Chapter Fourteen – 'Forest of Death, Part I'
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I was a bit worried about the possible responses to the plot twist last chapter, as I`ve seen similar things done in other stories, with people not responding favourably. Either I pulled it off well enough that either only a small minority dislike it, or none of those who disliked cared to vocalize their thoughts. Hopefully the former.
Personally, I like the first half of this chapter. It wrote itself really well. Then the second half of the chapter became stilted when I tried to write and in my opinion went to crap.
UPDATED EXTRA SCENE: I took the advice of a few reviews to heart and added an extra scene onto the end with Anko, ANBU and Naruto interaction, so the ending isn't quite nearly as choppy.
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Although Maito Gai might be accused of favouritism with his genin team by giving Rock Lee far more attention than his other two protégés, Higurashi Tenten and Hyuuga Neji would deny any such charge. Their sensei had always invited them to participate in the exercises he and Lee went through. They always declined; although some might think it was because they could not keep up with the pair of spandex-wearers, that was not quite the truth. Instead, they tried to preserve their dignity, and kept their bodies in fit condition outside of their team practices.
Even beside that, some might point out how Gai consistently trained Rock Lee more than he did his other two genin students, even outside of the regular exercises. Tenten and Neji again would say that was unfair. Gai had shown Tenten how to adjust from kunai to heavier weapons in less than a second, as well as increasing both her accuracy and throwing speed beyond what it already was, not to mention teaching her a close-combat style that complemented her love of weapons, with brass knuckles and clawed gauntlets both. In Neji's case, sparring with Gai was brutally efficient; the older man would tear open the flaws and holes that were present in his Juken, forcing him to constantly improve, refine and to innovate with the Juken. It was something that helped him bear the episodes Gai and Lee constantly went through, which he privately (but would never admit under threat of death) found amusing.
Finally, one might be inclined to think Gai did little to promote the teamwork between his genin, as shown during Neji's public displays of spouting off about fate. Truthfully, Gai only occasionally talked to the Hyuga branch house heir about such fits. Contrary to what one might think, however, Gai did not discourage Neji's philosophy, and instead merely discouraged him from letting his preaching about fate getting the best of him; a man who thinks it is inevitable that he will be defeated will obviously end up in defeat. Instead, he told Neji that even if all roads were preordained, a person could still choose how they walked down that path. He knew Neji secretly respected Rock Lee for his work ethic and strived to stay ahead of the chakra-impaired taijutsu user. Tenten was inevitably pulled in by the two boys hard work, and put forth her own considerable amount of effort in training. Through harsh drills and lots of sweat and blood poured together as a team, Gai knew they would be bonded together better than any teamwork exercise he could come up with.
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Supposedly, Team Gai was at an impasse, as they seemingly turned out to be an even match for the team of Iwa genin that had confronted them. Neji was being pressured from long range by a Doton user, while Tenten's weapons were bouncing off the second genin, a possessor of the Iron Skin technique that was taught to a rare few in Iwa, which allowed the user to harden his or her skin to become nearly as tough as a diamond. Finally, Lee was matched up against an opposing taijutsu user, one who had strengthened his muscles, a complement to Lee's speed.
Supposedly, in any case. When Gai had learned from the Sandaime Iwa's intentions to enter the exam, he knew exactly what was likely to happen. He was no fool. He was quite well aware that Iwa was most likely using the exams as a pretense to try wiping out a generation of Konoha's shinobi and kunoichi. However, he had also promised his pupils that he would enter them when the Chunin Exams came to Konoha.
Because of Iwa's anticipated presence, he decided to work his team harder than before. Not only did he forcibly bring Neji and Tenten into some of his work-out sessions, he also went about diversifying their skill set, again using the same surprising cold-stone logic that his students would only see a glimpse of on the occasion.
The Iwa teams that had come to Konoha had researched their likely opponents, and picked out teams to target based on their skill-sets and their potential. Based on information that spies in Konoha had picked up, they knew that Maito Gai was an Elite Jonin, and his students could end up being even stronger than him if they were allowed to progress. With copied profiles, they quickly came up with a strategy for attacking and killing Team Gai. However, Iwa's Team Six had not expected to run into such resistance with Team Gai.
