Authors Note: So here we are again everyone, hope you all have been good. This chapter, I hope, will get through to the end of the Chunin exams preliminary rounds, and have the invasion next chapter. Also since we are going to be having extra teams I decided to randomly make the matches, bar a few, each character was given a number then I randomized it and set up the matches… so there's that. Also sorry about the randomness of updates, I could blame life and all its intricacies, but sometimes I'm just lazy.
Review responses:
Kahtras: Thanks, here's the update.
StormSusanoo: Thank you, I hope you do.
Raizen: Thank you, although, personally, I don't see them as OC's rather if anything they would just be OOC, since it's still the character but with a different background and experiences. For the ages everyone is the normal set age, 12 yrs. for the rookie 9, 13 yrs. for team Gai, and 14 yrs. for Naruto and Menma. The reason why Naruto and Menma are the oldest is because it was said that Naruto had failed his graduation exam twice, yet somehow he is the same age as his classmates? Since it was implied that graduations are every year that makes Naruto and Menma two years older than the rookie 9. As for the appearances, they all have rudimentary disguises that will be put into view in this chapter, but the main reasons why Konoha hasn't noticed is one, their personalities are very different Ringo is serious while Sakura is more laid back, two, the only people who know there is another world is the ones who came over. I hope I answered your questions, and I hope you do read more.
Menma- Naruto
Senshi- Sasuke
Ringo-Sakura
Ukei-ya-Yamato
Kosshi-Kimimaro
Kumo-Kidomaru
Han-Sakon
Bun-Ukon
Ke-Jirobo
Key:
'Hmm': thinking
"Hmm": Speaking
"Hmm": Demon speaking
'Hmm': Demon thinking
"Hmm" Other
Taki 8 A.M.
Menma, his team, and team Gai were in the office of Shibuki, awaiting the arrival of their client to receive payment. Gai was having a very animated conversation with Shibuki, and both teams were making small talk, when a simple farmer walked in followed by two Taki shinobi and Fu. The farmer thanked them, talking with a slow drawl, and gave them their payment before walking out, yet the new occupants stayed. Shibuki then cleared his throat and said "As I'm sure you know, this year's Chunin exams are in Konoha, as such I would like to ask you, if it's not too much trouble, to take this team with you. They were put together at the last minute to attend" after hearing the affirmative from Gai he continued "Thank you very much I will let them introduce themselves, good bye." After walking outside the tower they all stood facing one another, Fu started to talk when the first boy cut her off saying, in aloud boisterous voice "My names Goman, you can count on me passing the exam with flying colors!" Menma gave him a once over, he was fairly average with brown hair, blue shorts and a white shirt, the only remarkable thing about him was a kusarigama on his belt. The next boy continued, once again cutting off Fu, speaking in a nasally voice "My name is Senbo, don't listen to the idiot over there, he just thinks he's great because he bought that kusarigama." This boy seemed to be a carbon copy of the other, with the color of his clothing swapped, and a scowl permanently on his face. Fu finally introduced herself, saying "My name is Fu, it will be a pleasure to be with you." As she said the last part her gaze drifted toward Menma, while her teammates turned from glaring at each other to glare at her instead.
Menma noticed the actions Fu and her teammates performed, internally smirking at the division that was showing and how he could play off of it. He turned to the group with a pleasant smile on his face and said "Very nice to meet you Goman-san, Senbo-san, I look forward to our travels. It is very nice to see you again Fu-chan." Then the other shinobi introduced themselves before it was decided to meet at the gate in a half hour, since the trip would take two days going at full speed.
Forest one day later
After traveling for the entirety of the day, and with twilight setting in, it was decided that the group would set up camp a bit away from a nearby lake. After clearing away rocks and other such debris from the clearing, Gai turned to his charges and cried out "Yosh! Now we must gather supplies, and set up the camp. We shall have teams of two for gathering firewood, food, water, and setting up the camp, meanwhile the last one will be given the honor of cooking the food. Now I will leave it up to you to choose who will do what." Immediately after Gai finished Menma brought his hand up and said "Fu-chan and I will go gather the water." He then proceeded to grab Fu's hand, causing the girl to blush, and ran off toward the lake before anyone could say anything. The first to recover was Senbo who turned his gaze to Goman, who nodded when he met Senbo's gaze, and said "Goman and I will collect firewood." before they too left, exiting only slightly off from the spot Menma and Fu. Lee then jumped up and yelled "Yosh! My companions have shown how high their flames of youth rise, I must not allow myself to fall behind!" he then grabbed Neji by the arm and ran off yelling "If we cannot collect fifteen pounds of food before the others come back, we shall do one hundred push-ups! If we cannot do that…" After his voice faded, along with Neji's cries of help, Tenten turned to Ringo and said "Well, guess us girls should stick together, eh?" Ringo replied by way of a grunt and the two of them started setting up tents. Senshi started to look around for a partner, before realizing he was the last one. His shoulders slumped in acceptance and muttered "Fine, I'll cook, just don't blame me when it tastes like dirt…"
In the woods
Goman and Senbo were walking slowly in the woods, coming up to the forest edge before the lake. They saw Menma and Fu standing near the edge of the lake talking, before Goman turned to Senbo and said "Explain why we have to watch the demon again? I could be using this time to show Ringo-chan how amazing I am, she is this close to going out with me." Senbo just scoffed and replied "First of all, whenever you talk to Ringo she looks like she is about to tear off your head. Second, why would she go out with you when I am still here? Third, because we can't let the demon get close to any one from outside the village, you were there when Suien-sama gave us the orders."
