Chapter Fifteen
Special Report: Live from the Forest of Death!
The next day, all of the passing Genin stood outside a fenced off forest with sighs posted all over the wire fencing that said things like 'restricted area' and 'keep out' or even 'danger'. Naruto gulped slightly as Sakura just stood blankly. She'd been like that since they met up that morning after she'd dropped Inari off at his babysitter's, but they dared not ask why.
"Woah…nice place." Naruto said for lack of any other words. "What is it?"
"This is the location for the second phase of the exam." Anko stated. "It's the forty fourth battle training zone. But we call it…the forest of death."
"Forest of…death?" Naruto echoed as a wind swept passed them and ruffled their hair and clothing. Sakura frowned and looked around for her brother and the twins. She sighed and looked back to the forest, deciding to find them later.
A square brown rock scurried towards Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke as they were looking at the forest ahead of them. Naruto turned and saw the box move, but it stilled soon enough and sounds of shushing could be heard from the bad disguise.
'Fake rocks?' He asked himself as his eyebrow twitched. 'What's up with that?'
Naruto stepped forwards, passed his team mates and then passed Kabuto and his team. The rock was reluctant at first, but followed him soon after he moved. Seeing it follow him, Naruto ran one way, turned and ran the other way, then the other way and then the other way. He ran back and forth a total of twelve times, the rock following him all the way. The boy then stopped and turned, pointing a finger at the square rock.
"That's the worst disguise of all time! There's no such thing a square rocks! It's completely obvious, Dattebayo!" Naruto claimed, pointing an accusing finger at the rock. It didn't occur to him that this was the exact chain of events that lead him and the others to meet the Suna-nin for the first time.
"You saw through my camouflage again! You're slick, boss." A small voice from inside the box squeaked. "Just what I'd expect from my greatest rival."
"Great. They never leave us alone." Sakura complained, seeing Naruto and the 'rock' not too far in front of her. Then the box began to light, just a, explosion would before the 'BOOM!' happened. To be specific, three booms happened, and all a different colour. One was pink, one was yellow and the other was blue. Once the smoke finally cleared, it revealed three kids in a crawling position, coughing loudly and trying to catch their breaths from the smoke.
"I think we used a little too much gun powder again, you guys." The Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, stated as he and his friends carried on coughing. They all seemed to notice Naruto and Sakura still looking at them and the introductions rolled out…again.
"I'm Moegi! The sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" The girl stated, rolling into a blue back ground. "Check me out!" She said, striking a pose.
"I love algebra!" The glasses-wearing boy stated, going into the same background. "Call me Udon!" He also struck a pose, but a different one to Moegi.
"And I'm the number one ninja in the village!" The one we already know stated for no reason. "My name is…Konohamaru!" He finished, also striking a pose.
"And when we're all together…" The three said in union. "We're the Konohamaru ninja squad!" They stated as their goggles shined.
"Yeah, yeah! I knew it was you, Konohamaru." Naruto yawned, obviously unimpressed with the display. "What'd you want? I'm getting ready to take the second phase of the Chunin exam and you're interrupting me. I don't have any time to be playing around with you guys now."
"We didn't come to play around, boss! We're on official business!" The scarf-wearer of the trio announced, clenching his fist in determination.
"That's right." Moegi nodded. "We came here for an exclusive interview."
"Uh huh, uh huh." Udon nodded, agreeing with his team mates.
"An interview, huh?" Naruto asked, his interest caught.
"Yep. We're on an assignment to write an article for the academy's newspaper." Konohamaru stated stubbornly. "It's a big-time story all about the Chunin selection examinations."
"So that's why we want to do an exclusive interview with you." Moegi added with a smile. "Please tell us you're going to do it."
"It would mean a lot." Udon told him with a sniff from his allergies.
"Yeah, but right now?" Naruto groaned.
"Hey! You over there!" The instructor called out roughly. "What're you doing? You're holding up the exams." Anko stated as she walked over to the group.
"Uh, sorry." Naruto apologised. "But, you see, Konohamaru was telling me something about an interview for the academy newspaper." He told her as Anko gasped. She grinned and rubbed the back of her head in a very Naruto-like way.
"Oh yeah, I forgot all about it. Hokage-sama had mentioned something about them interviewing me."
"Interviewing you?" Naruto asked quietly with a sweat drop.
"Alright, we're taking a ten minute break!" Anko yelled out to the rest of the Genin present. "Those of you scheduled to be interviewed, please be courteous and respectful to the reporters from the academy newspaper."
"I thought I was the only one being interviewed." Naruto whined.
"No boss, but you are the most important." Konohamaru assured him.
"Oh, well, in that case, I'll give you an interview that'll make it clear to your reads why I'm the greatest ninja ever." Naruto grinned as he gave the three younger kids a thumbs up.
[--
"Naruto, Sakura-nee-sama and Sasuke! The ninja of team seven!" The voice of Konohamaru stated. "Alright boss, tell us a little bit about yourself."
"Okay!" Naruto agreed. "Dattebayo! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant ramen in a cup, but I really, really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku ramen shop or the ramen I eat with Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan. My hobbies are…umm, pranks I guess. Oh! And also eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them against others. And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole entire village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important. No other Genin can match any of my jutsu. Even Iruka-sensei can't help being impressed. And now that I'm I squad seven, I get to prove it by going on dangerous and life threatening missions everyday!"
—
"What's the distance to the target?"Kakashi asked the three Genin
"Five metres." Naruto replied through his communicator. "I'm ready to go. Just give me the signal."
"I'm ready too." Sasuke confirmed.
"This is pointless." Sakura sighed to herself. "Pff, I'm ready."
"Okay…" Kakashi began. "GO!" He yelled.
The two boys on the team leapt from their hiding spots to jump the shadowed creature before it could get away. Naruto was the first to get to it as he grabbed the target roughly around its middle, causing the creature to mew pitifully. Yes…mew.
"I got him! I got him!" He yelled in triumph as he held onto the…kitten. "I got you!" The blonde taunted. It began to hiss and scratch his body, mostly his face, without remorse.
"Can you verify a red ribbon on his right ear?" Kakashi questioned.
"Affirmative. We've got a positive ID." Sasuke answered.
"So it's our target, 'Tora'?" Kakashi asked though the intercom device.
"It's the target for sure." Sasuke replied, ignoring Naruto as the cat began to stamp on his head.
—
"The other Genin in squad Sasuke and Sakura-chan, but since I'm really the only one that really chose a ninja promise, you don't need to hear about them." Naruto claimed boastingly.
"Well, do it anyway. You know, for the article." Konohamaru prompted.
"Okay, okay!" Naruto caved. "Well…let's see…Uchiha Sasuke is a real pretentious guy. All of the girls like him—except Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan—but they don't realise how big a jerk he is. Anyway; he's always swooping in at the last minute and making me look bad. But one day, I'll show him. I'll kick his teme ass all the way to the Land of Waves!"
"Alright! Anything else?" Konohamaru asked.
"Yeah! There's also Haruno Sakura." Naruto continued. "I'll let you in on a little secret…she's madly in love with me! She'd never admit it, of course, but I think the way she hides her feelings of love makes her even cuter!"
"Uhh, how about something else about Sakura-nee-sama, boss." The boy sweat dropped. Naruto nodded and hummed his thoughts.
"Well, she was brought up in Yukigakure at first, but she left there was got to Konoha when she was ten. I know that she had a brother named Judy and team mates named Tsuki and Tilley…I think." He stated, rubbing his head. "Even thought she wears baggy clothes and stuff, I've seen her in tight clothes on a mission once. She's really hot!"
"Now way! So unfair!" Konohamaru whined.
"Anyway, putting that aside. Our team is more like a well oiled machine that can succeed in any mission, no matter how dangerous. Of course, I wasn't always busy on dangerous missions. I still had time to teach the Hokage a thing or two."
"Sexy no jutsu!" Naruto yelled as the Hokage looked up from the photo Naruto had taken earlier that day with the 'daffodil maidens'. He promptly fell back, bleeding heavily from the nose.
"I don't think that this stuff is appropriate for the article."
"Then, what should I say?"
"How about when you first met me?" The boy chirped.
—
The boy by the door took out a shuriken and held it up for attack. Naruto, Sakura and the Hokage all look towards the door, the Hokage's assistant and Hinata doing so seconds later. The door opened quickly, revealing a small boy with his weapon poised for attack.
"Old man! I challenge you! I'm going to defeat you and become the fifth Hokage!" A young child, no older than eight years old, yelled as he ran into the room. He had a tooth missing in the front of his mouth and a tan cap over his head, leaving a hole for his brown hair to poke out of at the back near the top. He also wore a yellow t-shirt with the Konoha symbol on it in red and a pair of tan, knee-length shorts with his ninja sandals and a long blue scarf.
