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Thanks to TheOrangeStar802 and Akatsuki no Kyara for the reviews!
"Welcome to the stage of the second test. Training Area 44: The Forest of Death."
Sakura shuddered. She clung onto Sasuke's arm, feeling uneasy.
Naruto felt a pang of jealousy as Sasuke smiled down at Sakura, but shook it off as he listened to what this crazy examiner lady, who had called herself Anko Mitarashi, had to say.
After celebrating for having passed the first test, this purple-haired weirdo had burst into the classroom and taken them all to this place for the second part of the Chunin Exams. Naruto felt excitement course through his body. He had a feeling this wasn't some written test - there was finally going to be some action.
"You will soon find out why it's called the Forest of Death. Hehe."
"Cool story bro," Sasuke called out.
There was a few chuckles in the Genin crowd at this, and Anko frowned.
"This is nothing," Naruto bragged. "If you think you're intimidating me, puh-lease. I was more worried than I am now when I found out our first test was a written one."
A kunai was thrown.
"Nooope!" Naruto said cockily, ducking to the side as the kunai whizzed past him.
Anko smirked. "Kids like you are quickly killed. Brat."
The purple-haired Special Jonin walked towards a Grass ninja behind Naruto. The blonde turned, to see that this particular Grass shinobi had caught Anko's kunai with her tongue.
Tongue?
Naruto looked away. That's just plain creepy...
"Thank you," Anko winked at the Grass nin, who simply nodded with a sadistic smirk. "Heh. Looks like this year's exam is going to be real interesting."
Interesting? Naruto twitched. More like creepy.
That tongue... it's scary... Sasuke stared at the Grass nin. When the long-tongue possessor noticed, she stared right back, and the Uchiha's eyes widened as he felt the amount of killer intent directed towards him. Turning away quickly, Sasuke made a point to never run into that straw-hatted woman ever again.
Hehehe... so that is Sasuke-kun... The 'Grass nin' giggled mentally, adjusting her hat. We will meet later... Sasuke-kun...
"Before we start the second test, there is something we have to hand out," Anko announced. "You have to sign these papers." When met with the curious glances of the Genin as she waved a stack of papers in the air, she continued. "Well, you see, it's like this. There will be deaths in this test, and as long as you die without signing one of these, I'll get into deep shit, hahaha."
Deaths? Sakura thought. Her grip on Sasuke's arm tightened.
"Ow... Sakura, you're hurting me."
"S-Sorry Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke looked down at the pinkette and sighed. She must have gotten shaken when that crazy examiner lady said something about dying. Well, I'm not dying here in the middle of an exam, and since she's on my team, she has nothing to be worried about! He told himself confidently.
"After you sign these forms, I'll be explaining what the test is all about."
Forms were rapidly signed.
"Help me out," Sasuke handed two papers to Naruto.
"Nuh uh," Naruto grinned. "I'll help Sakura, but not you."
"Asshole."
"Bastard."
After a four-second-long staring contest, Naruto growled in defeat and grabbed the papers, and along with them chucked his own piece of paper into the designated area. Sasuke smirked and nodded in thanks.
"Now, let's hear what the second test is all about!" The Special Jonin said cheerfully. "Basically, in the Forest of Death, your team is going to get through the ultimate survival test."
A survival test! Naruto thought, the excitement rising further up within him.
"Around this Training Area 44, as it's name suggests, has 44 locked gates. This area has a radius of around ten kilometers. There's a forest..."
Sasuke blinked. No shit.
"... rivers, and a tower in the middle. During the survival in here, you will need to do a certain task. Battles, with no rules. What do all of you fight for? These." Anko held up two scrolls. One had the word 'Heaven' scripted onto the front, and other had the word 'Earth'.
Heaven and Earth, Sakura stared at the scrolls.
"There are around 26 teams here. So! 13 teams will get the Heaven Scroll and the other 13 will have the Earth Scroll. Your objective is to get to the tower in the center, with both scrolls in possession. When you reach the tower, only then, do you pass this test."
"Ah..." Naruto nodded, finally getting it. "So, we do battle with other teams for scrolls!"
"Yeeee-up!" Anko replied enthusiastically.
"But what happens if we defeat a team with a similar scroll to ours?" Kiba spoke up.
"You're free to do whatever you'd like with that scroll. However, it won't pass you, of course."
Whatever I like? Hm... Sasuke was deep in thought. Dog boy asked a good question. But what does she mean by 'whatever I like'? Then realization hit him. So, I can pocket scrolls that I already have on purpose, to reduce the amount of teams that will pass this test, so there will be a higher rate of me and my teammates being promoted to Chunin... or perhaps use it as a bargaining tool when ambushed by other teams... Interesting...
