Of Trees and Frost

By

Ragnorokrising

--

Chapter Eight: Dog's Bite, First Kiss, and the Pein of Paper Snakes

"The Forest of Death!" they said in unison. Half of the people in the room gulped. "Sixty-six people? You've lost your touch Ibiki."

"Or maybe this group is just very talented."

"Well, Naruto is in this one." they chuckled at the joke. They grew serious in an instant and returned attention to the Genin. "Naruto, lead the group to training ground forty-four. I'll be there waiting." Anko disappeared in a puff of smoke, followed by Ibiki and the chuunin proctors. Naruto faced the other people in the classroom and cleared his throat.

"Alright, follow me and we should be there soon."

"Screw you ass wipe!" yelled a Rain ninja. Aio, Haku, Deidara, Sasuke and Sai all held their weapons at a vital a second later. Except it wasn't the Rain-nin's vitals, but Naruto's. He had his sanjiegun out, the Raijin blazing on one end and his own sword on the other. A tri-pronged kunai was jammed in the desk in front of the kid as Naruto tried to push away. A Rasengan swirled in his hand, a mix of Wood and Ice elements itching to be rammed through the kid's head.

"Naruto, if you kill him, we get in trouble. Just do it in the forest. You know Anko's gonna allow killing." said Haku, a senbon held at his jugular vein. He grunted and the Rasengan disappeared. He shrank the sanjiegun and pulled the kunai back with a chakra string.

"Watch your step Rain ninja, or I'll use your blood to water the forest trees and feed your flesh to my snake." as a threatening gesture, Rochi fell onto the floor and launched at the kid, but Sasuke grabbed his tail and hung him upside down. Rochi looked him in the eyes for a moment, then he spoke.

"I wasn't gonna use poison."

BONK!

After using some healing chakra to make the bump on Rochi's head disappear, Naruto jumped out the window. The rest of the group followed him after the Mountain, Sand and Grass team left. They jumped over roof tops and through trees until they arrived at a large fenced in forest. "Alright little kiddies, sign these wavers so that when you die," said Anko, casting a look at the Rain ninja from the test room, while giving people wavers. "I mean if you die, Konoha isn't responsible."

"She's a crowd pleaser isn't she?" said a smiling Naruto. He moved his hand to the nick on his cheek from where a kunai had cut him as Anko appeared behind him.

"It looked like I pleased you with the picture I gave you Naruto. If you want, I could give you a sample." she licked the blood from his cheek and started to move down his neck but a kunai suddenly hung in front of her face by a pink tongue. She stiffened, then took it from the female 'Grass-nin', some what unsure of herself.

"I believe this is yours." 'she' said.

"Yes, thank you." Anko placed the kunai in her pouch then whispered something in the ninja's ear. She smiled and nodded. "Okay, here's the deal." she yelled. "By the fence is a tent where you will turn in your wavers for either a Heaven scroll," she held up a white scroll with the kanji for Heaven on it "Or an Earth scroll." then she held up a brown scroll with the kanji for Earth on it. "If you open the scroll in the middle of the test though, you will be eliminated and ascertained. Your objective is to arrive at the tower in the center of the forest with both these scrolls." the group signed the wavers and lined up. Naruto got a Heaven scroll from the prompter and went back over to his team.

"I got an idea for this guys." he told his teammates. He made twenty clones and had them do the transformation jutsu. One clone just stayed looking like Naruto while two of them turned into Haku and Deidara and the other seventeen became mock scrolls. Each person took six scrolls but it was Naruto who got the real one. He put a Genjutsu on the scroll that even the Sharingan couldn't see through with the fundamental level and hid them on his person. They walked to the gate where they were assigned and waited.

"Chuunin attendants, open the gates. Oh and one more thing," Anko's voice blared from the speakers by the gate. "Just don't die!" the gates swung open and the group dashed in. They ran for about ten minutes then Naruto stopped them. He went through some complex hand signs and ended on snake. He blind folded himself as two eyes made of ice formed from the air, followed by ninety eight more. They flew through the forest, searching for something. Naruto took his blind fold off five minutes later and pointed north-east. They dashed off in that direction and after one-and-a-half-hour of running, they met up with Sasuke and his team.

