A/N: Hi hi! I might not be updating as often nyan, but that's okay cuz there are so many thousands more fanfics you can read to keep yourself busy~! (≧▽≦) I hate literature, especially having to understand what I myself write, but I guess I have no choice. So I'm answering all your questions nyan~!
JNottle: I seriously don't know who you are because I searched for you and came up NIL. Anyway, eight years can really take a toll on your memory. Besides, it doesn't mean that he only heard about Gai from Kakashi just because he knows that they're 'eternal rivals'. As for the genius thing, I made my A/N in the previous Chapter clearer. I'm too lazy to
repost it here, so please go and check it out nyan~!
NoSinglixRule: I PMed you nyan~! Go check it out~!
For everyone else with the 'Minato is a genius why's he cheating' question, ditto.
Maj156: IKR! I have no idea what to do with Naruto's soul. Maybe, if he finds a way to revive Kushina, Naruto will make his appearance as well? I seriously don't know. My story writes itself.
Nirakamahcimka: Thank you.
Can someone tell me the correct spelling for the wind jutsu I wrote in the story?
Chapter 17: Shi no Mori
"You will be able to experience why this place is called the forest of death." Anko smirked, a sadistic look on her face. Training ground 44 was to be the venue of the exam, forcing Minato to leave the orange jumpsuit at home. 'Well, at least I'm confident that I can deal with the creatures,' Minato was brought out of his reverie by a sudden shift in the wind. He instinctively dodged, when he detected a presence behind him. Acting purely on instinct, he grabbed the person, locked the person's arms behind the person's back and pushed the person to the ground as he'd done with Haku, straddling the person with a kunai poised dangerously at the person's neck. Minato recovered from the shock and stumbled off Anko's back. He'd very nearly assaulted his examiner.
"I'm sorry, but why'd you throw a kunai at me?" Minato apologised as Anko got up and brushed her self off, peeved.
"You were spacing out." Anko growled. Minato smiled sheepishly and nervously scratched the back of his head, before sensing another presence behind Anko and then seeing the person. Anko slid a kunai out of trench coat and held it up, only to have the kunai handed to her by a tongue.
"Here's your kunai," the tongue's owner said, her words muffled.
Anko smiled widely at the kunoichi, "Thank you, but don't stand behind me like that unless you want to die young."
She took the kunai back as the kunoichi's freakishly long tongue retracted back into her mouth, "My precious hair got cut, so I got a little excited. I'm sorry."
The kunoichi walked away, leaving Anko and Minato, "It looks like there are a lot of hot-headed ones today. This is going to be interesting." Anko commented, her sadistic smile still in place. Anko walked back to the head of the group and produced a stack of forms, "Before we begin the exam, I'm going to pass these out to everyone. These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these because from here on, people will die. Therefore, we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise I'd be held responsible," Anko laughed merrily. "To be concise, you're all going to go through an extreme survival match. Earth scrolls and heaven scrolls. You will be fighting over these. 26 teams in total passed the 1st exam, so half of those teams will get the heaven scrolls, the other half will get the earth scrolls. Each team will get one of these scrolls. You only pass when you reach the tower within the time limit of 120 hours which is five days exactly, have both the heaven and earth scroll, and all three are present. In other words, 13 teams who get their scroll stolen will fail," Anko stowed the scrolls away into her trench coat.
"But what about food?" Chouji groaned.
"There's plenty of food in the forest. You just have to find it," Anko replied simply.
"However, there are also a lot of man-eating beasts, poisonous plants and poisonous bugs," Kabuto added.
"As a rule, you're not allowed to give up during the exam. You'll spend all five days in the forest. While we're on the topic, you'll only pass if all three members are accounted for, and neither should be dead or unrecoverable. Also, you're not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower. It's to determine your reliability. That's it for the explanation," Anko smiled. "We will exchange three consent forms for a scroll in that hut. And after picking your gate entrance, everyone will start at the same time," the purple haired kunoichi jabbed a finger in the direction of the hut. "One last word of advice. Don't die!" Anko shouted. The teams scattered as they milled about, debating whether or not to take the test. 'Well, might as well fill it in,' Minato wandered around the grounds until he spotted Hinata.
