"Talking"
"Thoughts"
"SCREAMING/YELLING/SHOUTING"
"Jutsu"
"Tailed Beast talking"
"Tailed Beast Thinking"
Sound Effects
Date & Time
|Location|
[Flashback]
[+]
Chapter 11: Forest of Death pt 1
[+]
*Previously*
"I... can't do it. I'm sorry guys," a Genin said as he slowly stood up.
"Number 54 fails, Numbers 62 and 103 fail as well," a proctor stated as the Genin left the room. Soon after, other Genin began to give up as well, slowly clearing out the room. Naruto looked over and saw Hinata struggling with herself. Even though Hinata had gained a boost in confidence, situations like these would always make her conflict with her old nervous personality.
Seeing her situation, Naruto decided to do something. He raised his hand, much to the rookie 10's shock. Then he proceeded to slam it down on his desk as he stood up, a look of determination in his face.
"I don't care if I'll be banned from taking these exams anymore!" Naruto began, "If I give up here and now then it goes against everything I live for! Even if I fail here, I'll just work harder so that the Hokage had no choice but to give me a field promotion! So go ahead, fail me, but know this, I'll never give up on accomplishing my goals!"
Naruto's speech seemed to install confidence into everyone as they seemed to lose their nervousness that they all had.
"I'll ask one last time. This is a decision that could affect the rest of your life. Quit now while you still have the chance."
No one budged, though a few Genin shifted uncomfortably under Ibiki's harsh stares. A few of the proctors nodded at Ibiki as he exchanged glances with them.
"Alright then, good decision. You all pass the first exam!" Ibiki announced to the room, shocking most of them. "I congratulate the 91 of you, the 30 teams that pass."
"WHAT?!" was erupted from all over the room.
"Wait, then what about the 10th question?" Temari asked.
"Ah, but the tenth question is the true purpose of this test. The 'take it' or 'not take it' decision" Ibiki paused momentarily. "Let's say you become chunin and your mission is to steal an important enemy document. You don't know the number or skill of the enemy. Do you accept the mission? Because you don't want to die…Because you don't want your comrades hurt? Can you avoid this dangerous mission? The answer is NO!"
Ibiki let out a slight grin. "Those who aren't willing to put their lives on the line. Those who cling to the uncertain future of 'there is always next year', and then walk away from their chance. Those pieces of trash who can only make cowardly choices, don't deserve the right to become chunin. That's how I feel!" Ibiki said. "You have made it through the entrance of the first test, I wish you guys luck."
[+]
*Chapter 11 starts now!*
"N-Naruto-kun! We did it!"
"Aah. Yes we did Hinata!"
Suddenly, a black bundle came crashing through the window and a black poster was unraveled on the back wall. Out of the bundle crawled a lady with short purple hair in a ponytail and a mesh shirt underneath her jacket.
"This is no time to be celebrating. It is now time for the second test. I am Anko Mitarashi, the proctor. Now, follow me!" Anko said as Ibiki face palmed himself repeatedly.
"You're early Anko, take a look around," Ibiki said as he came around the banner. Anko then looked around the room and her eyes widened.
"Wow, 91. Ibiki, you're getting soft. The test was way too easy." Anko said to Ibiki.
"Heh, there are a lot of outstanding ones in this batch" Ibiki said.
"Hmph, we'll see. I'll cut the number in half by the time I'm done! Get the next exam location and time from your Jonin-Senseis! We'll be meeting up tomorrow for the next part of the exams!"
[+]
Next day
August 26
7:03 AM
|Training Grounds 44 aka Forest of Death aka Anko's Domain|
"So this is the place your parents said to stay away from?" Atsushi asked.
"I think so. I'm not really sure since they never said what it looked like." Hinata answered.
'DANGER! STAY OUT!' a sign read as the group of remaining candidates stared at the dark forest in front of them.