"Naruto, thank god you're here, we're being attacked by the Mountain Genin." a huge spike of stone shot up and nearly impaled Sasuke. Naruto pulled him back just in time as the three mountain Genin came out. The obvious leader of the group was about Kakashi's height, had long black hair and wore a mask that made an orange swirl. Only one onyx eye was shown through. The other member was the same height and had spiky orange hair with a red tint, wore a red shirt and black cargo pants. The female member was smaller then the other two, had short blue hair with a white rose in it and wore a battle kimono.

"YOU!" Naruto grabbed his mouth. It had yelled out the word but not in his voice. He felt his Hanyou form suddenly activate and was pushed into his mind. The Shodaime took control as Naruto tried to gain control again.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"That man in the mask, is our objective Naruto." answered the Nidaime. "My brother has a very large amount of pent up anger he needs to get rid of and Madara is the perfect way to do this." Naruto watched as his body shifted. Rochi dashed away through the forest as fast as he could, off towards the only person who could help if this went bad.

"Madara, prepare to die!" yelled the Shodai. The one with the orange hair looked at the one in the mask.

"Master, is that the spirit of the Shodai?"

"It is his voice Pein, so I presume so." he said. The three people snapped in unison and their clothes warped and became black cloaks with red clouds. The female did a few hand signs and lines began to run up her face. Wings of what seemed to be paper attached to her back as well as claws on her hands. A large ax was attached to her left arm. Pein fazed slightly as five bodies formed around him, all with piercings around their noses, eyes, ears and under the mouth and all with Pein's Dojutsu. They prepared to strike but Madara held his hand up. "Wait one moment. I want to test him."

"I'm going to finish what I started all those years ago!" yelled the Shodaime as the transformation ended. His skin was hardened wood with vines running the length of his arms to his waist and wrapping around him. More vines fell from his back and a Venus fly-trap encased his head. The vines on his back launched into the ground as he roared in anger. "Hanyou Mode: Earth Style: Level Two!" The branches around them began to shift as the trunks vibrated and the color brown ran up the vines on his back.

"Pein, Konan, take care of the other ones. I don't want them leaving." he turned his eye on Deidara. "Especially him."

"I'm gonna kill you as fast as possible Madara and rest in peace! Double Summoning Jutsu: Manda and Hishourei!" two huge blasts of smoke brought Naruto up into the air. The giant purple and black snake and the giant hawk both roared at Madara. He merely laughed and summoned his own creature.

"Summoning: Karyu." he ran his fingers down a tree and removed it slowly. As his fingers finished pulling off the rough wood, sparks danced off them and ignited the wood. The whole thing was soon up in flames. A single piercing howl, one of ancient unexpressed rage, shattered all serenity. The tree crumbled to the ground as the flames took shape. A long angular face formed, long twin rows of teeth glittering in the now showing sun. A long muscular body led to a barbed tail. The legs traveled backwards then forward to the feet with claws. At the bend, long spikes shot out.

"MADARA UCHIHA, HOW DARE YOU CALL ME OUT!" it yelled. Golden orange scales flashed in the light.

"Karyu, it has been far to long." said Hishourei. The dragon turned to him and sent a huge fireball out. A sphere of Earth and Metal dispersed it. Manda jumped at him and his tail lashed out. The boss of the Hawks sent blast after blast of elements at Karyu while he swiped with claws, battered with his tail and sent bolts of fire. Eventually the Hawk boss and the Snake boss lunged forward while Karyu exploded and took them all out. Naruto swung his arms out wide and jagged sword blades covered his arms. The vines shot him forward and he prepared to attack Madara. As he got within a few feet of the Uchiha, Madara struck out and slammed his foot into Naruto's stomach.

"Weakling, that is the only way to describe you Uzumaki." he drew a nodachi and swung it down. Naruto closed his eyes as he regained control.

'So this is how it ends huh? I didn't think I would die so young. I never even achieved my dream.'

'You worthless demon brat!'

