto-kun…" she whispered.
"What is it, Hina-chan?" he asked only looking at her by the face.
"Why are you… a bit different today?"
"How so?" he questioned a bit panicking.
"You haven't been looking at me the way that I love you to today…"
"Don't be silly!" said Naruto in a really not himself tone. He sighed knowing escaping would be useless. "Hinata-chan… I just don't want to feel like a pervert… you know… tight shorts, tight shirts…"
"You don't like it?" she asked holding his hand while bending down slightly in an unintentional manner. That alone gave him quite a view of her bust. He blushed a bit and looked away.
"No, I think you're very… attractive in this thing, I mean it! It's just that I'm afraid I might lose myself to my own thoughts… you have to admit that you're really urging me to kiss you…"
"Then kiss me then." Hinata stated in a seductive manner.
"I can't do that…"
"You like what you see?" she asked as she pushed herself at him purposely giving him a very good view at you know all what. (AN: Trust me, I like reading it, I don't like writing this too much. I don't want ANY of you to believe that I'm a pervert in any way.) He blushed tried to turn away but he found it not possible. He could've fainted but decided to remain calm. At that point she was nearly on top of him preparing to kiss the only boy she could ever love in her life.
"Damn, you are so… hot…" She wanted him already, the girl couldn't stand one day not to kiss him. As she pinned his right arm making him to remain still, he quickly winced at the pain the wound was giving him. She noticed this immediately and released him. He sat up and held his arm in an injured state, the Hyuga girl obviously didn't know why he was injured to begin with. All she could do was comfort him.
"Are you okay?"
"It's okay, Hina-chan, it's just a flesh wound… somewhat rather…" he answered with a fake grin.
"How did it happen?" she asked with concern.
"Let's just say I had a very welcoming party yesterday afternoon."
"An ambush, I suppose?" she corrected knowing his dark humor very well. He nodded with a smile. "What happened then? How many people were there?"
"We slaughtered about 2 dozen chunnins," said the Death Knight with a satisfied look on his face. "It was something to remember…"
"You killed them this time?" she asked again not really feeling much remorse since she already figured out the reason of the so-called welcoming party or A.K.A unfriendly ambush. Since when were ambushed ever considered to be friendly anyway? "Naruto-kun…"
"They deserved it," spat Naruto straight to the point. "Their deaths sure made me feel complete…"
"Killing would never satisfy you."
"I know, but not when their fate was sealed by this doom. Never mind those fateless cowards, I'm sure hell are accepting them quite well right now. Hey, I gave them the easy way out, I'm sure the ones who are still alive are suffering the wrath of the punishment that Hokage-sama promised to give them. I certainly don't want to be in their position right now."
"I suppose you're right…" admitted Hinata hugging him closer to herself. Naruto kissed his ever so gorgeous Hyuga heiress and gave her a smile.
"We have to meet with Kakashi this morning for the second exam info, we should leave around now." Hinata nodded while Naruto shook his head a little. "You better change into something a lot less revealing if you're going out." The girl blushed immediately.
"You know I would only do this for you!" she exclaimed shyly. The Death Knight simply gave a soft laugh before the girl went to his room to change. Within a several minutes, the duo exited the apartment and headed straight for Team 7's usual meeting spot.
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"Naruto-ni-chan!" exclaimed Sakura immediately when she saw her favorite brother. Okay, he was her only brother. The pink hair girl gave him a big sisterly hug which unknowingly was taking all the air that was within him. He was gasping for the something he needed, oxygen.
"Medic! I need… air…" gasped the Death Knight as he tried as hard as he could to get himself out of her grip. Hinata just giggled amusingly when her boyfriend was dying. As Sakura heard his airy response, she let go immediately and kissed him on the lips. (AN: No tongues involved.)
"I'm sorry," said Sakura giving him her best innocent puppy look. "I just wanted to see you."
"I know you do, Sakura-chan…" replied the dark shinobi coughing and inhaling a bit more air. "Just watch out for your strength… you really need to figure how strong you are…"
"I thought my great brother was strong though. I never knew a simply hug would hurt you." she teased.
"Well," he said questioningly. "In that kind of situation… it's me with my so-called invulnerability against your stamina. You're hurting me a lot more than me hurting you." Sakura had to agree with that logic while Hinata continued to giggle. "Now, where is that guy anyway?"
"Which guy?" asked the lavender eye girl.
