Author's Notes

Welcome back! Isn't this is a hack? This is StarDragon001, back with another chapter! I hope you all enjoy! Unfortunately, there is no song that will be covered in this one, since it doesn't fit the situation. But be prepared! This is the chunin exams, things could go either way…

Anyways, let us begin!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, he belongs to Kishimoto. The references that are used here also belong to their rightful owners. Songs and Song Lyrics belong to Ice Nine Kills.

The Tale Of HorrorWood

Chapter II – Examination Horrors

Hidden Leaf, Front Gates

Izumo and Kotetsu, the two eternal chunin gate guards were as usual just lazing about at their post playing cards. It was honestly the most boring job on the market for ninjas, but they chose it so they could avoid difficult and troublesome missions. Always hoping for something interesting to happen, they took a look up to see if there would be anymore genin teams coming through that would participate in the chunin exams. However, what they witnessed unnerved them; a simple red balloon just floated past them without a care in the world into the village. It gave them flashbacks of a certain movie about a demon clown from hell they watched at the cinema a couple of days ago. It honestly gave them shivers as they watched it float out of sight. Suddenly, a man in a business suit and red tie wearing a headband jumpscared the two, making them get their weapons out ready for combat, before realising who they were staring at. There were two others behind the strange man; a genin in a clown costume, that was holding a red balloon and a genin wearing coveralls with a strange mask, a butcher's knife strapped to his waist. The two gate guards shivered again at the sight of the two infamous horror movie mascots before they stared at the man just smiling innocently and straightening up again while doing up his tie.

"You should always be on your guard gentlemen, perhaps I should go and notify the hokage at the lack of work that you're doing… this is the chunin exams after all" The man said in a strange posh accent, getting shocked looks from the two.

"Don't worry, sir, we'll be guarding properly this time…" Kotetsu trailed off, though was silenced by the man by him putting a finger to the spiky haired chunin's mouth, before the strange genin leaned in closer to his ear.

"That's what they all say, my dear friend… it's a coincidence that those who don't keep their promises… never make it out alive" The man creepily whispered into his ear, making Kotetsu stiff, before the clown clapped his hands and chuckled merrily alongside the team leader of the genin group.

"You should see the look on your face! Marvellous! Marvellous!" The clown jumped up and down excitedly.

"You know I'm just messing with ya man, oh, and the forms are all filled in… see ya around!" The man waved, before the chunin hopefuls walked off into the streets of Konoha. However, there was an evil hidden smile on his face that the chunin did not notice.

The two eternal gate guards sighed in relief that it was over, before Izumo spoke up "Do you realize who just waltzed into our village?"

"Yeah… one of the most famous people, is a genin… Mr. HorrorWood himself" Kotetsu answered with widened eyes.

"Who would've known eh? Though, should we be concerned about his two teammates?" Izumo gulped, thinking about the clown and the slasher.

Kotetsu just waved him off "Nah, you must be getting paranoid, I'm just guessing that it is some sort of culture to dress up as famous horror characters in Horākagure"

"At least we should let the old man know about this! It could be Konoha's biggest breakthrough to be allied with the most famous movie industry of all, think about it!" Kotetsu finished with a grin.

"You know? I think you could be right!" Izumo agreed, before they shunshined to see the hokage.

Konoha Streets

'This damned place hasn't changed at all, but I guess I'll just have to bear with it for now in order for the plan to succeed' Mr. HorrorWood thought to himself with a scowl, before bringing his friendly smile back.

Konoha is a bustling place: the most prosperous and successful village out of all the elemental nations, priding itself in its shinobi forces and military power, especially teamwork. The Horākagure genin were just exploring the place to pass the time before the deadline of the exams. However, what they didn't expect is to hear a commotion, what sounded like kids playing ninja. And so, with a scoff, he and his teammates decided to go and investigate. Once they have arrived, they have witnessed the most ridiculous scene in the world; genin from two different nations fighting over a little brat.