Goman just groaned in annoyance before turning to continue his watch, until Menma brought his hands up to cup Fu's face and Senbo growled. Goman turned to his partner and said "What, don't tell me you're jealous? You are! Ha, you like the demon!" Senbo just brought his fist down on Goman's head and replied "Of course I'm not jealous, she's just a demon. The reason I growled is because if anyone should breed with her, it should be me. With her demonic strength, there would be nothing stopping my kid's from leading Takigakure. Of course if she develops feeling for this Menma, it would be that much harder to break her away from him. So, any ideas to break them up?" At this he turned to Goman and raised his eyebrows. Goman looked down in thought for a moment before bringing his gaze up, with a mischievous glint in his eyes he said "Well, if she had an 'accident' during dinner that would get rid of any interest Menma has in her right? And then you can go and comfort her, making sure she stays with us." Senbo gazed incredulously at him for a moment before saying "Goman that might have been the smartest thing you have ever said." Goman smiled proudly, and stuck his chest out, before realizing the insult those words brought and dived at Senbo beginning a brawl.
Meanwhile
After Menma and Fu arrived at the lake he let go of her wrist and said "Sorry about that, I just had some things to tell you in private, so once I saw the opportunity I took it." He then bent down to fill his water skin, while Fu's cheeks became flush from her thoughts about the "private" matters Menma wished to discus. Menma then turned to her after finishing filling, and said "I have something very important to ask you Fu-chan. Will you…" her cheeks grew brighter as she anticipated what he would ask her, images of herself dressed all in white in front of a shrine danced through her head, her attention was brought back to the present as Menma drew in a breath and finished"…not use your bijuu's power during the exams?" Fu's dreams could be heard, cracking, then shattering behind her as she could only mutter "Wh-what?" Menma then reached forward and grabbed her hands in his "I know it is a lot to ask of you, but this is all necessary to ensure the fruition of our plans." He then threw his arms out in a wide sweeping motion and continued "First we shall fight as the humans do, thus proving to them we are just like them, then we use the power of our Bijuu to show we are far above them. Then they shall bow at our feet, we shall be Gods!" here he turned to Fu and brought his eyes to a half-lidded stare and finished "or a Goddess." Fu's blush came back in full force, and quickly stuttered out "We-Well, l let's get th-this water back to camp." Menma just chuckled internally as his plan coming together perfectly 'soon Fu will be reliant on only me, then she will do anything I tell her and thus my hold on potentially one of the most powerful people on this continent. Then the only thing left to do would be to train her, perhaps Kimimaro–sempai will help with that' coming out of his thought he made his way to catch up with Fu.
That night
Eight of the nine Genin were sitting by a bonfire waiting for the ninth to finish doing his 'punishment sit-ups' before grabbing the full bowls on a table not too far from them. When Lee finished his sit-ups one person was sent from each team, to prevent a mad dash, to get the bowls. Senbo was the first to arrive, and immediately poured some liquid laxatives into the bowl of his female teammate, smirking as he did so. Before Menma crashed into him from behind, "Sorry," he said as he stood back up "tripped over a rock." Senbo just scoffed and muttered "Well watch where you're going next time." Before walking back and delivering his teammates their food, smiling as he kept his eyes glued to Fu waiting for her 'accident'. As soon as everyone tasted their food, cries started over how delicious it was before everyone started digging in with gusto. Senbo was wondering why Fu did not seem to have any problems with her food, just as he was about to try to slip in another dose his stomach started to grumble loudly attracting everyone's attention. As he was about to comment on it he began to feel his bowel's loosen up, and quickly ran out of the camp, clutching his rear, and leaving a disgusting stench behind him. Menma quickly offered to follow to find out the reason behind his strange actions, before anyone caught the stench left behind.
