Outside of Training Ground 44 aka The Forest of Death, Naruto was impatiently waiting for the second phase of the Exams and all that came with it to begin, which meant that rather than trying to cover his extreme nervousness and uncertainty about what the future held with an overly sassy attitude like he had the last time, since he already knew what was coming, he was testing exactly how high he could jump. Well, actually, what he'd been doing was hopping up and down in place, and jumping progressively higher with each hop.
People finally started noticing what he was doing when he was directly overhead, and were now taking bets on whether or not he'd make it to fifty feet. When he finally reached fifty feet, there was a chorus of cheers and groans beneath him, and he could see a large amount of money changing hands on the way down, and not only between the Genin. He could probably make it to a hundred feet if he were so inclined but, landing wasn't his specialty, and if he did so at a straight drop like he usually did rather than trying to manipulate wind currents in order to let himself down gently like he was supposed to when falling from such a height, he'd end up breaking both of his legs, which meant spending a painful night in the hospital and disqualifying his team, which Sasuke probably wouldn't forgive him for, even though he knew that Orochimaru was more than likely in the forest waiting to molest him.
Finally, after nearly an hour of watching Anko have fun scaring the daylights out of the kiddies, it was time to get his team's scroll and line up at the gate. There were 26 teams just like there had been the last time around, though Kabuto's team hadn't made it and an extra team from Mist who had quit shortly before Ibiki had finally decided to finish torturing the Genin over the "Tenth Question" had thanks to his slightly early intervention. Knowing the purpose of the test and the Tenth Question as he had taken this exact exam before, he hadn't needed to mouth off to Ibiki so Sakura wouldn't be inclined to try quitting for his sake as she had once admitted to doing, as he had made his team aware of the nature of both before the test started. He had mouthed off to Ibiki merely for old time's sake. Both his and Gaara's.
Apparently, his little outbursts had been just about the only non-homicidal entertainment that Gaara had gotten during the exams the last time around, and the reason Gaara had been so bloodthirsty the last time had partially been because he had been going completely mad with boredom. When a person couldn't sleep, there were alot of empty hours to fill and only so many activities one could engage in to fill them with.
Since there was a rather distinct lack of anything resembling a desert in the area surrounding Konoha, Gaara's favorite hobby, which was Sand Surfing, had been out. Most of Gaara's other smaller hobbies had been out as well either because of this lack of desert terrain or a lack of interest on the part of Konoha's citizens who generally had different hobbies that weren't influenced by a desert environment. Gaara had tried to find other activities to engage in during this period but, they hadn't really worked out. He had quit the Macrame club because he got tired of the other members staring at him suspiciously since he was both the only male member of the group, and the only member under thirty, and he hadn't signed up for any other arts and crafts classes because they had either already started before he got here or were more than a month long, and therefore would have been a waste of money.
This time, when it came time to enter the forest, Gaara and his siblings - or "Team SuperAwesomeGo!" as Kankuro had named them before they had left Suna for the Exams - had taken the gate next to them since they would be meeting in the forest and teaming up together as soon as they were given leave to enter. As both teams watched, other teams filed towards their respective gates and, all too soon, it was time, and his team was running through the forest towards a spot that was almost precisely between the two gates. Gaara's team arrived a moment after his did, with Kankuro and Temari nervously questioning Gaara as they did so.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Naruto said, well aware of the possible meanings of that particular statement.
The looks on Sasuke and Sakura's faces when he said this as well as Gaara's older siblings' reactions to this statement were absolutely priceless.
"Okay." Gaara replied, stunning Kankuro and Temari.
On a count of three, they both pulled out the scrolls that they each had insisted on carrying when they were being handed out. Both of them were Heaven. Good, then there wouldn't be any problems with teaming up.
With the showing of the scrolls taken care of, he turned to his teammates and asked "So, what did you think I meant when I said that?". The choking coming from Kankuro and the embarrassed sputtering from Sakura, and Temari was all the answer he needed.
