Previously:

"..." Anko stared out at the room full of genin. "Eighty…!?" she exclaimed in disbelief after she finished counting, turning on her fellow jōnin. "Ibiki!! You left twenty-six teams?!! The test was too easy this time!" she scolded him.

"This time… there are a lot of outstanding ones," Ibiki retorted with the hint of a smirk, unperturbed.

"Bah, that's fine..." Anko said dismissively. "I'll at least cut them in half in the second test."

"!!" Sakura gasped. 'Cut us!? At least in half?' she thought, startled. Just what was this woman planning on doing to them.

"Ahh… I'm getting excited..." Anko said with a dark smirk, trembling a little with anticipation. "I'll explain everything once we've changed places, follow me."

'Whatever it is… I get the feeling it won't be another written exam,' April thought, sweat-dropping.

Once they had all cleared out, Ibiki began collecting the test papers.

'!' Ibiki thought, surprised when he found one that was still completely unmarked. "Heh," he laughed when he saw who its owner was. 'There's a guy who got through here with a blank test… Naruto Uzumaki… a very interesting guy...' First, April and now this kid. Kakashi had some real characters on his team.

Chapter 44: The Second Test!!

"..." April stared at the ominous forest before them in awe. The trees were almost as massive as giant redwoods, except with more branches along the trunks. The only thing separating them from the woods was a tall chainlink fence, which she noticed had been sealed shut with chains, several padlocks, and a paper charm. The sign next to the locks said: "Danger! Stay out!"

Naruto gulped. It looked really eerie back there.

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, Practice Area 44," Anko told them. "Also known as… 'The Forest of Death!!'"

'Something tells me that name is meant to be literal...' April thought, a bead of sweat sliding down her face, while she tried to peer into the darkness waiting beyond the first line of trees. 'I've got a bad feeling about this place...'

"..." Naruto held a hand up to shield his eyes, squinting a little, while he also gazed into the deep forest with beads of nervous sweat forming on his brow.

"… This is creepy..." Sakura said nervously, clenching her hands together.

"Agreed," April said with a straight face.

Sasuke frowned slightly.

"Bah. You'll soon find out… why it's called the 'Forest of Death.'" Anko said, flashing them a wicked smirk.

'I'd really rather not,' April thought. It was pretty obvious that it was because people died in there.

Naruto snorted. "You'll soon find out… why it's called the Forest of Death," he mocked in girly voice, adopting a funny pose. "You think that scares me?!!" he shouted, pointing a finger at her. "That's nothing!!! I'm not afraid!!!"

"Yeah..." Anko said with a smile. "You're spirited.

"!" April tensed when she sensed the malice behind it, and she was already moving to pull Naruto out of the way the instant the older woman drew her kunai.

"!" Naruto gasped, eyes widening, when he felt himself being tugged a fraction of an inch aside, just enough to allow the kunai that had been thrown to fly harmlessly past his face.

The expression on the face of the grass ninja behind them darkened when the kunai sheared through a strand of his hair.

'Here she comes…!' April thought, narrowing her eyes, when Anko disappeared from view.

"!!" Naruto gasped again when the crazy examiner suddenly appeared right behind them.

"You… Are you trying to make me look bad…?" Anko asked April sternly, annoyed that she had moved Naruto out of harm's way subtly enough to make it look as though her attack had simply missed to untrained eyes. Even she had trouble catching it. "Because of you, I didn't get to see that red blood I love… Oh well, kids like you two are quickly killed in places like this… hehehe… I'll get to see your blood spraying then..." she told them, making Naruto shudder.

"..." April stared at the bloodthirsty ninja out the corner of her eye with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. She never thought she'd begin to miss Ibiki. At least he hadn't been out for blood...

'April should have been able to read that speed… Why is she just standing there?' Sasuke wondered with a frown. It didn't immediately occur to him that, while it was true that she could have evaded without a problem, that would have meant showing off, and April was making an effort to display as little of her skills as possible in front of the other examinees.

'I don't know what this test will entail, but it's always better to have the element of surprise on your side...' she thought, furrowing her brow slightly at the uncomfortable position she was in. April didn't think they would actually be killed, but it was still unnerving to be attacked directly by an examiner. Weren't they supposed to be the ones who stopped this sort of thing?

"!!" Anko and April both tensed when they sensed an incoming threat from behind. The jōnin quickly drew another kunai to block it.