As Menma came upon the form of Senbo pulling his pants up, he asked "What's the matter? Did your little plan backfire on you?" As he buckled his pants Senbo glared at the red haired Nin standing across from him, and said "So it was you, I should have known. But how did you know I was the one who did it?" Menma merely smirked and replied "How indeed. Aside from that, I won't pretend to know why you would do something like that to your teammate, but if you wish to still draw breath I suggest you cease these childish efforts." Senbo quickly dashed backwards before drawing a kunai and saying "You should stay out of my way, the demon belongs to Taki and she will not form other attachments." Menma merely sighed, closing his eyes, before replying "It seems you are set on this path, very well if you wish to try and kill me go right ahead. Although I can assure you, you will fail. Perhaps you should try and send Goman after me, after all he is the only one of you two who would be able to put up a fight." Senbo grit his teeth before dashing at Menma with his kunai trailing behind him, seeing Menma not reacting he grinned knowing his victory was assured now. As he was reaching Menma he raised his kunai high in the air, preparing to bring it down upon his victim, yelling out a battle cry as he began. This was all stopped when Menma snapped his eyes open, revealing spiteful red eyes with one tomoe in each, this was the last thing Senbo saw before he let out a bloodcurdling scream that was heard all the way back at the camp.
Back at the camp
The Genin and Gai all stood up when they heard the scream, they waited a few moments before hearing a rustling in the bushes, and Gai ordered them into a defensive position before ordering Neji to activate his Byakugan. Before Neji could act Menma walked into the camp with Senbo slung over his shoulder, after placing him down on a sleeping mat Menma explained "After he screamed I was able to find him, lucky too he was about to be eaten by a bear. He must have been so startled that he passed out, I checked him over and he has no injuries except to his pride." After Gai finished administering first-aid for things Menma might have missed, the group finished their meals and settled down in their mats for the night.
Late into the night Menma was awoken by a weight being pressed into his chest, right as he was about to jump up and attack whomever it was he saw a bob of lime green invade his eyesight. After realizing who was on his chest, and now pressed up against his side, he whispered "Fu-chan, what are you doing?" Fu merely responded, thankful that the darkness hid her blush, "I had a bad dream, and I didn't want to be alone." Menma merely gave a sigh and said "Alright you can stay, but make sure to leave before any one wakes up alright?" after she nodded in confirmation he smirked, glad his plans were coming together beautifully especially now that the obstacle known as Senbo was gone. After making sure there was no one else conscious in the vicinity, Menma allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Konoha a day later
Menma and the others were waiting in the reception hall until the Hokage called them in to give their oral reports, their written ones having been hawked ahead immediately after the mission was completed. After a moment Team seven and his fellow 'mercenaries' walked out, for the first time Menma took note of how his compatriots disguised themselves. Sakon and Ukon dyed their hair a mousey brown, they also each wore a half mask on opposing sides of their faces, Jirobo cut off his mohawk and had begun slimming down, Kidomaru had let his hair out of its ponytail, and instead combed it down. Kimimaro wore false skin patches over his two tattoos on his forehead and cut his hair to around his shoulders, Yamato dyed his hair black and had his skin become paler. For his own team, Sakura dyed her hair blonde after her mother, Sasuke meanwhile allowed his hair to grow to the mid of his back. His own appearance was hidden behind the many bandages to hide the whisker marks adorning his cheeks.
His attention was called back to reality, when the Hokage turned his attention to Menma and asked for the others to be escorted out. Menma stood at stiff attention as the aged Hokage filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it, after taking a few puffs he began to speak "So, why don't we start with the reason you did not inform us to your Jinchuriki status?" Menma bowed his head to his, now, superior and responded "It is as Gai-sempai said Hokage-sama, I was afraid of the opinion of the masses if they knew I held such a beast. I merely wished to live a normal life, I humbly offer my apologies for my actions." As he said the last sentence he knelt onto his knees and brought his head to the ground in subservience. Hiruzen looked at the young man in front of him before saying "Get up Menma-kun, your apology, while appreciated, is not necessary." as his thoughts turned to Naruto he said "I understand why you did what you did, and I cannot say your fears are completely unfounded. But if you truly wish to make it up to me, I have a favor to ask of you. I wish for you to watch over Naruto-kun during the Chunin exams. Nothing too serious just make sure he does not die." Menma just nodded his head and exited the room, after he had left an ANBU with a cat mask dropped down from their spot and asked "Hokage-sama, are you sure we should just let him go? He did purposefully lie to you." Hiruzen just took a puff from his pipe and said "Of course we shall keep an eye on him, but for now any threat he will pose is benign at best, that is why I placed the groups with two of our most powerful Jonin, if they even think of betraying us they will be beaten before they even knew what hit them." The ANBU simply nodded and returned to their original spot.