He charged at the Hokage, and the newly instated Genin watched as he ran a few feet before tripping over his own scarf. Naruto sighed as Sakura's eyes, amazingly, softened when the child started weeping on the floor softly. Hinata only just managed to stop herself form going to the child's aid, but she noticed Sakura's eyes and smiled.
"Alright, you're the one who tripped me, aren't you?!" The little kid accused, pointing at Naruto, who growled in response. The blonde grabbed the kids scarf and held him up in the air, a fist ready to hit him.
"You tripped over your own feet, dork." Naruto told him. "And why did you automatically blame me? It could have been her!" He said, pointing to Hinata. "Well, maybe not her…but she could have done it!" This time he moved his finger in Sakura's direction.
"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, her eyebrow twitching.
"Don't blame a pretty girl for what you did!" The kid yelled. Sakura smirked.
"I think I like this kid." She admitted.
"What's the matter, huh? I thought you were gonna hit me!" The kid asked in a spoilt and confident voice.
"I don't care if he's your grandmother! So believe it!" Naruto yelled as he hit the kid over the head in the same way Sakura hits him.
—
"Don't forget Iruka-sensei! He was the only one who was nice to me before Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan, and I still drove him crazy!" Naruto stated almost proudly.
"The whole article can't be about you, boss!" Konohamaru stated as Naruto looked back to the three little kids, who were sitting in front of him with their notebooks out. A pink one for Moegi, a blue one for Udon and a green one for Konohamaru.
"Well, I could tell you a story about the time Sasuke screwed up." Naruto offered.
"We've already heard that story, boss!" Konohamaru complained. "Can't you talk about anyone but you?"
Standing not too far away were Sakura and Sasuke. Both were too far to hear what he was saying to the kids, but each had pretty much the same idea for his words.
"I'm sure Naruto's just talking about himself over there. He probably never even mentions us." Sakura sighed, rubbing her temples as she looked around again for her old Yuki friends.
"Hn. That would be just like him." Sasuke agreed.
[--
"Tell us about you, Sakura-nee-sama. You're a kunoichi I really look up to and respect." Moegi smiled. The three pre-ninja had agreed that Udon would ask Sasuke question, Konohamaru would ask Naruto and Moegi would get to ask Sakura.
"Well, my name is Haruno Sakura. I like Hinata-chan and Naruto, as well as training and hanging out with them. What I dislike, is people picking on weaker people and thinking that appearances can show what level ninja you are. My hobby is getting ramen with Naruto and hanging out with him and Hinata-chan, and also going shopping with Hinata-chan and training with Naruto after our squad training. I don't really have a dream…but I think Naruto's attitude is rubbing off on my enough to give me a half-dream. It's to be recognised as more than just a killer or a ninja. To have someone who loves me and I love back." Sakura finished with a shrug.
"What about team seven? What'd think of them?" Moegi asked her as Udon and Konohamaru took notes.
"Well, there's Uchiha Sasuke. He's like me, in a way. He doesn't talk much, he's arrogant and all he can think about it out-classing Naruto in everything. To be honest, I can hardly stand him sometimes. The fact that we're a team is the only reason he hasn't lost his head yet. All he can say is how much better he is. And I've seen him use fire jutsus. He adds these weird over the head arm movements, but I've also seen other people use that same jutsu. He's just showing off. It's unnecessary. He also talks way too much in his fights. Who in their right mind would tell their opponent everything they're going to do, before they do it? Sasuke does, that's for sure."
"Haha! Sakura-chan can only say bad stuff about you, teme!" Naruto, who was sitting with Sakura for her interview, bragged to the dark Uchiha, who was brooding on her other side.
"What about Naruto?" Moegi asked, causing Naruto's mouth to close and his ears to open wide.
"Well, first I'll tell you about our sensei. His name is Hatake Kakashi and he has no clue how to introduce himself. Well, he's also known as the copy ninja Kakashi or Sharingan no Kakashi. I'm not gonna tell you more about his technique, but I will tell you that the Sharingan is an amazing kekkei genkai to see in action. Sasuke has it, but not to Kakashi-sensei's level. It's not as good."
"Now tell us about Naruto." Moegi nodded with a smile.
"He's weird and has the stupidest techniques. Like his Hāremu no Jutsu, then his Kage Bunshin no jutsu, and finally he's got his ever useful Oiroke no Jutsu. Then you have those times where Naruto is just being Naruto, and that's not usually good." She sighed.
"Anything else?" Moegi enquired.
"I'll say more if the baka and takes Sasuke and leaves." Sakura said firmly, crossing her arms. Konohamaru shooed the two and nodded.
"Go on." Moegi smiled again.
"Naruto's a good friend. He can be really annoying, but I just can't hate him or his over-happy attitude. He's made me smile, laugh and show more emotions in one week of knowing him than I thought possible for me to show in my life. In time, he'll probably have me acting like a normal person in the emotion department, and I'm thankful for that." Sakura smirked.
"Wow…" The three whispered.
[--
"Boy, Sasuke, you're the coolest! When I look at you, I feel like I'm looking at my future self." Udon said happily as Sasuke sat, leaning on the tree this time with Sakura on his left and Naruto on his right. "Do you mind if I get a few quote from you too, for our article?"
"Well…I guess I should set the record straight from my side." Sasuke shrugged. "If you listen to Naruto, you'd end up getting more fairytale than truth."
"Oh no you don't, Sasuke. They came here to interview me and Sakura-chan, not you!" Naruto stated loudly.
"They came here to interview everyone, loser. There are other ninja here you know. Believe it." He mocked with a scowl.
"Argh!" Naruto growled.
"Mmmmm." Sasuke growled back.
"The article is about me!" Naruto boasted.
"Nobody cares about you, Naruto. All you do is goof off and get into trouble. That's why you'll never be a real ninja." Sasuke told him.
"Oh yeah?" Naruto glowered.
"Yeah. Don't you remember anything?" The Uchiha asked angrily.
—
"Hey!" Sasuke called. "You! Identify yourself!" He ordered. The girl stopped and turned around, pointing to herself with a smile.
"The guy with the gourd on his back." Sakura clarified, although she knew their names from when she checked their passports. Kankuro stopped and turned and then Gaara did the same.
"I am Gaara. Sabaku no Gaara." He stated proudly. "I'm curious about you and your friend with the pink hair too. Who are you?" The desert-nin asked.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He replied with a smirk.
"Haruno Sakura." The pinkette followed.
—
"Hey you. Over here." A boy called to Sasuke and Sakura. They turned to see the white-eyed team mate of Lee.
"Can we help you?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"What're your names?" He asked. Sasuke looked at Sakura and she swept a hand in the brunette's direction, gesturing for Sasuke to go ahead.
'Again?! It's always about Sasuke!' Naruto yelled mentally.
"It's common curtsey to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke told him, as if lecturing him on manners.
—
"Hey you! The boy with the attitude!" A well-spoken voice called out from the balcony above them. "Hold on!" He called again, causing team seven to pull to a halt and turn around, looking for the one who spoke. Surprise, surprise! It was Lee.
"What do you want?" Sasuke grunted. It was pretty obvious that Lee was talking to him because Sakura isn't a boy and Naruto's attitude is a lot less noticeable than his own.
"I want to fight you. Right here and right now." Lee stated, not blinking or planning to take back his challenge.
"Hold it!" Naruto yelled out to the others in the room, not liking the current circumstances one little bit.
"What is it?" Lee asked impatiently. Naruto glared at the green-boy, not letting his eyes leave him in all his bushy-eyebrow glory. The blonde, trying to look 'cool', pursed his lips.
"I get him first, teme. This weirdo is mine." Naruto said to Sasuke, not looking at the cockatoo-haired boy as he said it.
"No, thank you." Lee said to him. "Right now, the only one I want to fight is Uchiha." He claimed.
"Yeah? Well, I've got news for you, fuzzy-brows." He thought over what Sakura said and decided to meet her half-way. Naruto, despite what she had said, ran at the green-boy. "Sasuke can't compare to me, Dattebayo!"
With his usual battle-cry, Naruto leapt up to punch Lee right in the cheek, but the latter didn't move out of his stance. Pulling back his fist, Naruto growled.
Lee found a flaw in his punch. The green-nin moved his hand and poked Naruto's wrist, sending the boy down. But Naruto wasn't the type to give up. He put both hands on the ground and aimed a slow kick at Lee, only to have him dodge and sink to the floor.
"Konoha Reppu!" He yelled, kicking Naruto's arms and sending the boy across the floor, spinning like a kicked tortoise on his back. Naruto hit the wall a few metres from Lee and wished he didn't do as Sakura asked. He sunk to the floor, dizzy.
—
"Everyone taking the Chunin exams are all highly skilled and every one of them is considered the best Genin in the lands…except for Naruto." The Uchiha carried on.
"Hey!" Naruto cried indignantly.