"Welcome to the stage of the second round of the chunin exams, practice area 44, also known as the 'Forest of Death'" Anko said as a bunch of gulps were heard from the crowd. "Heh, and you'll soon find out why it's called the forest of death."
"This doesn't seem all that bad," Naruto said. Anko on hearing that pulled out a kunai and threw it at Naruto. The kunai grazed blonde's cheek and drew a small line of blood as Anko reappeared behind him with an arm draped around his shoulders.
"Kids like you are quickly killed in here, spraying that red blood that I love so much" Anko whispered as she stuck out her tongue and liked the blood, making Naruto to shiver in fear. Sensing movement behind her, Anko quickly drew another kunai and turned around as a Kusa ninja appeared behind her. Now the weird part about this was that she was holding a kunai... with her freakishly long tongue!
"Your kunai proctor-san," the Kusa Genin said, she was somehow able to talk normally even though her tongue was out.
"Why thank you," Anko said, "however you should be more careful on who you sneak up on, I might just kill you next time."
"My apologies, it's just that the sight of blood always makes me jumpy, not to mention you cut my hair with your kunai as well," the Kusa Genin said as she handed Anko the knife and backed away.
While backing away she sent a spine-chilling smile at Team 7 particularly Sasuke.
"Hmm, looks like we have a lot of blood thirst ones in this test, this will be fun. Now, before we start, you must fill out these waivers."
"Why do we need to fill some waivers?" Kiba asked.
"Because there WILL be deaths in this exam" Anko let loose a cheerful smile, creeping out even more participants. "And we can't have your deaths starting wars and everything. Now, I'm going to explain the rules to this test. Each team will check into that booth behind me. Your team will then receive one scroll. It will either be a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll. Since there are 30 teams here, 15 will get an Earth scroll and 15 will get a Heaven Scroll. In the middle of this area, there is a tower. You are to bring both a Heaven and an Earth scroll to the tower."
"So that's why you said you will cut the group in half" Sasuke said.
"Yes. Now, this area is a dense forest with a river running through the middle. A tower is located at the middle of the area, about 10 km from each side" Anko said, holding up a map of the area. "Around this perimeter, there are 44 locked gates. This will be considered a survival exercise. You may use any weapons or jutsu to complete the task. The only rule is that you cannot open the scrolls until you enter the tower with both scrolls. Other than that, there are no rules and killing is allowed. Also, there is a time limit. The test lasts 120 hours, or 5 days."
"FIVE DAYS?!" Ino exclaimed, wide eyed.
"WHAT ABOUT DINNER?!" Choji roared, shocked.
"You're on your own. The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants, etc," Anko said, smiling cruelly. "And fifteen teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther, and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies. You won't get much sleep. So, not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course," she explained, before holding up her hand.
"Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you." She raised a finger. "First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit which is five days." She raised another finger. "Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for five days, or less, depending on when you get to the tower. And one more rule... You must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."
"What happens if you do?" Sasuke asked out of curiosity, getting a smirk from Anko.
"That will be a surprise for anyone who does. A Chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness. That's it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, and then choose a gate to get ready for the start," Anko said, before grinning at them all. "A final word of advice... Don't die."
"Well, no shit..." Naruto muttered as the Chunin in the booth covered it with a curtain.
"It's about time to exchange for the scrolls," one of them announced.
"You can't tell which team gets which scroll... or who on the team is carrying it..." Atsushi muttered to his teammates as he stared at the covered booth.
"Yes... Everyone's an enemy... Everyone's determined..." Hinata mumbled nervously.
"Hinata, it'll be alright," Naruto said, putting a hand on Hinata's should and smiling at her. "We're strong, remember? Besides, with your eyes, no one will be able to sneak up on us. We'll always have the advantage." The Hyuga perked up at that.
[+]
"Do you remember our mission?" the mummified Oto ninja asked his teammates.
The spiky haired one grinned and said, "Yep, go in there and kill the Uchiha."
"Just make sure that you don't mess up you baka," the female said as she cleaned her nails with a senbon.
