Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but the plot and Caitlin belong to me.
Chapter 21: Death
"A genius that had everything will never understand... I just want to become myself."
~Yakushi Kabuto~
Sighing, Caitlin followed their new proctor. She appeared to be… slightly insane. Just slightly. They seemed to be heading towards the training grounds, though Caitlin could be mistaken.
They were all going fast, Caitlin only barely keeping up because of her training with Gai. Many of the others were falling behind, though Naruto and Sasuke were not among them. They had also trained with Gai, so they were used to speeds like this.
Finally, they arrived at a gated forest, the strange trees towering over the children that stood below them, resembling a giant standing over mice. The gate was locked with a ridiculous number of padlocks, and even a seal. Caitlin assumed that this was some sort of scare tactic, especially when she noticed the sign that read, 'Danger! Stay out!' Though the trick wasn't working on her, or her teammates, it was working on several others, most of them not from Konoha.
A stand was also beside the gate, where Caitlin knew that they would have to sign forms that wouldn't allow Konoha to be persecuted should someone be killed or injured. It was more for ninjas' from a civilian background, since all ninjas understood that in this line of work, death was inevitable.
The proctor, Anko, stood in front of the gates and announced, "Welcome to the Forest of Death, the second stage of the Chunin Exams!"
"She's messing with our head," Caitlin murmured, frowning at their purple haired proctor.
"We noticed," Sasuke replied, hands stuck in his pockets as he gave Anko his best glare.
"Soon, you're gonna find out why the Forest of Death got its name," the proctor hissed, smirking in pleasure at the mostly terrified children surrounding her.
When Naruto opened his mouth with a strange look on his face, both of his teammates slammed their hands over his mouth, earning strange looks. The proctor didn't notice, and continued with her speech.
"Oh, more than one of you will die in here… Maybe you!" she snarled as she threw a kunai at Naruto, blood bursting from his cheek as it passed him and cut the hair of a woman behind them.
I don't think that's a woman…
Caitlin watched, almost fascinated, as he took the kunai out of the tree with his tongue, just as she noticed Anko beside them, licking the blood off of Naruto's face.
"Kids like you are killed quickly in here…spraying that sweet blood that I love!" Anko chirped, finally moving away as the serpentine man/woman handed her the kunai.
"Here's your kunai," the feminine hissing voice said as he/she handed the proctor the kunai with his/her tongue.
Gross… Caitlin took a tiny step back, slightly grossed out. Other than Sasuke, everyone else crept away, though the other Rookie Nine Teams and Gai's team stayed on the outskirts to help should they truly need it.
"Why thank you!" Anko said happily as she took the kunai without hesitation. "But you know, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that unless you want to die."
"No, I just get excited seeing red blood. Plus you cut my precious hair, so I couldn't help it," he/she replied, her/his tongue finally retracting into his/her mouth.
"Sorry about that," Anko stated as he/she walked away. Anko snickered. "Looks like we have some bloodthirsty ones in this test. Now, before we start the next exam, there's something I have to pass out."
She held up many forms so that everyone could see them. Most everyone looked at them with surprise, not having realized that there was a reason they hadn't went in the forest yet.
"You must sign these agreement forms," Anko said, just as Caitlin put her hand over Naruto's mouth again.
"Why?" asked the ever inquisitive blonde girl from Suna.
The proctor smiled almost cheerfully, and said, "There will be deaths in this one and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility, hehe!" The smile fell from her face, and she became serious. "I'm gonna explain the second test, and then you can sign these afterwards. After that, each team will check into that booth behind me."
Caitlin nodded, and took the papers from her, taking one and then passing the forms to Naruto, who did the same. The others, sensing that most of the drama was hopefully gone, had slowly crept closer, and were now accepting the forms.
"I will now explain the second exam! Simply put, you will attempt the ultimate survival!" Anko continued to explain the rules after that, Caitlin listening attentively until the proctor finished.