"Here's… your kunai..." the grass ninja hissed, passing the offending weapon back to its owner with his long tongue, stopping only inches away from the jōnin's back, almost standing right on top of her. He had closed the gap between them in an instant.

"Why, thank you," Anko said with a smile, while April thought about how creepy that was, and Naruto grimaced, sweating nervously.

The two leaf genin felt really awkward standing there while Anko and the grass genin stared each other down.

"But you know… Don't sneak up behind me…. Unless you want to die," Anko said after a tense moment, taking back the kunai.

"No… I just get excited when I see red blood..." the grass ninja said, retracting his long tongue. "Plus, you cut my precious hair, so I couldn't help it..."

"..." Hinata clenched her hands together, and beads of nervous sweat slid down her face. 'Naruto...' she thought anxiously, concerned for his and April's safety.

'What's with this examiner… This is bad...' Sakura thought nervously, furrowing her brow. She didn't see April do anything, but she could tell by the crazy examiner's earlier words, that she must have had something to do with the kunai missing Naruto. 'And this one, too...' she added when the grass ninja passed her.

"Sorry about that," Anko apologized coolly to the retreating genin for the damaged hair.

'Why is that guy's tongue so long?' April wondered. She could tell Naruto was thinking something along the same lines by the way he kept sticking his own tongue out to see how far he could get it to go.

"Looks like we have a lot of bloodthirsty ones in this test," Anko remarked with a smirk as she stepped away from the two uppity leaf genin and watched the grass genin return to his team. "Hehehe, this should be fun."

'You're the most bloodthirsty...' Naruto and April thought sardonically as they stared up at her. Naruto may have provoked her, but she was the one who escalated to violence.

"Now, before we start the second test… There's something I have to pass out," Anko announced as she pulled out a stack of papers, ready to continue on to the main event.

Everyone perked up when they saw them, wondering what they could be for.

"You must sign these agreement forms," she told them.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

'Agreement forms… as in waivers…? That bad feeling is getting worse…' April thought, furrowing her brow.

"There will be deaths in this one…. And if I don't have you sign these… It will be my responsibility, hehe," Anko explained brightly with a little giggle.

'I thought so...' April thought grimly, while she and the others stared at her, irked by the cheerful expression on the woman's face. Did she have to look so happy about it?

"I'm going to explain the second test, then you can sign it afterwards," she continued without remorse. "And then, each team will check in at the booth behind me. "Ok! I will now explain the second test. Simply put..." she said, handing the forms to Naruto and April so they could begin passing them around, "… you will attempt the ultimate survival..."

"!" Naruto looked up from the form in his hands.

'Survival… Man… this test sucks...' Shikamaru thought with a frown. How troublesome.

'Well, at least it isn't another paper test...' April thought, trying to look on the bright side. She could tell already tell they were in for a hell of a time based on all of the possible ways they could be maimed and/or killed listed in the fine print. 'I'd better read this carefully...' she thought as a bead of sweat slid down the side of her face. It might provide some valuable clues about what they could expect to encounter in there.

Anko held up a scroll and let it fall open to show them a map. "First, I'll explain the area in which it will take place. Around Practice Arena No. 44… are forty-four locked gates. There's a forest, river, and a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower is about 10km. During the survival course in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your weapons and jutsu, you will compete in a…"

Sasuke furrowed his brow when she rolled the map back up, reached into her coat to put it away, and pulled out two more scrolls.

"No rules… scroll battle," Anko concluded with a smirk, holding them up for them to see. One was white and marked with the kanji for 'heaven'. The other was dark and marked with the kanji for 'earth'.

"Scroll?" one of the other genin asked.

"Yes..." Anko replied. "You will fight over these two scrolls, the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll. There are eighty people here… meaning twenty-six teams… Half, thirteen, will get the Heaven Scroll. And the other thirteen teams… will each get the Earth Scroll. To pass this test… your team must make it to the tower… with both scrolls."

'I see, that's how she plans to cut us in half… the most that can pass is thirteen. This test is designed to instigate battles between us,' April thought seriously, furrowing her brow slightly.

"So, thirteen teams will lose their scrolls… Half the teams will definitely fail..." Sakura said, coming to the same conclusion.

"But there's a time limit," Anko added. "This test will last 120 hours. Exactly five days."

"Five days?!!" Ino exclaimed incredulously.