"What did you say bitch!?" the boy snarled as he took a step forward, prompting the girl to ready her senbon.
"That's enough," the mummy ordered as he grabbed his teammates by their arms. "Killing each other will only cause us to fail the mission." the boy and girl glared at each other before huffing and turning away.
'It's a shame we have to kill the Uchiha, he's kinda cute.' The girl said to herself before taking a look at his teammates, Her sights then settled on a certain member with green hair, 'Wow forget the Uchiha, this one definitely takes the cake.' She thought while licking her lips a bit.
[+]
"You two know what to do right?" the Kusa Genin with the long tongue asked her teammates.
"Yes, we go after the Genin Team from Arashigakure then subdue and capture them." her teammates replied.
"Goooood."
[+]
"Man, I hope we only run into one team," Shikamaru sighed. "Fighting two of them would be so troublesome."
"Quit being a lazy ass!" Ino scolded. "I just hope we run into Sasuke-kun's team so I can show him that I'm stronger than Billboard Brow."
"Is that Uchiha the only thing on your mind?" Shikamaru asked as he shook his head.
"Who else will be on my mind?"
"Ino, are you sure that getting Sasuke's attention is worth it?" Choji asked. "Don't you remember how he acted in the Academy?"
Ino huffed and said, "He was going through a tough time, with his brother killing his clan and everything."
"Naruto goes through a tough time too," Shikamaru pointed out, "Sure he may have people who care about him now, but I once watched him as he went home and saw how his mood darkened when he went into his empty apartment."
"Why were you watching him?" Choji asked.
"He seemed a little off that day, so I decided to follow him," Shikamaru explained. "It was when I got home that I realized something, it was Mother's Day."
"So?"
"Naruto never celebrates Mother's day."
Ino and Choji didn't reply as they realized why.
[+]
"I hope we run into a youthful opponent inside this forest!" Lee said as he performed one-handed pushups while waiting for the exam to begin.
"I just hope that whoever we run into just gives us the scroll," Tenten muttered as she sharpened a kunai on a nearby rock.
"But Tenten, then we would not be able to show of our youthfulness!" Lee complained.
Neji huffed and turned away. "It doesn't matter who we face, fate will decree us as the winners."
"What if we encounter your cousin's Team?" Tenten asked.
Neji didn't reply.
[+]
"What are the odds of us running into a giant snake?" Kankuro asked.
"Get real, the only one who can summon giant snakes is Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin," Temari informed him, "and he's over in his new village of Otogakure."
"Well haven't you heard the story of how this forest was made?" Kankuro asked. "They said that the negative energy the First Hokage used changed the animals inside. I'm just guessing as to how they changed."
"It doesn't matter who or what we encounter," Gaara said. "I will prove my existence inside this place." His siblings just paled slightly and kept to a safe distance from their younger brother.
[+]
"So what's the plan?" Banri asked.
"The same as always, we locate a team, get their scroll then move over to tower." Eito replied.
"We should also add avoiding that Kusa Team to the list." Himari said pointing over to a group of Kusa ninja who giving them bloodthirsty looks.
"Ok new plan, locate a team, get their scroll then head over to the tower while avoiding those bloodthirsty opponents."
"Fine by me."
"Roger that Captain."
[+]
Atsushi shrugged the feeling that he was being eyed like a piece of meat by a stray dog. "Ok guys we need to appoint a leader…" He said.
"I volunteer." Naruto interrupted.
"Actually Naruto we were thinking of appointing Sasuke as our Leader." Atsushi said as Naruto's expression changed to one of shock.
"What?"
"Looks like my Leadership skills are finally being recognized dobe." Sasuke smugly said.
"Please tell me this is a joke?" Naruto asked almost on the verge of begging.
"No it isn't."
"B-But why teme?"
"Hinata is going to be our lookout, both of us are in charge of resources which leaves Sasuke to the Leadership role." The Kishida explained.
