A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of 'The ANBU Genin', and I want to thank you all for your continued support, it means a lot to me.
Nea-Nyx: I appreciate the insight, and I'll do my best, but like I've said, I don't have much say, the story mostly writes itself. I'm very sorry it's not to your liking, though.
Setokeyba2n: Either you're being sarcastic, or you're not reading the same story I'm writing. I'm inclined to believe the former.
So, it seems to me that the number of haters has drastically dropped to zero since I stopped reacting to them. Hmm.
Let's get it on!
Chapter 36: Anko-chan! The Forest of Death!
"Of course she would be the next proctor..." Naruto said with a deep belly laugh as Mitarashi Anko appeared in front of the tarp that had captured Ibiki, Kotetsu, and Izumo, holding up a victory sign and sticking her tongue out. "Hey Anko, you missed all the fun!" Anko looked at Naruto with a wide grin, then seemed to count the number of remaining teams.
"Ibiki, why are there thirty teams left?" Ibiki growled as he disentangled himself from the tarp and straightened his trench coat as though nothing had happened, and shot angry glares at Naruto.
"Uzumaki." Anko looked at the blond in question.
"Guilty as charged," he chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. Anko sashayed over to the blond with a smug smirk and high-fived him.
"Alright Gakis, don't get comfortable with the numbers as they are, cause the next test will cut them at least in half! Everyone meet at Training Ground 44 on the northwest outskirts of the Village!" with that, Anko vanished in a puff of smoke, being either a Kage Bunshin or using the Shunshin. Naruto immediately stood and gestured to Sasuke and Sakura, who bolted over and grabbed his hands.
"Later losers!" Naruto then vanished in a blur of speed, using the Shunshin flawlessly, and made his way to 44. "Well, we have a few minutes, want some snacks?"
"Sure, whatcha got?" Sasuke asked as he sat down and crossed his ankles.
"Lessee," Naruto muttered as he began rummaging around and looking through all his storage scrolls. "Dango, nato, cookies, chips, sushi, oh I forgot Obaa-chan packed those for me, those'll be handy," he said as he set aside a scroll with the Kanji for 'Dinner' on it in several places along the scroll. "Uh, a few slices of cake, some onigiri, and ah! Here we go, the Sasuke Special as made by Kasi Oba-chaan," Naruto said as he unsealed stuffed tomatoes from a scroll. Sasuke's eyes grew wide as drool began to drip from the corner of his mouth as he eyed the baked food. Naruto moved his hand out of the way not a moment too soon as Sasuke lunged at the treat and began scarfing it down as though he was starving. Sakura looked on in horror as the 'composed' Uchiha made himself look like an Akimichi.
"Did I hear you say Dango?" Anko said as she appeared behind Naruto, looming over him slightly, and found a storage scroll being held over his shoulder to her. She snatched it with a cackle and began to unseal it, but was interrupted by the other Genin arriving. "Awww..." with regret, she stored the scroll in her jacket for later. "Alright, here are the rules! Each team gets one scroll, a Heaven, or an Earth. You will spend five days in Training Ground 44, AKA the Forest of Death!" she said, just as Naruto pulled his little lighting and gong trick from the first exam. "Thanks for the Atmospheric enhancement, Gaki!"
"No problem!"
"Anyway, you'll spend five days in there and you'll have that time to gather both a Heaven AND an Earth scroll. Only with both at the tower in the center of the grounds will you pass this exam."
"Five days?! What about food?!" Choji called out in distress. Anko cackled madly as lightning cracked around her, despite the clear skies.
"That's YOUR problem! Also! If you open the Scrolls before you get to the Tower, you'll be DISQUALIFIED!" Again, Naruto cast her face in shadow and struck his little gong. "Seriously, what is Ibiki's problem with you? You're making this so much better than it normally would be." Naruto shrugged with a dramatic sigh.
"He just doesn't have a flair for the dramatic like you and I, Anko-chan."
"True enough," both Anko and Naruto looked like they were holding a personal funeral for a moment, before Anko got back to her speech.
"This is the lady with a Twenty-six thousand Ryo bounty on her head? This chick isn't nearly as dangerous as the Bingo Book says!" Kiba shouted in disbelief, causing Naruto and Anko to turn mechanically towards him, and a three-foot radius to clear around him in an instant.
"Gaki?"
"Senbon?"
"I was thinking Kunai." before anyone could blink, two Kunai were buried in the ground behind Kiba, with two identical cuts appearing on either cheek, with Anko on the right, licking up the blood. She seemed put off about not seeing Naruto on his left. "Gaki! What the hell!"
