STILL AT LARGE ~ 29
Goku outstretched his arms and yawned out loud. He was excited the day before for the exams, but waking up at ten o'clock was too much for him. The boy struggled to keep his eyelids opened as he stared blank at Anko Mitarashi standing at the front of the crowd. His eyes were slowly drifting to the setting their second test was taking place, "It's just a big forest."
Chi-Chi pinched Goku on the arm, hoping the boy would stop talking, "That's the whole point, it's known as the Forest of Death," she tried to scare her teammate, but the only person on their team who shuddered at the name was Mao. Goku continued to look on tiredly as he ran a hand through his messy bed-head, "Maybe if you didn't stay up doing god knows what, you wouldn't be tired."She pulled out a hair tie and tried to put Goku's hair back in an upwards ponytail.
The saiyan boy liked his hair spiky, but Mabui, Chi-Chi nor K would let him wear his natural hair-do. He ducked and dodged Chi-Chi's fast, hair-tie wielding hands and avoided the ponytail for his second part of the exam. As he backed away from the angry girl, he ended up bumping into the male Hyuga that was staring at him the day before. He turned around and stumbled backward with wide eyes.
Neji Hyuga was far from pleased to cross paths with the alien child, "Perhaps it's fate that we meet here, Son Goku."He had done his research on the Kumogakure teams after the first exam and he was ready to do battle with any one of them at any given time. "I will not forgive your village for what you have done to my family."
Goku didn't know how to respond. He felt sorry for whatever had happened between Kumo and the Hyuga clan, but an apology wouldn't change what occurred. Chi-Chi pulled him away from Neji, who still stared at the trio and flicked him on the forehead, "Oi! I didn't do anything this time."
"If you don't mind me saying, Goku-kun," Mao stepped up and placed her hand on her teammates shoulder. "Everyone you have encountered hasn't been fond of you. Chi-Chi and I think you should stop talking for the rest of the exam, you're only creating enemies."
The boy rolled his eyes and pouted his lip.
"Don't worry, kid," Anko placed her arm around Neji's shoulder and he looked up with disgust at the woman touching him. "He'll be all yours once those gates open, but first," She raised her voice so all the examinees could hear her. "Before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out!"She pulled out a stack of papers and held them high for everyone to see.
"I need you all to sign these agreement forms!"Anko continued, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "There will be deaths in this one, and if I don't have you sign these…It will all be my responsibility."She laughed it off and got a kick from all the disturbed glances she got from the participating genin. "I'm going to explain the second test for you all, and then you can turn the forms in at the booth behind him."
She passed off the stack to Goku and the boy stared at it with a confused expression. After being smacked on the head by Chi-Chi he took his sheet and passed it along to his teammates.
Anko let go of Neji and placed her hands on her hips, "The second test is simple, you will attempt the ultimate survival."There was a single pained sigh that came from Konoha's own Shikamaru Nara that caught her attention, which made her smile even harder. "First about the area, around practice arena number 44, there are 44 locked gates. A forest, river, and a tower in the center and from the gates to the tower is about 10 kilometers."
She gestured toward the forest behind her, "During the survival here, you only have one task, and that is to do whatever it takes to retrieve the other scroll and make it to the tower."Anko pulled out the two scrolls for them to see. "Half of the teams will get Earth scrolls, while the other half gets Heaven scrolls. In order to pass, you need to make to the tower with both scrolls in five days."
Choji yelled out, "FIVE DAYS!?"He placed his hands on his stomach and frowned, "When will we eat?"
"There's plenty of food in the forest," Anko explained, "Just try not to get eaten by those man-eating animals, you'd probably make a good meal."The woman shook her head and tried to get back on track, so she could finally send them off to take the exam. "There's only two ways to be disqualified, if you one of your teammates dies, or if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls."
"Is there an option to quit?"A taller genin wearing a straw hat asked.
"No, there's no damn quitting, you will be in the forest for all five days," Anko rolled her eyes and held up the scrolls once more. "One last thing, you cannot look inside the scrolls until you make it to the tower, understood?"Everyone present grunted in affirmation and she nodded. "Now go and exchange those forms for the scrolls so we can get this thing started, gakis."