"What about dinner?!!" Chōji demanded anxiously.

"You're on your own," Anko replied calmly. "The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants..."

'Where's the edible part?' April wondered, sweat-dropping. Were they supposed to eat the man-eating beasts? Fortunately, she always kept some spare food pills in her pouch, but now she wished she'd had the foresight to pack some bug spray… She kind of sorry for Chōji. He looked like he had just been handed a death sentence.

Anko wasn't done. "And thirteen teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther. And the time to rest will become shorter. And the arena is crawling with enemies. You won't get much sleep. So not only will some fail by losing the scroll… but some will die from the harshness of the course. Now I'll talk about what will disqualify you." She held up a hand, raising one finger. "First, those that don't make it to the tower, with both scrolls, within the time limit." She raised another finger. "Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed." Another finger rose. "Third, tampering with or illegally removing the seal on a fourth member. The seal will only be removed once you reach your goal."

"Wait, what seal?" April asked, frowning in confusion along with the rest of the genins.

"Huh? Didn't I already say? Teams of four will have a seal placed on one of their members that will prevent them from molding chakra for ninjutsu," Anko said, quickly covering her embarrassing mistake with a smile. "I'm not soft like Ibiki. I won't let you have an advantage just because you happened to have more people."

"!!" April and her teammates were startled. That meant one of them would have to be handicapped.

'That's too unreasonable!' Sakura thought anxiously. 'If they do that… it means we'll have to carry around an extra member who won't be able to fight! We'll end up having to protect them and the scroll... That puts us at a serious disadvantage!'

'At this rate, we could end up becoming sitting ducks…' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow and glaring at the stupid rule.

'Huh? Eh? That means… wait, who's gonna end up with the seal?!" Naruto wondered anxiously, sweating. If they put it on him, then Sasuke would end stealing all the good parts again!

"..." April frowned, holding her chin while she started considering their options. 'If the examiner is the one choosing, then we'll have to rely on luck, but… if it's left up to us, there might still be a way...'

"As a rule… There is no quitting in the middle," Anko continued. "You will be in the forest for five days. And one more rule… you must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do?" asked Naruto.

Anko gave him a wicked smirk, holding a finger to her lips. "That will be a surprise for anyone who does," she answered sweetly.

"?" Naruto frowned at the cryptic answer.

'So, it's like Transporter… 'Rule Number 3: Never open the package'...' April thought wryly. It made sense if you thought of it as a scenario for a mission where you were asked to deliver top secret information that was only meant for a specific set of eyes.

"A chūnin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness," Anko explained, confirming her suspicions. "That is it for the explanations. Exchange your forms for the scroll. Then choose a gate to get ready for the start." She furrowed her brow, adopting a more serious expression. "A final word of advice… Don't die!"

Her last words made everyone tense. Naruto grinned with anticipation.

They were all given time to go over the forms before signing them. April read hers carefully, trying to glean as much information about the hostile environment they were about to enter as possible.

"Hey!! You Guys!!" Guy exuberantly greeted Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai when he spotted them, immediately rushing over with great speed, despite the fact that he was walking on his hands. "Have you heard?!!"

'What is he up to this time…?' Kakashi wondered, sweat-dropping. "Heard what?" he asked.

"They've already moved on to the second test!!!" Guy answered excitedly, hopping back onto his feet. "I watched the ones who were eliminated as they left!! It seems all four of our teams are still in the running!! I knew you could do it, Lee!!!" he declared passionately, clenching his fist while tears steamed down his face, deeply touched by his team's success.

"!" Kakashi and the others said, surprised.

'I guess they managed to pull it off somehow...' the copy ninja thought, feeling proud of his team. 'Looks like we were worried for nothing...'

"Oh? So they managed to get past Ibiki after all..." Asuma said, impressed. "But now there's the Forest of Death to deal with."

"Well, Kiba and the others on my team should be able to pass that with flying colors," Kurenai said confidently, crossing her arms while she leaned back in her seat.

"Yeah, our teams will have it easier than yours, Kakashi," Asuma agreed with a smirk.

"What makes you say that?" Kakashi asked.

"I also happened to hear about some of the adjustments they would be making to the rules for that portion of the test this year..." Asuma explained. "The teams with four will each have one member's chakra sealed to prevent them from being able to perform ninjutsu for the duration of the test. So instead of gaining an advantage with numbers, your team is going to be saddled with a dead weight to protect on top of everything else."

