A/N: Once more I want to thank everyone who has commented on the story so far. I love reading what you have to say and what you think about everything. It makes writing this that much more fun. Each addition to the story brings new readers and I welcome you all. Each chapter for me is a new adventure. I start with an idea of what I want to happen but let things play out on its own. Sometimes ending completely differently. The ending of this tale is not as clear as it was when I started. So sit back and enjoy the ride, but hang on because things are going to start getting tense from here on out.

Chapter 7: A Walk in the Forest

The gates to the Forest of Death loomed high. The second phase of the Chunin Exam was set to begin shortly. The rules for the test were quite simple. Every team was given one scroll, either heaven or earth, and they needed to retrieve the scroll they did not have from another team. Once a team had both scrolls they needed to make it to a tower in the center of the forest. The real trick was simply surviving the exam. Once inside the more aggressive teams had nothing to hold them back from killing the competition.

Each team would enter from a different point. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood outside the gate they were to enter. Once the test was to begin they had to move fast. The three of them knew that they were high priority targets. All of the nine rookies were. The other teams saw them as easy marks so they had to be ready at all time for attacks.

"Are you ready for this Naruto?" the Fox asked.

"Yeah," he said to her. "This should be fun."

Suddenly it was time. The gates flung open and all the teams were off. Naruto's smile grew wide. He didn't even try to hide his excitement. Even Sasuke had a smirk on his face and Sakura was eager to get going.

"All right guys," Sasuke started to say. "Let's do this."

"Hell yeah," Naruto shouted. "Let's not waste a second."

The three of them took off into the forest. They made their way up into the trees so not be easy targets. They moved quickly from the entrance. To be slow now could be deadly. Not long after the start they could hear screams coming from other parts of the forest. Teams were already falling victim to something. Be it other shinobi or the deadly creatures that live in the forest.

After an hour of traveling the three of them came to stop to rest. They had covered a lot of ground but now needed to work out a plan of attack. It was time that they started to hunt down the other teams and find what they needed. The key was that they needed to be the hunters. Actively seeking the other teams to take what they needed. Unfortunately they had already been found by another hunter.

"Hey guys," Naruto started to say as he walked away from Sasuke and Sakura. "I'll be right back. Need to water the plants so to speak."

Naruto walked a ways off from the group. He felt at peace in the forest. Being among the trees and grass just felt right to him. He was well aware that there was danger all around him. The animals and insects that live here are incredibly dangerous. Dangerous to other people that is. Animals are smart. They can sense danger and not even the most vicious of predators would come near him. They could feel the power of the Nine-Tails within him. They knew the Fox was the ultimate predator here. If only humans were as smart.

"There is someone new out there," he thought to himself. "Odd that only one would come after us. Must be a fool."

Naruto did not have to wait long for the attack to come. Quite suddenly a Rain ninja moved up behind him. Just as fast as he appeared he struck Naruto in the back of the neck knocking him out. His body fell to the ground with a thud.

"This is going to be easy," the Rain ninja said.

"Oh really?" Naruto said from a tree branch behind him.

"What the hell?" The Rain ninja then turned back to what he thought was the unconscious body of Naruto. It was then the body disappeared in a puff of smoke. "A clone."

Naruto took his momentary distraction to make his move. In one quick motion he jumped down from the tree and closed in on the ninja. As the Rain ninja turned back around Naruto shoved a fist right into his gut knocking the air from his lungs. As he doubled over Naruto then followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. It sent him flying through the air and he hit a tree with a sickening thud.

"Damn it," Naruto said as he finished looking through the unconscious ninjas clothes. "He doesn't have his teams scroll with him. I guess he's not as dumb as I thought. Oh well. I didn't want the fun to end so soon any how."

Naruto walked back to the group.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"Just taking in the sights and getting to know the local wildlife."

"Whatever. Listen up guys; if we are going to get separated again I think that we need to have a password that will identify us to each other. Our enemies could look like any one of us so we need to be prepared."

"That's a good idea Sasuke," Sakura said.

"Makes sense I suppose," Naruto said. Might be a fine idea for them but it didn't matter to Naruto. He couldn't be fooled by a simple transformation jutsu. He could tell people apart for the smell of their chakra and he knew what his teammates smelled like. But this was his secret still to keep.

"Ok then, if we get separated this is the password to identify us to each other." Sasuke started to recite what sounded like a long poem. Naruto had stopped listening because he could sense a new presence. It was odd but he knew that there was someone close by. What was odd was he could not tell where they were. Then suddenly it was gone. "Ok guys do you got it?"

"Roger," Sakura answered.

"Naruto?"

"Um, yeah, I got it." He lied.

Without warning a powerful wind began to pick up. It started to blow stronger and stronger. With it was carried a foul smelling chakra. A small pebble propelled by the foul wind whizzed past Naruto's face cutting his cheek. He whipped the blood from his face. Suddenly the wind began to blow with the force of a hurricane and it lifted Naruto off his feet. He was sent sailing through the air helpless and only able to watch as Sasuke and Sakura took cover before they too were carried away.