Meanwhile
Menma dashed across the roofs before arriving at the inn that was rented out for his group, it was fairly large with a bath house, dining room, and ten bedrooms. When he got in he walked into the dining room to see dinner already in progress, he nodded to his roommates and sat down to eat, while eating he began to use hand signals to communicate with the others. "What did Hiruzen have to say to you" signed Kimimaro as he ate rice, Menma replied "He asked me to watch over my other, when will the next report be sent back?" Yamato passed a bowl of fish and signed "Kimimaro sent one just last week, it will be a month before the next one is sent." Menma nodded and the dinner proceeded as normal.
The next day Menma had off to prepare for the exams, he was chosen to go and get supplies for dinner at around three. As he was walking along, he was almost tripped when a small body dashed around him, he turned around to see who it was when he was plowed to the ground as a taller blur followed. When he looked up he saw the second blur and a definite pink shade to it, deciding to investigate Menma followed at a much more sedate pace. When he had caught up he seemed to have come at the tail end of a confrontation the entirety of team seven, plus a group of youngsters, stood across from three opposing shinobi. As soon as he saw the symbol on the unknown shinobi's hitai-ate was from Suna Menma dropped into a defensive posture as he looked at each more carefully to determine their identities. The first was a boy around his age, and by far the oddest looking of the bunch, he wore an outfit that reminded Menma of the one's the puppeteer's would wear when his mother had taken him to see a puppet show, that along with the bundle with hair on his back showed that this young man was, more likely than not, a puppet user. Standing next to him was a woman who appeared to be one year Menma's senior, she had a purple one piece robe with a sash and liberal use of fishnet, over her shoulder she had a black metal bar. The final member, standing a bit behind the first two, made Menma drop his bag of groceries in shock, he had a black suit with long pant legs and short sleeves, over his shoulder he wore a gourd more likely filled with something. After overcoming his shock Menma's eyes took a furious look to them as he gazed upon this boy, after the trio walked away Menma approached team seven.
When Menma was close enough Menma said "If any of you have to fight the red head, don't." At this Sakura jumped in shock, and Naruto and Sasuke looked incredulous at this statement, and Naruto voiced his displeasure by saying "What!? What do you mean don't? That guy can't be that tough right?" Menma just cast his gaze over the group before stopping at Sasuke and said "Sasuke, you once said you have a certain someone you wish to take your revenge against correct? Well that is my person, only I will be allowed to kill him." Sasuke looked at Menma with a surprised look before turning with a huff and walked off. Sakura wondered after him and Naruto and the kids also walked after sometime after of sitting in silence. After standing for a time longer Menma walked over and picked up the groceries and walked back to the inn, after setting the bags in the kitchen he walked back out the door and wandered into the woods.
When Menma finally reached a clearing he sat down in the middle of it, and just looked into the twilight sky. When he finally spoke it was in a whisper "I… I don't know if you can hear me, where ever you are now. I just wanted to tell you that I will soon be able to avenge you, then…then I will start on our plan."
Academy building
Menma stood waiting for his team early in the morning, he had watched all the Chunin hopefuls walk in with high spirits and eager faces. When Ringo and Senshi walked over he nodded and led the way into the building, coming across a door with two shinobi in front of it and a group around it. Feeling a strange sensation wash over him, Menma formed a hand sign and released a burst of chakra and the sign above the door changed from three to two and Menma motioned with his head to continue onward. After entering the main room Menma and his squad stood over by the door to watch the newest entrants, Menma took the time to look over the current occupants. As his gaze went around his eyes found an orange pair looking back at him, after seeing Fu wave, and returning a small one of his own, his eyes continued their track. Before hearing a huge racket, all eyes went to the door as a few moments later in walked team seven. Walking over and meeting up with teams eight, ten, and team Kosshi, Menma stood quietly by before someone walked over asking if anyone wanted info. Sasuke was the first to speak up, asking for information on Gaara of the desert, Rock Lee, and surprisingly Menma himself.
