Chapter 4: The Horror That is Anko
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Alright maggots report to Training Ground 44 for the second exam." With that said Anko jumped out of the window she broke and ran off.
The genins walked out in their teams and they all set off for Training Ground 44. Upon arrival, the genin teams found Anko downing six dango at once. She got up while spinning a kunai on her finger, but the kunai slipped and hit the mask of a rain genin. The mask blew up, consuming the rain genin in flames thus disqualifying his team.
"Oops, that wasn't supposed to happen. Anyway, this stage of your exam is the Forest of Death. Before you begin, go sign the release forms so we aren't in charge of your deaths if they happen. When you receive your forms, a scroll will come with it. Your job is to collect the two different types of scrolls I have in my hands. Get them and go to the tower in the center of the forest. Oh, and don't open the scrolls on your way to the tower. It would mean immediate disqualification. You have five days to complete your test. Go to your gates and listen for the command. Alright, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"
Each team started through the gate, starting to devise the team's plan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seven Hours Later
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara found and beat up a sand genin team. They stole the team's scroll and we're lucky enough to discover it's the scroll they needed. On their way to the tower, a grass ninja attacked them.
"Who are you?" asked Sasuke.
"Me, I'm just testing your abilities to see if you are worthy of my attention. Now let's begin."
The grass ninja summoned a large snake and watched as Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara attacked. Naruto drew his katana and charged the snake. His sword pierced the snake slightly leaving a small hole in the skin. The giant snake countered by launching Naruto by hitting him with its tail.
"I hope Naruto can get back fast. We need his help. Well, until he gets back me and Gaara will fight," thought Sasuke.
"Are you going to fight me or stand there, Uchiha Sasuke?" asked the grass ninja in a sadistic tone.
"How do you know who I am?" asked Sasuke.
"I know who you all are, Sasuke. Nothing can be hidden from me, Orochimaru."
"Sasuke, he is one of the legendary sannin. We cannot beat someone with that power," stated Gaara.
"BUT WE SURE AS HELL CAN TRY." Everyone turned around to see Naruto standing on a branch above them. "We can't give up."
"Naruto is right, now isn't he time to give up. Fire Release: Flame Sword," yelled Sasuke.
Sasuke's katana blade had flames all around it and he jumped up towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru grabbed him with his tongue and started to squeeze him harder and harder. Gaara used his sand to create a spear and launched it at Orochimaru's throat.
Orochimaru moved Sasuke at the spear, but right before it hit he kawarmied out. The spear missed and destroyed a nearby tree. Naruto then used Wind Release: Air Shot and he managed to damage the snake slightly. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, which he awakened a while back. While Sasuke was keeping Orochimaru busy, Naruto and Gaara were preparing their own attacks. Gaara seeped some sand through the hole Naruto left earlier in the snake. Then he used Fire Release: Super Heated Flames on the sand.
The snake instantly turned to glass because of the sand inside of it being superheated. Naruto followed up with a quick slice of his katana and the snake exploded into shards of glass. Orochimaru fell on the ground and quickly leapt up. He elongated his neck and bit Sasuke in the shoulder. He passed out on the ground next to Naruto and Gaara. Orochimaru told Naruto and Gaara that Sasuke would betray them and come to him seeking power. Shortly after that Orochimaru snapped his fingers and the ground around Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara exploded, sending them in different directions. As they flew away, their henge's wore off.
Orochimaru looked at the damage he caused and smiled. "My work here is done. The plan is working perfectly. Soon Konaha will fall and I will have a new host body, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sakura and her team had secured both of the scrolls needed and they were enjoying a small break as night began to come. A flying object could be seen in the distance and before they knew it a body launched into the ground. After a few minutes a dazed Naruto stood up.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke had regained consciousness after a few seconds and he landed swiftly on the ground in front of Temari, Kankoro, and Waki.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gaara's sand saved him from sustaining any damage from the blow, but the blast launched him quite a distance. He sealed his sand back up in his gourd and landed on the ground right in front of Team 8.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Damn it, my head hurts like hell. Oh, hey Sakura and Sakura's teammates," mumbled Naruto.
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" asked Sakura.
"Um, Sakura it's me Rengu Zaki."
Sakura quickly examined him and replied. "You look nothing like Rengu. He has green hair and you have blonde hair."
Naruto quickly examined himself and ran off mentally cursing himself for being so stupid and revealing who he really is. Do to using so much chakra in the fight with Orochimaru, Naruto collapsed onto his knees unable to move. Then a loud voice spoke up in his head.
"It seems you need my help right now, kit."
Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a sewer. "Nice home you have here Kyuubi."