"Nara Shikamaru. Akimichi Choji. Yamanaka Ino. Hyuuga Hinata. Inuzuka Kiba with Akamaru. Aburame Shino. Each one of them is talented in their own way, but I'm still better than all of them combined." Sasuke boasted.
"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed. "That's why you got your butt kicked by Rock Lee. Because you're better than him? You shouldn't be talking; even you've screwed up from time to time."
"I'm gonna screw up your face if you don't watch it, Naruto." Sasuke threatened.
"Go for it! Let's settle this! Once and for all!" Naruto yelled.
"Come on guys! Cool it! You're giving me a headache." Sakura complained with a frown. "We've passed the first stage of the Chunin exam and we're about to enter the Forest of Death for the second phase. We need to calm down and get along the best we can. To pass these exams, we have to work together."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sasuke agreed grudgingly.
"Sakura-chan is always right! Dattebayo!"
"Ah! Naruto, quit hugging me!"
"Sakura-chan! Your face is red!"
"GET OFF!"
"Get away from her, dobe!"
"Don't call him a dobe, Sasuke!"
[--
"We want to thank all of you for a great interview." Moegi said gratefully as she rose from her bow.
"Yeah, thanks." Udon stated, rising from his own bow.
"Knock 'em dead in the Chunin exams boss, nee-sama!" Konohamaru added as he too rose from bowing in gratitude.
"No worries, guy! We'll make it!" Naruto assured.
"We're the best of the best." Sakura smirked.
"Bye!"
"See ya later!"
"Good luck!"
The three academy students walked off, clutching their notebooks and waving to the team seven Genin.
The Chunin Exam Stage Two: The Forest of Death!
Giant bugs crawled quickly along branches, up trees and across the forest floor as birds of all shapes and colours flew around. One grey bird landed on a branch, but it was soon devoured by a giant snake. The snake ate it in one bite and continued on its way around the tree before slithering into the shadows to await more prey.
"Man, it's too hot today." Sakura panted as she fanned herself. Two years of living in Fire country had helped her get used to a bit of extra heat, but she still had a limit. Sakura unzipped her jumper, took it off and tied it around her waist, showing off her red tank top with her Haruno circle on the back and a black fishnet, short-sleeved top over it. She then used her ribbon to tie her hair into a low ponytail, but didn't bother moving her bangs away from her face.
"Th-This p-place c-creeps me o-out." Hinata stuttered as she looked at her friend while pulling on the hem of her own jacket. The Hyuuga girl didn't remove it like her friend did, simply because this heat was almost nothing to people who had been born and raised in Fire country. Anko heard her and smirked.
"Hm. It should. They call it the Forest of Death. And soon enough, you're all gonna find out why." Anko told her, causing Hinata to shiver in fear. Sakura sighed and put a comforting hand on Hinata's shoulder, squeezing it slightly to reassure her. Naruto pursed his lips, stuck out his butt and danced around.
"They call it the Forest of Death. And soon enough, you're all gonna find out why." He imitated before going back to normal. "Hm. You're not gonna scare me away. I can handle anything! Dattebayo!"
"So…looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy." Anko mused, speaking so everyone could hear her.
She moved her arm and a kunai came out of her sleeve. Anko threw it and it passed Naruto, as well as a ninja from Grass, before it struck the ground. Blood ran in a small amount from the new cut on Naruto's cheek as he stood in shock. In a blast of speed, she ran and stopped behind Naruto. Before the blonde could even register what was going on, she was speaking again.
"Are you tough enough to handle this?" Anko questioned in a serious tone from behind him. "You're not afraid, are you?" She asked, taking hold of his uninjured cheek and looked at his cut. "Guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest." She mused. As she picked up a drop of blood on her finger, something caught her attention and she twisted around with a kunai out. Over her shoulder was a woman from Grass, holding out the other kunai with her long tongue.
"I was…just returning your kunai." The woman explained slowly.
"Why thank you, good Grass ninja." Anko said with a smile. "You know, I really only recommend you stand this close behind me if you wish to reach a premature end." The woman added, taking her kunai from the Grass-nin, still holding a smile on her face. The tongue slid back into the ninja's mouth and Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"My pardon." The Grass-nin said. "With the sight of blood and the blade slicing through my hair, I'm afraid that I just became a little excited. I meant you no harm."
"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered as she looked upon the scene in concern for her male friend. She looked back at Sakura and noticed the girl tensing up and trying to control herself. If she did what her Inner voice and emotions wanted her to do, a lot of people would be injured; mainly the Grass-nin and Anko.
"Likewise." Anko chuckled as she Grass-nin backed off and walked back to her team.
'I know that ninja…but from where?' Sakura thought to herself as she saw the Grass-nin coming closer. She moved aside to let her pass, but the ninja paused and looked at her with a creepy smile.
"My, my…what a cute little kunoichi. I bet a lot of people underestimate your skill due to your appearance. Where I'm from, that never happens to anyone. Those who underestimate their opponent are killed." The ninja mused, taking a lock of hair from the bangs that hung in front of Sakura's face. Sakura moved her head slightly and pulled her hair back from the ninja's grasp, but the woman just grinned and walked away.
'Woah.' Naruto thought to himself, looking passed Anko to the retreating Grass-nin. 'I wonder if I could do that with my tongue.' He added, keeping a hand over his cut and sticking out his tongue as far as it would go. Anko smirked at the Grass-nin.
"Seems like everyone here today is quick tempered." She stated when she saw Sakura glare at the grinning Grass-nin before the latter walked back to her team. "Must be something in the air. This is gonna be fun."
'Quick temper?' Naruto asked himself, looking up at Anko with a frown and his hand still over his wound. 'Sheesh! You're the one who threw the kunai at me.' He glared as Anko walked away from him. Sakura walked over to Naruto and bent down to look at his cut.
"You're fine. It's not even worth healing." Sakura told him with a fond smirk on her face as he grinned.
"Before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all." The proctor stated, taking papers out from inside her jacket. "It's just a standard consent form." She assured. "Before the test, all of you are going to have to read over this form, and then sign it."
"What for?" The ever curious Naruto asked her.
"Some of you may not come back from this test, and I have to get your consent to that risk. Other wise it would be my responsibility." Anko laughed although no one else found this funny in the slightest. "Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test. Here, pass these out." She ordered Naruto.
"M'kay." He replied, taking the forms and sighing at the amount. Sakura shook her head and walked up to him.
"Here, I'll give you a hand. Oi, Sasuke! Help us hand these out!" Sakura ordered. The brooding Uchiha rolled his eyes and took a few of the forms from Naruto as team seven began handing out the pieces of paper together. Anko grinned.
"That's a good show of team work, even thought it's a simple task. Well done." She congratulated. Naruto grinned, Sakura rolled her eyes and Sasuke grunted as they continued with their task. "Now, this test will be testing ever one of your survival skills."
'Survival…how troublesome.' Shikamaru sighed mentally.
"Here you go." Sakura said with a smirk, handing him a form. "I just hope that writing your name on the line isn't too troublesome for you." She mused, walking on. Shikamaru smiled a little and read the form.
"First, I'll give you all a description of the terrain of the practice field." She told them, unrolling a scroll that showed a map. "The forty-fourth practice grounds has forty-four locked entrances. There are rivers, and a forest inside. In the centre is a locked tower, located ten kilometres from each gate. It's in this confined area that you'll undergo the survival test."
'Oh boy…this doesn't sound as easy as I thought it would be.' Ino fretted as she clenched and unclenched her hands.
"Ino, take a form." Sakura said, holding out one paper for her. Ino looked up from her panic, ready for any verbal battle with the girl or at least a dirty look from the jutsu she used on her, but was only met with a soft face.
"Umm…th-thanks." Ino said, taking the form.
"Don't worry. You have the skills to pass. As much as I hate to admit it, you are one of the top kunoichi of our graduating class. They want you to panic and make mistakes. Don't let them get to you." Sakura warned. Ino looked shocked. "And…good luck, Pig-face." She smirked before she moved on to the next group of Genin and passed out the papers to them.
"The test consist of," Anko paused, rolling up the scroll and putting it back in her coat. "Anything goes battle. The goal is…to get your hands on these scrolls." She told them. Anko was holding up one black scroll and one white scroll with the words 'heaven' and 'earth' on them respectively.
"Both of them?" Sakura asked her with a frown. 'Man, these exams are way different compared to the ones in Yukigakure.'
"Yes." Anko replied, placing the scrolls in each hand. "You'll be fighting to get both. A Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll. All together, twenty six teams will be taking part in this test. So, half of those teams will be going after the Heaven scroll, and the other half will be trying to get the Earth scroll. I'll hand over one type of scroll to each team and that's what you'll be fighting for."
"Okay, so how do we pass the test?" The Uchiha boy enquired.
"The entire squad must bring both a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll to the tower." Anko told him, thus telling everyone else.