Kabuto drew the three cards and laid them out for all to see, and said "Alright first up is Rock Lee, looks like he is about a year older than you guys. Mission experience thirteen C-ranks and twenty D-ranks, his squad leader is Gai and over the past twelve months his taijutsu has radically improved but his other skills are shaky at best. Last year he got a lot of attention as a Genin, but for some reason he chose not to participate in the Chunin exams. This will be his first time in the exams same as you guys, his teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuuga." Here Naruto interjected, with his infinite wisdom "Huh, Hyuuga?" Kabuto then activated the next card and said "Okay, now for Gaara of the Desert. Mission experience eight C-ranks, whoa get this one B-rank as a Genin. There's not a lot more information on him, he's a rookie from another land originally, but there is this he survived every mission without a scratch on him." At this even Menma was surprised, but was not one of the few to express his surprise. Kabuto took out the last card and said "Alright, last up is Menma of the Leaf. Not much on him other than he is one of a group of mercenary shinobi that Konoha recently hired. It says he has completed two C-ranks, his main skill lies in Genjutsu, while being adequate in Ninjutsu. That's all I have, hopefully I'll be able to gather more information in this exam." The last card Kabuto brought out was a map of the elemental nations, and said "Konoha, Suna, Ame, Kusa, Taki, Oto. From the looks of it, they have all sent exceptionally skilled candidates this time around. Of course Otogakure is small, it sprang up recently no one knows anything about them. Those guys are a mystery. Well you get the point the competition is going to be intense this year. In the four years I've been here I have never seen a crop of shinobi with more potential than this, we've got our work cut out for us.
Menma saw how the others were becoming disheartened, especially Naruto who was shaking, and decided to boost their confidence. Walking over he said "Don't worry you guys, if you get into trouble com and find either me, Senshi, or Ringo. We'll help you out, no matter what, after all what are friends fo-" Suddenly Naruto jumped up and yelled out "Ah! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat everyone of ya." Menma sighed after the boisterous declaration, 'Well at least the result is the same.' he thought as he saw all the rookies relax 'but, he's also drawn unneeded attention to us'. Menma's eyes were then drawn to three shinobi dashing forward, seeing their destination was his group he quickly moved to them. The first had already jumped over him, but the second was directly in front of him he placed his hand on the man's shoulder and said "Now now, we wouldn't want to cause a disruption now would we?" before the man could respond Menma lowered his head to speak into his ear and whispered "You also wouldn't want to give away your techniques this early would you?" The man just glared at Menma from the corner of his eye, before nodding and dashed back to his spot.
At that moment smoke bombs went off at the front and a voice sounded out "Alright you baby-faced degenerates pipe down and listen up!" The smoke cleared and there stood a group of grey dressed shinobi, in the front stood a tall scarred man with a black trench coat who said "My name is Ibiki Morino, your proctor, and from this moment on… your worst enemy." All eyes turned to this man as he continued "I'm only going to say this once, there will be no fighting, no attacking unless you are given the permission of your proctor. And even then, use of lethal force is strictly prohibited, anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately got it? Now, if we're ready we'll proceed with the first stage of the Chunin exams. Hand over your paperwork and in return you will receive a number, this number will determine where you will sit the written test will begin when everyone has a number." Menma and his group began to walk up and received their numbers, Menma was placed between an Ame shinobi and a Kusa kunoichi. Ibiki tapped the board and said "Listen up, I'm going to tell you the rules, and I'm not going to answer any questions so pay attention. Rule number one, the test is conducted on a point reduction basis, you all have ten points, you lose one for each wrong answer. Rule two, teams pass or fail together. Rule three, the sentinels stationed on the sides of the room are there to watch you for cheating. Anyone caught cheating will have two points reduced from their score. One more thing if anyone's score reaches zero, the entire team will fail. The final question will not be given until fifteen minutes before the end. You have one hour total, begin!"
Menma looked down at his questions and immediately grimaced, they were completely beyond him and most likely anyone here. Seeing a Konoha shinobi sitting diagonally in front of him answering with great speed, Menma had an idea 'Hmm, interesting it is almost as if they are asking to be cheated off of. Could that be the purpose? The real purpose is to see how well we could gather information? Simple enough, here we go." He then brought his head back and said "ah, Ah, AH, AHCHOO!" he sneezed and all heads turned to him, he rubbed his head sheepishly and apologized. After all heads had turned Menma quickly performed hand signs and cast a Genjutsu. To all outsiders it would appear as if Menma was siting writing, as long as he did not leave his seat there would be none the wiser. Menma then blatantly looked over his neighbors shoulder and noted his answers, he double checked it with others he could see cheating, putting down the answers that most common and seemed right. He then released the jutsu, and sat back waiting for the tenth question. His wait was not long, ten minutes later Ibiki spoke up and said "Alright, listen up here's the tenth and final question! But before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of. These rules are unique to question ten, listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you. Very well then rule number one, each of you are free to choose not to take the final question, it's your decision. But if you choose to not take the tenth question, then regardless of the rest of your answers you will fail." Menma raised his eyebrows at this 'Even for the head of ANBU torture and investigation this seems a little harsh, I might have to take extra measures to ensure the rookies stay.' Ibiki continued "If you do take the question, but answer incorrectly, you will not only fail but… You will be barred from ever taking the Chunin exams again! Now then, those who don't want to take the final question raise your hand now."
