Welcome to Ch. 8 of KTJ and I hope you enjoy.
I do not own Naruo.
Chapter 8: Forest of Death
Naruto glanced around as Omoi took the lead with him and Karui at his flanks, Omoi's eyes focused mainly on the compass in his hand as they moved through the woods. They were making good time as they moved in a zigzag pattern towards the tower.
They had been on the move for over an hour when Karui signaled a stop. They crouched low as she spoke in a quiet whisper. "I sense someone to the East about 20 yards…" Naruto nodded and they slowly and quietly made their way towards their new targets. As they approached, they heard some voices. "We should set a trap here and just reap the benefits of anyone that falls in it…" In an instant, all three of them stopped on a branch high above the forest floor.
The Kumo ninja looked down and noticed three Konoha ninja, all standing out in the open, seemingly doing nothing. Naruto spoke, keeping his voice quiet. "Well, if what I heard during the first exam is correct, then the boy with the jacket is an Aburame and the boy with the dog is an Inuzuka… I don't like this one bit. They are both tracking clans of Konoha…" Omoi's eyes narrowed as his eyes took in every aspect of the situation.
The Inuzuka spoke again as his nose started twitching and he started looking around. "Looks like we've got some company." Any hope of catching them off guard was thrown out by his smirk.
Omoi's mind worked in overdrive. "They clearly know where we are, but want us to engage them… Why? Do either of you see any traps?" Both Naruto and Karui shook their heads in the negative.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Kiba was getting confused. He looked at Shino, trying to figure out what was happening. Shino spoke, his voice quiet. "They are just outside the hunting grounds…"
Kiba looked annoyed before he turned to the only kunoichi on their team. "Hey Yakumo, think you can trick them into moving closer?" Yakumo Kurama was for all intents and purposes, a weak girl. However, she more than made up for her lack of physical strength with her impossibly powerful genjutsu use. She had straight brown hair with brown eyes and she wore a purple kimono with slits on both thighs and red mesh armor underneath. Without saying a word, she pulled out a notebook and a brush, she began drawing…
The Kumo ninja narrowed their eyes when they saw the girl start to work. Karui was about to charge, but Naruto held his arm in front of her, waiting.
Only a few seconds later, the Kumo nin turned around when they heard the distinctive sound of metal flying through the air, their eyes widened when they saw six kunai flying towards them. However, they settled down when they noticed their trajectory. "They're too low…" All six kunai imbed into the branch they were standing on. However, their eyes widened when they saw the burning piece of paper on all of them.
"Move!" The Kumo ninja jumped forward, landing on a branch closer to their targets. However, the explosion never happened.
In the back of his mind, Naruto heard a voice. "Pathetic, you didn't even sense the chakra entering your system…" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he realized what that meant. 'Genjutsu… These guys are good. ' Naruto looked to his teammates. "The girl uses genjutsu…"
Yakumo's eyes widened in shock. 'How did he figure it out so quickly? Oh well, it doesn't matter now that they are within the hunting grounds of the leeches.'
Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he felt his shoulder start to burn, he looked down and noticed a giant leech attached to his arm, sucking the blood from the limb. Soon after, he felt one on his neck as well. "What the hell is this!?" When he looked over, his eyes widened because Karui had two on her left leg and Omoi already had four attached to his arms, leg and neck.
Kiba's voice carried over to Naruto's ears. "Those giant leeches are some of the most powerful predators in the Land of Fire. One of those things can suck a human body dry in 5 minutes..."
Omoi could hardly see straight and dropped to a knee when his vision began to swim as his body experienced his first case of anemia. He was too weak and couldn't even process what was happening as he lost his footing and his body started to plummet. Naruto knew he had to act quick, and he did. He jumped from the branch, kicking off to increase his speed and managed to catch his teammate, landing on his back and cushioning his fall. The second they hit the ground, the second half of the trap was triggered and Naruto and Omoi were lifted up in a large net.