So, all my team need to do is get a different scroll from the one we are given, and hope we make it to the tower in five days. Great. We probably need to get a scroll fast, and then immediately get to the tower. That's our best chance at surviving this and passing.
Caitlin and her team silently walked to the booth after filling out their forms, all of them planning and plotting. Caitlin just hoped that they were good friends, and that Naruto didn't attempt to run head first into things.
After receiving their scroll, they waited at Gate 12, quietly stating what they had thought of.
"We need to get a scroll as quickly as we can and get to the tower. It's our best chance at survival," Caitlin murmured.
"I think we should lay low, and then strike," Sasuke murmured. "We should get our scroll around the fourth day."
"I think we should stay until the fifth day and take out as many enemies as we can! Setting up traps near the tower, too!" Naruto whisper-shouted.
"We shouldn't reveal anything about ourselves to the opponents until the third exam. That way, they won't have time to dissect any of our strengths or weaknesses," Caitlin explained.
"Huh, that's a really good strategy, Caitlin-chan. I think I like it even better than mine and teme's plans," Naruto exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hn," Sasuke muttered, but he was slightly smirking, agreeing with Naruto in his own way.
"The idea to set up traps is a good one, actually. It'll take out more teams that way, so we'll have less competitors," Caitlin murmured.
Minutes later, a ninja came and unlocked the gates.
"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, grinning.
x~x~x
Caitlin paused as she heard the shriek. "It seems that's it already began," she murmured, quickly unsealing her scythe. "Let's hope we can come across a team fast and get their scroll."
Naruto nodded, strangely silent and serious. Sasuke grunted and continued walking.
"I need to piss," Naruto muttered, looking slightly embarrassed, since it was times like these that he remembered that Caitlin was a girl.
"Be quick, Naruto. We need to get out of here fast. I can turn around and Sasuke will watch," Caitlin said as she turned around. "We don't need to be separated in here."
"Alright," Naruto said, as he turned away to do his business.
As soon as he started, a strange ninja wearing a Rain headband kicked Naruto straight into the air.
"Which one of you has the scroll?" the almost wheezing voice asked.
Caitlin and Sasuke looked at each other, and then nodded. They ran at the ninja from two different angles. The ninja laughed, and easily avoided their attacks, and fell right into their trap.
Naruto grabbed his legs, immobilizing the surprised ninja.
"Where are your teammates?" Caitlin demanded.
"I came without them," he snapped. He appeared to be telling the truth.
Caitlin hesitated. What do I do? I can let him go, but he'd probably just attack us as soon as we do so. Or…I could kill him.
Caitlin's scythe suddenly whipped out, and efficiently beheaded the ninja. Naruto jumped back, shocked, and Sasuke stood still, watching Caitlin's reaction. He had already realized what her decision would be.
Caitlin shook her arms, trying to get the sticky substance off of them. Her face was much paler than it usually was, and her green eyes were huge and looked to be one of the few colors on her, except for the red blood on her and her blonde hair.
"Caitlin?" Naruto slowly asked.
"I'm fine," she whispered. "Can-Can we find a river, for me to wash of the-"
"Yes," Sasuke quickly answered.
Silently, they searched for the large river that ran through the forest, and came across it, along with Team Kurenai.
"C-Caitlin-chan?" Hinata asked with shock.
Caitlin swallow, and then simply stated, "I killed a ninja."
Kiba looked at her with total surprise. "You killed a ninja? That's some kind of joke, isn't it?" Kiba laughed. When Akumaru whimpered and no one laughed, he asked, "You really killed a ninja?"
Caitlin just nodded and walked right into the river, seeming not to care that the water was cold and going fast, since she was unconsciously using chakra to keep her body warm and stick her feet to the riverbed.
"Will she be alright?" Shino quietly asked, his usually monotone voice concerned.
Sasuke sighed, while Naruto answered, "I hope so."
"That-t's all w-we can d-do," Hinata whispered, her stutter becoming slightly worse with concern for her friend.
They were silent, even the brash Kiba, until Caitlin came out of the river, soaking wet and shivering. The two teams exchanged glances, and then nodded at each other, walking in opposite directions.