With the embarrassment of their teammates out of the way, it was now time to get a plan in place before they went their separate ways and found places to settle in and wait for Orochimaru to join the show. It was sure to be one hell of a show, considering the fact that Jiraya, Kakashi-sensei, and Tenzo would be showing up almost immediately after the Sannin arrived since they knew approximately where he'd be. He'd made sure that they had taken the same gate as last time so the search area would be narrowed, since he hadn't known Orochimaru's exact location when he'd attacked them the last time around.
While Naruto had been taking the First phase of the Exams and getting a start on the Second, Tenzo had been waiting impatiently for the news that would inform him that it was time to "Get the show on the road" as his captain after Kakashi used to say. After reading through the entire newspaper and draining half the pot of coffee in the ANBU breakroom where the ANBU who'd taken over most of the KMPF's duties after the Massacre usually hung out, the call came in reporting the presence of a corpse in an isolated area that was popular amongst young couples. Upon hearing this, he was out the door and on his way to the aforementioned site before the Sports section had even hit the ground.
When he got to the place where the body had been found and joined the investigating team, all he could think was Damn, wrong body. This was the homicide case that had gone unsolved because of the invasion. He remembered seeing a story about it once since it had been particularly notable for how gruesome the killing had been and had been front page news for a couple of days before getting shifted in favor of the results of the Second Phase of the Chunin Exams.
He would have liked to help catch the killer this time around but unfortunately, he had more important things to do. With an S-class Missing Nin on the loose and an Invasion in the works, things like possible serial killers who oddly enough seem to vanish after the Invasion get put on the back burner.
He would do what he could for the poor woman and stay and help until the report of the correct body came in though.
Anko sighed as she finished off the last of the dango she had bought for her break. Since she had been forced to spend time dealing with a bunch of brats, she had earned it. After finishing Konoha emblem that she'd made by tossing dango sticks into the trunk of a nearby tree, she got up to go. After dropping to the ground from her reasonably comfortable perch, she decided that she may as well make her way to the tower in the middle of the forest, even though she wouldn't really need to be there until maybe tomorrow morning at the earliest. The previous record for the trip through the forest was about a day, and that had been made more than two decades ago.
As she was turning towards the forest, someone ran up to tell her she was needed elsewhere. Apparently, despite the fact that it wasn't located inside the "Forest of Death", there was a problem that was within her jurisdiction as a proctor of the Chunin Exams that had cropped up. When she reached the isolated area that was only just within the boundaries of the village where the group that had summoned her was located, it had been to learn that somebody had found the dead body of someone that she had vaguely remembered seeing amongst the teams of Chunin hopefuls that had headed into the Forest of Death earlier. One of the most notable things about the corpse that had been found was that the face had apparently been removed, and she knew exactly how that had happened since she had seen something like that before.
It would seem that her former teacher had returned.
As she was examining the corpse further clues, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and an ANBU she barely recognized since they were in different departments and he'd never shown up to the same social activities she had showed up. Based on the fact that the ANBU wasn't wearing his mask at the moment, it would seem that he wasn't here on official business.
"Well, he's in the forest then." Jiraiya said as he looked down at the corpse of the Genin from Grass.
"Time to go then." Kakashi said.
"Go where?" she asked, somewhat curious as to why Kakashi was there.
She could understand Jiraiya's presence, as Jiraiya had been a teammate of her former master and, she could somewhat understand the ANBU's presence since he would be reporting directly to the Hokage but, she couldn't see why Kakashi would be there.
"Into the forest to deal with Orochimaru." The ANBU said.
"Hatake, if you go into the forest, your team will be disqualified." she said, regretting that stupid rule.
She would be happy to get backup when dealing with Orochimaru, especially backup like the Legendary Jiraiya and Kakashi the Copy Ninja and the ANBU she vaguely recalled did something with trees that niggled a part of her memory for some reason but, if Kakashi went into the forest, his students would be disqualified even if they managed to gather both scrolls, and she would be forced to inform the brats of this fact when they reached the tower. Which meant that she would be forced to listen to their whining. Kakashi's help would have been appreciated in any other situation but not now, because of the headache that would come with it. While she enjoyed fights and blood, and the tears of her enemies, she did not like the tears of crying brats.
"WHAT?" Kakashi yelled.