Kiba smirked as he looked at their lone, free teammate. "Listen, give us your scroll and you get to live. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." By this point, Karui was starting to see double as she drew her blade and sliced the leeches on her legs in half. "Before these exams are done, I'm going to run you through." To accent her point, Karui flicked the leech blood from her blade. Faster than any of the Konoha ninja expected, Karui moved. Shino's eyes widened when Karui appeared in front of him, the tip of her sword covered in his blood.
"Without the Aburame, the Leeches are unbiased." As though to accent her point, leeches began falling towards Kiba and Yakumo. However, Kiba moved quickly, landing a solid elbow to Karui's face, sending her skidding. Kiba started to go through hand seals as the small white dog landed on his shoulder. "Man-Beast Clone Ju-"
"Guillotine Drop!"
BOOM!
Yakumo's eyes showed fear when Naruto's leg smashed into Kiba's head, and in turn, clipping Akamaru. The dog-boy was imbedded into a shallow crater in the ground, unmoving. Yakumo quickly pulled out her notepad…
Naruto stood tall, carrying Omoi over his shoulder as he stared down the last member of their team. "Oh, look at this, the little kiddies from Kumo are trying to act tough." Naruto quickly turned around, shocked to see all of the Konoha rookies, glaring down at him and ready to attack. However, it only took him a second to realize he was in another genjutsu. 'I was never good at breaking genjutsu, but I bet if she's unconscious it will shatter. Yakumo's eyes widened when Naruto's fist slammed into her cheek, shattering the illusion and leaving her unconscious.
Naruto turned to Karui. "Let's hurry and find their scroll. These damn leeches are pissing me off." To accent his point, Naruto turned quickly, letting a kunai fly and impale a leech that was about to latch itself onto Karui. It only took Karui a few minutes to find the scroll in Shino's tool-pouch. "Shit! It's another heaven…"
"Take it…Let's go before more of those leeches fall…" Naruto readjusted Omoi on his shoulder and the two took off, Karui was hobbling slightly from the wounds on her leg. Naruto spotted a small cave after a few minutes. "Let's rest, if it wasn't for 'you know what' I'd be unconscious by now, I can only imagine how you feel." Karui nodded and the two made a dash for the rock outcrop.
Naruto quickly laid Omoi down. "You should get some sleep too, when one of you wakes up, I'll take a nap…" Karui looked like she wanted to argue, but just ended up yawning. "Ok, be safe." Naruto nodded as she passed out, right next to Omoi.
Naruto went to work setting up a ninja wire net at the end of the cave. He looked down at the ninja wire tied around his wrist. "Black Lightning: Electromagnetic Murder." Black lightning surged around every wire and Naruto smiled, letting his jutsu fade. "That will work for anyone stupid enough to just barge in…" With a sigh, Naruto pulled a ration bar from his pack, wincing as he ate the brick of what he is sure is some combination of rat feces, dog urine and chocolate, there was definitely some chocolate. "God these things suck…"
*Same Time With Team Kakashi
Sasuke glanced around right before he opened his pants. He couldn't help but sigh in relief. "Man, I've been holding this for almost an hour..." Sasuke pulled his pants back up and was about to head back towards his teammates when the sound of a breaking twig caught his attention. Instantly, Sasuke was facing the noise, his kunai was imbedded into a large rabbit. He couldn't help but sigh in irritation. "Well, we can have it for dinner…" Just as he reached down to pick up the animal he killed, his teammate's voice called out. "Pale Bottom!" He whips his head around and is shocked when he sees Hinata slamming the heel of her hand into an Ame ninja's chest, sending him careening to the ground.