Naruto had been blown a great distance and came to a violent stop against a tree. The blow had dazed him and he lay on the ground for a short time. For the next ten minutes Naruto was unwilling to move. Not until his vision cleared and his breathing became regular.

"Well that was fun," Naruto said out loud as he started to stand up.

"Are you ok?" the Fox asked

"Probably. Man what a ride. I'd do it again if not for the sudden stop. Now, where the hell have I been blown?"

"More importantly we have to get back to the others. This is obviously an attack of some sort. You could smell the chakra that came with it."

"Yeah, what the hell was with that? It smelt almost like death."

A rustling in the bushes near by alerted Naruto. Before him a snake rose up. A snake larger then a house. Its cold black eyes staring right at him. It had no fear of the boy or the demon within him. The snake had the same smell of death chakra that Naruto has sensed earlier.

"Shit," was all Naruto had time to say.

In a flash the snake's tail came up behind him. It wrapped around his body quickly constricting him. Naruto was unable to move as the head of the snake drew closer. Opening its enormous mouth it engulfed Naruto in one bite swallowing him whole. Naruto was forced down the body of the giant snake by powerful mussels. Inside the body he was barely able to move. It was dark, hot, wet, and it stank.

"Oh god," Naruto thought afraid to open his mouth. "It stinks worse in here then anything I have ever smelled."

"We have bigger problems then the smell Naruto," the Fox said franticly thinking of way to save them. "Some of this slime you're covered in is part digestive acid. We stay here much longer and you're lunch."

"Like hell I am. Becoming snake crap is not how I plan to go out. But we need to think of something fast. I can feel my shoes melting."

"Can you get a grip and climb back towards the mouth?"

"No, it's too slick in here and the stomach mussels are too strong."

"If you could make the snake sick somehow then it would puke you up."

"That's a lovely image, but I have a better idea. Instead of sick let's just give him a bigger lunch then he bargained for." Naruto was able to bring his hands together. "Mass Shadow Replication!"

From the outside the snake seemed unaffected by what was happening inside of him. Then his midsection began to distend. It grew larger and larger. The length of the snake's body became grossly bloated. The snake body exploded sending over a hundred Naruto clones in all directions. The real Naruto stood up covered head to toe in blood, bile, and other assorted snake parts.

"Well," Naruto started to say as he surveyed the carnage. "This is the most disgusting thing I have ever done."

"Naruto," the Fox cut in. "I think you should wash up. That stuff on you is still digesting your clothes. I don't think running around the forest naked is a good idea."

There was a river near by. Naruto jumped in fully dressed. After a few minutes of swimming around he climbed out satisfied he got most of the snake chunks off him. He was grateful for the low humidity so his clothes would dry faster. He would have liked to take them off and lay them in the sun for a bit but could not waste the time. While he was dealing with the snake his teammates were undoubtedly dealing with who ever attacked him.

Naruto leaped into the trees and headed back in the direction the attack had come from. He stopped from time to time to get his bearing. The forest was quiet. He could not hear any signs of battle. Sampling the air all he could smell was the death chakra. It was overpowering the chakra of his teammates. But that also made it easy to follow.

Naruto was moving fast now. He was pissed. Someone tried to have him eaten and play his team for chumps. He was eager to jump into the fight and kick some ass. Before long he found where the fight had moved to. He was silent in his approach. He didn't want to alert the enemy to his presence. Right now they thought he was dead so he had the advantage.

Sasuke was pinned against a tree. He looked roughed up and was breathing hard. A fresh wound could be seen in his leg. Sakura looked ok and seemed to be out of the fighting at the moment. There attacker was a Grass ninja. The same one Naruto had seen before the second exam began. He was now slithering along a tree branch, much like a snake would, towards Sasuke.

Naruto let fly a barrage of kunai and shrunken and they impacted into the tree branch in front of the Grass ninja. He missed, but only just barely. It was then that everyone turned to look up at him. Time to save the day, again.

"Sorry Sasuke," Naruto started to boast. "I forgot that stupid password. But, I'm here now so lets party."

"He, he, he," the Grass ninja laughed as his legs snaked around the tree branch to catch up with the rest of his body. "My compliments on your stunning defeat of the giant snake . . . Naruto."

"So it was his snake," Naruto thought. "This guy is a freak for sure."

"That may be, but he is the source of the death chakra," the Fox said warning Naruto. "You must be extremely careful. I feel he is nothing like anything you have faced in the past."

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. "Take Sakura and get out of here. Run for it. He is too much for us to handle."

"Speak for yourself Sasuke," Naruto fired back. He was ready for a fight. He was in the mood for blood.

Sasuke didn't like this response. His face grew dark and he seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. Then his sharingan eyes disappeared to be replaced by his normal ones. He stood up and took their scroll from his pouch. "If it's our scroll you want come and get it. Just take it and go."