"He meant me, Hinata." said Kakashi appearing on the railing of the bridge.
"Kakashi-san," said Naruto impressed. "You're actually on time today, what's the catch?"
"There's no catch, Naruto," stated the jounin amused. "I think you need to know about the mission briefings of the second exam, right?"
"Yeah," said Sakura energetically. "I want to know about the instructor though…"
"Mitarashi Anko… she seems to be a 'unique' person…" added Naruto.
"Oh, she's the examiner?" asked Kakashi somewhat surprised. The three nodded as the Sharingan user seemed to be satisfied at the answer.
"What about her? Is there something that we should know about Anko-sensei?" asked Hinata.
"Oh, other than the fact that she's a Special Jounin like Morino Ibiki and I know that she's very strict about important exams like this. Mercy or grace isn't something in her vocabulary." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Anyway, I'm sure her character wouldn't affect you guys in any way… here's the info of the meeting place. It's called Area 44, it's on the north side of Konoha in the north forest training area."
"I have been there before," said Naruto. "But I never saw an area called that before…"
"That's because you need to go further north, you'll see it, don't worry about it," answered Kakashi. "Now, you need to meet there at 1:30 PM sharp to listen to further instructions. Tomorrow is the big day for you guys, I hope you guys do well."
"We won't disappoint you!" exclaimed Sakura and Hinata while Naruto gave him a grin.
"What's with you guys being so nice today?" questioned the jounin.
"No reason," answered the Death Knight still having that grin. "I'll be heading to the Hokage's office now, later for now, Kakashi-san." With that, Naruto formed a familiar hand seal and warped away without another word. Hinata smiled and made her way back to Naruto's apartment to prepare something when he returns, she was always there to make him feel welcomed.
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On the morning of the 2nd test, Team 7 with Haku and Rin were heading towards the designated location, Area 44. Rin could tell the unusual collected attitude of her brother was something she should be concerned of. The odds were quite against him, on each team that he was familiar of, there was always a very worthy opponent. Gaara, Lee, Neji, Shino, Sasuke were all Naruto's targets that he must take down. As mentioned before, Naruto couldn't hide anything from Rin.
"Naruto-ni-san," said Rin. "You worried?"
"A little bit…" admitted Naruto trying his best not to allow his emotions rub off to his other teammates.
"No matter what, do you best okay?" said Haku encouragingly. The Death Knight silently nodded as a response.
"What is training Area 44 anyway?"
"I have no idea, I never even heard of this place before." answered Sakura. "Do you know, Hinata-san?"
"I asked father last evening, he told me that that place was guarded carefully. He also said that it was a good place for survival training for both chunnins and jounins."
"Survival training? Seems like risky business…"
"I think that our next test would be one like that…"
"I doubt it would be that easy," said Naruto rather bluntly. "Regardless, we are going to deal with it, right?" The two girls on his team nodded while the other male and female simply smiled.
"Why are Haku and Rin-san here, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura.
"I'm helping Haku-sempai with the medical stuff since there may be injured shinobis this time around." explained Rin.
"Yeah, I applied for medical training yesterday and you can say this is my first task." said Haku with a smile. "I got a several days to get myself ready."
"You're a fast learner," stated the Death Knight. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Thanks for saying so, my little bastard."
"Who are you calling a bastard?" snapped Naruto in a joking manner. "You're the one who liked to pull those stunts to begin with, you arrogant dumbass!"
"What did you call me?" It was then the two males started to engage a fist fight. The three girls sighed, well, Hinata was trying to explain that getting killed before the exam. Obviously, Naruto just wanted to kick Haku's ass, he was being ignorant. Well, some of his reckless behaviour was still in him, he would only show it when he was with really familiar people.
"Naruto-kun… if you get seriously get hurt now… how on earth are you suppose to take the exam?" pleaded Hinata holding his hand softly but firm. The Death Knight sighed heavily and gave her a smile.
"Fine, you made your point…" he muttered as he brushed himself back together. With that said, the 5 dashed through the village and headed north to the vicinity that awaited their presence.