He was shocked as he looked at his normally shy and quiet teammate, he had never seen her act so fierce. However, it only lasted a second as a blush crossed her face and she started to fiddle with her fingers. "Hinata, how did you know I was under attack?" Hinata's blush intensified as she thought about it. "Err, I um, was using my Byakugan to watch your back… I uh, thought this might happen…"
Sasuke gave the Hyuga a nod as both Hinata and Sasuke turn their head when they hear their other teammate yelling for them. "Hinata! Where did you go?" Sasuke called out to her. "Over here Sakura…" Sakura walked through some foliage and scowled slightly as she saw Sasuke and Hinata, alone in the woods. 'She better not be trying anything with him!' Sasuke turned to Sakura and gestured to the Ame ninja on the ground at their feet. "Sakura, can you check him, see if he has their scroll on him?" Sakura nodded quickly and got to work. "No, sorry Sasuke…" The veins around Hinata's eyes pulsed as she focused on their surroundings, looking for the rest of the Ame team. However, what she saw was a wave of chakra heading for them.
"WATCH OUT!" All three Konoha ninja jumped to the side, avoiding the wall of wind that likely would have sent them flying.
"My oh my, I never thought I would see an Uchiha and Hyuga cooperating with such great teamwork."
The three Konoha ninja turned and saw a kunoichi from Kusa, a grin that sent a chill down each of their spins.
*With Team Kurenai 9 Hours Later
Shino grunted as he dragged Kiba's body over to a small tree with a hollow base. Yakumo's body was already resting peacefully as Akamaru rested on her stomach, both were hidden away from any potential enemies. 'Even after catching them with the leeches, they managed to beat us. I never expected the kunoichi to be so fast, she is faster than Sasuke was during graduation. I never did research on Kumo since they have never accepted the invitation to the chunin exams before. I wonder why they decided to now. I will have to do all the research I can, just in case I have to fight them at a later date.' Finally, Shino managed to drag the Inuzuka's unmoving body into the tree and hung a quickly made concealing blanket over the entrance, giving the appearance of a solid tree. With his work done, Shino collapsed, blood soaking through the bandages on his chest. Within seconds, Shino too, was asleep.
*With Team Yugito
Naruto sighed as he shook the last drops of urine away. He quickly pulled up his pants as he looked at the sky. "It must be around midnight now." Some noise in the cave got the boy's attention and he quickly made his way back in, only to see Karui standing up, yawning. "How long was I out?" Naruto shrugged. "Not really sure, I'd say around 10 hours…" Karui nodded as she gestured to her spot. "You must be dead on your feet, get some sleep…"
Naruto nodded and weaved his way through the ninja wire net, he walked up to her and handed her the end of the ninja wire. "Just channel some lightning chakra and it should make a decent shield. Wake us up at sunrise, I'd like to get an early start, we're still too far from the tower for my liking." Karui nodded in agreement and he was out in a matter of seconds.
*5 Hours Later
Karui sighed in boredom as she looked out at the moon. 'The skies are pretty clear here, but it's nothing compared to back home…'
Karui pulled out her sword and began to check it over and ran her finger across the edge, leaving a small trail of blood along the edge. "Perfect."
"Hey look, a cave! We can rest there for the night! Then we'll go after those leaf bastards!" Karui's eyes widened when she heard the voice of a male genin. Without even looking, he ran in, only to get tangled up in the wire web. "What the hell?" The man was a Suna nin, he wore a standard tan cloak with a white neck protector with the village symbol. He looked up a second later, only for his eyes to widen in shock as Karui's fierce yellow eyes almost seemed to bore into his soul. "Welcome to the domain of Kumo. Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration!"
A second ninja of Suna ran up behind his teammate just as his eyes went wide with pain, he wore the standard neck protector and had strange green marks on his cheeks, a roll of cloth hung from his shoulder. He was flanked by a kunoichi, she had short blonde hair in fauxhawk and she held a kunai in her right hand.