Menma watched many teams leave before he saw some of the rookies begin to waver, so he raised his hand. One of the sentinels began to call out his number before Menma cut him off "No, I'm not dropping out. I just have to say something to our esteemed proctor." Ibiki nodded for him to continue with a confused look on his face, which Menma did "I accept the final question, but… I reject your final rule!" Gasps rang around the room, while others just raised their eyebrows, such as Ibiki. Regardless Menma continued, "I reject your rule, because you have no authority to do this. Who are you to stop me, or anyone else, from taking the exam in another village? Besides that, all promotions, even the ones from this exam, must be approved by the shinobi's Kage, and that Kage can also promote shinobi without this exam, so you have no power to stop us from advancing to Chunin rank after this. That was the reason why I reject the rule, the reason I will take the question, is because I am a shinobi." At once all in the room donned a quizzical expression, Menma then said "As a shinobi, I have accepted that there are no constants in my life. I may not live long enough to retire at an old age, like many before me. I may not have any children of my own to carry on my name, like many before me. I may only know the comfort of a woman after a drunken tryst, like many before me. I may not live to see my twentieth birthday, like many before me. I may not become a Chunin, and stay a Genin all my life, like many before me. Just as those who are greater and wiser than I am now have done, I will risk my future so others don't have too. When I signed up, when I accepted my hitai-ate, I accepted that the only constant my life held, was now death. Therefore, since there are no other assurances, every day I wake up is a gift to me, and I must take every opportunity given to me and live with no regrets." At this Menma stood up and spread his arms wide, all eyes were on him, but his own were on Ibiki. "I am a Shinobi, I will live as a Shinobi, and, wither or not I have retired, I will die a Shinobi. My life is wrought with uncertainty, but I will move forward, I will never stop." Menma then sat down and closed his eyes letting his words wash over them.
After that no other teams dropped out, leaving eighty seven Chunin hopefuls left, Ibiki then said "Well, since it doesn't seem like anyone else is going to be leaving. I only have one thing to tell you all… that you have all passed the first stage of the Chunin exams." Ibiki then proceeded to explain the true purpose of the stage, and also the story behind his injuries beneath his bandanna. Just then, a huge blob crashed through the window, throwing two kunai into the ceiling causing a banner to unfurl. At the front of the room stood a young woman in front of the banner, which read "Here comes the second test's proctor: Anko Mitarashi." the woman herself wore a pair of shin guards, an orange skirt, fishnet shirt, and a tan overcoat. She then said "Alright boys and girls, I'll be your next proctor Anko Mitarashi. Ready for the second test? Good! Then let's go, follow me!" The room sat in shock, including Menma who had fallen off his char, before Ibiki stepped around the banner and said "You're early. Again." Menma meanwhile was still on the floor while Ibiki and Anko bickered, he was sitting in shock not over how the next proctor entered, or even her claim that at the most only half would advance, no Menma was in shock over who the next proctor was. 'A-Anko-sensei is the proctor?! If this version is anything like the one I know, we are dead ten times over!' Menma was drawn out of his thoughts by Tenten shaking his shoulder and saying "Come on Menma-kun, sure it was surprising but that lady was more weird than scary. Get up." Menma took her hand and was pulled to his feet, thanking her he went over to his teammates and left for their inn.
The next day
Menma and his team stood in front of training ground or more commonly called the forest of death, they were waiting around for Konohamaru and his friends to finish an interview. His group stood around the edge of the congregation, Menma then spoke up "This stage will be very difficult, the forest of death wasn't named for its gentleness. Also, because of the Hokage, I am unable from accessing my Bijuu cloak, so that backup plan is gone." His gaze turned to his teammates and asked "So, do you two have any abilities you have not shared, because if not then if we run into another Jinchuriki we might not make it out." Seeing them shake their heads, Menma sighed and let his head fall and said "Well then we just have to not run into them, luckily Gaara seems to be the only one who has control over his." Senshi then asked "Hm? How do you know that?" Menma looked at him and said "Gaara is the holder of the Ichibi-no-Shukkaku controller of sand. You see that gourd Gaara has on him, when he moves there is a slithering sound from it. So either he has control over his Bijuu powers, or he really like snakes." Senshi just nervously rubbed his neck at this.