Goku signed at the bottom of his forms as his teammates did the same. He turned to see a bead of sweat roll down Mao's face and he grinned, "Don't worry, we're not losing at all!"He shook her excitedly and she started to look sick at the thought of killing someone for a simple scroll.
The trio of Kumogakure genin was assigned to Gate 12, and after they had gotten their 'Heaven' scroll, that's where they followed the instructor. Goku ran a hand through his spiky hair and yawned once more, "You think I have enough time to sleep before this starts?"
A loud voice boomed throughout the whole area, "THE TEST BEGINS NOW!"The man standing at the gate unlocked it and the three walked through calmly.
"To answer your question, no," Chi-Chi responded dryly as she walked, but suddenly turned around to see a frozen Goku.
The saiyan was stuck standing in front of the gate. His senses were far greater than Chi-Chi and Mao's, so several powerful figures energy fixating on only him was an impossible feeling to miss. He walked forward, "They're all coming for us."The boy started to stretch out his muscles; he was impossibly calm now that he accepted what was coming for him, "Too many for me to count."
Mao started to show her worth to the team quickly, "There are twelve people honing in on Goku-kun, six of them have monstrous chakras. We should start moving," The girl was a skilled sensor and she didn't exactly let on how good she was until then. She turned to smile at the two, but they were standing with wide eyes. "It's inevitable that they'll run into obstacles, so we should move around them."
"How did you know that?" Goku asked with a curious brow as they calmly entered the 'Forest of Death.'
"Toki Jun no Jutsu (Net Technique)," Mao informed her teammates so they'd know what she was capable of from that point on. "My mom taught it to me before we left for the exam, I won't divulge on how it works, just know I'm always watching over us."
Chi-Chi sighed, "This is going to be fun."
. . .
(Forest of Death ~ Gate 20)
Lapis crouched down and began stretching while his sister and his other silent teammate looked at him with furrowed brows. He stood up and placed his arms around their shoulders, "We should get started shouldn't we?"He asked with a grin.
"Affirmative," the chubby pre-teen said robotically to the pair of twins. He took a few steps forward and looked back at the pair of twins, "We must focus on collecting data, we have five days to get the scrolls."
"We have the whole exam to 'collect data,' I'd rather have some fun right now, "Lazuli nudged her brother and they both shared a laugh. When chubby Oto genin was staring blankly at them she frowned, "9, what's the problem?"
"Lord Orochimaru stressed that we must act now, this is the only time we won't be supervised by Konoha officials," the newly dubbed 19 said with a straight face. He jumped into the trees and took off in the direction of the other participants.
"He sure has a hard-on for this whole data collection thing," Lapis joked as he followed after 19 and his twin sister fell into step with them. As they traversed through the trees, the sounds of blood curdling screams and blades clashing filled his ears. It was like music to him and he was ready to join the fray.
"Do we have a specialty? It seems like all these other teams have a specialty," Lazuli mused aloud as they bounced through the trees. Their team was simply thrown together by Orochimaru due to their relation, but the boy wasn't seeing how they meshed. "We should come up with a cool name or something."
"Well what are we good at?"His sister asked him as she scanned over the forest floor and saw no other genin teams to pounce on. "You're good at killing people, I know that."
"So are you," Lazuli nodded along with his sister and they both made noises of agreement as they traveled. "And chubs is good at finding stuff, kami we're a fucking search and destroy tea-" He was tripped up by the most simple trick they taught in the academy, and that was ninja wire.
His body went plummeting to the ground but was jerked back up after he was tied up by the ankle. Lazuli looked up and saw his two teammates looking down on him with disappointment. He grit his teeth as he reached into his pouch to pull out a kunai and cut himself down. He flipped back and landed on the forest floor.
Lapis and 19 dropped down from the trees and his sister pushed her brother to the ground. "You're so stupid," the girl scratched her head and then placed her hands on her hips. She walked past her brother, "Where are they, 19?" Lapis knew they were being watched and she wanted to get the inevitable fight over with, and possibly get a scroll for it.