"So only half of us will pass, and that's at the very best." Sakura smirked, liking this test already.
"No one ever said it would be easy." Anko scoffed. "Oh, and one more thing; this test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days." She said calmly, placing the scrolls back into her coat.
"Five days out there?!" Ino cried out in a panic.
"What're we supposed to do for food?!" Choji asked in the same way.
"Just look around. The forest is full of things to eat. There's plenty to feed all of you." Anko told him. Kabuto sighed.
"Yeah, but that's not all the forest has plenty of." He smiled despite himself. "There're plenty of man-eating beasts and poisonous plants in there."
"Oh man." Choji groaned.
"Quiet down. That is why they call it survival, you know." Ino scolded the Akimichi boy.
"That means, with these circumstances, not even half the teams will get a chance to pass the test." Neji realised.
"It is summer. With the days getting longer, the nights are getting shorter, so we have less time to sleep and less time to recover." Lee realised. Sakura scoffed.
"Man-eating beasts and plants are the major population in there and you're thinking about sleeping?" She asked. "No offence, Lee-san, but you have more chance of surviving if you stay awake. It also gives you more opportunities to get a scroll."
"Ah! You are correct, youthful Sakura-san!" Lee gushed, causing Sakura to take a few steps away from him and hide slightly behind Naruto.
"Sakura's right. Will all those threats, there wont be any time to rest, so we have to work in shifts." Sasuke nodded.
"Right. This also tests your abilities to cope behind enemy lines. This is designed to be a gruelling test, and I'm sure that some of you won't be up to the challenge." Anko told them. Shikamaru raised his hand and she looked at him.
"So, um, let's talk about this exam…can we quit?" The Nara boy asked her seriously. Anko frowned at him.
"Of course not." She reprimanded. "In the middle of a battle, you can't say 'sorry, I quit'…well, I guess you could, but it's probably gonna get you killed." The woman laughed.
"Oh, that's just great." Shikamaru said with his arms crossed. "This is gonna be a drag."
"There're also some ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple enough. If a full team can't get to the tower with both scrolls within five days. Number two; if a team loses a member or if a member becomes incapacitated and can't continue. But, most important, none of you, and I mean absolutely none of you, may look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower."
"What if it just happens to flop open and you read it?" Naruto asked in all seriousness. Anko laughed.
"Let me put it to you this way, young man; you…don't…want…to…know, get it?" She explained slowly.
"Argh." Naruto complained.
"There are times on a mission when a ninja will be asked to carry a secret document. The soul rule is to test your integrity." She told them. "Okay, we're done. Each team take your consent forms and exchange them over there for your scrolls." She said, pointing to a desk where three uniformed men were sitting. "After that, each team pick a gate, you you'll be let inside." She sighed. "Oh, and I have one more word of advice. Just don't die!"
Sasuke sighed and walked over to a rock before sitting down, leaning on it and looking around. He saw that the uniformed men were pulling a red curtain around the desk so that no one could see. His left hand, the one holding his form, clenched slightly as he figured everything out.
'I see how it is. We wont see which team has what scroll, so we won't know which of the team members is carrying the scroll and we won't know who to go after.' Sasuke noted to himself. 'Stealing information is really a matter of life or death…it's just like Ibiki said. Everyone is equally determined to pass, and all of them are my enemies.'
"Hey you! The one with the chicken-butt on his head." A deep voice called to him. Sasuke turned and stood up when he saw foreign ninja not too far from him.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
[--
Meanwhile, a little ways off from Sasuke-chan, Sakura was walking along while reading over her form. She frowned and looked up, checking to area for the Yuki-nin, but had no such luck. Sighing, Sakura looked back at her form.
"Well, well, well." A girl's voice from in front of her called. Sakura looked up and saw Ino with her team.
"Hey, Ino-pig." Sakura greeted politely. Ino nodded back with a smirk and Shikamaru and Choji were confused, to say the least.
"Hey, Ino, what's going on?" Shikamaru asked. Ino smiled at Sakura slightly before rolling her eyes and looking at her pineapple-haired team mate.
"Shikamaru, it's nothing. Sakura-san just offered me some useful advice, and it's really help. Thanks, Sakura-san." Ino bowed.
"No problem. But, don't think we're gonna get along from now on, Boar-face." She mocked.
"Grrrr! I'll have you know that I'm considered to be very sexy!" Ino defended herself.
"Yes, but people who are very desperate." Sakura smirked back. "You'd be sexier if you had just come out of a blender."
"Sticks and stone may break my bones, but silly words can't hurt me, forehead girl." The blonde snorted.
"Sticks and stones will break your bones? Well, sticks and stones it is then." Sakura retorted, throwing a stone at her head.
"Stop it, Poindexter!"
"Make me, Sasquatch!"
"Maybe I will, Pink-stink."
"You know why people think you're bright before you talk? Because light travels faster than sound, blondie."
"Are you calling me dumb, billboard brow!?"
"Yes!"
"Here's 104¥ (about 40p in Britain), go call all your friends and bring back the change."
"Have you considered suing your brains for non-support?"
"Hi! I'm a human being! What're you?"
"Any similarities between you and a human are purely coincidental."
"I'd like to see things from your point of view but I can't seem to get my head that far up me ass!"
"Everyone has a right to be ugly, but you're abusing that privilege, Ino-pig."
"If we were to kill everybody who hates you, it wouldn't be murder; it would be genocide!"
"I'd like to leave you with one thought...but I'm not sure you have anywhere to put it!"
The girls glared electricity into each others eyes before huffing and walking in separate direction. Shikamaru and Choji just stood, still and scared, as the girls fought and left.
"Man, I am so glad they didn't turn on us." Shikamaru sighed in relief.
"Why do they hate each other so much?" Choji, who got so scared that he actually dropped his chips, asked his friend.
"Feh, who cares?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically. "Like I have time to worry about that stuff."
[--
Naruto was walking along, reading over his form alone. As he walked further from the others, a different form can into view, but this one was that of a human. His good friend Hinata was leaning against a tree, looking over her form with her clear lavender eyes.
"Hey, Hinata-chan! What're you doing all the way out here?" Naruto asked her as he came closer. Hinata looked up and smiled with a small blush painted across her face.
"Na-Naruto-k-kun! I was j-just…u-um…n-nothing." She stuttered, looking around. "Wh-Where is Sa-Sakura-chan?"
"She wanted to be left alone to read over her form, but then she found Ino and the two going into another fight. I left when Sakura-chan started throwing sticks and stones at Ino." Naruto shrugged. "Where's dog-breath and bug-boy?"
"O-Oh…Sh-Shino-kun is a-also l-looking over his f-form alone and K-Kiba-kun is pro-probably s-somewhere near Sa-Sakura-chan." Hinata replied with a smile.
"Man, I wish Sakura-chan would just tell Kiba-teme to get lost. I hate it when he's near her and she just acts like its nothing." The blonde boy pouted. Hinata nodded in half-agreement.
"Oh! Y-Your cut…I…I h-have th-this…" She trailed off, holding up a pot of healing cream, but Naruto wasn't really paying attention.
"Well, anyway, see you later." He bid, waving as he walked off. Hinata watched him go with a small frown.
'Our friendship was fine before you came along, Naruto.' She thought to herself. 'Now she spends more time with you than anyone else.' The girl frowned, but looked back to her form after putting the cream back into her pocket.
"Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked when he saw his rival surrounded by Yuki-nin. 'No way…it can't be them…can it?' He rushed over to were they were standing, joining Sasuke's side against the strangers.
[--
"So, blondie is here too, huh?" The boy with the red shirt on smirked at Naruto and Sasuke. He tilted his hat up and they saw snowy white bangs and forest green eyes. The other two also tilted their hats to reveal harlequin green hair and maroon eyes.
"Who are you guys?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed voice.
"Onii-san?" A female voice from behind then whisper. The one with white hair turned.
"Sakura-chan!" He gasped. Naruto and Sasuke-snapped their heads towards the girl and, sure enough, they saw her pink hair, green eyes and the jumper tied around her waist. The boy she called 'onii-san' ran and hugged her tightly, and Sakura returned the hug.
"You know this guy?" Sasuke asked her. Sakura nodded.
"By what she called you, I'm guessing that you're Juhi." Naruto stated with a frown. "Her older brother, right?"
"How do you know that, Naruto?" Sasuke glared. Naruto just shrugged.
"She told me, sort of." The blonde replied.
"You gonna run off again, Sakura-chan?" One of the twins asked her with a sad smile.
"No way, Taiyoo. I was just shocked yesterday, that's all. I mean, it's been four years, and I thought that you'd forgotten about me." She confessed with a small smile. Naruto and Sasuke could only gape, for neither had seen her truly smile before.