"..." Kakashi was a little surprised by this new rule, but it wasn't completely unexpected. "Well… I wouldn't say that..." he said with a smile, surprising them. "After all, there's a kid on my team who's more than capable of pulling her own weight. In a way, that seal might actually work to her benefit…" If April couldn't use her chakra for ninjutsu, it would decrease the likelihood of her passing out from overusing it. And the harder she was pushed, the harder she pushed back. She was most dangerous when cornered.

"Ah!! You're talking about April-chan, correct?!!" Guy said, taking the opportunity to invade his personal space. "I met her earlier when she fought my Lee! To think there was another genin capable of keeping up with him… As expected of my rival!!" he declared, giving him a thumbs up. "You must have taught her all sorts of taijutsu you picked up through your Sharingan!!"

"No..." Kakashi replied calmly as he leaned back in an attempt to put a more comfortable difference between them, surprising him. "I didn't teach her anything like that…." He had been focused primarily on helping her improve her chakra control and gaining the stamina required to compensate for her unique physical condition, since that was the area she had the most trouble with after genjutsu. "She already came equipped with a large collection of different fighting styles. She absorbs them like a sponge, you see..." It was almost alarming the way she generally only needed to see a move performed once or twice before being able to understand enough to copy it. It would be one thing if she possessed a Sharingan, but for her to be able to do this using only intuition and the experience that she had already accumulated through the martial arts of her world… April was truly formidable. In a few years, she might even be on par with Guy. 'As long as she's the one they place the seal on… then they still stand a chance…' he thought. Knowing her, it wouldn't take long for April to work that out herself. It was too early to count his team out.

"It's about time to exchange for the scrolls," a chūnin in a grey uniform announced, pulling the curtain on the guard booth by the fence closed for privacy. The three sand ninjas that team 7 had encountered before the exam began were the first to step forward.

'I see… so you can't tell which team gets which scroll, or who on the team is carrying the scroll… Same thing goes for the teammate receiving the chakra seal,' April thought, exchanging a knowing look with Sasuke that told her they were on the same page with this. 'It's just like Ibiki said… in this test, we'll be risking our lives fighting for information. From here on, everyone is an enemy. Everyone here is determined. If the forest doesn't kill us, it's likely that our fellow examinees will.'

'Hehe… the meaning of signing that form… looks like they understand,' Anko thought with a smirk.

Sasuke, April, Naruto, and Sakura joined the line to turn in their forms.

"Right. Here's your scroll..." one of the chūnins behind the desk said, handing it over to Sasuke since he looked like the one in charge. "Which of you is getting the seal?" he asked as one of his colleagues stood up and stepped around the desk to apply it.

"I am," April said when the others started glancing at each other.

"Eh!? You are?" Naruto and Sakura asked, surprised but very relieved that it wouldn't be them.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked, furrowing his brow. He had actually been about to suggest Sakura. 'April might not have much chakra, but she has a wider variety of ninjutsu than Sakura…'

April nodded firmly. "I'm sure. Your Sharingan is too valuable to lose. The same can be said for Naruto's ability to produce shadow clones. Sakura's best asset is her above average control over her chakra… And my taijitsu is the best on the team." Plus, she had gone most of her life without using ninjutsu to defend herself, so she would probably be able to adapt to the sudden restriction more quickly than her teammates, who had been relying on those techniques from a young age.

'That's true...' Sakura thought, recalling the physical prowess April had already displayed on previous missions, even before their confrontation with that weird guy with the bushy brows. 'It's strange, but now that I think about it… she may actually be better at it than Sasuke!'

Sasuke and Naruto's first instinct was to argue her last point out of pride, but then they thought back to how easily she had been able to counter Lee's attacks after Sasuke couldn't.

Sasuke furrowed his brow and grit his teeth, irritated him just remembering it. But he saw her point. "Okay, you're probably right..." he admitted. It was just as she said. He and Naruto were the strongest overall on the team, and Sakura's level of taijitsu wasn't enough to prevent her from being a burden. She needed to be able to use ninjutsu, too. But April was different.

"Uh-huh!" Naruto nodded in agreement. "If April gets it, then we'll still be alright!"

"Now that's settled, where do you want it?" the chūnin applying the seal asked.

"Right here," April said without hesitation, rolling up her jacket and shirt to expose her stomach. She had already given this some thought while they were waiting.