19's eyes shot around the forest quickly and he was staring back at his teammate in an instant, "There are three of them." He pointed in the trees, another set of trees in the opposite direction, and lastly on the forest floor. "There's an Aburame, Hyūga, and Inuzuka. The Aburame placed his kikaichū on Lapis when they trapped Lazuli."
Hinata stirred from her position and a bead of sweat rolled down her head. She wasn't expecting for their plan to be destroyed that easily and now she was exchanging glances with her teammates. The girl looked at Shino and he nodded. She readied herself to jump down and engage, waiting for the signal.
Kiba and Akamaru initiated the exchanged, tearing through the clearing using their Gatsuga technique, which served as the signal for Team 8. The trio had no choice but to break away from the vicious ninken-shinobi duo to avoid being torn apart. While they spread out through the clearing, Hinata activated her Byakugan to scan the three opposing genin, and found the scroll they were looking for on the body of 19.
Following the next part of their plan, she jumped from the tree and ran across the clearing to disable the chubby boy and retrieve the scroll. Shino and Kiba targeted Lapis and Lazuli so Hinata wouldn't have to worry being attacked from behind while she fought. The girl closed the distance between her and 19; the two were instantly exchanging blows.
The Oto genin was quick to decipher her fighting patterns, and saw that the shy girl was going to be on the offensive the entire time. Her Jyuken was respectable, but the moment she tried to stab the tenketsu in his shoulder, he tucked low, and tackled her to the ground. He flipped her over and locked her in a tight grappling hold. He grinned while doing so, "Statistically speaking, we're your worst nightmare." He said in reference to how quickly the battle was in his team's favor.
She ignored his taunt and managed to wiggle her hand free, stabbing her index and middle finger into his neck, and finally broke away from his grip. The girl rolled across the forest floor and took a deep breath, feeling a strong fatigue wash over her body. Fighting 19 was draining her in every aspect, and the battle had just started.
Normally a strike to the neck would make any shinobi falter, but 19 was seen rubbing at it idly with a ghost of a smile on his face. Hinata squinted her Byakugan enhanced eyes so she could take a closer look at the boy, and was confused by what she saw. Her experience with the Byakugan allowed her to see how chakra moved through the body, and how it felt when she interacted with it. People's chakra was reflective to them, such as Naruto who had a warm, strong chakra with a hint of something else.
19's chakra didn't look or feel real at all. There was something else entirely flowing through his body, with minute hints of actual chakra in it, but for the most part artificial energy was his power source. He was also capable of forcing his tenketsu back open like it was nothing, and her skin began to crawl at all the possibilities. She braced herself once more as the boy beckoned her to come forth once more.
After being so easily disabled, the passive girl was wary about fighting 19 up close, but her range was limited. Someone like Shino would have been better off fighting to get the scroll, and now she was starting to ponder the boy's comment. Perhaps he was really her worst nightmare in battle.
When he saw how nervous she was, he grinned and ran in. He knew they would stand there all day if he left it up to her. She had moved onto the defensive, and used her superior footwork to avoid his hits, so he decided to sweep low and knock off of her feet. It wasn't a bad plan, since it jumbled her pattern, and she had to jump to avoid the kick.
Despite how fat he was, he was agile, using one of his hands to grab onto her ankle, and his other to spin off of like a break dancer. He used his strength to throw the girl against the base of a tree and she hit the ground with a thud. The boy came to a stand after his show of flexibility and began walking toward her downed body.
Hinata had never been thoroughly outclassed during her time in Konoha, so part of her was shocked. Her body was exhausted and she could barely move after only fighting for a few minutes. When she looked up, she saw 19 standing over her with a devilish grin, and his eyes glowing red. She grit her teeth and tried to lash out once more, but he forcefully planted his foot in her gut, and she spit out a bit of blood.
His glowing eyes shot out beams that burned through part of her back. She screamed out and 19 crouched down, placing his hands around her cheeks. He lifted her face up so he could stare in her eyes, with a strange smile that would surely give her night terrors for weeks.
His hands were the next part of his body that started glowing. She was unfortunate enough to see the mechanisms that were installed in his hands, and slowly but surely began draining her of all her energy. When he was done, their eyes were still locked onto each other. She was fading in and out of consciousness, and struggled to move while he was still holding her.