"Time limit?" Shikamaru asked.
"Five days."
"Whaaaaaaaaaaat? Will breakfast, lunch and dinner be provided?" Choji asked desperately.
"Pampered little idiot," Anko frowned. "There will be plenty of food within the forest. Of course, only the non-poisonous ones are edible."
Choji paled. Shikamaru patted his best friend's shoulder to calm him down. "Don't worry," the Nara whispered, grinning. "I know how to tell which ones are poisonous, and which ones aren't."
This made Choji relax, but now it was Ino's turn to speak up.
"What about showers? How do I refresh myself every morning?"
Murmurs among the female crowd of Genin showed that they had the same questions on their minds.
"Go without it," Anko shrugged. "You won't die. It's just a shower. If you really have to, wash yourselves in the rivers around the forest. They're pretty clean. Of course, you also risk being located by enemies and killed or injured while your guard is off..."
Ino stepped back, her face now paling in horror.
Shikamaru this time had no comforting words. He just sighed.
"Okay kiddos. Now, everyone will check into that booth over there. You will exchange your three papers for one scroll. The booth will be hidden so no one will know who has what scroll."
Anko then grinned, looking back towards the shadows of the Forest of Death. The second stage of the Chunin Exams had begun.
"Now is a perfect time to discuss a strategy." Sasuke noted.
Team 7 had gotten their scroll, an Earth Scroll, and had now reported to one of the 44 gates.
"Eh. How long until the gate opens?" Naruto asked the man tasked with opening their gate.
"Around five minutes," he replied.
"Five minutes should be plenty to plan." Sasuke nodded. "Naruto, you can use the Shadow Clone Jutsu right? Create as many as you can when we are in there and do scouting. Find weak teams, or vulnerable teams. Once any of your clones find one, we move in."
"How do I know which of the teams are weak?"
Sasuke ran a hand through his air. "I guess it's best to stick with the teams we know. Forget the 'weak teams' part. Locate the other rookie teams. Team 8, Team 10."
"Aiming for a battle between the rookies, huh?" Naruto smirked.
Sakura decided to break her silence. "Have you come up with a battle plan? Like, when we run into battle, or someone decides to ambush us?"
"Not really," Sasuke frowned. "Naruto, you can do kenjutsu, right?"
"Uh huh!"
"Good. Do you have your weapons with you?"
Naruto withdrew two katanas from the sword holders that had been newly-added to his orange outfit just a week ago. "Yup! Itachi-sensei got me these! He said this was one of the weapons he used while he was in the ANBU. Cool, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sakura, what do you have?"
"Huh? Oh... um..." The pinkette started nervously. "I have the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu, although I'm not sure if I've perfected it yet."
"Good enough," Sasuke grunted. "It can be used to give us time for an escape from an enemy we can't defeat. And for me..." He thumped a hand on his chest. "Two Fire Style ninjutsu, and the Sharingan."
"So what's the plan?" Naruto pressed, impatient.
"When we're attacked or ambushed, me and Naruto will take on the enemy. Sakura, you will stay back. If one of us can't battle anymore, you step in. If the enemy really can't be dealt with, use your Headhunter Jutsu, and we'll get the hell out of there. What do you say?"
"Sounds good."
"Yeah. Let's kick some ass!"
At that precise moment, the man opened the gates. "It's time to go. Good luck."
"Let's go, Naruto, Sakura!" Sasuke rushed in.
"Hey, wait for me!" Naruto followed right after. Smiling, Sakura followed her teammates.
"Do it now, Naruto."
Five minutes had passed since Team 7 had entered the Forest of Death and they hadn't encountered anything, simply jumping through a few tree branches.
"Roger!" Naruto made a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A hundred Shadow Clones appeared and every single one scattered toward different directions.
"Good job," Sasuke nodded. "Now..."
He tossed a kunai into the bushes.
The Grass nin from before emerged, smiling maniacally. However, this smile wasn't like Ibiki's before. This one was a lot more sadistic, with the intent to kill.
"Well, that was fast... We've gotten attacked already."
Naruto frowned, mentally dubbing this Grass nin Long Tongue. "Oi, Long Tongue! Where are your teammates?"
Long Tongue refrained from answering, and instead settled for an evil smirk, pulling out a long sword.
"Let's see what you can do... Naruto-kun... Sasuke-kun..."
"Sasuke-kun my ass! It's Sasuke to you!" Sasuke growled.