"Fine," Naruto sighed before facing his rival, "Just make sure you don't lead us into fighting Gaara or I'm taking over."
"Hn."
"Guys it's time to purchase or scroll." Hinata pointed out.
Naruto and his team went to the booth, got a Heaven scroll, and then headed off, ready to enter gate twelve, where an instructor was waiting, unlocking it.
"The second exam begins now!" was suddenly heard in the speakers, and the instructor opened the gate, allowing them to enter, which they did, speeding inside.
[+]
Sometime later
|Inside of the Forest|
Three Ame Genin appeared in a clearing.
"Where are they?" One of them asked. "I thought you said that they were here."
"They ARE here, I can sense their chakra in this area," the other one said. The next thing they knew, large leeches' dropped down from the canopy above and began to suck on their chakra. The three Ame Genin cried out and struggled to get them off, but couldn't get them off. Eventually they fell unconscious and the leeches slowly inched their way off.
"That was quick," Sakura commented as she and her teammates walked out of the foliage, "What were those Shino?"
"Leaf jumping leaches, they sense the nearest life sources and attack in groups. After 5 minutes of sucking, you will be dead" Shino said, revealing his knowledge of insects and other insect-like beasts. Kiba approached the unconscious ninja and searched them for a scroll.
"Yes! We got luck Akamaru. They had a Heaven Scroll" Kiba said out of excitement. "Alright guys, now let's get to that tower before trouble comes."
[+]
(With Team 7)
After a couple of minutes of running, a scream was already heard. Team Seven stopped at that. It seemed like at least three people were in a lot of pain.
"That's one team down..." Sasuke muttered, narrowing his eyes. "One scroll lost... Hinata, Who's closest?"
"There's a team about half a click to the north-west. They're the closest, but I wouldn't go for them," Hinata said.
"Why?"
"One of the people on that team has an enormous amount of chakra. Almost as big as Naruto-kun's level, actually…"
"Tch... Is it that Gaara freak?" Sasuke asked.
"No, this chakra is, if possible is even more sinister than Gaara's." Naruto said. The others sent confused looks at him. "What?"
"Naruto-kun since when could you sense chakra?" Hinata asked quite surprised at his analysis.
"Yeah, you never told me about it." Atsushi added, crossing his arms.
"Well, I recently discovered that I had unlocked some of my sensory abilities." Naruto said, after thinking up a reasonable answer.
His teammates seem to buy it as Hinata continued, "I don't sense anyone nearby, so this is probably a good opportunity to sit down and get some strategies down."
Once they had sat down Hinata then said softly "Amegakure ninja thirty-five meters left of Naruto-kun, I see no weapons on him, so it's safe to say he specializes in either Ninjutsu or Genjutsu..."
"Is he alone?" Atsushi whispered back, Naruto checked this time.
"Yes." The Uzumaki answered.
Sasuke turned to Hinata for confirmation and received a nod which said that he was correct. "He's probably waiting for a chance to pick us off one-by-one. He's waiting for us to separate enough to attack... We should get him to come to us."
"I got an idea." Atsushi said before whispering in Naruto's ear. The Uzumaki nodded then faced the Uchiha.
"Come on Sasuke, you're the strategist of the team! Make some damn plans!" Naruto said loudly, as though an entirely different conversation had just taken place, as he got to his feet, scratching the back of his head. "I gotta take a piss. I'll be right back."
With that, Naruto headed off to stand behind a tree, pretending to unzip his pants as he leaned back against the tree. His senses were on high alert, so he could easily sense the Ame ninja moving over towards him.
"Gotcha," he said softly and looked up at the visibly surprised Ame ninja, just in time for a lightning bolt to smash into the ninja, slamming him hard into the tree and knocking him out. Naruto walked over to the unconscious ninja and searched him for an earth scroll before returning back to his teammates.
"Did he have a scroll?" Sasuke asked.
"No." Naruto replied, "His teammates must have it."