Naruto soundlessly handed Caitlin his orange jacket. She accepted without comment, and just kept it over her shoulders, her arms dangling out of the sleeves. She suddenly straightened up, seeming to have pushed the funk behind her.
"We need to come up with a plan just in case we're separated, either during a fight or by accident," she announced.
Sasuke nodded. "I had been thinking about that. If we get separated, even if it looks like us, we can't trust them."
Caitlin agreed immediately. "It could be some sort of genjutsu, like a henge."
"Yes, which is why we need this plan," Sasuke explained. "We need a code word, just in case. If someone gets the code word wrong, assume they are the enemy no matter what they look like."
Caitlin suddenly understood what he was doing. He knows that Naruto won't be able to remember it, and that I will probably tell him that I love books instead of any sort of stupid password. He would be the only one able to remember it, and even then he'll probably say that stupid Uchiha 'Hn' at the end.
"Listen close, I'll only say it once. 'The ninja song, 'Nin Machine', and to answer this you say, 'A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi that hides and remains silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time when the enemy is ill prepared'," Sasuke stated.
I think Naruto realized what this was all about. Or at least, I hope he did. He looked like he did, but I could be wrong.
"But that's impossible to remember," Naruto complained.
"It is a little much," Caitlin agreed, even though she already had it memorized.
"Hey, is this code word really-" Naruto began.
"I'll take the scroll," Sasuke said as he stood up.
Caitlin tossed him a fake scroll, one that she had made while she was pretending to dig in her bag. She understood that she was the lesser target, so it was safer for her to have the scroll. No one would suspect that she would disobey Sasuke like that.
"Ouch!" Naruto suddenly yelped as blood suddenly appeared in his cheek, his hand automatically reaching towards it. "What the heck?!"
"More enemies," Sasuke shouted as the wind suddenly and unnaturally picked up, almost throwing the short girl backwards.
Then, a puff of smoke appeared with a loud popping noise in the now abnormally quiet forest, and three figures emerged from the darkness of the billowing smoke.
One of the figure- It's snake man/woman!- said, "You guys just play around over there. I'll take care of them myself."
The genin had hidden, and Caitlin quickly came out of her hiding spot when she saw Sasuke through the dust. "Where's Naruto?!" she blurted out in alarm.
Sasuke immediately let the kunai fall from his hand, realizing that her concern wasn't faked. "I don't know. We'll have to find him."
Naruto suddenly came out from behind a tree, and said, "I'm right here, you guys."
"What's the password?" Sasuke demanded, his kunai back again.
"Why didn't you ask Caitlin that?" Naruto demanded, frowning.
"Because I doubt someone can fake concern like that," Sasuke snapped back, starting to become annoyed.
This isn't Naruto!
"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi that hides and remains silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time when the enemy is ill prepared," Naruto replied, only to have a kunai and a poisoned senbon throw at his face, which he smoothly dodged.
Nope, definitely not Naruto!
"So this time it's someone good enough to dodge our attacks," Sasuke muttered, now focused where before he had been annoyed.
The Naruto imposter smirked, and then hissed, "Impressive that you both knew." Then, in a puff of smoke, the snake person appeared again. "How did you know that I was a fake?"
"I knew that you were listening to our conversation underground," Sasuke stated. "That's why I made a code word like that."
"Naruto wouldn't be able to remember a code so lengthy," Caitlin explained, shrugging. "We only remember because we're hailed as geniuses. Though Naruto is a genius in his own way, memorization isn't something he'd be able to do easily."
"I see," he/she hissed. "Neither tired nor ill prepared, are we? This shall be more fun than I thought."
Damn it, where the hell is Naruto?! We'll probably need all the help we can get with this guy…
"You want my Earth Scroll, right, since you have the Heaven Scroll?" the snake person asked, her/his scroll in hand, and tongue slowly peeking out of his/her mouth.