"Hey Hinata!" the blond called cheerfully.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata turned away, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Well, good luck for the exam," Minato smiled, panicking slightly when the girl fainted.
Luckily she woke up in time for the handing in of the forms.
"Those of you who have received your scrolls, go to your designated gates. We will begin in 30 minutes!" Anko commanded. The teams waited at the gates, tension and determination hung heavy in the air. Finally, Anko broke the tension, "The Second Exam in the Chunin Exams begins now!" The gates exploded inwards, letting in the 26 teams.
Now, it was survival of the fittest.
Team 7 trekked through the forest when a scream rang out, causing them to stop in their tracks. The birds that nestled in the trees left their perches and took flight, screeching as they went. 'Someone's there, but how am I supposed to go deal with them?' Minato wracked his brain and came up with only one solution, "I need to pee." His team mates stayed back as he went into the bushes to 'pee'. He disappeared and reappeared behind the Gennin who'd been spying on them and promptly slit his throat. The boy gave a strangled cry that was drowned out by the blood that was filling his throat and lungs. The Gennin's team mate charged at him, kunai in hand, only to receive a kunai to the heart, killing him instantly.
Minato just stared on, his eyes cold, before riffling through their kunai pouches and found what he was looking for. 'Pity. It's a heaven scroll,' he left both Gennin to die in favour of finding his team. The moment he emerged in the clearing, the scene that greeted him was one of a ninja, possibly the comrade of the previous two, holding a kunai to Sasuke's throat. Appearing behind the ninja, he planted a kunai into the attacker's skull with enough force to give him a quick death. The blond let the body fall to the floor. "Oh God you killed him!" Sakura choked, re-enacting the scene on the bridge and running to the bushes to vomit. When she finally emerged she wiped her mouth and heaved, "I don't see how you can just take a life like that." Sasuke remained silent, his fists clenching as he hurtled into memories of his brother massacring the clan.
Minato put a hand on his team mate's shoulder, which snapped the boy out of reverie. The ebony-haired boy looked into the blond's eyes, trying to find hints of coldness but found only warmth. Sasuke looked away, before calling a meeting, "If the three of us get separated and don't trust anyone even if he looks like one of us. There is a possibility that the enemy will transform into one of us and approach, so we'll decide on a password," Sasuke concluded. "If you're given a different one, treat that person as an enemy. I'm only going to say this once so listen carefully. First, you will ask, 'The ninja song Ninki'. The answer is the following. 'It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts, even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time, when the enemy is tired and has his guard down.' That's it. I'll keep the scroll."
"Wait Sasuke!" Minato shouted, sensing the attack, but it was too late. A large typhoon of wind swept through the forest, blowing the trio back with sheer force. When the assault finally ended, three Gennin from Kusa were left standing in the clearing, unruffled.
"You two go have fun somewhere else. I'll go in alone from here," the kunoichi who'd given Anko's kunai back instructed. Minato was assaulted the most and was blown away from his team mates. When he finally stopped, he took stock of his surroundings. Noticing that his team mates weren't there anymore, and considering that they'd been attacked, he decided to use the seals to get to them. When he arrived back at the clearing, he was greeted to the sight of the Kusa-nin standing imperiously over his team mates. His eyes gravitated to his team mates and he found them on the floor. Recognising the technique immediately, he threw himself out protectively before his team mates and disrupted the technique. "Oh… you. I thought I left my snake to deal with you. No matter, I'll deal with you myself," the Kusa-nin slowly advanced.