"Speaking of his teammates, where are they?" The Kishida asked.
Hinata glanced around with her Byakugan, "I can't find them?"
"Anyway let's move on." Sasuke sighed, leading the way. The rest nodded and followed their leader.
[+]
An hour later
"Hinata, is she still following us?" Atsushi asked quietly so that their stalker wouldn't hear him. Hinata nodded in reply then walked over to Naruto and whispered in his ear, the Uzumaki nodded before signaling to Sasuke.
The team came to a clearing and sat down in a circle, "That Kusa ninja is still following us." Hinata muttered.
Atsushi nodded then spoke up this time much louder, "We need a plan. If one of us gets separated, even if it's one of us, don't trust anyone no matter who he/she appears to be."
"Then what will we do?" Hinata asked nervously, thanks to her Byakugan she could see that the Kusa ninja was paying close attention now.
Sasuke put a hand on his chin, thinking up a method they could use to identify themselves, "Me, Hinata and Atsushi have our various dojutsus so we can used that but we will have to make a codeword for Naruto." He suggested.
"That's a good idea as I have already thought of a codeword that I could use." Naruto said.
"So what's the codeword Naruto-kun."
"RAMEN!"
Everyone and I mean everyone sweat dropped.
[+]
|Just outside Training Grounds 44|
Screams were coming from within the forest as Anko listened on. "Looks like its starting." She commented with a sadistic glee.
The proctor meanwhile was happily eating her dango and drinking her drink. "Yum, nothing goes better together than dango and alcohol. Once I finish, I think I should head to the tower." She decided as she then took out the stick and threw it at a nearby tree, getting it stuck with a bunch of other dango sticks in the form of the Konoha leaf symbol. "All done." She then got out in satisfaction.
No sooner she said this, a smoke suddenly appeared near her. "Big trouble Anko-sama!" The shinobi announced.
This in turn got Anko's attention. "What happen?" She asked.
"We found bodies! Three of them!" The shinobi quickly reported.
"What's there to worry about that? There was bound to be in this test." Anko stated with a confused tone.
"No! They were found outside of the forest and they were dead before the second test even began!" The shinobi reported. "But that's not the only thing, the bodies are strange." He then added, "Anyways, please come!" He soon requested.
"Strange? Besides being dead?" Anko thought to herself, but she still nodded all the same and both disappeared in a smoke.
A few moments later Anko had arrived to the scene where the bodies were located.
"After examining their papers and personal items." One of the shinobis began to explain. "They seem to be the Hidden Grass shinobi who were entered in this exam, but..." He reported as he let the purple haired jonin examined the bodies.
Anko's face however was in total shock at seeing this. "Shit..." She muttered out.
"Their faces are completely ripped off, no more like they were melted off." He concluded.
"There's no mistaking it. This is his jutsu." Anko soon thought to herself with fear and with narrow eyes. "Why is he in this exam!?" She then questioned in her head with in a panicked manner.
Anko then quickly turned to the other shinobis. "Show me the pictures of these three!" She ordered.
"Yes ma!" Another shinobi stated as he did as what he was told, handing the photos to the jonin immediately.
Upon seeing the picture, Anko instantly recognize the faces. "He stole this face… So that time… He already…" She thought as she remembered seeing this face at the gathering. "You guys! Report this to the Hokage-sama immediately!" She ordered with a hint of panic in her voice.
"Huh?" They got out in confusion.
"Send some ANBU captains to the Forest of Death! I'm going after them right now!" Anko declared.
No sooner than she said this, Anko rushed directly at the forest and find the intruders.
[+]
(With Team 7)
After memorizing Naruto's codeword the Chunin faithfuls continued their quest when Hinata suddenly stopped walking.
"Everyone get down…" She tried to warn but was interrupted by a huge blast of wind which sent them flying in different directions with Naruto taking the brunt of the attack.
Once the blast had died down, the three dojutsu wielders regrouped back at the cleaning and without wasting time revealed their various dojutsu.