"Forget you?" The other twin asked in shock. "How can I forget you when I have so many of the scars you gave me still in tact? In fact, I think I still have that bruise you gave me when I said that your aim was suckish."
"Tsuki!" Sakura whined. Naruto winced.
'So…this is the guy I'm always compared to, huh?' He wondered bitterly to himself. 'And that means that the other one is the one Sasuke's always compared to.'
"Sasuke, Naruto, this is Hoshi Tsuki, Hoshi Taiyoo and Haruno Juhi. Juhi-nii-san, Tsuki and Taiyoo, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. No more trying to kill each other." Sakura ordered. Tsuki rolled his eyes and looked at his twin, seeing the latter nod.
"Ne, Sakura-chan?" Tsuki called.
"Hm?" She replied. Tsuki grinned widely, as did Taiyoo, as they both put their mouths close to her ears.
"You've gotten really, really hot." They whispered to her at the same time, making Sakura turn red.
"Guys! You haven't changed one bit!" She complained. "Quit picking on me!"
They chatted more and caught up with each other for another ten minutes, with Naruto and Sasuke popping a question every now and then and Taiyoo, Tsuki and Juhi snapping rude comments and insults at the two they thought of a replacements. Sakura, of course, told them off every time they did so and informed them that Naruto and Sasuke were friends and team mates, not replacements. However, their chatter stopped when the red curtain was pulled back slightly and a man looked out to all the Genin.
"We will now be handing out scrolls." He stated, going back behind the curtain. All of the Genin got moving to collect their scroll as fast as they could and get back to their team to pick a gate.
"We'll see you after the test, Sakura-chan." The twins told her together.
"Not if I get your scroll, you wont." Sakura teased. The Yuki-nin laughed and walked towards the curtain, coming back out five minutes later and going to find a gate.
'I wonder if any of them will survive this…' Anko thought with a grin.
Team seven walked behind the curtain and Naruto handed the men their consent forms with a large smile. Sakura, who was standing on his left, rested her elbow on his shoulder while Sasuke just brooded. The man looked at the forms and nodded handing Naruto a Heaven scroll.
'Heh, we are so gonna win this.' The blonde cheered mentally, trying not to think about the Yuki-nin, or at least to only hope for the exams to end fast so that they would leave.
Anko looked at her watch as two o'clock rolled around. When it did, she smiled her big grin and raised her head to see all of the Genin, but no scrolls. They were all hidden somewhere on one of the team members, so that no one else would see it.
"Okay, you maggots, listens up. All of the teams have received their scrolls so go to your gates and wait there. When the gates open, the test is on!" She cheered.
[--
Team Eight—consisting of the bug-nin, Aburame Shino, the dog-nin, Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru, and the shy-nin, Hyuuga Hinata—stood at Gate 16. There was one guard with them and they each had different ideas of how this phase of the test would end.
"Yahoo! We rock at survival! There's no way we can lose!" Kiba cheered as he petted Akamaru. "Hinata, you better be strong for this." He warned good heartedly as Hinata looked up.
"R-Right." She muttered, looking back down at the ground. 'Sakura-chan wouldn't have said that. She believes in my skills. So, why don't my own team?'
[--
Team Ten—made up of Nara Shikamaru, the shadow-nin, Akimichi Choji, the food-nin, and Yamanaka Ino, the…other-nin—stood at Gate 27. They also had one guard in front of them, but none of them were as pumped for the test as Kiba. In fact, Shikamaru didn't stop complaining.
"This test may cost us our lives. What a drag." He sighed. "But, since we have to do it, let's just go after Naruto first." The lazy boy smirked as Choji went through his pouches, checking he had all his food.
"Chips; check. Chocolate cake; check. Yum-yum bar; check. Oooh, that's tasty!" He drooled as Ino just looked at him with a raised brow.
[--
Finally, at Gate 12, stood Team Seven. The loud, the brooder and the mysterious. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Yet another guard stood with them and Naruto was cheering for the team's success, even thought the outcome of the test was unknown.
"Yeah! Dattebayo!" The blonde yelled. "You bring it on, enemy ninja dude person! I'll just send it back twice as hard!" He claimed, punching the air and putting on his pouty 'fighting face'.
'CHA! That's right!' Inner agreed as Sakura swung her arm around Naruto's shoulder, humming her own agreement. Sasuke did nothing but glare at the red-faced Naruto and then give the patented 'Uchiha glare' to the Forest of Death.
[--
At gate 20, the sound nin—Dosu, butt-grabber and long-hair—stood in confidence.
"Hm. The time has come to carry out our orders." Dosu mused.
[--
Gate 38 was the entry way to Kabuto and his team.
[--
Gate 6 stationed Temari, Kankuro and Gaara.
'Not only do I have to deal with the punks on the other teams, but I'll also be with Gaara, and he might try to kill me.' Kankuro worried.
[--
At gate 15, the woman from Grass was waiting with her own team.
"We should target the rookies first. They're easy prey!" One of her team mates stated in a strangled voice.
"We'll get the scroll from them in no time. Anything goes, right?" She added humorously.
[--
Number 41 was where you would find Lee, Neji and Tenten, waiting in complete boredom for the gates to open.
'Gai-sensei! I will make you proud!' Lee thought confidently with fire burning in his eyes. 'Just watch! Soon, everyone will know the name Rock Lee and Sakura-san will be in love with me!'
[--
The guard at Gate 12 with Team Seven unlocked the padlock holding the gate closed and looked at his watch. It was just a few seconds until three o'clock, when the test would formally begin.
[--
"Alright, heads up, you lousy maggots! The second part of the test has begun!" Anko stated.
[--
Gates all over the training ground swung open and the ninja waiting on the other side leapt into the trees or ran across the ground.
"You know who we're looking for." The woman from Grass stated.
"Yeah, those three brats." Her team mate grinned.
"Blondie, Brooder and Pinkie!"
[--
"Alright! Here we go, guy!" Naruto cheered.
[--
Temari, Kankuro and Gaara jumped through the trees, keeping their eyes and senses peeled for any enemy ninja.
[--
Shikamaru, Choji and Ino jumped in a line through the trees. The Nara boy went first, landing on a branch and pushing himself off, then the Akimichi, who did the same, and finally Ino.
[--
Kiba, Shino and Hinata landed on the forest floor in a circle. The Inuzuka had Akamaru perched on his head and he was the first to speak.
"Okay, the first thing we need to do is to find the scroll we need." He stated. "Are you ready, Hinata?" He asked. Hinata nodded and placed her hands in the seal for Bird.
"Byakugan." She called as veins of chakra surrounded her eyes, as well as a few appearing around her non-existent pupil.
[--
Lee, Tenten and Neji jumped over branches and through leave, with Lee in the lead, then Neji just behind him and Tenten bringing up the rear.
"Take it easy, Lee. The test has only just begun." Neji warned his over-enthusiastic team mate.
"That may be, but still…" Lee stated, getting Neji's attention. "Whoever our enemies are, I want to find them before they find us." He claimed, moving even faster than before.
[--
"We have one main target. Stay focused on him." Dosu told his team as they jumped onwards. "If we can get to the other one, that's fine, but he is the one we must find first. The other one is said to be mostly corrupt by someone else's teachings, anyway and is only a last resort."
"Right." Zaku and the girl nodded.
[--
Shikamaru and Ino looked out from behind the trees they were hiding near and, after checking that the coast was clear, they stepped into full view.
"Ugh! Are you kidding? What're you doing?" Ino asked her big-boned team mate as he sat at the foot of a tree, opening a bag of chips.
"Just having a snack." He stated, taking a handful of chips. "I mean, I've gotta keep my strength up, don't I?" He asked innocently before shoving the chips into his mouth one at a time and at great speed.
"We haven't even been out here for five minutes." Ino complained.
"Yeah, come on, Choji." Shikamaru prompted. "We have a job to do."
"I can't help it. I gotta eat." He told them, turning around on his butt so he was facing away from his thin team. "This is my favourite flavour."
"You and your snacks." Ino whined. "This is a survival test, you know, Choji. You should have packed more kunai and less candy."
"Guys, quick, hide." Shikamaru ordered when he heard a noise. Team Ten quickly jumped into the bushes, away from view. Three Rain ninja landed in the clearing and looked around. 'Oh no.' Shikamaru thought, spying stray chips on the ground from Choji's bag. One of the ninja made a signal to the others and they jumped away.
"Phew." Ino sighed in relief, getting off of the ground.
'Oh man. I've got to deal with five more days of this?' Shikamaru groaned mentally. 'How troublesome.'
[--
Three ninja from Cloud landed on a branch, not too far away from Team Eight, who were talking very loudly. They listened to the words.
"Okay, so we have to get the other scroll and head to the tower in the end." Kiba stated loudly with a smirk. "I say we lay a trap near here and just take the scroll off whoever we catch." He said as Akamaru sniffed slightly and whined. "Well, well, we've got company."