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Kordula Gansho risked a temporary reprieve from his fight with the white-eyes, taking the split second to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Looking over at his opponent, he continued gaping. A Hyuga who could fight at long-range? This was insane!
And yet it was the case. Gansho had tried summoning several rocks into the air and throwing it at his long-haired foe, only to have it blasted away by a strange orb of rotating chakra. Additionally, he had to constantly dodge chakra strings of all things. The Hyuuga had apparently taken the common chakra string, and thickened them until they could be snapped back and forth like a whip, which both stung Gansho and burned his skin where it hit, causing that spot on his body to numb. Although he was unable to hit his target with long-range attacks, and was taking damage from the chakra whips, he still stayed away from his target; he did not wish to come in close contact with the infamous Hyuga Juken, which the whips paled in comparison to. He was not his teammate, he did not know the Iron Skin technique.
Instead, he used his insane control over the element of earth. Letting his chakra seep into the ground underneath his feet, he directed it through the groundwater straight to underneath where his opponent was. In a gruelling test of concentration, he continued attacking the Hyuga branch heir with long-range attacks, all the while using his underground chakra to harden the ground underneath his opponent's feet, before cutting out a sharp section. Sharpening the formed rock for a pointy end, he thrust his arms out and willed it to pop out of the ground, trying to skewer the Hyuga from his crotch up.
Unfortunately, Gansho did not take into account that Neji was a Hyuga, a clan who possessed the Byakugan eyes, which was able to see raw chakra, both internal and external. Chakra did not move instantly; Gansho had to allow his chakra to move underground to where Neji was. It was a legitimate strategy, and it could have worked if Neji kept his focus entirely on Gansho. After all, a 360 degree sight only allowed a Hyuga to see around his or herself, and not above or below. However, Neji was not a run-of-the-mill Hyuga, and he constantly made light scans of both the ground and the sky so he would not be thwarted from above or below.
Hence, Neji saw the rock spire that was being sharpened underneath his feet. When Gansho made to bring it skywards to skewer him, the Hyuga prodigy had been quick to leap out of the way, moving in for the kill. Gansho had put nearly all of his remaining chakra into the spire of rock, such that in his exhausted state he was unable to defend against a chakra whip that hit him in the eye. Screaming in pain, he instinctively brought both hands up to cover his eye, which left him undefended to several quick jabs to his chest. His organs exploded inside his ribcage, making the inside of his body almost mushy. All that was left of Gansho collapsed, hitting the dirt ground with a large smack sound.
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Retightening his white robes that had loosened up during the battle, Neji quickly jumped back and used his Byakugan at medium range to examine the Iwa nin's corpse. He would not put it past his opponent to have done something like wear a few explosive tags set to go off should he die. To his satisfaction, not only was there a lack of traps on the cooling body, but he also spotted a scroll in the back pockets of the dead genin's pants.
Taking out the scroll, he examined it, and let a small smirk cross his face. It was a Heaven Scroll, which would complete their set, having already gotten the Earth Scroll before entering the forest.
Getting up from his hunched position, he turned around to face his two approaching teammates, who he had already noticed via his Byakugan; he also knew them to be his teammates and not an enemy in disguise, as no genjutsu could fool him. As they got within hearing range, he quickly asked, "How did you kill your opponents?"
Tenten was the first to respond, before Lee could go into his hyperactive mode. "Poison. My opponent had some sort of tough skin, but he got too cocky with it as my kunai would bounce off. I used a couple of shuriken laced with venom and kept out of the way of his attacks until he succumbed."
Lee pumped his fist into the air, his eyebrows practically growing even more. "Yosh! My opponent was most youthful, and we traded hits blow-for-blow!" Seeing his teammates begin to glare at him, he quickly cut his diatribe, and ended his lines. "I lured him into a classic rope trap that he didn`t see, and snapped his neck while he was falling." Even now, Neji and Tenten were both surprised at just how brutally efficient Lee could be, and how brusque he was when Gai wasn`t there to stoke his 'Flames of Youth'. Under normal circumstances, Lee would have been too honourable to do such a thing as use a trap to kill his opponent, instead preferring to fight him head on. However, that Iwa would cowardly send in ninja who had gone through advanced training to sneak attack and kill Konoha genin was enough to get Lee to use alternate tactics.