"What about Naruto?"
"Right here guys." The blond yelled as he ran towards them, "And before you ask the codeword is ramen."
Sasuke, Atsushi and Hinata stared at each other before attacking, "Hey! What gives?" Naruto protested as he dodged a kick, a palm strike then a thrown kunai.
"What have you done with the real Naruto-kun?" Hinata growled sending more strikes.
The imposter dodged the strikes before smirking, "So you saw through my disguise." The fake Naruto was suddenly engulfed by smoke, "How clever."
The smoke cleared revealing the Kusa ninja who was wearing a straw hat, on closer inspection they realized that she was the one handed Anko's kunai with his tongue. "I'm curious to how you knew l was fake?"
"Why should we tell you?" Sasuke asked with a Sharingan glare as his teammates prepared for battle.
"Ah the Sharingan, I was just looking for that." The ninja said before removing her straw hat, "Let's have some fun shall we?" She asked before blasting them with her KI.
[+]
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Naruto was on the ground panting slightly.
"That was one hell of a Jutsu." Naruto muttered as he got back up. He stared at the trail of destruction caused by the Jutsu. 'Wasn't that the Great Breakthrough? A Genin couldn't have possibly performed a Jutsu that powerful even I can't.'
His surroundings then got darker, he looked down at the ground to see a larger shadow over him. Naruto looked up and found the biggest snake he had ever seen in his staring down at him.
"JUMP!"
Naruto jumped into the air as the snake's tail came crashing down resulting in an explosion of dust, dirt and debris. The snake coiled up and sprung at the blonde, its maw open and ready to swallow. Unable to dodge while airborne Naruto grabbed a kunai and channeled wind natured chakra into it.
"Wind Style: Wind Blade Slash!" The Kunai emitted a blade of wind which sliced the creature right down the middle, causing it to split and miss crashing into Naruto who landed gracefully.
'Well that's over.'
"Not quite." Naruto raised a brow in reply.
"That Snake isn't a normal snake it's a summon," On cue the snake vanished in a puff of smoke, "Someone is trying to separate you from your pack."
'Pack?'
"It's a fox thing." Naruto nodded then spread out his senses trying to locate his teammates.
[+]
The other members of Team 7 froze up due to the amount of killing intent radiating from the Kusa ninja. The KI was so dark that they experienced images of their own death.
'This... Isn't a… Genjutsu?' Atsushi thought after trying to dispel it by activating his Sankugan. 'This… is real.'
'Just… Who is this…Girl?' Sasuke thought as he stared wide-eyed at the ninja. He glanced to left and spotted Hinata who had tears streaming down her cheeks while trembling violently. 'This is bad… we have to run… otherwise… we die.'
Seeing them so vulnerable the Kusa ninja chuckled, "You can't move how wonderful."
Sasuke gripped the kunai in his hands tightly, 'I have got… to do… something… I was made the … leader for Kami's sake!' his arm shook with fear but still moved a bit. 'Come on move!'
The Kusa ninja smirked as she raised three kunai then threw them at the three Genin making their eyes to widen in fright.
'Darn it just MOVE!' Sasuke stabbed his thigh then grabbed both of his teammates before dragging them and himself out of the kunai's path. Hinata and Atsushi now out of whether funk they were in, grabbed their wounded teammate and took off into the trees.
The Kusa ninja walked over to the blood splatter that resulted from the stabbing with mild interest before smirking, 'Erasing the feeling of fear with pain how smart of you Sasuke-kun but I didn't expect you to save the others.'
[+]
(With Storm Triad)
Banri and Himari were in the process of tying up two Ame ninja while Eito was keeping an eye out for their teammate.
"Any sign of their teammate?" Banri asked once he was done tying up his captive.
"No, he must have gotten nagged by the competition." Eito replied.
"Anyway these guys do have a scroll but it's the same as ours?" Himari informed after pulling out an Earth scroll.