'Go back to hell where you belong Kyuubi!'

'Ha, like a loser like you could become Hokage!' that was it, that was the memory that triggered the force of energy that rocketed through the forest. Naruto's eyes snapped open as a thick lay of ice protected him. He could see his reflection in front of him. His right eye was completely green with a red ring with three snow flake shaped tomoe spinning on it. His left eye was white with a red triangle and three green leaves traveling around it. Every now and again the shapes in the eyes would switch as Madara hacked away.

'Naruto, the Koorihaboushi has ascended a level. It's what gives you your abilities. You know have some new abilities.'

'As happy as I am to hear that Lord Nidaime, it isn't helping me any!'

"Naruto, drop all the seals." Naruto mentally smacked himself in the face and began to do many fast pace hand signs, a simple blur in the air. A golden light exploded around him as he flashed out of existence. Madara's chest fell in as a fist connected to it. Naruto appeared beneath him and slammed a fist into his chin. He flew into the air as Naruto made nine clones. The first clone jumped at him but a black fire destroyed it. The other suffered the same fate as Naruto continued a long line of hand signs. Madara landed in a crouch in front of Naruto and swung a leg sweep. As Naruto flew down Madara grabbed his throat, the ice that formed shattering in an instant.

"That was impressive, I'll give you that, but not quit good enough. Now prepare to be killed as I remove your Bijuu." his hand glowed a deep red as he inched it towards Naruto's stomach.

"GET AWAY FROM MY GRAND SON!" a foot connected with Madara and sent him spiraling away. Pein and Konan jumped into the fight as Madara spit out a glob of dark blood.

"Aw, the snake in the grass." Orochimaru pulled the fake face off of his own and sent a huge wall of snakes at Madara. His answer was the same attack with serpents instead. The other two Grass-nin jumped into the air and spun around each other. They shed their skin and became two giant serpents and slammed into three of Pein's bodies. They dispelled as a giant panda appeared. Konan flew at Haku, who ran at her while making hand signs and slammed a fist into her wings. They froze over slowly, but slowly enough that she could get rid of them and make new ones.

"You'll pay for that little girl."

"Really, well, then I'll just do this." she made one handed seals as fast as she could, one kind of set on the left, a different on the other. Konan pushed some stray hair away and made her own hand signs. Both hands, fingers pressed together, plunged parallel into the ground. A small shake came through the ground and started to shift the earth. Haku ran up a tree using her chakra right as two hands of paper grabbed at the air she once was. Haku continued her hand signs while flipping over the hands onto another tree. She ran up the tree and jumped further up on the other as the hands made another grab.

"I thought you were going to do something."

"I'm about to you ugly white rose wearing slut!" Konan got a tick on her forehead and made five more sets of hands chase after Haku. She dodged the last set and finished the hand seals as she reached the top of the tree. She spun between the two trees and flew down towards Konan in a spiral. "Ice Style: Transformation: Merging of Hyorinmaru!" Haku flipped and pulled up from the spiral as small drops of water formed wings on her back. Sharp claws ran down from her fingers and a tail swayed behind her. Two short swords formed in her hand as she looked down.

"You can't beat me in the air little whore!" yelled Konan before she crouched down and launched up. She and Haku clashed in the air as Madara and Orochimaru finished their attacks.

"Not bad, I thought that attack had died out of human's knowledge but I guess I was wrong." he and Madara dashed at each other. Both went into a round house in the air and met with their legs crossed. Orochimaru twisted and grabbed the leg, throwing Madara downwards. Madara in turn grabbed Orochimaru's leg as he came and switched the attack around. Orochimaru cocooned him and pulled up. Madara exploded outward with his arms and launched at Orochimaru, activating his Mangekyou as he spun around, forcing black chakra around him.

"Prepare for seventy two hours of pain and torture." he said as he prepared for his Tsukuyomi but a single roar stopped all fighting. Madara dropped to the ground and ground his fingers into his palms, making his knuckles white and blood seep from the fist. Naruto had lost control, a blood red cloak around him. Seven tails of the same energy sprouted from his tail bone. He opened his mouth and a long line of blood seeped from his body.