"If I was a girl, or he was a girl, that'd be different, Anko-chan. But I'm not doing that to a guy." Anko pouted for a moment, before nodding and turning back to Kiba.
"It's the loudmouths like you that usually die first."
"Speaking of which!"
"Oh yeah! Thanks, Gaki. Everyone has to sign one of these Liability Release Forms!" she said, pulling one such from her jacket and waving it around.
"What for?" Karin called as she observed the blond Uzumaki with more than a little apprehension.
"So Konoha can't be held liable for any deaths that happen," Naruto said with an ominous chuckle. "This is a no-holds barred survival exercise, and some of us ARE going to die in there. The forms are so Konoha isn't held responsible for those deaths, so as to avoid another war and/ or diplomatic incidents."
"Well put Gaki. For every three forms turned in, you receive one scroll. Also, I forgot to mention, you also can't pass this exam unless you have all three team members mobile and combat-ready." Naruto heard a snort of annoyance from Kurotsuchi and her team, as well as the Oto team. He ignored it for now. After the forms were distributed, he and his team were the first up to the booth. They stepped behind the curtain and handed in their forms, and Anko handed Naruto a Heaven scroll after making sure all the forms were completely filled out. A quick application of Chakra to his palm, and a small brush stroke from a calligraphy brush he kept in his waist pouch, and the scroll vanished into a storage seal on his palm. Then, they walked a gate over and settled in to wait.
Naruto was sizing up each group for major threats to his teammates, when his thoughts were interrupted by Anko yelling from the distributing booth.
"YOU REALLY THOUGHT I WOULDN'T CHECK THE FORMS YOU IDIOT!? GET THE FUCK BACK OUT THERE AND FINISH THESE FORMS OR I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" he looked over just as Anko kicked the Oto team out of the booth and onto their asses, all three blinking owlishly. He chuckled and went back to surveilance. He also noted Kurotsuchi paled considerably and hurriedly bent back over her packet with pen in hand.
The wait for everyone to get their scroll and get to a gate was interminable, made all the more so by the fact that Sakura kept interrupting his meditation to ask questions about the scroll he'd given her to study.
"How does this technique work?"
"I don't know, Haruno. My Chakra control isn't fine enough for either Genjutsu or Medical Ninjutsu because of my massive reserves."
"What, seriously?"
"Yes, seriously. Sasuke," he felt the Uchiha perk up at being addressed. "What happened when I tried to show you the leaf-holding exercise before Iruka did?"
"The leaf got obliterated as soon as you started channeling Chakra."
"Any idea why that is?"
"The amount needed was so small, you physically couldn't pull it off. It's also why you can't do normal bunshin in lower numbers than fifty." Naruto nodded decisively, his eyes never opening, and his body never moving from the lotus position.
"An apt analysis," he said just before he perked his head to the right, rising and dusting himself off, opening his eyes for the first time since getting to the gate.
"Alright, Gakis!" Anko's voice boomed over the speaker. "The test starts in a moment. I have one last piece of advice for you, though;"
"Don't die," Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Have fun," Sasuke grunted.
"Wha?" Sakura questioned.
"DON'T DIE!" the speaker boomed as the gate shot open, allowing Naruto into his favorite training ground. One the gate was hidden by the tree-line, Naruto stopped and turned to Sasuke with a smug smirk and his hand held out expectantly. Sasuke grumbled in annoyance as he dug around in his pocket, pulled out three-hundred ryo, and slapped them into the blond's waiting hand. After pocketing the money, Naruto bit his thumb and flashed through some hand signs quickly.
"Kuchiyose: Single serve!" as he slammed his palm to the ground, Hatsu appeared in a puff of smoke and looked around.
"What's up!"
"Hatsu, I need you to fly recon. Keep an eye out for any other Genin teams, and if possible see if you can eavesdrop and see if they have an Earth scroll. But!" he added, raising his finger in warning before the Osprey could take off. "Be careful. This forest is home to massive animals that can, and will, swallow you whole."
"Gee, thanks. I really appreciate being summoned to the Forest of Death during the Chuunin Exams and run the risk of getting EATEN!"
"Would you rather I use Kichi?" Naruto asked with a deadpan stare.
"... Good point." Hatsu took off and quickly vanished from sight as the three humans began tree-hopping again, heading deeper into the forest. They ran for close to two uneventful hours before they had to stop.
"Kuukukukukukuku, hello again, Naruto-kun..."
"Fuck. Me. Running."
With the Hokage, Ibiki, and Anko
Anko had sent a Shadow Clone to the Hokage with news about the corpses they'd found.