"We just have to take it and pray that the next team we run into is willing to trade."
"What are the chances of that?"
"Low… very low." Banri mumbled.
"Alright, let's head away from there and try to find another tea-" But before he could say anything else, Eito was forced to dodge as a blast of water impacted where he once was.
"Damn, I missed," A Kusa ninja cursed as he and his teammate appeared.
"I told you you should have aimed it more to the left," His teammate reprimanded him.
"I'm guessing that you're here for our scroll?" Banri asked as he stared at the two Kusa ninja. 'Judging by appearance only I will say their 7 – 8 years older than we are, and at low Jonin level but by the way they attacked I will say that they are definitely idiots.'
"Actually the scroll is a bonus." The leader said smirked, "We are here to capture you."
"Let me guess." Himari said placing a finger on her chin, "You after our bloodline."
"Hehe smart girl, maybe we keep you as entertainment while your friends are dissected." The other said.
"Eww… gross!"
"Can we please skip to the fight?" Banri asked drawing out his tanto, Himari drew out her staff and Eito a Katana.
"Well since you ask kindly… Water Style: Water Bullets!" He spat out several water bullets at the trio who jumped out of the way splitting up into two groups.
"Mekaji, go after the girl the boys are mine." Mekaji nodded and went after the girl, leaving boys to his teammate.
"Ok boys, the name's Shiguri and that the last name you will ever hear." Shiguri said as he focused on the two boys. The boys just stared at the ninja then at each another.
"He's an idiot."
"I was just about to say the same thing."
Shiguri's eye twitched in annoyance, "Are you mocking me?"
"That depends..."
"On whom you ask?"
"Aaarrrgghh."
[+]
"Hehe I get a lovely lady all to myself." Mekaji said as his eyes roamed over the female's body.
Himari resisted the urge to shiver as his eyes landed on her bust. She infused her staff with wind chakra then swung downwards releasing a vertical slash which Mekaji easily sidestepped.
"A shame that you've got a bloodline, if not you would have been someone I would consider having my way with," Mekaji sighed as he made several hand seals. "Water Style: Water Sphere!" Mekaji spat out a sphere of water into his hand and threw it at Himari. The Kishida girl used her chakra infused staff as a baseball bat and sent the sphere back to its creator who effortless swatted it away.
"Can you at least make this interesting?" Himari sighed, 'I'm sure the boys are having more fun than I am.'
Mekaji sighted a stream to his left, "If you say so." He began to make a long chain of hand seals, Himari didn't try to stop him as she wanted to see what he will pull off.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Mekaji called as the water began to shift.
"Now that's more like it."
[+]
(With Team 7)
Sure that they had put a lot of distance between them and the crazed ninja, Atsushi and Hinata placed Sasuke against a tree bark and attended to his injury.
"Hinata keep an eye out for either Naruto or that Kusa ninja." The Kishida boy ordered. The Hyuga nodded before activating her Byakugan while Atsushi gently ripped the kunai out of his teammate's thigh earning a grunt in response.
Once done bandaging the wound Atsushi proceeded to asked whether the Uchiha was feeling better but couldn't as the latter placed his hand on the former's mouth while looking for any sign of the Kusa ninja.
"She's after me." Sasuke whispered while trembling with fear, "I can see it in her eyes." Atsushi and Hinata were both shocked and surprised by his reaction, if they could recall they had never seen the Uchiha display such amounts of fear.
The Kishida removed the raven-haired's hand from his mouth then tried to say something but was cut off by Hinata.
"SNAKE!"
Both boys turned around and saw a huge snake coming down on them. They all jumped out of the way with the snake setting its sights on Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened as he stared at the eyes of the creature and felt the same killing intent as before. The Uchiha let out a fierce battle cry as he threw eight shurikens at the open maw of the snake with incredible force. The shurikens tore through the snake's head causing it to stop its charge and fall to the ground, covering it in dust.