"Eh!? Uh… April-chan… wouldn't somewhere else be better!?" Sakura asked nervously, quickly positioning herself to block the boys' view of her. What was she doing showing that much bare skin in front of them!? Was she trying to seduce Sasuke!? She thought she liked Kakashi-sensei!

"Well, I figured we should put it somewhere it won't be easy to see, to keep our enemies guessing… And the shirt I'm wearing under my jacket is sleeveless, so if I had to take it off for some reason, it would become too easy to spot..." April explained, not seeing the problem. It's not like she was asking them to tattoo it on her butt.

"Ah… I see..." Sakura said, sweat-dropping. 'I guess that makes sense...'

"Oh!! Good thinking!!!" Naruto said, impressed she was already looking that far ahead.

'At least one of you is...' Sasuke thought moodily.

"Yahoo!! Survival is our specialty," Kiba exclaimed confidently with a grin while team Kurenai lined up in in front of gate 16. "Hinata, don't go soft on us!!"

"..." Hinata furrowed her brow slightly with concern. She hoped they wouldn't run into Naruto and his team.

"Risking our lives… this sucks, but we'll have to do it..." Shikamaru said while team Asuma waited by gate 27. 'Let's go after Naruto!!' he thought with a smirk. Ino sweat-dropped at how dejected Chōji still was over the lack of prepared food.

"Ok!!! I won't lose!!!" Naruto declared dramatically as he waited for gate 12 to open with the rest of Team Kakashi with a vein throbbing on his forehead, giving their competition and the test the finger. "I'll kick anyone's ass who gets near me!!!"

A tiny vein throbbed on Sakura's forehead in irritation, while Sasuke and April sweat-dropped. What did he have to be so mad about?

"Naruto… I realize this is probably asking the impossible, but… do you think maybe you could keep your voice down once we enter the forest?' April asked wryly, hoping he wouldn't give away their position. It was good to be excited, but if he was going to be noisy about it, then it would be better for him to take it down a notch.

'Hehe… It's finally here… The chance to fulfill our mission...' the bandaged leader of the sound ninjas thought while they stood before gate 20.

"I still don't see why I had to be the one to get the seal..." their muzzled teammate growled, glaring daggers at the rest of them.

"Because it won't effect your attacks as much as ours," the spiky-haired guy reminded him.

"Don't care. It's still a handicap!" the muzzled ninja said stubbornly.

"Geez! You bitch more than a girl..." their female teammate complained.

Their disgruntled teammate narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. "Shut up, ugly."

"Ugly…?!!" she snapped incredulously, reaching for a weapon.

"Don't…. He'll kill you before you can throw it..." their bandaged leader said, stopping her. "I could care less what you do to each other afterwards… but don't forget the mission!"

Kabuto smirked at gate 38 while he and his teammates waited for it to open, more than ready to begin.

In front of gate 6, Kankurō and his blonde sister kept glancing nervously in the direction of their homicidal younger brother.

'Of course there's the other teams… but I'm also afraid of being with him for five days...' Kankurō thought, hoping Gaara wouldn't turn on them over the course of the test.

"We're allowed to kill from here on… that makes things easier..." the long-haired grass ninja with the unusual tongue said, crouching down in front of gate 15 with the rest of his mysterious trio for a quick powwow.

"So, first we'll go after the rookies..." one of his teammates said knowingly with an evil smirk.

'Gai-sensei, I'll do my best!!' Lee thought determinedly, clenching his fist, while he stood before gate 41 with the rest of his team.

"Everyone, follow an instructor and go to your gates!! We will start in 30 minutes!!" Anko announced sternly for those were still dragging their feet.

The chūnin waiting with Sasuke, Naruto, April, and Sakura unlocked their gate for them and kept an eye on his watch to make sure they didn't get a false start.

Time ticked by, and soon they heard Anko roar out her final announcement: "The second test of the Chūnin Exam… Now begins!!!

The three grass ninjas shot through their opened gate at full speed.

"Find the brats!" their long-haired leader ordered.

"Those three, right?" his teammate who had first suggested going after the rookies asked, raring to go. There was no need to name names. They all knew who they were after.

"Ok!!! Let's go!!!" Naruto exclaimed boldly at the top of his lungs, despite April's request, ready to lead the way as he stepped through the gate with the rest of his team.