"Well," Neji said, holding up the scroll that he had just acquired, along with the other scroll that he had held since the beginning of the exam, "The genin I fought fell prey to Juken, though I managed to wear him down with the chakra whips." Both Tenten and Lee winced, having been forced to be guinea pigs for Neji's experimentation with the extensions of chakra strings. "He also had the Heaven Scroll, which means we can head off to the tower now. I have no idea if only one of the Iwa teams were out to pursue us, but we should make it to safety quickly if another one tries to pursue us."
The decision was effectively sealed as Lee once more pumped his fist, and quietly shouted "Yosh! Let`s go to the tower!"
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Team Gai needn't have worried about fighting off another Iwa team, however. One of the other two teams had encountered another Konoha genin team, this one consisting of Akado Yoroi, Misumi Tsurugi, and Yakushi Kabuto. The fight didn't last very long, as Kabuto's skills, on the level of one of Konoha's Elite Jonins, more than dwarfed the capabilities of the three Iwa genin together. It was over in seconds.
Akado was the first to voice his concerns. "Shouldn't they have been warned not to attack us?"
Kabuto let out a light hum, as he tapped his lips with his fingers as a nervous habit. "Orochimaru-sama probably did not wish to expose us," He finally said. "If the Iwa genin were informed beforehand of our status as spies for our lord, it is quite possible that they could have somehow leaked that information unwittingly to an enemy, which would not do."
"Damnit!" Misumi said, punching his palm. "We've only just started the exam, so they likely didn't get to take anyone else out. Should we do their job for them now?"
Misumi never received an answer; it was difficult to, after all, when a kunai suddenly introduces itself in your throat, spinning around multiple times from the sheer force of the throw, the momentum causing his body to fall backwards as opposed to forward. Akado was also quickly slain by the same method, quickly dropping to the ground with a light thud.
Kabuto tsk'ed at the situation he had just wrought by his own hands. He had considered that this was a sort of test by Orochimaru at first, but had quickly discarded the idea. As paranoid as the snake was, he wouldn't do something like sending a trio of Iwa genin at Kabuto's group and seeing what he did. Secondly, the snake was on the other side of the forest; even on the off-chance he was testing Kabuto, unless he had somehow learned how to teleport, he would not be able to reach Kabuto in any short period of time. Kabuto could later claim that he had broken up from the main group, and went to the tower only to find his teammates missing.
Still, there was the issue of getting rid of the bodies; neither Konoha nor Orochimaru could be allowed to know that it was his team that had 'fought' against an Iwa team. It would cause suspicion from both sides, though for varying reasons. Biting down on his thumb until it drew blood, he quickly went through a short series of symbols, before slamming his fists into the ground, quietly murmuring "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
He made a mental note to thank Fū the Nanabi jinchuuriki, later on as his summons appeared. As aligned with nature as she was due to her bijuu, he truly was the one most suited for wielding the Kabutomushi contract. With his healing ability, he often likened himself to a cockroach, a close member of the beetles that was included as part of the contract; about the only thing that could kill him was decapitation or total destruction of most of his organs at once, and he could easily survive most illnesses and disease, as well as being able to adapt to harsh environments.
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"Kukukuku" The odd laugh was what alerted Team 7 to the presence of an intruder in their tight patrol. Immediately moving into a triangle formation with Sasuke at the front, the trio observed a tall kunoichi who was from Suna, as identified by the hitai-ite on her forehead. However, the genin's appearance was freaking them out; her black hair and white pale skin seemed out of place for somebody whom would have surely been browned all over with bleached hair from the sunny Sunagakure, and was contrasted to the large amount of dried blood that was all over her clothing and parts of her skin.
"I had to kill a lot of ANBU to finally meet you, Sasuke-kun," The genin continued on. "I don't have long before they come to visit us again, of course, so don't disappoint me, kukuku..."
"What in Kami's name are you talking about, you freak?!" Sasuke shouted out. Looking at his foe, he couldn't help but be disgusted by the filth that was all over her clothes. Not only was their blood, there also seemed to be something that looked like entrails, and possibly brain matter. If not for the fact that he had seen and smelled the body of his skewered father before, he would have quite possibly thrown up at the sight before him.