Then, he/she stuck the scroll in his/her mouth, tongue wrapping around it, and then swallowing the scroll whole. Like a real snake. I think it's a guy, so I guess I'll stop calling it he/she. Even though he looks like a girl, my gut says he's a guy. Oh well, not like it matters…
"With our lives on the line…" he said, fingers clawing at the skin beneath his eye sockets.
Caitlin's knees suddenly began to tremble, and she felt the strongest killing intent that she had ever felt before. Zabuza's a child having a tantrum compared to this…
Then, she say images of blood and death, her death- Oh God, stop it now, please make it go away!
Caitlin screamed until she felt her throat go raw, and bleed, until she could scream no more. Finally it ended with a kunai to her head. It wasn't even a genjutsu, just that crazy level of killing intent.
Caitlin clutched her stomach as she saw Sasuke puke as he woke up. Her stomach was already more than a little queasy, so the sight caused her to gag and finally throw up. It stunk, and was in her braided hair now and on Naruto's jacket, which was now falling off her shoulders.
Damn it, now we need to go back to the river yet again. That is, if we get out of this mess. Shit, now I hope Naruto doesn't show up. This is too much. I'd rather I die than either of the boys…
Caitlin could barely move. She understood that it was all in her head, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. I just thought about it, but this could be a combination of both killing intent and genjustu…
The snake man laughed. "Now you can't even move!" He then took advantage of their immobile state and threw several kunais at them. Shit! I can't move!
Then, suddenly Sasuke was in front of her, and they both had a kunai stuck in their legs, Sasuke's hands holding each of them by the handle. Caitlin suddenly understood what had happened. We were still stuck in that fear state. We never broke out of it, we just ran right into a new nightmare that Sasuke got both of us out of by stabbing us both with a kunai. We can't trust our senses now.
Sasuke took the kunai out of his own leg with a grunt, and Caitlin did the same, snarling in silent pain. The blood poured from their legs, but Caitlin attempted to stanch the flow of blood by using chakra to speed up the blood clots, and lightly touched Sasuke's leg and did the same to him. Strange the things you can do with chakra if you have the imagination to do it. And the chakra control, too…
We need to get out of here… Sasuke was glancing around the tree that the two had hidden behind. Caitlin was quickly trying to come up with a plan just as a snake slunk down in front of her and behind Sasuke.
The creature was swiftly beheaded by the blonde wielding her scythe. It twitched as it fell to the ground below them, hitting with a small thump, which of course would have alerted the snake man of their presence. Slowly, the snake man's body appeared out of the snake, twisting sickeningly.
"You guys shouldn't relax for a moment. Prey should always be trying their best to run. In the presence of a predator, that is," the Grass nin stated, his strange tongue hanging out of his mouth.
The ninja suddenly wrapped himself around the tree, reminiscent of a snake, and slithered towards the two genin.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," said someone from above them. "I forgot the code." Naruto stood on a branch above them, grinning and victorious.
Caitlin felt her cheeks start to grin more until she remembered the snake man. "Naruto, you need to get out of here!" she shouted, alarmed.
"This one's on a whole different level!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes also widening in alarm at the sight of Naruto.
The snake man giggled. "Looks like you successfully defeated that giant snake, Naruto-kun."
"Hey! Hey! It look like you were picking on the weak!" Naruto shouted.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!
Sasuke turned on his Sharigan, his eyes turning bright red with two tomos. It's not going to be enough… If he's so snakelike, I doubt my poisons will work, so there's no use in that. I doubt I'll be able to get close enough to use my scythe… He left Naruto alone, and I'm just an orphan with no name, so he's going after Sasuke, which means that if he charges in, I'm following.
"I will give you the scroll," Sasuke stated. "Just take it and leave, please." That's not what he's after…
"Sasuke, what the hell are you talking about? Why would you give the scroll to an enemy?!" Naruto shouted, shocked and angry.
"I see," hissed the man. "Very smart. The only way to escape a predator is to give it a different meal…"
"Take it!" Sasuke snapped as he threw the item at the snake man, but it was intercepted by Naruto.