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Within a matter of minutes, the 5 teens made it to area 44 with Anko and the other teams. Rin and Haku immediately disappeared once they arrived. Of course, they didn't tell Naruto what they were doing since it would spoil the exam for him and that would be cheating. Haku and Rin needed to get to the tower for their preparations, they already knew the exam detail but of course telling Naruto would be illegal. The Death Knight observed the area around him carefully, the vicinity that was in front of him had large and high metal fences blocking entry. On the barriers, there were danger signs, warning signs and other notices that enter with extreme caution. Everywhere else around him seemed to be normal other than the area that looked like a creepy and dangerous forest with massive trees. Conveniently, that was the area with all the blockades. Hinata gulped while Sakura couldn't picture what they could be doing in a place like that. It really wasn't a welcoming feeling. To the girls, that area looked more like a living hell than a forest, the wild growth seemed to a deliberate thing, as if it served a purpose. The purpose must've been what Hinata explained earlier. If he was more aware of the time, he would've noticed that they were the latest ones there.
"It's about time that you showed up, Team 7," said Anko with a sense of mockery. "Has Kakashi been teaching you three to be late? You with the sword, were you late because you were flirting with your teammates?" Some of the genins giggled while some decided to remain quiet. Those who did were the leaf genins, they knew better that Naruto wouldn't do something like that at a time as critical like this. The Death Knight's eyes remained the same, but then it turned teal. It was obvious that Anko wasn't the most serious person around until necessary. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she continued not noticing his eyes of hidden hatred.
"Are you done?" asked Naruto coldly while piercing at her with sight alone. "If you refuse to stop now, you leave me no choice but to hurt you."
"Big words, little genin," taunted Anko. "You know a man should stick to his…" Suddenly the Special Jounin was trapped in the dark shinobi's lock, his right arm gripped both of her arms together tightly and his blade was centimeters away from her throat. "How did you?"
"It wouldn't make a difference if I told you, little human," said Naruto. His words were colder than ice itself. "If I said it, I could do it. You should be glad that you're the instructor in this exam since I still need you to tell us what we need to do for this test. If you were anyone else, I can ensure you that you wouldn't be trying to draw air right now. Don't think because you're a Special Jounin you could say whatever you want."
"You think you can kill me?" she questioned.
"Anko-san," said Naruto now flashing his eyes. "I guarantee it." The Leaf genins then twitched at his words, it was frightening. Not only that he had both strength and wisdom in what he said, he also had the sense of authority. They all knew Naruto wasn't your average genin, picking fights with that guy meant you wanted to receive your death sentence early. Sakura and Hinata weren't too surprised at what their male teammate just did, Anko's words made them upset as well. Not a lot, but still a bit. Naruto released the woman and withdrew his blade, Anko couldn't help but sweat a few bullets. However, she quickly regained her calmness.
"I will now tell you your instructions for the second test," began Anko trying to take out the uneasiness in her voice. "The second test is a survival test. Your main objective is to make it into the tower that's in the center of Area 44. This place is also called the Forest of Death."
"Why is it called that?" asked Sasuke.
"You'll figure out yourself soon enough. Now, of course, your task wouldn't be just simply go to the tower, that would be too easy wouldn't it? In order to pass your test, your team must have the required scrolls. The black earth scroll and the white heaven scroll. Once your team obtains both of these, you may proceed to the tower legally. Each team would start with one of the two scrolls. In order to get the other scroll, you have to obtain it from another team."
"Now I see what she meant by cutting in half…" muttered Neji to Tenten and Lee.
"This ensures that half of the teams wouldn't pass." said Lee.
"Quite an evil plot that they set up, ne, Lee, Neji-kun?" asked Tenten. They simply smirked.
"This also proves which teams have skill and which ones don't," explained Anko. "Inside, you will have 120 hours to complete this task meaning 5 days. Once you're inside, you can't back out or forfeit. You have to remain in there until time is up. Another thing, you're not allowed to take a look at what's inside the scroll."
"What happens if we do?" asked Hinata.
"That will be a surprise." stated the Special Jounin with a grin.
"Are there any rules of disqualification?" asked Shikamaru.
"What about food though?" asked Chouji which interrupted his friend's important question.
"There will be plenty of food inside the Forest of Death, it shouldn't be much of a problem. That's unless you have no hunting skills, that's not in my department to care, you're on your own. As for disqualifications, there are a few that you must know. One, you're not allowed to read whatever is in the scroll. Second, if someone on your team is unable to continue or dead. Lastly, if your team can't make it into the tower within the time limit with the two scrolls, you fail as well. Oh yeah, I almost forgot…" She then pulled out some forms that were within her jacket.
"Waiver forms?" asked Naruto with a questioning look. "Why the hell do we need that for?"