"There's no doubt about it! Orochimaru is in that fucking forest!"
"Be that as it may, we have several high-level ANBU patrolling the perimeter, a full squad in the tower on call, and Naruto-kun as well."
"About that..."
"Is there something you aren't telling me Ibiki?"
"Yes, sir. It's about Naruto's last psych eval..."
"You told me he was fit for duty."
"And he is... mostly..." Hiruzen steepled his fingers and leveled his coldest glare at the man.
"You have ten seconds to explain before I throw you from the window, Morino Ibiki."
"Naruto IS fit for duty, and his PTSD has been significantly lessened in regards to impact on his mental health."
"I'm sensing a 'but', here Biki-kun," Anko's Kage Bunshin cut in with a low growl. Ibiki started sweating.
"But," he flinched out. "At any given moment, Uzumaki Naruto is on the edge of a complete psychotic break. If someone he cares for is threatened..."
"And you didn't say something sooner... why?" Hiruzen asked with venom.
"I... didn't want to see him pulled from the force, sir. He cares too much about others and the title of Hokage. I couldn't be the one to take that dream from him..."
"And the fact that he has quite a significant amount of blackmail on you has nothing to do with your choice?" Ibiki's face hardened at the implication.
"You should know better than anyone, Hokage-sama. I would never let risk to myself stop me from doing my job. I couldn't really care less if he can blackmail the hell out of me. The only thing that was stopping me earlier was concern for that young man. The only reason I'm telling you now,"
"Is because Orochimaru will most likely target Sasuke," Hiruzen cut him off with a tired sigh as he massaged his temples. He looked to the purple-haired woman, who nodded and dispelled.
With the Real Anko
"Fuckfuckfuckfuck" Anko chanted to herself as she received the memories from her clone. This was not going to be pretty. She'd seen the Gaki lose it once, and was legitimately scared for her friend.
With Naruto and Co
Naruto was holding one katana in a defensive kata, his face hard as he stepped in front of Sasuke.
"Kukukukukuku, so guarded. What's wrong, Naruto-kun? Can't I come talk to my favorite person in the Leaf?"
"Shove it you pedophilic freak."
"Naruto who is she?" Sasuke asked as he flipped out a kunai in a reverse grip. If this Kusa Genin had Naruto on edge, it couldn't be good.
"He," Naruto stressed the gender. "Is an S-Ranked Nukenin from Konoha that has it out for me."
"S-Ranked?"
"Yup."
"The only two S-ranked Nukenins from Konoha were..."
"Ita-nii-chan and Orochimaru of the Sannin."
"And Nii-san came back, so..."
"Yup."
"Should Sakura and I run?"
"Probably, yeah."
"Oh, Naruto-kun, you should know better than to think they can outrun me, So, Sasuke-kun, why don't you sit down like a good boy and wait your turn?" Naruto snarled and drew his second katana. In a flash, he was in the snake summoner's face, hacking wildly with both hands as Orochimaru weaved in and out of his strikes effortlessly.
"My, my, you've gotten better since I left." Naruto remained silent as he increased the pace of his attacks, hoping to either injure or slow down the psychopath. As he moved to swipe at the Sannin's head, Orochimaru launched his foot out and into Naruto's gut, sending him flying into a tree several yards behind him, his spine bending on impact as he coughed up some blood and his eyes flew open in pain. "Oh, what's this?" Orochimaru appeared in front of the blond, lifting him by his throat. As his grip tightened, cutting off Naruto's air, Naruto did his absolute best to not drop his blades in order to try prying the fingers from his neck to get oxygen once more.
"The Rinnegan? When did you awaken these eyes? Oh well, I don't suppose you'd mind if I take them? Kukukukukukuku," Orochimaru chuckled as he reached for Naruto's left eye, his fingers poised to rip the orb from it's socket.
No choice!
Gasping for breath, Naruto opened his mouth.
"Gedo Art: Mechanization!" At that, an arm sprouted from his shoulder and slammed it's knuckles into Orochimaru's face, forcing him back several feet. The mechanical whirring of the arm as it clenched and unclenched it's fist before vanishing back into the blond's shoulder.
"So, it truly is the Rinnegan. I can't wait..." Orochimaru said with a grin as his abnormally long tongue flicked out and licked his lips. "And then, of course, I'll have to get Sasuke-kun's Sharingan..." At those words, something in Naruto snapped and he stabbed both his Katana into the ground with a snarl of rage. He flashed through hand signs as quickly as he could and punched the ground.
