Listen up y'all, ahm Killer B / Got somethin ta tell ya, so listen ta me.

This is somefin ya gotta know / The author he don't own Naruto

If ya think he does, well dat ain't cool / Means ya nothin but a great big foo!

Yo.

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Chapter Eighteen – The Forest Of Death

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The forest echoed with the noise of the wildlife that inhabited it, creatures tha would pose a threat to any ninja.

Not, however, to the two giant tigers prowling through the undergrowth.

'Another trail, this one's not a Konoha team.' Kaze growled. The other tiger looked at him.

'Which way were they heading, and do any smell of sand, blood and tanuki?'

Kaze shook his head. 'You really have a thing about this… Gaara… don't you? Is he really that bad?'

'He holds a demon inside, like I do, but he reeks of death and killing. Kyuubi warned me not to try and take him down in anything like a fair fight, and that even an ambush would probably not work.'

Kaze shrugged. 'This team smells of metal and rust, I think it is from the place called Rain.'

Naruto nodded and followed Kaze as he led the way towards their chosen targets.

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"Combination Kagetora Clan Technique: Great Tiger Henge no Jutsu!"

Kiba whistled in appreciation as the smoke dispersed to reveal two Kyoukas. The upper one dropped down and moved across to Shino, while the original took station by Kiba and waited for him to scramble on.

"So…" Kiba said thoughtfully. "Any teams nearby?"

Hinata nodded and the two tigers started to prowl through the forest. Shino concentrated and a small cloud of bugs appeared from his sleeve and flew through the forest ahead of them. After a few minutes, one of the bugs returned.

"Our opponants carry the scent of metal." Shino stated. "I would guess that they are from the Rain village."

"Cool." Kiba smirked. "We can see just how tough they are."

Hinata growled in agreement.

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"Well, this is messed up."

The three Rain ninja looked in shock at the force surrounding them. Most of the clearing was ringed by almost a hundred Kage Bunshin of Kaze and Naruto, the latter holding an enormous sword in his hand. The part not covered by Naruto was held by Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Akamaru and Kyouka.

"Naruto-kun… I didn't know you were after these people too."

Naruto shrugged. "Well, they don't stand a chance against me and you five could probably flatten them without breaking a sweat. Hmmm, Rain-nin, what scroll do you three have?"

The Rain Kunoichi held up a scroll and Kiba cursed.

"Earth scroll. Dammit, we needed a heaven scroll."

Shino shrugged. "Then we shall find one. Naruto-san, Hinata would be most irate with us if we tried to take your scroll, so this one is yours. Would you like aid, or will you deal with them yourself?"

The three Rain-nin looked at each other, then the leader nodded with a sigh and made a hand-motion. The Kunoichi slowly placed the scroll on the ground and backed away as one of the Naruto Bunshins scooped it up.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata asked, "How does Kaze manage to do that many Kage Bunshin? I thought only you had such reserves."

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Umm, Actually, it's like the other technique. When I do a Kage Bunshin, Kaze matches his chakra to mine and…well…"

Hinata nodded. "That's very clever, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned. "Well, I've got a Heaven scroll to find, and so do you. See you at the tower, Hinata-chan! You too, Kyouka, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru"

Most of the Bunshins vanished in clouds of smoke and when the Rain-nin looked round, it was to find themselves alone once more. After a few tense minutes, the leader sighed.

"New plan. Let's get the hell out of here. The gate's that way."

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"Before you turn back into a tiger, we need to find some way to communicate better." Kiba said, then he looked round. "What?"

"Communicate better?" Hinata repeated, her eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth. "Who are you and what have you done with our Kiba?"

"Very funny." Kiba grumped. "Seriously, we need to know what you see, and as a tiger, you can't tell us."

Hinata nodded. "Alright, how about this. I'll stay human until we get our Heaven scroll, then turn tiger and get us to the tower as fast as possible. That sound like a good compromise?"

"It is an excellent suggestion." Shino said. "Hinata's enhanced feline mode is far superior in terms of mobility, although renainung human indeed provides much-needed vocal interaction during exploratory reconnaisance."

Kiba stared at him and Shino sighed.

"As tiger, Hinata moves better. As human, she can talk to describe things."

Kiba nodded, then Akamaru let out several soft barks and whines.

"Hey, Akamaru scents another team, that way!"

Kyouka growled slightly and Hinata nodded. "I agree. Akamaru has a very good nose."

Kiba glowed with pride. "Let's go!"

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"What are the odds" Kiba growled as their defeated adversaries retreated. "Three teams, all with the Earth scroll! Are there any Heaven scrolls at all out there?"

Shino nodded, frustration evident on his face. "The odds do seem to be somewhat against us, if I were a religious person, I would assume that Kami was playing a joke on us."

"We can't give up." Hinata said with a frown. "We have three earth scrolls, maybe we can find a team who have several heaven scrolls and simply trade?"