After Anko's little revelation, Kakashi briefly debated with himself over the fact that his students would be disqualified if he entered the forest but, when you've got a team that wouldn't pass anyways on one hand and Orochimaru on the other, it was no contest. The kids could always take the exams again in six months. With his mind long since made up, he sailed through the trees in the area that his team had been in the last time around, as he'd been informed that his team had taken the same gate as they had the time before. It was only a matter of time before Orochimaru made his move, and he and the rest would be there waiting for him.
Jiraiya would be approaching the area at a different angle, as would Tenzo and Mitarashi Anko in case Orochimaru was in a slightly different section of the forest than the one he believed he would be. He'd heard the story of what happened from his team the last time around, and knew what to look for if he failed to reach his team in time. The instant there was a Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, he'd know exactly where to go, as that had been the Jutsu that Orochimaru had used to separate the team before he sent in the giant snake that he'd had eat Naruto.
For now though, he would track his students, and hope that he got there before Orochimaru made his move.
Jiraiya's heart pounded. The last time around, he'd arrived too late to deal with Orochimaru at this point, as he'd only shown up to help after he'd heard the rumors of his former best friend and teammate being in Konoha that had been spread after his former friend had attacked Team 7 in the Forest of Death despite the fact that he'd been fielding rumors about what Orochimaru had been up to for several months before then. It had also been at that point that he had finally decided to train Naruto as well, rather than avoid the boy and the memories that came with him.
The evening of the end of the Second Phase of the exam, he'd visited Kakashi who had stepped aside for him and helped arrange the surprise. Kakashi had convinced someone he'd vaguely recognized as having been on the same Genin team as Maito Gai to take Naruto for the day, and convinced Naruto that he was pawning him off on the man for the month. All that had been left for him to do was get the man out of the way in a manner that had made the boy want him to train him. After all, who wouldn't want to be trained by someone who could summon toads? Toads are awesome!
That peace back then, and the happiness that he'd had with his student had all been shattered by Orochimaru who had become a mad and twisted creature that was almost nothing like the quiet boy he'd grown up with and fought alongside. Every time he saw him however, he found himself overcome by memories of what his teammate had been. He'd never really wanted to fight Orochimaru back then when he'd first run, and even now a part of him still didn't want to fight his former comrade despite all that he'd done and would do if given half a chance. There had been a time when each was all the other had, a time when the team was the only people that those in it had left because their parents had gone, their siblings had gone, and almost all of those closest to them besides their other teammates had gone. Now, he would have to fight the one who had been closer to him than a brother, Orochimaru was now the threat to everything he held dear.
None of this would have ever happened if he hadn't continued to ignore the signs back then, even when he'd heard the rumors about vanishing villagers. Even though a part of him had long suspected, he'd refused to believe right up until the day he had found himself in what remained of one of Orochimaru's labs. Back before the end, he'd seen other things that had indicated that something was seriously wrong but, he had let them go, believing his friend would come around.
He hadn't.
If he'd just said or done something long ago when he'd seen the first signs of trouble, back when Orochimaru was still begging for the attention he'd needed and still willing to reach out for help, none of this would have had to happen, and Konoha would not have been destroyed in his timeline. In many ways, this, and the future destruction of Konoha that he'd been forced to witness, had been all his fault.
Gaara sat impatiently waiting for the time to come. After their initial meeting when they had first arrived in the forest for a last-minute planning session, they had gone their "separate ways" because Naruto believed that Orochimaru would change his plans if he saw the team from Suna with his team. The separation was only a temporary one and, as soon as Orochimaru made his move, Gaara would be there, and he would be able to avenge his father and all from Suna who had died because of that madman's plans.
All that was left to do until then however was to wait. He hated waiting. Waiting was so boring, especially when a certain someone forgot his pills. He would be making his displeasure at being forced to do so known to all who followed Orochimaru after the snake had either been dealt with or driven off. It was a pity Kabuto was dead, because that corpse-summoning bastard had been near the top of his Shit-list. Knowing Kabuto though, the slimy little bastard always had a back way out, so there was still a very small possibility that he could be showing that young man exactly what happens to those who mess with the Kazekage one day.
That all would be later however. For now though, all he could do was wait. Wait, and finish his macrame owl.
Edited 11-4-12