'She seems familiar somehow. Never mind. We need to get away first,' Minato thought, slinging his team mates over his shoulder and taking off. "That's right. Run. Prey should always run in the face of a predator," the Kusa-nin taunted, going after Minato. The latter had come across the tower before and made a beeline towards it, before being stopped in his tracks by a giant snake. 'Orochimaru,' was the first thing on the blond's mind. He unceremoniously dropped his two team mates and they hid behind the trees, watching the Kusa-nin.
'Damn it! I can't go as fast as when I'm in my original body. No choice but to fight,' drew a kunai from his pouch. A snake slithered down from the branch and immediately found a kunai embedded in its head. The snake drooped limply before falling off the branch altogether. "I'm going to give her our scroll. Then she'll leave us alone," Sasuke got up. Minato stuck his hand out, stopping his raven-haired team mate,
"Don't. What guarantee do you have that she would not simply take the scroll and kill us off?" Sasuke sat back down, drawing a kunai from his pouch.
"Sakura, can you try and enhance your punches with chakra like Kakashi-sensei taught you?" Sasuke whipped around, receiving a curt nod from Sakura.
"Naruto, you have any Fuuton jutsu…? Never mind. You probably don't have any," Sasuke turned to look at the Kusa-nin, who was still taunting them from her position.
"Actually, I do have Fuuton: Daitoppa," Minato interjected.
"Okay. I'll use Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, Naruto will use his Fuuton: Daitoppa to enhance it, I'll activate my Sharingan and tell Sakura where to go if he gets away, and Sakura will use her chakra enhanced punch. Got it?" Sasuke instructed. They nodded, the two boys stepping out from behind the tree to face the Kusa-nin. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" was accompanied by a "Fuuton: Daitoppa" and the result was a large roiling mass of fire, headed directly at the enemy. The Kusa-nin performed a Kawarimi and escaped, only to be seen by Sasuke's Sharingan.
"Sakura! There!" Sasuke shouted to his team mate, pointing to a seemingly innocent branch. Sakura reacted immediately and propelled herself to the branch, channelling chakra into her fist as she went. Her fist struck the area and the Kusa-nin was revealed, the other punch was caught. The Kusa-nin smirked sadistically before flinging the pink haired kunoichi towards the forest floor. Minato darted after her, catching her before she could hit the ground. He glanced up and saw the two engaging in taijutsu.
Sasuke lashed out with his foot, only to be dodged, and returned, forcing Sasuke to duck under the foot, his Sharingan spinning wildly. The Kusa-nin swiped at Sasuke with a right hook, the ebony haired boy bringing an arm up to block it as he aimed another kick at the kunoichi. The Kusa-nin caught the foot, and Sasuke yanked it back, blocking a kick from the Kusa-nin. Sasuke backpedalled as another fist came near his face, and he returned with a roundhouse, the Kusa kunoichi catching his foot and tossing Sasuke off the branch. Sasuke prepped a length of ninja wire and, catching it on a branch, swung himself around the tree. He landed on a lower branch, channelling chakra to his feet to keep from slipping off.
Minato landed on the branch and took over, the Kusa kunoichi grimacing with distaste as the two exchanging fast and furious blows. Minato launched a punch, which was dodged, the Kusa-nin countering with a punch of her own, Minato catching it, only to feel it jerked out of his grasp. The Kusa kunoichi's leg swiped at him, forcing the blond to jump over it, landing on the branch in time to block a punch. Another punch was aimed at Minato, the latter dodging it, before grabbing the offending arm and stabbing it, drawing blood.
The kunoichi hissed in rage as Sakura took over, dodging the pink haired kunoichi's punch before kicking said kunoichi aside, dabbing her thumb in the blood Minato spilled. She swiped her sleeve up and smeared the blood down the seal, chasing away any doubts in Minato's mind that the person was Orochimaru. A giant brown snake appeared beneath the Kusa-kunoichi, coiling and twisting. The giant snake shot at Sasuke, the latter paralysed again by the kunoichi's technique. 'Why did this have to happen? My life is never easy,' Minato griped, unsealing his tanto. He darted up the tree trunk before landing on the underside of a branch and launching himself downwards, towards the snake, using his momentum to increase the power behind his sword.