"Kukuku, wouldn't you like to know, Sasuke-kun?" By this point, the three Leaf genin were beginning to be severely freaked out by the odd genin's behaviour (though Naruto was freaking out because he knew who she was, and knew he was not at her skill level). The mysterious Suna genin rose her hand and quickly went through a series of hand-seals, mouthing some words but not actually saying anything. The wind picked up in the surrounding glade and began to snap, before Naruto was thrown back several meters.
The mysterious genin frowned in Naruto's direction. "Interesting, you should have been blown clear away by that. No matter, take care of him, my dear pet!"
The rookies saw exactly what the Suna female was talking about when a giant snake slithered from out of the trees, touching down on the ground, before making its way over to where Naruto had been pushed back to, intent on eating the blonde whole.
Sasuke moved to defend Naruto, only to be stopped cold in his tracks. The air began to cool down considerably, as he forced himself to repress a shiver against the never-ending fear that threatened to shut down his greater mental functions and turn him into an animal. The person who stood before him was a monster who could and would kill him at a pindrop. Already, he could fee his cognitive abilities begin to decline. It was as if a shadow had been cast over his entire life he didn't want to die didn't want to die didn'
Snapping open his eyes, Sasuke activated his two-tomoe Sharingan, sending a piercing glare at the kunoichi opposite him. His body still struggled to move, but while his finer motor skills were crippled, he was still able to open his mouth and push his tongue in between his teeth. Letting his jaw move back up, a sharp jolt of pain brought him back to reality as his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. "Who are you?!" He demanded as he turned to look at the kunoichi. Spotting several kunai coming for him, he jumped out of the way, then grabbed his pink-haired teammate, who was standing shock still from the killing intent that permeated the air, and started moving her out of the flight path of some more weapons.
"Kukukuku, so you managed to overcome my Kanashibari, did you now, Sasuke-kun?" Again with that weird laugh. "My name is Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin." Vaguely, Sasuke heard Sakura gasp in the background where he had put her off, only for a large smack sound to occur a second later. The cause was easy to see why; the self-proclaimed Orochimaru had just thrown what appeared to be a needle of sorts at Sakura, perhaps a dart. A tranquilizer? No matter, the Sannin was speaking again. "Tell me, Sasuke-kun, do you still desire to kill Itachi? I know him quite well."
The snake sannin's plan worked, as despite all the mental and emotional conditioning Sasuke had gone through, he still rose to the bait. "What do you know about Itachi?!"
Orochimaru merely chuckled again. "Kukukuku, I know Itachi is still far far stronger than you are." Narrowing her (his?) eyes, she (he?) went to work with his silver tongue. "Tell me, Sasuke-kun, how do you truly plan to kill your brother? Itachi was a genin at the age of six. By this time, he was already in ANBU, and in only a few months you will be at the age he was when he killed two thirds of your clan, including your father, and went nuke-nin." Seeing Sasuke freeze up at her (his?) words, the snake summoner pressed on. "Konoha wants you to be weak, and docile. They want you to advance slowly, so you will constantly have to get training from your 'betters' here in Konoha. If you die against your brother, Konoha can integrate the Uchiha clan further into the village, making it impossible for them to conduct their affairs independently."
Sasuke was, of course, conflicted. Why would Konoha do such a thing? The Uchiha had been the most powerful clan before Itachi had massacred most of it, and even now they were still the third most powerful clan, behind the Hyuuga and the Inuzuka. Within a couple of generations the Uchiha would be great again, even stronger than before. What Orochimaru had said made sense. He knew he was better than basically all of the genin, and even many chunin. Why had he not been allowed to graduate from the academy until eight months ago, when Itachi only needed to be six?
A voice of rational thought popped up in his head, telling him that Itachi had graduated shortly after the Kyuubi attack, and the village needed to replenish its numbers. But wasn't the loss of the Uchiha clan and border skirmishes with Iwa in the same year also just cause? Did Konoha's military leaders truly want to keep the Uchiha down? Slowly, Sasuke couldn't help but fall for the lure of what Orochimaru had so far implied he was offering. "So you will give me the power to kill Itachi? But how do you plan to do that? You're a traitor to Konoha!" There was that, too. Could he keep the Uchiha pride and honor while learning from a betrayer of the village the Uchiha had sworn loyalty to? But then there was Itachi. How could the Uchiha clan have any honor so long as one such as him still lived? "On the other hand...what can you offer me?"