"UCHIHA, YOU LEFT NARUTO AN ORPHAN! IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOU, I WOULDN'NT HAVE ATTACKED WHIRLPOOL OR KONOHA! PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!" he ran on all fours straight at Madara. Five Peins, the original sitting back with Madara, stood in his way but he swatted them away. They slammed their heads into trees then had them punctured by his tails. He roared out in what they assumed was pain and the energy slid slightly away showing Naruto's skin stripped away and the underlying skin boiling! Madara pulled his mask off and fired two Amaterasu off. Naruto roared as loud as possible. The trees shook and the flames stopped for a moment, giving him time to wrap the tails around him in a cocoon. They hit him and lifted him into the air, following him. He spun around, the flames circling him in a ring. Madara took his chance and rushed at Sasuke, who was with Deidara watching the display in the air.

"Become powerful my descendant!" he yelled as he pulled out a glowing yellow scroll. He dodged clay birds and jammed the scroll into Sasuke. It sank through the clothing and into his abdomen. Sasuke grabbed his head as a second being entered his soul. Madara smirked and jumped away. Deidara caught Sasuke as he fell to his knees in pain.

"What did you do you freak!?" Madara chuckled as Deidara repeated his question.

"I made sure the Uchiha line would continue. At least, until I come to take the Houkou no Ururu back from him."

"Master, you put it inside him?"

"Haha, yes Pein, I turned by own descendant into a Jinchuuriki for the five tailed wolf!"

"Hey, what's going on here?" all attention, other then Orochimaru's and Naruto's, landed on a young blond girl. She wore a black body suit and had three whisker marks on her cheeks. A head band with

a Village Hidden in the Cloud symbol on it lay on her forehead.

"Jinchuuriki!" the one word yelled by Deidara made her growl. She hissed and suddenly exploded into purple chakra. Purple flames made a two tailed cat form around her as she screamed.

"It's a Jinchuuriki party Pein!" laughed Madara. "We can get four of the Bijuu here and now!" he laughed as the girl nearly hit him. Haku dashed past him with Konan following.

"Why hasn't Sarutobi gotten here yet!? It can't be that hard to notice!" whispered Orochimaru as the black fire started to spin faster. He may have not known about Naruto being his grand son for long but he still cared about him. "Come on you over grown fuzz ball, save him!"

BOOM

The flames disappear as the orb turned yellow and hit the ground. A medium sized blonde nine tailed fox landed in the crater and fell down, turning into Naruto. He staggered up and spit a large amount of blood and a few teeth onto the ground. "Grandfather, I need more power! I know you can give it to me so do it!" Orochimaru hesitated but complied. His neck shot out and he bit into Naruto's neck behind the shoulder. He did a few hand seals as his neck shot him towards Sasuke. He bit into him but laced it with a Demon Suppression seal. Madara growled and tackled him. They rolled back and forth, punching each other as Sarutobi and Jiraiya appeared with the Jounin senseis and Anko.

"SENSEI!" yelled Anko. Orochimaru punched Madara in the nose, listening satisfied to the crunch, then he ran away and left the forest as fast as possible. Konan swooped down and grabbed the two men and flew away. They rushed to Naruto's side but Deidara held his arms out as the got close, stopping them.

"We haven't finished the assignment. We got this under control." A normal Haku landed next to him and agreed. The two men reluctantly left as Deidara hefted Naruto onto his shoulder. The giant flaming cat was…playing with a yarn ball? They laughed slightly at the sight and left. As the continued, they ran into a Mist team.

"Aw, easy pickings boys." said the leader. "And we get a pretty girl too!" they laughed as Haku pulled out a senbon. Before either side could even start the battle, ice encased the three Genin and crushed them. Naruto's voice was barely audible but they caught the words of the jutsu.

"Ice Style: Ice Burial!" Deidara looked at him in shock.

"He's still unconscious. He must have done it to protect tou Haku." that made Haku blush. A brown scroll fell to the ground and they picked it up. "Aio, what scroll do you have."

"Earth."