Sasuke stared at the snake, paralysed with fear. 'Damn it! Naruto where are you?' Sasuke thought, panic getting the better of him. He steeled himself as the snake closed the distance between them, its master staring smugly down at him. He stared in fear as the snake's head slid off and hit the ground with a resounding thud, its body following not long after as blood spewed from where its head should have been. One moment the snake was darting towards him, the next it was crumpling to the ground. The Uchiha chanced a glance at the figure beside the snake's corpse, heaving a sigh of relief when he saw his blond team mate.
Said blond dashed towards the Kusa-nin and his tanto found a new home in her head, only for Minato to jerk it out and join his team mates when the kunoichi's form melted, revealing that it was a mud clone. "I-" the Kusa-nin was cut off when Sasuke tossed two shuriken, pulling at the ninja wire and ensnaring the Kusa-nin within the web of wire, binding the kunoichi to the tree, the wire biting into her skin. The kunoichi trembled, her face a mask of pain and distaste, as if she couldn't believe that she'd been caught. He pinned most of the wire to the ground, keeping one between his teeth as he flashed through hand sign. Fire danced around him before shooting down the wire, hitting the kunoichi point blank and creating a hole through the bark of the tree. The kunoichi screamed, pain lacing it as her face contorted in agony. When the attack ended, it revealed the kunoichi, still bound to the tree, her shoulders slumped and her head sagging into her chest.
"Are you okay?" Sakura ran to the Uchiha's side, noticing his breathlessness. The latter was panting doggedly; sweat beading his forehead, his hands resting on his knees to support himself. Minato kept his eyes on the kunoichi, who suddenly jerked and snapped the ninja wire. He raised his head. Half his face had peeled off, revealing pale skin and a golden, snake-like eye. 'There's no doubt about it. He really is Orochimaru,' Minato thought, as Orochimaru clasped his hands together in a hand seal and paralysed his two team mates again.
"I'm impressed that you can use your Sharingan so well at your age. You live up to the name of Uchiha after all," the 'Kusa-nin's' voice slowly sounding more like a man's. He put a hand up to his hitai-ate, "I want you after all." When he removed his hand, the Kusa symbol was replaced by that of Oto's. "You two are definitely brothers. Your eyes say that you carry more potential than Itachi," Orochimaru said.
"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded. Orochimaru tossed their scroll and caught it, holding it in front of him, "My name is Orochimaru. If you wish to see me again, get through this exam as if your life depended on it. In other words, you'll have to defeat my subordinates, the three Oto-nin," the scroll started to burn.
"What are you talking about? We never want to see your face again!" Sakura shouted boldly.
"It doesn't work that way," Orochimaru's hand flew into a hand seal and his neck shot upwards, elongating. It twisted in the air like a snake before shooting towards Sasuke.
Minato tackled the ebony haired Gennin to the ground and lashed out with his foot, catching Orochimaru in the chin, sending the latter's neck upwards. The man's neck snapped back on course as Minato stood protectively before his comrade once more. The man's head shot towards Minato, who withdrew a kunai from his pouch and gripped it, readying himself for an attack. Orochimaru's neck suddenly swerved to the side as he tried to get at Sasuke. Minato whipped around and launched his kunai, pinning the man's neck to a tree. Rage contorted the man's face as his neck stretched from where it was pinned by the kunai and continued on. 'Damn it! He's so persistent! I guess I have no choice but to do that,' Minato thought, putting his hands behind his back and gripping his wrist as chakra started to gather within his palm.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as he sensed chakra being built up, but shrugged it off despite the danger of doing so. 'The only ones who knew how to do that are that accursed Namikaze, my oaf of a team mate, and maybe Kakashi. The Namikaze died and the other two can't be here, so it's impossible,' Orochimaru continued on, Sasuke his objective. Minato kept his eyes on Orochimaru, or more precisely, his head, as he prepped his attack. The neck turned discreetly under the branch, trying to get the Uchiha from behind.