Her pain for now was temporary, but what he proceeded to do next would scar her for the rest of her life.
. . .
(Forest of Death ~ With Vegeta)
Mai had zero intention of becoming a shinobi while she was an orphan in Iwagakure, but due to how weak the military had become; there was a draft in Iwa. To her, it was unfortunate that she fit the mold of the perfect soldier, according to the Tsuchikage, and her life had gone down hill from that point (in her opinion). She was currently clinging on for dear life on the 'Prince of All Saiyans.'
The boy was adamant about hunting down Son Goku the first chance he got. She had heard about the boy's exploits during his stay in Iwagakure, but she didn't feel as strongly as Vegeta did. Since he was the unspoken captain of their team, they were weaving through the trees as they honed on the brother of Raditz's location. The wind blowing in her face was the least bit of comforting.
The two saiyans seemed accustomed to this form of traveling, and were barely twitching while moving at such high speeds. No one was capable of tracking them at this rate, and she would be glad when her feet could touch the ground, since vertigo was a real thing for her.
She beginning to feel nauseous, "Can you fuckers slow down?" Ever since she was broken from her team and added onto 'Team Nappa' for the exams, she had to get used to a lot of new things. The two aliens were the least pleasant people on Earth, "I will throw up on your back."
"If your filthy human vomit even grazes my skin, I'll make sure nothing ever comes out of your throat again," Vegeta threatened as he continued to fly through the Forest of Death. He didn't particularly care for the human addition to their team, but in order for them to participate they needed three people, so enter Mai. He ducked under the trees and continued to fly as he got closer to Goku's location.
As Vegeta and Raditz were ready to continue their path to Goku, they were blocked by a single boy standing on a branch with his arms folded. Gaara's empty eyes were focused on the trio of Iwagakure genin, and he didn't intend for them to pass without a fight. As they got near him, he raised his hands and began guiding his infamous sand from its gourd.
Retrieving the scroll from them was the least of his concerns; he had days to complete the task. His main goal was to test his strength against the likes of Vegeta or Raditz. Never in his life had he felt a malice stronger than his, yet when he crossed paths with the two saiyans when they were among the 'humans' he almost felt a chill run up his spine. It was an otherworldly experience, and he figured they had to be close to him in terms of strength.
Raditz stopped in the air and stared at Gaara with a raised brow, "Has this boy lost his mind, Vegeta?" He looked to his partner for answers, and the Prince was now rolling his neck.
"Let's make this fast," Vegeta urged his fellow saiyan, and then he turned to face Gaara. He planned on ending the battle in an instant, with Mai still latched onto his back. He shot forward and planted his knee into Gaara's gut, sending him flying across the forest. The Prince was much faster than the Sunagakure genin anticipated, and he paid for underestimating him that easily.
Before Vegeta could shoot off and continue with Gaara, a fierce gust of wind blew him and Raditz back, smacking into the base of a tree. Mai released a pained groan, since her body had been unintentionally volunteered as the Prince of All Saiyan's human-shield. All three of them were disgruntled by the surprise attack, and now had no choice but to rid themselves of the threat.
"Seems like that kid got the best of you, Prince," Mai poked Vegeta and laughed, and the killing intent radiating off of his body made her finger slowly retract to her side. "Oops, struck a nerve didn't' I?" She asked, and was suddenly dropped onto the ground with no remorse.
"I hate this planet even more with every passing second," He shook himself off from the shock of being surprised and Mai as well. The alien couldn't go all out with a twelve year old girl attached to his back, despite how good of a story it would be to boast about when he returned. He looked at Raditz, and the two nodded at each other.
Temari had made herself known after firing off the strong wind blast to keep the saiyans at bay. She leaned against her giant fan and grinned at the two opposing boys. It amused her that, that much power was stored inside two prepubescent boys, and she actually had to recognize them as actual threats, "I control the air, kids," She taunted the two with a smile.