"Okay then we'll meet you at the tower." they dashed off as fast as possible. The only time they stopped was when night fell. They lay Sasuke and Naruto down on the ground and tried to reduce the fever that had risen from their bodies. When morning came, they deconstructed camp and prepared to leave, but as they left, forty ninja with the Rain head band slowly, painstakingly, pulled themselves from the ground.

"Earth Style: Rain of the Bloody Rocks Jutsu!" shouted Deidara. Red boulders slammed into a bush, making the clones become disappear. A heaven scroll rolled out and Aio grabbed it, shooting from the bushes and dashing off, Sai flying by with Sasuke on an ink bird. Deidara made a clay bird and lay on it as they flew. He waved to Sai as the passed. "See you ink heart!" Sai ground his teeth at the name. Ever since he read that book Deidara called him that.

"Deidara, the towers up ahead." said Haku. Deidara nodded and picked up Naruto. As they reached the door, the bird pulled up and Haku and Deidara slid down. The bird flew up and exploded, spelling out 'We made it bitches!' in big black lettering. As they prepared to enter, Naruto stirred. Deidara put him on the ground to wake up the turned to the bushes, throwing a kunai into them.

"Why are we being targeted today!?" a Rock team shot at them. Deidara shot birds at them but they dashed out in rock armor. Haku tried to freeze them but they broke the ice. One grabbed Haku as the approached, one grabbed Deidara and the leader pulled out a nodachi.

"DIE TRAITOR!"

"Go to hell Jonji!" the leader smirked and turned to Haku.

"Hey baby, wanna have a little fun in a second?" she spit at him but he just laughed. "Like you have much of a choice!" he cut Deidara up on the arms and legs and finished by jamming his sword into Deidara's left arm at the elbow. Then he turned to Haku. He grabbed her shirt and started to pull. She screamed as the other one pulled her hair. The Leader, Jonji, slapped her and she fell on her knees. Jonji laughed as the crony pulled on her hair. She drew a kunai as they laughed.

"Nice try little girl." Haku growled as an icy blue chakra surrounded her.

"I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!" she spun, using a kunai to slash her hair as she turned. She started to attack the Rock ninja with a rapid attack of fists and kicks. They dropped their armor and moved around the attacks, moving back into the forest. She sent a punch once more when they had past the tree line and hit a tree. It groaned as her fist broke and blood flew. The flash healed but the bones had been pushed completely out to create room for a new one.

"Looks like the tables have turned." she gulped and ran back away. They all laughed and chased after her. She stood in front of the tower when they appeared. Rubble gathered around them, forming a crude armor. They smirked and ran towards her. Jonji threw a punch and she flew through the air. The one that had held her down appeared behind her and landed on her back. He jumped into the air, pushing down. The remaining member slid underneath her and twisted, landing on his back with his feet up in the air. He kicked her into the air then jumped up, passing her. They grabbed arms in the air above her, a three man circle, and slammed their feet together into a drill point shape.

"EARTH STYLE: FALLING EARTH DRILL!" they spun, gathering wind and flew down towards her. As the drill reached a few inches, a blur of purple dashed by and grabbed Haku. The three Genin broke apart. One was caught by a kid in purple clothing about Kabuto's age who could move his body like a snake. The other member had been caught by a kid in the same garbs with a cloth over his face. He was sucking the kid's chakra away.

"Haku, are you okay?"

"Kabuto, what are you doing here?"

"I came to save you from them." he dropped her carefully on the ground and turned to Jonji. He drew a chakra scalpel out of thin air with a small wrist flick and prepared to attack. Jonji scowled and snapped. A rock clone of him burst from his back and he shook his body as the rocks fell apart.

"No more holding back." he flew at the veteran Genin who flipped over him and stabbed his shoulder with the scalpel. Jonji slid and turned, swinging the now limp arm into Kabuto's face. The Genin ducked and swung his leg but Jonji jumped and flipped, slamming a leg into Kabuto's shoulder. Kabuto twisted, spinning like a top on the ground, making Jonji get thrown way while getting kicked. Kabuto lay on the ground, leaning on his arm like a pillow with a smile on his face.