Orochimaru congratulated himself as he got near his prize, only for him to be jolted from his musings as the blond brat appeared to his side, ramming a Rasengan into his head, the two continuing on until they hit the trunk of the tree, the attack tearing away at the side of his head, his fangs sinking harmlessly into the bark of the tree. In that brief moment, he saw the Namikaze attacking him instead. "Damn you Namikaze!" Orochimaru howled, Minato's eyes widening a fraction.
The blond unsealed his tanto and drove it through the man's temple, feeling the tanto hit wood as it went out the other side of the man's head. Minato panted at the combination of attacks he'd used, the twelve-year-old body not suited for such strain. The figure melted, causing Minato to pull the tanto out and turn around, his eyes wide. He ran to the Uchiha's side and pushed the raven haired boy to the ground, the latter grunting in protest. He yanked the Uchiha's collar down, heaving a sigh of relief when he noticed the significant lack of a cursed seal.
"Um… Is Sasuke-kun okay?" Sakura chanced, her voice shaky.
"I'm okay, now get off me Naruto!" Sasuke elbowed the blond off of himself. Minato put a finger to the ground and sensed the Snake Sannin, but his presence was moving away from them, and he couldn't detect anyone else. Deeming it safe, he sealed his tanto and joined his two team mates.
"Sasuke-kun, who was that?" Sakura asked her crush, hoping that he would be able to shed some light on the situation.
"That was the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. He's an S-class nuke-nin and we're lucky that he didn't continue to attack, or we'd be dead," Minato answered.
"We should get going. He might come back," Sasuke lead them away from the place.
"What are we going to do about the scrolls? He burned our heaven scroll," Sakura asked as they sped through the forest.
"Don't worry. I have one," Minato assured his pink haired team mate.
"How?" Sakura asked.
"Remember the ninja who attacked you two earlier on? His team mates attacked me while I was peeing. I sort of 'borrowed' the scroll from them," Minato replied modestly, spinning in a small lie. The team managed to find shelter for the night between the roots of a large tree, Sakura taking first watch as the other two slept, seeing as they had exhausted themselves more, Minato having healed all minor injuries. Minato took a sealing scroll out from his pouch and unsealed a pot of ink and a brush, before drawing the seal he'd used in the exams on the surface of one of the gnarled roots. He activated the seal and held onto the root for support as he adjusted to the effects of the seal. The sensory threads were scattered, covering most of the area, including the tree that three Oto-nin were hiding in.
"I found you. We're going to strike at daybreak, like Orochimaru-sama ordered us to. Our target is strictly Uchiha Sasuke," the bandaged one, clearly the leader, instructed his team mates.
"But if the other two get in the way, we can kill them, right?" the spiky haired one drawled.
"Of course," was the reply. The female remained silent. Minato's eyes shot open and he deactivated the seal before carving out the bark and burning it to ensure that no one would find it.
"Sakura, would it be okay if I take the last watch?" Minato asked, receiving a nod for a reply.
"Thanks," Minato flopped onto the ground, turned over, sleep rushing to greet him.
The first two watches were uneventful, Minato being woken up by his raven haired team mate. He bolted into a sitting position, wide awake as his eyes drifted over to his raven haired team mate, noticing the sleepiness in his eyes. The Uchiha collapsed onto the ground, asleep before he hit the dirt. Minato smiled softly, moving over to take up the space Sasuke had left, noticing that it was nearing daybreak. He glanced up at the sky, the sun struggling to push its rays through the dense clouds. Finally, the first rays of sunlight broke through, illuminating the forest. Mist hung dreamily in the air high in the canopy as the dawn chorus broke out. He glanced back at his team mates, both of whom were still fast asleep, tired out by the events of the previous day.