"Hm?" Hinata voiced as she and Shino looked up a Kiba.
"Heh, bunch of fools. Just standing out in the open like they actually wanna get caught." One of the Cloud shinobi mused.
"Well, it seems they felt out presence, but they're such lame ninja that they can't even pinpoint our location." His team mate stated in an amused tone.
"Hey, what's in your shirt?" The third asked when he saw the shirt of the first begin to move. The collar fell down to show a large, maroon coloured slug-like bug with two dark crimson stripes on it's back, going from it's head to it's tail.
"Ugh, what is that thing?" The second asked in disgust. A rain of more of them fell from the canopy and hit the Cloud ninja, who cried out in pain as the giant leaches—for that is what they turned out to be—sucked their blood through their skin.
"Well, it seems that the leeches found them." Kiba mused. "You gotta love how they seek body temperature and once they've found it they swoop down from above to capture their prey. Then, within five minutes, it's all over. These predators are smart. We've taken advantage of their instincts to trap our enemies." He smirked at the fallen ninja, who had bugs all over them.
"G-Get off me." One of the ordered in a weak voice. He then noticed a wire by his arm and, when he lifted his arms and accidentally pulled the wire, him and his team were lifted from the ground in a net.
"There's one team down…or rather up." Kiba smirked.
[--
Outside the forest, Anko was looking inside with her lips turned in a grin at the sound of screaming already.
"Hm, it sounds like the fun has begun." She mused.
[--
Others who heard the scream were Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. They turned and looked in the direction it came from, all a bit on edge since they stepped into the forest.
"Aww shit." Sakura sighed. "I do not like this place." She confessed.
"Oh, come on. It's nothing to be scared of, Sakura-chan. It's gonna be a piece of cake." He assured her. the boy stood in silence for a few seconds before turning and running to the nearest tree. "Excuse me for a second. I really gotta…you know." He told them, beginning to unzip his trousers.
"AH! Baka! Don't do that here!" Sakura complained.
"Why not?" Naruto asked. he took three seconds to realise what made Sakura different from him and Sasuke, in the form of looking from her slightly pink face to her red-and-fishnet-clad chest. "S-Sorry, Sakura-chan!" He stuttered, turning bright red. The boy then zipped up the small amount he had undone and left to find a bush or a different tree.
—
Three minutes later, Naruto came back with a big grin, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oh man, that was a lot. I wrote my whole name." He laughed.
"Ewwwwwwww." Sakura whispered. She then noticed something out of the ordinary about Naruto and her eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to take action, Sasuke punched the blonde across the face, sending him flying into a tree.
"What the heck was that all about?" Naruto asked, wiping his mouth free of a trail of blood and dodging when Sasuke tried to kick him.
Sakura frowned, noticing the minor change in attitude, and kicked the boy's chin, sending up into the bottom of a thick branch, where Sasuke kicked his chest and sent him crumpling to the ground. Naruto got up slowly and rubbed his chest.
"Are you guys nuts?" He asked. "What's up with you?"
"Yeah, you wish. We just attacked before you could." Sasuke grunted, taking a kunai and leaping forwards.
"Alright then, bring it on!" Naruto accepted, taking out his own kunai and parrying with Sasuke's blow.
"Sakura!" Sasuke called. The pinkette nodded and jumped forwards with a kick, hitting Naruto to the ground. Sasuke went in for his own hit, but Sakura did too and they hit each other across the small clearing, hitting their backs into trees.
"Back off, Sasuke!" Sakura growled.
"That was your fault!" Sasuke yelled back. "Oh, forget it!" He cried, getting up and launching at Naruto. Sakura glared and did the same as both drew kunai and Naruto had to jump back to avoid the hits.
"Talk!" Sakura demanded.
"What've you done with Naruto?" Sasuke asked firmly.
"What? What do you mean? I am Naruto!" He said desperately.
"Then where's the cut on your cheek?" Sasuke glared. 'Naruto's' eyes widened as he realised his mistake.
"I guess you didn't know that the real Naruto got a cut on his face before this test." Sakura smirked. "And you also have your shuriken holster on your left leg, not your right."
"But the real Naruto is right-handed. You're transformation skill is worse than Naruto's!" Sasuke accused. "Tell me who you are!" He demanded as a cloud of smoke covered Naruto. When it cleared, it showed a ninja from Rain in a full white bodysuit, a gas mask and goggles with his hair spiked and his Hatei-ate around his forehead.
"Alright, you got me. So what? I'm still gonna take your scroll. Now, hand it over, or else." He threatened the duo. "So, which one of you has it…I wonder…"
"Get lost." Sakura grunted, holding three senbon in each hand.
"Fine. I suppose I'll have to take you both on!" He charged. Sasuke and Sakura got ready, but neither could help but feel a bit of doubt.
'I can't work with Sasuke! Our team work sucks!' Sakura thought, looking over at her dark-haired team mated.
'Damn! Sakura and I would most likely knock each other out before this guy get the chance. What're we gonna do?' Sasuke asked himself, locking eyes with the pinkette. Something clicked in their heads and they both smirked.
Eat or Be Eaten: Panic in the Forest
Sakura sat on the floor in a meditating stance with her legs crossed as Sasuke jumped up into the air, rapidly performing hand seals. He moved his hand to his mouth and called out his ninjutsu name.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" The Uchiha boy yelled, sending balls of fire at the Rain-nin. He dodged them and ran at Sakura, who had her eyes closed and was muttering under her breath. Sasuke growled and threw a shuriken at the man, causing him to switch targets, jump up and parry his kunai with Sasuke's.
They jumped away from each other and landed on branches of separate trees, Sasuke clenching his teeth from the force of the knock-back. His pink haired team mate's eyes snapped open and she looked right up at the dark Uchiha. He saw that her eyes were grey, meaning that it was Emotionless and one or more of the other emotions were out already.
"I found him!" She called, pointing to where Naruto was. "Happy and Depressed are with him! You take care of the Rain-nin while I help Naruto-kun!" Emotionless ordered, not noticing the slip of suffix on the end of Naruto's name.
"Fine." Sasuke yelled, hitting the Rain-nin in the direction Sakura ran to help Naruto.
"HEY! GET ME OUTTA HERE!" The Uchiha boy heard Naruto yell as he saw the blonde wriggling like a worm in his ropes. He was about to help him, but Sasuke saw Happy and Depressed running to his sides as Anger and Rage took on the Rain-nin's team mates.
"Baka." Emotionless rolled her eyes as she cut the rope.
"Thank you." Naruto smiled, getting up and tossing the rope aside.
"You better keep you mind on the game!" Sasuke's opponent scolded as he turned and threw three kunai in Sasuke's direction. The latter jumped down from the branch he was perched on and held onto the side with chakra in his hands as the weapons lodged themselves into the wood.
"Kuso!" He hissed, seeing the explosive note on the kunai. It exploded, but Sasuke jumped away just in time. He landed on the ground on his hands on toes, rising slowly into a crawling position. Before he could stand, the Rain-nin was behind him with a kunai at his throat and Sasuke's eyes were wide in shock.
"Sorry; this is one test you fail." The Rain-nin mocked without a drip of sympathy in his tone. "Now, hand over the scroll or you die." He threatened. Rage paused and growled, jumping away from her current opponent as Depressed took her place.
"RRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" She roared, charging at the Rain-nin with three shuriken in each hand. The girl launched them at him and Sasuke smirked as he swept to the side to dodge, only to have to jump up when a kunai landed in the ground where he once was. Naruto jumped down from the branch he had thrown the kunai from and Rage burst into red butterflies, landing on and sinking into Emotionless.
"Oh no, you don't!" Naruto yelled as the ninja landed a little way off from both him and Sasuke.
'Well, well…better late than never, I guess.' Sasuke thought to himself as he used his chakra to pick up a kunai with the sole of his foot. He kicked and launched it up into the tree, where the Rain-nin he was fighting had jumped. His eyes flashed with the Sharingan.
Sasuke jumped up as the ninja span to avoid the kunai, but was too late to see the speed of the Uchiha. The latter was next to him, a kunai planted firmly in the Rain-nin's shoulder. He hazard a look around and saw Anger burst into a flock of purple butterflies, sinking into Emotionless and leaving the grey-eyed girl to fight off two ninja with her dark-blue-eyed counterpart, Depression. Happy saw this and helped them.
The ninja all shared a look and the three Rain-nin jumped off into the trees, each of them careful with their new injuries. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura's remaining emotions all landed on the forest floor. Happy and Depression burst into orange and blue butterflies, entering Emotionless and causing her eyes to swirl into green as Sakura sighed in tiredness from using her blood-line limit again so soon after using it to cheat on the test.
"Well, that was a waste of time." Naruto stated. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw a kunai lodged into a tree and a burning piece of paper attached to it. He looked around and saw at least seven more.