"Don't be like that, Sasuke-kun..." Long Tongue hissed, his evil smirk never leaving his face. "We might turn out to be friends, after all..." The sword-wielding Grass nin then held up a Heaven Scroll in his hands.
"Friends? Who would want to be friends with you?" Sasuke spat.
"You have the Earth Scroll right?" Long Tongue ignored Sasuke's question. "So you will want this Heaven Scroll." He then swallowed the scroll whole, visibly scaring Team 7.
"Y-Y-You swallowed it!" Sakura's eyes widened.
"Now let's fight for the scrolls..." The Grass nin grinned wildly. "With our lives on the line!"
Sasuke tensed as he witnessed a vision of Sakura being impaled by a kunai. The scene repeated itself over and over again. He clutched his head, feeling sick as his female teammate coughed out blood.
Gen... jutsu...? No... this is just... killing intent...! My God... he can do so much with just one wave of KI... Who is this guy? There is no way he's a Genin!
"Are you witnessing it? Your own deaths?" Long Tongue chuckled. "Hm?"
Sasuke forced himself to turn. Sakura was clutching her head like him, trying to shake out the visions. However, Naruto was seemingly unaffected by the wave of KI.
"You are brave, boy," Long Tongue smiled creepily at Naruto. "To not be affected at all... Tell me, how are you able to shake off the visions and the killing intent?"
Naruto shrugged. "The villagers try to kill me every day when I was a little boy. I've been through all this already." He then whipped out his two katanas. "Guys, snap out of it! We've got to fight him!"
"It's no use..." Long Tongue laughed. "They won't even want to move."
"No..."
Naruto gasped as he watched his teammate stab himself in the thigh with a kunai.
"... let's do this... argh... ouch..."
Long Tongue raised an eyebrow. "Not bad. Inflicting pain on yourself to force yourself back into reality. Just what I'd expect from an Uchiha."
"That's not the only thing you should expect from an Uchiha!" Sasuke activated his Sharingan, trying to forget about the pain raging in his thigh. "Naruto, are you ready?"
"You bet I am!" Naruto got into a kenjutsu stance. "Come on, Long Tongue!"
"Heh..."
Long Tongue brought his own sword forward.
Sasuke looked back towards Sakura, who was slowly recovering from the KI. Satisfied, he turned back towards the battle. Naruto stood beside him, neither willing to make a move first.
Noticing this, Long Tongue disappeared, reappearing behind Sasuke.
"Sasuke!" Naruto warned. "Take this, bastard!" He thrust a sword towards the Grass nin, but the long-haired shinobi was no longer there. This time, it was Sasuke's turn to yell.
"Naruto!" Sasuke quickly formed hand seals. "Duck!" The blonde Genin forced himself to the ground, as Sasuke roared, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Hahaha..." Long Tongue jumped out of the way, as the fireball burned into a tree. "You will need better techniques than that to stop me, Sasuke-kun." He charged towards the Uchiha.
"Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"
"What?" Long Tongue growled as he jumped into the air, just a second before three Naruto copies could reach him with their katanas. The original Naruto appeared behind him, and Long Tongue flipped around quickly to parry Naruto's thrust.
"Take this!" Naruto ducked and swung both katanas towards Long Tongue's feet.
Unfortunately, the snake-like ninja jumped back. "You're a Genin, but you can use an A-Rank kenjutsu technique... Your speed, too... I would have been dead meat had I remained there a second longer. You're full of surprises, Naruto-kun."
"Shut up!" Naruto did his Shadow Clone hand sign again. "Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wha-?" Naruto's clones dispersed and the original felt himself being blown back violently. One of his katanas slipped from his hands towards the forest floor.
Here's my chance! Sasuke launched his hands into seals once again. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
The flame grew with the wind from Long Tongue's jutsu, and flew towards the long-haired ninja.
It managed to destroy a tree, with it crumpling to the ground, but Long Tongue soon reappeared behind Sasuke, unharmed. Startled, Sasuke kicked back, but Long Tongue was in front of Sasuke by then.
"Stop playing with me, you idiot..." The Uchiha kicked forward, and this time, Long Tongue was above him, looking ready to bury his sword into Sasuke's skull. Instinctively, Sasuke dropped his upper body to the ground and kicked the sword away.
"Good moves, Sasuke-kun," the Grass nin commented, as she... or was it a he... raised a hand. "Sword of Kusanagi!"
The sword flew back into Long Tongue's hand, making Sasuke gasp.
He can control his sword... this is no original man... or woman...