The two Suna nin glared at the lone Kumo ninja in anger. "You're going to pay for that! Hand over your scroll and you might live." Karui merely raised an eyebrow at the two. It was at that time, that she got a good look at them. They were covered in cuts and bruises and the girl's left arm was in a make-shift sling. "No, I'm only going to give you one chance, grab your comrade and run, or I'll bury you." All three ninja tightened their stances to prepare for combat. Suddenly, without warning, Karui shot forward, shocking the Suna ninja at her speed. The boy managed to jump to the side, avoiding her downward slash. However, she was unable to be idle as she blocked the kunoichi's kunai slash. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw a bit of green liquid drip from the kunai. 'Poison!'
Karui felt something wrap around her leg and was unable to do anything when the boy literally yanked her foot out from underneath her. However, she was nothing if not agile, using the momentum from her fall, Karui threw her foot forward, catching the jaw of the charging kunoichi at the same time as she let her sword fly, straight at the cloth wielding ninja. The cloth shot up protectively in front of him, but it wasn't enough, the sword sliced through it and caught him in the face, leaving a deep gash from his forehead down to his cheek, miraculously missing his eye.
It only took the redhead a second to recover and she quickly dropped into a taijutsu stance. 'Son of a bitch.' They were back to square one, only this time, they were more injured and she had no weapon.
"I suggest you hand over your scroll before you turn tail and run." The two Suna nins' eyes widened when they looked over and saw Naruto and Omoi, rested and combat ready. The two Suna nin shared a quick look as they slowly got out of their stance. "W-we don't have our scroll, it was already taken." Naruto narrowed his eyes and Karui retrieved her blade, placing it at the neck of their unconscious comrade. "Who took it?" The two Suna nin seemed genuinely worried for their teammate. "They were Konoha nin, two of them. They were completely covered in black with only their eyes visible. Only, they both wore glasses."
The three Kumo ninja continued to stare at them for a few minutes when Karui spoke up. "They were pretty beat up when they got here. I wouldn't be surprised if they got their asses kicked once already." Omoi seemed to stare at the two for a moment. "Let's go… I don't feel like killing two helpless ninja over a scroll they probably don't have."
Naruto and Karui nodded in agreement. "Good call, this is taking too long." Naruto looked at his two teammates and they all nodded before they shot off into the trees.
The three Kumo ninja were jumping through the trees, heading straight for the tower when Naruto turned to his teammates. "For all we know, every available Earth scroll has already been taken to the tower… We need to hurry and cut off any team we see."
They had been running through the trees for nearly two hours and Omoi looked at the tower. 'We're about two hours away still…' Omoi was about to open his mouth and let his teammate know, when they heard a shout. "Decapitating Airwaves!" The Kumo ninja couldn't help but grin as Naruto turned to his teammate. "Fighting means multiple teams… Things are looking up." They arrived and were overlooking a clearing with a large hollow tree. In front of the tree were 5 ninja, a pink haired Konoha kunoichi in a red dress next to an unconscious black haired Konoha shinobi with a bowl cut wearing green spandex. Across from them was the only team in the exam from the Sound Village.
The pink haired kunoichi ran over to the downed boy as she tried to revive him. "Lee! Are you alright!? Lee!" The lone Sound kunoichi stepped forward, letting three senbon fly, nailing the pink haired kunoichi in the shoulder. "AAAAHHHH!"
Soon, the only kunoichi on the sound team appeared behind the Konoha kunoichi, holding her by the hair. The Sound ninja looked at her fellow kunoichi with disgust. "Little girls like you make me sick to my stomach. I bet you spend more time a week putting on make-up and doing your hair than you do training… Don't you!?"
"As amusing as it is to watch, I only have one question. Do either of you have an Earth scroll?" The four coherent ninja turned towards the tree and saw the lone team from Kumo, standing there, ready to attack.
The boy closest to them glared at them. "Yeah! We do! Not that you'll care. ONCE YOU'RE DEAD! DECAPITATING AIR WAVES!"
A gust of wind shot from small tubes imbedded into to the boy's palms. The attack kicked up massive amounts of dust and nobody could see anything. After a whole minute, the dust cleared and Sakura was shocked. The tree that the Kumo ninja had been standing on, was in pieces, the blades in the blast of wind tearing them asunder.
