Ibiki was less than impressed. His scowl was rather fierce and several of the genin in the room were shooting him nervous looks.
They had passed. Ibiki wasn't really surprised, not with the trio of horrors in their midst. The damned blond idiot had somehow dumped liquid courage down their spines right when Ibiki had them about to scatter like cockroaches. And the little bastard was proud of himself for it!
It was clear Naruto had mostly done it for the shy Hyuga next to him that looked ready to raise her hand. The rest of his reasons had to be some convoluted BS that Kakashi had some heavy influence in.
Ibiki was good at his job. He took the unexpected smack to his pride rather well. No one was the wiser that he wanted to punt the little punk and his team out the window.
Right up until Anko was late.
Really, he'd expected her to be early and cause a scene upon entering.
Instead, there was nothing but awkward silence and the random sound of someone clearing their throat and subtle shifting of cloth. The genin were staring up at him uncertainly, and he had no actual reasons why they were all still sitting there.
He wasn't about to offer fake explanations or foolish platitudes. They were ninja, damnit! They could handle a few minutes of waiting.
Other than it had been more than a few minutes. It was more like an hour.
It was Kakashi's fault. Some how, some way, it was Kakashi and his little monsters! Ibiki was sure of it. He flashed the three a discreet dirty look on principal. Two looked up at him innocently while the third looked like he was mentally trying to perform lobotomy with a dull kunai on Ibiki's already heavily scarred head.
Sad thing was, the genin were all still wound up from his test, even after an hour of waiting. With Team 7 still present, the Third would kill him if he left them all unsupervised. There was no telling what kind of chaos would result from his absence. The chunin were also still present, and Ibiki refused to let them leave either. If he had to suffer, they did too.
Besides, he, in no way shape or form, would ever admit he had no idea what was going on. It was his DAMN JOB to know what was going on. And...he didn't.
This had to be the worst day of his career.
Kotetsu poofed into the room. "The second part of the exam with take place tomorrow." He set a stack of papers on the desk in front of him. "Take one as you leave. They have the location and times you are expected to be present for the second exam. After you have a sheet, you are free for the day. Please be aware that any violent behavior towards other ninja or civilians during this period will be an automatic failure and you and your team will be sent home."
Kotetsu stood next to Ibiki as a member of each genin team shuffled forward to grab a paper. Naruto leapt right over his desk and was the first to grab one before rocketing out of the room while calling for his teammates in a loud boisterous voice. Team 7 was the first out of the room.
None of the higher ranked ninja reacted, but a few genin grumbled or rolled their eyes at the blond's wild behavior.
It felt like ages before the last of the genin left the room. The chunin started filing out as well. Ibiki merely gave Kotetsu a look, pinning the poor man to the floor until they were finally left alone in the room.
"Anko?"
Kotetsu shifted uneasily. "Something came up. I wasn't told the details. She's been held up at T&I." Kotetsu shrugged. "I was told to get these forms ready," he gestured to what was left of the stack of papers he'd brought, "and inform everyone the next part of the exams would start tomorrow."
Ibiki scowled. This was a very unexpected delay. That meant something big had occurred.
Ibiki bit back a groan. One day, he's gone one day and everything hits the fan! This was why he never requested time off! All the important stuff happened when he wasn't around to deal with it!
Ibiki gave the chunin a sharp nod before striding solemnly from the room.
After all, Ibiki didn't hurry for trifle reasons. Invasion or not, Ibiki had an image to uphold.
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were hidden in the little bunker they'd created a little back from and beneath the Memorial Stone. It was fifteen feet under ground, with a hidden air pipe that the open end remained tucked behind the Stone unseen. There was no actual door. Instead, they had created four walls and a ceiling from stone, and left the floor as clay. It worked perfectly as a substitute door for their Head Hunter jutsu. As the clay was easier to move through than stone, it worked wonderfully so that even Sakura didn't have a hard time accessing the small eight by eight room. All three of them rather loved that jutsu. It was ridiculously handy.
They were deep enough underground that any noise they made wouldn't really be heard, even if they were yelling. The pipe also had a very complicated paper seal wrapped securely around the end inside of the bunker, thanks to bugging Kakashi. It was to prevent any sound from exiting the pipe but allowed sound from outside to get in. They'd left it that way as a precaution in case someone was wandering around outside they would quiet down to ensure that no one overheard them or feel any off vibrations if they were an Earth elementalist.
They'd decided this was their best solution to their concerns about being caught without their Masks. Kakashi's warning about the invasion and what it could entail was not something that they took lightly. Without Kakashi always present to check their training field was secure, they came up with an alternate option that still kept Kakashi's rules in place.
"Ibiki didn't look happy that we didn't immediately start the next exam," remarked Sakura, the small lantern creating heavy shadows on her visage. "Usually the second exam begins directly after the first."
Sasuke nodded. "It's probably because we sent Kabuto to T&I. Wasn't it Anko that was in charge of the second exam?"
Naruto chuckled. "Yes. She was bragging about it at the Broken Kunai."
Sakura gave him a blank look. "The what?"
"Ninja only bar and lounge," muttered Sasuke. "My...my mother got mad at my father once for going there and coming home drunk."