"Trade?" Kiba scoffed, and Shino lightly slapped him on the back of his head.

"The possibility of resolving our current state without violence is one that should not be discounted." Shino said sternly. "Admittedly, it is not without risks of its own, given the possibility of ambush and betrayal, but it is nontheless a definite possibility."

Akamaru yipped and Kiba looked up. "Another two teams over that way. Let's go."

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"Needle storm!"

Team 8 watched from their concealed location as the ninja threw his umbrella into the air. The umbrella spun, unleashing a near-solid wave of senbon which slashed down…

…and embedded in a sand shield that seemed to materialise around the red-haired Suna genin.

"How did you do that?"

"Your technique is useless against me. Now you shall validate my existance. Sand coffin."

More sand poured out of the gourd on the boy's back and engulfed the trio of older ninja.

"Sand burial."

The sand surrounding the trio contracted, blood leaking through, then retreated, leaving three broken corpses behind. The Suna kunoichi moved over and, disgust evident on her face, pulled a scroll from the corpse of the leader and looked at it. "Hey, this is an Earth scroll, we can head for the tower now."

Team 8 watched the trio leave, then Hinata activated her Byakugan and moved towards one of the other corpses.

"Hinata, what are you doing?" Kiba hissed. Hinata steeled herself and opened the top of the crushed corpse, revealing a scroll in the pocket. Pulling it out, she handed the scroll to Shino, then fled into the bushes and started to throw up. Shino looked at the scroll.

"A Heaven scroll." He noted. "We can head for the tower."

Hinata finished throwing up and let Kiba pull her into a reassuring hug as she fought down her tears. Shino joined them, having stowed the scroll in one of his pockets.

"He just… just killed them." Hinata gasped. "No mercy, nothing."

"No wonder Naruto warned us against him." Kiba said, shaken. "If I go up against him, I'm going to forfeit at once. That sand of his…"

"I do not believe I will be able to counter his abilities either." Shino said. "It is agreed, none of us are to accept a fight against Gaara of Suna."

Hinata nodded as Kyouka licked the tears from her cheeks.

"There is no rush." Shino said. "We are in a concealed location. Take your time, Hinata, we still have several days left, more than enough time."

Hinata nodded, then stood up. "No, I just need to get going. Kyouka?"

Kyouka nodded and lay down, allowing Hinata to climb onto her back.

"Combination Kagetora Clan Technique: Great Tiger Henge no Jutsu!"

Kiba scooped up Akamaru and as Hinata stepped back down, he bowed to Kyouka, then scrambled onto her back as Shino accepted a ride from Hinata.

"The tower is that way, I would suggest that speed is our ally at this point."

Hinata nodded and accelerated, following Kyouka as they wove between the trees, heading towards the tower.

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"If qualities of heaven are your desire, aquire wisdom to take your mind higher

"If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack

"When heaven and earth are opened together, this perilous path will become righteous forever

"This something is the secret way, that guides us from this place today."

Kiba frowned as Hinata finished reading the poem mounted on the wall.

"Qualities? Train? What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"It is simple." Shino said. "We are supposed to open the Heaven and Earth scrolls here. The poem says that if we lack a Heaven scroll, we should find one, if we lack an Earth scroll, we should procure one, and that to advance safely, we need to have both scrolls and to open them here in order to advance."

Hinata nodded and Kiba frowned. "So… we just open the scrolls? Then what?"

"Only one way to find out." Hinata said as she accepted one of the scrolls from Shino. The two of them placed the scrolls on the floor and Shino unrolled his, then Hinata unrolled hers so that the two scrolls crossed. The scrolls started to emit smoke and both Hinata and Shino retreated rapidly, Hinata dropping into a modified Jyuuken stance as Shino summoned a swarm of bugs. Kyouka prepared to pounce while Kiba dropped to all fours, Akamaru on his back.

"Interesting welcome."

"Iruka-sensei?" Hinata gasped as a familiar figure emerged from the smoke. "What are you doing here?"

"My job." Smiled the scarred genin. "I'm one of the ones who are tasked with welcoming the genin teams to the tower, congratulations on passing the second stage."

"Wahooo!" Kiba shouted, leaping up, Akamaru balancing on his head and yipping with excitement. Iruka smiled.

"So, you have another four days until this stage ends, we have several rooms for you to rest in, a food hall and other facilities including an onsen if you wish to clean up."

"Has anyone else arrived?" Shino asked and Iruka nodded.

"Yes, one of the teams from Suna arrived less than half an hour ago. The sand siblings, I believe. Why?"

"We saw them fighting." Hinata said quietly. "I think… we should avoid them. Especially Gaara."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "I… see. Well, there are plenty of Anbu in the tower with orders to put a stop to any fighting, so as long as you don't start anything, you'll be safe. Now, this way, let's get you settled in."