"That is quite the jutsu you have there." All five ninja in the clearing turned around, shocked to see the team from Kumo standing behind the team from Sound, Naruto leaning against a tree. A vein pulsed on Zaku's head. "YOU'RE ALL DEAD! EXTREME DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!"
From off to the side, Karui turned to Naruto. "You should have made more than two sets of clones, this is pretty funny. A couple more and he might blow a gasket." Naruto and Omoi chuckled at that as they watched Zaku pant away his frustrations. Naruto turned to his teammates after his face turned serious. "Let's make this quick, I want to get to the tower as fast as possible." The amused look on Karui's and Omoi's faces was gone, replaced with the eyes of a shinobi ready to carry out a mission.
In an instant they were gone. Karui was charging straight for Zaku as her blade glinted in the sun that broke through the thick forest. Omoi charged at the lone kunoichi, his blade secured in its sheath as his hand gripped the hilt. Naruto went right up the middle towards the apparent leader, a kunai clutched tightly in his right hand.
It was over in an instant, Zaku's and Kin's head fell neatly to the ground as Naruto let Dosu's body' slip from his kunai. On the sidelines, seven sets of eyes widened in shock and horror. They watched as the team from Kumo operated like a well-oiled machine, Naruto instantly taking a defensive position as the others began searching for the scroll. After only a moment, Karui's voice rang out. "I got it, Earth scroll, just like he said." Naruto nodded and the three were about to take off when Sakura's voice stopped them.
"W-wait… Why did you help us?" The Kumo ninja did indeed stop as they looked at the girl. Karui looked at her like she was stupid as she held up the Earth scroll. "I'll give you one guess…" Sakura actually seemed downtrodden at that. Omoi cleared his throat. "Let's go, we want to make sure we get to the tower early…" Naruto and Karui nodded and they once again prepared to jump off. However this time, it was not a question or an enemy, it was a chakra. Naruto's eyes shot to the hollow tree as he felt a vile chakra.
Naruto's mind was reeling. 'It's so similar to Kyubi's, but while his is filled with hatred, it's as though this chakra is pure evil… This might be interesting.'
Slowly, from the hollow tree a silhouette appeared, everything about it seemed normal, but it seemed to glow with a purple outline. After a moment, Sakura's meek voice caught everyone's attention. "S-Sasuke, is that you?"
The sillouette cleared as it stepped forward and revealed Sasuke Uchiha. The boy's skin was covered in black, flame-like markings. The raven haired boy's Sharingan eyes spun rapidly as they took in every detail of everything he saw.
"He was right, Orochimaru was right! I can see everything! He gave me my Sharingan, as well as this strange, incredible power! Watch out Itachi, you're a dead man!" Soon, the red eyed boy's insane ramblings ended as he caught sight of the ninja from Kumo. "I'm going to kill you."
The blunt way he said it has Naruto's eyes widening. It was only after training with the fastest man alive for the last six years that allowed even his instincts to follow his movement. Moving quickly, he shifted his head to the left, just as Sasuke's fist passed, half an inch from him. Naruto was not about to waste the opportunity given and he quickly brought his arm up before bringing it down, hard, right into Sasuke's temple.
The raven haired boy staggered for only a second and it was more than enough. "Lariat!" Naruto's arm slammed into Sasuke's chest and sent him back, sliding on his back. He didn't get back up.
For a moment, Sakura was afraid he was dead, however, the slow rising of his chest said otherwise. Naruto continued to stare at the downed ninja with a frown. Soon, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a heaven scroll and tossed it on the ground. "Hey, pinky, I want you to tell that little Uchiha bitch that I look forward to facing him in these exams and make sure he knows that it was only my charity that allowed him to leave this forest alive. I could have collapsed his entire chest cavity with that last attack if I wanted."
Without another word, the Kumo ninja were gone.
