Chapter 4: The forest of death
Surprised looks were seen all over the room. Before anyone could say anything a black bundle shot through the window and unfurled to show a banner. Standing in front of it was none over then the snake whore herself. Karina laughed at loud at the stupidity of it and at Ryouske's reaction. The kid had slammed his head onto the desk. The sign read ANKO MITIARASHI, THE PROCTOR FOR THE SECOND STAGE!
Karina grinned, 'this part' she thought 'is gonna be fun'.
Anko looked around the classroom 'there's so many' she turned to Ibiki, who had just stepped out from behind the banner. 'You're going soft Ibiki.. whatever'. She grinned and licked her lips 'after my test the number'll be reduced by half'. Karina smiled, looking around. The genin were all staring at Anko with a mixture of fear and disbelief. Karina looked over at Ryouske, noticing that he was grinning again.
After the Genin had all left sceptically following a cheery Anko to the 44th training ground. Karina and Anko both preferred it's other name though. The forest of death. 'I wish I could go and watch the test I wanna know how the brats cope-'. She jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder. 'That was fun'! Izumo grinned at her. 'Wanna grab some food'? Karina smiled at him 'Sure'.
Kotetsu caught up with the two of them as they left 'Don't go without me, I know you guys want some alone time but I gotta eat to' he said playfully earning another punch from a bright red Izumo. Karina looked at the pair of them for a moment and burst out laughing. They stared at her, making her laugh more at their expressions. 'I'm sorry, but you guys-' she couldn't speak due to laughing to much. Kotetsu and Izumo looked at her and then each other, and grinned. Karina stopped laughing finally and the three of them walked out of the classroom and headed to Ichiraku's.
Walking out of the first exam building Karina turned to Kotetsu 'any kids stand out to you'? Kotetsu pondered the question. 'The Uchiha kid looked interesting, I reckon he'll make it to chunin.' He grinned at looked at Izumo 'That Ryouske kid was funny, though I think he made Izumo jealous'. Izumo glared at Kotetsu and said nothing. Karina smiled 'they're certainly an interesting bunch this year'.
The three of them neared Ichiraku's. Karina stopped walking causing her two team mates to look at her in confusion. She wasn't looking back at them however she was looking at the ninja stood in front of the stall who was now walking towards the three of them.
The ninja was dressed in the uniform of the anbu black ops and was wearing a white mask with black stripes on the forehead. He walked up to Karina and addressed her. 'Karina Akumanochi #02593 return to your home, change uniforms and be back here in 10 minutes you need to come and see this'. Karina, Izumo and Kotetsu's faces all turned serious. Karina nodded, said a quick goodbye to her team mates and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Appearing in her apartment she pulled open her drawers searching for her old uniform. Once she found it she quickly changed and went to the wall, pulling her mask from its hanger and looking down at it. She sighed and put the mask on. 'Haven't worn this in a while'. She undid her hair and let it tumble to her shoulders and down her back.
She returned to the stall finding the other anbu member stood there, still as a statue. She approached them bowing her head. 'What's this about'? She asked. 'Follow me' they said walking off with Karina in tow.
They soon reached a grassy hill with three statues standing on it. Karina's eyes widened behind the mask as she observed the three dead bodies at the feet of the statues. Blood was everywhere. It wasn't the bodies that shocked Karina, it was their faces… they were gone. Anko appeared with another anbu member. Her eyes widening in shock at the bodies. Karina looked at her hands and noticed that they had balled into fists and were shaking. 'There is no doubt about it….this is his jutsu. Lord Hokage had to warned send a messenger to him right away. The exams continue until further notice, no-one is to know except Lord Third. For now I'm going into the forest to do a patrol.' Karina looked around as the other Anbu disappeared. She took off her mask and bowed her head at Anko. 'I'll accompany you into the forest we can't be too careful'. She looked at Anko dead in the eye unitl she reluctantly nodded. Both of them headed to the forest immediately.
As they travelled Karina thought back to her full conversation with Anko before the first exam.
Flashback
'Your student'? Karina asked Anko who nodded. 'Yeah that's Ryouske. The kid that showed up out of the blue years ago, got an interesting kekkei genkai. He should do well in these exams'. Karina nodded and Anko continued 'He's also a user of the sharingan'. That statement made Karina raise an eyebrow. 'He's not an Uchiha, so is it artificial like Kakashi's'? Anko nodded 'Yeah, we think the kid has ties to Orochimaru'.
Flashback end
As Karina and Anko made their way through the forest swiftly, she looked towards Anko, a question on her mind. 'Hey Anko? Do you think Orochimaru came back for the Ryouske brat? What if he wants his sharingan back'? Anko didn't answer but looked worried now. Karina motioned for the both of them to stop. She closed her eyes and placed two fingers on the one that was covered. Slowing her breath she concentrated on the chakra around her. She felt Anko's but also another very close to them. Her eyes shot open and she pointed west. She started running with Anko following.