"Kuchiyose: Rikkodou no Naruto!" Naruto screamed as five simultaneous clouds of smoke cleared to reveal five crimson-haired bodies standing in formation before Naruto.
"Six paths of the Maelstrom?" Orochimaru said with confusion, before the meaning clicked in his head. "You've met Pein." the Sannin had to smother a curse under his breath. He was confident against one Naruto, even with the Rinnegan, but six? If they were anything like the six paths of Pain, he was in trouble. "I'm surprised you... oh..." he trailed off as he realized Naruto was likely Deva Path. He was at a severe disadvantage, especially without knowing which body was which path. But he doubted Naruto would let him get away without a fight. "Shit..." for the first time in years, Orochimaru actually cursed.
As soon as the word flew from his lips, all six of the Naruto's, sprinted at the man with rage in their faces. This confused Orochimaru. Shouldn't one hang back? He dodged a rocket fist by bending backwards into a backflip and trying to kick the nearest body, which caught his leg and slung him around in a circle towards another, which did a falling ax-kick to his spine, forcing a hiss of pain from his lips. He didn't even get a chance to peel his fake face off yet! After he landed, he regurgitated himself to get some distance. When none of the bodies followed him, he turned and flashed through hand signs.
"Fuuton: Diatoppa!" he called, throwing his hands out. Then he immediately cursed himself for forgetting one of the abilities of his foe. One of the Naruto's jumped forward and lifted it's hands, absorbing the jutsu, replenishing all their energy. Like the six paths of Pein, the five bodies of Naruto had black rods all throughout them, but he didn't see one in the original, who stood at the fore of the group. They had to be somewhere! He lunged at the teen, hoping to find the origin rod, but a raised fist blocked his punch with it's own. He hissed again. That hand was harder than it should be! Realization dawned on his as he retreated.
"You replaced at least some of your skeletal structure with Chakra rods!" Naruto shook his head in denial.
"I ingested them."
"What?" Orochimaru was stunned. Naruto had just said he ate chakra metal.
"I ground them to a fine dust and ate them with every meal for two months. Eventually, thanks to the Kyuubi, they got integrated into my cellular structure." he was answering automatically, as his mind was all but gone with rage. Without another word, the six Naruto's flew at Orochimaru again, not relenting in their assault. Their combos were unbelievable! And he quickly discovered that they couldn't be snuck up on when the one that was using the mechanical abilities dodged a kick from behind one of the few times he managed to actually attack. Finally, he got tired of being a punching bag, and summoned a snake.
"Swallow me!" he called from it's head.
"Why?"
"Just swallow me and dispel!" with annoyed hiss, the snake complied, leaving the six bodies alone. Sasuke and Sakura, forgotten all this time, watched on from the trees where they'd hidden. Sakura moved to call out to their teammate, and Sasuke moved to stop her, but was too late.
"Naruto!"
"Shit..." Naruto reacted instinctively to the shout.
"Shinra Tensei!" he called as a his five other bodies dropped to the ground. The visible repulsion began as Sakura looked on in terror, realizing her mistake too late. As the wave of power washed over her, launching her violently away for several kilometers, all the way back to the fence in fact, she missed the scream of primal rage Naruto gave off.
With Anko and accompanying ANBU
A loud roar was all the warning they got before the forest flattened in front of them and slammed them back.
Back with Naruto
As the last vestiges of his jutsu vanished and the other bodies vanished, to be replaced by a very concerned-looking Nagato standing on frail legs, Naruto dropped to all fours, his hair slowly dying itself blood-red as his canines grew into fangs and his eyes became slitted and crimson. Nagato looked on with worry as he saw his cousin losing control of the Chakra from the Kyuubi for some odd reason. He knew it shouldn't be doing anything from what Naruto told him.
"Naruto" said calmly, holding his hands up placatingly as he stepped forward as best he could. He hadn't used his legs properly in several years, after all. Naruto's hard gaze snapped to the man, his Rinnegan gone, replaced by the Demon Fox's eyes. With a snarl, Naruto lunged, swiping his claws at the red-head, who ducked and latched a hand around Naruto's wrist, slamming him to the ground and wrenching his arm behind his back in a submission hold. Naruto began struggling violently just as Nagato decided to use his own Rinnegan. He began absorbing the Chakra from the teen, who slowly began struggling less and less, until finally, he slumped and stopped moving altogether.
Nagato sighed in relief just as an ANBU squad and a purple-haired woman landed in the crater they were in. he looked up to find several blades leveled at his face, and he scowled in annoyance.
"I would appreciate if you removed your blades from such threatening positions."