"It's not like I chose to live in this sewer inside of a cage. Anyway, I see that you have passed out there. I've decided to give you some training. Seeing you out there makes me realize that I won't be alive much longer."
"Hey, that's not funny. I try as hard as anybody else does."
"That may be true but if you think about it, you don't have a trump card. Sasuke has the Sharingan. Gaara has his sand manipulation abilities. You may have me, but you are unable to utilize my powers until you are of age. Although, there might be times when I have no choice to take over, let's hope that doesn't happen. There is no guessing what changes may happen to you if that happens. Let's get to the point, for the next few days I'll be teaching you a completely new technique."
"ALRIGHT, THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It had been five minutes and Sasuke was still being stared at by Temari, Kankoro, and Waki. Sasuke looked at himself to realize that his genjutsu had been released, but he didn't have anything to worry about because the people in front of him were from Suna.
"You will not have our scroll, but we want your scroll," said Temari.
"Curse you Gaara, why didn't you carry the scrolls with you."
Right as Sasuke was ready to fight for his team's scroll, a weird fiery feeling hit his shoulder and he passed out. Temari looked in Sasuke's carrying sack and found two scrolls. She took the one her team needed and they sped off, leaving Sasuke lying on the ground.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gaara handled his encounter pretty well, unlike Naruto and Sasuke. He quickly noticed his genjutsu wore off and told Team 8 that he meant no harm. Right after saying that, he left.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later That Night
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"See, I told you searching for dead and sleeping people in the middle of the night would help us get scrolls," whispered a waterfall genin.
"Um, Evolg, I don't know if we should," replied the other waterfall genin.
"Geez, Bob, you are such a wuss," said a third waterfall genin.
"Shut the hell up, Zigfried," said Bob.
The three waterfall genin walked over to a body on the ground. Zigfried reached into the person's sack he collapsed onto the ground, kunai through his throat. Bob and Evolg looked all around and saw that the body previously lying on the ground was gone. Evolg thought that it would be smarter if he ran, so he did. A figure then walked out of the darkness and ran up to Bob shouting, Lightning Release: Thunder Link. Right as a small line of thunder reached Bob, a shield of sand appeared in front of Bob. Gaara jumped into the scene and told Bob to leave. Bob left and Gaara used his sand to grasp the figure by the neck only to reveal him to be Sasuke with black flames all over him.
The pressure from Gaara's sand to Sasuke's neck caused the flames to slowly disappear. Then the flames disappeared completely and Gaara released Sasuke.
"What is going on with you, Sasuke?"
"I-I think it is the mark left by that Orochimaru guy. It started to act up and I lost control of my body."
"Alright, hopefully that won't act up for the rest of the exam. Let's take our scrolls and find Naruto."
"About that, a group of ninja stole one from us," said Sasuke while rubbing the back of his head.
Gaara examined the pouch of the ninja Sasuke killed. "Here's one, is this one the one that is needed?" asked Gaara.
"Yeah it is. We sure are lucky."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile with Itachi
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Itachi had been walking around Konaha for most of the day remembering all of the things left behind. Then he walked into a random store and as he entered, a small memory came back to him. He had a girlfriend before he left. After pondering for a few minutes, he remembered her name.
"Hana, that's what her name is," thought Itachi aloud.
"Huh, did someone say my name."
Suddenly a woman who was Itachi's age came out of the back of the store. She had dark brown hair, tight black pants, and a white undershirt covered with a Chunin vest.
"Sir, can I do anything for you? I didn't really expect anyone to come in at this time at night with issues concerning their pets," stated Hana questioningly.
"Um, I was just looking at all of the stores around Konaha," answered Itachi.
At that point, Itachi forgot all about hiding his identity from the public and took his mask off. The moment after Itachi dropped his mask, Hana recognized him. When she saw him she immediately remembered how they were best friends along with Uchiha Shisui and how they became boyfriend and girlfriend. The weird thing was that the Uchiha Clan had been murdered years ago.
"But how a-are you alive, Itachi?"
"There were two survivors, me and my brother."
"I really missed you Itachi. It was boring without you and Shisui," said Hana.
Hana turned the store sign to closed and took Itachi into the back room. The rest is history.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Days Later
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke and Gaara had been looking for Naruto until they found him sleeping on the ground next to a tree. Naruto said he had been looking for them but they found him. The three of them re henged and left for the tower in the middle of the forest. Once inside the tower, they opened both scrolls. A Chunin ninja that Naruto and Sasuke new as Iruka popped out and congratulated them on moving on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of chapter 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: There, my longest chapter. Alright, here are the pairings Naruto/Sakura (duh)
Sasuke/Temari (it will take some time) Gaara/Hinata (will take time to develop) Itachi/Hana (kind of obvious)