"What is this ruckus?" HorrorWood asked as they came upon the scene. The arguing genin turned around to notice them walking up to them, with the ones from Sand widening their eyes at the recognition.

"And who are you to intervene?" A raven-haired boy asked with a snort.

"I was just teaching this little brat a lesson!" A boy marked in war paint shouted, holding a small little boy up, before dropping him as the man just appeared behind him, whispering something that the others cannot hear, except the blonde-haired girl with the fan on her back and made both of them shiver.

"You know, in horror movies specifically, usually overconfident brats like you die first… want to prove that theory right here and now?" HorrorWood whispered in the sand boy's ear, gulping at the man's threatening tone.

"N-No, o-of course n-not" He was sweating like mad, before the man went back over to his teammates. The smaller kids that were hiding behind the Konoha genin were in awe at the new arrivals.

"E-Excuse me, are you, perhaps… the infamous, Mr. HorrorWood?" The girl with the fan asked slowly, slightly blushing.

"What do you mean? What do you mean? My name is Valentino, come on out from behind the tree" He sang and pointed behind the sand genin, where a lone tree stood. Another one came out from behind it, and stood upside down, before using a sand shunshin to appear in between the others.

"Kankuro, you're a disappointment to this village… I apologise for the behaviour of my siblings, Mr. Horrorwood" The redhead apologised in a monotone to which the man responded with a nod.

"Please, just call me by my real name: Valentino! At your service…" The now known Valentino mock bowed, before getting in close to the red head, patting him on the shoulder and whispering.

"You look like a true psycho… and I like that" He laughed evilly before he and his team popped out of existence like a balloon.

"What was that creep's problem?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Hmph, whatever he is, he looks strong, and I want to fight him" The raven-haired kid said as he narrowed his eyes.

"If you all stop squabbling about, I think we should get moving" A pale boy said in a monotone.

"You're not the leader on this team Sai! It's Sasuke-kun! So shut it!" The pink-haired girl shouted, making the raven-haired kid, now known as Sasuke, sigh in annoyance.

Hokage Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi was just in his office, just filling out papers, grumbling about his nightmare; the paperwork stack that is right beside him. At one point he would have had enough, wanting to burn it all with a fire style jutsu, or in fact, sometimes wishing for some sort of distraction. Conveniently, his prayers were answered by a knock on the door, to which he answered with a simple "Enter!", and to what a surprise for him is that it was the two eternal chunin gate guards Izumo and Kotetsu that were grinning at him non-stop.

"What a surprise, I never have thought that I would see you two in my office. Is there anything you are here to report?" The old hokage asked.

"We have some good news, lord hokage; Mr. HorrorWood is in the village participating in the chunin exams" Izumo started, making the old man's eyes widen.

"What? You mean, the infamous movie director?! The HorrorWood himself is a genin?!" Hiruzen shouted, before calming down and smiling.

"Well, I'll be damned… that is good news, anything else?" The hokage asked.

Kotetsu then replied "Well, we have some concerns about his teammates however…"

"Oh? Please tell me more" Hiruzen started, his curiosity peaked.

"Well… there's one that looks like a demonic clown, and another wearing coveralls and a weird mask while having a butcher's knife that is not sheathed, strapped around his waist… do any of those descriptions ring a bell?" Izumo questioned.

The Hokage gave them a blank stare "Are you telling me, that one of the most feared and famous slashers from Halloween, and the creepy clown from IT, are in this village? Don't be ridiculous, they are probably cosplaying as these characters to instil fear into their enemies, a possible tradition in Horākagure"

"You see Izumo, there is nothing to worry about! You're just being paranoid man!" Kotetsu smiled and bumped his side with his shoulder.

Izumo just sighed, carefully pondering his options "I'm still not sure about this…"

The hokage cut them off "Anyways, I believe you two are here to suggest an alliance between villages, yes?"

The two chunin nodded their heads in agreement.