"You bastard! What are you doing? Do you not understand the situation?" Sasuke demanded, now more than slightly panicked.
Naruto suddenly punched Sasuke, throwing the Uchiha back.
What the hell is he doing?!
"What the hell, Naruto?!" Caitlin shouted. We already have too much drama going on, you two!
"I forgot the password," Naruto snarled, "so I can't test it, but you're not the real Sasuke, are you?"
Caitlin face-palmed, annoyed. Really, Naruto?
Sasuke was also aggravated. "You dobe! I am the real Sasuke!"
"Liar!" Naruto snapped.
Caitlin sighed. "We were never separated, Naruto. Trust me, he's the real Sasuke."
"Then you must be a fake, too!" Naruto roared. "There's no way that cowards like you two are my teammates! I don't know how strong this guy is, but there's no guarantee he'll let us go even if we give him the scroll!"
"At this point, it's just about our only chance, Naruto!" Caitlin yelled back at the blonde boy.
"You're the one too freaked out to understand the situation!" Naruto snapped at both of them.
The Grass nin giggled. "Naruto-kun… You are correct. Since I can just kill you and take the scroll…" He pulled up his sleeve, revealing some kind of seal- I don't recognize it – and bit his thumb, smearing blood onto his wrist where the seal was located.
"Shut up!" Naruto shouted as he ran at the ninja.
"Don't!" Caitlin shrieked, fearing her teammate's safety.
"Run away, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes widening.
"Summoning no Jutsu," the snake stated, and Caitlin suddenly realized what the seals were for. He's summoning a snake…
The snake that appeared was so massive that Caitlin couldn't help but assume that it was the Summoning Boss. It tore the trees apart, and Naruto was coming right at it, now slightly terrified and understanding their own fear now.
Then, the terrible head struck out towards Naruto, but the blonde fox boy dodged as best as he could, and started to fall, hitting part of the smashed tree as he fell towards the ever looming closer ground.
"Naruto!" Caitlin and Sasuke scream simultaneously.
"Go ahead and eat him," the man giggled, still comfortable standing on the snake as it opened its jaws as Naruto fell towards the opened mouth.
"Eat shit!" Naruto snarled as he kicked the snake's nose. His cheek markings were more prominent, and his eyes had turned red and slitted, much like the demon in his stomach eyes' must be. Is he… Is he using the Kyuubi's chakra?
The Grass ninja blew a gust wind at Naruto, throwing the child backwards and into a tree trunk. Then, the snake came at Sasuke, the man riding the snake like it was a surfboard. "Sasuke-kun, now it's your turn! What will you do?" he snarled.
Sasuke, terrified, had frozen. He couldn't move, though he did tremble. Caitlin grabbed him and dragged him out of the way, just as Naruto held the snake back.
"Hey… You alright… dumbass?" Naruto panted, glancing up with blood red eyes, not noticing the extended tongue coming straight towards him. "Wah!" Naruto shouted as the snake man's tongue lifted him into the air. "Damn it, let me go!"
The man made several strange seals as the snake man said, "So the nine tailed brat is still alive." A strange purple glow began at his fingertips. "When your emotions are heightened, the power of the nine tails flows… interesting." He lifted Naruto's mesh shirt, since his orange jacket had been given to Caitlin and lost in the fight. The seal was visible, which Orochimaru remarked on just as Caitlin thought that. "Oh my, the seal is visible." Then, he touched the glowing tips of his fingers to Naruto's tummy and said, "Five Chrome Seal!"
Naruto screamed in pain, and then was thrown by the ninja's tongue. Caitlin threw a senbon, catching him on a tree, and prayed the slender almost needle-like blade held her friend's weight.
The Grass ninja now had the fake Heaven Scroll, but appeared to be too focused on the genins' pain to realize that it was a fake.
"Sasuke, Naruto is right. We are acting like cowards. If we're not gonna get out of this either way, we might as well go with a bang, right?" Caitlin asked, smiling at her friend and teammate.