"Tell us why you're pinning Gaki," Anko snarled as she glared at the man.
"I was subduing him," Nagato said calmly as he rose and dusted off his pants, feeling much stronger after absorbing energy, his body feeling whole for the first time since Yahiko died. "I no more mean to hurt Naruto-sama than you intend to hurt your Hokage. My name is Nagato. I presume you intend to take me into custody until everything is resolved?" he asked politely as he stepped back from the unconscious blond, allowing one of the ANBU to move forward and begin checking him.
"Where's Orochimaru?" Anko snapped as she continued glaring at Nagato. Nagato's brow crinkled.
"Orochimaru was here? I suppose that makes sense... Naruto wouldn't need..." he stopped as he realized that technically, the six Paths of the Maelstrom were still a secret. "Well," he stated. "In any event, you'd have to ask him." just as he said that, a very haggard-looking Sasuke fell down the side of the crater, toting an injured Sakura on his shoulder.
"One of you a Med-nin?" he panted. The ANBU who had checked Naruto nodded and Sasuke handed him the pink-haired girl. "She got blasted to the gate by that Shinra Tensei, and I don't know how bad it is." then, he turned to see Nagato and Anko staring at him. "Oh... Nagato, you're here. That's a relief..." he said just as he face-planted with a puff of dirt and a groan. Anko visibly relaxed at Sasuke addressing the man before her.
"Well, since Ducky knows you, I suppose you're okay."
"Thank you?" it was obviously a question. He moved to lift Naruto over his shoulder, aiming to carry him with escort, but was shocked to find the other Rinnegan wielder opening his eyes slowly. "Naruto-sama, what happened?"
"Hebi-teme..." Naruto grunted. "Can't remember. Need Earth Scroll."
"...Are you telling me we're in the middle of the Chuunin Exams?" Nagato asked with irritation as he looked at Anko, who nodded.
"Second Exam. Gaki doesn't like quitting."
"So I've noticed. I don't suppose you could give him a free pass?" he ventured, only to hear a disgruntled sound from the blond. "Naruto-sama,"
"Not for me," Naruto said, slightly more coherent, as he pushed himself up with shaky arms. "Sakura and Sasuke need the experience. Can't get special treatment."
"Oh for the love of Ramen," Nagato said as he ran a hand down his face, exasperation etched into every inch of his features. "Very well, but we'll need a Kage Bunshin to tell us what happened." Naruto merely grunted and forced out the Chakra for one, and it looked terrible. The ANBU, having finished fussing over Sasuke and Sakura came over and practically shoved an advanced soldier pill down the blond's throat. Within moments, the Uzumaki was stretching and seemed to be feeling better.
"So," Nagato began, his gaze hardening. "How did your little experiment work out?"
"Fine. I heard a lot of bitching about how hard it was to get my cells to integrate and produce the compound, but in the end a success."
"Well that's good," and then Nagato smacked the teen upside the head, causing an indignant shout. "That was for worrying me by summoning them." another hit and another cry. "And that was for forcing me to use the seal to check on you, thus effectively ruining all the progress I'd made in paperwork." Naruto grumbled as he rubbed his head.
"It's not like you HAVE to check on me Oji. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you know."
"Not with those you aren't. You don't have enough practice."
"Yeah, hi, we're still here," Anko said with a wave. The two Uzumaki turned to the group of gaping ANBU, who couldn't believe someone was actually getting away with scolding Naruto. NO-ONE got away with scolding Naruto- not even the Hokage. With grumbles of annoyance between themselves, they surrounded the red-head and vanished, along with the Naruto clone, leaving the original with his teammates and Anko, who looked around at the destruction, whistling appreciatively.
"You gonna be okay, Gaki? Cause snapping like you did is never good."
"I'm... not sure, Anko-chan. I really don't."
"Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you in the third round, so..."
"Yeah... see you at the tower..." Naruto waved her off, looking more than a little distracted. She vanished to go see the Hokage.
Naruto remained where he was, staring around at the physical choas surrounding him due to his power. He sensed several teams at the outskirts of the crater, debating on if they should check it out or not, and sighed tiredly. He channeled Chakra into the sheathes of his Katana, and the seals resonated with those placed on the blades themselves, letting him know where they were.
It would be a long five days.
A/N: As I'm posting this, it's about 2 AM on the 15th of August. I just want to let you guys know I won't be checking reviews or PM's until the 17th or 18th due to some... issues I have with the next couple of days. But please, let me know what you thought, and what I can improve. Love Ya'll (Yes I AM from Texas, thank you for noticing). Stay safe and Gaia guide you. Ja Ne.