Suddenly, the bushes rustled, 'It's some kind of small animal,' Minato withdrew a kunai. A squirrel emerged from the bushes and made its way towards him. When the squirrel got close, he broke its neck, ripped the explosive tag off, wrapped it around a kunai and threw it in the direction of the three Oto-nin in one swift motion. Minato held the limp squirrel up and sighed, 'This isn't going to feed all three of us.'
The three Oto-nin approached but he kept his eyes on the squirrel until he heard, "Can you wake Sasuke-kun for us? We want to fight him."
"I don't think I can," Minato replied good naturedly, putting the dead squirrel down.
"I'll kill that one. I'll even kill that Sasuke guy," the spiky haired one boasted, standing up.
"Let's kill them," the leader announced, the three making a beeline for the blond. Minato put a hand on the ground and activated a trap. Kunai rained down on them, forcing them to dodge every which way and giving Minato time to set up a barrier around his two team mates using seals.
"Konoha Senpu!" rang out as the three were scattered like bowling pins once the barrage ended. Lee appeared in a fighting stance, the wind dramatically blowing his hair to the side.
"Who are you?" the leader demanded much like Sasuke had before.
"Konoha's beautiful green beast, Rock Lee!" Lee introduced himself.
The boy turned to Minato and asked, "Oh hi, Naruto. Where's Sakura?"
"She's safe, but why are you here?" Minato questioned, not that he wasn't grateful for the assistance.
"I will always appear whenever Sakura is in danger," Lee declared.
"But right now, she, as well as Sasuke and I, are your enemies," Minato reminded the green clad Gennin.
"I will protect her, as well as her team mates if need be, until I die," Lee said, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I guess I have no choice. Zaku, I leave Sasuke to you. I'll kill these two," the leader of the Oto team tossed an earth scroll towards the spiky haired one, now identified as Zaku. The bandaged one charged at Lee, only for the latter to pull a root from the ground to block the attack.
"I'm still at a disadvantage. It's one against three. I'll have to take a gamble. I will defeat them one by one with all I've got!" Lee proclaimed.
"Lee-san, I can fight you know," Minato reminded the leotard wearing boy.
"Oops, sorry," Lee sheepishly scratched the back of his head, giving the dramatic scene an anti climatic ending. The bandaged one charged at Lee, only for Lee to disappear and reappear, launching a foot upwards, catching the Oto-nin and sending the latter into the air.
"I'm not done!" Lee shouted, his bandages unravelling and binding the Oto-nin. Lee grabbed hold of the Oto-nin and spun in freefall, head first, "Omote Renge!" Zaku started flashing through hand signs before Minato launched a kunai at the boy, stabbing the latter's hand. Zaku growled and pulled the kunai out, glancing around, only to see Minato sitting innocently on the floor. The two landed, the Oto-nin taking the full force of the attack. Lee jumped away, his bandages trailing behind him. The Oto-nin got out of the ground, horribly injured but still moving.
"Impossible!" Lee breathed, as the Oto-nin charged at him. Minato withdrew a few senbon from his pouch and threw them, heaving a sigh of relief as the Oto-nin dropped to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, two senbon protruding from his neck. The blond had seen what a punch from the Oto-nin had done to Kabuto and didn't want to take any chances. The girl got behind him, but he stayed still, wanting to see what she'd do. Suddenly, he felt his hair being jerked as he realised that the girl had grabbed his hair.
"Your hair's glossier than mine. If you have time to take care of your hair, train more! Trying to be sexy?" she taunted, yanking at his hair again. He could sense Sakura approaching Zaku having engaged Lee. Sakura channelled chakra into her fist as the Oto kunoichi was distracted with her team mate. Her fist connected with the girl's head, and she sent her other fist into the ebony haired girl's back, her blond team mate using his hands to hold the girl in place and locking his legs around her ankles to stop the Oto kunoichi from moving. The girl let go of Minato's hair and collapsed to the ground, where Sakura punched her in the stomach for good measure.