"There will be deaths in this one," she said with an unreliable smile. "If you sign this and you actually die… well, I won't be responsible." All the genins sweatdropped at her carefree behaviour (AN: I'm Canadian, there are some words I spell with UR instead of just an R, it is not incorrect, okay?), it sort of makes them wonder if Anko was actually worthy of her rank. 'Looks like she isn't one who likes to make things more difficult on herself,' thought the Uchiha. 'But what irony… she loves to make it hard on us…' "Once you fill in these forms, please return them to me so I know you're going to take it, the only time you can back out is now. Once that's done, please line up at that booth to receive your scroll." She then pointed at the specific booth, Team 7's eyes narrowed.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata but the Death Knight put his finger to her mouth softly. The girl loved it when he touched her in anyway. She wanted him to touch her.
"I know, Hinata-chan…" whispered the silver hair genin.
"You noticed too?" asked Sakura crossing her arms together.
"The distribution booth had curtains on them, basically we don't know which team has the specific scroll that we may need. What this means is that everyone is enemy here, we have to take that into conclusion. Just be careful down here, our lives are on the line… just like Anko just said." The girls nodded and handed in their waiver forms just like Naruto. They went into the booth to receive a scroll from the chunnins. They handed a Heaven scroll to the team but Naruto wanted Hinata to carry it.
"Naruto-kun… I don't want to carry it." Hinata said pushing the scroll back to him.
"Someone's gotta carry it," he countered.
"Why don't you take it then, Naruto-ni-chan?" asked Sakura.
"I may draw too much attention, I'm sure many of them out there may target me first. It would be best for Hinata to escape if she could. I know it'll be fine." The two nodded and exited the booth while Neji's team entered.
"Don't you start failing on us now, Naruto," said Sasuke as all the teams had their scrolls. It was obvious that Hinata and Sakura were elsewhere.
"Don't worry about it, I know Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan won't let me down." replied Naruto.
"No matter what you do, take care of Sakura for me, okay?"
"Like you even had to ask," Something then struck him. "You like Sakura-chan don't you Sasuke?" The Uchiha looked down to the ground embarrassed. He silently nodded. "If you like her, you asked her out yet?" The raven hair genin just shook his head. "Why not?"
"Well, Sakura usually drags me along anywhere these days… I really don't need to ask her. Besides… it's too embarrassing at times…"
"I see, but you gotta do it sometime soon. Anyway, I won't make you feel any more uncomfortable than you already are. I wish to see you make out of this thing successfully."
"Same goes to you, Naruto," said the Uchiha giving him a low high five and a pat on the shoulder.
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"Neji-ni-san," called Hinata to her favorite cousin.
"Hinata-sama…" said Neji somewhat surprised. "Why are you here?"
"Can't your best cousin say a few words of good luck before the real deal starts?" she asked teasingly holding his arm gently.
"I suppose, but I got Tenten to do that."
"She's on your team though," she argued. "You need an outsider's help."
"Isn't an outsider someone with absolutely no connection or relations whatsoever?" he justified.
"Just be careful, okay?" Neji nodded and gave her a small hug. He knew how much Hinata loved hugs especially from the people she loved. He wasn't embarrassed or felt any reluctance since he knew Tenten wouldn't feel any jealousy towards this.
"Sakura-san," said Lee holding both of the pink hair girl's hands tightly. "After this, would you make yourself available to go on a date with me?" He was persistent, Tenten and Sakura had to give him credit for that.
"I don't think that would be possible…" said Sakura forcing a smile. "You're really not my type…"
"Don't say that Sakura-san!" exclaimed Lee. "Just give me a chance, I know you would change your mind after you give me that chance!"
"I would be your friend," explained Sakura. "But I don't think I would go out with you…"
"C'mon Lee," stated Tenten holding his shoulder. "The girl has spoken, she doesn't want to date you so just drop it, okay?"
"But Tenten, I know Sakura-san would like my company!" said Lee releasing the emerald eye genin's hands. "I have to try."
"Look," said Tenten being the best friend she was. "I'm sure Sakura-chan and I admire your ability of persistence but you can't overdo it on these things. Give it time, okay? I'm only saying this because you're my best friend, if I was anyone else, I would've let you embarrass the crap out of yourself already."
"Thanks for saying so, Tenten…" admitted Lee with defeat.
"I'm sorry, Lee-san…" apologized Sakura.