They soon found him. The man in question was stood in a clearing with his back to them. He soon turned around when they landed though. His eyes locked onto to Karina's for a second and she was frozen in fear by the sheer evil that was reflected in his golden eyes. She broke herself from the fear however and looked over at Anko. The woman was staring down Orochimaru hatred in her eyes, her fists shaking. Orochimaru finally spoke 'Well well, isn't this a surprise? Two old friends showing up, it must be my lucky day' he said smirking. Anko's hand went up to her neck and rubbed it. 'What are you scheming'? She growled drawing a kuni. Karina did so as well and settled into a fighting stance.
The snake's smirk widened 'Do you honestly think you can take me down? My dear Anko, don't forget it was I who taught you, I who took you and made you strong, I who made you into what you are today'. His words somehow made Anko even angrier and she jumped towards him. 'What are you planning to do to the leaf'? She yelled, swinging her knife at him. Orochimaru grabbed her wrist and and kicked her away. Karina saw an opening and ran forward aiming to get nine punches in his side Orochimaru dodged and brought his knee up to Karina's face. Karina grunted and flipped backwards, managing to land on her feet. Anko shot her arm forward 'Striking Shadow Snakes', snakes shot out of her arm. Orochimaru batted them away as if thew were made of paper.
He shot forward towards Karina and before she could react he grabbed her leg and swung her towards Anko sending both ninja crashing to the ground. They both got up quickly and Anko weaved hand signs. She took a deep breath 'Fire style: dragon fire jutsu' she let out the breath sending out a stream of flame that formed a dragon shape and sped towards Orochimaru. The snake sighed and melted away leaving nothing but mud behind.
'Shit' Karina heard Anko curse. They heard a laugh behind them and turned to see the sannin smiling at them. 'Do you really think that would work? I taught you better than that'. Karina sensed that Anko's anger was getting out of hand. She touched her arm 'Relax and control your breathing Anko. Getting riled up is not the answer'. Karina turned at ran at Orochimaru suddenly. Weaving hand signs and crossing her arms Karina yelled 'wind style: wind blade jutsu'. She opened her arms and blades if wind streamed towards Orochimaru which left deep cuts in his body. Anko suddenly appeared behind him and burnt him up with another dragon fire jutsu.
Karina smirked relieved to have done some damage. That was until the smirk was wiped off her face by Lord Orochimaru opening his mouth and allowing a new version of himself to climb out.
Before he attacked however, Anko pushed up against a tree. 'Let me borrow your hands for a bit' she said pushing the snakes hand into a sign. 'twin snake jutsu'. While Anko was preoccupied Karina heard movement behind her and saw the real Orochimaru grinning at her. 'Dammit! My current strength isn't enough' Realising that the one Anko was dealing with was just a clone, Karina gritted her teeth and reached up to the bandage across her eye to remove it. Before she could do anything Orochimaru appeared right in front of her, grabbed her wrist and wrapped his arm around her neck. Karina yelped as he was cutting off her oxygen supply. 'I don't think so. I sense you've got quite a bit of power there, I'd love to see it but I'm rather busy at the moment' he whispered before Karina fell unconscious.
When she woke up she found herself on the sofa in her apartment. With Kakashi sat on a chair next to her. She yelped and went to spring up only to be shoved back down by Kakashi's arm. 'Just rest for a bit' he said. Karina growled at him and pushed his arm off, sitting up. 'I'm fine, no damage…I was just knocked out'. She looked at him 'I assume you've been informed on the situation'? Kakashi nodded. Karina frowned and put a hand on her head. 'Dammit, I didn't react quick enough, I should have taken more precautions going against a Sannin'.
She put her hand down and looked back at Kakashi 'how long have I been out'? 'Only a few hours' Kakashi responded. 'The second exam is over. Karina looked at him curiously 'Which teams got through'? But before Kakashi could answered she asked another question 'I forgot to ask, who did you get on your team'? Kakashi smiled 'Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno'. Karina's eyes widened. 'You got Naruto and the Uchiha on the same team, that's gonna be fun to deal with'. Kakashi smiled 'Naruto and Susuke already don't get on, teaching them is…difficult to say the least. But they are growing on me'.
Karina frowned slightly, 'I met the Mystery boy today, Ryouske Tenno'. 'Oh? What's he like?' He asked. Karina frowned more, a vein popping in her head. 'Troublesome, mischievous and perverted'. Kakashi chuckled at that 'well his team made it through as well as Naruto's. Along with that there were a few leaf teams, a very interesting lot from the sand village and a shady group from the hidden sound village'. Karina looked at him in disbelief. 'So many'? Kakashi nodded 'They're holding preliminary exams right now to siphon out more Genin'. Karina grinned, 'this I gotta see' she said standing up. 'ugh' she stumbled forward slightly and Kakashi caught her 'I don't think that's wise Karina'. She frowned and pushed herself off him. She spotted his favourite pervy book poking out of his pocket and quickly swiped it. Kakashi panicked 'Hey now, let's not be rash. Give it back'!
Karina grinned and held it behind her back. 'Let me go watch the exams or I spoil the book'. Kakashi looked at her sceptically. 'Y-you wouldn't'. Karina peeked in the last pages of the book, 'oh well look at that, turns out that the girl acutally-' 'Okay! You win'! Kakashi said seriously panicking. Karina grinned in victory and handed the book back to him laughing. The two of them started walking towards the arena where the preliminary exam was being held.