"I see, if the leader is of course coming to witness the finals, I would surely see what I can do"

"Understood boss!" The two chunin said, before they were dismissed back to their posts.

Jiraiya soon appeared through the window and into the office.

"Any news yet?" Hiruzen hopefully asked his student.

The toad sage just gave a sigh of defeat "No signs of the kid, it's like he just up and disappeared"

"If he is forever gone, then I hope he is in a better place" The hokage gave a sad look as his eyes drifted to the pictures of all the previous ones.

'I'm sorry that I have failed you, Minato' The old man thought to himself.

"If I know what you are thinking sensei, then we have all failed. Though, I would not give up easily on the search. There still could be a slim chance that he's alive" Jiraiya said, getting the old man's hopes up slightly.

"Let us just hope"

Room 301, Academy

It was just the standard classroom of any academy. One thing was different though; genin from many villages were gathered in one place. Waiting for something. It was quiet, everybody were on edge from being in another village. They just want to get this over and done with. Three genin silently waltzed into the room, before they just seemingly phased through everyone towards the back, where they met up with another team from their own village. The six quietly talked to each other about something the others can't make out, though, if you look closer at all the chunin hopefuls reactions, you will be able to notice that they all have faces of recognition on them. There were many whispers going around this time, as they all never thought one of the most famous film directors would be a genin taking the chunin exams. A few minutes later, nine more genin wondered in, though, they were just loudly talking to each other, being carefree and not having even a clue in the world that attention was turned to them; the rookies. Also known as, the rookie nine.

As they were doing a game of 'catch up', a genin in glasses walked up to them and told them to be quieter, introducing himself as the man named Kabuto Yakushi. He told them to keep their voices down, because of the tension of the exams. Once the rookies understood what they were up against, Kabuto shared some information about certain individuals, because the raven haired Uchiha demanded him so once the information cards were revealed. The certain names were shown; Rock Lee of Konoha, Gaara of the Sand, and Mr. HorrorWood, also known as Valentino, as well as the other two Horākagure genin. He told them to be wary of those ones, since the Horākagure genin would take the chance to kill you in cold blood if not careful. Four eyes really did not have any information on those horror-movie-esque characters and HorrorWood himself, though he did have something on Gaara and Rock Lee. The rookies were kind of freaked out, especially the pink and blonde-haired, light blue-eyed girl when the creepy characters from the horror movies were mentioned.

After a short conversation, the man known as Kabuto insulted a genin team from Sound, saying that they really shouldn't be worried about them, as they are from a newly formed village and basically weak. As imagined, those genin didn't take the insult lightly, so they decided to teach him a little lesson at underestimating them by using their special moves to stun the man. All the chunin hopefuls in the room were paying close attention to them, analysing their attacks. The one in the bandages threatened Kabuto not to mess with them, while the one with the brown spiky hair added that they were going to be the ones to destroy these pathetic chunin exams.

Valentino watched this unfold in the background, smiling to himself at the display of the losers. Those sound genin are making fools out of themselves, since he already has them, all figured out, as well as checking each of the rookies chakra signatures, naming all the clans they are from instantly. Judging by their skill level, they're nothing to be worried about. The Uchiha has potential, though he is nothing like his brother, who became a wanted S-class criminal in the nations, though reasons are pretty applicable. He met him once while on a business trip, asking for refuge in his place. Of course, who would refuse an offer like that, though of course, he told the older Uchiha to be careful, his city… is not the safest of places. He sometimes wonders what he's up to at the moment, hopefully not dead of course. That though made HorrorWood slightly chuckle, before he whispered something in his teammate's ear.

"Clown, why don't you… give those rookies a little, surprise" He whispered, making the clown genin smile a demonic smile.

Clown then replied with a silent happy chuckle "Of course my lord… I would love to!"