"No need to apologize!" exclaimed the thick brow taijutsu specialist cheerfully. "As long as you're giving me a chance, that's all I wanted to hear!" Sakura smiled at Lee, he was similar to Naruto but just brighter and more cheerful. He took things the best possible way without hurting people, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of respect for him by the last words he said.
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Moments later, all the teams were waiting at the respective gates. Team 7 had gate 23, not like it really mattered. The distance between the gate and the tower made no difference in the long run. As the clock struck 2:30, the gates were opened and most of the ninjas rushed in. Hinata and Sakura dashed in fairly quickly with Naruto behind them. Once they reached 50 meters into the forest, they leaped high to the trees and waited for their next move. Naruto knew diving in there like a blind bat was the last thing you wanted to do. They needed to stay clear for now and let them duke it out for the time being. When the others get worn out from their fights, it would be their time to strike. A strong and coordinated team always had their limits, the ideal time wouldn't be now, it would be later. They continued to proceed a little bit deeper into the forest to find a good area as a checkpoint. Once they found one, it was then the now blindfolded Naruto decided to make a halt.
"Ni-chan, why did you stop?" asked Sakura making some marks on a tree.
"I sense many chakra levels around here… it would be wise to figure out who they are." He answered as he continued to look around cautiously.
"Can't your eyes detect who they are?"
"I can read signatures only and I can't see if they are too far away. Besides, I haven't even read these levels before, it would impossible for me to know who it is." Hinata then nodded in understanding.
"Byakugan!" exclaimed Hinata quietly while she observed things from a 3km radius. Her eyesight was getting a lot better, she knew she could search even further but there wasn't a need to. She scanned carefully and picked up a team heading their way. "Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, I see a Mist team heading our way…"
"A Mist team?" asked Sakura. The Hyuga girl nodded.
"I'll leave it to you," said Naruto forming a several hand seals.
"Where are you going?" asked Hinata to her boyfriend. "We need you here right now!"
"I'll prepare an ambush for them, you two stay here, pretend you don't know they are here, okay? When they reveal themselves, then fight them. If they see me, we will lose our chance."
"Can we handle it?" asked Sakura doubtfully.
"Have more confidence in yourself," he said then giving both of them a kiss on the cheek. It was always a good encouragement. "I'll be watching from a far." With that, Naruto leaped away preparing himself for the next step. A few moments later, Hinata and Sakura were chatting amongst themselves pretended nothing was going on. The enemy ninjas were drooling at them, it wasn't often that they saw two pretty girls alone in the forest.
"There are only two of them," said the first male Mist-nin.
"Yeah," said the second. "I can't believe we scored such chicks… we are so lucky!"
"Quiet down, idiot!" snapped the third member. "We don't want those two to hear us."
"They must be rookies, they think that it's safe hanging out here like that… they can be so foolish."
"Where's the third person?" asked the first.
"Do you remember how the last guy looked like?" asked the second.
"Don't know guys," answered the third teammate. "If it's only the two of them, we should take them down already." With that, the three readied themselves on a combination attack. As soon as they dived down, Sakura and Hinata broke their little act and prepared themselves to fight. After activating the Byakugan, Hinata assaulted two of the Mist-nins while Sakura took on the last one.
"Which one of you has the scroll?" demanded the first mist-nin harshly while giving Hinata a kick.
"As if I will tell you!" shouted Hinata as she evaded his kick while blocking another incoming punch.
"If you tell us, little girl," said the second licking his lips as if he wanted Hinata. "We'll let you and your friend go." Hinata's eyes narrowed in anger and gave a smirk.
"You wish…" she replied darkly while she gathered chakra into her palm. "Fan of Knives!" she shouted as she whirled herself throwing both of them off into the air with chakra blades striking them painfully. Even though they tried to guard, they couldn't defend themselves from the piercing effect.
"This bitch is pretty tough!" shouted the second-nin as he drew out his kunai from his holster with much pain. However, the heiress' attacks didn't end there. She charged with her palm in an attacking position watching the precise point that she should strike. The first shinobi intercepted her between attacks by giving her another kick. Hinata simply Blinked forward completely avoiding him and headed straight for the second guy. He panicked immediately and tossed his kunai hoping to hit the Hyuga girl. With a tilt of her head, the kunai simply whizzed by her head avoiding it completely and forced her palm into his stomach. It struck directly in the chakra organ, Hinata knew that attack did hurt a lot. To ensure that he would pay for calling her a bitch, she dug her palm deeper into his flesh. That was an immediate kill, blood spewed from his mouth and it came down like a river. The first nin then charged at Hinata with absolute rage, he was too blind with anger. Without even turning around to do any seals, she unleashed the Mana Burn at the chakra organ once again destroying every speck of chakra in her target. With absolutely no chakra in their system, the other Mist-nin fell dead to the ground.