"It's simple, Sasuke-kun, kukuku," Orochimaru responded, a leer present on her face. "But enough of that, I'm quite sure the ANBU must realize I'm here by now, I killed enough of both of those old fogeys' men personally to afford the time to speak with you. I'll give you a mere taste of the power I can offer. An agent of mine will contact you at a later time. Do survive please, Sasuke-kun." Before Sasuke had time to respond, Orochimaru's head, his neck extending like it was made out of rubber, and his teeth sunk into the Uchiha heir's neck.
The teen dropped to the ground as his left hand clenched over where he had just been bitten, with dark visible chakra suddenly oozing from the bite, pulsing in and out at a fixed interval. Orochimaru chuckled, turning his attention to the lone chakra presence that was coming from where he had sent his snake off. Neither of the two noticed during their conversation several flies that were nearby, each having dispersed itself at separate intervals, leaving behind only a minor fragrance of smoke.
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Naruto wasted no time in taking out the snake as it chased him away from where the snake Sannin appeared. A quick Futon: Kaze no Yaiba managed to make a considerable cut across the snake's head, forcing it to desummon itself back to the summons realm lest it be slain by continuing the battle.
Itachi may have given him permission to kill Sasuke if the latter ever looked like he might betray Konoha for reasons that lacked nobleness, but that didn't mean that Naruto could stand by and allow Sasuke to be pushed into a situation like that. As the memories of several Kage Bunshins that he had left behind came in, however, it seemed that Sasuke was quite willing to betray Konoha for the lust of power. Not that Naruto really minded that so much, but the Uchiha was willing to go to the snake for power. The Yondaime's legacy realised his own motives were slightly hypocritical in that regard, but at least his own leaders didn't experiment on several dozen young orphans, or desecrate the dead by creating a jutsu that could summon them for their own perverse pleasures.
Entering the clearing where Orochimaru and Sasuke had had their conversation, he came face-to-face with the snake Sannin. Taking a quick look at Sasuke, Naruto started to do his act. "You! What did you to do Sasuke?!"
"Kukukukuku," Naruto was getting quite sick of that chuckle, "I gave the Uchiha a 'gift' if you will. He'll want to use it if he wants to surpass his brother. Boy," the Sannin said, taking out a scroll from under his feminine clothing, "Take this scroll." Naruto cautiously jumped back, unsure of whether it was an official exam scroll or a trap of sorts. "Kukuku, I see you're intelligent enough not to catch it directly, many others have fallen for that sort of trap. I know you already have an Earth Scroll, you'll need this Heaven Scroll to make it to the tower." Looking over at Sasuke, he added "Of course, that's only if dead Sasuke-kun refuses to accept a 'hand-out' and wants to legitimately get a scroll from another team. That only makes it more interesting, kukukuku. Do make sure Sasuke-kun survives that mark though, boy. It would be such a shame if he were to die from it. Tell him that if he wants his power, Orochimaru of the Sannin will be waiting for him." With a snap of the wind, he was gone, off into the treetops.
Naruto let out a sigh of breath he didn't know he was holding, it seemed Orochimaru hadn't realised he was the (supposed) Kyuubi jinchuuriki (of course, Naruto assumed incorrectly about Orochimaru's information - the snake sannin knew, but he simply didn't care. He knew if he interfered too much with the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, Hakubo would come after him, something he didn't desire). However, Naruto was quickly on guard again, as only a few seconds after Orochimaru had left the clearing, five more entered; four ANBU clad in black clothing, headed up by the purple haired exam proctor from earlier. Taking notice of the blonde genin still standing up, Anko's eyes drifted over to the unconscious Uchiha. She froze once she saw the purple chakra that was pulsing in and out from where his neck was. Breaking rank, she jumped over to where Sasuke was while the four ANBU kept their sights trained on Naruto. After letting out a quiet curse at seeing what was on his neck, she quickly stood up and turned to face Naruto. "You! What just happened here?"