"Explosive notes!" He called out. "Come on!"
"You guys go! I'll take try to lessen the explosion!" Sakura told them, standing weakly on her shaky legs.
"Sakura-chan! You're weaker that usual!" Naruto cried in panic.
"GO!" She roared. Sasuke scowled and grabbed Naruto's collar, taking him as far from the bomb as he could in the short amount of time he had before the bombs went off. Sakura breathed in and sent out her green chakra, forming a dome around her and all the notes she could sense. The explosion was large and she was the only one around to experience it.
[--
Sasuke and Naruto landed some way from the explosion in just enough time to hear a loud 'BOOM'. The blonde choked on a muffled sob, worried and fearing the worst for his pink-haired friend. Sasuke just glared at the ground and sat down, pulling Naruto down to sit opposite him.
"That proves that we can't trust appearances." Sasuke told him solemnly, his head bowed towards the ground. "After seeing that Sakura's missing, some of the teams might even try to impersonate her or something."
"So?" Naruto growled.
"We need to come up with a way of knowing that each of us is who we say we are, and not some impostor using a transformation jutsu." He told the blonde. Naruto nodded.
"Makes sense, I guess." He grunted.
"Okay. The password will be a question, to which only you, me and Sakura would know the answer. We don't trust anyone who doesn't know it…no matter what." Sasuke informed him.
"But…what if Sakura-chan doesn't know it?" Naruto scowled at him.
"She will." Sasuke assured. "Okay, listen closely, because I only wanna say this once. The question will be; 'When does a ninja strike?' and then the response is; 'A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike.' Got it?" Sasuke asked him.
"You got one…a little shorter?" Naruto asked lamely.
"No, Naruto." Sasuke sighed. "That's it. Are you too dumb to even memorise that?"
"No! I just thought it was gonna be a password, not a pass-speech." He rolled his eyes. "Now, come on. We gotta find Sakura-chan."
"Right…I'll take the scroll." Sasuke told him.
"Wait a minute, Sasuke, I—AHH!" Naruto cried as a sound passed his ear, causing an ache to develop. "What was that?" He asked as he and Sasuke looked towards a wide cave behind them. Five seconds later, a blast of wind erupted from the cave.
"What is it now?!" Sasuke yelled over the roaring wind. He and Naruto placed charka in their feet to keep them upright. The wind stopped and dust rose from the force, causing Naruto and Sasuke to split up. The wind cleared and revealed three ninja from Grass. The woman from earlier with the long tongue and her two team mates.
"Alright. You two fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open. I'll handle this alone." The woman commanded, looking around. Sasuke was hiding in a bush to the side. A noise form behind him caused him to get up and turn around, but all he saw was Naruto.
"Naruto." He groaned in frustration.
"Teme…what the hell was that?" Naruto asked grumpily.
"Stop!" Sasuke threatened, holding out a kunai. First; answer the question. When does a ninja strike?"
"Right…a ninja strikes…before lunch and after a bathroom break with something to do with night and a weapon shoved up his butt and ramen on his head." Naruto nodded, happy with his remembrance of the password. Sasuke rolled his eyes and lowered his weapons.
"Yep, that's Naruto, all right." He muttered. Another noise was made, but this one from the tree above them. The boys looked up in just enough time to see their pink-haired team mate jump out of the tree looking in better condition that when she told them to leave.
"Sup, guys?" She smirked.
"WAIT!" Naruto yelled. "We have a password for you to answer!" He told her, pointing a finger in her direction.
"Okay, shoot." Sakura shrugged.
"When does a ninja strike?" The blonde asked.
"Easy. A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike." She told them, tilting her head. Sasuke relaxed and was about to speak when Naruto threw a kunai at her and she dodged.
"Oi! Are you nuts?" Sasuke asked his team mate with a scowl.
"Yeah! You could've killed me!" She pouted, crossing her arms.
"I have to admit, you're quicker than the last one." Naruto congratulated grudgingly.
"What? But, she said the password perfectly." Sasuke disagreed.
"Exactly, that's what's wrong." Naruto told him.
"What?" Sasuke asked as the Sakura in front of them came closer, but again had to dodge a kunai.
"Sakura-chan and I were talking before the first exam. We said that if we got separated and I assed for a password, she would ignore whatever question I asked and just say 'Naruto for Hokage and Sakura is a Hime in disguise'." Naruto grinned.
"Right." Sasuke nodded. 'Man, these two are a perfect team. Naruto may be an idiot, but when he and Sakura work together, not even that is a draw back.' He frowned. 'And then Sakura and I are like oil and water.'
"Okay, who are you! I know that's not Sakura-chan! Dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. 'Sakura' grinned widely and a snake-like tongue passed her lips, licking them.
"Aren't we the clever one." She said in the voice that belonged to the woman from Grass. A loud bang and a big cloud of smoke covered Sakura's impersonator, clearing to reveal the Grass-nin, in her black and tan outfit with a big purple bow around her waist and a conical hat perched on her head.
"I knew it." Naruto muttered while the woman grinned.
"Tell me, if your team mate knew a different password, why did you let your other team mate make up a password that you would never remember anyway?" The woman questioned as Naruto grinned.
"Because, Sakura-chan told me not to tell anyone the password, not even Sasuke-teme. It was our safety code, not his. We may be a team, but there are many things that Sakura-chan and I share that we leave Sasuke in the dark about. The code, training sessions and my ever favourite Saturday dates." Naruto grinned, a boyish twinkle in his eyes.
"I'm impressed." She smiled, extending her 's' like a snake would. "I would have assumed that you were the dumb one of your trio, but it seems that Sakura-chan makes up for that."
"Don't you dare call her that!" Naruto yelled. The woman smiled again.
"But it's what I always called her." She shrugged.
"Wh…What do you mean?" Naruto asked slowly. The woman ignored him and turned to a scowling Sasuke.
"Well, you certainly haven't dropped your guard, have you?" She mused with a glint of mischief in her eye. "This promises to be very entertaining indeed." The woman grinned, licking her lips with her long tongue.
'So…if Sakura-chan isn't here…where is she?' Naruto thought, on the verge of running off to finder her. 'But, then again, would I find her or a corpse?' He wondered humourlessly.
"Naruto." Sasuke called to him quietly.
"What?" Naruto replied, not taking his eyes off of the woman.
"Go and find Sakura. Make sure she's okay. I got this." He told the blonde as he analyzed his opponent. Without another word, Naruto nodded and jumped up into a branch.
"On no, you don't." The woman hummed as she preformed a jutsu and sent Naruto flying. Now it was just her and Sasuke.
[--
"Unum." Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes. He was currently upside down with his butt pressed against the trunk of a tree. "Okay, up-see-daisy." He muttered as he twisted himself into a sitting position, not upright again. "Huh?" He asked himself, looking around. "Damn, she got me with her jutsu!" He scolded himself.
His anger was cut short when a shadow covered him and a hissing sound was heard. Naruto's mouth hung open as he looked up and saw a gold and brown scaled snake with golden eyes and a fork tongue. It was curled up, but at least three-times the size of the tree Naruto was crouched in front of.
"That is one…big…snake!" He yelled in fear. The snake came closer and Naruto narrowed his eyes. It dove for him, ready to make the blonde his next meal, but Naruto jumped away too fast. However, the snake wasn't dumb and it was able to catch Naruto, constricting him in a spiral of scales and tightening its grip. Naruto yelled out as the snake took him into its mouth and swallowed him in one bite.
[--
The woman took a scroll out of her back pocket and saw Sasuke twitch, wanting to run and grab it but being smart enough to stay put in the face of a stronger enemy. She smirked in realisation that she had the opposite scroll to his Heaven scroll. She had the Earth scroll he needed.
"Ahhhhhhhhh." She said in enlightenment. "You want to get your hands on my Earth scroll, don't you? it would go so nicely with your Heaven scroll, right?" She asked, licking the scroll. She then lifted it to her pale, thin lips where she proceeded in wrapping her tongue around it and pushing it slowly into her open mouth. She swallowed and held her hand over her face.
"No way." Sasuke shook his head.
"Well, when this is all over, one of us will have both scrolls." She claimed as Sasuke gasped. "And the other will be dead." The woman continued, looking up and pulling on the bottom eyelid of one of her snake-like eyes.
Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt pain spreading through his whole body at a rapid pace. He saw a kunai heading for him, but all he could do was kneel there with his mouth open, the kunai planted firmly in his forehead.
Outside of the genjutsu, Sasuke's posture was the same, but without the kunai. He fell back without breathing, as if truly dead, when he was freed from the genjutsu and regained his senses. Sasuke took slow, steady breaths as he gulped and crouched on his toes.