Meanwhile, Sakura immediately Wind Walked to evade an incoming attack, with her dramatically increased speed, she did it no problem
"Where the hell did she go?" asked the only surviving Mist-nin. "I can't see her anywhere!" Sakura smirked widely, she knew she had won this match already. She prepared her fist when she was right in front of him, her opponent was clueless of the jeopardy of her attack.
"Critical Strike Punch!" exclaimed Sakura as she punched the enemy ninja extremely hard at the jaw making it break. (AN: This isn't much of a new technique, she calls it that since her passive ability gave her major additional strength.) Not only that his jaw broke, he was sent flying backwards crashing into old trees causing them to break into pieces. With another Wind Walk, Sakura immediately ran towards his direction to catch up. She quickly passed him and from behind she raised her leg in a kicking position and launched it up to his spine breaking it. The Mist-nin was killed instantly as his body arched on Sakura's foot. She extracted her leg back leaving the dead shinobi on the ground to rot. She quickly searched him thoroughly and found something that was the earth scroll. She grinned a happy grin and then confiscated all the weapons he had on him. It would be useful after all in the long run. "Hinata-san, I got the scroll!" Hearing her teammates voice, Hinata ran to her with a smile.
"Good, I took everything I needed from the other two," said Hinata brushing off some dirt on her tanktop.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. We should look for Naruto-kun shouldn't we?"
"Ni-chan should be here ever since we were done with these guys, I can't imagine that it would take him this long. I don't even sense his presence nearby."
"That is strange…" agreed the heiress as she observed the area. "Naruto-kun should never have taken this long… do you think we should look for him though?"
"Got any brighter ideas?" retorted Sakura jokingly. Hinata snorted in amusement and leaped to the higher grounds. Sakura grinned and followed her lead.
"Hey Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan!" called a familiar voice stopping them.
"Naruto-ni-chan, where were you?" asked Sakura turning around and putting her hands on her waist.
"I had to do some private stuff, Sakura-chan!" he said with a happy smile. "I'm sorry if I didn't come back earlier, sorry to worry you."
"It's not like you to be that unorganized though."
"People make mistakes too, I'll try better next time." However, Hinata immediately smirked and punched Naruto hardly on the face sending him crashing to a tree. "Hinata-chan, what was that for?"
"Hinata-san, just because ni-chan came back a bit later doesn't mean that you should abuse him like that!" shouted Sakura. "What the heck got on you anyway?"
"You don't know him well enough then, Sakura-san," snapped Hinata in her taijutsu stance. "It's true that Naruto-kun does make mistakes but there was no way Naruto-kun would bounce back that far if I attacked him like that. To be more precise, he should be able to dodge my attack. He's way too weak to be Naruto-kun!"
"What are you saying, I'm Naruto!" he shouted.
"Think twice before telling me, you liar!" growled the Hyuga heiress. "If you're Naruto-kun, why is your kunai holster on your left thigh when he's right handed?" Naruto's eye twitched in anger. Something began to click in the pink hair girl's mind as well.
"Hinata-san's right!" shouted Sakura taking out her kunai. "You don't even act like him, Naruto-ni-chan would never give such a cheerful smile on such a small matter. You're a terrible transformer and not to mention you have no talent in copying other's personality traits. You can't fool us for much longer, you might as well reveal yourself to us!" A dark smirk came on the boy's lips.
"So you figured it out," he said sinisterly. The very next second a poof of smoke appeared transforming Naruto into a Rain-nin. "How unlucky of me, well it doesn't matter now, which one of you has the scroll?"
"As if we're just going to give it to you."
"No matter, I don't care if you're girls! I'll take it away from you two one way or another." He then took out his kunai and charged right at the duo. Hinata and Sakura both grinned darkly knowing this would be very entertaining for them. They already killed one squad, killing one more person wouldn't make much of a difference. The duo dashed too bracing themselves for another fierce fight.