Karui looked at Naruto with confusion. "Why the hell did you give that little bastard our extra scroll!?"
The boy looked at her with a smirk. "Did you feel that chakra? I can't wait to utterly destroy that chakra!" After a few seconds of silence, Naruto's voice spoke again, this time, incredibly quiet. "I know that chakra…"
Karui and Omoi both shared a similarly confused look but didn't say anything, the amount of passion in his voice was strange.
The trip to the tower only took an hour because they didn't run into any teams since leaving the group of Konoha ninja behind. The three landed right outside the tower and looked at one of the many doors surrounding it. The three shared a shrug as Naruto stepped forward. "Well, there's no welcoming committee out here, I suppose we go in. Stay on your guard though, we don't know what's in there."
Naruto, Karui and Omoi looked around the empty room, it was made of stone and had a very dungeonie look and feel to it. There was only a single piece of decoration and it was writing that was engraved into the wall.
Naruto pointed at it. "What do you think it means?" Karui looked at it for a second before shrugging and continuing on. However, Omoi stared for a few minutes and his eyes lit up. "It's an analogy for mental and physical strength…" Naruto and Karui read over the passage again and nodded in understanding.
Karui however, was getting impatient. "I'm getting real tired of sitting in this stupid fucking room." The others nodded but couldn't figure out what to do. After a few minutes, Naruto stopped, his eyes wide with realization. "That's it! Do you remember the proctors words about opening the scrolls?"
Karui just snorted. "Yeah, not to." Naruto shook his head while Omoi's mind went to work.
"What she said, is that opening the scrolls is strictly against the mission parameters!" karui stared at the boy like he was stupid. "So?" Naruto started pacing at that point. "She also said, that our mission doesn't end until we deliver the scrolls to the tower! Our mission is over! We can open the scrolls now!"
That was when Karui and Omoi's eyes lit up as well. "That must be it! There is some clue to getting to the next stage, written right on the scroll!"
With a resigned nod, Naruto opened one scroll while Karui opened the other, Omoi stood, blade drawn and ready to attack. Seconds after opening the scrolls, Naruto and Karui tossed them away and they both yelled as they jumped backwards. "Summoning seal!"
Poof
The three Kumo ninja stared at the cloud of smoke, ready for anything. However, once it was gone, all that stood there was a single chunin. He had brown hair that covered his right eye and a bandana for a forehead protector.
"Well, congratulations on completing the second stage of the chu-" The chunin's voice stopped dead when his eyes landed on Naruto. The chunin's face seemed to have gotten very serious as his dark eyes tried to bore their way through Naruto's skull.
After a few short steps, the Kumo team was ready to attack, however, they were surprised when…
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! OH MY GOD THAT WAS AWESOME! HEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Soon the hysterical chunin was right in front of Naruto, his hand out. "Please shake my hand. I owe you for years upon years of blackmail material…"
The three Kumo ninja continued to stare at the chunin, even as he calmed down. "Do I know you?" The chunin shook his head. "No, but I'd like to change that." All three of their eyes were narrowed. "Why?" The chunin's hand remained out, waiting for Naruto to shake it. "My name is Izumo and the chunin you knocked unconscious and stuffed behind a toilet, he's my partner and best friend. Had he been hurt, I'd kill you, but he wasn't so we're good."
The chunin left his hand there for nearly a full minute before he dropped it. "Ok, I get it, after the exams are over then. Anyways, you only have one more step until you pass the second exam. The writing on the wall, what does it mean?" Naruto and Karui both turned to Omoi who sighed. "It's saying if you're dumb, seek wisdom and if you're weak, seek strength. Those with both will be strong…" Izumo nodded. "Good job, follow me, you have two days until the test is over…"
That's it!
I liked the way this chapter went, thought it would be interesting to have them face against Kurenai's modified team. In case you haven't realized, Hinata replaced Naruto on Team Seven and Yakumo replaced Hinata…
Tell me what you thought of it!