Naruto was not pleased at all to hear this. "WHAT?! Sasuke, what the hell do you think you're doing? Is this some clever way of beating the enemy? You give them everything we have."

"Well done," the Grass ninja was now standing up. His body seemed to be its normal shape again. "You're obviously natural born prey. Instinctively knowing that your only hope lies in the chance of the predator being distracted by some tastier bait."

"Come and get it." Sasuke then tossed the scroll over to their enemy.

Naruto could not understand what was going on. Was this the same Sasuke who never gave up when things got hard? Who had to the best at everything he did. Now here he was throwing their chance of passing this exam away. As the scroll turned end over end in the air Naruto made his move. In a flash he flew through the air and grabbed the scroll landing next to Sasuke.

"Stay out of this!" Sasuke hissed. "You'll ruin everything!"

In one quick motion Naruto spun around. He brought his fist up and clocked Sasuke hard in the face. The force of the impact sent him flying through the air. He barely managed to land on a near by branch.

"What do you think you're doing you idiot?!" Sasuke stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"You're the idiot, idiot!" Naruto fired back. Normally he would have enjoyed hitting him but right now he needed to knock some sense into him. "I'm not so sure that we need to run. I think we can take him. Besides, even if we did hand over the scroll there's no guarantee he'd let us live. So stop being a chicken shit."

"Oh Naruto, this is rich," the Grass ninja cut in. "And you're right. Why should I bargain when I can simply kill you and then take the scroll?"

"Shut up you snake freak." Naruto then charged the ninja. But he was not fast enough. The grass ninja had already performed some jutsu. Just before Naruto could land a punch he got body slammed by another giant snake that suddenly appeared beneath the feet of the Grass ninja.

Naruto was sent flying. He broke through several tree branches before coming to a hard stop against the underside of one. Blood spewed from his mouth from the force of the impact. His whole body was in pain. His head was swirling and his vision full of stars.

"Naruto!" the fox shouted. "Take my power. Take as much as you can handle. I'm going to flood your body with it. Kill this son of a bitch."

"Right! Let's go wild!"

Naruto began to fall back towards the ground. The giant snake moved under him and opened its mouth. It was going to eat him. At least that's what it wanted to do. Naruto had different plans.

"I'll kill you like I killed your brother." Naruto punch landed hard on the snakes face. It visibly shook the snakes whole body and the snake retreated a bit. Still falling through the air Naruto watched as a wall of fire came flying at him. He could not dodge so covered his face and used the Foxes chakra as a sort of shield.

"Ho, ho," the Grass ninja now turned back to Sasuke thinking Naruto take care of. "The fun has just begun. It's Sasuke's turn next."

The giant snake turned and moved in on Sasuke. It was too fast and Sasuke was too stunned to move out of the way. The instant before it connected it was stopped. Before him stood Naruto holding back the snake with his body. He had kunai in each hand and dug them into the snake and he looked to be holding back its attack with ease.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naruto said. He slowly raised his head to look Sasuke in the eye. "You big chicken!"

Sasuke was in shock. He could not believe that this was Naruto. His eyes were now red and wild like and animals. The marks on his face seemed to have gotten bigger. He even had fangs now and claws on his hands. It was Naruto but at the same time it wasn't.

"I'm getting tired of saving your life all the time." Naruto smiled his evil smile. But it would not last long. Just then something grabbed both of his arms and lifted him off the ground. The grass ninja was holding Naruto in front of him by only using his tongue. "Hey, let me go you freak. This is totally gross."

"He, he, he," the grass ninja held Naruto close to his face. Amazingly he could speak quite well for having his tongue wrapped around another person. "The brat of the Nine-Tails is still alive and kicking."

"He knows about you," the Fox said. She was scared. Naruto was pinned and unable to move. She wanted to give Naruto more power so he could free himself and kill this man but was afraid to. Naruto was weak form the pervious battles and his body was badly damaged internally. A majority of her power was being used to heal him but if she gave him any more it might destroy him instead.

"There's the proof." Naruto shirt had been lifted up and the seal that held the Fox was clearly visible on his stomach. "The seal shows on your skin like a tattoo."

"Hey, let me go," Naruto yelled. He thrashed about furiously. He could not believe the strength of the man holding him. It was far greater then his own. Naruto then felt the ninja's death chakra stating to gather in his hand. "What the hell are you doing? Come on and stop playing kissy face and fight me like a man!"

"Five Pronged Seal!"

Just then he thrust five fingers into Naruto's stomach. They felt like fiery daggers. Just as suddenly the power of the Fox was gone. It just disappeared like it had never been there at all. Naruto changed back into his normal form and his eyes grew heavy. He had never felt so exhausted in his life. All his energy, stamina, and chakra were gone. He had nothing left and he felt hollow inside. The last thing he felt before succumbing to the darkness was a sensation of flying through the air and the sound of Sakura's voice. He couldn't hear what she had said.

"Mom, I'm scared," he thought. There was no response.