His teammates gave him warm looks to ease his discomfort about mentioning his family.
"Anko must have been at T&I when Kabuto arrived." Naruto huffed. "Not sure if that's good luck or bad. If Kakashi's right and Orochimaru is involved, she's going to lose it."
"Why?" asked Sasuke, voicing what he and Sakura both were thinking.
Naruto grunted. "There are nearly as many nasty whispers about her as there are about me." He grimaced. "She used to be his apprentice before he apparently turned on her and became a traitor. Some even say she's cursed and that he left her here as a sleeper agent." Naruto shrugged. "I doubt she's a sleeper. Old Man wouldn't trust her in T&I if there was cause for concern." He sighed. "However, if she holds as much anger towards him as it sounds like she does, she'll probably jump right into the thick of things without thinking it through."
Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, have I ever told you how terrifying your CN is?"
"My what?" Naruto blinked at him.
"Your Clone Network," Sakura supplied. "You probably have enough dirt to completely ruin the village if you wanted to."
Naruto scoffed. "Why would I do that?"
Sakura gave him a soft smile. "We're just saying, 'Ruto. Your info is that good."
He blushed and ducked his head under the praise. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"Moving on, what's our plan?" Sasuke shifted to rest his back against the cool stone. "You said the second exams are more survival and mission oriented." He looked at Sakura.
The pinkette nodded. "From what Naruto's clones could tell when they were scouting around, there was a booth being set up. There was also an interesting amount of scrolls off to the side at the missions office yesterday. They had Earth and Heaven labels."
Naruto snorted. "Wanna bet that we need to get one of each for the next test?"
"No bet!" crowed Sakura. She and Sasuke both learned not to bet against Naruto. The plucky blond had an obscenely large amount of luck when it came to bets and gambling.
Sasuke shuddered. "And it has something to do with the Forest of Death."
Naruto and Sakura tilted their heads at him. "Forest of Death?" they echoed.
"Officially it's called Training Ground Forty Four. It's nickname is Forest of Death because it's so dangerous that usually only the elite ninja enter it for training." Sasuke scowled. "I-Itachi brought it up to father a few times. Itachi was curious about its potential, and father spoke about the dangerous creatures and plants lurking in it. It's supposed to be very effective for training in hazardous environments. I heard there were even sections of it that were barred from anyone not a jounin."
Naruto whistled lowly. "That sounds like a pain."
Sasuke shrugged, not inclined to speak any more after voicing anything to do with Itachi.
Sakura suddenly snapped her fingers. "That's it!" She beamed at them. "There's an old tower located in there! I read up on the different training grounds when we were in the academy. Forty four is supposed to have an old guard tower or something in the middle of it. I bet we're supposed to get to the tower."
"Right, so, plans?" Naruto's blue eyes darted between them.
Sasuke shrugged again, still not ready to speak anything aloud.
Sakura bit her lip in thought. "Honestly, there are too many variables. We could narrow some down, but it would take all night, and we can't afford to miss sleep. If it's actually in the Forest of Death, we will be lacking in undisturbed sleep for quite some time."
Sasuke grunted in agreement.
Naruto grimaced. "Plus, it opens opportunities for people like Snake Face."
Sakura groaned. "I'd forgotten about that. It would be the perfect time for him to slip in." She rubbed her forehead in irritation. "And even if Kabuto had any useful information, he probably wouldn't share it in time for it to make a difference tomorrow."
Naruto nodded sagely. Sasuke glared at him for it. Naruto stuck out his tongue.
"Boys," Sakura said lowly, a hint of warning in her voice. She smiled charmingly when both boys perked up like obedient children. "Honestly, Snake Face poses the biggest threat." Her expression became solemn. "If he's indeed after Sasuke, the Forest gives him plenty of free opportunities for an attack or kidnapping. Considering they can't monitor the entire place, we'd be like sitting ducks."
"They won't bend the rules for us either," remarked Naruto. "It could be considered a form of cheating and could cause a huge amount of problems for the Old Man if someone found out about it. We'll be on our own."
Sakura groaned. "This is not fair."
"When are they?" remarked Naruto, a faint trace of bitterness and melancholy lacing his words.
Sakura sighed and leaned into the shorter boy as a silent show of comfort. Sasuke looked away but shifted forward enough that one knee was touching Naruto's and the other Sakura's.
They sat like that for a few minutes, allowing camaraderie and comfort to soothe some of their clamoring fears. If nothing else, Team 7 had each other.
"Needle in a Haystack?" remarked Sasuke, voice subdued.
Sakura and Naruto exchanged looks.
"It's our best bet," remarked Sakura.
A/N: Hey! Quick hello here! Wanted to say thanks for all the awesome reviews! I would respond to them individually like I did at the start of this story, but they are adding up too fast to keep up with. Means I am lumping them all together for one bit THANK YOU right here. I really appreciate them and it does help encourage me and keep the excitement brewing for inspiration. I'm super stoked I've even gotten reviews in French!
It means a lot to me that people are enjoying the story. I love writing and am ecstatic when others want to keep reading what I write (even if I get behind on stories).
Thanks again! / Merci pour vos critiques!
-Salute!-
SFF/UR