Their relief was cut short when the scales on the snake tore open and a familiar Kusa ninja popped up.
"You guys shouldn't relax even for the moment as preys should be doing their best to get away from their predator." Her tongue came out of her mouth and licked her lips that combined with the crazed look on her face scared the shit out of the Genin.
"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Hinata shouted as she sent a vacuum shell at the ninja. A wall of earth shot up and blocked the attack before crumbling back to the ground revealing the unharmed Kusa ninja. She released a chuckle before taking a step forward only for a kunai to impale the ground right in front of him; the Kusa ninja took a look at the kunai and noticed the explosive tag attached to it.
'Darn it'
KABOOM!
The three Genin released breaths they didn't know they were holding at the sight of their predator being engulfed by the explosion.
"Thank you Naruto." Atsushi said as their savior descended from a tree branch.
"You're welc-" Naruto was interrupted by the sounds of laughter coming from the flames.
"Ku ku ku… nice one Naruto-kun, you almost had me." The Kusa ninja stepped out of the flames, her flesh peeling off revealing an appearance completely different from the previous one. The Genin gasped as they recognized who they were up against.
"O-o-o-orochimaru?" Hinata stammered as her body began to tremble.
"Glad to see that the younger generation knows who I am."
If the Genin weren't afraid before they were now, they didn't need to have an IQ of Shikamaru's level to know that their chances of surviving against one of the Legendary Sannin especially the most deranged was practically non-existent.
"Naruto we might need some assistance if you know what I mean." Atsushi whispered.
Naruto nodded at his green-haired teammate before weaving some hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The Snake Sannin was intrigued that a Genin could perform the B-rank kinjutsu, 'He must be the vessel that my spies told me about.'
12 clones of Naruto puffed in existence, Orochimaru braced himself thinking that they will attack but they didn't. Hinata and Sasuke caught on what their teammates were planning with the latter tossing a smoke bomb to the ground reducing visibility, once it cleared there were four groups in front of him and each one was Team 7.
[+]
The original Team 7 sprinted far away from the Orochimaru's location, Naruto had originally created 16 shadow clones but 4 were already hidden within the foliage, so when the smoke cloud erupted he and his teammates took off while the hidden clones replaced them.
It was a clever idea but Naruto knew that wouldn't stall the Snake Sannin for long.
"We got to move faster he has already destroyed all my Shadow Clones." Naruto informed after receiving the memory of the last clone.
"Hinata any sign of him?"
"No- Yes he's rapid approaching."
"How much time to we have?" Naruto asked.
"Less than 3 minutes."
"That's not enough time."
"But we have to try something." Atsushi spoke up.
"Try what?" Sasuke asked as he dodged a thrown kunai.
"A collaboration jutsu… I need you and Naruto to perform the Firestorm."
The two boys nodded and began weaving hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Cyclonic Thrust!"
Sasuke turned round and spewed a massive fireball the size of a wagon, Naruto followed suit concentrating wind chakra around his arm before releasing a pressurized stream of wind blades in the form of a horizontal whirlwind. The latter enhanced the former and tore through the dense forest incinerating everything in its path, Orochimaru discovered this late and got burnt to ashes.
Hinata saw this and reported back to the boys, "Guys I think we… Aaargh." She cried in pain as she felt something pierce her side. The Hyuga extracted the Kunai from her side and took a look at it.
'Poison?' was all she could say to herself before collapsing to the ground.
[+]
A/N: That's that. Forest of Death pt 2 will be up a week later.
{Recommendations}
The Wanderers by D4rkn3s5
The rookie 9, Team Guy and their senseis return from the Chunin exams that were held in Sunagakure to discover that their village Konoha has been….
Naruto One Man Team by Ackdam
After graduating from the Academy, Naruto is placed in Team 11 as its sole member. If you love Sasuke, Kiba, Sakura and Council bashing I recommend this.
Feel free to drops reviews and complaints.
Total number of words: 6229 words.
Jamesco1292002