"Keep trying newbie." Jonji growled and started making hand signs. Kabuto sat up and started making his own. "Underground Reflecting Fish Jutsu!" the earth flew around him as he sank into the ground. Jonji continued his hand signs then slammed his left hand on the ground. A large elephant trumpeted as he appeared, his tusks shining. Jonji jumped up onto it and waited for the attack.

"Trying to hide won't help you!"

"Who said I was hiding?" Jonji looked at the ground were Kabuto was dissolving his scalpel. He blew on the elephant's skin and it fell over. Kabuto smirked and walked over to Haku. "That was rather easy."

"Kabuto, look out!" too late. A nodachi slammed into Kabuto's chest, showing where it barely missed his lungs and heart. He gave a shuttered breath before following on the ground, the nodachi being pulled out by Jonji. The teen growled and slapped Haku. Three more times he hit Haku until her lips and face bled.

"I'll teach you!" he placed the sword at her throat then turned his head to the other two veterans. "Let my team mates go I'll kill her!" he drew a small amount of blood to make him more threatening. The two teens jumped away to Kabuto's side where less and less blood was falling.

"Neji, do something!" hissed Tenten in the trees. Neji sighed and prepared to jump but he felt a huge power strike. He screamed as he deactivated his Byakugan, the chakra too blinding to look at.

"Haku, did he hurt you?'" it was a simple question with a simple answer. The voice was soft yet held a deep hatred and rage in it. Jonji gulped as he felt the chakra spike upwards. "Answer me Haku! Did…he…hurt you!?" Jonji felt his heart beat increase as he gazed at their target.

"Are you…N-Naruto U-U-Uzimaki-Namikaze?" he stuttered.

"Yeah, why do you want to know? Knowing the name of your executioner isn't going to help any." Naruto let the huge spiraling column of blue energy surround him. The mark on his neck, a leaf with a triple set of snow flakes around it, spread more of the ice like marks over his body.

"Naruto let me do it! I haven't gotten to fight yet!" a second energy, more malicious though, combined with Naruto's. Out stepped Sasuke from the woods, a black spiral of his own deep purple energy swirling around him and flame like marks on his arm and face.

"No, I'm going to feed him to my snakes! Rochi!" the black snake flew from the trees, landing at Naruto's feet. He roared in pain and grievance as he felt the energy spill into him. Soon a large tiger sized snake with two small feet, making it look like a larger version of a Komodo dragon, was next to Naruto, roaring the rage Naruto would not expose. Jonji gulped, knowing he would die. This guy was at least Special Jounin level if not Jounin and he had pissed him off.

"I get him!" Sasuke demanded. Naruto swung his leg around and slammed it into Sasuke's gut. The Uchiha jumped and threw a punch. Naruto caught it and they met eyes. Koorihaboushi verses Sharingan. Both spun in a wild dance, fire and ice. Sasuke broke apart and started to pant. Naruto covered his eyes and focused his chakra. He moved his hand and let to bullets of ice fly into Sasuke. He hit a tree and groaned, losing his markings.

"Now for you." he pulled the Raijin off the sanjiegun and walked up to Jonji. In one swift move, the Raijin was thrown through his head and into a tree. Naruto held out his hand, making it shake up and down. It flew to him, spinning like a saw so fast Jonji's body was cut in half. Naruto laughed evilly and held both hands out toward the other two. "Ice Coffin!" they floated into the air in two ice cocoons. He laughed crazily and closed his hands, destroying them. He turned to Kabuto's team mates and prepared to do the same but two slender arms wrapped around him. The energy disappeared and the marks disappeared.

"Please Naruto, stop this already. I'll be fine." Naruto broke the grasp and turned to her. She was about half an inch taller then him but that didn't stop him. He leaned in and kissed her, passion and lust pouring out. She immediately did the same. He pulled out to catch his breath and smiled.

"Only for you my ice queen." Kabuto cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Naruto, Lord Orochimaru says you are always welcome in the Hidden Sound village."

"Thank you for the invitation Kabuto. I'll come say hello some time." he said, right before he passed out from chakra exhaustion.