At that moment their attention were drawn to Naruto as he began to taunt the proctor, only to be scared senseless when Anko cut his cheek and appeared behind him. Menma just sighed and looked away from his other in embarrassment, being brought back when Anko said "Alright, before we begin I have something to give you all. It's just a standard consent form, before the test all of you are going to read over, and sign this form. Some of you might not come back from this test, and I have to get your consent to that risk otherwise it would be my responsibility. Now I will be explaining what you will be doing in this test, the first thing you need to know is that this test will tax every one of your survival skills." Anko then went on to explain the objective for the test, take other teams scrolls until you find either a heaven or earth scroll, depending on which one you don't have. Then make your way to the tower in the center in five days or less, without losing a team member or opening the scrolls. Menma looked at the scroll in his hand, an earth scroll, before tossing it to Ringo who looked at him with a puzzled look so he said "You are our team's Ninjutsu expert, since I'm Genjutsu they will think I will have it. This way they will go after the obvious targets, me and Senshi while the scroll is safe with you." Ringo nodded and put the scroll in a pocket. Menma looked up at the number above their gate, number twenty three, and prepared for the gate to open. At precisely two-thirty the gates opened and the second test had begun.
Menma and his group quickly dashed in, Menma then turned his head and said "Alright, the plan is to go straight to the tower, defeating any teams we meet along the way. If we don't have a heaven scroll by the time we get there, we will ambush the teams coming to complete the test and take theirs. Agreed?" seeing their nods Menma continued forward. Suddenly to their left a huge column of dirt rose into the air, Menma nodded toward it and said "Let's go check it out, if someone had to pull out a huge jutsu like whatever made that they winner will probably be exhausted." Seeing their confirmatory nods, the group began the trip over the new battle zone. When they arrived all that remained was a gulch in the middle of the clearing and two kunai in a tree branch, hearing sounds of a fight the group went that way. What waited for them was itself a surprise, team seven all on separate branches with Sasuke preparing to give the remaining person their scroll, the last person was a Kusa-nin literally wrapped around the branch with Sasuke. Menma then appeared behind Sasuke and said "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, you should know better than to give into demands of people like this. Isn't that right, Kusa-chan?" the mysterious Nin just chuckled and said "Sad, but true. If I really want the scroll, I can just take it from your dead body!" Menma then called out "Senshi, take these guys out of here, I have a feeling this will be a long range fight." Naruto then protested "Don't even think about it, I'll take this guy on myself." He then dashed toward the Kusa-nin who just smirked, drew up her sleeve, bit her thumb and wiped it across her tattoo and said "Summoning Jutsu!" then a wind blew everyone back and a giant snake appeared. Ringo and Senshi grabbed their counterparts and ran off, leaving only Menma and Naruto to face off. The snake then brought its tail up, breaking the branch Naruto was on and sending him tumbling toward the snake's mouth.
Suddenly Naruto's eyes snapped open, only with a change, they were crimson instead of his normal azure and the pupil was silted instead of rounded. He corrected his body in midair and started an unrelenting attack on the snake, his attacks physically shook the snake and its master. Suddenly the Kusa-nin held out her hand and blew releasing a burst of flame that sent Naruto falling many feet below. The Kusa-nin then turned to the retreating form of Sasuke and the snake moved to attack him, Menma then called out "Not so fast! Water release: Teppōdama!" He then sent a bullet of water in between Sasuke and his attacker, keeping them separate. Naruto then dashed up and stood in front of Sasuke and said "Hey kid, you're not hurt are you? Scardy cat." and looked behind him, making eye contact with his friend. Before anything else could occur, the Kusa-nin's tongue stretched out and bound Naruto before grabbing his hand and thrusting it into Naruto's stomach calling out "Five pronged seal!" Naruto's eyes began to slowly change back to their state, before drooping as Naruto himself passed out and summarily tossed aside into a tree. Sakura then dashed catching him in her arms, with Ringo chasing her, and called out to Sasuke asking what he was doing. Menma, meanwhile was still trying to get over to the giant snake, since it moved fairly far, when suddenly the snake was dispelled blowing him and the others back, leaving Sasuke alone with the enemy.