The moment she saw Vegeta's body move a single inch, she hoisted her fan into the air and swung it forcefully to generate another gust of wind. The two boys had to ascend higher than blast to avoid being turned into mush on the side of a tree. They weren't, however, expecting the wind tunnel to follow them into the air and trap them.
Small slashes from the wind were cutting into their bodies, and to top the attack off; two large hands made from sand rose into the air and smashed Raditz and Vegeta into in between its palms. The source of the hands was Gaara, who had risen back to the trees after being knocked off so easily by Vegeta, "This is my fight, Temari!"
"Gaara, we're a team!"
. . .
(Forest of Death ~ With Team Deidara)
The goal for the trio representing the Akatsuki was to move straight to the tower, and wait for all survivors with scrolls to come tired out, so they could take them down and be done, but plans change. It wasn't another team of genin that managed to subdue N, but one of the oversized animals that lived in the forest. He shifted uncomfortably inside the throat of a large snake and furrowed his brow.
Thanks to Karin and Pepper, they were separated not too long after entering the forest, and he had to fend for himself while looking somewhere to setup camp. Out of no where, a snake sprung out from the water and swallowed him whole, and now he was using his chakra to stick to the creature's throat. He sighed, having only been inside the snake for a few moments.
He poured his explosive chakra into his hands and the whole inside of the snake exploded outward. N took a deep breath and wiped off all the blood and other bodily fluids that covered him in the process. He looked at his clothes after and frowned, having just got them before he left for Konoha, and he had taken a liking to his new attire.
The blonde looked around worriedly and listened to everything going on around him. He couldn't see, hear, or feel the presence of his teammates and that made him audibly groan. The boy pulled on his blood covered drawstrings and turned around to see Karin with her face covered in blood, "How the hell did you sneak up on me?"
"That's the least of our worries idiot!" She screamed at N while pointing at her blood splattered face. The girl narrowly escaped an ambush not too long ago, and Pepper told her to go find N. "There's a grass-nin out there fighting Pepper right now and he needs back up."
"What happened to you?" He said as they both took off back into the inside of the forest, but she simply shook her head. "This guy must be strong if Pepper needs back up." The black-haired boy pretending to be a genin for Deidara's sake was far past Genin level, probably being able to go toe-to-toe with the some of the village's best shinobi. For him to need assistance must've meant something crazy was happening.
Crazy was exactly the word to describe the battle scene when the two others returned. The trees were littered with snakes, varying in size. Some had been blown to pieces by Pepper, while others were still ready to jump out and attack, but they were told to stand down by the lone man standing at a higher point in the trees. His straw hat tipped low, but his snake-like tongue slithered out of his mouth upon seeing N and Karin returning to the battle.
Pepper was crouched down on the ground, breathing heavily. He was covered in blood all over, and his clothes were in tatters after having to engage one of the most legendary shinobi ever alone. The last time the two crossed paths, it was a dud by all means, but regardless a fight with one of the Sannin was not one many people lived to retell. He wasn't expecting to see him of all people in the Forest of Death.
N had only met the man once, but the energy radiating off of his body was none other than him. He might have done a good job concealing it before, but standing in the trees was none other than Orochimaru, despite how good his disguise was. His skin crawled a bit, since the last time he saw him; he had managed to run Bali, Deidara, and Pepper without even raising a finger, "What do you want with us?"
The snake snickered and raised his hat to reveal his face, "I simply came to retrieve what's mine."
. . .
I wish there was like a status update feature for Fanfic or something, because I like to keep people posted as far as stories and shit. You can thank the Chance 3 / Coloring Book vibes for getting this chapter out. I'm setting up the major fights, save for our favorite shinobi Son Goku. I'll let that one be a surprise.
For my fanfic family leaving all kinds of reviews, thank you! I really appreciate it, and it definitely helps the process whether it be positive or negative. My favorite review has been from 'StoneTheLoner' who said my fight scenes were unreadable. Poor guy didn't even make it past chapter 3 when it gets good lmao. Shoutout to Steven Bodner, DarkKitsuneFluffy, the guy who left the review in Spanish, and all my other homies reading this story.
one last thing, should I make the average chapter longer, or keep it the way it is (10 pages per chapter)?
Ok bye.