'Is this an illusion?' He asked himself as he hunched forwards and threw up the contents of his stomach. 'No…it's more than that. Her thirst for blood is almost suffocating. The look in her eyes…I saw the moment of my own death.' He realised in fear. 'Who is she…what is she?' Trying to get up, Sasuke's feet slipped and he fell on his butt, only his hands stopping him from falling over completely. As he struggled, the Grass-nin did nothing but watch.
[--
"Let…me…out…of…here!" Naruto's voice could be heard from a lump in the snake's body as it slithered along a branch. "I'll make you sorry you ever swallowed me you-!" He yelled as he stabbed at the snake's insides with his kunai. "Let me out!" The blonde cried. "Hey, wait a second." He said, reaching into his pouch. "Wouldn't you rather have this? I was saving this rice ball for lunch."
Naruto pulled a rice ball out from his pack and held it loosely in his hand as he was squished by the snake and covered further in its digestive juices. The ball slipped from his hand and rolled away from him, getting covered in the same stuff as Naruto was. He watched as the rice ball dissolved into nothing.
"Wha-?! It's all gone!" He cried in panic. "And I'll be digested just like that in another minute!" The boy noted as he was pushed further towards the tail of the snake. "No! Let me out! Someone get me out of here!"
[--
Sasuke sat on the ground, shaking as he looked at the laughing woman in front of him. He gulped and wished that he hadn't told Naruto to leave in the first place, and that he didn't run as soon as the woman released her hold on Sakura's appearance. Now he was alone and at the mercy of this woman. The woman who rivalled death at his game.
"You're paralyzed with fear." She mused evilly.
'What's wrong with me?' Sasuke asked himself as he tried to get up, to shift his weight, anything! 'Come on…move, Sasuke, move!' He willed his body, but it didn't listen. With a slow movement, his shaking hand went to his leg pouch and pulled out a kunai. 'Yes! That's right.' He continued as he got up slowly and stood in front of the ninja, no longer shaking as much as he was before.
"Very good." The woman mocked with a sinister smile. "Now what happens?" She asked as Sasuke's eyes widened.
'It's no use! I…can't…move.' He grunted in his mind as he watched the woman step closer.
"Don't worry. I'll make it quick." She promised, taking two kunai from her hip pouch. "But I don't have to tell you that, do I? You've seen what I'll do with your own eyes." She stopped a few feet from him as he shook even more. "I expected you to be more of a challenge…how disappointing." She sighed as she lazily threw the kunai at him, aiming for right in between the eyes.
[--
"I can't believe it." Naruto muttered as he was further crushed by the snake's insides. "Is this really how it ends?" He asked, remembering the few people who actually showed him anything besides loathing.
An image of Iruka entered his mind.
"Iruka-sensei…"
The Hokage was the next one he thought of.
"Old man Hokage…"
Then the brat who called him boss.
"Konohamaru…"
Next was his sensei.
"Kakashi-sensei…"
An image of Sasuke came to mind.
"Well, some people I'll miss less than others."
Finally, pink hair and green eyes entered his thoughts. A smile, that one he had only seen on her face when she saw her brother and the twins.
"I'll never see that smile…not directed at me. Sakura-chan was always there when no one else was. She stood up for me, trained with me, and even helped me get stronger…even though she said that I should keep that as a surprise for now…Hey, wait! I can't give up! Sakura-chan believes in me! I know she does!
"And Sasuke…I never proved to Sakura-chan that I'm better than him! I can't just go out without shower her that! Sasuke-teme is my rival and I will beat him! That's it! I'm outta here! Whether Slither-puss likes it, or not!" Naruto yelled.
[--
"So, that's how it is." The woman from Grass smirked as she looked at the empty space in front of her and the kunai lodged in the wood. Putting away her second, unused kunai, a bird sounded above her.
[--
Sasuke breathed deeply as he held his kunai in his leg. That was how he had fully undone the genjutsu, since it was the only way he knew how without getting the user to stop. He gritted his teeth, wondering what was taking Naruto so long and whether Sakura was alive or not.
[--
"A desperate move…but a clever one." The woman mused, looking at the blood on the floor in front of her.
-
She sighed as she lazily threw the kunai at him, aiming for right in between the eyes.
'Move, Sasuke…move!' The Uchiha continued to tell himself. His eyes widened, as did the eyes of the woman in front of him as he swung his kunai-holding arm and drove the kunai into his thigh. This broke him from the after-effects of the genjutsu in enough time to activate his Sharingan and move himself out of the path of the kunai. Sasuke jumped away from the Grass-nin as fast as he could.
'He overcame the fear with pain.' The woman noted
-
"So…this prey is not so helpless after all." She mused in her own thoughts of the entertainment Sasuke's fight would give her.
[--
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called as more and more clones developed inside the snake. The lump in the snake got bigger and bigger until it exploded and the clones came pouring out. "Sorry, but you picked the wrong shinobi." Naruto told the snake's head. "I'm gonna be Hokage some day. If you think I'm gonna be a pile of snake-waste in the woods, you're not only scrambled-snake, but you're crazy scrambled snake."
[--
Sasuke gritted his teeth as he ripped the kunai out of his leg and covered his pain-filled cry with a wince. He dropped the kunai next to him and applied pressure around his wound. It made the cut hurt more, but it lessened the bleeding.
'I gotta move. I gotta get away from her!' Sasuke panicked. 'But how do I do it and…WHERE do I go?!' He screamed in his mind, unable to think clearly under all this pressure. His senses screamed at him last-minute and he only just managed to avoid getting eaten by a giant snake.
"Unbelievable." He grunted as he jumped away. "I didn't even notice a giant snake…I'm losing it!" Sasuke carried on through the air as the snake curled around a tree and launched towards him again. This time, however, he not only saw the snake, but the Grass-nin's face. "No! Stay away!" He cried, throwing kunai at it and killing the snake.
He landed on a think tree branch, panting and shaking. Blood trailed down his leg slowly from the wound and he gasped. Near the snake's head, the body was cracking and something was rising up from inside it.
"I sense your fear and desperation." The Grass-nin's voice sounded as the purple bow of her outfit showed from inside the snake. She rose further until she was full out, but her face was shadowed. "It's only natural. The pray must never let down it's guard, not even for a moment," The woman lifted her head to show a feral, predatory grin. "In the presence of it's predator!" She laughed manically.
She leapt forwards her twisted her own body around the tree in the same way the snake did, licking her lips as she got closer and closer to were Sasuke was perched. The latter yelled out in pure fear. It was that moment that kunai sailed towards the woman, finding themselves stuck above her head.
"Looks like I came just in time!" Naruto yelled from the direction the kunai came from. Sasuke and the woman turned to look at him, as he stood with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.
"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke called. Naruto's grin became a scowl. He had not had the chance to find her with the snake attack and having to come and save Sasuke. He just hoped that she was okay.
[--
Sakura coughed as she sat up, her body covered in cuts, bruises and scrapes from the bomb. Another cough erupted from her throat and her head was light. She felt incredibly dizzy, but was determined to find Naruto and Sasuke soon. So, Sakura stood on weak legs and stumbled a little, holding a tree for support.
"I hope they got away." She whispered to herself, pushing her body off of the tree and tripping over her feet. She fell on the ground, her back facing the sky, with frustration building in her small form. "Man…I haven't been this weak since I was a baby."
"That's true." An amused voice called from above her. A thump echoed in her throbbing head as the man picked her up as gently as he could and sat her down with her bruised back leaning against a tree.
"Thanks." She sighed as the man seemed surprised.
"Hmm, Konoha must be making an impression on you." He mused.
"How so?" Sakura grunted, felling her ribs and confirming that three of them on her right side were broken and two were seriously fractured while she had broken only one on her left.
"You've never thanked anyone before." He told her, leaning her forwards so, to anyone looking from behind him, it would appear as if he was hugging her. In reality, he was prodding her back for any serious damage to her spine. He found none, but she was going to be sore for a while.
"Big deal." She scowled as he let her go and she leant on the tree yet again, her eyes heavy with tiredness but her mind fully alert with the need to find Naruto. The man noticed this.
"Your mission. Do I need to remind you?" He asked her, causing her to snap her head towards him and then wince from the pain of doing so.
"No, you don't." She growled, rubbing her next and soaking some chakra into it to lessen the pain. Sakura was no medic, but her brother had taught her how to heal a small cut and numb pain for an hour or two.
"I think I do." He told her. "It's to capture that kid."
"I know." Sakura said warningly.
"You can't be Naruto-kun's friend and complete your mission, Sakura. You have to choose. Him or us." The man commanded.
"I…I don't know anymore." She confessed weakly.
"Well, you better make up your mind. We come for him soon, and no one will hesitate to kill you if you get in our way." He told her darkly.
"I understand…Kisame-san." Sakura nodded as the Akatsuki-nin jumped into the trees again. "I understand." She whispered, knowing that no one would hear her. "But that does not mean that I will choose you." She growled, getting up and limping off to find her team.