Sasuke then jumped toward the foreign nin and sent a hail of kunai toward her, which she nimbly dodged, and moved in to begin a fist fight which ended with the Kusa-nin retreating. She was moving so fast that the naked eye could not even begin to keep track of her movement, luckily Sasuke was using the Sharingan which allowed him to keep up perfectly, and when the enemy moved in to fight he dashed backwards and sent a hail of flames toward her. Menma then lost sight of them as they dashed off, and all he heard was an explosion, then a blood curdling scream before he caught up. What he saw surprised him, the enemy tied to a burnt tree opposite her was Sasuke looking immensely pleased with himself. Sakura then came over with Naruto, congratulations spouting out of her mouth, before the enemy walked forward breaking her bonds. She then complimented Sasuke as her voice switched with a more masculine one, Menma was paralyzed when he/she performed a hand seal and sent a burst of chakra, and even further when he revealed he was Orochimaru the only thought that crossed his mind as Orochimaru monologued and bit Sasuke in the neck was 'Orochimaru-sama?'
Sasuke began screaming bloody murder, Sakura tried to comfort him to no avail, Menma went over and grabbed Sasuke onto his back and said "Come on, we'll find a safe place to let these two recover. My team and I will help guard you." He then took off with his team and Sakura trailing behind. After making camp inside of a hollow tree, Menma spoke up, "Alright, Senshi will take first watch, Ringo set up some traps before turning in, and Sakura," here she looked up at him with tired eyes causing him to give a gentle smile and continue "Get some rest, you've had a harrowing day, the next one will probably be the same. I'll go patrol for a bit, so don't go burning the forest down okay?" with that he dashed off. The first thing he came across was a woman surrounded by three giant tigers, deciding that someone in his debt couldn't hurt, and cast a Genjutsu on the tigers causing them to chase an imaginary deer. Jumping down to the woman as she bent over in pain he asked "Are you okay? Is it a physical wound or something else?" not getting a response he looked at where she was clutching and not seeing blood, decided it was a neurological affliction. Pulling out a vial from his hip pouch he said "Come here, this is a numbing agent, it should stop the pain." Seeing her glare at him he sighed and placed some on his hand and held it out to her and said "Here bite me, if I don't feel it I'm telling the truth right? Besides if I was trying to poison you why would I place it on myself?" she looked at him for a moment before doing something that surprised him. She pulled a kunai out and stabbed him in the hand, at his lack of screaming she said "Alright, guess you're telling the truth. Give me the vial." Still in shock he numbly handed the vial to her, she then proceeded to put it on and started to leave as two ANBU dropped down. Menma quickly held his hand up and called out "I didn't do it!" before all three looked at him before leaving.
Menma continued on his patrol, grumbling about inconsiderate people, before coming across a team form Konoha. Deciding to have some fun, placing a small compulsion on one member to leave, he then placed another on the remaining two causing them to leave the scroll on the ground and go to ambush their friend. Picking up the scroll, luckily it was a heaven scroll, he made his way back to the camp, but what he saw confused him greatly. He saw Sasuke standing with his foot placed on a Oto-nin's back holding his arms in a clearly uncomfortable position behind the Oto-nin. Dashing over he kicked Sasuke off and called out to the Oto team "Get out of here now! I won't be able to stop him for long, so go! You can thank me later." He saw them run away, with the hunched over one nodding toward him, before his eyes turned back to Sasuke just in time to see himself get spin-kicked aside. Just as Sasuke stood over him, smiling gleefully, about to bring his foot down, Sakura ran over and held Sasuke talking him back down to normal.
After talking with everyone for a bit, Menma and his group left toward the tower hoping to be one of the first there to rest the longest. When they got there the room they entered had a riddle that went "If qualities of heaven are what you desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthen qualities are what you lack, train your body to and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This_ is the secret way that guides us from this place today." Menma turned to his teammates and asked "So, any ideas?" Ringo nodded and said "It seems like we have to open the scrolls, Senshi catch." She then tossed him the heaven scroll and they opened them together, throwing them when they started to smoke. Out of the smoke stood a Chunin who congratulated them, and explained both the riddle and the test's meaning before ushering them to a room to recover in.
Menma decided to wander around the tower, and he was surprised to see the kunoichi he had saved in the forest walking the opposite way. As he caught up to her, he was surprised to discover it was the proctor Anko, when he had caught up he asked her "So, did that numbing agent help?" she turned startled before saying "Yes it did, thank you by the way. So what can I do to make it up to you?" Menma plastered a surprised look on his face before asking "Why would you think I want something?" Anko just stared at him before responding "Everyone wants something, besides I don't like to feel indebted to anyone. So out with it." Menma had a thoughtful expression before a smile spread across his face and said "Well there is one thing you can do…"
Authors Note: Well, this is going to come out later than I wanted. I originally wanted this to come out around Christmas, but this took much longer than originally intended. Also we will defiantly see the prelims, and even some of the Finals, also if anyone can guess the favor Menma asked Anko, they will get a reward. So please review if you found this enjoyable or have something to say or ask.
So, as always, stay classy Internet.