Clown then let go of his shiny red balloon and told it to go into the direction of the rookies. All the while inside it was a music box, playing circus music. Attached to the rope was a small knife, and a message written in black ink that says, 'you're next'. As it approached them, every single chunin hopeful noticed this, and watched in fearful curiosity, as they didn't know who it belonged to, or who this sign is for. Those who recognise it though, sent shivers down their spine, and many reactions of fear were present. That is exactly what the Horākagure genin wanted; that emotion fuels them, makes them stronger. Once it was close, the rookies and the sound team noticed, hence the music. Once they all read the message, as per usual, their instincts were telling them to back away slowly from the threat, though the sound genin do not get the memo that most of the others do.

"Hmph, whoever is playing the clown here isn't very good! Which one of these fuckers wants to be in a circus?! Eh?!" The brown spiky haired kid got agitated and popped the balloon by throwing his kunai into the ceiling, making all the genin in the room even more tense. From the balloon dropped the music box, to which it stopped playing and the melody started going backwards instead. This gained a red alert signal to the rookies and those who watched the movie, expecting something to happen. It did it for a while, as the backwards melody started to increase in speed. Before… a mini toy clown popped out of it, dancing in a strange way, holding a red balloon. All the genin were, to be honest, confused… as they were expecting a massive demon clown from hell to pop up and except… they got that. That gained a sigh of relief from the rookies. The music box then 'poofed' out of existence once the melody finished playing.

"Whoever thought that could scare us is a total loser!" The girl next to the bandaged man snorted.

"Troublesome… that was sure unexpected" a boy with a lazy demeanour sighed as he relaxed.

All of a sudden, a big man with two scars across his face and wearing a bandana, a long black trench coat appeared from the smoke with a large team of chunin standing behind him at attention.

"Alright maggots! Sit the fuck back down and shut up! You there! The genin team from Sound! Do you want to be disqualified immediately?!" The man shouted at them and pointed a finger, causing them to jump slightly.

"No, no… we apologise sincerely, its just that we got… a little carried away" The bandaged up genin, looking like a mummy excused in his raspy voice.

"Hmph, that's what they all say, now! It's time to begin the exam! Hand in your forms, get a seat number and sit down! I will then explain the rules!" The man in the trench coat ordered.

Ten Minutes Later

Everyone were sitting at their desks, separated from their teammates. Valentino's eyes scanned around, until he spotted his own teammates. He smiled at them, and gave a subtle hand signal, signifying that he already discovered the location of the two hidden chunin that are disguised as genin. His teammates nodded their heads, as they prepared for their plan of action to pass this test with ease. At the moment, the man introduced himself as Ibiki Morino; The proctor of the first exam. He was explaining the rules and told them to listen carefully as he will NOT explain them again. Everyone agreed to the terms, even though there were arguments going around and questions being spouted left and right, even though the proctor told them no questions were allowed. They are just unlucky this year to have him as a proctor, and that they are playing by his rules. He is GOD in this exam, and they all listen to his rules on this test.

It was revealed to be a written test, and the rules go as follow:

1) Candidates start off with ten points, and a single point is subtracted for every single question you get wrong.

2) This test is team-based, meaning that passing determines the team's total score combined.

3) Anybody caught cheating would cause them to lose two points for the offense.

4) Those that lose all of their points during the exam (through cheating) and those who fail to answer any question correctly will be disqualified along with their teammates.

5) The tenth question will be given away once there is at least fifteen minutes left on the clock.

"Alright maggots! You know the rules! You have one hour! Let the test commence!" Ibiki shouted, as the clock hands started ticking away.

End of Chapter

Apologies if this one was short, though I promise the next one is going to be much longer! And I know you were hoping for a song to be covered in this chapter, though the next chapter, which will have a bit of the action from the written test, and the main attraction, the second stage of the exams will have the second song from INK covered! Stay tuned! Like I said, some chapters don't suit to have a song covered since they don't suit the situation properly. Though, the one I have in mind will be perfect! Stay tuned and be psycho!

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Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next one!

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