The Oto kunoichi glowered at the two of them from the ground as Minato said, "By the way, I'm a boy," before turning his attention to Sakura.
"Thanks Sakura. Are you okay? How's Sasuke?" Minato thanked his pink haired team mate.
"My hand stings, but otherwise I'm okay. Sasuke-kun's still sleeping. I'll watch over him for now. You go help Lee," Sakura told the blond.
Minato nodded and turned his attention to Lee and Zaku, smiling inwardly as he sensed Team 10 and two others spying on them. 'Well, it doesn't look like he needs any help. Looks like he even broke the guy's arms!' Minato thought, walking over to the bandaged one. He pulled the needles out of the Oto-nin's neck, the latter still in a state of false death. The ebony haired kunoichi struggled to get up, her arms shaking under the strain. Minato dug in the bandaged one's pouch and found the Earth scroll. "Please… let me leave. There's… something we want to find out. I promise… we won't run or hide… if we face off in the finals," the Oto kunoichi begged, spitting blood onto the ground as she walked over to her team mates.
No one moved to stop her as she slung her team mates over her shoulders and disappeared.
A brown haired kunoichi dropped down from the trees and landed beside Lee. "Tenten?" Lee said in surprise.
"We came to help. Why did you take action on your own? On top of that, you're hurt!" Tenten reprimanded.
"Sakura-san was in danger, so as a man, I had to…" Lee trailed off.
"You really are an idiot," Tenten chided lightly.
"I can't argue with that…" Lee stared wistfully down at his feet.
"I can try to heal him if you'd like," Minato offered, seeing Lee get reprimanded.
"No, it's okay," Lee replied.
Minato smiled serenely and walked over to their hideout where he saw Sakura waiting patiently outside. He ripped the seal tag off the tree. His team mates could get out of the barrier but people couldn't get in. That was how the seal worked. Sakura rushed in and woke Sasuke up, the latter having missed the fight. Sasuke glanced blearily at his team mates, his body still aching and weak from the previous battle with Orochimaru. He got up and joined his team mates as they exited the hideout, surprised to see all the Konoha Gennin besides Team 8. The three teams went their separate ways, although all three headed for the tower. The trip to the tower was uneventful. They went through the double doors and stepped into a large hall, all of them relatively unharmed aside from bruises and scratches.
"Look at that!" Sakura diverted her team mates' attention to the large sign on the wall.
"If you do not possess heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both heaven and earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe ones. This is the secret of something something. It shall lead you on your way," Sasuke read.
"I think its telling us to open both scrolls," Sakura concluded.
"Then let's open it," Minato said. They tugged open the scrolls and what caught their attention was the kanji for 'person' on it.
'Summoning inscriptions?' Minato glanced down at the scroll in his hands.
"Naruto, Sakura! Let go of those scrolls!" Sasuke shouted. The two hurled the scrolls away, watching as an explosion went off where they landed. The smoke dispersed, revealing a very smug looking Iruka. "What's going on?" Sakura shouted, her confusion obvious.
"Looks like you three went through quite a lot. Well, we Chunin are to welcome the examinees at the end of this exam. I was given the duty to pass the three of you a message by chance. Congratulations on passing the Second Test in the Chunin Exams," Iruka smiled.
"I see. Iruka-sensei, what were you going to do if we opened the scrolls during the exam?" Sasuke challenged.
"You're as sharp as ever, Sasuke," Iruka complimented.
"As you've guessed, this exam tests your mission completion ability. So, if you break the rules and open the scroll, we were ordered to knock out the examinees until the exam ended," Iruka informed them.