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"You! What just happened here?" Anko shouted out at the kid she had just identified as the Kyuubi container, Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto was quick to put his hands up in the universal gesture of surrender, and started babbling, "W-we were attacked by this S-suna kunoichi, who said that she was Orochimaru of the S-sannin."
Anko froze in her position as her blood chilled. She had only been debriefed shortly after the second exam had started on the possibility of Orochimaru trying to enter the Forest of Death, which had been the reason why there were so many ANBU patrols around. In fact, Ibiki had already identified one of the Sand genin during the first exam as being slightly 'off'. With Baki no Yaiba's permission, two squads of Konoha ANBU and several ROOT were sent into Training Ground 44 to apprehend the chunin potential. The hope was that if her former master had indeed stolen a kunoichi's face and was in the forest, that they could hopefully capture the depraved scientist. Getting focus again, she called out to the fox container, "What did she look like, what happened when you were attacked."
The lemon-haired genin seemed to shake off a bit of shock, slowly calming down his trembling body, before speaking again. "I wasn't around to fight her much," he admitted, "I was chased after by this giant snake which I think I killed by swarming it with Kage Bunshins." Motioning to Sakura and Sasuke, he continued, "After I got back, both of them were already knocked out. She had lots of blood and what seemed to be guts and brain over her clothes. She gave us a Heaven Scroll. She said something about a gift and Sasuke."
Disjointed as Naruto's descriptions were, Anko still was able to deduce some things from what he said. So it seemed like Orochimaru had killed the good men and women that had been sent after him. She frowned at the mention of a gift. Taking care not to startle Naruto, who had undoubtedly just come face to face with death, she shouted across the clearing to him, "You mentioned Sasuke and a gift, right?" After getting a nod, she slowly drawled out to him, "I'm going to check out the Uchiha now. If it's what I think it is," Of course she knew what it was, she was just trying to deny it to herself that her hated sensei had managed to possibly ruin yet another life, "I'm going to have to interfere in this exam – all entirely unofficial, of course, or else other villages participating would be accusing us of foul play – and do some things. What scroll did you start off with?" She finished, as she walked over to the unconscious Uchiha heir.
"An Earth Scroll, proctor-san," Naruto answered. His face scrunched up suddenly, and he queried Anko over what seemed to be a worry of his. "Will you be confiscating the Heaven Scroll, proctor-san?"
Anko looked over to one of her ANBU. "Kawauso!" She barked, as the respective masked shinobi stood to attention. "Examine that scroll on the ground, please!" Receiving a short salute in response to her orders, she looked over Sasuke, cursing as soon as she saw the mark on his neck. "Technically, Orochimaru is a part of the competition, even if he did enter via illicit means." Examining the mark on the Uchiha's neck, she saw that it had not totally solidified yet. "Ookami!" A split second later, she felt the presence of her lone kunoichi escort next to her, as well as the squad's medic. "Please focus on healing Uchiha and restoring his chakra and stamina, he will need it for what's next." Standing up from her hunched position over the unconscious Sasuke, she turned to look at Naruto again. "If Kawauso doesn't find any traps of the sort on the scroll, then you can keep that one, otherwise I'll give you another one."
At seeing Naruto complacently nod in response to her commands, Anko let out a relieved sigh at having been able to defuse the situation quickly. While her lust for revenge urged her to go after Orochimaru, she had her responsibility as a Konoha kunoichi here, minimizing the success of whatever nefarious scheme her former master had for the Uchiha. Let the snake get mad if she was able to prevent the Uchiha from using the Curse Seal.
It was ten minutes later, as Kawauso had finished examining the Scroll of Heaven that Orochimaru had handed over and giving it an all-clear, and Ookami had finished doing what little she could for Sasuke, that Anko handed the bodies of the Kyuubi vessel's teammates over to the remaining two ANBU. Turning to Naruto, she began to elaborate on what the plan was. "My patrol squad and I will escort you to a couple of kilometres away from the Tower. There, we will stay until the Uchiha regains consciousness. That 'gift' Orochimaru mentioned is a highly dangerous seal that corrupts the user if it is used too much, as well as destroying the body, and I would prefer to be there to detail Uchiha on the risks he runs if he dares use it when he wakes up."