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Meanwhile, Naruto unintentionally forgot about his team. In fact, he was glad that he left them behind. Right now, he was encountering a Grass team, a suspicious Grass team to be more precise. He found them heading towards Sasuke's team's direction. Normally, the Death Knight wouldn't care but one person on that team caught that team was too strange. He had to check it out, or intercept them before they reached Sasuke, Kiba and Shino. The last thing Naruto needed was to see their friends being slaughtered by a mystery person. He knew Team 8 wouldn't be able to take on this guy, they would be killed for sure. Of course, he decided to stop them before they reached their target, there was no way that Naruto would discard something that important.
Naruto ran with his blade in an attacking position, he knew he was closing in very well without him noticing. With a few slashes, the first nin fell dead to the floor, the other two didn't notice his presence but Naruto knew the leader did.
"What the hell just…" said the second Grass-nin but was interrupted as the Death Knight's runeblade came out of his chest. Naruto already went behind him and attacked cleanly. Blood flowed out from his wound like a waterfall, the dark shinobi knew this one shot was critical, it was only a short amount of time before his victim died. Naruto eyed the leader with cold eyes underneath his blindfold, he was the person with the incredibly high amount of chakra within. It was his chakra signature that made Naruto even more suspicious. The leader Grass-nin eyed Naruto with a neutral yet amused look. He showed no feeling of fear. What made the Death Knight's rage towards him increase was the fact the Grass-nin showed no feelings to his comrades' death. He simply smirked evilly at the sight. 'Who is this guy?' asked Naruto in his mind angrily.
"You look like you have something to say to me," said Naruto as he extracted his blade from the now dead Grass shinobi. Both bodies are now lifelessly lying on the ground. "Don't tell me you're just going to have that stupid look on your face the entire time."
"I have to say you amuse me, little boy," said the leader.
"How so?"
"You came and approached me alone, do you think that a more experienced genin such as myself would lose to you? You may have killed my team, I will make sure you die for that."
"You're no genin," snapped Naruto. "And your reaction seemed way too calm when I ended their life, this is no team to you, I know that."
"You seem to be sharp," mocked the leader Grass-nin.
"If you're no genin and this isn't your team, what the hell are you doing here anyway? What is your purpose? You were heading for Sasuke's team, what were you planning to do?"
"It's not anything within your concern, little boy."
"It becomes my business if you're trying something funny to my friends," said Naruto coldly. "I'll ask you again nicely, what the hell were you trying to do?"
"Just to give somebody a good present," answered the leader. "It's nothing special."
"I'll ignore your sarcasm, I bet it's nothing that great."
"I'm not lying to you, it is one of the greatest things you would want. Since you're good enough to kill my subordinates, you are worthy enough to have one too, Naruto-kun." The Death Knight's eyes shot open widely, what in the heck was going on here? How did this stranger know his name to begin with?
"Who the hell are you anyway?" questioned Naruto. "How do you know my name?"
"It wouldn't make much of a difference if I told you would it?" questioned the Grass-nin with an evil snicker. What made the Death Knight feel even more uncomfortable had to be his snake like tongue licking his lips in a hungry expression. It was disgusting, it was sickening to the core. "Now we have to battle this out with our lives on the line. I'm getting so excited just thinking about it…" Naruto narrowed his eyes and held his blade tighter preparing for the worst. His eyes didn't lie to him, he knew this would be one of the most dangerous battles he would face, his alertness increased, he knew he might need to use everything he had within him. This was definitely not the time to hold anything back. One thing was on the Death Knight's mind. 'You're going down!'
AN: Yes, a cliffhanger for you all to have a hungry time wanting to know what would happen next chapter! I suppose it's pretty self-explanatory at this point. Nonetheless, I hope you all like it very much. This would definitely be my last chapter that would come out this quick. On Tuesday, I would be doing some major preparations for the entire week for the real deal. If you don't see a new chapter in the next 3-4 days, you know that I would be really busy and possibly no time to finish off things. I'll try to on the weekends that's unless I'm not too life drained. I'll try my best so don't worry. I'm glad there were new people reviewing my work last chapter, it was a good sign. PLEASE TELL ME how you guys liked this chapter, I would really be grateful if you shared your opinions if they aren't insults. To complete this task fully, please press the purple button on the bottom left side of the screen and give me a comment on my progress so I could see if you guys really want me to continue. If you don't want to, that's fine as well. But remember your questions and opinions won't be heard and answered. If you don't speak up now, you're letting someone else speak for you. Later now, people!