Naruto watched the battle unfold, and then noticed Sakura, who was still trembling a few meters away from the ensuing fight. Swiftly, he leaped forward and carried Sakura in his arms, before jumping down onto the forest floor.
"Sakura-chan... calm down," he soothed, trying to sound as nice as possible. At the same time, Naruto noticed his katana lying a meter away, and got up, wanting to pick up the weapon.
"No! Naruto... don't leave..."
Naruto frowned, as Sakura grabbed onto his leg.
"If you leave... we are all going to die... protect me, please..."
At her statement, Naruto gave her a comforting smile. "I'll never leave. I promise. Believe it!" In his mind, he cursed the Long Tongue freak. She must still be affected by that intense KI...
Sakura seemed to be satisfied, and she wrapped Naruto into a crushing hug. Surprised, Naruto wanted to pull away, but relaxed when he saw Sakura wasn't going to release her grip anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying to hold off the strange man... or woman.
What is Naruto doing? I can't fight him... or her... alone! The Rookie of the Year launched into a series of kicks, but Long Tongue blocked every single one with his formidable sword.
He peered down, to see Naruto gently stroking Sakura's pink hair. Sasuke blinked.
Well, hopefully she won't be bothering me like a fangirl now. No, wait, that's impossible. She's always a fangirl, Sasuke sighed, as he threw his fist forward. He withdrew it quickly and jumped away as Long Tongue's sword thrusted towards his chest.
"What are you?" Sasuke questioned, more of curiosity than anything else.
"I am Orochimaru."
"Okay, Orochimaru, so are you a male or a female?"
Orochimaru twitched. "Male."
"For a minute there I thought you were... both."
Orochimaru twitched again, but then his expression hardened. "I've had fun playing with you, Sasuke-kun. But this is the perfect opportunity to do it while your teammates are not around."
"It?" Sasuke frowned, alert.
Big brother has been teaching me this jutsu... but I haven't mastered it completely yet... should I...?
Orochimaru sheathed his sword. "Prepare yourself, Sasuke-kun."
Yup. Definitely should.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
"What?!" Orochimaru shielded himself as a burst of flame taking the form of a dragon's head rushed towards him. The Kusanagi wielder jumped back, but the enormous flame followed.
Sasuke grinned as the flames exploded. Did I get him?
To his dismay, Orochimaru emerged safely from the smoke, although part of his face was torn off to reveal it was a mask, and another face underneath.
What... what is this?
"Who the hell are you?"
"I told you, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru chuckled evilly. "My name is Orochimaru. Remember it well, because we will meet again." Then he touched his face, feeling the torn skin. "But to burn off even this little bit of my mask is quite a feat. But there is no time to waste... it is time."
"Time for what?" Sasuke questioned suspiciously.
"This."
Orochimaru's neck extended, and the snake-like man's head inched closer towards Sasuke.
Holy fuck. Sasuke leaped back, but Orochimaru's head caught up. No! The Uchiha launched a kick, but the neck of the snake man wrapped around his leg and his body.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke growled. "Constricting me like a snake?"
"Something like that," Orochimaru chuckled, breathing into Sasuke's ear and making him shiver. "But... I'm not ready for you to die quite yet."
Sasuke grunted, but beneath his confident expression was one of true fear. "What... what are you going to do with me?" He tried to reach for the Earth Scroll in his pocket, but Orochimaru's neck restricted his hand. "L-Look... I have the Earth Scroll... you can take it... and leave us alone. Deal?"
"No."
With that said, Orochimaru bit into his neck.
Eyes widening, Sasuke tried to move, but found himself paralyzed as Orochimaru's fangs sank into his neck. He felt power coursing through his veins, new power. But with it, was also pain. Excruciating pain. Sasuke clutched his neck and fell to the ground, twisting and turning as Orochimaru's long neck pulled back.
"This is your first test, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru spoke. "Let's see if you have what it takes to survive the Cursed Seal of Heaven. I will see you again, if you don't die, that is."
With a final maniacal laugh, the 'Grass-nin' disappeared.
Two chapters in one day! Wow. I don't know why but I was in the mood for writing, so here they are. I'm not one to keep completed chapters away from readers just for more reviews in the latest chapter, so, here you go. What did you think of the battle against Orochimaru? Sasuke receives the Cursed Seal and Naruto doesn't get a Five-Pronged Seal! Woohoo. In the next chapter, Team 7, shaken from the fight against Orochimaru, must now continue on in the Exams and find an Earth Scroll compatible to their Heaven Scroll. Until next time!