"Right," Sasuke murmured, suddenly smirking confidently, his Sharigan spinning even faster in his eyes in preparation for battle.
The reptilian man made a hand sign, causing the snake to disappear in a giant puff of smoke. Sasuke prepared for the oncoming battle by grabbing so many kunais that he had one in his mouth and a demon shuriken was in one of his hands. Caitlin tightened her grip on her scythe, ready to follow her teammate into the battle.
Sasuke jumped off the tree branch, Caitlin following behind him, throwing several senbon as she went. Sasuke threw all of his kunais, his shuriken still in hand. The snake man dodged fluidly. Sasuke caught a tree with one hand and one of Caitlin's hands with the other.
Caitlin released his hand after attaching her hand to the tree. The ninja was coming towards them, and Caitlin stepped down on the branch, ready, as Sasuke threw the shuriken at the man, who easily leapt over the projectile.
Sasuke grabbed yet another kunai, this one reinforced with chakra, with ninja wire attached to it. The man dodged it, but both of the thrown objects were attached to ninja wire. They came back, the shuriken hitting the snake man in the face, but Caitlin suspected that he caught it with his crazy tongue.
The ninja wire was now in Sasuke's mouth, and the ninja turned around and stated, "Not too bad." Her fears of the blade being held in his mouth were confirmed as she saw the shuriken.
"Dragon Fire no Jutsu!" Sasuke snarled, his fingers in a seal around the string as it caught on fire, dancing towards the ninja, and catching his head on fire.
"To be able to use the Sharigan so well at this age… You truly are the man that carries the Uchiha blood. Just as I thought… I want you," the man hissed, as his face literally dripped off.
"I had fun testing out your abilities," the man hissed as he put his hand to his head band, the Sound symbol revealed when he took it away.
Caitlin felt her body become frozen again. Shit, this dude is like a fucking pedophile!
"Really, you are brothers," the man hissed. "But I sense powers in your eyes that surpass Itachi's."
"Who the hell are you?!" Sasuke yelled, the mention of his brother startling him.
"My name is Orochimaru," he replied as the bogus Heaven Scroll in his hand burned. "If you want to see me again, survive and pass this exam. Of course, you need to defeat my men, the Sound nin Trio, who are on the way."
"What are you talking about?" Caitlin asked, worried.
"Don't worry about it little girl!" he snarled as his neck elongated and came towards Sasuke. Caitlin didn't think, she just moved.
"Caitlin!"
The blonde girl fell to the ground, shocked. Did he just go all vampire on me?
"How annoying," he muttered as he withdrew, staring into the trees. "I shall see you later, Sasuke-kun, especially if you want your little teammate to live!"
"What the hell did you do to her?!" Sasuke shouted.
"It was supposed to be a present for you, but she had to get away, and I do not have the amount of chakra left to give one to you also, and besides, with her presence here, it ruins everything!" the serpentine man complained, just as the blonde girl that had turned his hair pink jumped down from the tree.
"Leave you motherfucking asshole!" the cloaked girl snarled, kneeling protectively in front of the blonde genin that had finally passed out from pain.
The snake man hissed aggressively at her, but did as she said and jumped away.
The blonde woman turned towards them, and then muttered, "The name's Megan. I can't fucking believe he gave her a damned curse mark, of all things! Especially the fucking Heaven Seal!"
Sasuke stared at her. "Why are you here?"
Megan sighed. "Don't worry kiddo. All you need to know is that I'm on your side."
Sasuke tensely nodded, still staring at his teammate. Megan silently took Naruto down, and put him over her shoulder.
"Come on, I'll get you to a safe place near the tower where you can stay until your teammates wake up. I'm afraid my… associate will have to come out and help, since I can't carry three kids at the same time. I'm also afraid that you and my associate won't like each other, since you sort of have a history…" Megan trailed off.
A man jumped out from the tree, and straightened so that he could see his face.
"Itachi…"
Question: What's your favorite chapter?
My answer: Probably the Prank War chapter, but I like all of them. :)