Anko was surprised, as Naruto just nodded dumbly, with a slightly confused look on his face at her description of the Curse Seal. Then again, she thought to herself, anybody would be rendered mute after coming out of a virtual death-experience like that. After a suitable period of time had passed in which she judged Naruto to have been able to mostly absorb the information she had just finished debriefing him on, she continued, "Again, you must remember, that this is all on the down-low. Chunin Exam rules state that there can be no outside interference, so on the way to where we are heading, you and I will work out a cover story to evade suspicions about our intervention. Got that, gaki?"
Naruto just nodded again, uttering a quick, "Hai, proctor-san."
Anko called out. "Alright squad, move into Cross Formation!" Quickly, the four ANBU that had accompanied Anko melted into the shadows, their skills at such a level that Naruto was barely able to detect them. Grabbing Naruto by the arm, Anko pulled him up onto the branch of a nearby tree. Letting go of him, she gave a light punch. "By the way, please stop with the 'proctor-san'. I prefer Mitarashi-san."
For once, a small smile broke out onto Naruto's face, which Anko had to admit to her female instincts was utterly adorable with the fox whiskers that adorned his face. "Hai, Mitarashi-san."
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If there's one thing I genuinely enjoyed about this chapter, it's (as TVTropes would say it) making Team Gai take a level in badass. In the prelims in canon, Rock Lee came _that_ close to defeating regular Gaara, while Tenten would probably have defeated most people (but got matched up against the worst possible opponent), and nobody really pays much attention to Neji's actual skill in that match-up as they do to his actions during the match. But still, they could use an expansion on their skill set. So Neji can use chakra whips that can hit an opponent at long range, stinging and burning them and damaging their tenketsus with raw chakra, and ideally can latch onto a limb or the neck. Tenten uses poisons and paralyzing agents, as well as a few other things that I may or may not have her use in the future, while Lee actually uses traps (though Lee seems to 'honourable' in canon to do such a thing, I DID give a justification here for his doing so).
There's one thing that I really would like to point out with the fight between Gansho and Neji. At one point I talk about Neji being able to dodge the rock spires because he can see the chakra Gansho is using it to manipulate it. One thing I don't quite like about the manga is how it treats chakra at times; chakra is an energy, which means it cannot instantaneously move around. When Gansho tries to skewer Neji by hardening and then sharpening a part of the ground underneath Neji's feet and then bringing it up, he has to actively manipulate chakra to go over to where Neji is via the underground, then go through the whole process of using it to harden. His chakra does not instantly teleport to the ground underneath Neji. Neji can see through the ground with his chakra and hence can retreat from the ground where the chakra is seeping through and doing something. The Rasenshuriken is basically pure chakra, with some of it being futon elemental, but when it is thrown during the Pein fight, it doesn't exactly move at light-speed. Compare that with a lot of genjutsus, which are almost instantaneously, especially Tsukiyomi.
A few of you might see where I am going with this; since genjutsus, including Tsukiyomi, would require the user to channel and manipulate chakra in the air, then direct it towards the target's body, you could ideally block the genjutsu by preventing the chakra from being able to go through the air. Food for thought for a legitimate counter against Tsukiyomi other than a jinchuuriki using his demon's yokai; block the Sharingan user's chakra from being able to get to your body in the first place.
Also, Byakugan and 360 degree sight. The Byakugan does NOT see in a perfect sphere. 360 means being able to see in a perfect circle around the Hyuga's head, but not underneath it. So Neji has to look up and down because the ground and the sky are still blind spots.
Hopefully if anybody was wondering which side Kabuto was playing for, this chapter would clear it up; he is most definitely on Akatsuki's side. Two Iwa teams down, but that doesn't mean the third one will suffer the same fate. Some might complain about Anko being OOC, but please remember that the character interpretation you may be familiar with (bloodthirsty on the outside, hurting and lonely on the inside) is pretty much completely fanon. I'm going for a more serious Anko with a slight playful side.
For the reviewers this time: I would like a little bit of feedback on what you think of my fight scenes, if you would, please. The only other fight scene besides the ones in this chapter are Kakashi vs. Hakko and a short Aoi vs. Hakko in Chapters 6 and 7, and if you want to, you could consider the last scene of the previous chapter as a one-sided fight.