"Anyway, this is the principle Hokage-sama wrote that you should keep in mind as a Chunin. The heaven in this text points to the head of a person and earth points to the body. If you do not possess heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess earth, you should train yourself every day. That's what it means. And if you have both heaven and earth attributes, any dangerous missions will become safe. It can even become easy," Iruka concluded.
"So, what's missing there?" Sakura questioned.
"The symbol that was on the scroll," Iruka smiled, holding the scroll up. "You may proceed. There are rooms set up for those who pass early on, and good luck for the final round," Iruka finished. The last two days were uneventful, and the team managed to recuperate within that time. The 21 people who passed gathered in another large hall on the fifth day after the Second Exam was over.
"First off, congratulations on passing the Second Exam. We will now have an explanation of the third exam from Hokage-sama. Everyone listen well," Anko announced through her headset.
"The Third Exam will begin. But before the explanation there's one thing I want to make clear to all of you. It's about the true purpose of this exam. Why we do a joint exam with allied nations. 'To maintain good relations with the allied nations' and 'heighten the level of the ninja' do not let those reasons deceive you. This exam so to speak is the epitome of a war between allied nations. If we go back in history, the allied nations right now were neighbouring countries that have fought each other over and over again. To avoid wasting military power, those countries decided to choose a place to fight. That was the beginning of the Chunin Selection Exam. This exam does examine those who are worthy of the title of Chunin, but on the other hand, it's also a place where ninja fight and carry their country's dignity. In this Third Exam, feudal lords and famous people from various countries who may be potential clients are invited here as guests. And feudal lords from countries with hidden villages and ninja leaders will see your battles. If there is a significant difference in power, the strong country will be flooded with jobs. If a country is seen as weak, their jobs will decrease. And at the same time, countries are able to show how their village has grown and possess excellent military power to the other countries. In other words they can put foreign pressure on them. A country's power is the village's power. A village's power is the ninja's power. And a ninja's true power is only born in life-or-death battles. This exam is also a place to show off the ninja power of one's country. Since this is an exam where you fight with your life on the line, it has a meaning. And your predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in the Chunin Exam because of it. This is a life-or-death battle for your dreams and village's dignity," the Sandaime concluded.
"I don't care. Just tell us the details," Gaara voiced.
"Then I will now begin the explanation of the Third Exam but…" the Sandaime trailed off as a ninja landed before him.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama. I, Gekko Hayate, the judge, will explain," the ninja said.
"Please do," was the reply.
"Everyone, it's nice to meet you. Before the Third Exam, there's something I want you to do. Fight in a Preliminary Matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle," Hayate said between coughs.
"Preliminary Matches? What do you mean?" Shikamaru shouted.
"There are too many examinees left. We have to decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam. As previously mentioned by the Hokage, there are many guests for the Third Exam, so we can't just have a lot of matches. We are limited on time as well, so those who aren't feeling well…" Hayate began coughing.
"Excuse me. Those who want to quit, please let me know. The preliminary matches will begin immediately. I forgot to mention this, but it'll be one-on-one matches from now on, so please withdraw if you wish.
Kabuto raised his hand and declared, "I quit. I'm completely worn out,"
"Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto. You may leave," Hayate said, flipping the papers on his clipboard. Kabuto waved jovially at Team7 before departing.
"Then, let's begin the preliminary matches. They will be one-on-one battles. In other words, it's like actual combat. Now that we have 20 people, there will be 10 matches. The winners will advance to the Third Exam. There are no rules. You will fight until the other person dies, admits defeat or is knocked out. If you don't want to die, please give up immediately. However, if I deem the match over, I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths. That computer will randomly display the names of the fighters for the each match. Without further ado, I will now display the names for the first match," Hayate announced. The 20 Gennin stared at the screen with bated breath, anticipating who would battle, and against whom.
A/N: I cut it short. Sorry. Can't think. Headache. Please correct my mistakes and review. Thank you. I'm going to sleep until tomorrow comes. Enjoy the rest of your day.